, sometimes abbreviated as Kiminozo, is a Japanese renai game released in 2001 for the PC by âge and was later ported to the Sega Dreamcast (by Alchemist) and PlayStation 2 (by Princess Soft). A 14-episode TV anime based on the game ran from October 5 2003 to January 4 2004 (with erotic elements removed). The anime has been licensed in America by FUNimation Entertainment and is slated for an October 2006 release under the title Rumbling Hearts, which is also the english subtitle of the PS2 game 君が望む永遠～Rumbling hearts～. Characters from Kiminozo can be seen in other games by âge.

Plot

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien is a romance story, the central theme being an accident that profoundly affects the lives of a girl and her three high school friends.

The story begins by introducing Haruka Suzumiya, Takayuki Narumi, Mitsuki Hayase and Shinji Taira. Mitsuki sets Takayuki up with the shy Haruka and they begin to date each other.

One day, Takayuki is running late on his way to meeting up with Haruka. This turns into tragedy when Haruka becomes involved in a very serious automobile accident and as a result falls into a coma. This puts Takayuki into a serious depression (by feeling that his lack of promptness caused the situation). As time goes by, Takayuki grows worse and worse. Mitsuki begins to take care of him because she has feelings for him which she has always kept hidden. Eventually they start dating, and then eventually living together in Takayuki's small apartment.

Then, one day, three years later, Haruka reawakens from her coma, oblivious to the goings-on of the previous three years. In addition, she is diagnosed with anterograde amnesia. The doctors ask that she be kept uninformed of what has happened in order to protect her fragile psyche.

After Haruka wakes up, Takayuki is conflicted with his feelings of guilt and responsibility and must choose between Mitsuki and Haruka. The bulk of the story focuses on the suffering of the characters because of this predicament.

Characters

The protagonist, Narumi Takayuki met Haruka by Mitsuki setting them up with a date during High School. Later, after Haruka gets in the accident, he felt responsible for it and falls into a deep depression. Later in the story, he works at a family restaurant after having regressed in his studies due to the accident. In Haruka's absence, he gradually begins to develop a relationship with Mitsuki. In the end he chose Mitsuki.

A shy, timid girl who is friends with Mitsuki who introduced her to Takayuki, whereupon they fall in love with each other. Her hobbies are collecting picture books. She is involved in a serious car accident and ends up in a coma for three years. At the end, she writes a picture book of her own.

Mitsuki is friends with both Takayuki and Haruka, but secretly she desires Takayuki. In high school, she was a strong swimmer and tomboy, but shortly after Takayuki and Haruka's relationship begins to develop, she grows distant and decides to quit, eventually leaving the swimming world altogether. She throws herself at Takayuki when he fails to climb out of his depression, and reveals her feelings for him. Mitsuki is well-meaning, but suppresses her feelings, allowing them to bottle up and explode in dangerous ways. Mitsuki also believes that she is responsible for her friend's accident, as she was the main reason why Takayuki was late for his date with Haruka.

Haruka's younger sister, She initially sees both Takayuki and Mitsuki as older siblings until she finds out they have been seeing each other behind Haruka's back. While Haruka is in the hospital, she visits every day since there is no one else that can keep her company, even if Haruka is in a coma. This shows just how much she loves her older sister. She, like Mitsuki, is a powerful swimmer in her own right, but feels as if she can never match Mitsuki. Her intense hatred towards Mitsuki after the accident can be attributed to the feeling of personal betrayal by someone she considerd an idol for throwing away her (Mitsuki's) talent and dreams as well as Mitsuki's betrayal of her sister by her sexual relationship with Takayuki. She learns to move on in life and becomes a top swimmer in Japan.

Friends with Takayuki, Haruka and Mitsuki in high school, he drifts off from the group after graduation. Becomes an important character towards the end of the series, and very likely once had a crush on Mitsuki.

and : Two waitresses who work at the same family restaurant as Takayuki. Ayu is the surly daughter of an executive of the restaurant (the only reason she keeps her job) and Mayu is a soft-spoken but well-meaning klutz. While in the game they served as one of the many love interests, in the anime they provide the only comic relief for this otherwise serious series. After the credits of several episodes in the series, a 30-second short known as the "Ayu-Mayu Theater" shows them in a comical situation totally irrelevant to the main story with all characters in chibi form. They are also known as AyuAyu and MayuMayu.

Episodes

Theme songs

Opening

Precious Memories by Minami Kuribayashi

Endings

1. Rumbling Hearts by Minami Kuribayashi (ep 2)
2. Hoshizora no Waltz (The Waltz of the Starry Sky) by Minami Kuribayashi (ep 3-13)
3. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien by MEGUMI (ep 14)

Muv-Luv Alternative

Several of the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien characters return in the sequel to Muv-Luv, Muv-Luv Alternative.

Haruka, Mitsuki, and Akane are members of special task force A-01, also known as the Isumi Valkyries, and Homura Manami is a nurse at the Yokohama base. Mitsuki and Akane pilot senjutsuki, but Haruka is the command post officer.

Takayuki is also mentioned. He was killed in action prior to the start of the game, King of Hetare to the end.

In the epilogue, Haruka and Mitsuki can be seen walking around together near the station, Mitsuki with her pre-accident hairstyle. This suggests that the events of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien may be taken by future games to have never happened, allowing for Mitsuki and Haruka to show up as best friends like they did in Alternative.

References