Kei's Anime Reviews

How can you call this "the best example of an original romantic anime" when you complain about every character except your "favorite red-haired nurse"? Not everyone is as level-headed as you are, asshole.

Come come. Berating somebody for being sensible? I shall stop right there to avoid any chances of flaming and all. Wouldn't want to mar this place.

Anyways, to watch this show after coming off of the last few episodes of This Ugly and Beautiful World is just asking for emotional punishment and then wanting seconds. I deftly enjoyed this drama of a series, but I personally do not know of other romantic animes so I do not have any say on whether it was the best or not. I do know that if an anime drama series can ellicit anger/hatred/concern/etc out of the viewer, then it should rank right up there with other anime drama series.

Here is a little bit of what I think of each of the characters that I can remember. It does not necessarily reflect on the views of others since everyone has their own opinion:

Takayuki: I still think he is such a jerk for pulling everybody around the way he did. Even though, he realized what he has done and he did what he did to rectify the situation which sort of puts him in a better light to me. Even though, Takayuki was very undeciding in many situations and it made me hate him for what he did. It is his fault that he kept Haruka waiting so many times which led to the accident (episode 2 or 3?), but in that case Takayuki knew he had to be there and yet there's that one person that held him up...

Haruka: I cannot help but feel consistently sorry for her throughout the entire series. she never asked for any of this and she loved Takayuki. I felt really saddened that everyone had to lie to her, but that was understandable. Does that really happen with comas?

Mitsuki: If there could ever be an evil character in this series, I place that title to her. So many derrogatory words I want to call her but I cannot bring myself to say them. If she was a real friend of Haruka's, she would have never gotten involved in a relationship with Takayuki while Haruka was in the coma for so long. She frequently crashes at Takayuki's place and she seems to not care about work, messing up on occasion and being out of place.

But there are two things that I have to note that REALLY piss me off about Mitsuki. One, it was her fault for Haruka being involved in the accident and delaying Takayuki longer than he should have been. It was her that made Takayuki forget about Haruka for two years and that was a big no-no, using Takayuki in the depression he was in for a rebound. Two, I KNEW Mitsuki was jealous of Haruka and she disgusied herself in the thinly-veiled "I love you, Takayuki" defense. She wanted Takayuki all for herself and when she saw Haruka/Takayuki, she was irritated. There was a lot of things I would like to point out but she just makes me that angry. Serves her right for screwing things up for herself, the bitch.

Akane: Quite possibly, the only redeeming character in the series in my view. She saw through all the lies that Takayuki and others were throwing around and she told it like it was (watching them deny it made me happy somebody was regulating). The only problem I saw with Akane is in the one episode where she broke the law about "not telling Haruka that it has been three years and this is what happened" but she felt like she had to break it. Other than that, she was a good character. Heck, one-upping Mitsuki in all aspects of swimming makes me laugh. Hard.

Shinji: WTF!? You were quite possibly the other redeeming character next to Akane until you slept with an inebriated Mitsuki! Congratulations; not only do you get an emotionally scarred tramp but your reputation in school and your position with the girl at your school has suddenly dropped. Loser.

Daikuuji and Mayu: I felt they were necessary to break up the emo-like pace of the story. Daikuuji was funny as annoying as she was but she DID play an important role for Takayuki in getting "Mayamaru's Gift" for him when he cannot find it since he was so depressed. What was an interesting bit in that was how Daikuuji wanted to have the oldest print possible. I liked that part since what she wanted externally was for Takayuki to be his normal self again and he was the only one acknowledging her.

Mayu was just the sidekick. Nothing more, but the way she kept following Daikuuji around made me laugh a little.

Motoko (the doctor for Haruka): There is few things that I can really say about her. What I wonder is that if she really followed her own rule about "not telling Haruka that it has been three years and this is what happened", why did she not cut Haruka's hair? That was the first thing that popped into my mind but thinking about it now, I do not think it would make much of a difference although the hair was the first thing that Haruka noticed.

Now that KGNE is over, I just say that it was a wonderful series. Plot, characters, everything seemed to be in syncopation with each other. Now onto breaking that bit of drama up with Akane Maniax!

*The following contains spoilers and is my opinion.

To Tacoboy:

Takayuki did not mean to string along Mitsuki and Haruka for kicks. I am glad that he at least confessed his uncertainty to both of them. It could have been worse. He could have lied to them by saying he certainly loved Mitsuki when talking to her and saying the same for Haruka. The story developed Takayuki's decision to love of the two and why he chose Mitsuki. I think he is a good guy for his honesty.

I'm sure Mitsuki was tempted to get involved with Takayuki all along, but she also valued her friendship with Haruka. After Haruka was injured, Mitsuki probably decided that it was time to make a choice and thus chose to develop her relationship with Takayuki.

You mentioned that Mitsuki was irritated when Takayuki began seeing Haruka more often. I believe that Mitsuki feared that she had made the wrong choice (choosing to confess to Takayuki and being with him instead of maintaining her trust with Haruka) . I have to disagree with your interpretation about "disguising herself in the thinly-veiled 'I love you, Takayuki.'" Mitsuki probably was truly in love with Takayuki and was scared that Takayuki would leave her (Mitsuki).

Akane was someone I liked as well, especially she was honest and was decisive. I believe she brought to Takayuki's attention of who to love (i.e. Mitsuki or Haruka?). Despite her importance to the story, Akane as a character seemed to serve only as a link between Takayuki and Haruka.

Shinji's main function was to be a link between the past and the present. What he did had little effect, if any, to his life. (Recall, if you will, his departure from the story as he chats with a girl whom I think is named Miki.) Mitsuki had already prepared to do the deed with a stranger anyway. Mitsuki's infidelity was probably due to Takayuki's lingering feelings for Haruka. In her defense I must point out that she said "it hurt," which probably meant that she had wanted to forget about Takayuki but couldn't do so.

Daikuuji and Mayu served as comic relief. I don't know why Daikuuji was needed to find a copy of that fairy tale; didn't Takayuki already have a copy? The book was mentioned again for a longer bit this time to gain attention to its story, so I suppose the search for book was helpful in keeping a consistent theme.

Tacoboy, I appreciate your input. I would like to hear more from you. I regret not finding your message sooner. Please leave some sort of contact information if you wish to do so; I will do the same.

Farwest, the reason he needed a new copy is because the one he had with Haruka, after all, was three years old and worn out, therefore had he given it to her, she would have been suspicious as to why it looked so old when it was suuposedly only a while since she looked at it with Takayuki, in good condition.

Haruka was the kindest and purest of them all. She never got angry at Takayuki or blamed him for being late that day (it didn't show in the anime although Takayuki did mention that she would be angry if he's late, which he was. Takayuki was late on many previous occasions too, especially for the date at the festival and although Haruka was worried, she never got angry, despite the fact that Takayuki was hanging out with Mitsuki). In fact, she never asked why Takayuki was late but rather forgave both Takayuki and Mitsuki. At the end, she saw that Takayuki was in a dilemma and lovingly set him free.

Haruka didn't even blame Takayuki or Mitsuki (“I know it’s not Mitsuki’s fault…”) for betraying her, choosing instead to blame herself for not being able to be there for Takayuki ("because I wasn't able to do anything for him for three years"). Sure she got angry at Mitsuki but she's only human and in my opinion, she was angry because she misinterpreted what Mitsuki said.

Mitsuki mentioned "we've already broken up... it's my fault... I... didn't really like 'him' or anything, it's like anyone would have been fine". I think the 'him' Mitsuki meant here was Shinji as Mitsuki seemed rather spaced out and was pondering over what she did which caused the breakup between her and Takayuki she was talking about. Haruka would not have known about the incident and probably thought Mitsuki was taking her (Mitsuki) relationship with Haruka's beloved Takayuki lightly (“didn't really like 'him'”). Mitsuki then continued in a different context stating "its not your (Haruka) fault, .. .., and Takayuki was right there...". Here, Mitsuki is saying that her breakup with Takayuki is not because of Haruka waking up from coma. This also gave Haruka the impression that Mitsuki was not serious about Takayuki, that Mitsuki did not give up Takayuki because of Haruka, and that Mitsuki took advantage of Takayuki's kindness. Mitsuki then jumped context again and said "it's not like I had any feelings for 'him'" with the 'him' here referring back to Shinji.

In my opinion, Haruka took it all in the same context (Haruka would have been in shock and would not have been able to think clearly). Haruka was probably angry that Mitsuki, in her (Mitsuki) moment of weakness took advantage of Haruka's Takayuki's kindness (Mitsuki: "Takayuki was right there") while she was in coma although Mitsuki did not have any feelings for Takayuki (Mitsuki: "it's not like I had any feelings for 'him'"). Haruka was probably thinking "why did Mitsuki have to involve Takayuki if Mitsuki did not have feelings for him. No doubt Takayuki was there because he had nowhere else to go. But why hurt my beloved by breaking up with him after getting him involved".

From a personal viewpoint, the story Haruka finished at the ending is her personal hope. She had already started this story while she was dating Takayuki prior to her accident (when Takayuki visited Haruka’s room, Takayuki said “when that time comes, write a story about us four friends”). “is climbing a hill with all her might” (Akane reading her sister’s story) is probably an allegory of Haruka trying to get close to Takayuki at the beginning of their relationship while “believes that everyone will be friends once again, .. .., once more climbing a large hill with her small body, trying with all her might” represents Haruka struggling to deal with her loss of Takayuki her love (‘once more .. .. large hill’) and Mitsuki her best friend whilst hoping that they can be friends again (Haruka said “I thought we could stay friends no matter what happened…” after Takayuki did not respond to her kiss). Haruka also probably convinced her sister to forgive Mitsuki (at the ending of episode fourteen Akane contributed her swimming achievements to Mitsuki), as I doubt their parents would have told them about what they said to Takayuki.

I believe Takayuki was despondent, torn by grief and pondering over what Haruka's parents said to him prior to Mitsuki's confession. I think what Haruka's parents said (Haruka’s parents: “Please, Narumi-kun, don’t come visit my daughter anymore”) played a major role in Takayuki's initial decision to accept Mitsuki. I’m guessing that Takayuki had once developed feelings for Mitsuki prior to Haruka’s confession (Episode 1 Event 1, Takayuki: “Could it be that she (Mitsuki)… likes me…?”. Episode 1 Event 2, Mitsuki: “You told her okay because you like her, right?” Takayuki: “You don’t understand”. Episode 1 Event 3, Haruka: “Do you like me, Narumi-kun” Takayuki (a.k.a. Narumi): “Sorry… I’m just not sure”). However, he probably suppressed these feelings after finding out from Mitsuki that Haruka was the reason for their friendship and consequently responded to Haruka.

Later, Takayuki was influenced again, this time by Fumio (the assistant at the hospital) to take back Mitsuki ("when someone you take for granted like that disappears... it feels like a big hole is created"). I believe that Takayuki was undecided up to the end of episode 13, when he decided not to enter Haruka's room at night (this is the first point in the story where I find Takayuki's action inconsistent, the second being when Takayuki left Haruka at the seaside and the third when he asked Mitsuki back he said “I won’t see Haruka anymore”. Where did all his kindness and sense of responsibility go? In his kindness, he would have rushed into Haruka's room upon hearing her crying to comfort her, he would not have left Haruka by the seaside, and he would have asked Mitsuki for permission to visit Haruka).

Mitsuki. Perhaps she was initially really honest with helping Haruka (Mitsuki: “If you make her cry, I won’t forgive you”). However, she soon realized that she was also interested in Takayuki (she became depressed during the meeting where Haruka confessed to Takayuki and lost concentration on her swimming while Takayuki was walking Haruka home. Later she confessed, “I’ve always loved you (Takayuki)…”). Mitsuki was half confessing to Takayuki when she first told Takayuki that Haruka was the reason she could hang out with Takayuki and Shinji (Mitsuki: “I completely forgot about my original goal”) and probably felt jealous of Haruka once Takayuki started showing more attention to Haruka (Episode 1: Mitsuki did not want to answer Haruka’s phone call when Haruka wanted to tell her that Takayuki asked her back for a date among a few other things she did prior to Haruka’s accident). In episode twelve, Mitsuki said, “Right now, it feels just like it did back then… You were always taking care of me… right?” while taking care of Takayuki, which indicates that she was once quite close to him. That aside, at the end of episode eleven Mitsuki did not have her handbag with her when she went back to Takayuki’s place but at the start of episode twelve, she has it prior to opening the door. In my opinion, Mitsuki’s colleague was the reason coercing Mitsuki to do what she did.

For Akane, she was not aware of what her parents said to Takayuki that caused Takayuki to stop visiting Haruka. It is her parents’ fault for not telling her which lead to her misunderstanding of the situation between Takayuki and Mitsuki.

Shinji. He had an interest in Mitsuki (episode six, Shinji: “Don’t betray Hayase (a.k.a. Mitsuki)”). However, he should have taken Mitsuki back home after the fight. Thinking about what he did makes one angry. As other reviews state, he even blamed Takayuki for his own actions. Lame.

To summarize, Takayuki and Mitsuki are undoubtedly responsible for Haruka’s accident. However, the parents of Haruka and Akane are the primary cause for the sad ending. Had they not said what they did to Takayuki, he would probably have waited even his entire life for Haruka. Causing such an accident is not something one can ever forget and Takayuki is a person with a great sense of responsibility.

Background (These are my speculations on what happened behind the scenes): Haruka loves Takayuki, tells Mitsuki, Mitsuki gets to know Takayuki for Haruka’s sake, in the process Mitsuki falls for Takayuki but not aware of it, Takayuki develops feelings for Mitsuki, Haruka confesses to Takayuki, Mitsuki becomes aware of her own feelings, …

Takayuki: overwhelming sense of responsibility, lost Haruka
Haruka: kindest and purest, lost both Takayuki and Mitsuki
Mitsuki: lost Haruka

I hope they all eventually clear up matters and become friends again (in Akane Maniax perhaps), like the ending of Haruka’s story.