▪	RELEASED BY:		FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		4:3 FULL SCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH DD 5.1 / 2.0 AND  JAPANESE DD 2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		350 MIN
		▪	RATING:		TV14
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		08/14/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		09/25/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		DAVEY C. JONES

SYNOPSIS:
Meet four high school friends: Haruka, Takayuki, Mitsuki, and Shinji. Life's promise shines brightly on them until an accident leaves Haruka in a coma. Her boyfriend, Takayuki, can't forgive himself, and seems determined to follow Haruka into a comatose state. Mitsuki dedicates her life to taking care of the tragic young man, and the pair fall into a relationship floundering in guilt.

When Haruka awakens after three years, everyone must pretend no time has passed. Torn between his unhappy real-life relationship with Mitsuki and the daydream high school romance with Haruka, Takayuki feels the tiny silver lining left in his life being mercilessly and methodically stripped away.


REVIEW:
That synopsis does little to prepare you for the psychologically bent piece of soap opera this anime is. It gushes with angst. You won’t believe your eyes or ears and you won’t be able to tear yourself away!

So hears the skinny - Mitsuki wanted Takayuki and has been in love with him for half of forever. But her best friend Haruka falls for the guy and she gets him! Since Haruka is a sweet lil softie, the equally nice and sweet Mitsuki keeps quiet about her true feelings and instead supports her friend despite how Mitsuki really fells. Now that’s loyalty. But here comes the pain:  Takayuki is kinda falling for Mitsuki a little secretly himself. And one big tragic day, a freakish accident sees Mitsuki in a coma and Takayuki and Mitsuki weighing in on which of them feels guiltier. We still haven’t reached the 12 out of 10 on the angst meter in this story yet! Next, 3 years pass. In that time, Mitsuki and Takayuki get it on. They have an intense relationship that is always clouded by the guilt they both feel over loving each other. Then Haruka wakes up and she can’t handle knowing all that time has passed, so everyone has to pretend they’re back in high school and that Takayuki and Haruka are still a couple! Oy! Now it starts to weigh in with the mega angst. But it gets worse…

So then you have Mitsuki having to watch her lover of 3 years being lovey dovey with Haruka. Man, that’s gotta tear a person up! So what does she do? One of the worst things she could – she starts sleeping with Takayuki’s buddy Shinji. Tsk, tsk! Someone then (and I won’t say who!) blabs to Haruka the truth, that 3 years have passed and she needs to deal. Her reaction? She falls back into a coma! Cripes. Now everyone is slathered in misery and self-blame, they’re all drowning in guilt and things get even worse! Whoa!

Mitsuki makes a harsh choice, Haruka has got to come to grips somehow if she wakes up again, and Takayuki has gotta get off that fence and decide which girl he really wants. You’ll get sucked into this super angsty soap opera driven show to find out how the heck it all works out.  And I gotta admit the ending got me misty. I felt a lump in my throat. But dang these people have got to be the closest I’ve ever seen anime characters approach Jerry Springer status! I mean you’ve got Mitsuki suffering pretty much non-stop the entire series what with the guilt, the blaming herself and the way Takayuki has been yanking her around. The girls are both totally sympathetic. You feel bad for them. But Takayuki is gutless. That guy just yo-yo’s and waffles around. Be a man! Make a choice.

These messed up guys and gals (especially the gals) are made ultra pretty by the super gorgeous animation. The scenes are really nicely done and the scenes are something else. Beautiful character designs and being so well animated just makes the anime that much harder to tear yourself away from.

EXTRAS:
Bonus goodies include textless opening and ending animation as well as previews of other FUNimation titles. The three discs are collected in a sturdy and glossy art box.

IN SUMMARY:
Rumbling Hearts is pure angst driven soap opera with gorgeous animation.