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RUMBLING HEARTS (VOL. 2) [ADVANCE REVIEW] |
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Sunday, 28 January 2007 |
 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 4:3 FULL FRAME | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH DD 5.1 & 2.0 AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 125 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV 14 | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 02/06/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/29/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | HOLLY ELLINGWOOD |
In the penultimate volume of this short series, relationships and mental states are pushed to the edge as Takayuki maintains the façade of his relationship with the amnesiac Haruka while his real relationship with Mitsuki is put through further strain. As he spends more time with his recovering ex-girlfriend, his old feelings resurface. Mitsuki feels she is losing the man she loves and the stress is unbearable. Meanwhile Haruka’s younger sister is suffering from the stress of the façade as well. As each is pushed to the breaking point, pivotal actions will occur, hearts will find each other while others will break. And Haruka’s memories may just be starting to come back right when everything is falling apart…
A soap opera anime, Rumbling Hearts brings out all the angst it can in high melodramatic fashion. This is not a show that goes for the laughs. It finds the anguish and stays with it. Haruka at first seems happy, but as doubts begin to occur to her, reality begins to reassert itself on her for potentially disastrous results. All the people in this seem to be suffering on some level. After a tragic car accident that left Haruka in a coma for three years, she wakes up with no memory of the time passed and thinks Takayuki is still her boyfriend. But in that time, Mitsuki, who had long kept her feelings for Takayuki buried, has grown closer to him over the years and they are together now. For the sake of Haruka’s recovery, Takayuki has chosen to keep up the façade of being her boyfriend but it seems to the detriment of everyone else. When his feelings begin to change, it has repercussion not just for Mitsuki, but for all of them.
Although at first this show seems to avoid taking sides in this love triangle, by the end of the second volume Takayuki appears as a rather unsympathetic character; more so than any of the others. It’s his indecisiveness that is causing Mitsuki so much pain and stressing out Haruka’s concerned sister. His behavior towards Mitsuki becomes down right cold and even cruel towards the end of this volume as he shuts her out emotionally and physically. Mitsuki has every right to be concerned over losing him when his behavior is so obviously off. Her concerns and internalizing her pain may bring her to the brink of something terrible. By the end of the volume the lives of each of the girls is on the line one way or the other.
There’re also a very odd outburst by one of the characters that is pivotal to what happens next, but at the same time seems out of the blue. The character had no reason to suddenly do that and under the circumstances it is quite unbelievable the she would since it would mean risking the life of the person most precious to her. That’s all I can say without giving away the story point, because it is a crucial one. These kinds of inconsistencies with the characters or lack of good reason for their destructive behavior at times is a flaw in the overall story. However, if you’re a big fan of soap operas this is definitely the anime for you. It has the love relationship complexities you would only find in such a drama. For a bit of comedic respite, the omake at the end of each episode with Ayu and Mayu (Takayuki’s co-workers) are amusing.
The animation is well done with appealing character designs. Like shoujo type shows, this has skies of pure azure, fluffy white clouds, light colors to please the eye. The music follows the same tone with lighter music of a ballad type and the occasional dramatic score to go along with the themes in each scene as the story grows more tense as it nears the climax.
EXTRAS:
Bonus features include clean opening and ending animation as well as previews of other FUNImation titles.
IN SUMMARY:
Rumbling Hearts is a high melodramatic anime about a love triangle gone wrong. |
