[Editorials]

Valentine’s Day post: zoom lens love vs. wide angle romance

Posted by Martin  [Tags: ABC, Kare Kano, Makoto Shinkai, Random thoughts, Saikano, True Tears]

The mission, should I choose to accept it: write a Valentines Day post without taking the Holden Caulfield-esque stance that I take towards most things IRL. I didn’t want to limit myself to a True Tears follow-up post so tried to make a list of romance anime I’m familiar enough with to write about; this didn’t get very far either. It did throw up an observation that I found interesting though: my limited experience of romance anime seems to show two main approaches which, in keeping with the anime blogging tradition of inventing new descriptive terms, I’ve decided to call zoom lens and wide-angle lens storytelling. Yeah, I know categorising things can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings but I had to call them something.

Cutest. Couple. Ever.

[6 Comments]

[Manga Reviews]

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) volume #3

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Kare Kano]

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!

[2 Comments]

[Manga Reviews]

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) volume #2

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Kare Kano]

“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.

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[Manga Reviews]

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) volume #1

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Kare Kano]

As you may be aware, the animated series of His and Her Circumstances (or Kare Kano to its fans) is one of my all-time favourites. My only criticism was the sudden ending, which will hopefully be solved by reading Masame Tsuda’s original manga - at twenty-one volumes in length though, I’m in for the long haul! Hopefully I’ll be able to give accurate impressions of the series without falling into fanboy rave territory.

[3 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) episodes 22-26: Final thoughts

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Gainax, Hideaki Anno, Kare Kano]

“…and that’s the script for episode 26.”

All: “Noooes!”

Okay, I’ll be serious about this.

As the series reaches its final phase the whole school is a hive of activity in the run-up to the culture-fest and there is more than enough worry, angst and stress to go around. Arima still has uncertainties concerning his relationship with Yukino; a dilemma not helped by the fact that she has much in common with Tomani and as a result gets on very well with him. Arima in contrast is suffering from the hectic study/festival preparations schedule and is wracked with guilt for feeling jealous over the friendship they share. Can Tomani realise before it’s too late? Meanwhile, the play that Aya is writing could well be cancelled: can the girls learn their lines, find a practice space and get it onto the stage?

All in all it’s setting up for an edge-of-the-seat finale where characters old and new clash at the end of term and the whole situation gets some closure. At least that’s what I was hoping. Unfortunately the age-old Gainax Ending throws it all into chaos and everything that has built up to this point begins to fall apart. There isn’t really an ‘ending’ to speak of at all as a matter of fact: it just feels incomplete.

[1 Comment]

[Anime Reviews]

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) episodes 17-21: Words of faith and devotion

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Gainax, Hideaki Anno, Kare Kano]

The focus of the series shifts back towards the Yukino/Arima relationship once more as Yukino spends the remainder of her summer break soul-searching and analysing her own feelings. Soon it is time for an emotional reunion for them both, just in time for an hectic new semester featuring an old face coming back to haunt Tsubaki. As if this wasn’t enough for them to worry about, the upcoming culture-fest promises yet more demands on their time and energy, but with the possibility of free lecture notes for the lucky winners…

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[Anime Reviews]

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) episodes 12-16: Looking back and looking around

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Gainax, Hideaki Anno, Kare Kano]

Arima has left for the National Kendo Championships so Yukino is left at home and decides to while away her time studying and hanging around with her friends. Tsubasa (the cute but bratty little classmate from the last volume) is having trouble at home however: her dad is remarrying and Tsubasa is so distraught that she storms out of the house only to move in with Yukino’s family.

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[Anime Reviews]

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) episodes 7-11: Setbacks and special moments for Yukino and Arima

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Gainax, Hideaki Anno, Kare Kano]

At the end of the first volume of His and Her Circumstances we see Yukino and Arima meet, fall in love and begin their relationship. All six episodes were very concerned with their feelings, hopes and fears; this time the focus goes outward to the family and friends and we see how their romance affects those around them, and vice-versa.

The incessant dating that they have been going on is beginning to make itself felt: their grades (particularly Yukino’s, much to her own dismay) have suffered and they are pulled up in front of the teachers for some unpleasant home truths (below). They are told that unless they refuse to see each other, their parents will be called in - can their relationship survive the harshness of studying?

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[Anime Reviews]

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) episodes 1-6: Hideaki Anno is back in the Director’s chair at last

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Gainax, Hideaki Anno, Kare Kano]

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…

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