Kimi ga Nozomu Eien - Haruka Route

Title:Kimi ga Nozomu Eien - Haruka Route
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien: Next Season OVA
君が望む永遠 "遙ルート"
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: ASAI Kiyomi
KURIBAYASHI Minami
MIZUHASHI Kaori
TAKAHASHI Chiaki
TANIYAMA Kishou
Let's assume the last two episodes of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien never happened...
After three years’ coma, Suzumiya Haruka comes to, but time has deprived her of important things - one of it being her best friend Mitsuki who has left the town the day when Haruka left the hospital. But her boyfriend Narumi Takayuki devotes himself to her despite being busy at work, making everyone envious of how much Haruka is loved. Wrestling with her doubts and fears and still haunted by nightmares of that dreadful accident, Haruka suddenly makes a perplexing suggestion...

[OVA, 2007/08, 4 episodes, 29 min; Animation by Brains Base.]
0:15min Commercial Video - YouTube Video
1:41min Series Opening - YouTube Video
[edit] The ↗KGNE franchise:
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Rent 8 8 8 8 9 9 Dreamer [series:1725#2279]
I watched the series and didn't think it was too impressive. It was just an "ok" series for me. However, I still wanted to see a bit more of the story so I grabbed this one. It was pretty good and actually did more to impressive me than the series.

Art, Animation & Character Designs
Artwork definitely is an improvement over the series. We have nice lighting effects, rich colors and a bit more details. Character designs seemed to have improved a bit as well.

Music
Although the OP wasn't too bad (a nice rock-pop piece), it somehow didn't quite fit. It seemed a bit too strong for the pace of the story. The soundtrack had more or less the same style as the series. We have pianos, violens and similar, all composed in such a way to bring out the emotions. Good stuff really. The ED was similar to the OP but less dramatic and actually seemed to fit a bit better.

Series and Episode Story
The previous series was quite melodramatic and emotionally charged. Here it's not as so much. In this one, we focus on the aftermath of that fateful day (accident). Our characters seem more mature or adult, thus adding more realism to the plot. We get a number of surprising revelations and development, which makes the OVAs far more interesting in my opinion than the previous series.

However, one of things that I thought was slightly overdone was the flashbacks. I think the story could still work well without so many of them.

Overall, it's an excellent compliment to the series. We get a different side to some parts of the plot as well as see further developments in our cast of characters. Nice.

Last updated Tuesday, November 16 2010. Created Tuesday, November 16 2010.
Buy 9 8 9 7 9 9 Ggultra2764 [series:1725#1552]
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien first caught my interest three years ago and it's still the best dating sim spinoff title I've seen to date. To my surprise, it wasn't until just recently I learned of this spinoff OAV being made in 2007 and 2008. As you can see from the title, this series depicts an alternate scenario for the series of Takayuki choosing to get back together with Haruka after she recovers from her coma.

Unlike the TV series, drama isn't as heavy with this OAV except for some surprising plot twists at some points of the series. There is greater focus on the maturity of the circle of four friends as they move on with their lives and accept the mistakes they made during and after Haruka's coma. The series even commits focus on Akane as she learns to accept the changing mentalities of the four. Only issue I had with the plotting was the return of the irritating waitresses that Takayuki worked with.

Artwork and character designs had enough color and detail for me to marvel over. There was nothing noteworthy that stood out for me with the animation. The weakest area of the OAV for me was the music. The OP and ED choices didn't fit the mood of this series for me and the ED was even intrusive towards the ending of each episode.

Despite my issues with the music and the waitresses, I enjoyed this new adaptation of the Kiminozo storyline. Retaining the believable focus on plot and characters from the TV series, this OAV met my expectations very well.

Last updated Saturday, February 07 2009. Created Saturday, February 07 2009.
Buy 8 8 7 7 8 7 Xenoknight [series:1725#2967]
After dropping this OVA for a century and a half it seems, they finally decided to finish it. I can't hope to remeber the first three eps so it looks like I have to start over...

watching again to refresh my memories... 3 eps watched...

with the recap done, this is where it left off two years ago... final review soon...

Ep 1: Haruka and the main lead finally meet again and they spend an enormous amount of time together (he was smothering her). She realizes that he is living his life entirely for her sake and she doesn't want that for him. She breaks up with him (!) to free him of the burden of living only through her. Heart-felt ep...

Ep 2: Mitsuki pours out her soul as she explains and recaps the backstory of the original title with the new "OVA" spin on it. Though this ep was just a recap, it was a great refresher/reminder of the sheer magnitude of the story last time around with all the drama and depression (not for the faint of heart). The main lead decides to use this opening to become a man worthy of Haruka. Dramatic yet refreshing recap...

Ep 3: Akane plays her role in all this and she can't understand why the main lead and Haruka are aren't spending time together anymore. Spinning a world of confusion, she decides to hunt for the truth from everyone. The main lead tells her the reasons behind their recent behavior and it serves to confuse her even more. As she tries to deal with the issue, she remembers a fight with Mitsuki and that she finally understands what Mitsuki was talking about that day as Akane discovers her true feelings for a certain someone. She faces Haruka that night determined to learn the truth (at least for her own sake) and the talk doesn't have a favorable outcome (here we go again...). On a positive note, we get to see the waitresses again and I was laughing to see they are still used as the "essential" comedic-relief the doctor ordered for this title. Depressing ep with a side order of comedic-relief...

Ep 4: done

Check out my award list to see some of the best anime titles in the world!

Never forget Xenosaga.

Last updated Tuesday, February 24 2009. Created Friday, December 05 2008.
Buy 9 9 9 7 8 9 Devil Doll [series:1725#752]
[Score: 84% = "Buy-"; similar alternate game path extensions: Clannad Mouhitosu no Sekai Tomoyo Hen, Da Capo If]

First things first: In the KGNE game (which all anime of this franchise are based upon) Takayuki (the player's role) had a chance to get together with any girl of the staff, be that Haruka's sister Akane or one of the hospital nurses. Unlike the TV series, the prequel to this OVA is the "Haruka route" of the game, so this OVA is not just a sequel of the series, it's an alternate reality.

And it's a very different tale now, with less drama (but wait, it's coming when you least expect it...) and a lot of long monologues providing insight into the lead characters' thoughts. All characters have matured since the original series, and it's interesting to see the differences. As such this is actually a "next season" of sorts, despite the important deviations from the series' storyline.
Downgrade for Music because of the abrupt ending of the ED song in all episodes (making you believe the disk were broken); one bonus point for Episode Story because of the powerful cliffhangers at the end of episodes 1 and 3 (which make waiting several months for the next episode release a real pain).

If you're able to get used to this OVA's premise then it will definitely tell you an interesting and serious story (as such being completely different from Akane Maniax even though Akane plays an important role once again), using a consistent narration style this time. Having gotten accustomed to those waitresses by now (they still cost "Episode Story" one point...) I ended up giving this OVA the same rating as the original series, a minimum "Buy-".

Last updated Sunday, August 29 2010. Created Thursday, December 27 2007.
Unevaluated Forbin [series:1725#1573]
This is just plain WRONG.

What did the whole previous series mean? Absolutely NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last updated Thursday, December 27 2007. Created Thursday, December 27 2007.

Other Sites
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Official Site for KGNE ~Next Season~ http://www.kiminozo.jp/

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