His and Her Circumstances

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Kare Kano

First volume of the English release of Kare Kano
彼氏彼女の事情
(Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō)
Genre Comedy-drama, Romance
Manga
Author Masami Tsuda
Publisher Flag of Japan Hakusensha
English publisher Flag of Canada Flag of the United States Flag of the United Kingdom Tokyopop
Demographic Shōjo
Magazine Flag of Japan LaLa Magazine
Flag of Germany Daisuki
Flag of France Magnolia
Original run February 1996 – June 2005
Volumes 21
TV anime: His and Her Circumstances
Director Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki
Studio Gainax
Licensor Flag of the United States Right Stuf International
Network Flag of Japan TV Tokyo
English network Flag of the United States Anime Selects, FUNimation Channel
Original run October 2, 1998 – March 23, 1999
Episodes 26
Anime and Manga Portal

Kare Kano (彼氏彼女の事情 Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō?), also known as His and Her Circumstances, is a manga series by Masami Tsuda. It was serialized in LaLa from 1996 to 2005 and collected in 21 tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha. It depicts the romance between "perfect" student Yukino Miyazawa and her academic rival Soichiro Arima, and the relationships of several of their friends.

The series is licensed and was published in English in North America by Tokyopop. The chapters from the first seven volumes were adapted into a 26-episode anime television series by Gainax. Directed by Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki, the episodes were broadcast in Japan on TV Tokyo from October 1998 to March 1999. It is licensed for distribution in North America by Right Stuf International, which released it as His and Her Circumstances. It is also sub-licensed for release Enoki Films USA under the title Tales at North Hills High.

Contents

Plot

See also: List of Kare Kano characters

Yukino Miyazawa is a Japanese high school freshman who is the envy of classmates for her good grades and immaculate appearance. However, her "perfect" exterior is a façade, a charade she maintains to win praise. In the privacy of her own home, she is spoiled, stubborn, and a slob, and studies relentlessly and obsessively to maintain her grades. On entering high school, she is knocked from her position at the top of the class by Soichiro Arima, a handsome young man whose very existence Yukino considers a threat to the praise on which she thrives, and she vows to destroy him. When Soichiro confesses that he has a crush on her, Yukino rejects him then boasts about it at home. Her observant little sister Kano points out that her rivalry with him comes from admiration, causing her to rethink her own feelings.

Before she can figure out if she hates or likes Soichiro, he visits her home and discovers her being herself. He uses the information to blackmail her into doing his student council work. At first Yukino accepts it, coming to realize that he is also not the perfect student he pretends to be. Tired of being used, Yukino revolts and Soichiro apologizes, and admits he still loves her and just wanted to spend time with her. Yukino realizes she loves him as well, and together they resolve to abandon their fake ways and be true to themselves, though she initially has trouble breaking of her lifelong habit of pretend-perfection and her competitive ways.

As the series progresses, Yukino is able to open her true self to others and earns her first real friends beyond Soichiro. It is eventually revealed that Soichiro was striving to be perfect in order to avoid turning "bad" like the parents who abandoned him. Falling in love with Yukino, he is able to become more true to himself, but he also finds himself becoming increasingly jealous of Yukino's change bringing new friends and new activities into her life, and of her having parts of her life that don't involve him. When Yukino unknowingly hurts him, he becomes even more jealous and afraid, and begins to wear another facade of the "perfect boyfriend" in an effort to protect her from his "ugly" self.

The return of both of his parents into his life sends Soichiro into a dark area, but helps him finally break free to truly be himself as Yukino and their friends help him learn to lean on and trust others. The end of the series shows Yukino and Soichiro in their 30s, with their three children, and gives updates on the various friends they made along the way.

Differences in anime adaptation

The anime adaptation uses the material from the first seven volumes of the manga, stopping just before the school's annual cultural festival.

Production

Kare Kano was Masami Tsuda's first lengthy manga series. Still new to professional manga writing in general, shortly after starting the series, Tsuda had to put it on hold while she finished working out the framework of the story and where she ultimately wanted it to go.[1]

In adapting the first seven volumes into an anime television series, director Hideaki Anno kept the same general scenes and dialogue but modified the overall feel and focus of the series, making it into a "personal case study of relationships". He emphasizes the dialog over the animation using a variety of techniques, including iconic scenes, production sketches, real-life location shots, repeated imagery, and even using animation version of manga panels or simply printing the lines of the dialog being spoken over static screens.[1]

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2008)

Media

Manga

Main article: List of Kare Kano chapters

Written by Masami Tsuda, Kare Kano was first serialized in LaLa between February 1996 and June 2005.[1][2] The 101 individual chapters, referred to as "Acts", were compiled into 21 tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha. The first volume was released on June 5, 1996, with the final volume released on August 5, 2005.

Kare Kano was initially licensed for an English language release by Mixx Entertainment in 2002, but it subsequently lost those rights before publication began.[3] In July 2001, the company's Tokyopop division announced that it had reacquired the license and that it would be serializing the title in their Smile magazine starting in 2002.[4] However, Smile was discontinued in 2002 before the Tokyopop released the first collected volume of the series on January 21, 2003; the final volume was released on January 10, 2007.[5][6] It was one of the first manga series that Tokyopop released in the original Japanese orientation, in which the book is read from right to left, and with the original sound effects left in place.[7] In February 2008, Tokyopop reissued the first three volumes in a single omnibus volume.[8]

The series is licensed for regional language releases by Editions Tonkam in France by Grupo Editorial Vid in Mexico, by Glènat España in Spain, by Dynamic Italia in Italy, by Carlsen Comics in Germany, and by Planet Manga in Portugal. It chapters were also serialized in the French magazine Magnolia and the German magazine Daisuki.[9]

Anime

Kare Kano was adapted as an anime television series produced by Gainax. Episodes 1–16 were directed by Hideaki Anno and episodes 17–26 by Kazuya Tsurumaki.[10] The 26 episodes were broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1998 to March 1999. The opening theme was "Tenshi no Yubikiri" by Fukuda Mai, and the ending themes were "Yume no Naka e" by Atsuko Enomoto & Chihiro Suzuki for episodes 1–24 and 26 and "Kaze Hiita Your" by Yuki Watanabe & Maria Yamamoto for episode 25.[11]

# Title Original Airdate
1 "Her Circumstances"
"Kanojo no Jijou" (彼女の事情) 		 October 2, 1998
 
2 "Their Secret"
"Futari no Himitsu" (二人の秘密) 		 October 9, 1998
 
3 "His Circumstances"
"Kareshi no Jijou" (彼氏の事情) 		 October 16, 1998
 
4 "Her Difficult Problem"
"Kanojo no Nandai" (彼女の難題) 		 October 23, 1998
 
5 "Day of Labyrinth"
"Kare no Yabou" (彼の野望) 		 October 30, 1998
 
6 "Your Voice That Changes Me"
"Boku wo Kaeru, Kimi no Koe" (僕を変える、君の声) 		 November 6, 1998
 
7 "Their Estrangement"
"Futari no Sokaku" (二人の阻隔) 		 November 13, 1998
 
8 "Her Day"
"Sono Hi, Miyazawa Yukino wa" (その日、宮沢雪野は) 		 November 20, 1998
 
9 "Atonement for Postponed Debts"
"Moratoriamu no Shokuzai" (モラトリアムの贖罪) 		 November 27, 1998
 
10 "Everything Starts Now"
"Subete wa Korekara" (すべてはこれから) 		 December 4, 1998
 
11 "At the End of the First Semester"
"Natsu no Yasumi no Hajimari ni" (夏の休みのはじまりに) 		 December 11, 1998
 
12 "The Location of Happyness"
"Shiawase no Ari ka" (仕合わせの在りか) 		 December 18, 1998
 
13 "The Subjectivity of Happiness"
"Shiawase no Shukan" (幸せの主観) 		 December 25, 1998
Tsubasa insists on staying the night at Yukino's house, saying that with his engagement, her father no longer wants her, just like Arima. That evening, her father and his fiancee arrive and explain the situation from his point of view. As she lies awake that night, Tsubasa realizes she is being selfish, wanting her father all to herself and in the morning she accepts the engagement. At a formal dinner, she meets her attracive future brother-in-law, Kazuma, who is the same age as she is, but when he mistakes her for an elementary school student, she loses her temper. A few days later, they meet by accident and spend the afternoon together before going to Kazuma and his mother's apartment. At the end of the evening, she tells her father that she approves of the marriage, and they get married the next day. 
14 "The Story So Far"
"Kore Made no Ohanashi" (これまでのお話) 		 December 30, 1998
A recap episode, summarizing the events of episodes 1 through 6. 
15 "The Story So Far (Part 2)"
"Koe no Mukou ni Mieru Mono" (声の向こうに見えるもの) 		 January 8, 1999
A recap episode, summarizing the events of episodes 7 trough 13. 
16 "Eternal Interspersion"
"Eien no Tentei" (永遠の点綴) 		 January 15, 1999
The Miyazawa family visits Miyako's father, who does not get along with his son-in-law, Hiroyuki. When Hiroyuki and Miyako walk through the neighborhood, they recall in an extended flashback how they met as children on the playground. When they met again as middle school students, Miyako promised to attend the same high school as Hiroyuki. When the grandfather who raised Hiroyuki died before he could graduate high school and support him in turn, Miyako asked Hiroyuki is she could be the one he supported instead, and they married after she graduated high school. 
17 "His Return"
"Ano no Kyorai" (彼の去来) 		 January 22, 1999
As Yukino counts down the days till Arima's return from his kendo tournament, she realizes she misses him more and more. When Arima comes home, having won the national championship, she finds her deepened emotions hard to control, to the point that just being with him makes her nervous. On their first date after his return, she flinches away from him, and unable to explain to him why, which she then realizes plays into his fear of being abandoned. Arima runs after her and tells her he will never let her go, which gives her the confidence to explain what has been happening. 
18 "Progress"
"Shinka" (シン・カ) 		 January 29, 1999
 
19 "14 Days/1"
(14DAYS・１) 		 February 5, 1999
 
20 "14 Days/2"
(14DAYS・２) 		 February 12, 1999
 
21 "14 Days/3"
(14DAYS・３) 		 February 19, 1999
 
22 "14 Days/4"
(14DAYS・４) 		 February 26, 1999
 
23 "14 Days/5"
(14DAYS・５) 		 March 5, 1999
 
24 "A Different Story From So Far"
"Ima Made to Chigau Ohanashi - 1" (今までと違うお話・1) 		 March 12, 1999
 
25 "A Different Story From Up to Now"
"Ima Made to Chigau Ohanashi - 2" (今までと違うお話・2) 		 March 19, 1999
 
26 "14 Days/6"
(14DAYS・6) 		 March 26, 1999
 

Soundtracks

Four CD soundtracks have been released in Japan for the anime series by Geneon Entertainment. The first, His and Her Circumstances: Act 1.0 (彼氏彼女の事情 ACT 1.0?) contained 24 tracks, including musical scores by Shiro Sagisu and vocals performed by Norio Ariga and Yosui Inoue. It was released in Japan on December 23, 1998;[12] Geneon released the CD in the US on January 20, 2004.[13] His and Her Circumstances: Act 2.0 (彼氏彼女の事情 ACT 2.0?), containing an additional 25 tracks, followed in Japan on February 26, 1999 and in the US on November 1, 2005.[14][15] The third volume, His and Her Circumstances: Act 3.0 (彼氏彼女の事情 ACT 3.0?), also contained 25 tracks. It was released in Japan on May 28, 1999.[16][17] The three CDs were released as a box set in Japan, along with a fourth disc containing an additional 22 tracks, on February 23, 2005.[18]

Reception

In The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy praised the anime adaptation for its innovative techniques and the use of "surreal 'cartoon' effects". They felt the use of on-screen text for comments on events in the series and change the meaning of what character's were saying was a perfect way to capture "the adolescent power struggles and hypocrisies" in the original manga, while still being a "very funny satire about unlikable people" that manages to still make the characters sympathetic.[19]

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2008)

References

  1. ^ a b c Arnold, Adam (December 2002). "Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances". Animefringe 3 (12): 3. http://www.animefringe.com/magazine/02.12/feature/1/. Retrieved on 12 December 2008. 
  2. ^ "Kare Kano Manga to End". Anime News Network (2005-03-24). Retrieved on 2008-12-12.
  3. ^ "Mixx Loses Kare Kano". Anime News Network (2008-08-01). Retrieved on 2008-12-12.
  4. ^ "Tokyopop Announcements at Comicon". Anime News Network (2001-07-19). Retrieved on 2008-12-12.
  5. ^ "Browse Book Catalog: K: Kamichama Karin 1 - Kare Kano 13". Tokyopop. Retrieved on 2008-12-12.
  6. ^ "Browse Book Catalog: K: Kare Kano 14 - Koihime Soushi 1". Tokyopop. Retrieved on 2008-12-12.
  7. ^ "Tokyopop Commits to Unflopped Manga". Anime News Network (2002-01-29). Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
  8. ^ "Kare Kano — Collection (1-3) (GN)". Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2008-07-09.
  9. ^ "Kare Kano (manga)". Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2008-12-12.
  10. ^ Bertschy, Zac (April 8, 2003). "Review: His and Her Circumstances: DVD 2: Love and War Under the Cherry Blossoms". Anime News Network. Retrieved on July 9, 2008.
  11. ^ "His and Her Circumstances (TV)". Anime News Network. Retrieved on July 8, 2008.
  12. ^ "彼氏彼女の事情(1)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  13. ^ "His & Her Circumstances: Act 1.0". Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  14. ^ "彼氏彼女の事情(2)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  15. ^ "His & Her Circumstances: Act 2.0". Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  16. ^ "彼氏彼女の事情(3)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  17. ^ "His & Her Circumstances: Act 1.0". Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  18. ^ "彼氏彼女の事情 CD-BOX" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved on 2008-12-11.
  19. ^ Clements, Jonathan; Helen McCarthy (2001-09-01). The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 (1st ed. ed.). Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 174. ISBN 1-880656-64-7. OCLC 47255331. 

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kare_Kano"

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