Change Your Image
bunkadelic
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Kareshi kanojo no jijou (1998)
An excellent shoujo and an outstanding but simple romance, with visuals and sound that craft an extremely cute and cheery style, one that manages to be relatable and organic.
Right off the bat, there's one thing you need to know if you're considering watching this. The final 8 or so episodes see a dramatic drop in quality and are largely considered to be not worth watching at all (I didn't watch them). This is most likely because Anno's involvement lessened significantly at that point. The show was already plagued with the same time management problems as EVA, and this shows throughout the series.
HOWEVER. Even considering this, episode 18 still offers a perfectly fine resolution of sorts for the main couple. The rest of the characters aren't so lucky, but they weren't particularly developed very much anyway.
AND. Even with production problems and a good amount of lacking animation, colorless frames, and just plain real life footage, the animation and art style still shines in many moments. Often characters are given great expression and motion. Overall, the good outweigh the bad and the problematic moments probably won't sour your experience.
THE MAIN REASONS TO WATCH THIS ANIME - The development of the main couple, both AS a couple but even more importantly as individuals (and the effects that those developments then have on them as a couple), and the style. It's pure late 90's shoujo romcom bliss and I instantly fell in love with it.
Now, to examine some things a bit closer and address some other elements.
As the story progresses, new characters are introduced. Their greatest contribution is to give conflict and resolution arcs to the main couple and therefore act as plot devices for them. They nearly are able to stand on their own as fleshed out, interesting characters (some more than others), but they don't quite get there.
Yukino's seiyou does an excellent job and brings quite a bit to the character. I thought her design wasn't very appealing before watching the anime but I'm pretty sure her seiyou alone was enough to completely change my perspective on her. She's a terrific protagonist altogether. Every moment with her is great.
The two leads aren't black and white. They have somewhat complicated personalities and histories that lend to great development, growth, and relatability. Read the summary on the anime's page and you'll get a better idea of what I mean (it's basically the pitch of the show).
The OST is worth noting because it's excellent. It has this really upbeat like 1920's(or 1950's?) romance vibe to it? It bleeds charm into every other element of the show and only uplifts the animation and the characters, Yukino especially.
This anime subverts some particularly frustrating romcom cliches. Doing so isn't necessarily a mark of good writing on it's own merit, but it's satisfying and a breath of fresh air. I will say though that KareKano's writing is good and the places where those cliches would've appeared in a lesser story, there are good characters and conflicts that only become better and more fleshed out. And the relationships these characters have (and the ones they build through resolving internal and external conflicts) are much more organic and human. And that combined with the silly over the top romcom style is a wonderful combination and reminds me why I even like anime in the first place. The untrained eye could see the over the top style and discount the show for being cheap and shallow, and oftentimes with lesser shows this is the case (not everyone is skilled enough to craft good characters). Anyone familiar with these kinds of shows, the good ones, knows this isn't a rule. You CAN have good characters, human characters, and real conflicts, and also have a ridiculous sense of humor. Kare Kano does this well.
3 cliches in particular caught my eye (these are a tad spoilery):
The beginning of Arima's and Miyazawa's relationship altogether. Romance in anime is usually bogged down with the worst of cliches that seem to do everything they can to avoid giving the audience a satisfying and enjoyable narrative and progression. No garbage here. No irritating irrational misunderstandings. No deus ex machina to interrupt key moments. It just, flows naturally, and the drama is able to come from the foundations the characters are built upon rather than the writer's poor plot/drama construction.
The jealous girl who's in love with Arima tries to sabotage Miyazawa and make her look mean and rude - right when this conflict is introduced, Arima shuts it down and sees right through her. This was honestly so cathartic. And the show was still able to keep the conflict of her being jealous without any problems (although it was rather minor, and resolved quickly and without much consequence).
The jealous girl who turns the class against Miyazawa - after having given Miyazawa the silent treatment for a while, some of the girls are starting to pick up on the fact that their hatred for her is unfounded and unreasonable. Then the most amazing scene happens: they all are gathered in the classroom and they REASON out why it was stupid for them to do, and then they APOLOGIZE to Miyazawa, and THEN they go to the jealous girl and tell her that they've seen through her ploy and even though they can't like her now they still won't be petty and give her the silent treatment in return because they've learned how petty it is. GAH SO REFRESHING.
(Note - the characters in cliche's 2 and 3 are jealous of Miyazawa for different, understandable reasons and they're very different characters.)
Okay, having said all this, as much as I enjoy this anime, the story itself is pretty lowkey. Not particularly gripping in the way that Toradora is. But again, it stands on its own for the reasons I've talked about and I believe it's well worth watching. It's without a doubt one of my favorite romcoms.
Shelter (2016)
A simple yet touching narrative, gorgeous stylized visuals with interesting designs and ideas, and a beautiful weeb-friendly electronic song to guide you through it all.
NOTE - This review will be basically spoiler filled. I'll still be vague about the details but you may as well just watch it before reading. It's like 6 minutes long. It's worth your time.
The story is simple - it's about a single character, Rin, her environment, and her memories. And the implications of her future and the shape it will take.
It's told with grace and simplicity by slowly peeling away the layers and revealing bits of information to the audience, all of which build into something profound and heart tugging. This is done largely with visuals - the only dialogue being the introduction of Rin's present psychological condition and 'location' even and then at the end when she resolves the conflicts she introduced in the beginning, by reconciling with her past, present, and future. Taking on a new and better mindset. That's the story. There's some 'lore' that fills out the space between and it gives weight to Rin's conflict and situation, strengthening the empathetic bond between her and the audience. Even had the music not been a part of it, it still would have made me cry. Those suffering from mental illness may find it especially impactful - they may find it allegorically relevant to themselves, which, as a work of art, is everything it could ever hope to be for someone.
Tonally (and this is crafted through the visuals, the writing, and the sound design/editing) it's largely warm and hopeful, but as it progresses and reveals more it shows the darkness that Rin lives with. The audience follows right along side her as she remembers it and eventually confronts it. The sound design and editing in particular add so much to portraying the tone and narrative. Two points in particular, the ending and the beginning, when the music is introduced and stopped. It begins in silence, followed by a melancholic monologue by Rin. She exhales. Her eyes are low. She's been 'here' in this place physically but also mentally for a painfully long time. Another moment of silence and stillness on the screen. And then the first note of the music breaks it, bringing hope and light to the audience as the visuals bring hope and light to Rin - she begins creating, dreaming, exploring. And then the ending, when the music stops and Rin's real physical body is revealed for the first time - we see her hunched over with mechanical wires and mechanisms protruding all along her back. She seems lifeless. We then zoom out to see the small, lonely spacecraft she resides in, drifting completely alone through space. We hear what sounds like a faint breeze or a distant fading echo. Everything on the screen and in our ears is dark and hopeless, and then everything becomes black and silent, and we hear one last thing - "Arigato". Rin expressing gratitude.
The saddest thing we learn about Rin is that she's lived her entire adolescence in her mind. Her father placed her in the ship and the computerized reality when she was a child. And she only realizes this when she stumbles upon those memories by accident. But the story concludes with a hopeful open end - the possibility that her craft is directed to some specific location - that her father didn't just send her to escape the destruction of her own world but to find oasis in a new one.
Visually Shelter is outstanding. It's A1 Pictures at their best - crafting a unique and memorable style, giving lots of motion and life to the characters and the world, putting lots of thought into framing and editing. Rin's character designs both in the present and as a child are adorable. The nature of the story means there are a lot of abstract sequences and locations that are all fascinating and eye catching. The colors themselves are mesmerizing.
Now, the actual song 'Shelter' composed by Porter Robinson and Madeon which plays for the majority of the anime. It fits with the visuals and the story, whether you enjoy it or not. It's certainly well crafted, with a tremendous amount of polish for every note and sound. And it plays such a pivotal role in the artwork as a whole that were it not fitting for the animation and story, then the video wouldn't have been as successful as it was.
If you don't know anything about the making of this anime or how it came to be, I recommend watching Crunchyroll's behind the scenes video of it on youtube. It's pretty fascinating. It's one of the very few times that someone from the West has been involved with the writing and production of an anime. Just so everyone is clear, Porter Robinson wrote the script himself and seems to have played a prominent role in the production. Which is just insane.
Shelter is a simple, small anime, with a bold and powerful voice. The hardest part of this review was trying not to just gush over how much I love this anime. It means so much to me. It was one of the first anime that I ever saw. It helped me reconcile with my own mental health troubles. It was pivotal in sparking my interest in anime and my reconnection with my younger self. And it's just beautiful.
Psych (2006)
Clever and hilarious. Psych is unforgettable and a probably a cult classic.
Psych is very special to me. It was the first TV show I ever binged on, and it was practically my best friend when I didn't have any (sad I know). My memories of hiding from the world and watching Shawn and Gus solve crimes in the most ridiculous way are still some of my favorite (some five years ago). But don't think that I can no longer enjoy psych now. No matter what kind of day I'm having, I can always come back and enjoy an episode or two. I would certainly recommend to anyone.
Psych is a 7 out of 10. Each episode usually contains a somewhat lukewarm storyline and case, and it's mostly carried along by the spectacular wit and charm of it's two co-stars, Shawn and Gus (less so by the supporting cast). Once the show gained momentum, they really had a good rhythm and the episodes were consistently funny. However, somewhere during the sixth or seventh season it stumbled and never fully recovered, leading up to its rushed and embarrassing series finale. This show is probably only a six out of ten, but because it really nailed some spectacular seasons I will deem it a 7.