Manga Review: KARE KANO: His and Her Circumstances

There is plenty of manga out there that cover the subjects of growing up, love, and moving forward. There are few however, that are able to incorporate all three together into a story that keeps it’s readers coming back for more over many volumes. Kare Kano is a story about growing up, experiencing young love, and the joys of moving forward in life as one becomes an adult. It is a story that has as much emotional impact as it has drama which involves young teens going through high school and moving on towards later on in life.

The manga starts off with Yukino Miyazawa, a girl who strives to be perfect in everything at her school. She has some of the best test scores ever, she is popular among the girls and boys, and is part of student government. Overall, Yukino is model student and ideal popular girl at her school, until someone comes and steals her spotlight. That person is Soichiro Arima, a boy who not only has looks, but the athletics and IQ to back it up. Arima immediately steals the attention of the entire school away from Yukino, and the two quickly become rivals. They compete against each other in everything in order to take the crown of being the perfect student at their school.

While this competition is the fuse that lights all the events that occur in Kare Kano, this rivalry only leads to love. Yukino and Arima quickly fall in love with each other, as they come to the realization that no one else in their school is as good as they are in everything. Each comes to terms with their affection in their own ways through different events that involve the two of them, as well as their classmates. The events that happen over the course of the manga follow both Yukino and Arima as they move on through high school, dealing with life’s many dramas and the pains of growing up, while trying to maintain a steady relationship between each other.

The story of Kare Kano is interesting for how well it shows the growth of a young couple’s love for each other. The different challenges and turmoil Yukino and Arima’s relationship face are both believable and dynamic. Some plot points are a little long, but this is only due to the sheer amount of back story involved with things such as Arima’s family and the other student’s plans for their futures. It is a lot of information to follow at times, but there is never an overload of information at any given point. Fans of love stories will find a lot of different aspects to get involved in reading Kare Kano.

In total, there are twenty-one volumes to the entire story Kare Kano offers. Towards the final acts of the manga, without giving too much away, we are given a brief glimpse into the future of most of the characters introduced throughout the entire series. It is nice to have a manga that gives a more definitive ending to most of the cast of characters involved with the main story, rather then leaving most to the imagination. There are some characters that get left behind a bit compared to other characters, including Arima’s mother, who’s plot has a significant impact on Arima in the main story. However, there is a sense of conclusion for everyone involved once most of the main problems are resolved.

Kare Kano: His and Hers Circumstances is a great love story that most fans of the genre will enjoy reading through. There is a great story here about the joys of growing up and experiencing young love. Unlike most other manga in the genre, this story focuses less on sexual puns, jokes, and embarrassing feelings; and instead focuses on aspects of courtship and looking towards a future with a significant other. The outlook this manga has on love is both tasteful and a breath of fresh air to what most other stories in the love genre of manga normally consist of. If you are a fan of love stories, and enjoy reading manga, Kare Kano is something you will definitely want to pick up.