Entre elle et lui

The way its animated reminds me of post man pat cause its quite old and gives me that vibe.

Kareshi Kanojo no Jiyou, or Kare Kano for short, is a great series. It tells the story of a pair of high school students, Yukino and Arima, two over-achievers who finally loosen up when they meet each other. The series details the ups and downs that they have in their new relationship as it blossoms into romance.

The show alternates between comedy and drama, with the art style alternating to fit the situation. The balance of extreme comedy and drama is wonderful. It shows how life can be deadly serious one moment and undeniably absurd the next. This is a show that no one should miss.

P.S.: To fans of the film My Neighbor Totoro, be sure to watch episode 11. It's got a hilarious gag you don't want to miss!

I first heard of Kareshi Kanojo no Jijoo when I was looking at Gainax's website after watching the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. It was their next big project after Neon Genesis and after being blown away with that series, I had to see about this next one.

I instantly fell in love with the series, watching it completely through until its sad first and last season run. I felt a bit empty after watching the series and ending with too many open ends. The manga cheered me up, though, buying every tankoubon of the series for only 3 bucks a piece.

There are summaries about the series already, so let me just make my statement on why I fell in love with the series.

It didn't base itself off of the never-obtaining-love plots that saturate American TV shows, such as Gilmore Girls, Friends, Good Morning, Miami, etc. The show gives wonderful depth as to first loves and how relationships build, rather than collapse, like most shows.

My fiance and I enjoyed sitting down and watching this series together because of its honesty and cuteness. Watching the warmth of a first kiss, the first time one holds hands... its very endearing.

I would recommend this to those Shoujo lovers out there, but I would say stay away to fanboys.

After "His and her circumstances" Hideaki Anno has become one of my 2-3 favorite anime directors, and also one of my favorite directors generally. I am still a little uneasy for claiming his anime "Fushigi no Umi no Nadia" is only good, but "Shin Seiki Evangelin" is still my 2nd favorite anime. Anno just simply knows how to connect the styles of Jean-Luc Godard and Steven Spielberg: he is artistic, deep and innovative, but at the same time amusing and light, captivating also a wide audience. I can't wait to find his live action movie "Cutey Honey" somewhere on DVD!

What is "His and her" about? Well, it's a drama/comedy/romance series centering over 2 teenagers falling in love, Yukino and Arima. Yukino is a brilliant character: at home she is wearing glasses and ugly jogging suit, but at school she is COMPLETELY different. She wears contact lenses and classy school uniform to present herself as a perfect, handsome student. When Arima ( I loved his voice in English ) becomes no.1 on the list of best students and she only no.2 she get's furious! But later on they fall in love.

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The directing style is brilliant. If Golden Globes and Oscars would be giving awards to anime TV series, Anno would have surely won one for this. It's truly art to make something out of nothing, and boy, some scenes here are classic. For example, the pilot episode. When Yukino is asking herself how do other people see her she is shown walking together with some girls who are praising her- and in the background the subtitles are saying: "Public approval". When Arima asks her what her favorite music is she is saying Brahms and Mozart, but her "ghost" from her face is saying the truth to the audience: rock 'n 'roll! The intercourse sequence between them in episode 18 ( which is presented in symbolic pictures like glowing spots uniting in the dark ) is pure poetry! Be sure not to miss it!

Still, as much as I love it, I have to admit that Anno failed me on 2 things. One is a minor point: the animation is a yo-yo, full of caricature design that's a little too goofy sometimes. The other one is a major point: the open ( unfinished ) ending. I am so sad that they didn't end this properly because the story was still continuing in the Manga. And I'm afraid there wont be a sequel to this. "His and her" is in my top 10 anime list. It's currently no.3. If it weren't for the awful end, it may have truly been my no.1. But still, it's story about the first love between Yukino and Arima is more beautiful than my first love ever was.

Grade: 8/10

His and Her Circumstances was one of the finest pieces of anime I have ever seen, its definitely among my favourites with Fruits Basket and Inital D.

The story centers on over-achiever Yukinon, loved by all for her looks, intelligence and all around niceness...well thats not the Yukinon we the viewers we see, it is all an act to be loved, thats all she cares about is being loved by people (oh and raking in the dough), she doesn't care how hard she has to work to hide her somewhat crazy side haha. That is until she meets Arima...equal to her in looks and intelligence...but something dark lurks within Arima.

The love story is developed beautifully, and the sidekicks are hilarious as well, including Yukinon's family and Arima's best friend (can't remember his name) and Tsubasa is so evil and cute haha.

The only thing that lets this anime down is the ending or lack thereof...it never concludes and all viewers are left hanging for more. Apparently there was an argument between the writers of the anime and the creator of the manga or something.

9/10