Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (His and Her Circumstances)

Summary

We're introduced to Miyazawa Yukino, in her first year of high school, a girl who's kind, thoughtful, quiet and a model student. Turns out, she's none of those things, she's really lazy, greedy, self-centered, and obsessed with getting attention and praise. She only ever lets her guard down in front of her parents and two sisters, and is an entirely different person at school. Since she entered school with the #2 rank on the entrance exam, her ego quickly sets her competing all-out with Arima Souchirou (#1 rank), an equally-upstanding model student, who's the only son of rich parents. Arima eventually confesses he has feelings for Miyazawa, who quickly turns him down, only to have Arima catch her without her image up. He uses that as an excuse to spend time with Miyazawa, and the two eventually realize they're a lot alike, and start going out.

Arima's parents, we learn, aren't his birth parents, but rather his aunt and uncle. Arima belongs to a prestigious family of doctors, and his father was a major disappointment to the family; running up debts, beating his son, and eventually running off with Arima's mother to get away from these debts, leaving 3-year-old Souchirou behind. While his adoptive parents (who never had children of their own) are incredibly kind to him, the rest of the Arima family is rather open about the fact that they expect him to fail like his parents. So Arima has dedicated himself to repaying his parents by trying to be perfect in every respect.

As the two start dating, they try to learn together how to be more honest with themselves and not get so obsessed with image. It's also a slow process of getting past the self-doubt each of them have, as neither has been in a relationship before.

After the sports fest (whereby the two go through some angst at not having time to spend with each other), a flurry of new characters are introduced. Asaba (Asapin) is a classmate whose main interest is to be surrounded by beautiful girls, thinking of them as sheep following him, he tries to set up a self-described "Asaba Mary-land" by hanging around Arima (equally attractive to the girls in school). After some conflict with Miyazawa, the three become pretty good friends.

Kawashima-sensei, the math teacher and advisor for the first-years' class, appears to call in Arima and Miyazawa after their grades fall during the next series of tests, with them going from 1st and 2nd to 13th and 3rd in the class. Their parents are called in, and the two basically resolve to find a way to keep their grades up while still seeing each other.

Maho (seen in a half-second scene in episode 1, scowling as Miyazawa rejoices at the exam results...a scene not in the original manga, it should be noted) is in Arima and Miyazawa's class, and is bitter at being swept aside as the top-ranking girl in her class by Miyazawa when she came to high school. She manipulates the other girls in the class into shunning Miyazawa for monopolizing Arima and Asaba, but Miyazawa manages to expose Maho's plotting; the two later reconcile.

Also introduced at this time is Shibahime, attending the same high school but in another class, she was in an accident before school started, and only just got out of the hospital. She had gone to Arima's middle school, and her crush on him was only returned with Arima treating her like a little sister. She, too, is angry at Miyazawa for taking Arima, and declares all-out war on Miyazawa for a couple episodes, before Miyazawa snaps, and there's an emotional confrontation between the two girls and Arima, whereupon Shibahime gets more attached to Miyazawa. This attachment ends up dragging Miyazawa (and, somehow, Maho too) into Shibahime's family problems: she's been very attached to her doting father (her mother died after childbirth), and now she's angry that her father met someone new while Shibahime was in the hospital, which leads to the introduction of...

Kazuma, the son of the woman Shibahime's father would like to live together with. He's the same age as Shibahime, but goes to a different school. For the sake of contrast of characters, he's in a punk band, with blond, spiky hair and such. When the two talk together, he manages to convince Shibahime that the two are pretty much alike, wherein they're lonely as a result of living in incomplete families, and Shibahime accepts the new arrangement.

Finally, there are the three friends of Shibahime, who end up befriending Miyazawa while Shibahime's attacks are ongoing, Aya, Rika, and Sakura. They're a pretty varied lot, and Miyazawa and Maho end up drawn to the fact that the three girls really developped themselves, while the two only thought about classes and image.

In the midst of all this, summer break comes and Arima begins training for the national competition between high school students in kendo (wooden sword fighting). Miyazawa resigns herself to the fact that she won't be able to see much of him for a month or so, and begins spending more time with all the new friends she acquired in the space of a few episodes.

Arima finally returns, having won the national Kendo high school tournament, and his relationship with Miyazawa picks up speed, and the two finally, y'know, get it on. We also have recap episodes, and "moments in the life of" episodes. In particular, the Miyazawa family goes to see Yukino's grandfather (mother's side), still bitter at his daughter's choice of husband. We get a little flashback of the backstory of Yukino's parents, then it's back to the main plot. Souichirou returns to the main Arima house for a family gathering, where he's generally mocked by the entire family, until his adoptive father has enough and makes a big speech about how what a good person Souichirou is, shaming the rest of the family. We also get a bit of backstory from Maho, namely that she's dating a dentist a good ten years older than she is. In shoujo manga, this means there's a scene upcoming where there's a big confrontation with authority figures, the two argue that their love sees no barriers, and love triumphs over all. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen in time in the manga to be included in the anime, so that's the last you'll hear about this ickyness.

This leads into the final story arc of the series (which, sadly, does not finish when the anime does). They return from summer break, and the school is preparing for the culture festival. This is a tradition in Japanese schools, where students divide up into class or club groups, and have a fair of sorts on campus, with things like concerts, booths where food is cooked, haunted houses, and so forth. Parents and neighbors and kids from other schools are meant as the target audience. Miyazawa discovers the prize for the class whose event pulls in the most money is rewarded with class notes from a top-of-the-class alumni, and goes into full competitive mode, trying to come up with an event to beat the rest of the classes. Competition includes Asaba's class, featuring a "dinner show," wherein Asaba attracts the girls and...yeah, there's not much beyond that. Amidst all this, a new character is introduced, Tonami, a tall, tan athelete from Okinawa (southern island of Japan). As it hinted at by the end of episode 18, this is the same Tonami Rika and Tsubasa knew in middle school, though he seems like an entirely different person. It's also suggested that Tsubasa would be in the most trouble if it IS the same Tonami, since she tormented him so much.

Characters

Miyazawa Yukino. High school freshman (10th grade). Obsessed with her image to a disturbing extent, she's smart, athletic, and great at faking a good personality. She and Arima are vying for the top grades in their class. Seiyuu: Enomoto Atsuko (Debut) Suzuhara Misaki Angelic Layer Yuki Chance Triangle Session Kotoko Kachou Ouji (Black Heaven) Kurumi Steel Angel Kurumi Mitsuki Puni Puni Poemii Akiba Megumi Soul Taker

Souchirou Arima, also high school freshman, in the same class as Miyazawa. Overcompensating for his birth parents, he's been trying to prove his worth to the aunt and uncle who adopted him by being outstanding in every respect. Along with Yukino, the two start to work beyond just creating images. Seiyuu: Suzuki Chihiro Ariou Boogiepop Phantom Megane-kun Hamtaro Ky Schweitzer Di Gi Charat

Asaba Hideaki, same year as Yukino and Arima, but different class. As perverted as they come, his obsession is with getting girls to fawn over him. He attaches himself to Arima initially to get more girls looking in his direction, but he ends up making friends with the two of them. Hokuei is a prestigious high school, so it's a bit of a mystery how Asaba got in. Seiyuu: Kisaichi Atsushi Uub Dragonball GT Kawahara Kiyomi Mahoromatic

Miyazawa Tsukino (right), the middle sister, in her second year of middle school (grade 7). She's pretty laid-back and easy-going, in contrast to her image-obsessed older sister. Seiyuu: Watanabe Yuki Suzuki Yasuko Boogiepop Phantom Sango Hanaukyou Maid Tai Miyazawa Kano (left), youngest sister, first year of middle school (grade 6). She dreams of becoming a manga-ka (comic book author), and is full of good advice for Yukino. Seiyuu: Yamamoto Maria Nozomi Chance Triangle Session May Hand Maid May Kana Megumi Princess Rouge

Miyazawa Miyako, Yukino's mother. Two years younger than her husband, she gets the basic housewife role, and more than anything else, acts like an older sister to her daughters. Seiyuu: Koyama Yuka Yoko Bastard! Kanzaki Yuka Golden Boy Jinny Golding Marmalade Boy

Miyazawa Hiroyuki, Yukino's father. A tad overprotective of his daughters. He has a not-overly-impressive salary job, and is very devoted to his family. Seiyuu: Kusao Takeshi Kai Akira Krad DNAngel Trunks Dragonball Z Parn Record of Lodoss War Saionji Kyouichi Utena Youta Video Girl Ai

Pero Pero. The Miyazawa dog. No voice actor information given (I don't think he/she ever makes a sound, anyway)

Tsubasa Shibahime. Another freshman in a different class than Arima and Miyazawa, she's very cute, knows it, and has a pretty vicious personality. She went to Arima's middle school, and followed him to Hokuei, but not before landing in the hospital, missing the first few months of school (and, coincidentally, the first seven episodes of the series). Seiyuu: Shintani Mayumi (Debut) Lolo Brigadoon Cindy Earth Girl Arjuna Haruko FLCL

Izawa Maho. In Arima and Miyazawa's class, she's initial bitter at having to give up the top spot to Miyazawa, but eventually ends up befriending her. Her character is a lot darker than the rest, and also shows a bit more maturity in some areas. Seiyuu: Noda Junko Reki Haibane Renmei Kitsune Love Hina Aizawa Miyabi GTO Dio Elekrea Last Exile Sharma Rufus Tokyo Underground

Tsubaki Sakura. In Shibahime's class, the two have been friends since early grade school. She's pretty aggressive, and is an avid member of the school volleyball team. Seiyuu: Chiba Saeko Sasaoka Yoko Boogie Pop Phantom Ritsuko K. kettenkrad Genshiken (Kujibiki Unbalance) Panavia Tornado Tristia of the Deep Blue Sea

Sena Rika (left), friend of Shibahime and Sakura from their old middle school. She's very close to Aya (See below), and very supportive of her friends. Her particular skill involves crafts, including sewing and so forth. Seiyuu: Fukui Yukari (Debut) Kokoruu Puchi Puri Yuushi Sawada Aya (right), another classmate of Shibahime's. She's the more morbid one of the group; a published author, she often forsakes sleep and other concerns to finish her given project. Seiyuu: Yukiko Hontani (Debut)

Ikeda Kazuma, Shibahime's new step-brother. Singer in a punk band with musicians twice his age, both he and Shibahime come from single-parent families with no siblings. Sorry, if you missed episodes 12 and 13, you'll never see him again. Seiyuu: Ishida Akira Judeau Berserk Hiwatari DNAngel Nagisa Kaoru Evangelion Athrun Gundam Seed Kei Marmalade Boy Fish Eye Sailor Moon Super S Xellos Slayers

Tonami, another student at the same year as Yukino, but different class. He just transfered after moving here from Okinawa, and went to the same middle school as Arima, Rika, Sakura, and the rest. He's pretty atheletic, a star basketball player, and is pretty smart. Seiyuu: Sasaki Nozomu Tetsuo Akira Mackie Bubblegum Crisis Clef Rayearth Tsuchiya Ruka Utena Ushio Ushio and Tora Yuusuke Yuuyuu Haukusho

Series Notes

Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (Kare Kano) premiered in Japan in late 1998, and was produced by Gainax, the studio responsible for Wings of Honneamise, Evangelion, FLCL, Mahormatic, and Abenobashi, among others. The director and screenwriter of the series is Anno Hideaki, the director of Evangelion. Animation director and character designs: Hiramtasu Tadashi, Art director: Sato Masaru, Music: Sagisu Shiro. The manga continues to be written by Tsuda Masami.

Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou has a double meaning, as "Kareshi" can be both the pronoun him/his, as well as meaning "boyfriend," and similarly with "Kanojo" and "her/girlfriend." So both the English title of "His and Her Circumstances" and "The Circumstances of Boyfriend and Girlfriend" are accurate. The series is an example of "shoujo manga," or comic books meant for young girls (as opposed to "shounen manga," for young boys, which typically feature sports, fighting, or giant robots...or often times combinations of the three). The shoujo genre is most well known for basic high school drama (like Kare Kano, Marmalade Boy, Hana Yori Dango, etc) or magical girl series (Sailor Moon, Saint Tail, Card Captor Sakura, and so on and so on), but can easily cross into more "shounen" territory, as with Escaflowne (published as both a shounen and a shoujo manga), or most anything by Watase Yu (Fushigi Yuugi, Ayashi no Ceres). Strictly speaking, you define a series as "shounen" or "shoujo" based on the manga it is originally published in, but the two categories typically get used in more general senses.

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