Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Masami Tsuda (Author, Artist), Masami Tsuda (Author)

Book Description

Series: Kare Kano | Publication Date: January 21, 2003

Yukino Miyazawa is the perfect model student. Pretty, kind, good at sports, always at the top of her class. But she's not all she seems. It's all an act of deception; she is really the self-confessed "queen of vanity," and her only goal in life is winning the praise and admiration of everyone around her. When she enters high school, she finally meets her match: Soichiro Arima, a handsome, athletic, popular, and very intelligent young boy. Ever since he stole the top seat in the class from her, Yukino has hated him, and has been plotting on how to take back her former place as the object of all other students' admiration. What she wasn't expecting, however, was that Soichiro, the very boy she hated, would confess his love for her. She also didn't expect that he would find out about her deception - and use it to blackmail her! Together, they discover that they have more in common than they knew, and they promise each other that they'll stop pretending to be perfect, and just be their true selves.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Tokyopop; English Ed edition (January 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931514798
• ISBN-13: 978-1931514798
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,135,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Graphic Design > Cartooning

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She was perfect..., April 28, 2004

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

She was the number one student in her class. She was the best at everything and always willing to help. She was pretty and smart. And a total fake. She did it for the grades and for the praise.
Then he came. He was just as smart, handsome and well liked. And he seemed to do it without a problem, as if he wasn't even trying.
Here are the first three chapters of the manga kare kano, also known as his and her circumstances. Serious, funny, painful and so real it really seems to touch our memories of what school was REALLY like.
This volume also holds a stand-alone story, kind of the manga's extra you might say, called The Tiger and The Chameleon. It is a VERY touching story all by itself.
It has been pointed out that the events in the anime ends at volume 8, but the manga goes on, so I plan to collect as many of the manga volumes as I can to see what's going to happen beyond the anime's ending. Masami Tsuda is a great artist and really seems to understand the human heart.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love Stories, February 25, 2005

By 

Prism Light "Prism" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

"Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances, Vol. 1" consisted of two interesting love stories. I personally preferred the first over the second, but you can't expect every story to be just as good as the last. Here is a basic run-down of the two stories:

The first one was about Yukino Miyazawa, a girl who is pretty, smart, helpful, and kind...at least when she's at school. She has always been popular, but when Soichiro Arima comes along, her popularity begins to fade. He is also good-looking, smart, helpful, and kind. Miyazawa is so upset by the fact that she isn't the center of attention anymore, that she slowly begins to focus all of her time and energy on Arima...but is it competitive energy, or is it possible that Yukino might have a crush? And what will she do if her true selfish, snobby self is discovered, and she is left looking like a hypocrite?

The second story is about Koharu Mizumoto, a shy, quiet girl who is incredibly afraid of opening up to anyone. But when she bumps into supposedly "bad" Toshiro Sakajo, her glasses are broken, and she finds herself practically sightless. Feeling as though he is partly responsible for Koharu's glasses being broken, Sakajo offers to be her "eyes" until her glasses can be fixed, which means he will follow her around at school, carrying her books, sharing his notes with her, and helping her around. At first Koharu feels awkward, but after a while, she begins to feel more and more attracted to Sakajo, who isn't turning out to be so "bad" after all.

This was a romantic, entertaining book. I didn't want to put it down! The first story is going to be continued in the second book, but I think the second one has come to an end. I'm going to check out the second volume at the library the next time I go. The only problem I had with this book is that there was a lot of cussing! I'm still sort of new to manga, but I've never read one that cussed so much. It contained all the common cuss-words that aren't the worst you could say, but are still bad. It also had some words and phrases like "Oh my God" that I don't approve of that much, even though I'm used to reading it a lot. I also liked that both boys in the stories were cute. I just can't get that into romantic manga if the boy isn't attractive to me. To get into it, it has to be a boy that I would have a crush on if I was a manga character. Overall, if you like romance, and don't mind all the cussing, then I recommend this book to you. But keep in mind that this IS romance, and I can't guarantee that future books will have appropriate romance material like this one did.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Manga Romance, Modestly Real, July 29, 2003

By 

Edward Chik "unsolvedparadox" (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

You're scanning Amazon's summary, looking for something; a hook or a gimmick, something that screams "This is a romance manga!" Could it be that the girl is masquerading as a guy, and has attracted the hunky school athlete? Maybe an angel has taken human form, and is learning to deal with human emotion?

Instead, Kare Kano introduces us to two students who seem perfect on the outside, but have deeper issues within. "Oh. What exactly makes this special?"

Fresh, funny and full of life, Kare Kano is a manga that is special through sincerity. Tsuda has breathed life into a genre too often saddled by cliches and craziness with writing that captivates. Yukino and Soichiro are paradoxical characters, both exceptional and yet normal like the rest of us.

Pencils fit the book perfectly, sleek and stylish but still warm. The art reflects the storytelling sensibilites; we're given what we need, and free to impose what we want onto Yukino and Soichiro's story.

This initial volume starts off with...no, you can read a plot synopsis elsewhere. Casual and dedicated fans alike; buy it and try it: you won't regret getting Kare Kano.