[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) episodes 1-6: Hideaki Anno is back in the Director’s chair at last
I’ll be adding a full series review for the main site in due course but a volume-by-volume journal will be helpful for writing it up and it’s made such an impression on me I can’t help but share! ^_^
Kare Kano (a.k.a. His and Her Circumstances) is the first series Hideaki Anno directed after the storm of publicity that surrounded the Evangelion TV series and feature films. I’ll openly admit to being a massive fan of the stuff that’s come from the creative minds of this guy and his Studio Gainax colleagues but I was curious to see how they’d go about doing a simple and straightforward show that’s devoid of giant robots, invading aliens, or even a love triangle. At first glance this adaptation of Masami Tsuda’s manga series sounds like an ordinary high school romance story. But of course, this is Anno we’re talking about here…
Meet Yukino and Arima. Yukino (left) is the perfect student: intelligent, cute, popular and successful. What her friends don’t realise is that she is living a lie. Her ‘top of the class’ persona is a facade for loneliness, insecurity and an overwhelming desire to be admired and praised by those around her. Then she meets Arima (right). He too is good looking, intelligent and popular…and his grades have bested her own. Yukino immediately swears hatred to this student who appears to be superior to her in every way…until she starts to realise she’s falling in love with him…
For the above reasons I was unsure what to expect from Kare Kano. The visuals took me by surprise for a start: unlike the clean smoothness of FLCL the drawing style is very 1990s and gives it an almost retro appearance. Indeed, there are numerous moments of cost cutting - it is made for TV after all. At the same time there are plot devices that I can only decribe as ‘Anno-isms’: unusual colours, animated sequences and viewpoints. The opening credit sequence (with a delightfully uplifting Jpop tune) is full of strange drawing/painting techniques and the closing credits include odd live action shots that are different for every episode.
There is quite a lot of silly, cartoonish comedy too (above) which nevertheless somehow strikes a good balance with the really tender and heartfelt moments; one of the most amazing things about Kare Kano is that it has the beautiful and the downright daft sitting side-by-side. Enough of the artistic side for now - I’ll move onto what really matters in this show: the characters and story.
At first I felt a mixture of dislike and sympathy for Yukino - the dishonest way in which she goes about life is shameful but thanks to her first encounters with Arima she learns the error of her ways and goes through some deep soul-searching and realises the importance of being true to herself (Anno-ism #1). It also becomes clear that Arima has his secrets too, and we soon see how both are nowhere near as happy with who they are as they try to make out. This is all building up to two inescapable facts: Yukino and Arima are made for each other, but the path of true love is not going to run at all smoothly!
All this is only touching on the various situations and events that surround our young couple; a lot happens in these first six episodes. In summary Kare Kano has everything to make it a great high school romantic drama: In terms of storyline not a lot happens in actuality but its greatest strength is that the two central characters are fundamentally likeable, pleasant people who deserve each other in every sense. Add to this some inventive direction that works more effectively than it could ever be expected to and the result is the sweetest, most engaging animated romance show I’ve ever had the fortune to see.
Leave a Reply