Category: Finished Series: Romance

Welcome everyone, to the grand finale of His and Her Circumstances. Well, I say grand, but it’s not, is it? Closer to a grand disappointment if anything. I cannot think of a more messy, disappointing finale to a series I’ve actually enjoyed than this. It’s almost impressive, if I wasn’t so absolutely livid. Why? Well lets dive in and talk about the “why”.

First up, the production. To call these episodes a mess would be a disservice to messes everywhere, it was downright trash. Oh there were some bits that looked nice, I’ll grant. The stark coloring in episode 25 lent very well to the horror vibes, while the rainbow patterning on Arima’s face really sold the internal strife. Aside from that however, both episodes were veritable power points, with episode 26, the bloody finale, not even having that. It’s like the episode never made it out of the storyboarding phase, complete with text on the screen in place of spoken dialogue and simplistic, black and white sketches for the characters. Some might try to defend this as “Unique” and “Artistic” but I just call it “Mismanagement” and “incomplete”. As someone who loved His and Her Circumstances production early on, this was a massive disappointment.

Continue reading “His and Her Circumstances – 25/26 [A Story Different from Up to Now/14 Days, Part 6] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome everyone, to the penultimate week of His and Her Circumstances! That’s right, we only have one more week before this is done and you get a final review. So if you have a series you want covered in Throwback Thursday, make sure to leave a comment so I can put it on the poll. Now without further ado, lets dive into the episodes!

First up, episode 22, “14 Days, Part 4”. This episode is all about them prepping for the upcoming play. And you know what? I need to say it. I have no idea how this is going to transition into a satisfactory finale. Between the prep there are some small scenes about Arima’s jealousy and personal issues, despite Miyazawa’s previous affirmations about their relationship, but it’s not thing particularly notable. And even if it was, this play doesn’t seem like a good way to address them what with it’s sci-fi themed subject matter and how Arima isn’t involved in it at all. In fact, it seems like Asaba is doing more to notice and address Arima’s issues than anyone else. But even he disappoints in just silently being there rather than any kind of… cathartic discussion, and also not having any actual arc of his own.

Continue reading “His and Her Circumstances – 22/23/24 [14 Days, Part 4/14 Days, Part 5/Recap] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome everyone, to another (late) week of His and Her Circumstances! There’s a fair amount to talk about this week, most of it concerning, but worth the time regardless. That warning given, lets dive into the episode!

Starting with the production, this week is actually an improvement. The same way being punched in the stomach is an improvement over being kicked in the balls. Sure, there are no more paper cutouts overlaid onto real life future, and things have progressed beyond sketches. But at the same time you can count the frames in most scenes, and most of the characters simply look… off. It’s like all of their designs and models got downscaled to 240p. They lack small details and proportions are off, making them look like completely different characters half the time. And with Anno gone the interesting and engaging direction that made these still screens actually work has left with him. It’s a shame really. Circumstances started off so strong visually, yet here it is falling apart like the very definition of production melt. At least the narrative can salvage it… right?

Continue reading “His and Her Circumstances – 20/21 [14 Days, Part 2/14 Days, Part 3] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome everyone, to what is a very important week for His and Her Circumstances. Why is it important you might ask? Because this week marks the departure of Hideaki Anno from the production, and the production then imploding upon itself. What does that mean? What does that look like? Let’s dive in and talk about that.

So, the production. Does it really look that bad? The answer: Yes. Yes it does. In fact it looks so bad that I almost didn’t believe it. I thought that this must just be for the opening recap, right? That’s why it’s literally sketches on paper taped to sticks being held in front of a camera, or live footage of the streets outside the production studio? But no, this was the entire episode. So the question becomes: What happened? Well the best I can figure, based on a small amount of research, is that this is the point where Anno simply left the production. Between recent (for the time) laws regarding anime production, pressure from the studio about removing sex scenes (Will get to that) and arguments with the original author, things were starting to fall apart. But the sad thing about it, to me? It wasn’t completely bad.

Continue reading “His and Her Circumstances – 18/19 [Progress/14 Days, Part 1] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome everyone, to another week of His and Her Circumstances! This post was written on a deadline, and I don’t expect that to change with Mob Psycho airing on Wednesdays now. I will not apologize for my priorities damnit. My inevitable fall into being more and more late for the next few weeks aside though, this was a pretty interesting week for Circumstances so lets dive right into it.

Visually, Circumstances had some ups and downs this week. Animation wise there was really only one scene that stood out, it once again being Tsubasa. But god damn did that scene look good. Not only because it was well animated, but because of the details and expressions within it. The narrowing of the eyes, her face shattering apart, how Tsubasa’s mouth ripped open. It’s just beautiful. So if it looks so good, where are the downs? Well that’s just it. The rest of the episodes didn’t move at all. They are more like slideshows than animation. Yes, the creativity within those slide shows is great. Circumstances has some of the best visual metaphors and facial expressions I’ve seen in a long time, just look at Tsubaki’s rotating flip-board reaction faces for a perfectly example of minimalist animation. Even with that however, it’s becoming noticeable just how little Circumstances moves.

Continue reading “His and Her Circumstances – 16/17 [Eternal Interspersions/His Return] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome everyone, to the halfway point of His and Her Circumstances! I have an odd week for you this week as we cover 3 episodes! Though if I’m being honest, it’s really more like 1 and 1/2 because of recaps. Regardless of the why though, we have a lot of content to cover. So lets dive right in!

Jumping right into things, first up is episode 13, “The Subjectivity of Happiness”. This episode is the conclusion to Tsubasa’s family struggles, and my overall impression is that it was good. Circumstances gave us a lot to think about with Tsubasa, continuing to recontextualize her earlier bratty behavior and help us sympathize with her. What’s nice about it though is that it didn’t attempt to excuse said behavior however. Circumstances was very clear about how much of a selfish brat Tsubasa was, both then and during this arc. The way she treated her father, as well as the prospective step-mother, was incredibly rude. But it was also understandable. And I think that’s a really important thing when making characters act like complete assholes. At least if you want us to like them that is. It wasn’t perfect, there were some bumps along the way for sure. But it was good.

Continue reading “His and Her Circumstances – 13/14/15 [The Subjectivity of Happiness/The Story So Far/What Can Be Seen Beyond that Voice] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome to the (almost) halfway point of His and Her Circumstances! This week sees us transition into a new arc, both for the show and the lead relationship. There’s a shocking amount to talk about this week so lets jump right into it!

Starting off, I need to gush a bit about how good Circumstances looked this week. It was mostly back-loaded into the 2nd half of episode 11, sure. But that 2nd half was an absolute joy. The eye catches, the expressiveness, the sheer amount of personality packed into each and every scene. From Tsubasa being a gremlin to Aya and Tsubaki being absolute terrors. That entire scene in the restaurant as they keep feeding Tsubasa more and more and more spoons. I’ve seen that scene, with no context, for years! And I never knew where it was from until today. It’s incredible how quickly Circumstances can go from well directed but barely animated to some of the best and most expressive character work I’ve ever seen. Makes me really concerned for just how far this show falls, based on what people have told me about the 2nd half.

Continue reading “His and Her Circumstances – 11/11.5/12 [At the End of the First Semester/At the Beginning of Summer Break/The Location of Happiness] – Throwback Thursday” →