You and Me

When I watched the first episode of You and Me (aka Kimi to Boku), I was not entirely sure what it is that I stumbled on. The episode was very slow and I was not sure what the dynamic between the characters exactly was. However, I found myself laughing out loud and that pretty much ensured that I was going to keep watching and I have not been disappointed.

You and Me centres around a group of boys who have been friends since Kindergarden and have not drifted apart despite the seeming gulf of difference in personality that exist between them. Firstly, there is Kaname the model student from a rich family. Kaname is brilliant, driven and very reliable. In contrast to Kaname, there is Yuuki. Yuuki is very, very popular with the girls, great in sports but always seems to be half asleep, opting to drift through life exerting as little effort as possible. Yuuki's elder twin brother is Yuuta, who appears to be somewhere between Yuuki and Kaname in personality. Yuuta exerts more effort then Yuuki but doesn't quite match Kaname's level of energy for anything. Yuuta doesn't see a thing wrong with Yuuki and is happy to let him drift along, much to Kaname's annoyance.

Then there is Shun, the happy go lucky individual of the group who is always trying to make the other boys get along and tries to make everybody happy. Their group has remained the same for years but now, in their second year of high school, their group starts to change. Firstly, the 1st year Masaki starts hanging around with the group mostly for Shun, who wins her over with his kindness in Episode 2. In Episode 3, they are joined by Chizuru, a half-German, half-Japanese boy who, as a child, once met Yuuki during a summer when Yuuta was sick. Chizuru uses his connection with Yuuki to gain entrance into the group and is immediately designated by Kaname as a new annoyance in his life equal to Yuuki. The stage is now set for a slice of life and lots and lots of bromance!

To be clear, there is only bromance in his anime. If you watch this for Yaoi or Shonen Ai you'll be disappointed and if you avoid this because you think this is Yaoi or Shonen Ai, well you'll miss out on a hilarious slice of life based on misconception.

Otherwise, the anime has a beautiful art style that reminds me of a watercolour book and it really suits the story. I love the music and the random shots of cats (to represent the boys). However, I must warn against drinking games involving those cats. Drinking a shot every time a cat appears on the screen would not be a very good idea as you would inevitably end-up drinking too much! But overall, I am sure you'll laugh and enjoy every minute of Kimi to Boku, You and Me.

Final Rating: 2.7/5.0

Kimi to Boku (You and Me) is a bland anime. It plays it too safe, it has no interesting issues and it is nothing but a near perfect, utopian universe with almost no worries or problems. Sure there's some kind of bump that happens once in a while but this universe is so goody-too-shoes that it fixes itself in a moments notice. Though not a bad anime at the very least, it is so bland and so mediocre that it is fascinating in itself, which makes me want to watch it more. I have watched all the episodes up to now and I feel nothing but a fascinated indifference. The story is about five childhood friends and tells about their young, high school lives. They go through issues of what a normal everyday high schooler goes through or should I say high schoolers posed in photographs go through. The five characters are somewhat likable and easy to relate to but each of them have their own annoying traits. The blonde one is always obnoxiously annoying, the twins are just copy and paste and have the same exact deadpan personality, the girly boy is so damn perfect he only just needs a halo over his head and the glasses guy is just there to point out nonsense.

The story is as bland as you can get from a coming of age anime. It's pacing is so slow and so tired that it feels like it's trying to make us like the characters by putting the spotlight on them but that just makes them annoying and while it tries to tackle high school related issues, it plays it so safe that it is solved in a heartbeat. Though the story is focused on the five main characters, the cats that they show in between scenes and conversations get more screen time than them and this is the main reason why it is so slow paced, it just wants to show cats and these cat scenes have nothing to do with the scenes and conversations: they're completely pointless. I suppose they just put them in because they're cute, I guess. Sometimes in one episode, nothing happens at all, it's just the five characters talking about something boring within the space of 20 minutes, most of that time going to cat transitions and I assume that it is easier and cheaper to animate cats than humans. The animation can come across simple yet colourful to bland and utterly pretentious and can't decide which one it should use and most of the animation goes to its cats (again).

In conclusion, Kimi to Boku is a very mediocre anime. It's not horrible enough to not be watched but it's bland enough to just watch it in bored fascination. The story is bland, the characters are sometimes likable but its slow pacing makes them annoying to just watch, the animation can't decide whether it should animate humans or cats or whether it should be artsy or simple and shamelessly avoids production costs by using cats in between time spaces. Did I mention this anime likes cats? I think this anime should've been called You and Cats.

Overall: Bland, boring and yet hypnotisingly fascinating while still boring you at the same time
Story: Slow and uneventful. Nothing really happens.
Music: The opening and closing theme are typical j-pop music but it is ironic that they are both so cheerful yet the anime in between is so bland and boring.
Characters: Sometimes likable but the story's pacing makes them annoying.
Animation: Completely dedicated to cats. It tries to be artsy and simple but doesn't work in both.

(I apologize for mentioning cats a lot but trust me, cats are like 60% of the anime. Ok, how about this? Get whatever alcohol you have at your disposal, get some friends, put an episode of this anime on the big screen and drink whenever there is a cat cutaway. If one episode isn't enough, put another one on. There you go. I made a drinking game out of this anime to make it less boring)

I would like to start off by saying this is the Slice of Life of Slice of Lifes. If you don't enjoy pure Slice of Life you won't enjoy this series. Most Slice of Life animes give off a sense of nostalgia and a sense of being in the moment. They're meant to be taken as more realistic. Slice of Life with younger characters (children) tend to be more about life lessons (Chi's Sweet Home for example.) While Slice of Life with older characters (or meant for an older audience) tend to be coming of age stories with growing pains along the way.

You and Me doesn't utilize drama at the beginning. It's a nostalgia series, which is made apparent by Shun's narration being in past tense. The first episode makes it appear like Shun is the narrating character. This series revolves the daily lives of the five friends, the first four introduced have been friends since childhood, but the cast doesn't seem complete until Chizuru shows up.

Shun's the calm motherly character of the group, but he goes a step further by being very feminine. There are a few parts in the series where it's questionable how many characters don't realize he's male. I think he's adorable. Kaname is the responsible, uptight fatherly character. Both of the twins are trolls (they tease their friends). Yuuta's a little more mature and responsible. Yuuki is sort of the wildcard character. He's not as hyper as Chizuru, but I still found him to be less predictable. Yuuki seems to be somewhat possessive of his brother. I'm betting there will be some clashing points for the twins. Chizuru seems to be the most hyper active and silliest in the group.

As the series progresses each character's quirks come out more and make for some cute, funny situations. There hasn't been much drama in the series yet (up to episode 9) and I'm not sure how that will develop. There have been some areas that show potential to grow, but I'm not sure if this'll turn into one of those growing pain series or if it will remain light hearted and casual. I'll enjoy it either way since I like the humor, but also wouldn't mind seeing some drama develop.

One of the aspects of this series that's hard to avoid mentioning are the cats. The point of the cats seem to be revealing the situation and emotions the characters are experiencing. At first, these scenes were weird and some of the cats were creepy looking. I'm not a fan of most of the cat scene, but they seem less intrusive as the series progresses.

Despite the cats, I love this series. It's cute, light hearted and fun.

You and Me is a favourite anime of mine, where the characters are easy to relate to. The way that they interact and develop through the years is a joy to watch and the easy-going pace of the show makes it relaxing. The music is lovely and the graphics are to die for. Many animes don't live up to their manga counterparts, but this anime does, and really brings out the personalities of the individual characters and the complications that they face every day.

The story is all about friendship, camaraderie, and childhood memories. I’m not here to disclose the entire story and ruin the fun, though. *smiles*
Now let’s see… the anime was easy to follow thanks to a well-thought-off bridge that served the fluidity of the story ingeniously, it’s not very difficult to spot really, if you know what you are looking for… He he he.

The next thing would be the feel good factor. Aside from a well edited story lines, and the sound track that lingers in your head, —without knowing it you will find yourself humming a happy tune… Afterwards, there comes the satirical and yet witty conversation that will make you smile.
It’s a comedy about the everyday life of an adolescence.

Storyline: The story is about as simple as stories get. A group of old friends hang out together in their high school. This show focuses on the characters' actions more than the plot itself, which has worked in other series, but it wasn't well done in this one. The storyline is Kimi To Boku's weakest point.


Music: A little generic, but I enjoyed the music, especially the one played towards the end of the first episode.


Characters: Since this show is character-based, you would expect to see some very good characters here. While they are signs of that present, they are nothing new or an interesting take on something old, which can make them rather forgettable. If you have watched even a small amount of school anime, each character is bound to remind you of a character from another series. I don't love any of the characters, but I don't really dislike any of them either.


Animation: The animation is just fine. I tend not to judge an anime based on animation unless some aspect of it really stands out.


Overall: Kimi To Boku, from its title to its content, pretty much screams generic. This show can be refreshing if you are worn out on heavy plots and action, but it really doesn't have a lot going for it. It manages not to put me off enough for me not to stick around for a second season, but I will not be too excited for this one. It's worth a shot if you're into slice of life, but if you're not, I think you should skip this one.

One of my favourite anime! Their friendship is just something to be envious about. They have stayed together since childhood despite having completely different personalities. It's hilarious, very entertaining, and definitely something everybody will enjoy. Especially for fangirls, like me. Although not at all in the BL genre, nothing can stop us fangirls from making couples between cute guys.

This anime is about a set of 5 guy friends who are all either uninteresting or irritating, with one exception. The two twins are smug and withdrawn. The black-haired guy needs an anger-management class. The blond guy is an irritating loudmouth. Only Shou, the gentle boy, is interesting--because there's a mystery as to how that sweetness of character survived the usual boyhood.

As I watched several episodes of this I wondered why anyone would want to follow the non-doings of this group of mediocre people. My final best guess is that since they are all cute boys, possibly that cuteness made the non-events they live through interesting to young girls.

Hey, it's my best guess. Other than that I got nothing.

Oops, I forgot that the cats were really cute.