AnimeNfo

[JamieMadrox (#134271)]

 Happy ending? (Spoilers)

[Shinka (#128364)]

Actually, the guy (sorry, cant recall the names, sucky memory) ended up with the girl I was rooting for from the beggining, and to be honest, I dont think it has a sad ending, quite the contrary, for such a depressing story, it had a good and happy ending, in my opinion. The accidented girl moved on, found someone else and got married, got her book published, her sister is a champion swimmer, and
GAME SPOILER

[Zeta Aspect (#108644)]

The key idea here, Shinka, is that that's in your opinion. If you consider the viewpoint of the people rooting for Haruka x Takayuki, then it should be easy to see why the show is sad. Especially if any of said people are hopeless romantics who believe in the idea of a "one true love" and assigned it to that pairing. And even worse still if said person watched the English dub, in which it seems that Mitsuki comes across as a far less sympathetic character.

All three of the points I mentioned above applied to me. And I'll tell you that that ending left me pretty depressed, granted, even so, they moved on, which is a positive aspect, but such is life (See Note). After all, this isn't a certain other infamous anime based on an equally notorious h-game that will remain unnamed.

(Note: Actually, this "moving on" can be one of the most depressing things about life. Nothing is sacred or eternal, and everything fades away with time. Makoto Shinkai excels at portraying that.)

[Shinka (#128364)]

Actually, I didnt thought of that. I was rooting for Mitsuki from the very begging, so it was quite a a good ending to me XD.
You have to bare in mind that, I belive it was in the first episode, when Mitsuki asked Takayuki to go to the tree, he was, apparently, hoping it was Mitsuki the one he'd meet there, not Haruka.
In the end, I still belive that its not all that of an unhappy ending cause everyone got what they wanted, even if it meant suffering so much in between, but thats life, god it sucks to be alive.... Well, leaving emoness aside, like you said Zeta, its also about moving on, and I agree entirely with you on regards of Makoto Shinkai, bastard.... XD


P.S: I think I'm just mumbling crap... dont mind me
P.S2: I think I dont make much sense in this post, besides repeating myself....

[JamieMadrox (#134271)]

I guess your right, it depends who you wanted to see end up together. At first I thought Mitsuki, but Haruka seemed so genuine and innocent and could have deserved him also. Its hard to say.

Still an awesome series, onto AZUMANGA epsiode 1!! (yes im a little behind in classic series lol)

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

Well, I've said this before a long time ago.

Happy ending. Just a shitty journey to that ending. It's like a 2-week drive through Hell in a Hyundai just to get to Disneyland Florida.

Narumi doesn't deserve Mitsuki, after what he put her through, but if she's happy with that, so be it.

[Last Exile (#35342)]

110% agree with Ken. Honestly...how Mitsuki didn't lose it over the hell she went through. But then that's what makes her so likeable. She is the strong/respectable one of the three. Her happiness was the only thing that mattered to me in the end.

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

[Zeta Aspect (#108644)]

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

[Veleon (#124559)]

I thought it ended happily. Happier than it would've had he picked Haruka. Just look at how the OVA is going

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

Was there an OVA?

[Veleon (#124559)]

There is one currently airing.

Episode one and two have been released. Episode 3, which is the last one, is going to be aired June 25th. It will be two episodes in length. I don't know if it will be two separate episodes or one big one.

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

Thanks Veleon.

Looks like it's going to be a long wait before I get to see it released commercially in Singapore, if at all. What with all the trouble Odex is gong through now. Good for them. They deserved it anyway.

In any case, there was an old thread I remember talking about whether it was a good idea to do a sequel to KGNE. I totally opposed the idea. Why not leave it at where it ended.

[Veleon (#124559)]

The OVA is based on Haruka's ending in the game. It completely different form the original series. It isn't a sequal at all. More like an alternate reality.

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

[Last Exile (#35342)]

I don't like the concept of the alternate ending for this. So Mitsuki threw away her swimming career, her independence, her happiness and some of her sanity to make Takayuki come back form the brink. And then he chooses the person he was told to forget and who has no consideration for Mitsuki at all and is being fuelled by that immature little bitch Akane?! I don't think so...That would push Mistuki over the edge. I'd smash that bastard if he did that.

Face the facts - the point of the series is you can only be kind in a close way to ONE PERSON. Otherwise you end up hurting everyone. Takayuki is an idiot because he tries to be good to both. Sure, he may have good intentions but he's being a bastard to Mitsuki and making Haruka live a lie. Furthermore, Haruka's parents have got some nerve to ask him to spend all his time helping Haruka when he's with Mitsuki. And that little bitch Akane...man, she really makes things so bad for everyone. Someone should have slapped her and knocked some common sense into her. 'Ohhhh, don't dump my sister who might never wake up from her coma, don't move on, don't stop degenerating. OMG, damn you to hell, Mitsuki, for taking Takayuki away even though it's the only sane thing to do and he had the right to move on!' Man, harden up, Akane.

What made me like this series? The fact that after all the extreme agony, Takayuki finally grew a spine, brain and some balls, cut off ties with Haruka and gave Mistuki the happiness she finally deserved. In a weird way, enduring all that hell forms such a strong bond between the two that it gives it so much gravity and depth, it's very fulfilling. Certainly that hell has dampened Mitsuki's spirit and outlook on life somewhat and Takayuki's future isn't that super since he didn't finish high school. But if they could overcome all that they did, things like that won't stop them. They know that it won't be a comfortable life and that things will be dark sometimes, but that they can get through it. That kind of ending gives a realist like me some pause and ultimately hope.

[Veleon (#124559)]

You know, I completely agree. Maybe with a little less profanities but none the less I agree 100%.

[DarkCntry (#45489)]

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

@DarkCntry

Wow! Enlightening post! I'm now very interested in the OVA.

Coming back to my point on the English dub. Maybe the exact words of the dialogue weresn't such a great departure with the original. But the tone of voice makes a big difference to me. I grew up watching anime in the original Japanese dialogue, so I'm familiar with they way they speak (on TV). I'm not a native English speaker though and I have not had the opportunity to spend a lot of time among Americans (whom I believe did the dub) and so I am not quite comfortable with the way they speak. I understand them, literally, because I can make out the words they say perfectly, but I think I miss out on the subtleness most times.

I wonder if it'll be totally different again if we had an Australian dub cast, because I'm more familiar with the Australian accent.

[Last Exile (#35342)]

DC, my comments were about the original series....not the OVA. I haven't seen the OVA. I kind of think it was blatantly obvious my comments were about the original series, I don't see how you thought I was talking about the OVA.

So...grats on spoiling the whole OVA for me? You could have at least tagged/warned me....

On some of your points...(which I am spoiler tagging because this thread was meant to be spoiler-proof only for the original series. No one mentioned anything about the OVA perior to you)

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

[Last Exile (#35342)]

Oh, don't get me wrong. Ken. Narumi is the one I really despise. My point has always been Mistuki's happiness was paramount for me. If Narumi picking himself out of oblivion and healing her heart and being her support was her happiness, then I am for that.

If he stuffed it up, I was ready to curse him with cancer and AIDS to oblivion, with a nice bullet wound to the stomach in his final hour. My beef with Akane was that she was such an immature brat. That's chicken feed comapred to what Narumi invokes.

And a humble thank you, kind sir, for your appreciation.

[DarkCntry (#45489)]

[Last Exile (#35342)]

Okay rebuttal:

1. I get they did that for Haruka for her mental state. How does that justify putting Mitsuki through hell? Helping one person yet hurting the other. If you make a choice to go with one person, stick with it. But as you say, Takayuki tried to please everyone. That is the trait of someone with low self-esteem and who doesn't value themselves. Which makes me despise him so much more. If you're going to be that hard on yourself, don't bring other people down with you!

2. I get that Akane flet that Mitsuki took away Takayuki from her sister. I just don't care. Did she expect him to wait for the rest of his life? It's not his fault. Assigning blame when something like that happens is pointless and only makes things worse.

3. The lie wasn't justified. Lying only makes things worse in the long run.

4. For Takayuki to have to hurt Mitsuki that much to understand her shows how immature he really was. Even more immature than Akane imo.

5. Yeah why do they make visual novel guys wimps in anime? So freaking annoying.

6. Mitsuki changed in personality, manner, behaviour. A person going from an optimist to a realist that's virtually in contast pain is a major change imo.

7. Well, Takayuki did change at the end.

8. How is change being related to an event leading to a lifelong change is persona not change...

9. I respect your tastes but like I said - I only watched this through for Mitsuki.

[Zeta Aspect (#108644)]

Oh. My. God...I leave for a couple of days, and there's a post-fest. Not to mention an intelligent one! In a topic with which I'm not unfamiliar! Maybe I should leave more often...

Insofar as the intelligent discussion between Last and DC goes, I will pretty much stay out of it, especially because I seem to have practically watched an entirely different show. I will, however, comment on a few things that suit my fancy.

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

[Zeta Aspect (#108644)]

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

[Last Exile (#35342)]

Exactly, Ken. That is the point I've been trying to make. Narumi was with Mitsuki. He just can't go and give all his time and energy to another woman yet still expect Mitsuki to bear both their burdens. If you are in an intimate relationship with someone else, they are your #1 priority. You are supposed to put THEIR feelings ahead of YOURS. If you can't do that, you're either not an adult or you don't actually love that person. Love is about placing someone ahead of yourself on several levels. But you can only do that to one person. If you do it to more than one, despite your intentions, you will hurt them all.

The reason I am fine with the ending of the original series is Mitsuki couldn't be happy alone. In order to handle the pain and hardship that comes with life, she needed someone to be the result to justify her efforts being valid and to be her support. When Narumi finally got that, he was able to be mature about his feelings and life and be the support that Mitsuki needed. Because until the last episode, he wasn't a support for Mitsuki. She was for him. It wasn't reciprocal. But in the end it became reciprocal. That allowed their relationship to be a mature one worthy of love. That allowed Mitsuki to be happy. That is why I liked that ending.

[Endless (#134320)]

I used to think KGNE's ending sort of sucked, and kept on trying to think of another way that I wanted it to end, but couldn't think of any other way myself. There's no way you could expect Narumi to just drop Mitsuki and continue whatever he had with Haruka. Mitsuki did a lot for him, and was there for him when he was an emotional wreck. You can take her actions in multiple ways: 1) She was being selfish and took the opportunity to finally express her feelings (keep in mind, would you bottle your feelings up and never express them if you were in her situation?). or 2) She was there for a friend she cared dearly for and helped him through the hard times that had befallen him. There are probably more possibilities, but these are the two that come to mind at the moment.

The only way I think now that the ending could have been better, is if they showed more of what happened once they hooked up and continued on with the manga or whatever.

P.S. This ending is seems more "realistic" in the terms that he moved on and didn't "wait" for Haruka to wake up and somehow keep those feelings when he had Mitsuki there the whole time that he liked from the very start. I guess there has to be some mixture of "realistic" and "unrealistic" actions/events in animes which determine how likable people will portray them to be.

[Zeta Aspect (#108644)]

[beating dead horse]

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

[Last Exile (#35342)]

Actually, he can blame the genre in general. Guys from series that originated from dating-sim/ero games are stupid by default.

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

Yeah, Narumi was just playing in character. If this was a RPG and I was the DM, he'd get bonus xp for playing in character, however revolting that character may be.

[Ask me (#113174)]

I know it’s been almost a year since the last post, but I have just re watched KGNE and wanted to contribute a little to the thread.

The first time I watched this anime was about 3 years ago, in fact this past week is probably the first time I have seen any anime for over 2 years. I say this because I had very different interpretations of the anime upon each viewing.

The first time through I was 100% behind Haruka being the one who needed Takayuki’s love more, whilst wishing Mitsuki the pain of a thousand swords for what she did. However, on the second viewing I could not believe how I could possibly hate (more like detest) Mitsuki. In fact I think Mitsuki truly is the saving grace of the show for me now.

Now that I look back, I truly am shocked that I couldn’t see Mitsuki’s pain and suffering throughout the show upon my first viewing. I only felt sympathy for Haruka and Takayuki. Now, I think Takayuki is a complete moron for doing what he did to everyone (especially Mitsuki). Since I have had both polar opposite viewpoints as some of the people in this thread I thought it might be interesting to see why there would be such a discrepancy.

Well to start off, I think one reason for my mindset in the beginning was that I had never been in a serious relationship up to that point (numerous flings don’t count). This is important because I think you need to experience what love really is before you can even begin to pass judgment on the relationship mindset of others, because love really does make you do crazy things that you would never think of doing.

Upon viewing a second time I could clearly see Mitsuki’s pain. She started out secretly having a crush on Takayuki in high school, yet instead allowed Haruka her chance at happiness. Mitsuki figured this was for the best anyway, since if it weren’t for Haruka liking Takayuki, she wouldn’t have even gotten to know Takayuki… never mind fall for him. But this is a story of typical high school crushes, and most of us know these crushes rarely lead to much other than experiences.

What really cemented Mitsuki love for Takayuki was her devotion to the much wreaked Takayuki, which I initially and incorrectly thought was an act of selfishness. I initially felt that Mitsuki was trying to “steal” Takayuki’s love from Haruka... how naïve I was. I probably thought this way because I was extremely sympathetic to Haruka’s accident (which is obviously normal) but I completely hoped for this majestic and fairytale-like story between them to come true. I was basically in the mindset of a confused teen that was a step too far outside of reality. Now it’s not to say that it is unrealistic for anyone to wait for the person they love to regain consciousness after an accident... but it was clear (at least to me) that Takayuki was only going out with Haruka for the benefit of pleasing both girls. I don’t think he truly loved Haruka, at least not at the time of the accident; maybe he would have if given more time though. Instead he felt it was his responsibility for not being there on time to prevent the accident and fell into great depression for this.

However, even if we suppose he truly did love Haruka and delved into a state of depression (not just because he felt responsible, but also because he loved her) Mitsuki was there to pick up the pieces. After a period of time Takayuki realized this and “began” to fall in love with Mitsuki (in both scenarios). Mitsuki showed love and warmth to someone at there weakest and most vulnerable times – a very admirable trait. She dedicated so much of her time to help “cure” Takayuki, whist knowing she was betraying Haruka. She knew she had to betray her in order to save Takayuki – there was no way to please both parties. Now were there thoughts of her wanting to have Takayuki to herself? Damn right there where... she loved him too. The real question is why is she not allowed to express her love to Takayuki? It is not like she had an agenda to disrupt Haruka’s happiness. She just wanted Takayuki to be happy and genuinely felt she can do that for him while being happy herself. I can’t see anything wrong with that.

It was ultimately up to Takayuki as to decide who he loved. He loved Mitsuki after she saved him (or did he? I personally don’t think he did) – but that’s what he said anyway. After Haruka woke up he was stuck in a dilemma that could have been avoided if he truly loved Mitsuki. He dragged out both girls’ love for him in his quest to please both – this is just plain stupid. His indecisiveness was sickening, showing that he probably didn’t love Mitsuki as much as he said or thought he did.

When you love someone, you put them first... always. Sure there is absolutely nothing wrong with helping Haruka with the circumstances at hand, but doing so at the expense of your loved one is really sickening. Takayuki basically forced every ounce of patience out of a Mitsuki while doing his moronic “please everyone” spiel. Mitsuki, like any normal person, wanted a direct answer from him as to where his love lies. And rightfully so since she has done so much for him, expressed her love fully over the years, and been there for him when no one else was... doing all that under the false pretenses that Takayuki also loved her in return would hurt anyone.

Mitsuki eventually realized that Takayuki was indecisive and that his love for her wasn’t as strong as hers for him. Despite that, she couldn’t just give up on the person she loved without a straight answer... since there was still a glimmer of hope Takayuki really did love her and she wasn’t some backup for Haruka. But you can only wait so long before you heart gives up. I am just glad Mitsuki finally found happiness, even if it was with an undeserving Takayuki. But time can change people, just as in the real world, which makes me happy for the outcome for the anime.

Now the funny thing is that this could have all been prevented if Takayuki just explained to Mitsuki what he had to do (ie help Haruka and see her everyday) – i.e. to ease her mind. But I guess this all comes down to the typical Asian (esp. Japanese) mindset. As one poster said, it is a way that they feel they HAVE to act. If you see it from that point of view, then it is possible for Takayuki to have sympathy from me (just a little that is). Still it is in no way rational that anyone can treat the person they love like that, and if you think it is then I’m sad to say that you have never truly loved someone.

As for seeing things from Haruka’s POV, it is plain as day that it is unfortunate and devastating for her to loose HER love like that. But you cannot blame Mitsuki for this as Takayuki has his own will power to decide who he loves.

Takayuki only ended up hurting everyone with his drama teen indecisiveness – he is essentially the real a-hole of the show. This indecisiveness was much more painful (as the anime shows) than just telling someone the truth... aka you don’t love them (Haruka). Blaming Mitsuki for stealing Takayuki’s love from Haruka is like saying she may not love him, it is just pure nonsense.

Well I think I got my point across. Hopefully those who once thought like me can re watch this anime in a more mature light. I just thought it was interesting to talk about the differences between the topics discussed in this thread. And I apologize for any rambling that might (and probably has) gone on in this post.

Any further discussion on this topic is welcomed.

Whew… now I can go eat

[Ken Hayashi (#52012)]

Nice post there. I normally frown upon thread revivals but I think I'll let it slide this time. That post of yours was very informative and a good read.

Yes, me having had experience being in a relationship, I could sympathize with Mitsuki right away.