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Kimi to Boku – or You and Me, in English – is a slice of life anime touted as a very realistic glimpse into the daily lives of five high school boys. Praised for its lack of melodrama and absence of overdone cutesy-ness, this anime promises viewers a blend of comedy, everyday drama and a touch of romance, delivered in a laid-back, down-to-earth way. A refreshing concept in a genre riddled with tired tropes and rehashed storylines, but does it work? Well, not quite.

After reading a large number of positive reviews for this show, I was expecting to enjoy a realistic representation ... of high school life, albeit without too much drama. I was also looking forward to meeting a cast of characters complete with well-rounded personalities, depth and some direction to their lives. Unfortunately, I was let down on all fronts.

The first issue that is readily apparent in Kimi to Boku is the characters, who are little more than one-dimensional clichés – the girly boy, the uptight glasses-wearing guy, the cool and good-looking twins, the energetic and annoying kid… Although it steers clear of many of the biggest pitfalls of ‘factory-farmed’ slice of life anime, unfortunately Kimi to Boku still forsakes originality for total familiarity.

The second problem is that the show’s strict no-melodrama approach works against it, as there are never any obstacles presented to our one-dimensional characters to help them gain any new dimensions. As a result, all of our five boys seem to have the same personalities throughout the series, never even evolving from who they were in their elementary school flashbacks.

The plot is debatably realistic in the sense that nothing extraordinary happens. On the other hand, I would argue that it is too plain and boring to be realistic. Watch as our main characters engage in thumb wars, walk around to various places, do homework, talk about putting salt on watermelon, cut each other’s hair and bicker a lot. I found myself literally dozing off in several episodes, thinking that instead of watching Shun, Kaname et al do nothing I could actually be doing something – anything – more interesting than watching Kimi to Boku.

In defence of the show, once in a while it does have moments of brilliance. The art, sound and direction in episode five made me feel immersed in the height of summer, even though it was winter outside. Yuuta wiping away a girl’s tears in episode seven is surprisingly tender. These magical moments, however, are frustratingly few and far between, and proof of Kimi to Boku’s inability to create anything consistently engaging and solid from its basic premise.

No noteworthy events, no conflict, no character development, no discernible plot – that is Kimi to Boku. Unfortunately its attempt to do slice of life differently is misguided – life does have its noteworthy events, conflict, character development and drama, and that’s what makes it fun, entertaining and challenging. For the most part, Kimi to Boku is not fun, entertaining or challenging.

You may like Kimi to Boku if you enjoy watching ‘cute’ high school boys do mundane, typical slice of life stuff to the detriment of all else – and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If that is not your cup of tea, however, switch off your computer, go outside and do something interesting with your own life, instead of watching these 2D cartoon characters do nothing with theirs.

“Everything depends on the colour of the crystal through which one sees it” - Calderon

A favourite quote of mine, and one which I think perfectly applies to School Days, an anime which can be either an incredible work of fiction or a steaming pile of doggy poop, all depending on the lens you are looking through.

Before watching School Days, I had no idea just how hated it was, especially here on MAL. I think I’d heard about it through a recommendation on YouTube that described the story along the lines of “love can be a very dark and scary thing.” I had also ... heard hints about the show’s infamous ending, a grand finale that was likely to leave me more than slightly emotionally disturbed. As a lover of dark, psychological stories, I was eager to give it a go. After watching the anime in two sittings, hungrily consuming one episode after another, I surfaced from School Days mind-blown at the masterpiece of fiction I had just watched, and was genuinely surprised to learn that around 90% of the people who had seen it had experienced the polar opposite reaction from me.

To enjoy this anime, School Days should be watched with several things in mind. Firstly – this has been said before but is worth repeating – this is not your typical high school romance or harem anime. In fact, it never, ever tries to be. Secondly, it is a deconstruction of the aforementioned genres. It expertly establishes a handful of tired clichés and tropes, and then sadistically enjoys dismantling and destroying them piece by piece. Thirdly, this ain’t no anime for kids. Despite its innocent looking appearance, a number of dark, mature themes are uncovered and explored right through until its tragic and stomach-churning conclusion.

Our protagonist is Makoto, your typical high school boy with a crush on a cute girl, Kotonoha, who rides the same train to school as him every day. After snapping a photo of her on his cell phone, his crush is discovered by his female classmate Sekai, who proposes to set them up. Within the first few episodes this fun, cheesy romance arc develops and then reaches its climax; Kotonoha and Makoto confess to each other, and it is also revealed that Sekai secretly has feelings for Makoto.

From this seemingly innocent and well-crafted start, things start to go downhill. Not for the anime, but for Makoto, Sekai and Kotonoha. As these characters and the supporting cast show us, love and life are not as simple and carefree as we would all like to believe. People make mistakes, feelings get hurt, people can be selfish, people can be torn between love and friendship, lust can lead to us to make errors of judgement, bullying can destroy people – especially sensitive people – and sometimes it just takes one small act to push someone over the edge.

For me, this is what School Days gets spectacularly right, and is one of the main reasons why it gets such a high rating from me. Some people have called the characters and their actions unrealistic, but for me this is some of the most true-to-life drama conveyed on screen that I have ever seen. Anyone with a modicum of life experience should be able relate to almost all of the feelings and actions – positive and negative – that Makoto, Kotonoha, Sekai and the rest of the cast play out in this story. Makoto and Sekai get a lot of hate, but aren’t we all guilty of having been cowardly, selfish, hurtful (intentionally or unintentionally), naïve, cruel, angry, hateful, jealous and frustrated sometime in our lives?

This poignant exploration of the characters’ – and our – darker selves is only made more impactful by the truly excellent writing, animation and direction of School Days. Its character designs and scenery are typical of a high school comedy-romance, but notice how the sombre colour palette hints at the darkness to come. The first few episodes seem typical of a humdrum romance plot, but some odd camera angles should be telling you things are slightly off-kilter. The comedy and fanservice moments are carefully placed in eerie and uneasy contrast to the oppressive darkness that slowly consumes each of our main characters. There are no internal monologues, but the characters’ faces, words and actions carry so much raw emotion we can feel their excitement, lust, desperation and pain as they do. There are, in fact, so many layers to the gathering darkness that School Days needs at least one rewatch to pick up on all the verbal and non-verbal cues that are present right from the first episode.

It is hard to do justice to something as brilliant as School Days. 10/10 is perhaps a controversial score to give, but in my opinion it thoroughly deserves it – this anime is a bonafide masterpiece. If you enjoy dark and psychological stories, tragedy, genre deconstructions with an element of satire, characters that have very human flaws, and writing and direction that “show” rather than “tell”, chances are you may very well enjoy School Days as much as I did.

A word of caution, however; no matter how much you brace yourself, that ending really is more than slightly emotionally disturbing. It is also an epic and unforgettable conclusion to the descent into hell that is School Days. You have been warned.