[Categories: Manga Reviews]
Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) volume #3
In the end, something’s gotta give. When two straight-A students neglect their studies to spend time together, it’s only a matter of time before the school notices. The higher you are, the further there is to fall - the top of the class is a long way up!
It’s hardly surprising that Yukino and Souichiro were pulled up to explain what was going on with their grades - I guess it never occured to them that, to stay at the top, they couldn’t afford to let it slip - after all, studying is second nature to them so they’d never given it a second thought before now. The inevitable confrontation tellingly showed Souichiro to be the one to not only take the initiative and speak out, but to be pretty rational and articulate about it. As for Yukino…I suspect she might have been a bit more indignant if she’d spoken first but in all honesty both of them made a good case in a mature fashion for kids of their age.
It’s once again credit to Tsuda’s writing that we effectively see both sides of the argument: the two of them have for the first time broken their spotless academinc records just for a bit of happiness but on the other hand, the teacher is not acting out of malice but out of concern for his brightest students who are at a critical time of their lives. It’s all thought-provoking and all, but the real fun starts when their parents are asked for their opinions - I recall being really surprised at their response the first time I saw it (that being the animated adaptation) and that feeling is still strong in print.
It’s a bit of a backwards way of looking at this series perhaps, but I couldn’t help but compare the manga with the TV - one or two screencaps I took for the TV’s review of this stage in the story look pretty much identical to Tsuda’s artwork. To put it another way, those who, like me, got into the story from the adaptation and not the original will still find the comedy and drama conveyed exactly how they remember it.
This series really can be funny at times, though. For the most part it’s sentimental and touching (although Yukino’s “I’m being true to myself now” inner monologue is getting a bit repetitive since we were introduced to it way back in the first volume), it can be really comical on occasion. Some of this comes from the awkwardness that still exists between the young couple and some of it comes from Yukino’s down-to-earth and almost eccentric parents.
That’s more or less everything that happens in this volume: we won’t meet the irrepressible Tsubasa until the next volume (I think) but at least Maho is introduced here. Yukino’s resolve to be herself in the face of the archetypal Scheming Class Bitch is tested but for now holds strong - iirc Maho turns out to be a really cool character after a while but we can love to hate her in the meantime!
Posted on September 26th, 2007 @ 11:41 pm
i finally found and dl all the volumes of the manga. so im going to rewatch the anime to ep 16, and then go from there to the manga.
Posted on September 27th, 2007 @ 11:15 pm
@Kauldron26: the anime and manga seem to stick quite closely together at this point in the series but the fun will really start when I begin reading past the point where the anime ended. I might miss things like the vibrancy of the animation or Sagisu’s soundtrack, but at least there will be a decent ending! The anime only really falls apart in the last couple of episodes.