Kimi to Boku or You and Me is about four high school boys – Kaname, Shun, and the twins Yuki and Yuta who have known each other since they were kids about their everyday lives. They are soon accompanied by a foreign exchange student, Chizuru. This the basic premise of the anime. The anime focuses on different stories in each its episode, much like Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop or Mushishi. What it depends on is how each of the episodes depicts their lives, the humour and basic plot outline in each of the episodes, which might be floating around and might not be spinal backbone of the episodes either.
The anime has some really strong points, most notably its laid-back humour and a sense of ease in all of its episodes though the first four episodes are a bit of what you can say as weak links in the series, that is, before Chizuru finally shows up. The characters are nicely done - the studious and easily irritated Kaname, the all-flowery and feminine Shun, calm and composed Yuta, manga lover and slightly annoying and anti-social Yuki and hyperactive and full of energy Chizuru. The cast is further supported by additional minor characters like Mary, Kaname’s neighbouring friends, Asuma-sensei, Kaori-sensei, etc. to name a few. The main characters interact in a way that all the viewers who have been through high school phase can easily correlate themselves to. The humour might not be to everyone’s liking since it is not a laugh-out-loud riot as in case of Daily Lives of High School Boys but it is enjoyable nonetheless.
The direction is slightly bogged out and it has its own pacing issues that remain prevalent in majority of its episodes but then again, it is an anime which is made like that. The creators wanted it to be that way. But still, pace could have been improved in certain areas and episodes. The direction on the first four episodes is especially weak, probably due to lack of energy which would later on be supplemented by addition of Chizuru to the cast.
The sound of the anime is nicely done including the dialogue delivery and minimal use of background score which might feel a bit dull to the viewers accustomed to seeing only high-octane action anime but mind you all that this is a text-book slice of life, drama-comedy anime and none of that really matters. The opening and ending songs are nice too. Overall, the sound department nailed it.
The animation uses soft colours and despite of the fact that it feels a tad too dull sometimes, it mostly fits well with the laid-back nature of the anime. There are no vivid colours here, hardly anime contrast and hardly any colours either. To sum up the animation, I would say that it’s not world-class but it’s not Elfen Leid either.
Overall, You and Me despite looking so weak on paper and even convincing the viewer through the initial episodes, turns out to be nice and refreshing. Though it’s not very original (shows like Hyouka have a similar atmosphere), characters, direction in the later part of the series and the ambience really make you feel that your time was well invested. The bottom line is that it’s an anime which does not shine but rather glows softly, not because it’s can’t but rather because it is not meant to.
Final Verdict - 7/10
- A Review by Kartikeya Shrivastava
0 comments:
Post a Comment