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Title: His & Her Circumstances DVD Boxset
Distributor:
The Right Stuf International
BBFC Certificate: N/A
Suggested Retail Price (SRP): $129.95
(approx £90)
Episodes: 1-26 (of 26)
Audio Options: English 2.0;
Japanese 2.0
Subtitles: English
Reviewer: Tom (Webmaster)
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Gainax have produced another great series which couldn’t be
more different to their more famous work, Neon Genesis Evangelion.
First of all the humour is some of the best you will ever see. Speed-lines, chibis, huge Japanese lettering in the background – it contains all this and
more, including an episode in which all the characters are cardboard cutouts. It
also contains several moving moments in which we see the characters experiencing
real emotional pain which is not as trivial as the problems which characters
have in most romantic comedies. Here the characters have to deal with rejection,
inferiority and not knowing the kind of person that they are. All aspects of
teen angst are looked at but this never becomes cheesy or tiresome, it always
feels right and the occasional jumps from comedy to seriousness are never too
much. However in looking at all aspects of teen life, Kare Kano hits it’s first
drawback in that not all of these aspects can be relayed through the main
characters so have to be shown with other characters. This would be fine if it
did not start doing this from Episode 12 onwards as the all episodes before this
look at the Arima and Yukino (the main characters) and no one else, so the
series is completely focused on them. But then halfway through more and more
characters are introduced and Anno will insist on looking at all their problems. This causes upset as the series will often end an episode with one story arc but
then the next episode will focus on another story arc and then you would come
back to the original arc two episodes later. Because of this the series does
lose the flow of story that worked well at the start and it also asks to many
questions which can leave some characters being heavily focused on and then not
taken any further, which begs the question why were they introduced in the first
place?
One of the criticisms of Anno’s other directive work Neon Genesis Evangelion –
the last episodes being very ‘arty’ and too confusing – also effects Kare Kano
as the final episodes to deviate from the original plot and Yukino & Arima too
much to leave a satisfying ending. Unlike Evangelion however the story does make
sense and the bold braveness of the artistic experimentation I never really
found an issue, as it is present from the very first episode.
Although these may sound like major criticisms, trust me they are not. The
comedy and emotion far outweighs them and you’ll forgive the loss of flow later
in the series, as there is little anime as good as Kare Kano. The artistic
experimentation, insane comedy and the focus on the human condition are all
aspects that are unique to anime and Kare Kano has depicted them perfectly. If
you thought romantic comedies were just about some guy with low self-esteem
living in a house full or beautiful girls who all fancy him (even though they
would not in the real world) then think again. Kare Kano transcends stereotype
and creates a totally unique story.
An essential title.
Feature:
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