Rumbling Hearts

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien
Original visual novel cover featuring Haruka Suzumiya (left) and Mitsuki Hayase (right)
君が望む永遠
Genre	Romance[1]
Video game
Princess Soft (PS2)
Genre	Eroge, Visual novel
Platform	Windows, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2
Released	JP : August 3, 2001 (Windows) WW: TBA (Windows)
Anime television series
Directed by	Tetsuya Watanabe
Produced by	Katsuharu Nagata Yoshiyuki Itō
Written by	Ken'ichi Kanemaki
Music by	Ken'ichi Sudō Yoshiki Minami Ado Torai
Studio	TV Saitama
Original run	October 5, 2003 – January 4, 2004
Episodes	14 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Next Season
Directed by	Hideki Takayama
Produced by	Takayuki Nagatani Kensuke Kido Jūkō Ozawa
Music by	Ken'ichi Sudō Yoshiki Minami Ado Torai
Studio	Brain's Base
Released	December 21, 2007 – December 19, 2008
Runtime	30 minutes (each)
Episodes	4 (List of episodes)
Anime and manga portal

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (君が望む永遠, lit. "The Eternity You Desire"), or Kiminozo for short, is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Âge and released on August 3, 2001, for Windows. It was later ported to the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. The gameplay in Kimi ga Nozomu Eien follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the eight female main characters by the player character.

The game was adapted into a 14-episode

There are eight main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each heroine. Every so often, the player will come to a point where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. Text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction. The game is divided into two chapters, with the first one revolving around the events leading up to August 20 and the second chapter set three years later. It is in the second chapter that the game allows the player to choose to pursue one of the eight heroines and also has endings if the player chooses to pursue more than one of the girls at the same time. The updated version for Windows Vista, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Latest Edition, contains a third chapter. The original Windows edition has 14 endings, and the DVD version for Windows has two additional bad endings. In the adult versions of the game, there are scenes with sexual CGs depicting Takayuki and a given heroine having sex. Later, the consumer port versions were released without the adult content.

Plot

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien's story revolves around the

Takayuki Narumi (鳴海 孝之, Narumi Takayuki)

Voiced by: Kishō Taniyama (Japanese); Kevin M. Connolly (English)^[3]

As the protagonist, Takayuki Narumi meets Haruka a year before Mitsuki sets them up during their third year of high school. When he witnesses the still fresh pool of blood next to Haruka's bloodied hair ribbons lying among the shattered glass of the phone booth, Later in the story, he works at a restaurant chain owned by the Sky Temple financial group called "The Family Restaurant", after having regressed in his studies resulting from the accident. In Haruka's absence, he gradually begins to develop a relationship with Mitsuki. In the game the player assumes this role and can choose to pursue and end up with most of the female characters.

Haruka Suzumiya (涼宮 遙, Suzumiya Haruka)

Voiced by: Minami Kuribayashi (Japanese); Carrie Savage (English)^[3]

Being a shy, timid girl, Haruka is set up with Takayuki by her friend, Mitsuki, while she is in high school. The two quickly become close, and develop an intimate relationship. She is involved in a serious accident and ends up in a coma. The main thrust of the story begins when she awakens three years later. She is afflicted with anterograde amnesia, and because of her delicate psyche, her family and Takayuki conceal the truth that three years have passed, which forms much of the tension in the series.

Mitsuki Hayase (速瀬 水月, Hayase Mitsuki)

Voiced by: Tomoko Ishibashi (Japanese); Colleen Clinkenbeard (English)^[3]

Mitsuki is friends with both Takayuki and Haruka, but secretly she has feelings for Takayuki. In high school she was a competitive swimmer, but shortly after Haruka's accident, she finds herself leaving swimming to tend to Takayuki. She finally reveals her feelings to Takayuki.

Akane Suzumiya (涼宮 茜, Suzumiya Akane)

Voiced by: Tomomi Uehara (Japanese); Leah Clark (English)^[3]

Haruka's younger sister initially treats both Takayuki and Mitsuki as older siblings until she finds out they have been seeing each other behind the comatose Haruka's back. While Haruka is in hospital, she visits her every day. She, like Mitsuki, is a competitive swimmer, but feels as if she can never match Mitsuki, who she initially looks up to. Later, there are hints given that Akane feels something more for Takayuki, but these are not explored fully in the anime television series.

Shinji Taira (平 慎二, Taira Shinji)

Voiced by: Makoto Aoki (Japanese); David Wilson-Brown (English)

Although being friends with Takayuki, Haruka and Mitsuki in high school, he drifts off from the group after graduation. However, he becomes an important character towards the end of the series. He sometimes presents a counter-balance to the drama of the rest of the characters, as his relationship with his girlfriend (who remains off-screen) seems to be going well.

Ayu Daikuuji (大空寺 あゆ, Daikūji Ayu)

Mayu Tamano (玉野 まゆ, Tamano Mayu)

Voiced by: Kiyomi Asai (Japanese); Luci Christian (English) (Ayu)^[3]

Voiced by: Kyōko Yoshida (Japanese); Monica Rial (English) (Mayu)^[3]

They are two waitresses who work at the same restaurant as Takayuki. Ayu is the surly daughter of the chief executive officer of the "Sky Temple" financial group, who owns and operates the restaurant chain. As such, she is permitted to work at the restaurant as part of a market study by the financial group on the condition she does not reveal her identity.

super deformed

.

Hotaru Amakawa (天川 蛍, Amakawa Hotaru)

Fumio Hoshino (星乃 文緒, Hoshino Fumio, Fumie in the Funimation English version)

Manami Homura (穂村 愛美, Homura Manami)

Voiced by: Satoko Kubota (Japanese); Alison Viktorin (English) (Hotaru)

Voiced by: Hitomi (credited as (Minami Hokuto) (Japanese); Jamie Marchi (English) (Fumio)

Voiced by: Amako Mari (Japanese); Amy Rosenthal (English) (Manami)

They are three nurses at the hospital. Hotaru and Fumio attended nursing school together and are very close friends. Hotaru Amakawa suffers from a terminal illness that stopped her physical development so that she looks like a very young girl. She is often referred to as "Fumio's child", as Hotaru has a very child like stature whereas Fumio has a very curvy and maternal stature. The two are inseparable. Manami, the green-haired nurse, is a student nurse who attended the same high school as Takayuki. Manami has a very strong mothering instinct with a desire to take care of people, hence her chosen profession. In the game, Manami is introduced in the first chapter and also is in love with Takayuki, but is also too shy to express her feelings for him. All three nurses are potential love interests in the game. The original Manami ending was so disturbing that fans wrote to the company calling to change it; DVD and PS2 versions of the game have a new ending for her route. In the anime, Manami's role is reduced to one line and several silent cameos. Hotaru is given several short scenes in the hospital, where she drops many sexual innuendos into her conversations with Takayuki.

Motoko Kōzuki (香月 モトコ, Kōzuki Motoko)

Voiced by:

Mariko Kobayashi (Japanese); Stephanie Young

(English)

She is the doctor in charge of Haruka. She is the elder sister of Mitsuko Kōzuki from Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu and Yūko Kōzuki from Muv-Luv.

Development and release

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien is the fourth visual novel developed by Âge. The producer and head planner for Kimi ga Nozomu Eien was Hirohiko Yoshida, the executive director of Acid, the publishing company that Âge is under. The scenario was written by three people: Hayato Tashiro (under the name Kichikujin Tam), Ai Shibuya (under the name Maro Guts), and Hokuto Matsunaga (under the name Hanjūryoku Seimei Maa). Art direction and character design was done by Kai Sugihara (under the name Baka Ōji Persia). The music in the game was produced by Lantis and composed by Abito Watarai.

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien was released as an adult game on August 3, 2001, playable on Windows PC as a CD-ROM.

An anime television series based on the game which was animated and produced by Studio Fantasia first aired across Japan from October 5, 2003^[24] to January 4, 2004. The plot consists of a blend of multiple storylines from the game, mostly the Mitsuki route with a bit of Haruka's route mixed with elements from the Akane route. The general fate of Amakawa is also disclosed through one scene between Fumio and Takayuki with a line by Fumio at the end of the final episode indicating she died. Manami is limited to one line at the very end and several dialogueless cameos. Materials not included in the game, due to its perspective being in first person, such as depictions of Mitsuki having sex with Shinji (in certain routes) and Haruka telling Mitsuki that she has a crush on Takayuki while walking home, are also included.

The anime was later licensed for

A four-episode original video animation (OVA) series, animated by Brain's Base and distributed by Bandai Visual, was released between December 21, 2007, and December 19, 2008, on DVD in regular and limited editions.^[29][30] The limited editions contained a bonus CD soundtrack with each DVD and a different cover artwork. The story of the OVAs follows Haruka's route, in contrast to the TV series' modified version of Mitsuki's route. Haruka Suzumiya awakens after a three-year coma. Time has deprived her of many important things, but one still remains: her love for Takayuki Narumi. They visit various places they remember, as if to recover the time that was lost. However, there is one place they refuse to visit: the phone booth in front of the Hiiragi-cho station, where Haruka had her accident three years ago.^[31]

A comedy

Music

Kimi ga Nozomu Eien has two pieces of theme music: one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is "Rumbling hearts" by Minami Kuribayashi and the ending theme is "Kimi ga Nozomu Eien" (君が望む永遠, "The Eternity You Desire") by Rino. Four cold open theme songs were added in subsequent releases of the game: "Yours" by Kuribayashi for the Dreamcast port, "Kaze no Yukue" (風のゆくえ, "The Direction of the Wind") by Kuribayashi for the PlayStation 2 port, "Blue tears" by Kuribayashi and Tomoko Ishibashi for Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: DVD Specification, and "Sweet Passion" by Kuribayashi for Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Latest Edition. The ending theme "Omoide ni Kawaru made" (想い出に変わるまで, "Until It Becomes a Memory") by CooRie was added for chapter three in Latest Edition. Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Special Fandisk features four ending themes for the first chapter: Haruka's theme is "Hitokoto dake no Yūki" (ひとことだけの勇気, "If Only I Had the Courage to Say Those Words") by Kuribayashi, Mitsuki's theme is "Silver Ring" by Ishibashi, Akane's theme is "Innocence" by Tomomi Uehara, and the theme for the normal ending is "Rumbling Hearts" by Kuribayashi.

The Rumbling Hearts anime television series has two main theme songs: the opening theme "Precious Memories", and the ending theme "Hoshizora no Waltz" (星空のワルツ, "Waltz of the Starry Sky"), which are both sung by Kuribayashi. Two additional songs by Kuribayashi were also used: "Kimi ga Nozomu Eien" as the ending theme of episode two, and "Nemuri Hime" (眠り姫, "Sleeping Princess") as an insert song. The ending theme for episode 14 is "Rumbling Hearts" by Rino. For Rumbling Hearts: Next Season, the opening theme is "Next Season" and the ending theme is "Eternity"; both songs are sung by Kuribayashi.

Reception and legacy

On release, the video game magazine Famitsu scored the Dreamcast version of the game a 31 out of 40.^[32] The anime series was reviewed at Anime News Network, where reviewer Theron Martin commented that Rumbling Hearts "proves to be an involving and compelling look at how tragedy can impact matters of the heart."^[28] He also commented that the series' slow pacing, especially during the first two episodes, were a problem, comparing it to Saikano, although it worked better in later episodes.^[28] He also stated that the animation was not adequate, stating that "The character artistry looks good enough to support the story and offers a wide variety of physical appearances for its female characters, but often isn't fully integrated with the backgrounds and has a not-completely-refined quality about it in many scenes."^[26]

Appearances in other media

Characters from Kimi ga Nozomu Eien can be seen in other works by Âge. Akane is the main heroine in the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien spin-off and Muv-Luv prequel Akane Maniax. She also appears in Muv-Luv as a student in Hakuryou Hiiragi.

Several characters appear in the alternate world sequel to Muv-Luv, Muv-Luv Alternative.

Haruka, Mitsuki, and Akane are members of the special task force A-01, also known as the Isumi Valkyries, while Homura Manami is a nurse at the Yokohama base. Takayuki is also mentioned, but he was killed in action prior to the start of the game. 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 in newer games as they did in Alternative.^{[original research?]}

References