World Famous Comics: Hideaki Anno His and Her Circumstances (Vol. 2)
Hideaki Anno His and Her Circumstances (Vol. 2)
Starring: Hideaki Anno Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC Label: Right Stuf Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: December 03, 2002 Running Time: 150 minutes
Description: With their hearts flying high, the couple has been spending a lot of time together. Finally the public masks of perfection that they've both maintained for so long are beginning to fall, but so are their grades. When the latest round of scores is posted, Yukino is mortified to discover that she's slipped all the way to 13th! She's not the only one that's angry - so are her teachers. When Yukino and Arima are dragged before their guidance counselor to explain their poor grades, the administration is determined that the pair stop seeing each other. Could this mean the end of their newfound love forever? Contains Episodes 7-11. Bonus DVD content includes: Production Notes, Translation Notes, Character Biographies, Soft Subtitle Track for Signs and On-Screen Text, and more. Each volume will contain one of 3 completely different His and Her Circumstances DVD silkscreens.
Amazon.com: As their relationship deepens, Yukino and Soichiro feel less inclined to live up to their model school student images and more like enjoying themselves. When they spend too much time together, the unthinkable happens: they drop from the top spots in their class. (Soichiro is only number three and Yukino falls to 13th.) Their counselor upbraids them and they agree to work harder, but not to give up their relationship. Although Yukino displays many of the traditional sympathetic qualities of yasashii, Soichiro loves her because she is "strong and independent, with clear, unhesitating eyes." When the other girls become jealous of their relationship, Soichiro wisely steps back and allows Yukino to resolve the problem in her own way. Writer-director Hideo Anno (Evangelion) uses split screen, slow motion, and shifting graphic styles to imbue this unpretentious story with visual imagination. (Rated 13 and older: minor profanity, cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon
Warm and Fuzzy Drama Kare Kano is a Japanese high school drama that my girlfriend got me into. As a guy I am embarrassed to say that I like it. I am, however, hooked and I will own the whole series before the year is out.
An excellent continuation of an endearing series! The second disc of His and Her Circumstances keeps up the wonderful pace of the first, if not speeds up the action a bit. A few mew characters are thrown into the mix, and we hear a lot more inner monologue from Arima than we did in the first disc. These next 5 episodes (7-11) focus more on how the world perceives, and reacts to, Arima and Miyuzawa, both individually, and as a couple. But the tone is still the same and the style is still the same, so the series doesn't lose any ground at all. I only hope the rest of the series is this good!
Hey, it got better! I'll be honest--all the lovey-dovey, angsty melodrama from the first volume had me yelling at the television, "This is so LAME!" on several occasions. I was about to give up on the series all together, but I'm glad my curiosity got me to purchase this volume.
This volume was GREAT!
It was the addition of a bunch of new characters that really intrigued me. Having the focus shift from Arima and Miyazawa was refreshing, to say the least. Asaba continues to be one of the cutest little yaoi-boys EVER, and his antics never fail to make me smile. And FINALLY, there are some COOL female characters in this show! Tsubaki is a total tomboy and flirt, and an awesome and welcome addition. Maho, a rival of Miyazawa's, added some much-needed "non-relationship" drama to the show when she got all the girls in school against Miyazawa. Then there's Tsubasa, a girl who was like Arima's "little sister" when the two of them were in middle school, who returns to high school only to go wild with rage when she discovers Arima's gotten a girlfriend.
The additional plot twists that accompany these new characters really made the series a whole lot of fun to watch. So, even if volume one didn't thrill you, you should give this one a try.
New surprises and more terrific entertainment galore! Given that the first volume of HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES was such a treat (considering that it's made by angst-ridden Hideaki Anno and GAINAX), it would probably be a little unrealistic to expect the follow-up to contain all the wacky, off-beat fun and tangible emotions which made the opening six episodes so enjoyable. I needn't have doubted; Volume 2 continues to pull punches in the forms of new storyline elements, character development, and roller-coaster style visuals. Even better, it improves upon the entertainment value of the first volume.
The trials and tribulations of High School students Yukino Miyazawa and Souichiro Arima continue as the (need I say it) happy young couple decides to forget about their "perfect" status and enjoy each other's company. Unfortunately, this causes a negative impact upon their High School grades -- Yukino is shocked to discover that she is now at 13th place (while Arima's only at #3). Both are brought before strict principal Mr. Kawashima, and the matter is soon taken to their parents. How the two come to terms with their feelings for each other, their grades, and the resolution to the conflict is both funny and moving.
Matters become further complicated when a jealous school snob, Maho, convinces Yukino's classmates to give her the cold shoulder, forcing Miyazawa to realize the consequences of her earlier attempts to "put on a show" for the class rather than revealing her true self. Adding to the list of temperamental, envious, bitchy females Hideaki Anno seems to be unfortunately infamous for creating is newcomer Tsubasa Shibahime, a cute little girl from Hell(tm), who apparently knew Arima from childhood and becomes Yukino's rival for Arima's affections. Scenarios involving selfishness and jealousy are not my hottest topics, but the introduction of Tsubasa is both howlingly funny and effective. It's hard to sympathize with the nasty tricks that Shibahime pulls on Yukino and Arima, yet it builds up to an outrageously hilarious demonic version of Yukino chasing the little brat through the school halls. It's easy to look down upon Tsubasa as a spoiled, whiny wench, but we're quickly given reasons to feel sorry for her. After all, how painful can it be to have suffered a terrible accident on skateboards, studied hard to get into your childhood sweetheart's school, only to discover that he's not the one for you?
One of the most delightful sequences on this volume is the last episode where Yukino spends her summer vacation with her first true school friends since Arima. Seeing them doing karaoke, sharing their stories at a restaurant, or pulling innocent pranks on Shibahime are so nostalgic it brings back memories of when I was in High School. To a more unfortunate degree, the scenes involving Arima's friend, Hideaki Asaba, a rather perverted hunk who delights in being a ladies' man and showing off his body, is enough to recall dreadful recollections of being in Health class with a bunch of teenagers making a big deal out of sexual content (in similarly nasty perverted ways). These kind of feelings, in addition to watching the interactions between Yukino and her friends, are what make HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES feel as authentic as real life, even if the multi-faceted artwork (literally!) sometimes reduces the feel to a cartoonish, silly comedy. But I find this to be the only real heart and soul behind the whole thing. I also must say that this wackiness works better than the filler episodes on NADIA did. The filler episodes' stupidities and forced comic gags (not to mention plotting irrelevant to the story) hampered NADIA because it did not suit the show. This problem does not apply to HIS AND HERS, because the silliness and offbeat nature has more of a consistent feel, never reducing one to annoyance when the animation style changes from badly-drawn Saturday Morning cartoon blurbs to the typical Anime characters we're used to seeing in Japanese animated productions.
It also feels somewhat like NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, in that there are a lot of elements to recall the occasional surrealness of that title, including shots of busy city streets, flowers, and monologues spoken over abstract images. This, too, felt a bit out of place in EVANGELION when it was trying to be a serious drama, but I feel that adding this kind of surrealness to the show is just like extra icing on the cake.
The DVD features the same qualities of the first volume in terms of video, audio, subtitles, and liner notes. I should also say that I'm really liking the dub more and more. The biggest surprise for me was hearing Alexander J. Rose's voice as Mr. Kawashima. He's credited as Leicester Tunks, but I remembered how deep, resonant, and impressive his voice was in RECORD OF LODOSS WAR (as the Narrator). It was a great voice, and I am absolutely delighted to hear him again. Even better, Angora Deb (Leaf from LODOSS WAR's follow-up, CHRONICLES OF THE HEROIC KNIGHT) plays one of the new co-stars, using her Leaf voice to make her recognizable, and she's as great as ever. However, Lisa Ortiz's delivery as Tsubasa Shibahime really threw me for a loop. I didn't recognize her one bit. Given that I remember best as Deedlit from LODOSS WAR, I had no idea that she could voice a bratty yet sympathetic little girl so impeccably. Well, she sure did prove me wrong. The more I hear the other cast members, which include Christopher Nicholas (Arima), Liam O'Brien (Asaba), and especially Veronica Taylor (Yukino) the more I find myself liking their characters even better than the first time around.
In short, the second volume of HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES delivers more of the goodies that made the first edition a delight, while improving upon it. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this show unfolds, even if there are only three more volumes to go.
(Be sure to check the last episode for an absolutely adorable reference to MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO!)
Kare Kano Another brilliant production. This is quickly turning out to be one of my favourite animes.
Although this volume didn't have quite as many moments of absolute hilarity, it was still great. We get a closer look at the two main characters, Arima and Yukino, we're introduced to new characters, and a they're a whole bunch of new problems. You can feel the love, pain, frustrations and everything else which radiates from the characters.
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