Kimi ga nozomu eien

[Board of Command]

I loved the show because they sacrificed development for realism. That's just me.

[intense]

i love the show because of the story, the realism was just extra for me.

[Hotsuma]

I just don't get how people think this series is "realistic." I mean, aside from the fact there there's no over the top element present, this series really isn't all that. Everything the characters did felt so pretentious, so obvious and so artificial.

[Kraco]

I thought I had seen the epitome of a useless main character in Tide-Line Blue. Until I saw this series. Man, Takayuki was a real Zombie. He would have made a Haitian voodoo priest proud.

I admit this was technically a very high quality series. However, I agree with Hotsuma: There's no way I could do anything but hate Takayuki. Mitsuki was a really forcibly victimised character and she got all the little sympathy I could possibly get out of myself for this series. Haruka's case was spoilt for me by the fact that when she first time woke up, she apparently just happily sat there on her bed for god knows how long with no interest in the world. Come on... If I woke up from a coma, I would want to know exactly what's going on. And I don't believe anybody wouldn't want. Or maybe it was just that stupid doctor who was smoking inside the hospital...

The best parts of this series, and the only parts I actually really enjoyed, were the restaurant scenes. Those were really good. Well, all in all I don't regret I watched this, but I can't understand why this holds the first place on Animenfo TOP200.

[Ryllharu]

This is gonna be a long one, so I apologize in advance and admire anyone who actually reads the whole damn thing.

There's a couple of reasons why its in the number 1 spot.

People will say, "It's because its so much more realistic than most romance shows." Now, I'm a huge fan of KGNE, but I'm sorry, the coma schtick has been done to hell on live-action dramas/soaps, its not that realistic, and that sort of thing doesn't generally happen. I suppose one could say their reactions are more realistic, but given the situation forced on them, Takayuki's reaction to Haruka's accident was a bit much, to the point of being obsessive. And Mitsuki's final solution to making him better, having sex with him and taking her place, is not the best way to help someone over their grief.

The real factors is how well the series is written. On the most basic level, its only 14 eps. Yet, it crams more developments and plot twists than most 26 eps series, and even a few 52 eps series. When Haruka confessed to Takayuki, I honestly thought the first eps was over, because that's a point where series like this usually end at. I checked the time remaining and was shocked to find only a third of it was over. Until the last few eps, each eps feels like you're watching 3, just because so much happens in a single eps. Think back to how quickly Haruka's and Takayuki's relationship came to fruition, it's all in two eps, but fully developed.

<u>The accident</u>: I've said this situation isn't that realistic, and its true, its not something that really happens in real life with any sort of frequency that will result in this kind of drama. The interesting factor, is who is to blame for what happens to Haruka. On one side, we can blame Mitsuki. She fell for Takayuki while doing a favor for her friend, and while she asks for a birthday present, and expensive ring at that (not to mention the symbolism of the ring itself, and do we even know if it was really her birthday?) She delayed him, and as a result, Haruka's out. There's a lot more to this portion of Mitsuki's character, but some is obvious enough and the rest takes more time to get into than necessary.

At the same time, we can blame Takayuki. Sure, he was just being a good friend to Mitsuki and buying her a birthday present, but he was already very late, and he could have easily just have said that he'd meet up with her later and not be swayed by her. And again, its a ring! That is not the kind of gift you give to someone who's just a friend.

<u>Mitsuki:</u> It is important to note first, that Takayuki thought Mitsuki was going to confess to him in the first eps. Obviously, throughout the series, Mitsuki blames herself for Haruka's accident. But Takayuki also blames himself without ever considering Mitsuki to be at fault. She knows she delayed him on their date that resulted in Haruka's accident. When Haruka wakes up, and their relationship begins to rekindle (I'll get into how stupid Takayuki is later) Mitsuki starts to lose it a little. She loves Takayuki, and doesn't want to lose him. After Haruka wakes up, you get the impression she feels as if she stole him from her best friend, and she takes that out on herself. In her mind, she's just getting what she deserved for separating them. Even if it's not true at all, its those thoughts that hurt her the most. All the feelings from three years ago begin to boil back up. No one says anything about this to each other, and that's what's important. That silence is the cause to all of the problems.

<u>Haruka</u>: She was in a coma for 3 years. To her, and all coma victims, it could have been minutes, hours, or days. No one expects they've been gone for years. That shock can bring a lot problems, which is why the doctor puts so much effort into keeping them all quiet. Some coma victims get told immediately, and there are no problems, but its a risk.

The importance of Haruka is all surrounded by the two picture books featured in the series. Her story is the same as the elf book, the one she wanted to get so badly before all the drama began. She explains the plot of the story in the final eps, and a lot of things finally click into place. Quite obviously, she parallels the elf in the story. Due to her coma and the accident, she was stuck in time and like the elf, was left behind. Everyone's feelings moved on. Takayuki (until she woke up) had gotten over his depression and was beginning his life with Mitsuki. Mitsuki stopped blaming herself for the accident and worked over her problems by helping Takayuki out of his grief. But when she wakes up, everyone's feelings are forced back into three years ago. Takayuki falls into grief breifly, and then tries to rekindle his relationship with Haruka, who still believes it's only be a very short amount of time. Mitsuki suffers from what I listed above. As Haruka recovers, she begins to see that everything is not as it should be. Her best friend never visits (because she feels too guilty about the accident and stealing Takayuki), and her boyfriend is affectionate, but in an odd way. Akane sees everyone suffering, breaks down and accuses Haruka of dragging everyone back into the past, and Haruka falls back into a coma. When she wakes up again, she eventually sees that she no longer fits with the present, and tells Takayuki the story, allowing him to move on.

The second book, her own, details how she and the others will eventually get over the issues that rose from her accident, coma, and subsquent reawakening. The rabbit gets over the hill by trying really really hard. Its not easy, just as Haruka overcoming her grief at falling out of the present and losing her love, as seen breifly in Akane Maniax, and as Takayuki and Mitsuki must learn to get over their own self inflicted blame.

<u>Akane</u>: I don't really need to get into this because Akane Maniax does a very good job explaining the end of it in the last eps. Basically, Akane liked Takayuki as an onii-chan after her approval of him and desperately wanted him as part of her family. Due to the accident, she saw how much Haruka's condition was hurting Takayuki (as did her parents), and there arose a little resentment, that would later blossom when Haruka finds out she's been in a 3 year coma. She hates Mitsuki, a sempai she admired more than anything, for stealing her sister's boyfriend. In that she is torn throughout the series. She really admired Mitsuki (which she later says at the end of the final eps) but was conflicted by her hatred at her stealing Takayuki (even though she and he were really just expressing feeling that had been their before Haruka's confession).

She resents Takayuki, for switching girls so quickly. Then during the beach scene outside the hospital, she gets conflicted with her hatred at him, and her old feelings that she wanted him as a brother. That develops into something deeper, which is detailed in Akane Maniax.

<u>Takayuki</u>: No need to explain. Everyone agrees. He's an idiot. Thankfully in some other series I watched (namely SHUFFLE!) the protagonist realizes how much he's hurting the girls by not choosing among them, and makes his decision thoughtfully and throughly. Takyuki never does, and that's the problem. This is also addressed in a parody during Akane Maniax, so I don't really need to get into it, he's an idiot.

Who doesn't love MayuMayu and AyuAyu? The cute, clumsy girl who brings a little happiness to every scene she's in and the loud, abusive, and rude girl who can never get fired because her father owns the chain. (Daikuuji = Sky Temple, its implied on purpose).

That's my long analysis of the series. If you actually read it, congrats and thanks. Those complex and twisted character dynamics are what makes this so great a series. The plot, isn't that great, or original, but it doesn't need to be. It's the facets of the characters, and how they are conflicted in the same way Takayuki is over which girl to choose that make this series what it is.

[Kraco]

A very accurate analysis (I actually read all of it). I don't basically disagree, but unfortunately very few series can afford a totally useless and hateful main character. Maybe it's realistic; it goes without saying that among the 6 billion people on Earth, there are lots and lots of Takayukis. However, personally I don't see why they needed such a person as the main character for a fictional story. Worshipping some interpretation of realism isn't going to make any series excellent above others. I think this series could have worked also with a main character eliciting at least a little sympathy. If the Takayuki character had been better (and plot fine tuned accordingly), I would have probably liked this series a lot.