The two big slice of life series of Autumn 2011 were Tamayura and Kimi to Boku. Overall I ended up liking Tamayura better, but I also recommend this show. Plus: this show isn’t even finished yet, while Tamayura was a sortof sequel.
With a show about a group of five high school goys, there is one thing that you need to understand before watching this series, though: Kimi to Boku is annoying. This show is obnoxious, and fully aware of that. In fact, it actively tries to get on your nerves. You need patience with this show. This might sound weird, but this show has an overall “bored” atmosphere. The characters are mellow and lethargic. Most of this show is actually a bit of a chore to watch.
But here is the thing: with every episode, this show redeems itself. Whereas episodes start unbelievably boring, they always lead to some redeeming point where this show suddenly delivers heart-warming drama and acting. And not only that, it actually uses the annoying episode to build up and develop into something that catches your attention.
These characters really got on my nerves, but the fact remains: these are really well written characters. Their acting is really believable. They’re far from the usual stereotypes and they’re already quite well developed.
There are two points at which this show leaves things to be desired, though. The first is the random cat shots that often have absolutely nothing to do with the scene they’re shown in. I still don’ really understand what’s up with them. The other, is Chizuru. Being annoying is one thing. This guy is annoying, every single time he opens his mouth. And he never shuts up. And I mean, I know that real high school boys are annoying as well and all, but a show about watching paint dry is realistic too, but that doesn’t make me want to watch it. This guy is not interesting to watch at all and the moments where he redeems himself are far too few to make up for him constantly trying to be an ass.
Let me stress though: he is the only character with this. The rest of the cast more makes it worth watching this series and sitting through the awkward moments. This show tried to invade a genre where the majority of characters are usually girls, rather than guys, and actually upstaged a lot of them here. That’s quite impressive.
| Storytelling: | 8/10 – It might not seem so at first, but this show knows how to tell a story. |
| Characters: | 8/10 – With the exception of Chizuru they’re all surprisingly well written. They will be annoying, though. Be prepared. |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 – Nothing special here, but nothing that gets in the way of the rest of the series. |
| Setting: | 8/10 – Little detail is given to where this show takes place, although the past of the characters is nicely laid out. |
Suggestions:
– Hourou Musuko
– Showa Monogatari
– Bokura ga Ita
“bored”, huh? It really fits XD although I really liked the dry humor it delivers.
And you really hit the nail on the head with that one, and now that I think about it – Kimi to boku might be original. Well, of course it is, but I mean really, actually “original”, unique original, because there are no other shows quite like it – the closest I can think of might be Lucky Star? And it’s so very authentic – the characters are some of the most realistic I’ve seen lately. It doesn’t take special people, or special situations/circumstances or even a special designs – just normal kids, and they made it entertaining.
The girl cast slice of life series all make their heroines stand out. Of course they do. It takes serious balls to deliberately not try to make your work “something special”.
I have to disagree with you on Chizuru not being a ‘well written’ character. He’s a surprisingly complex character. Like a lot of very loud people he’s quite insecure and uses his loudness to overcompensate. I thought that they portrayed that fairly well in the episode where he admits to himself that he likes ‘mary’. I think you’re letting your dislike of him as a character getting in the way.
I think it’s a fair rating, although I’m surprised you found them all annoying. I agree about Chizuru, but I liked all the other characters, and Chizuru had his charm points in his relationship with Mary. The manga is better because you don’t have to hear him being loud and noisy.
The pacing is a tad on the slow side, and so I get what you mean by it being a chore sometimes, but the heartwarming bits really are heartwarming, I liked how it dealt with boy’s love, most of it was one sided, but we also got a snippet of the awkwardness of relationships with Shun chan’s younger brother and his girlfriend.
I also think that the cats were pointless, they don’t feature in the manga, and feels like filler
I thought it was very charming in a quiet way. A nice change of pace from the beaten path of anime.
I’m not sure why the cats confuse you so much, psgels. It seemed clear to me their little actions were mimicking what the boys were up to. It’s just a cute visual gag, nothing more.
I guess your mileage may vary on Chizuru as well. He never really annoyed me, and I tend to get annoyed easily by obnoxious anime characters. He seemed rather tame, compared to the likes of, say… Naruto, or Luffy, or Haruhi Suzimiya, or the cast of Lucky Star. But that’s all a matter of opinion I guess.
There were some episodes (especially at the beginning) that were a little too mellow IMO, but overall Kimi to Boku was quite the unique spin on the slice-of-life, and I’ve enjoyed it for the most part. The art style was pretty interesting to me, and I felt all the characters were surprisingly multifaceted.
My jaw just about hit the floor with that rating… I honestly didn’t see that coming. That rating seems extremely generous from my perspective, but of course, its all opinion.
Maybe i just didn’t have the patients, like you say the show required, but boy – that was a real slog. The childhood flash backs were in no way redeeming for me, and the current time “events” (that word makes it sound like they did things) were about as mundane as mundane gets. It really put me to sleep.
And i believe the cats are just there to show how boring, lazy, and mundane these kids lives are.
I find it hard to rate this show. I feel like every episode was a slow build-up to the final minutes where it all came down together. This had it’s problems, sometimes it helped improve the character and made quite a nice and sweet episode, sometimes it was just long and tedious. I’ve grown to like the cast (minus Chizuru who’s still annoying as hell) much more, especially Kaname and the twins (which I really can’t tell apart…I suck at that). I was getting bored with the show but the last episode was indeed, the best yet. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much during the whole series as the last episode. The chemistry between the characters was just spot on. If only every episode could be that way. Oh, the other annoying issue: the cats. They give nothing at all to the series, they were just there. They were pointless and annoying, not even cute or interesting. Get rid of the kitties, NOW! Do I really look forward to the next set of episodes? Not really. Will I still watch? Definetly.
Chizuru is the moe-est character.
Currently powering through this series to catch up to 2011-2012 xD. I’m in disagreement with how annoying Chizuru is. He may be loud, but I somehow find him the most interesting character who tugs at my mind more than any of the other character in the show. They all have their charm points and I enjoyed seeing slice of life from a male cast rather than female. They should do these more often (y).