Forum - View topicREVIEW: Rumbling Hearts DVD 3
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Himalayus
 Posts: 27 Location: Oregon |
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I had to write this review while tiptoeing around the spoiler issue of its ending, and those restrictions chafed a bit, so I decided to vent here where I can use those nifty spoiler tags.
spoiler[When speaking of viewers for whom this volume will be “more bitter than sweet” I was in fact referring to myself. While I started this series as a Mitsuki fan, her meltdown began to sour me on her a little (despite the fact that that mix of strength and vulnerability is usually something I really like in a character). Which left me wide open for conversion over to the Haruka camp. And her attempts to deal with her situation did exactly that. Then she got the shaft. The power of that moment, as she reads that long-lost book to Takayuki and they part forever, is so wrenching that it is unlikely that I will ever watch this again (as usual, I invest emotionally far, far too much in my entertainment; this exact thing happened with Maison Ikkoku). This of course isn’t a criticism (rather, it is a recommendation), but I definitely (oh, immature me) felt betrayed after being made to back Haruka so strongly.] That the series is in reality one giant false dichotomy also still bothers me, though it is something that I eventually put aside given the dichotomy’s importance to the show’s overall impact (and the mastery with which the show convinces that there really are only two choices available). Nevertheless, that there are only two choices—make a life with Mitsuki or make a life with Haruka—has as much to do with reality as the conventions of harem comedies do, and it indicates a certain lack of narrative maturity and complexity that prevents it from achieving the heights of things like Honey and Clover and Maison Ikkoku. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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Maybe if the series did decently, Funi will license the remake which will follow the other girl's route of the game (how do I know? Well, the title kind of gives that away). There are other routes as well, like Akane, one of the nurses, and the two waitresses but I think its safe to say we won't see those routes animated.
Btw, your reveiw does kind of reveal who Takayuki chooses. |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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Was the children's book at the end translated after all? I watched it with the Japanese angle and forgot that Funi often uses the alternate angle feature. Fortunately the all Hiragana book is fairly simple to understand and the pages stay up just long enough for me to follow what's going on.
I'm in Mitsuki's camp from the start to the end. It just fascinates me how well they balanced the two since I've seen solid fans, and converts for both Haruka and Mitsuki. I think Haruka might have a few more backers, and I think the tipping point would be what Mitsuki does at the ending of DVD 2. Besides that point I really feel sorry for her since she devotes so much of her life in taking care of Takayuki. There is something about this devotion and loyalty (reminds me of Kagero in Basilisk) that I find really moving. She spent so much time caring and living Takayuki compared to the brief time Haruka dated him. spoiler[I would have felt horrible if Takayuki ended up with Haruka ] I wonder what the breakdown for the two girls would be amongst the audience. My initial guess is that Haruka will get more support from young romantic idealists out there. Mitsuki would get more votes from the older jaded realists out there. I would believe that more girls would favor Mitsuki over Haruka, but might be completely wrong. I would also imagine that the Japanese audience would have a higher ratio of Haruka fans since their character polls seem to favor quiet "otonashi" type girls compared to fans from the States. |
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ChrisBeveridge
Posts: 162 |
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Unfortunately, no, it is not. FUNimation is usually bad about on screen text but they blew it completely by not providing a translation for this. |
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Askman
Posts: 59 |
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The one thing that annoye dme about the DVD was that the storybook was not translated at the end. Besides that, I thought the show and last DVd was absolutely fantastic.
I unfortunately ahd neither to root for, since an angry forum member spoiled the ending for me before I started watching it (he was an angry elitist). spoiler[Even though I knew who would be chosen, it was especially clear by 12 or 13 that Mitsuki would be chosen.]. I loved this series fromb beginning to end, overall 
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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We all know that the only way to go for Takayuki is the hotness that is Suzumiya Akane! 
But anyway, while much of the scenario and the events in the series did in fact feel a bit fabricated and unrealistic, rationally I still can't see it as being as something that isn't fully capable of occuring to any young group of friends in real life - save spoiler[Haruka's being incredibly slow to notice that 3 years has passed already]. Sometimes it indeed does feel like a harem - "It's either you or you" - but remembering the sequence of events that happened throughout the series, a logical series of events led to what I thought was a legitimate reason to be torn between the two which escapes the "harem effect". Haruka's accident couldn't be helped, and spoiler[with the others still having to lead their own lives they proceeded to do so, with Mitsuki coming to realization with her true feelings like any real life teenager might] the internal struggle within Takayuki could easily happen to anyone in real life, and while obviously overdramatized a bit (as all dramas basically are), I thought the series mostly depicted a very realistic and difficult situtation for a group of realistic young people. So, aside from the fluffy typical bishoujo game character designs and Haruka's slowness, I thought that Kiminozo was fully on par in terms of realism with, say, H&C (haven't seen Maison Ikkoku).
Same. In fact, spoiler[I would have been very irritated if Takayuki had not chosen Mitsuki in the end, seeing as how she sacrificed so much for him, and Haruka has done next to nothing aside from sitting in the hospital bed calling for him.] |
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lhernan02
Posts: 196 |
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I'll add my vote for Mitsuki, and I do fall into Randall's Mitsuki demographic (the old jaded ones, not the female ones).
But I would like to add another angle spoiler[I don't think Taka ever really loved Haruka, he spent way too much time with Mitsuki to the point of being late to his dates with Haruka. It was one of these delays that caused Haruka's accident. Had he been there on time she would not have been caught in the accident. So I think it was guilt that kept him "faithful" to Haruka for as long as it did. Had she not gotten into the accident, he would have broken up with her and taken up with Mitsuki by episode 5 at the latest. ] Anyway that is my theory. On a side note, did anybody else find Taka the most annoying character in the series. I was overjoyed when spoiler[ Shinji beat the crap out of him, by not even trying to act Taka was cruel beyond acceptance, he deserved the beating and more]. All around a great series for all the reasons listed, it felt far more natural (even the forced portions seemed possible) than most slice of life dramas. |
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I completely agree with you on this. Although the second part of spoiler[if there was no accident Takayuki would end up with Mitsuki is sound speculation. I believe the first half is hard to deny. During my first (only) viewing I thought Takayuki has his heart set on Mitsuki from the point where he buys her that ring.] I think most of us here will agree that Takayuki is an idiot. I'm actually a little surprised that either girl would put up with him.[/spoiler] |
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Himalayus
Posts: 27 Location: Oregon |
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Damn. And I tried so hard too... On the subject of the untranslated book at the ending, a translation of some sort would have been nice (though intrusive), but I found the point of the sequence to be communicated with perfect clarity simply via the pictures and spoken portions, so I don't feel badly burned. And for the record, I do more or less fall into Randall's Haruka demographic. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6901 Location: Kazune City |
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 -- basically, if the fansubs managed to do it, why couldn't the pros find some way to do the same, especially considering that other DVD releases by other companies have managed to effectively translate equal or greater amounts of onscreen text?
Now, on to the show itself...
Just finished watching Vol. 3, listening to the English dub this time. Once again, Rumbling Hearts took me on a fierce emotional rollercoaster, with impact only slightly diminished in knowing the ending. Actually, there were even scenes powerful enough that they slipped out of my mind, like Haruka spoiler[heard through the door of her room, shouting at the top of her lungs "Move, dammit, Move! They're my legs, so why won't they move?] Though on second watching, a strange thing happened...the first time, I was firmly in the camp of people spoiler[disappointed and saddened that Takayuki and Haruka parted ways in the end.] But going through it again, I started to see some of the value of the other girl and the reasons he wound up with her in the end. I'm usually spoiler[ a hopeless romantic when it comes to anime, which is why I supported Haruka on first viewing, but maybe my more jaded/realistic views that I approach real life with seeped into my mind this time.] And for the record, I do agree that Takayuki was never the brightest crayon in the box, but he's not that bad when compared to most anime lead males. Maybe it's the fault of the H-Game origins...your character can't be too decisive, or else the gamepaths of girls to uh..."relate with" would become too limited too quickly. Other than the storybook issue and the paltry extras, I did generally like Funimation's release, and I'm grateful they licensed a series that must have been something of a risk. While I still don't consider myself a dub-lover, I was impressed by the work done in RH, especially the female characters as Carl noted in the review. Still, that untranslated text bothers me, and makes me worried about Funimation's upcoming School Rumble releases. After all, SR has a lot of text, in-jokes, and other cultural intricacies, or so I've seen in the first six episodes. I'd almost say that Funi should stick to robot-vampires-from-space series from GONZO (and the latest widescreening of fullscreen series) as opposed to text-laden, culturally-dense dramas and comedies. That would play more into Funimation's strong points and avoid its weaknesses. (major edit: added period at the end of last sentence  )
Last edited by Zalis116 on Sat Apr 07, 2007 2:03 am; edited 1 time in total |
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euri-jjin
Posts: 3 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea and Bristol UK |
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i think this anime is the best i have seen..
i saw it last year in January ..it was reaally good. best character : Haruka Suzumiya and Akane : Worst charactor : Hayase Mitsuki< < real ****** |
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Saiyo_Chan
 Posts: 72 Location: U.S |
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When I first heard of this anime, and saw the bland-average character designs, and heard the basic plot, I really thought it would be a run-of-the-mill shojo romance, but your review has convinced me to check it out. Especially the dub - I'll most likely watch it in Japanese as well, but a really good dub that can actually hold the emotional weight of a heavy drama...well, that's pretty rare. Plus, the fact that it's only 3 cheap discs....I think I'll take the risk of feeling bitter at the finish line.
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bonbonsrus
 Posts: 1537 Location: Michigan, USA |
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I finished this yesterday evening and have tried to avoid reading much about this before I did as I didn't want to risk spoiling any of it for myself.
I am glad to see other peeved at the lack of translations for the storybook at the end. Is there anywhere to view this? I can't read a bit of Japanese, so it was completely lost on me. Frankly I was happy with the ending. I felt satisfied and if the other choice had been made, I would have felt betrayed. I loved feeling bad for everyone in this series, even Shinji, who was hardly part of this story, and yet the scenes with him were so powerful for such little presence in the show, I thought it spoke well for the emotional punch this show has. Takayuki was my least favorite character, although I understand how him being this way made the show the way it was. I fell for the red-headed nurse however, with the mole under her eye, I thought she was beautiful. spoiler[Make me an avy of her and have my undying love and gratitude! ] I will have to rewatch now to catch her name, I never did. When I rewatch, I will watch dubbed as that got good remarks as well.
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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As far as sub-characters go I liked Mitsuki's coworker and found her patience with Mitsuki very heartwarming. I like it in the end where they cut to a shot of her spoiler[with the divorce papers which I found symbolic of life progressing which seemed to be the main theme of the series. Things change and we must learn to adapt to survive.]
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18459 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Had this one sitting around all week while attending to other matters, but once I finally sat down and watched it today I had to finish it out in one sitting. I skipped reading the spoilers earlier in the thread, so I honestly wasn't sure which way Takiyuki was going to go - not the norm at all for me when it comes to romantic series. I was a slight bit disappointed that spoiler[Haruka let him off so easily] but otherwise the ending felt right. It maybe overly soap operaish, but this is a story that really worked for me. I especially liked the scene at the very end where spoiler[Mitsuki is crying over the newspaper articles about the swimming records Akane set.] Thought that was a very telling moment, given what happened over the course of the series.
And I, too, was really annoyed that the storybook text wasn't translated. It was clearly intended to be read. Hardly the first time that's happened in an anime (remember Voices of a Distant Star and the untranslated text messages in the dub?), but that doesn't let them off the hook. If I were playing the game version of this, though, I would have gone for Akane.
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