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Kare Kano was one of the first anime that I was exposed to, back when I myself was in high school, and thus my review is going to have the inevitable nostalgic baggage.  It is basically a high school romance comedy, but it stands out for a variety of reasons.  One of them, unfortunately, is that is very uneven – the beginning accomplishes everything it sets out to do perfectly, but as the series progresses, the quality of both the storytelling and the technical aspects takes a decline.  I don’t think I’d be out of line in saying that the series basically falls apart about halfway through.  Nevertheless, even if it requires pretending that half of the series doesn’t exist, it would be a shame to miss what is one of the absolute standouts in the genre.

Rather than write one myself, I’ll give you the plot summary from ANN: “Yukino Miyazawa, the Queen of Vanity, is the ‘perfect student’ – smart, pretty, athletic and has an overall nice personality. What everyone in her school didn’t know was that behind the perfect facade lies a different person. She is always the best in anything – but an obstacle comes her way. The obstacle’s name is Souichirou Arima. Souichirou Arima is chosen as the representative of the freshmen, not Miyazawa. Thus, she strives hard to defeat him in all aspects. But a day comes when her most-hated enemy comes to find out her secret.”  And from that rocky start comes what is possibly one of the most endearing pairings ever depicted in an anime.

The main success of this anime is the wonderful balance between drama and comedy that it achieves.  Dramatic scenes never feel exaggerated because the director knows exactly when to use humour to reign it in.  He also gives us a great deal of knowledge of the characters’, particularly Miyazawa’s, thoughts, so that even when she makes some odd choices, we sympathize with her because we know exactly what’s going through her head, however irrational it may seem.  The first few episodes in particular are in many ways a constant (and sometimes neurotic-sounding) monologue and exposition from the main character, and we a get full understanding of all her doubts and fears.  We know the reasoning behind every move she makes.  While it is often called a love story, it is really a story about being a teenager, and manages to do so without wallowing in angst or melodrama.

The two main characters are the other important part of the Kare Kano formula.  The anime does a fantastic job of introducing us to them and then gradually peeling back the layers of their exterior personas until we have a full grasp of who they are.  And this series is really the prime example of how to do a lead pair correctly – they complement each other extremely well, and are definitely one of the more memorable duos in this kind of anime.  Not to mention the basic fact that they are very likable.

I do have to say that though there were clearly some budget problems, the anime made use of what it had very well and produced some very creative scenes.  For example, there is one scene in episode 6 where the same sequence is repeated twice, but from the perspectives of the two main characters.  I have a feeling that reusing the same visuals twice may have been a factor in doing that scene the way it was done.  Of course, it was still done well, so I could excuse it.  Later on, though, there are many scenes where the animation is cut instead of still frames, sometimes in a manga style.  Sometimes it is very jarring.  But animation quality is not as important as the story and characters, and at the beginning, at least, Kare Kano excels.

…..but I mentioned the fact that the series is a bit uneven.  Apparently, the original director left somewhere in the latter half due to creative differences, and if the result is any indication, he was responsible for a fair bit of the brilliance of the show.  Thus the quality of the show begins to degrade and the ending is very weak.  If these flaws weren’t so bold and apparent, I would gladly overlook them and give it a perfect score, but when it comes right down to it, this anime will be a severe disappointment to many people.  Not because it is a worthless series, but because it had such great potential and great characters – and then withered towards the end and failed to provide a satisfying climax and conclusion.

I also wasn’t really a fan of some of the extended cast in the latter half.  As I mentioned, one of the strongest appeals in the show were the two main characters – this was their show.  When Tsubasa, a male friend of Arima who has a comedic rivalry with Miyazawa, enters the scene, the chemistry between him and the leads is indeed a welcome addition…….But when the cast grows further, and the nucleus of the story drifts away from the interaction between Miyazawa and Arima, my interest started to drift as well.  Don’t get the wrong idea – it’s still highly entertaining in its own right, as a high school comedy, but it loses that exceptional quality that made the first few episodes as good as they were.

A brief note on the music – of the huge mass of scores which utilize the “tinkling piano solo” as a constant element, Kare Kano is certainly one of the more memorable.  It also has a great opening and ending theme.

Kare Kano is not a perfect anime, but even after all these years, it is one that always seems stuck in my mind.  After rewatching it recently, I must say that while watching it now is indeed a different experience from watching it years ago when I was the same age as the characters, it has lost none of its charm.  It is an excellent depiction of a stage of life that most people take for granted until it’s over – though Whisper of the Heart will remain the leader of this category.  It is also simply a great look at the way bonds are formed between people, the way they begin and the way they change and grow.  Looking past the comedy or romance label, this is one of the best high school anime out there, and even though I can’t give it a perfect score, it is one of my most frequent reccomendations – an anime that is hilarious, touching and very endearing.  

Note: I’m not sure, but I think Hideaki Anno left the series primarily due to conflicts with the author of the original manga.  I’m surprised that anyone, much less the creator of the series, would be upset with how the early episodes were –  I’ve read some of the original manga, and personally I think that Hideaki Anno was probably the number one factor in making Kare Kano as good as it was.

Note #2: If I had to describe them, I would say that episodes 1 to 4 are small masterpieces of high school romance/comedy, while 5 through 11 (and, some would say, 18) are exemplary in the genre.  The rest, while they may be entertaining, don’t stand out to me as much as those episodes.