Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou

Although I have written the bare necessities of what KareKano is about from the previous layout of last year... I basically wrote about the anime... This time this will be about the Manga. I REALLY REALLY love the anime... I just have to say that. I mean, it was from Gainax, the script was written and was directed by Anno Hideaki who is one of the weirdest yet most unique writers ever. Talk about a gifted guy. But that is just me of course...

The manga is by Tsuda Masami... Her story of KareKano began in 1996. Aside from Touch and Fruits Basket... This manga is one of my favorites. It's funny and sad and full of such wonderful writing as well as full of amazing images. It's also very funny and very realistic. There's no one you can hate here at all. Every one of the characters are so real.... I think my favorite would have to be Shibahime Tsubasa. Who is small and cute and who once was thought of by her younger stepbrother as a first year Jr.High School girl instead of a High School Sophmore. She got so mad she blew up. But I LOVE her attitude! She's crazy, sometimes immature, she gets tempted with food, she loves Kazuma with all her heart and her family is mixed up. Kazuma is her younger step brother (who is only a few months younger) who was adopted by her father when he married his mother. So his last name also became Shibahime. Weird huh? Their relationship is sweet and funny too. Kazuma is the lead singer of a band called "Yin Yang". Arima, who EVERYONE admires and blushes for admires Kazuma a lot. And out of everyone, Arima blushes for him. I thought that was cute as well. Especially when everyone else gets jealous.

KareKano... has yet to become popular though. The first volume of the DVD came out in August and the 2nd will be out in Nov. I hope you guys give it a chance. It's a really smart anime. It makes you think, it makes you care for these characters and it will make you laugh and go "Awwww"... The latest manga chapters take a darker side to Arima's character and his story about his mother who abandoned him when he was younger. It's such a sad story and very powerful. This is my second favorite manga ever next to Touch. There are no slutty Yuu Watase characters here, no submissive characters, no magical girls, just normal ordinary characters with ordinary but sometimes hard and awkward lives. Just take a look. Besides that, it really is funny like I have mentioned and the way Masami draws them Chibi a lot is so damn cute! I should really stop saying that.

KareKano is a very rare story. Since in English it translates to His and Her Circumstances it really means what it says. Not only does it go through the mind of the main character of the show, Miyazawa Yukino... it also goes through the mind of Arima Souchirou, along with the other characters as well....

Unlike other manga, the "secondary" characters aren't left in the background. Their fears and their desires are also explored greatly in such a realistic way that sometimes it seems like you're looking at your own life right before your eyes... I love how the manga really goes through each of the character's emotions. Going through what each are thinking at the same certain moment at the same time. Their thoughts are so beautiful... and poetic. It seems like I really am watching some romance drama except on paper... (Geez, Aurora is in one of her girly girl romantic moods now)... I really love the Tsubaki and Tonami arcs along with the Tsubasa and Kazuma's arcs. So pretty... so beautiful... But Arima... what a character too. Reading his story... it just makes you want to cry.... but I just can't say anymore without giving everything away now can I? With all the anime/manga that was featured here so far KareKano is by far the best one you should try if you haven't already. I think you might fall in love with it just like that... with story lines that start out with titles like "The Day I feel in Love...." how can you not? And no way is this manga cheesy. Trust me. It's very smart, very realistic... as an aspiring writer, I can only wish to capture such touching and funny emotions like Masami has captured in KareKano.

And now for Asuka's article on her idol Sakura Tsubaki

Of all the characters in Karekano, and most anime, Tsubaki is probably one of my MOST favorite characters (Asuka and her are tied). She is a rare character that you hardly EVER see in anime. She isn't one of those typical submissive characters that almost everyone in Japan likes, especially the men. For example Sakurabi Aoi (Ai Yori Aoshi) and Belldandy. They're the type to study hard, be obiedient, to do whatever their man tells them to do, to always clean, and do the cooking. Basically, the typical "housewife" basically the so called "perfect" characters. But Tsubaki is just the opposite. I can't really describe her, because I might make her seem like something that doesn't make her an individual, which she really is. If you read the Karekano volumes 7-9, you'll see what I mean (yes, there are translations) or if you watch the anime itself too. I like Tsubaki because she is most like me. Of all the anime I've seen, Tsubaki is probably the one who resembles me the most. And that's rare, because most anime, they have the tough one, the fiery one, the clumsy one, the comic-relief, the modest one or antisocial one and it goes on. Tsubaki doesn't fit into one of those catagories. Because she's an individual. Actually the more I think about it, everyone in Karekano are all individuals. But Tsubaki resembles me the most. I mean she even looks like me, seriously, i'm not joking. With the Short black hair and everything a long the love of freedom and traveling. Since I'm a Sagittarius, I really do think that Tsubaki could be one too by how they potrayed her.(since I was in this astrology phase) But like i said, she is a rare character that is hardly ever recognized.

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