A solid teen romantic drama, Rumbling Hearts starts with a simple 12th-grade love triangle: gentle Haruka is crazy for Takayuki, so her best friend Mitsuki arranges for the pair to get together despite having feelings for Takayuki herself. Love quickly blooms, but Takayuki's world shatters when Haruka goes into a coma after being hit by a car. Over the course of three years, Takayuki and Mitsuki slowly relinquish their high school dreams and face reality as Takayuki struggles with self-destructive impulses while Mitsuki provides emotional and, eventually, romantic support. When Haruka suddenly awakens in a fragile state of mind, however, the pair pretend that no time has passed…with dire consequences for their relationship. In the end, whom will Takayuki choose? The 14-episode Rumbling Hearts, which initially aired from 2003-04, is a better-than-average adaptation of a video game series, with protagonists who are flawed but sympathetic. Presented in a dual language three-disc set (the English dub takes liberties with a few important pieces of dialogue), rated TV-14 (for nudity and sexual situations), Rumbling Hearts will appeal to those romantics who know that the course of true love never runs smoothly. Recommended. Aud: P. (L. Martincik)
Rumbling Hearts: The Complete Series
(2004) 3 discs. 330 min. DVD: $29.98. Funimation (avail. from most distributors). ISBN: 1-4210-1360-6. Volume 23, Issue 6
Rumbling Hearts: The Complete Series
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