[Categories: Manga Reviews]
Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) volume #2
“I stop but I stare too much/afraid that I care too much/and I hardly dare to touch/for fear that the spell may be broken…”
This is where it all goes official as Yukino and Souichiro are a couple now…but they hardly get time to see each other due to school commitments! There are some great comedy moments with everyone flying around to get festival arrangements finalised and so on, but the main impression is that the two of them aren’t used to being a couple yet. They still exhibit the nervousness and insecurity - Yukino is so afraid to tell Souichiro her feelings that she can’t do it through words alone. This gives what is to my mind the volume’s best scene in which she shows him by a simple gesture; putting to an end her selfish notion of protecting her own feelings.
With that important development sorted out their relationship goes into the awkward ‘first date’ phase, during which we also meet the irrepressible Hideaki. This unscrupulous ladies’ man is a great character in terms of comedy and providing something of a catalyst for the progression of the Yukino/Souchiro relationship; Yukino hates him initially but after they settle their differences (along with Souchiro coming to blows with him as well at one point: when asked what he sees in her, Souchiro retorts with spelling out her genuine affection for him in contrast to Hideaki’s using of Souichiro for furthering his own social standing. Great stuff) the friendship between the three of them is cemented. Let the good times roll as they say.
What I especially enjoyed about this volume is how, in successive scenes, the thoughts of Yukino and Souchiro are shown to run parallel as they assess the ways in which the new state of affairs affects their feelings for each other and their opinions of themselves. It’s brilliant character observation on the part of manga-ka Tsuda but is hilarious as well: for instance, as Yukino thinks “am I good enough for him?” Souichiro is simultaneously thinking “am I good enough for her?” That’s right, even when the two of them are beating themselves up over their insecurities and fears, they are doing so in perfect harmony! If they aren’t kindred spirits, I don’t know who is.
As before, the detailed inner monologues and painstaking portrayals of every thought, spoken phrase or meaningful glance is captured with bright humour and heartfelt feeling; the page layouts still propel the story effortlessly with a nice short chapter Under the Cherry Trees which provides an insightful peek into Souchiro’s head when he first met Yukino. There are sakura blossoms and bishies aplenty here but when the emotions of both sexes are shown with such attention to detail even I am still utterly absorbed. This is ‘realistic fiction’ (thanks to Mike from AnimeDiet for bringing the term to my attention) at its tear-jerking, laugh-out-loud best. Aww. <3
This post’s lyric quote is from a hit 1990 album from a UK band; the song title itself is a neat summing-up of this series as a whole actually. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply