I'm such a huge fan of this show that I actually went out and wrote a detailed review, but that was long time ago. I'll post the review here.
Episode length: 24 minutes
Genre- Drama, Psychological, Romance
Related Anime- Akane Maniax(OAV) (spinoff)
Ayumayu Theatre(ONA) (spinoff)
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien ~Next Season~ (3 OAV) (alternate ending)
Distributor- FUNimation
The story is about 4 friends- Mitsuki Hayase, Shinji, Haruka Suzumiya and Narumi Takayuki. Mitsuki befriends Narumi just so that her best friend Haruka, who has had a crush on Narumi since middle school, can get a chance to confess her feelings. Haruka is extremely timid and shy, so why Mitsuki will take such drastic measure is easily understandeable. Mitsuki's objective was to establish a bridge between Narumi and Haruka, but she slowly finds herself quite at home with the friend circle that she has just formed. She also grew quite fond of Narumi. At the very first episode of the series, Haruka confesses to Narumi. Narumi was taken aback at this but so as not to hurt the delicate Haruka(who was also quite cute!), he responds postively. They start going out and Narumi begins to develop genuine feelings for her. Around this time, Mitsuki's "fondness" of Narumi grows to become subconscius infatuation. Once, Narumi and Haruka were on a date and Narumi was way past the pre-determined time of the meeting. As he was running through the street to meet Haruka, he bumps into Mitsuki, who instinctively asks him to spend some time with her- that day happened to be her bithday. While Narumi was buying Mitsuki her birthday present, Haruka grew tired of waiting and was about leave the spot when she met with an accident and had to be hospitalized. After bidding Mitsuki farewell Narumi dashed to the meeting spot, only to find Haruka's hair-ribbon lying in a fresh pool of blood on the street(the scene was nauseating, I almost threw up). This throws Narumi into a state of trauma, which ultimately ends his student life and he is forced to work part-time in a restaurant while his friends graduate and enter well-paid jobs.
All these incidents are put together perfectly in the first couple of episodes(the show has a total of 14 episodes) and the main part of the story starts at around episode 6 I think. 3 years have passed. Since the accident, Haruka have been in a state of coma. Before continuing with the story, some flashbacks are shown where we see a traumatized Narumi living a pitiful life. He was at the brink of dying in his lonely apartment when Mitsuki decided to take him under her custody. While nursing him back to his usual self, her infatuation grew into love and she hurled herself upon him, forgetting(or rather, subconsciously ignoring) that he belonged to her best friend. Her love and care cured Narumi in no time and the two happily passed the 3 years as a couple. We are then brought back to the present, when one day, Narumi gets a phone call from Haruka's younger sister Akane(she is introduced in the first episode and becomes important with each passing episode) saying that Haruka had finally awoken. Even though Haruka's body had reached the adult stage, her memory had lagged 3 years behind . According to the doctor's advice, everyone had to play along with her outdated memory and wait until she recovers well enough to be told the truth. It's around this time that Narumi finds himself on the horns of dilemma. It's impossible to love two women at once and it's equally impossible to throw away one for the other. This is basically the main flow of the story- how Narumi struggles to choose between his present and past lover, how Mitsuki is driven crazy by her love for Narumi and also by the guilty feeling of betraying her closest friend. At the end of the series, Haruka, after being told of what happened in the past 3 years, willingly(or unwillingly?) concludes her romantic relationship with Narumi and Narumi revives his relationship with Mitsuki.
Lets talk about the side characters a bit. Shinji acts as a supporting character who forces Narumi to be decisive whenever he is confused(which he always is!). He is the type of chracter who stays in the sidelines and is happy with it. Previously, I mentioned that Haruka's sibling, Akane, gains significance with each episode. Well how she does that, can only be understood by watching the series.
The overall mood of the series is extremely grave with hardly any scope to have a laugh, the few jolly scenes that can be found are mostly those related to Narumi's teenaged colleagues in his restaurant. The amazing artwork makes the characters' expressions and actions lifelike and also helps to deepen the depth of the series. Unlike most romantic series, this one starts from high-school and the story takes place mostly in the adult phase of the characters. Needless to say, this makes the series far more mature. Another important thing to note is that this series has no antagonist and extremely slight jealousy between the amours. This somehow augments the despondency in a roundabout way. Kiminozo(a compacted form of the name of the anime) will prove to be a delicious treat to those who ponder upon human relationships of love and friendship. Since I have never actually gone through romance, my speculation of this series is pretty dull and narrow but albeit that, I managed to enjoy this series to the maximum. I finished the whole series in one day, 24 minutes per episode- that is pretty much self-explainatory! The episodes aren't action packed, they won't leave you hungry for more. I guess it's because you'd be so depressed that you'd be apathetic to any other emotion
After 13 episodes of incessant depression, the last episode finally gains a positive touch and the decisive and perfect ending will make you smile. If you still feel sad for Haruka, then you can always watch the OVA which is said to be the "next season of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien". In reality, it's actually an alternative ending of the series which is centred around Haruka only, who starts dating Narumi upon her release from the hospital. Even though I have not watched the OVA, I am sure it turns the series into a comedy. I don't plan on watching it anyway, the melancholic atmosphere is what makes Kimi ga Nozomu Eien such a masterpiece.
Recommended viewership: Despite the mild nudity and a few scenes of violence, it's insensible to restrict this show to adults only since the innuendos and implications are anything but erotic(besides, children these days are not as innocent as people like to think they are). Anyone can watch it. The violence and the nudity comes in later part of the series. Given the sad and serious tone of the series, the first few episodes are enough to shoo immature viewers away. I also recommend this to those who don't watch much romantic anime because since I've watched some romance based anime, I can say that this really isn't a quintessential romantic anime. The show portrays the sad side of romance, so those who like the "mushy" side of romance are better off without watching this series.
PS- Hard to digest that this show was adapted from an eponymous PC hentai game o_0
ReviewNo. of episodes:14At first, Takayuki Narumi is befriended by Mitsuki Hayase only because Mitsuki's best friend, Haruka Suzumiya has a crush on him; however since then, Takayuki, his pal Shinji Taira, and Mitsuki have grown to be the best of friends. Then one day, Haruka confesses to Takayuki her love for him. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, Takayuki agrees to go out with her. After a few incidents, their relationship gets intimate, even while Takayuki and Mitsuki begin to realize their feelings for each other. But suddenly, when tragedy strikes, things are never the same for these four friends again.
Episode length: 24 minutes
Genre- Drama, Psychological, Romance
Related Anime- Akane Maniax(OAV) (spinoff)
Ayumayu Theatre(ONA) (spinoff)
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien ~Next Season~ (3 OAV) (alternate ending)
Distributor- FUNimation
The story is about 4 friends- Mitsuki Hayase, Shinji, Haruka Suzumiya and Narumi Takayuki. Mitsuki befriends Narumi just so that her best friend Haruka, who has had a crush on Narumi since middle school, can get a chance to confess her feelings. Haruka is extremely timid and shy, so why Mitsuki will take such drastic measure is easily understandeable. Mitsuki's objective was to establish a bridge between Narumi and Haruka, but she slowly finds herself quite at home with the friend circle that she has just formed. She also grew quite fond of Narumi. At the very first episode of the series, Haruka confesses to Narumi. Narumi was taken aback at this but so as not to hurt the delicate Haruka(who was also quite cute!), he responds postively. They start going out and Narumi begins to develop genuine feelings for her. Around this time, Mitsuki's "fondness" of Narumi grows to become subconscius infatuation. Once, Narumi and Haruka were on a date and Narumi was way past the pre-determined time of the meeting. As he was running through the street to meet Haruka, he bumps into Mitsuki, who instinctively asks him to spend some time with her- that day happened to be her bithday. While Narumi was buying Mitsuki her birthday present, Haruka grew tired of waiting and was about leave the spot when she met with an accident and had to be hospitalized. After bidding Mitsuki farewell Narumi dashed to the meeting spot, only to find Haruka's hair-ribbon lying in a fresh pool of blood on the street(the scene was nauseating, I almost threw up). This throws Narumi into a state of trauma, which ultimately ends his student life and he is forced to work part-time in a restaurant while his friends graduate and enter well-paid jobs.
All these incidents are put together perfectly in the first couple of episodes(the show has a total of 14 episodes) and the main part of the story starts at around episode 6 I think. 3 years have passed. Since the accident, Haruka have been in a state of coma. Before continuing with the story, some flashbacks are shown where we see a traumatized Narumi living a pitiful life. He was at the brink of dying in his lonely apartment when Mitsuki decided to take him under her custody. While nursing him back to his usual self, her infatuation grew into love and she hurled herself upon him, forgetting(or rather, subconsciously ignoring) that he belonged to her best friend. Her love and care cured Narumi in no time and the two happily passed the 3 years as a couple. We are then brought back to the present, when one day, Narumi gets a phone call from Haruka's younger sister Akane(she is introduced in the first episode and becomes important with each passing episode) saying that Haruka had finally awoken. Even though Haruka's body had reached the adult stage, her memory had lagged 3 years behind . According to the doctor's advice, everyone had to play along with her outdated memory and wait until she recovers well enough to be told the truth. It's around this time that Narumi finds himself on the horns of dilemma. It's impossible to love two women at once and it's equally impossible to throw away one for the other. This is basically the main flow of the story- how Narumi struggles to choose between his present and past lover, how Mitsuki is driven crazy by her love for Narumi and also by the guilty feeling of betraying her closest friend. At the end of the series, Haruka, after being told of what happened in the past 3 years, willingly(or unwillingly?) concludes her romantic relationship with Narumi and Narumi revives his relationship with Mitsuki.
Lets talk about the side characters a bit. Shinji acts as a supporting character who forces Narumi to be decisive whenever he is confused(which he always is!). He is the type of chracter who stays in the sidelines and is happy with it. Previously, I mentioned that Haruka's sibling, Akane, gains significance with each episode. Well how she does that, can only be understood by watching the series.
The overall mood of the series is extremely grave with hardly any scope to have a laugh, the few jolly scenes that can be found are mostly those related to Narumi's teenaged colleagues in his restaurant. The amazing artwork makes the characters' expressions and actions lifelike and also helps to deepen the depth of the series. Unlike most romantic series, this one starts from high-school and the story takes place mostly in the adult phase of the characters. Needless to say, this makes the series far more mature. Another important thing to note is that this series has no antagonist and extremely slight jealousy between the amours. This somehow augments the despondency in a roundabout way. Kiminozo(a compacted form of the name of the anime) will prove to be a delicious treat to those who ponder upon human relationships of love and friendship. Since I have never actually gone through romance, my speculation of this series is pretty dull and narrow but albeit that, I managed to enjoy this series to the maximum. I finished the whole series in one day, 24 minutes per episode- that is pretty much self-explainatory! The episodes aren't action packed, they won't leave you hungry for more. I guess it's because you'd be so depressed that you'd be apathetic to any other emotion
After 13 episodes of incessant depression, the last episode finally gains a positive touch and the decisive and perfect ending will make you smile. If you still feel sad for Haruka, then you can always watch the OVA which is said to be the "next season of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien". In reality, it's actually an alternative ending of the series which is centred around Haruka only, who starts dating Narumi upon her release from the hospital. Even though I have not watched the OVA, I am sure it turns the series into a comedy. I don't plan on watching it anyway, the melancholic atmosphere is what makes Kimi ga Nozomu Eien such a masterpiece.Recommended viewership: Despite the mild nudity and a few scenes of violence, it's insensible to restrict this show to adults only since the innuendos and implications are anything but erotic(besides, children these days are not as innocent as people like to think they are). Anyone can watch it. The violence and the nudity comes in later part of the series. Given the sad and serious tone of the series, the first few episodes are enough to shoo immature viewers away. I also recommend this to those who don't watch much romantic anime because since I've watched some romance based anime, I can say that this really isn't a quintessential romantic anime. The show portrays the sad side of romance, so those who like the "mushy" side of romance are better off without watching this series.
PS- Hard to digest that this show was adapted from an eponymous PC hentai game o_0
