Kimi to Boku Ep05

I forgot to mention it in the last episode, but I've dropped Yagami and picked up Sage for this series. Yagami started really lagging behind after the first few episodes, and they've yet to catch up (have they just dropped it?), meaning that Sage is a much better choice. Given that it's essentially the same subs, the only loss is the font colour.

This episode began during the month's worth of summer vacation (I thought it was only two weeks in Japan?), and followed Chizuru's attempts to get the gang together for some hanging out. His personality still sticks out even though it's been a while since he's been introduced; I wouldn't say that he doesn't "fit in", because I feel like his character is not meant to fit in. Even so, I do tend to feel a little sad about his role sometimes. The twins turned him down right away in order to continue their video game together, and Kaname turned him down simply because it was Chizuru. The only person that accepted him into the house (the "true" reason for the earlier rejections being the intense heat outside) was Shun (which gives me hope that Chizuru will soon get Shun to cut his hair!).

At least he caught it before he started growing out his hair.

Shun's girly ways were at a high during his scene, as he was baking treats (perhaps to take to the others?). Chizuru displayed his typical "caught in the the flow" style by turning just as girly as Shun, before freaking out at what was going on. He reformed quickly and began running out the door, probably worried that hanging out with Shun would be detrimental to his "manliness". Once again showing how Chizuru doesn't fit in, Shun offered to ask the others to the festival that evening (and they all seemed to readily agree). Once again though, it didn't feel that bad because I really think this is Chizuru's character; he proposes outrageous things and I'd like to believe that, should any legitimately good ideas come around, the others wouldn't be spiteful enough to turn him down anyway. It's kind of like Ouran.

Masaki really thought it was a one-on-one date? Shun sucks at wording.

This episode continued the love triangle theme from the last episode (with Kaname, Shizuna and Hisako) by introducing a third point for Shun and Masaki - Chizuru. I can't say I didn't see it coming, but I was probably in a little bit of denial. I still want to be, because I just don't know how to feel about this. On the one hand, I want Shun and Masaki to be together. On the other hand, I don't actually dislike any of these characters, so it's hard to pick just one pairing. This is one of the first times this has happened - probably because this triangle was introduced so early, whereas Ouran's situation with Tamaki, Haruhi and Hikaru came long after I became a Tamaki-Haruhi shipper.

The man knows what he wants.

The festival played out with Chizuru running around excitedly, convincing the others to pool their money and share snacks so they could try everything. When he found out that Masaki liked Shun (since Kaname decided to share, essentially), he was pretty flabbergasted, but attempted to brush it aside. When Masaki lost Shun's present (a giant teddy bear hanging off a keychain; of course she was going to lose such a thing), the group got together to attempt to find it (while Shun headed off to get fireworks with Hisako and Shizuna). The love triangle became completely set-up when Chizuru was the one who got it back for her (from an unscrupulous vendor who had found it and decided it was a prize for his game), and he felt a little put-out that Masaki didn't thank him nearly enough (instead fawning over Shun, of course).

I'd like to see more of the twins in the next episode.

This was a very typical episode, right down to the fireworks at the end of a festival. I'd like to see a festival episode one of these days that doesn't follow this trope; I'm sure groups of friends (and couples) exist out there that don't enjoy all of these things as though it's coming off of a checklist. Anyway, the group played with fireworks before the larger ones burst in the sky, and minor scenes hinted to future turmoil - the two love triangles, for one thing. I wonder what Shizuna's deal is; it seems like she's had some things happening in her life (that, or she feels like she's "old").

How could you hate that, Kaname? No soul.

My interest in this show isn't waning, despite its slow pace, because I think I was prepared for it to be slow after the first episode. I don't know what I want to see in the future; a setting of an all-male cast in shoujo slice-of-life is still new to me and I think I have way too many expectations and desires to be able to voice any of them.

~Aaro

Kimi to Boku Ep04

This turned out to be one of those anime that I don't feel like picking back up if I take a break - however, after watching an episode, I want more. It's not perfect, but it still has a good hook.

This episode was pretty heavily centred on Kaname, beginning with a goukon that Chizuru decided to hold with the group (including Masaki). Due to the uneven numbers in gender, Chizuru decided to have Yuki and Shun pose as girls. His drive for the goukon was simply that youngsters needed to do it - I think he meant "socialize", but even then this was ridiculous. I wonder about Kaname's underlying sadness; such a thing can't be good. I hope he's just ennui in the sense that some people tend to blow up their emotions even though it's not that serious; otherwise, I wonder why he's so depressed.

That's all it takes to fall in love.

It turned out that Kaname knew his teachetr, Azusa-sensei, from a long time ago, based off the flashback to their days in kindergarten. (There's been a lot of those so far; now that more characters have been introduced, I wonder if they'll be more included from now on in these character-building side stories.) Basically, Azusa-sensei did some kind of "co-op" at the kindergarten when he was in high school, and Kaname saw him as a threat for Kaori-sensei's love. It doesn't look like Kaori-sensei ended up with Azusa-sensei or anything (I have this thing against teachers ending up together; it's just a little too well packaged...), and neither Kaname nor Azusa-sensei seem to understand that they met before (maybe Kaname does and just doesn't point it out).

Rich housewife?

Predictably, Kaname came down with a cold after the goukon from earlier in the episode was washed out. I say "predictably", but it's always annoyed me how easily some characters in anime get sick after being drenched with water. After just watching another episode of Working'!!, it's just a burning question in my mind. Can people really get so sick so easily? And on such a regular basis? That aside, Kaname was so sick that he couldn't go to school and the others (except for Masaki, whose role in this episode was minimal at best) came to visit. Shun thought that Yuki and Chizuru had taken notes, but it turned out they hadn't. (In fact, the two had really just come to "borrow" Kaname's notes.)

I wonder where Kaname gets his personality from.

It's interesting to see how young Kaname's mother looks and acts; is she actually a young mother, or just a wannabe? (If Kaname's family is rich, like the insinuations, then could this "mother" actually be the trophy wife?) The funny thing is that being so clingy with your son looks cute on anime, but is actually kind of creepy in real life. However, Kaname seemed to handle his mother well enough, and was all-too-happy to have her head off to the supermarket. On her way out, she ran into the childhood friend - Aida Hisako, who seems to clearly have a crush on Kaname. It's really nice that Chizuru is new to the group, because then the introductions don't feel forced at all (plus, the writers need to come up with less quirky ways of revealing characters' names and "positions", meaning less room for error).

He does like older women, after all.

This episode seemed to have the theme of "love" (or something similar), seeing as how it showed blatant hints of Masaki's crush on Shun during the goukon scene and made it kind of clear that Kaname had a crush on Hisaki's older sister, Shizuna. I wonder what kind of development I can expect with this series; I deeply want Shun and Masaki to be together, but I'm not really that invested in the other characters' relationships (yet). I do hope there's at least some development with this anime; as nice of a change of pace as it is to see a group of boys instead of a group of guys, I still don't want it to be about nothing.

Go get him, Masaki!

So, the episode right after Chizuru's big introduction included some other introductions too. I guess the character list isn't over yet, despite all the characters from the OP already being around. The next episode seems to feature the typical summer festival. My only question is when will Shun get his hair cut?


~Aaro

Kimi to Boku Ep03

I accidentally picked up Sage for this episode. I couldn't help it; they were the first release! Due to the minuscule differences, I'll most likely be archiving Yagami because of their prettier typesetting, but I really need to get into the habit of waiting. My bandwidth cap won't let me download multiple releases.

This episode was the long-awaited introduction of the final member of the group, the foreigner Tachibana Chizuru. Despite being quite obviously non-Japanese (with blond hair and blue eyes), his Japanese name suggests that he may be half-Japanese (or that he adopted a Japanese name for easier interactions). The episode didn't beat around the bush at all, jumping right into the introduction of the transfer student after the OP. As expected, Chizuru was quite excited and outgoing, obviously geared up to fill out his role in the group.

He's like a bouncy ball.

It took a few minutes after he sat down, but Chizuru ended up recognizing Yuki as the kid that he had met once in his childhood. (It was mentioned, after all, that Chizuru was "returning" from abroad.) Yuki was not really receptive, however, insisting that he had no idea who this boy was. During the break between classes, he went to hang out around Yuta, although Chizuru found him quite easily. I can see that this blond boy will fill not only the boisterous role but also the dense one, as his first thought upon seeing Yuta together with Yuki was that they were clones, genuinely sounding surprised when it was revealed that they were twins.

So, he's either going to be a ladies' man or a wannabe. I think the latter would be funnier.

The next few scenes dealt with Chizuru attempting to get Yuki to remember him, including as they lounged by the poolside by the gym class. It became obvious that Yuki had some kind of recollection, but was not admitting to it. While the twins were at the bookstore (Yuki reading the manga chapter from the magazine, while decided whether or not to buy it), Chizuru recalled that he had given Yuki a "cool toy" outside of the park at the end of their meeting and relayed the information over. I was actually taken back a little when Yuta revealed that he remembered something like that happening, bringing up the question of who it was that Chizuru had made friends with.

Foreigners can be scary!

With neither of the twins wanting to accept that they knew him, Chizuru's dejected expression actually made me extremely sad. I'm not good with themes of loneliness, which is partially why Natsume Yuujinchou has stuck with me so much, and it was hard to see Chizuru being so downtrodden. He stopped approaching Yuki (which seemed like it bothered him as well) and kept all of his thoughts to himself. However, when approached by a bunch of high-and-mighty seniors (bullying is rampant in Japanese schools, isn't it...), Yuta and Yuki came to his "rescue" without hesitation.

Ah, these twins. So calm.

I had hoped for some "cool action" to take place, but that really wouldn't be in the twins' characters. Instead, I got a quirky handling of the situation that actually made me like the dynamic of these boys a lot more. Yuta stepped in instantly, just curiously asking what was going on. As he became the next target, Yuki came over since he had finished his manga volume and asked Chizuru where the next one was. As he began taking the blond boy away to go search out the next part of the story, Yuta pretended the principal was around to give all three of them the chance to run away. It was a cautious and non-violent way of dealing with the situation, one that I feel is far more realistic than the typical display of jumping into an actual fistfight.

Aw~ Young children really don't look so cute, though.

While the boys ran away, Yuki had a full flashback about what had happened years back. It was a little unclear if he had remembered all of it from the beginning, or if bits and pieces had come to him until the big picture showed up at this very moment. Either way, it was during a time in summer when Yuta was sick and so Yuki was at the park all by himself. Chizuru showed up, not knowing a word of Japanese at the time, and the two wordlessly got along and played together. The scenes of the two young boys was really cute; it was especially nice to see Chizuru's personality showing despite the language barrier (which wasn't really a barrier for me, considering his words were translated in the subs along with Yuki's).

I'm sad to report that this was the only time I was sure it was German being spoken.

Essentially, Yuki was hesitant to see Chizuru again since their last play-date had ended with the blond boy falling out of a tree and getting a gash on his stomach. Chizuru wasn't mad, but Yuki felt insanely responsible and muted since he couldn't even apologize. So, when Yuki got sick and couldn't go outside, he seemed a little relieved. Chizuru waited outside the park, as he was about to leave, and found Yuta running an errand. Thinking it was Yuki, he handed over the "cool toy" that he had won in a vending machine on their first meeting and ran off. Yuta immediately passed the toy onto Yuki, not knowing its full significance, and Yuki was overwhelmed with guilt at what had happened.

Yuki has a soft side too~

The scene after the flashback ended was a little difficult to understand, as it was interspersed with Yuki standing on the rooftop during daytime (while his encounter with Chizuru, the "real" scene, was happening at sunset). Either way, Chizuru found Yuki and commented that it was definitely him and not his brother that he had played with as a child. He also commented that they weren't clones; Yuki simply kept reading manga in the face of danger, after all. Yuki's comment that Chizuru should have pretended it was Yuta he knew made it clear that he still felt guilty; this emotion was a little alleviated with Chizuru revealing that, despite it hurting, he hadn't wanted Yuki to apologize at the time. Essentially, he had never blamed Yuki or felt angry.

I'm glad Masaki likes Shun. It's interesting.

The episode ended with the running joke throughout the episode finally being resolved - Chizuru had initially thought that Shun was a girl due to his long hair. With this, I hope the plot point of how he cuts his hair has begun, although the preview doesn't really make it all that clear. (I'm okay with Shun-Masaki development, though that might be asking for a bit much.)

~Aaro

Kimi to Boku Ep02

I'm so close to finishing the Summer 2011 season that I can almost taste it. Considering the final review for Uta no Prince-sama is all that's left, the taste isn't very good, but oh well.

This second episode of Kimi to Boku just continued to reaffirm my love for this series. I haven't felt such emotions since watching the first few episodes of Natsume Yuujinchou (first season, to be clear), and that's saying a lot. I'm trying to not praise this anime so much, but it's so hard. The episode began with an ambiguous reference to tulips being able to withstand the cold winter, which would apparently be a theme for the episode.

He's definitely the girl of the group.

While Yuki, Yuta and Kaname were off trying to hunt down a pair of chopsticks (since Kaname didn't have any), Shun waited patiently (and hungrily) on the rooftop. The curly-haired girl shown in the previous episode made her reappearance as she was crying over a knee injury elsewhere on the roof. Her name was given much later, but I'll introduce her here for ease of writing purposes: Sato Misaki. She's a tsundere character, which initially reaffirmed my dislike of her (my initial hate based on the fact that I rarely like female characters). Shun essentially (gently) forced a band-aid into her hands (after chasing her down, literally), and thus began the true plot point of the episode.

They were so precocious. Now they're just evil.

When the others got back (and began eating without Shun), all four of them began discussing another scene from their childhood. Kaori-sensei had chanted a magical spell when Yuki hurt his knee, which Yuki agreed made his pain go away...and then he asked for a band-aid, like a know-it-all. I'm a little ashamed to say that I already like the main characters, perhaps because of their quirky personalities but perhaps more because they bear a lot of resemblances to various other characters (including the Hitotachiin Twins of Ouran High School Host Club). In a character-based anime, I really should try to be less biased...

Seriously, those are some really big breasts (that are still realistic).

After a fortune showing "bad luck" was left in Shun's locker (obviously by Misaki, since she was sneakily watching Shun for a while as the friends ate lunch), his bad luck actually did began. Her pranks were quite amusing, although surely annoying in real life. As Shun was sitting down in the library, Misaki pulled the chair away and swiftly replaced his book (on the table) with porn magazine. (I have to say, she was pretty quick.) As Shun was about to get peach yogurt from the vending machine, Misaki ninja-pressed black coffee. There was apparently some vicious pranks as well, such as her twisting the faucet while Shun was drinking from the fountain so water sprayed all over him. Despite her being an obvious tsundere, I still didn't hate her at this point.

Indeed. Why would naked women make you nauseous?

There was a hint of potential BL-ness when Yuki, chasing after Misaki since Kaname promised to buy him manga if he helped, walked into a room of 3rd-year girls changing and the next scene involved him throwing up. I mean, really? However, Shun explained it as Yuki being very sensitive to harsh smells, like make-up and perfume. It kind of makes sense, and I have to admit that I was actually hoping this anime would definitely not be BL - or, at least, not be entirely BL, wherein all the characters are together in same-sex relationships. Based on how this episode ended, I'm pretty sure it won't be that way.

I'm surprised no one near her saw her crying. Or did they just not care?

I'm sad to report that apparently I'm a sucker for crying girls. I mean actually crying, not the "wailing in an obviously cutesy" kind of crying. As Kaname and Shun watched Misaki from the rooftop, Kaname explained that Shun's "bad luck" was probably due to Misaki being angry about his forced help. She seemed the kind to not want anyone else's help, preferring to take care of herself. Watching her cry after falling while carrying the track hurdles really endeared her to me, for some reason. She's obviously a crybaby, but there's something very enticing about the soft and quiet way that she cried for a few moments before summoning up the courage to continue. Do I like twisted women?

And he never ended up going to the nurse's office after this much bleeding.

After school, Shun and Yuta waited for Yuki and Kaname to arrive in the courtyard so they could all leave. (There was also a passing conversation between two girls that really got me curious. She wanted veggie ice cream. For one thing, what is that, even? For another thing, how are either garlic-liver or sardine flavours classified as veggie?) After a flashback to the time in kindergarten when they found out that tulips could weather the winter, a rock - really, it was more of a pebble - came hurdling towards them and hit Yuta's head. Yuki seemed quite angered by the occurrence - aw~ - but he didn't get a chance to react as Shun ran off after Misaki.

I may just be projecting, but this seems really obvious.

I have no words for this scene because I'm still a little emotional. I have no idea why, but the pairing of Shun and Misaki seems to make me really happy. I could be hideously wrong, but it was being pushed a lot in these last few minutes. Shun became very straight-forward, angry only because she had involved his friends and not really with her antics, whereas she, initially indignant and aloof, revealed her hurt at being helped by Shun as a by-and-by thing. She's so super tsundere that I should really hate her - and yet, I couldn't do it. I actually like her. And the way Shun gets along with her is almost delicious to watch; it feels like there's a side of him that doesn't show elsewhere. I'm obviously projecting quite a lot; the scene lasted a few minutes and this is only the second episode.

Doesn't frostbite need a doctor's treatment?

Assisting my inner thoughts on this scene was Yuta's inner thoughts. As he watched Shun and Misaki talking softly amongst themselves about the cute design of the band-aids (come on), he actually smiled and commented that Shun's hard work wasn't for nothing. (Well, he really just said "your", so it could have been anyone. Darn ambiguous language.) Back in kindergarten, Shun had desperately tried to wipe the snow off the tulip bulbs bare-handed in an effort to save them until Kaname revealed that tulips could survive on their own. I don't understand Yuta's thoughts on the matter, and this scene was a little unclear for me, but I think perhaps he was complimenting Shun for his hard work and noting that, despite the tulips being made to live inherently, his hard work did mean something. I'm still a little confused.

Ugh. Wet long hair.

Another episode went by without mention of the blond boy. However, with the preview, it's pretty clear that he'll be introduced in ep03. Judging by the fact that he and his playmate (Yuki? Yuta?) seem younger than their current selves, I'm very curious as to what's going on. The OP clearly shows him in current day, but that's hardly solid evidence. Next week just can't get here fast enough.

~Aaro

Kimi to Boku Ep01

Even before this anime came out, I was very interested in it being one of my few blogging picks for the season. After tons of anime that feature either an all-girl cast or one with mostly girls, I was very intrigued to see an all-boy cast that wasn't shounen. After watching this first episode, I'm ridiculously pleased and excited.

The first episode was more about setting up the future plot than anything else, focusing on four childhood friends as they entered into their second year of high school. The friends fit into very clear archetypes: the stoic glasses-wearing Kaname, the emotional "baby" Shun, and the mischievous twins Yuta and Yuki (with the former being older). This episode was focused on Kaname attempting to get Yuki to join a club.

Why is Shun's hair so short here?!

There was no mention of the blond fifth person in their group, the one that's supposed to be crucial to the story, so I assume that he's a transfer student coming in for the next episode. After the introductions happened with this episode, there was more of the slow-paced feel as Yuki and Yuta caught Kaname spending 100yen on oolong tea, commenting that he acted like a rich kid. Kaname, meanwhile, was irritated that they were eating lunch on the rooftop despite it being so windy, while the others wondered why he had accepted the invitation if he didn't like being on the roof.

Shun is so impressionable...

After lunch, the friends began talking about something that had happened in their younger years, spurred by Kaname complaining that Yuki ignored everyone that tried to talk to him. (Apparently, Kaname and Yuki are in the same class whereas Shun and Yuta are in another. It's nice to see twins that aren't joined at the hip, like how Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran started out.) In kindergarten, the twins and Shun had invited Kaname over to sleep next to them during Nap Time since the twins had talked about the person sleeping in the middle having a shortened life span. Was this how their years-long friendship began? So touching~

That teacher, dooming Shun...

The situation didn't end there, which also allowed the viewer to understand more about the group. With the sleeping arrangement as Shun, Yuta, Yuki and Kaname, the twins suddenly realized that lying in the middle together made it seem as though they were one person, and thus slated for a shorter life span. Separating them, with one at each end, meant that they couldn't sleep (with Yuta commenting that being a twin was difficult). The final arrangement was Yuta, Yuki, Shun, and Kaname, which worked out well until Kaori-sensei (whom Kaname especially liked) showed up. Seeing as how they weren't asleep, she offered to sing them a lullaby and ended up falling asleep next to Kaname...making Shun's position the one in the middle.

Girls are so quick to find the cool ones.

Kaname wanting Yuki to join a club came almost out of nowhere, as his excuse was that he wanted Yuki to understand what was lacking in his high school experience. The first option was the basketball club, where they forced Yuki to participate in a practice match. It was quite obvious that Yuki didn't care, even avoiding the ball when it was passed specifically at him. The comment that he definitely needed to join the basketball club if he wasn't very good at the sport, since they played it so often in PE, made him actually care, and he showed off by perfectly stealing the ball, dribbling to the basket, and getting it in without any issues. Yuta revealed that Yuki was actually quite athletic, and even more amazing when he tried.

That's not really judo, though...

The attempts continued, with the next one being the Judo Club. Yuki managed to scare and scar his opponent by reacting menacingly when the guy grabbed Yuki's collar (with Yuki's excuse being that the opponent had just suddenly grabbed his shirt, as if he wanted to start something). The foray into archery didn't go well, with Yuki misunderstanding that the point was to shoot the target, as he asked who he was aiming at. It was pretty clear that Yuki's some kind of genius, if only he cared. I know that personality is very cliche, but I can't help it. I loved every minute of it.

No BL action here.

After the group took a break in the classroom and had a talk with the teacher, who suggested that they try non-athletic clubs since a person wouldn't always want to do only what they were good at, they headed out to try some other clubs. I was a little hopeful when they headed for the Tea Club; I had assumed that perhaps the blond guy would be there. (At this point in the episode, I didn't know that he wouldn't be showing up.) Kaname sipped the tea and wiped the cup expertly, making me wonder if he really is a rich boy (that, or he might just be part of the club). It still didn't stir anything in Yuki, who lounged around reading manga as Kaname tried to come up with a new idea.

The twins are good at keeping Kaname in check.

Of course, the fact that Yuki was reading manga in his spare time resulted in the revelation that all he was interested was manga and anime, and so the group headed over to the Manga Society clubroom. Kaname, incredibly irritated that all his efforts could have been avoided if only Yuki had been forthcoming since the beginning, huffed off in annoyance thereafter. Shun, being the super nice guy that he is, explained the rest of the story seen earlier in the episode, that Kaname had actually talked it over with Shun to switch places, despite getting to sleep next to his beloved Kaori-sensei if he didn't do anything. Yuki and Yuta revealed that the only reason Kaname had done that was due to the evil looks that the twins had given him. This is what makes Shun the baby of the group; everyone looks out for him.

Those are some really big cats.

It turned out that the Manga Society was pretty much akin to the Going Home Club, which meant that nothing at all had changed. Kaname, hearing this the next day, was exceptionally dejected. This really set the stage for the blond guy to come in and change their never-changing and boring life. (Personally, I don't see what's boring about their lives now, considering all the work they did in this episode, but okay.) I'm very excited for this anime; not only does it portray an all-male lead cast in a shoujo slice-of-life setting, but it also has little intricacies that excites me. I love how the cast members are all represented as cats, with scenes cutting to shots of cats roaming around and doing something symbolic (such as a cat playing with some catnip while Yuki was trying to get his manga back from Kaname).

Evil people would push him off into the water.

It's pretty clear just how much I like this anime when I was able to sit through two iterations of the first episode, once from Yagami and the second time from Sage. I wanted to know which group to follow and since both of them are essentially rips from Crunchyroll with some clean-up work (typesetting, translation, etc), it's pretty hard to make the call. I hear that Yagami took the OP/ED karaoke from Sage; how true this is, I don't know. Visually, it looks pretty identical, and I know that Crunchyroll doesn't do OP/ED to begin with. As far as translations go, there are some differences; without seeing the original, I don't know which group changed it. (Like at 2:58, where Yagami had [Who cares what I buy?] and Sage had [Does it really matter?], where the Japanese said [betsu ni ii ja nai ka? nani ga totte].) Since I happen to like Yagami's typesetting better (what a shallow reason...), I'll be going with them for the season. Envy, who's also watching the series, will be getting Sage, so perhaps we'll be able to come out with a clear winner in December after discussing the entire experience.

This reminded me of Ouran so much.

I'm always wary when I like an anime so much; there's too many ways that I can be disappointed from here on out. I won't be reading the manga until after the anime ends, if even then, so I'm going into this without knowing anything. I'm trying to keep my excitement down so I'm prepared for any terribleness, but it's really hard...

~Aaro