This is my first time writing a review, so please be gentle, but Kimi to Boku more than deserves something nice being said about it for once. I'm a huge fan of the manga, so I'm a little biased, but, I'll keep focused on what my thoughts are for the anime only.
-Story-
The plot of this series revolves around five high school boys who have known each other since childhood. Kimi to Boku falls under the 'slice of life' category, because that's exactly what it is. If you're expecting something that's action packed or has a fast pace, this anime will likely disappoint you, because it's
...
neither. But, this is one of the reasons that this series is so great; it's simple. It deals with the every day lives of these five boys (Kaname, Shun, Yuuta, Yuuki, and Chizuru) and the people they interact with. Each episode they are faced with new life challenges that are easy for the viewer to relate to. Though, this series also focuses on the boys' pasts, showing little segments to explain traits that they continue to show in present time or to reflect on a previous relationship with each other or one of the other characters.
Drama hardly exists in Kimi to Boku, other than adorable, friendly squabbles or the occasional love interest dilemma. This, can either come across as boring to a viewer or as something that's soothing compared to the other anime that they might watch. To me, Kimi to Boku is a breath of fresh air. While other animes may be nerve-wrecking or stressful to watch, this anime is so enjoyable to me. Every time I sit down to watch it, I can just feel myself melt into the world of these characters and I find myself helplessly falling in love with their situations.
Personally, I enjoy the slow pace of this anime. It's slow enough to simply enjoy watching it, but fast enough to where I'm never bored watching it.
-Art-
The art of this anime is very similar to Hotta's art in the manga. Both are drawn simplistically, which fits perfectly with the series' simplistic plot. The characters are drawn with detail that is just enough, not messy, but not overwhelmingly complex. Each character get's his or her own unique look and features, making them easy to distinguish between them and easy for someone who's new to the series catch on and remember their names. Although, something that I really enjoy with the anime is the beautiful pallet of colors. The anime has very soft, warm colors. The scenery of the backgrounds often involving cherry blossoms or beautiful sky images. The colors and the atmosphere of this anime only add to the beauty of this series' complicated-simplicity.
-Sound-
The music is alright. The background music is not overwhelming and doesn't seem to distract the viewer from the character interactions, instead, it seems to just perfectly fit with the rest of the atmosphere. The opening and ending themes are cute, although, the music all together is not very memorable. It just fits.
Rather than talking about the music in the series, I'd like to stress how perfectly cast the VAs are for these characters. I'm a fan of the drama CDs, so I didn't really know what I was expecting by being introduced to a new cast of VAs for the characters. I was a bit hesitant about it, to be honest. But, after watching the first episode, I was more than pleased. I actually had butterflies, because I think the cast did an incredible job portraying these characters exactly how they were meant to be shown. Shun is soft and meek, Kaname comes off being overwhelmed and aggravated, Chizuru is obnoxious and loud, the twins are smooth and perfectly quiet. These aspects of their personalities are easily shown in the VAs' voices. They are easy to decipher from one another, which is especially important with the twins.
-Character-
I've been stating over and over how delightfully simplistic this series is, but the characters are anything but simple. Each character is something special, each character feels like a main character, and each character is able to blend with the rest of the cast. Focusing on our main five boys, each of them have a special relationship with one another and interact with each other in different ways. Though, one criticism that this series has gotten is the 'BL' aspects that the show gives off. It's all about perception, if you want to see a deeper relationship between any of these characters, then you can easily see one, if you chose to view them as just being a set of close friends, then the BL elements are hardly overwhelming. These characters are for everyone who wants to enjoy them, this series is NOT just eye candy for fangirls.
I won't go into the detail of each of the boys, to avoid spoilers, but, I think their different personalities and the different ways that they react to each other is something that's very special. Each character is incredibly likeable and each one is someone that the viewer could relate to someone they know in real life, or even themselves.
I have nothing bad to say about any character in this entire series (even the ones that have not made their appearances yet) and that's something really miraculous for me. I generally like only a few characters from each series, but, I can honestly say that I love every single character very dearly and have related to each of them in some situation or another. This is by far my favorite part of this series.
-Enjoyment-
What's not to enjoy about Kimi to Boku? Nothing is unlikable about adorable characters interacting with each other in adorable ways. There's heart, there's humor, there's tiny bits of drama, and just a lot of love between the cast. I fully enjoy this series and find myself laughing at various times, although, it seems like every time I watch a new episode, the smile won't disappear from my face. It's impossible for me not to enjoy watching these character's bonds grow and change, and watch the events that lead up to these changes.
-Overall-
This anime gets high marks from me, especially because it's an adaptation. Usually, adaptions are done poorly, and viewers often get the wrong idea about the series by the lame anime adaption that an amazing manga got; though with Kimi to Boku, I love both the anime in the manga. I highly recommend anyone who's falling in love with these characters, or even enjoying themselves in the slightest, to read the manga. The manga is even more incredible than the anime, although, the anime is very close to being perfection. There are, of course, changes that have been made in the adaption, but, this series has a very nice flow, and I am ecstatically awaiting seeing the rest of this season's episodes, as well as the second season.
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Nov 10, 2011
Kimi to Boku.
(Anime)
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This is my first time writing a review, so please be gentle, but Kimi to Boku more than deserves something nice being said about it for once. I'm a huge fan of the manga, so I'm a little biased, but, I'll keep focused on what my thoughts are for the anime only.
-Story- The plot of this series revolves around five high school boys who have known each other since childhood. Kimi to Boku falls under the 'slice of life' category, because that's exactly what it is. If you're expecting something that's action packed or has a fast pace, this anime will likely disappoint you, because it's ... |
