This is a very adult and emotional story about an unusual love triangle. Takayuki starts dating Haruka, who is involved in a horrible accident, which causes her to be in a coma for 3 years. Due to her fragile state, the people around her are told to act like she hasn't been in a coma for three years. However, within that time Takayuki becomes closer with Haruka's best friend Mitsuki. How can Takayuki reconcile his affection for Mitsuki while being loyal to the fragile Haruka, continuing as if they were still boyfriend and girlfriend, that nothing has changed? Very emotional, with some strange silly interludes (Takayuki at his job with the wacky waitress Ayu), this series is compelling in its scope. I really liked it, it had many high points and it has a depth that a live action series may not be able to capture. Not for children, its drama for adults. Recommended.
9 Reviews
A powerful and mature drama
Paladuck28 May 2004
Make no mistake - this isn't a children's anime.
Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (The Eternity You Wish For) is a 14-episode anime based off of a popular Hentai game in Japan. Despite its origins, Kimi has no nudity, although there are several tastefully done sex scenes.
The story centers around four friends, Narumi Takayuki, Hayase Mitsuki, Shinji Taira, and Haruka Suzumiya. All the elements of your typical drama are present, and really the story introduces nothing new in the genre. However, the strengths of the anime are its characters - their problems are very profound on a fundamental level, and it is not difficult to associate oneself with the difficulties they are going through. Flashbacks, the passage of time, and chronological ordering of the plot is also masterfully manipulated.
Expect not only plenty of drama in the story, but in your own heart - the ending - which will leave you either pleasantly satisfied or heartbroken - has been the subject of raging debates.
I highly recommend this to anyone, as it has quickly become one of my favorite animes of all time. No anime I have ever watched, nor any live-action show has ever moved me like this one has - not even Grave of the Fireflies, which was tragic and beautiful in its own right. Watch it and enjoy it, but prepare to be depressed. And also - it's okay to cry once in a while.
10/10
Kimi Ga Nozomu Eien (The Eternity You Wish For) is a 14-episode anime based off of a popular Hentai game in Japan. Despite its origins, Kimi has no nudity, although there are several tastefully done sex scenes.
The story centers around four friends, Narumi Takayuki, Hayase Mitsuki, Shinji Taira, and Haruka Suzumiya. All the elements of your typical drama are present, and really the story introduces nothing new in the genre. However, the strengths of the anime are its characters - their problems are very profound on a fundamental level, and it is not difficult to associate oneself with the difficulties they are going through. Flashbacks, the passage of time, and chronological ordering of the plot is also masterfully manipulated.
Expect not only plenty of drama in the story, but in your own heart - the ending - which will leave you either pleasantly satisfied or heartbroken - has been the subject of raging debates.
I highly recommend this to anyone, as it has quickly become one of my favorite animes of all time. No anime I have ever watched, nor any live-action show has ever moved me like this one has - not even Grave of the Fireflies, which was tragic and beautiful in its own right. Watch it and enjoy it, but prepare to be depressed. And also - it's okay to cry once in a while.
10/10
A bitter sweet love story
Tweekums31 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Having watched many anime on Funimation's channel that featured action and the supernatural I fancied something completely different and this certainly was different. I expected a romantic comedy but it is really a romantic tragedy. As the series starts Takayuki is starting a relationship with his friend Haruka but as he walks to meet her for a date he is delayed by his friend Mitsuki, when he gets to their meeting place he finds that Haruka has been hit by a car. Things then move forward three years; Haruka is still in a coma, Takayuki has dropped out of school and is working in a restaurant and Mitsuki has stopped swimming even though she was potentially of Olympic standard and is in a relationship with Takayuki. Nobody is particularly happy but they are getting on with their live. One day Takayuki gets a call from Haruka's younger sister saying she has woken from her coma. He can't bring himself to tell her that he has moved on and as he continues to see her Mitsuki's life starts to spiral out of control. If that sounds too bleak comedy relief is provided every time we see Takayuki at work where waitresses Ayu and Mayu are always up to something, especially Ayu who constantly argues with customers and calls Takayuki a dung beetle.
I really enjoyed this series, normally I like to take my time watching a series but this time I wanted to watch the next episode as soon as the previous one had finished. The characters were believable and felt far more realistic than most live action characters let alone animated ones. While the main story was sad enough to cause tears these would turn to laughter as soon as Ayu appeared. The animation looks good and all the characters were distinctive, even though I had to read the subtitles to understand what the Japanese voice actors were saying I hear the emotion in their voices. There is a small amount of sex and nudity but it is tastefully handled and did not really feel like fanservice. I would certainly recommend this series to anybody looking for a drama featuring tragedy, comedy and a bitter-sweet ending which nicely resolved the many questions posed during the story.
I really enjoyed this series, normally I like to take my time watching a series but this time I wanted to watch the next episode as soon as the previous one had finished. The characters were believable and felt far more realistic than most live action characters let alone animated ones. While the main story was sad enough to cause tears these would turn to laughter as soon as Ayu appeared. The animation looks good and all the characters were distinctive, even though I had to read the subtitles to understand what the Japanese voice actors were saying I hear the emotion in their voices. There is a small amount of sex and nudity but it is tastefully handled and did not really feel like fanservice. I would certainly recommend this series to anybody looking for a drama featuring tragedy, comedy and a bitter-sweet ending which nicely resolved the many questions posed during the story.
Cringe af anime tbh
Irishchatter20 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I swear this anime from watching only just episode one and two, is the worst slowest cringest anime I've ever seen. Basically it's about a horny high school guy who is literally paired up with a absolutely cutesy but very irritating and cringy girl who is a middle schooler. I swear, seeing their first and other "dates" were like long nails scratching on a blackboard. I mean I haven't seen a worse date since in anime with Kaneki and Rize in such a while, however Tokyo Ghoul did it better then this anime!
This anime is one of the worst I've ever bumped into tbh...
This anime is one of the worst I've ever bumped into tbh...
Realistic, dramatic portrayals of people at their limits
hidarimaki14 November 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Before I start the review, there are a few things I should clear up involving the biggest stumbling block which many people will have with the series -- its format.
In 'Kimi ga Nozomu Eien', what you get is a single story, involving a small and believable cast of characters, facing circumstances which can only change them. (In other words, not a soap opera.) If you're US raised and approach this series thinking "it's a cartoon", you'll tune in expecting something comparable with other cartoons you've seen. But Disney, The Simpsons, and Saturday morning fare have nothing to do with this. That's assuming that you don't outright dismiss the series before you can fairly judge it.
And if you approach the series thinking "it's Japanese", you might wrongly go in expecting to see plenty of shouted lines, giant robots fighting, and unfamiliar customs. Again, that's not what the series is about.
So why is the series animated in the first place? I don't have an official answer, but my guess is that it's due to the main story already being popular in Japan through the PC game, which already featured characters drawn in an anime (Japanese animation) style. And the people behind the TV series, by my guess, wished to keep the identity of the characters as recognizable as possible.
The series covers 14 half hour episodes, told over a single story arc. Most of the first two episodes may wrongly lead people to believe that the story is a harem series (several cute girls competing for the same guy), but what happens at the end of the second episode is the curve ball which sets the tone of the series. The spoilers I'll include will only cover the events before this curve ball hits.
The main character is Narumi, who at the start of the series is a high school student and is generally a nice guy, slightly irresponsible, and a procrastinator. When his good friend Mizuki introduces him to her friend, the shy but head-over-heels Haruka, it's the start of a new relationship which becomes the crux of the series. As the characters age, they mature over time. They face situations that are sometimes as extreme as they are realistic. They'll show changes which can be extremely marked, but at the same time 100% believable in how they play out. Those who've played the game know that the choices which Narumi makes not only determine which girl he'll end up with, but the impact on the other characters. (In the game, the wrong series of choices can lead to a triple suicide, for example.) When a character hits bottom, it's believable, and understandable. As in real life, not everything is spelled out. Characters sometimes succeed in picking up on cues, and sometimes fail, and their response can determine how others act and react.
In short, I don't watch soaps, and I don't care for most dramas. But this series is so well done that it's one of exactly two Japanese series which not only has me wishing for a US release, but has encouraged me to obtain the Japanese DVDs, despite my not speaking Japanese. If you can track down the fansubs and don't mind subtitles, and have an open mind about anime if you don't already, this is definitely one of the better series out there.
In 'Kimi ga Nozomu Eien', what you get is a single story, involving a small and believable cast of characters, facing circumstances which can only change them. (In other words, not a soap opera.) If you're US raised and approach this series thinking "it's a cartoon", you'll tune in expecting something comparable with other cartoons you've seen. But Disney, The Simpsons, and Saturday morning fare have nothing to do with this. That's assuming that you don't outright dismiss the series before you can fairly judge it.
And if you approach the series thinking "it's Japanese", you might wrongly go in expecting to see plenty of shouted lines, giant robots fighting, and unfamiliar customs. Again, that's not what the series is about.
So why is the series animated in the first place? I don't have an official answer, but my guess is that it's due to the main story already being popular in Japan through the PC game, which already featured characters drawn in an anime (Japanese animation) style. And the people behind the TV series, by my guess, wished to keep the identity of the characters as recognizable as possible.
The series covers 14 half hour episodes, told over a single story arc. Most of the first two episodes may wrongly lead people to believe that the story is a harem series (several cute girls competing for the same guy), but what happens at the end of the second episode is the curve ball which sets the tone of the series. The spoilers I'll include will only cover the events before this curve ball hits.
The main character is Narumi, who at the start of the series is a high school student and is generally a nice guy, slightly irresponsible, and a procrastinator. When his good friend Mizuki introduces him to her friend, the shy but head-over-heels Haruka, it's the start of a new relationship which becomes the crux of the series. As the characters age, they mature over time. They face situations that are sometimes as extreme as they are realistic. They'll show changes which can be extremely marked, but at the same time 100% believable in how they play out. Those who've played the game know that the choices which Narumi makes not only determine which girl he'll end up with, but the impact on the other characters. (In the game, the wrong series of choices can lead to a triple suicide, for example.) When a character hits bottom, it's believable, and understandable. As in real life, not everything is spelled out. Characters sometimes succeed in picking up on cues, and sometimes fail, and their response can determine how others act and react.
In short, I don't watch soaps, and I don't care for most dramas. But this series is so well done that it's one of exactly two Japanese series which not only has me wishing for a US release, but has encouraged me to obtain the Japanese DVDs, despite my not speaking Japanese. If you can track down the fansubs and don't mind subtitles, and have an open mind about anime if you don't already, this is definitely one of the better series out there.
Amazing
dsmalwd16 December 2004
Well, I would easily have to say that this is the best anime that I have ever seen. You name it, this has got it. The characters are superbly done and can be easily envisioned in real live. The animation is smooth, the story is easily comprehensible and not all too confusing. The ending is perfect, and while it wasn't what I was hoping, it still fits and goes smoothly with everything else. The only gripe that I can give about this is that there are 2 sub-characters that are in there for comic relief, but it just seems awkward in a serious anime. But that hardly brings down the show at all.
10/10
10/10
Hmmmmm.....
veggi_chan20 July 2005
This isn't the best anime I've seen to be completely and totally honest. From reading other reviews I had expected it to be full of drama...and it was. Except there was a little bit too much drama. I mean, I saw it all in one go, and that's 7 hours of some pretty full on drama. Once the main plot had settled in, which is by the end of the first episode (if I remember correctly), the characters do carry it along pretty nicely. It definitely has its tear jerking moments, but at the same time it does have moments when I nearly turned it off for being so slow and boring. Shame this is part of a game (as it is part of the publicity pack for a game) because I think that if it was developed without that it mind, it could have been much better thought out and therefore more successful (not in terms of audience size but in terms of captivating the audience's attention). But I suppose you could say that about a lot of anime out there. I know this has seemed like a negative review, but if you can get your hands on this anime, it's definitely one to watch.
How does this soap opera get good reviews?
draendraen13 October 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I had heard from more than one person that this anime was worth watching, for one it was his favourite.
What I found was a soap opera. Nothing more, nothing less. That it was only 13 episodes does not discount this fact, as it seemed to drag on during many of the episodes.
I personally found the characters unrealistic, as well as non-engaging. Admitedly, I tend to prefer more action in an anime, and this was utterly devoid of any (Except when it was used/abused to raise the dramatic 'tension' of the situation).
The art was reasonable, but was too 'chibbi' for seriousness, which took away from it.
The plot was a jumpy (flashbacks etc), and though not hard to follow, did not seem to advance in many of the places. Rather than being told a story, I felt like I was chained to someone's brain, being forced to live their neurotic pain and general wussiness.
If I had to rate it, I would give it a 5/10. But, if you like fluffy animes about real world angst and emolove (and a bit of 'tasteful' hentai for the pervs out there), you probably will enjoy this.
What I found was a soap opera. Nothing more, nothing less. That it was only 13 episodes does not discount this fact, as it seemed to drag on during many of the episodes.
I personally found the characters unrealistic, as well as non-engaging. Admitedly, I tend to prefer more action in an anime, and this was utterly devoid of any (Except when it was used/abused to raise the dramatic 'tension' of the situation).
The art was reasonable, but was too 'chibbi' for seriousness, which took away from it.
The plot was a jumpy (flashbacks etc), and though not hard to follow, did not seem to advance in many of the places. Rather than being told a story, I felt like I was chained to someone's brain, being forced to live their neurotic pain and general wussiness.
If I had to rate it, I would give it a 5/10. But, if you like fluffy animes about real world angst and emolove (and a bit of 'tasteful' hentai for the pervs out there), you probably will enjoy this.
The slowest thing I have ever watched since I watched a golf game in slow motion!
eagleknight9826 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
this anime is, shortly, about a mentally immature male who can hardly make a decision in his life. thus, causing emotional, and physical, damage to the people surrounding him.
i watched this anime with great anticipation, as it is highly rated in most site. Unfortunately, my expectations weren't met.
The story, to begin with, is extremely mushy. The first episode fails to make the viewer eager for more. I actually completed the series 3 months after watching the first episode. Adding to that, the story development is really, really slow and boring at times with excessive drama. It also contains scenes of mild nudity that (although i liked it) were very distracting at times. those short lived scenes did take the platonic flow of the story into an impulsive, and childish behavior. Perhaps i would have enjoyed the anime more if i was 11yrs old!
Nevertheless, this anime is rich with beautiful drawings, and fairly detailed shadowing. Character development was fair, since most characters reached a plateau from 3rd episode on.
The anime is a good attempt to make a nice, normal-being, Japanese cartoon, that made it to the top without the need of superpowers or swords :) and... it has a very satisfying end (and that is rare in anime)
Overall; definitely worth watching. Worth renting, not buying. Not worth watching twice.
i watched this anime with great anticipation, as it is highly rated in most site. Unfortunately, my expectations weren't met.
The story, to begin with, is extremely mushy. The first episode fails to make the viewer eager for more. I actually completed the series 3 months after watching the first episode. Adding to that, the story development is really, really slow and boring at times with excessive drama. It also contains scenes of mild nudity that (although i liked it) were very distracting at times. those short lived scenes did take the platonic flow of the story into an impulsive, and childish behavior. Perhaps i would have enjoyed the anime more if i was 11yrs old!
Nevertheless, this anime is rich with beautiful drawings, and fairly detailed shadowing. Character development was fair, since most characters reached a plateau from 3rd episode on.
The anime is a good attempt to make a nice, normal-being, Japanese cartoon, that made it to the top without the need of superpowers or swords :) and... it has a very satisfying end (and that is rare in anime)
Overall; definitely worth watching. Worth renting, not buying. Not worth watching twice.
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