Rumbling Hearts

Full Title: Rumbling Hearts
Genres: Drama, Romance, Tragedy
Episodes: 14
Uploaded By: Penad8
My Age Rating: MA (Language, Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Sexual Themes)

Takayuki Narumi is a friendly and quite popular high school student who hangs out with three really good friends (two girls and Shinji, his best friend) who are all almost inseparable from each other. Little does he know that the two girls of the group have a crush on him. Mitsuki, feeling sorry for the timid other girl, allows Haruka (the other girl) to date him first thinking that the relationship would be short, and then he'd be freed up for her to be with. Much to her surprise and disappointment, the unlikely pair she encouraged to be together soon develop a full-on romance for each other, and a lasting (maybe lifelong) relationship seems to be in the works. That is until freak car accident where Haruka is put into a coma, and Takayuki, having witnessed the bloodstained sidewalks where the car struck her, is thrown into a deep depression...

This anime is a fascinating watch to say the least. The love triangle it puts together is the best in any anime I have ever seen... period. The tension near the end is almost unbearable, and the conclusion is fitting. The problem with this kind of anime is, well, it may be too good for its own good. You will inevitably find yourself connecting to either one of the two girls and begin mentally rooting for her to be the one that wins his heart, but if your girl loses (as mine did...) well... its devastating enough to lessen the appeal of the anime. It was only after reflecting on it that I realized how good this series really is, cause let's face it, while I was watching I was far too caught up in the story to take notes on animation and such.

Fear not however, production-wise this anime is top notch. The animation sequences are smooth. The opening theme section and ending credits are both well done, and the music is incredible. The voice acting is usually dead on, which is very hard to do with such complicated characters. (It is obvious a lot of budget went into this, more than necessary, but I'm not complaining.) Because there is nudity, I would not recommend this to younger viewers. If you're over the age of 18, and don't despise good romance drama, you should definitely check this one out, it's darned near perfect. (The minus 1.3 points mostly comes from Takayuki's annoying co-workers.)

My Rating: 8.7/10 (Excellent)