Review of Rumbling Hearts

Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien is an anime series that's not widely known (hence why I watched it so late after its release) but I found it to be surprisingly good. It may be only 14 episodes, but it manages to tell a good story and introduces to us characters that are realistic and with whom we can easily relate with. Although the first episodes make it seem like a story about high school life for a group of friends, from then on it goes downhill and we are shown how a cruel accident can change everything and the consequences that result from this. It becomesan emotional drama in which the main character, Takayuki, must choose from one of the two love interests he has in the series. However, his indecisiveness and knowledge that whoever he doesn't pick might get hurt, only leads to more hurt and trouble for everyone involved.

As you watch this series you'll end up supporting one of the two female leads, but even if the one you choose does end up with Takayuki, it's really easy to feel sorry for the other person as both of them are nice people and both love him a lot. This series does have a large supporting cast, but aside from a friend of the trio and the younger sister of one of the girls, they aren't really important in terms of the storyline.

The ending is done really well, with a great song that fits the theme of the series perfectly. It shows what happens to the main characters afterwards, and I'm glad that even for the losing party she seems to have a bright future ahead of her.

All in all, Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien is a flawed series (slow pacing in some parts/ lots of crying from some characters/ bad decisions being made which are hard to understand), but it explores a lot of human themes, revolves around some well-developed characters, and manages to draw you in until you finish the series to see the outcome for yourself.