- Based on the manga Kare Kano by Masami Tsuda, His and Her Circumstances (1998) is one of the earliest manga adaptations produced by Gainax. The story is a high school dramedy focusing on two star pupils, Yukino and Souichirou, that are hiding deep insecurities and how they discover each others secret lives. The characterization and character designs closely follow the original manga. The visual style however takes wild extremes to emphasize the inner lives of Yukino, Souichirou and their friends. Visuals in a single episode can vary from soft pastel landscapes to stark hard-lined interiors and use every abstract framing element in between. His and Her Circumstances shows glimpses of the unrestrained style of later Gainax series like Gurren Lagann. As the story goes on Yukino and Souichirou discover the tragic circumstances that motivate each of their lives. They learn to trust and support one another and that in turn helps them lend support to a growing circle of friends. Be warned, the anime does end abruptly. It covers less than a third of the manga series and there has been no attempt to make a sequel. The characters were compelling enough to me that I read all 21 volumes of Kare Kano and found it satisfied my need for a complete story. For as long as it last though, His and Her Circumstances has some great visuals that help emphasize some funny and teary-eyed moments. There are few anime series since that have tried to tell a story like this in such a way.
 | Sean "Cosmic Duck" Robertson has....look. Just look at the picture. Thats all you really need to know. Sriously. They say a picture is worth a thousand words....and this is that picture. Needlessy to say, Sean is awesome. |
