Circumstances

I’ve been watching Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou recently. (His and Her Circumstances) It was done by GAINAX (totally in-house I think) in 1998 and watching it really reminds me of FLCL. You can notice many precursors to FLCL’s and GAINAX’s unique style, like the manga scene and the stop motion credits roll. Haruka’s seiyuu, Shintani Mayumi, even plays a role in it! (although the character doesn’t really suit her voice, unlike Haruka)

Kare Kano (as the show is commonly known as) itself was a masterpiece. Although it did not gain as much popularity as Evangelion, GAINAX’s previous work, it is still a damn good series in its own right. As usual for GAINAX productions, it has a serious undertone and theme to the story, (even FLCL had that) but unlike Evangelion with its deep psychological theme or FLCL with its pure craziness, Kare Kano is a… love story! BUT~! It is not your conventional shounen or shoujo love comedy, indeed, Kare Kano created a superb twist to the conventional fomula and produced something truely humorous at the funny parts and REALLY, REALLY serious at the serious parts. Also the character design is starting to show the unique style seen in FLCL, especially for the females. Great show overall, the first episode guaranteed to hook you in for the rest of the season.

Kare Kano also happens to be the first show that made me want to buy the DVD box set… Well, that’ll have to wait until after my PC upgrade.