Customer Reviews

His and Her Circumstances (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Words cannot describe how much I love His and Her Circumstances. This series was responsible for turning me on to shoujo (girl's) anime, and I still believe it is the finest example of it's type yet made.

His and Her Circumstances is the story of Yukino Miyazawa, a high school student who prides herself on being the number one student in every way. But this is only a facade. She is really just putting on an act, secretly putting all of her energy into seeming like she is the "perfect student". Her world comes crashing down when Souchiro Arima joins the school. He quickly begins to give her a run for her money, and becomes her competition. But soon, she realizes that she actually has feelings for him, and... well I don't want to spoil the story.

His and Her Circumstances was created by Studio Gainax, who needs no introduction. As it was directed by Anno Hideaki, fans of Evangelion will note constant references to that series, usually hilarious, despite how completely different the two shows are. But the most amazing thing about this series is how experimental it all is. The animation is done almost in the style of a living comic book, which is something I have not seen before. Characters art switches at random from completely silly to serious and downright beautiful. One episode midway through the series is even done in paper cutouts on popsicle sticks! Of course, in the much later episodes, the studio began to run out of money, resulting in an abundance of still-frames, but this is only a minor complaint. Just as in FLCL (another essential anime purchase), I was constantly guessing as to what tricks the director would pull next.

Beyond all of this however, The characters in His and Her Circumstances feel much more real than in your standard "Does he like me? Does he like me?" story. And as Arima's and Yukino's relationship progresses, their real personalities reveal themselves. There are a few great side stories too (my favorite involving the young-looking Tsubasa). Overall, I can't say enough good things about this series. It's a brilliant mix of comedy, romance, and drama, and my favorite anime of all time. Every anime fan must see it, and I think it's a perfect addition to any film library.

HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES is usually described as a romantic-comedy with the story revolving around two overacheiving High School Students. Sounds sappy, sentimental, and common, right? Well it's not. And it's not just for girls - the creators of the action-scifi anime NEON GENESIS EVANGELION created this animated drama.

First of all, the pacing is frenetic and HILARIOUS. You'll find yourself laughing at every episode - but what's the most amazing thing is: 1. It's funny because it's true. 2. They still are able to stop the comedy to show the drama (and sometimes they can do it without stopping the comedy). It makes you laugh and I'd be surprised if you don't shed a tear or two, either (yes - even the guys).

It's also an insightful and realistic tale of growing up and finding out what love is as they follow the characters through all the phases of relationship. From the first time you realize you like them, to the friendship, to the first kiss, even to the first sexual experiences - and it's done in a mature, realistic and touching manner.

Best friends, no friends, rivals, love, crushes, confusion, lonliness, pretending, laughs, shopping, dreams. This one has it all. It's deep but entertaining at all times. One of the best animes out there (unless you're as shallow as a puddle.)

Beware: Karekano (the series nickname in Japan) IS NOT your usual romantic anime. Gone are the silly relationships between the likes of Belldandy and Keichi, or the excess of sugar of the likes of Miaka and Tamahome, so this is a title that is different from what both shoujo and shounen anime fans are used to watch. Thankfully.

While a shoujo series, Karekano can be easily watched by both shoujo AND shonen fans, as there's something for everybody. What makes it so different? First, the relationship between Arima and Yukina is something that you would expect to see in real life, both of them look perfect on their own way until you get to know them better, so you see that they're just regular humans, living a regular life on a regular city. Just like you and me. No girls coming out the TV or descending from heaven, or pretty boys that saves the girl who just fall in love for her. Even the characters are not depicted as God's gift for beauty on earth, so that's a change.

After Yukina starts noticing Arima (in the worst way possible), they start a hate relationship that actually leads to a romantic affair and turns them into boyfriend and girlfriend. Many would argue what's so special on this. It is the daily routine, the chalenge of staying close with all other things to do, friends and their problems, school and jealousy. And above all, that abstract thing that is love, something that's not for sure, that you can feel but you can't put it in a safe and claim yours forever. And at this point, Karekano turns out to be the best romantic animated series ever.

Produced at Gainax and directed on it's first 12 episodes by legendary Hideaki Anno (which seems to have overdone it this time) and for the rest of the series by the director of Nadesico and the staff at Gainax, this is a clear example that it's not only great animation that counts for doing a great series. You simply have to watch to understand it.

Later in the series the staff even does some experimental animation, which some will regard as bizarre, for me they where cool, and for an episode or two, they sure add some fresh air to the whole animation scene. Of course, later these guyus would work on FLCL, and the exeperience on this series has proved to be effective.

If all your life as as anime fan you have asked yourself on why romance on anime was always on platonic level, then Karekano is the answer to this question.

As an artist I learned a lot from watching this series. I found His and Her Circumstances entertaining and engaging, with moments of true brilliance, particularly in the humor. I can see this title appealing particularly to middle-and-high schoolers and it does a great job of capturing something about those times.

Artistically there is a good amount of experimentation - it's clear that at this point Gainax is moving towards the dramatic and unique style that emerges in Fooly Cooly. If you are a fan of FLCL you will probably dig H&Hc as well, and vice versa.

However, if you are going to follow these series you shoulf be forwarned. First there is a LOT of filler and recycling of animation. It's not too bad in the first two DVDs but then expect to run into entire episodes which are re-edits of existing footage. Re-caps of the story are ok... but doing it over and over to the point of retelling the entire series is cheap.

Worse, there are episodes which are basically just cleaned-up animatics, complete with drawings cut out and pasted on sticks and moved around on video, and tons of pan-and-scans of sketches. This is pretty clearly a way to turn out content without going through the effort and expense of full ink-and-paint. Gainax tries to sweep this under the rug by being "artistic" about it, and you CAN get away with some of that in the name of art perhaps but essentially we have here about 3 DVD's worth of content stretched out to 5.

Additionally as occured in Evangellion the ending is fatally flawed. The storyline is cut off in the middle of nowhere, and pasted over with a putty consisting of psychobabble and a healthy dose of screw you it's over. This is particularly frustrating because the entire series builds up a few subplots which are left totally unresolved.

For instance Arima, the male protagonist, is hinted at having a black temper and murderous jealousy over Yukino, and the last few episodes play this up to an intensity that makes you wonder if the guy is actually a monster. Pretty heavy for a series that started out with the most serious conflict being Yukino getting the silent treatment from her classmates.

So, I'd really have liked to give His and Her Circumstances more stars. I really enjoyed watching it for the most part. But as was the case with Evangellion the story fragments and goes everywhere at once before finally being cut off the way a farmer might put down a rabid dog. Its a shame. Still, get the frist two DVDs and you will have hours of enjoyment.

Kare Kano is perhaps the most realistic portrayal of teenage romance ever to be displayed, animated or otherwise, and the emotional rollercoaster ride that goes along with it. Hideaki Anno, best known in the US for his hugely successful Neon Genesis Evangelion, puts an entirely new spin on the shoujo genre by including his and GAINAX's own little quirky style to it. The disc itself is a technical masterpiece and has been said to be the most complex DVD ever produced. The show has a large amount of on-screen text used to portray emotions and the innerworkings of the characters and The Right Stuf has done wonders with them, including using various colors, font sizes and fonts themselves that coincide with what they're displaying.

One can only hope that other companies will use this release as an example for the future and that TRSI itself can keep up the standard of excellence they have set forth with this first volume. The slipcase that comes with it is perfect for the tone of the show and has some beautiful images on it as well. This is a must have for any anime fan.

I have watched many animes such as love hina, slayers, chobits,Chance pop session... and this one "Kare Kano"(His and Her circumstances). Since it is posted by most people what the story is about, I'll focus my review on good points, bad points.

Great points: the art is beautiful, the way they draw is very unique, it is almost like reading a manga (japanese comic book), even though I felt like the style changed from episode to episode, but they kept the same beauty of slow motion movements in black and white, which was beautiful. I loved the story and the way it flows.
They did a great job writing stories about the other characters but the main boy and Girl. You get to know them.
The romance in the story is one of the main attractions for me. I loved the way it shows so much innocence, this is an anime I would not be afraid to share with a pre-teen (over 10 years old). There is no violence and the words and not tacky. It is extremelly tasteful. I recommend to anyone.... especially for girls out there that want their special someone to be more romantic.

Bad points: there are too many chapters that were reminding you of what had happened so far, and that kept repeating over and over, and I felt like they were dragging to get to the story.
I know that it is a style of drawing and showing feelings on anime, but I don't really care when they draw the characters with a larger head and monstrous expressions everytime they are trying to pass a point (there is a lot of this in the story).

but overall, great show.
others I recomend: Chance pop session ( which just arrived in the Usa), Chobits ( cutiest thing!), Love Hina, Slayers, Princess Nine.

take care
Daniela Bowers
Danielateles@hotmail.com

Don't spend extra for the box. I wholeheartedly recommend buying the Volume 1 and 2 DVDs and give them five stars

However, the show's quality drops further than I would have dreamed possible. Ask anyone who's seen the depressingly poor episode 19.

The first two volumes comprise the best of the show, and episode 10 is a fine place to stop.

Although Gainax is best known for sci-fi epics such as EVANGELION, GUNBUSTER and WINGS OF HONNEAMISE, HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES - better known by its Japanese title, KARESHI KANOJYO NO JIJOU, or KARE KANO - marked an attempt by Gainax to try something new: a high-school romantic comedy. It was also director Hideaki Anno's (EVANGELION, NADIA) directorial swan song in the anime industry before he went on to a career making live-action films. The result is a high-school romantic comedy done "Gainax-style" - meaning it's anything but conventional, pablum or boring.
The characters are not "stock" characters by any means, but there are definite shades of EVANGELION in the main characters. It's easy to see aspects of EVA's Asuka in Yukino, who, like Asuka, strives to be number one and is less than pleased when someone does better than she does. And one could say that Arima is a lot like Shinji - not only does he look like an older and taller version of Shinji-kun, but he had an unhappy home life and parents who weren't around to support him when he needed it. Both are driven to be model students for similar but different reasons. Unlike Asuka and Shinji, however, Yukino and Arima realize their common ground, bond with each other, and begin to fall in love. Theirs is not a fairy-tale romance, however (is anybody's ever, really?) - they have to weather all kinds of storms, both inside and outside of themselves.
I've only seen the first six episodes, but so far, this show is an absolute delight. It moves quickly and features a lot of on-screen text, but not so quickly that you can't understand what's going on. The supporting cast is a strong one too - Yukino's younger sisters, Kano and Tsukino, are adorable and playful but at the same time more wise in the ways of the world than their older sister. There's also the requisite cute animal mascot (Pero-Pero, also spelled Pero^2 in much the same way that EVA's Pen-Pen was often spelled Pen^2), as well as Arima's self-proclaimed best friend, Hideaki Asaba, who has dreams of becoming the next Hugh Hefner and building a harem of beautiful girls called "Merryland" to keep him company. The music - by Shiro Sagisu, who's done a lot of music for Gainax productions including EVA and NADIA - is very well done too. On top of that, it gives a lot of insight as to the pressures that high school students in Japan feel to succeed, and since I went to a private religious high school with very high academic standards myself, I find Yukino and Arima's plight easily relatable.
As if that weren't enough, I think the dubbed version is very well-done. Veronica Taylor's Yukino is terrific and will make you forget that Ms. Taylor was ever Ash Ketchum in "Pokemon." Yukino changes moods so quickly and expresses such a wide variety of emotions, and Veronica nails them all. Most of the other dub voice actors do a good job as well. The two ladies who play Tsukino and Kano actually come out from behind the microphone to host the "next episode" previews - in character. It's obvious that the voice actors all had a blast doing this show, which seems like it would be a harder show to dub than most. One of the better-done dubs I've seen.
All in all, it's definitely a shojo show, but if you're an open-minded guy you'll find a lot to like here too. KARE KANO shows off Gainax's versatility and how they can take just about any genre of anime and, through turning it upside down, make it their own.

When I first saw this series it had been given to me as something I just had to watch. I personally had never even heard of Kare Kano, but I figured I might as well give it a try. I started the first episode and I was like, hmm this is pretty good, interesting story line, some humor too, so I kept watching. By the time I got to the third episode I was hooked. The show really is great, you're almost always left wondering what's next, sitting on the edge of your seat, intensly watching for what is to be the next major plot twist. It definitly delivers a great performance, from graphics, to the music, to the characters and thier plot. If you're considering this, I would definitly reccomend that you quit your hesitation and order this now. You won't regret it later.

"His and Her Circumstances," or Kareshi Kanojo no Jijoo, is a show full of emotions, laughter, and tears. It is also a show where the characters experience their growing pains: in search of their inner selves and the meaning of love, which is very much reminiscent of Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's a lot of fun to watch the show. It is both hilarious and dramatic all at the same time. Even though "His and Her" belongs to the relationship genre, it is not one of those daytime soap operas that would bore you (like Hana Yori Dango.) The director skillfully blends in comedy, drama, and romance in a fast-paced half-hour show. Every episode is so compact that it is as rewarding as watching a grade A 2-hour movie.

"His and Her" is not a guy's romance story that plays to the guys' fantasy, which some other reviewers mentioned before. For that, you have to check out Clamp's latest work, Chobits. "His and Her" is one of the most realistic love stories I have ever seen. It plays to the part of the girl's as well as the boy's psyche. In the show, I saw a reflection of myself and my relationship, and my girlfriends and their relationships. Many dialogue and self-examining questions posted in the episodes resemble the ones expressed by my girlfriends and their fiancés during their bridal showers: what they were thinking or struggling to know what the other party was thinking, and what the funny moments, the memorable moments, and the hardships they went through during their courtships. Thanks to Anno Hideaki's elaborate interviews and extensive research with today's Japanese high-school students. The show is as real as watching a touched up documentary of everyday people.

I am impressed with the witty characters and the deep character development in the story. Great editing but more work is needed on cinematography. I greatly appreciate the deliberate use of music to accompany the flow of the story and to set the mood of the many segments of each episode. On the other hand, I am VERY disappointed with the episodes toward the end, specifically Ep. 20 on. The show went flat and it literally came to a halt at Ep. 24. When it got to Ep. 26, 90% of the show was cut out shots from the manga. One can infer that the Studio went out of money by the sudden, weary end at Ep. 26. (This reminds me that Evangelion has an unsatisfactory ending too but Evangelion's abrupt ending wasn't about money.) It is a pity to see such a wonderful anime, which started with such fanfare and great expectations, came to an end like this! You can't even see what happened at the Culture Festival where Maho and Yukino were to be the leading actor and actress in a play. (I am going to find the manga to find out the rest of the story!) Other than that, this is a great anime where you would appreciate/love all the characters. Thanks to the detailed character development work by the studio team. Good work, team! But please finish something next time! ^_~ I also want to give my admiration to the translation team. I don't know how you did it, especially the titles for some of the sub-segments that are old Chinese proverbs. I would have to pull my hair off! ^_^