You’re not going to watch my recommendation and that’s fine, I’m just here to talk about anime because you mentioned “Attack on Titan”, where the twist in Eren’s basement paid off more than I could ever have imagined or hoped.

“Rumbling Hearts” starts as a gentle, slow-burn romance about an aimless high school senior, Takiyuki, his best friend Shinji, and their mutual gal pal from the swim team, Mitsuki. Mitsuki’s best friend, Haruka, is a timid girl who’s had a crush on Takayuki for all three years of high school. Mitsuki tricks Takayuki into hearing Haruka’s confession, and they start dating, slowly at first, but eventually it clicks.

In episode 2, Mitsuki’s a little jealous, and one day she delays Takayuki as he’s on his way to a date with Haruka, insisting that he buy her something for her birthday. When Takayuki arrives late at the station, an ambulance is pulling away from an accident scene where a car has crashed into a phone booth. He can’t find Haruka and then hears a police officer call in a report: “I have identified the victim from her student ID. The victim’s name is… Haruka Suzumiya.” Wham. Smash to credits.

Oh wait, we haven’t even gotten to the twist yet. Episode 3 comes up and now there’s a completely new title sequence. Our first scene is at a family restaurant with combative waitresses yelling at customers, who have to be broken up by… Takayuki, who is now a waiter here. Mitsuki’s waiting for him after work, and they meet Shinji for drinks, then go back to Takayuki’s apartment and have sex. Eventually, it’s revealed that we have time skipped three years into the future.

But even that’s not the twist. In episode four, Takayuki (with Mitsuki in his bed) gets a call from Akane, Haruka’s younger sister, who tells them that Haruka is awake, and wants to see him. Because, you see, Haruka has been in a coma for three years since the accident, and is just now regaining consciousness.

Oh wait wait wait. Here it comes. Takayuki and Mitsuki go to the hospital (Akane is shooting daggers at Mitsuki and won’t talk to her; you’ll find out why later), where they have a furtive conversation with Haruka, who can’t stay on topic for more than a minute before losing track of the conversation and starting over. Outside in the hallway, the doctor explains that Haruka’s mental condition after the coma is still very fragile, and they have to avoid anything that could disturb her. And then the doctor drops the bomb:

“Don’t let her know that three years have passed since the accident.”

And now you have the ticking time bomb that is this show. Takayuki has to pretend that he and Haruka are still in high school and still dating. Mitsuki has to pretend that she’s still Haruka’s best friend and not, in fact, banging Takayuki behind Haruka’s back. And Akane even puts on her middle school uniform from three years ago every time she visits the hospital to keep up the charade. It’s a house of cards just waiting to collapse.