Copyright © 1998, 1999 Tsuda Masami, Hakusensha, GAINAX, the
KareKano Group, TV Tokyo, SOFTX

—di Keith Rhee
Few people in the industry have generated as much controversy as Anno Hideaki, director of the cult-favorite NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. While EVANGELION gained Anno and Gainax a great deal of attention
and many loyal fans, the massive hype surrounding EVANGELION—as well as Anno's own stand-offish attitude—turned off a good number of fans as well.. For better or worse, this controversy stirred up by Anno's previous directing effort and his own persona have influenced opinions about the recent KARESHI KANOJO NO JIJOU ("A BOYFRIEND/GIRLFRIEND SITUATION"). Already, Anno's fans (many of whom wouldn't ordinarily touch a shoujo story) were quick to proclaim it as the next big thing. But this reviewer had grown tired of the hype surrounding EVA, and with the renewed hype surrounding KAREKANO I was inclined to dismiss the favorable comments as hype as well. Trying to postpone judgment, I started the tape and sat back to watch. The "Kanojo" of this tale is Miyazawa Yukino, an overachiever who excels at academics and sports, and whose pretty looks, refined manners, and accomplishments earn her a lot of popularity. But this outward display of perfection belies the true nature of Yukino, who back at home doesn't bother dressing nicely and exhibits a wild streak. As long as she remains popular with her peers, she has no trouble maintaining this facade. But when she enters high school, this much-coveted focus of attention is stolen away from her by another overachiever, Arima Souichiro. A very dismayed Yukino declares Arima her enemy (all while maintaining her docile outward manners, of course) and vows to reclaim the spotlight. After acing the first round of exams and earning the praise of her fellow classmates, Yukino feels that she's triumphed over her rival. But when Arima graciously congratulates her, she no longer feels victorious; instead, she becomes ashamed of her own pettiness and hypocrisy. Soon afterwards, Yukino's facade is soon exposed to Arima when he pays an unexpected visit to her house. Mistakenly assuming that her younger sisters are at the door, Yukino flies out the entrance in her usual wild-mannered fashion—and collides into a shocked Arima with a flying kick. Having found out Yukino's true nature, Arima isn't above exploiting her weakness, and makes her do his school committee work in exchange for him not exposing her. But he means well (he has a crush on her) and getting Yukino to help out with his activities is really just an excuse for him to spend more time with her. When Yukino decides she's had enough of this "blackmail" and finally admits her deceit and pettiness to Arima, Arima accepts her for who she is. More importantly, his feelings for Yukino haven't changed even after finding out the truth. Now friends, they vow to drop their masks and become true to themselves. While I'm normally not a fan of shoujo character art, the character esigns, cleaned up from the more flowery manga drawings, are clean-cut and rather appealing. But the overall presentation of the show often walks a fine line between the artistic and the cheap. Sometimes it manages to work well, even if it's just a handful of still character shots with word balloons over their heads. But some of the other stuff really made me cringe, such as the use of black and white location shots that smack of a cheap photocopier. Some will no doubt try to justify some of the techniques employed as "stylistic." But the production values really start to suffer towards the end of the series, with rampant cel-recycling, and still-frames accompanied by nothing but moving mouths. It gets so bad after a while that one half-expects Gainax to pull out the "chair and spotlight" trick employed in the last two episodes of EVA. The fact that the story of KARESHI, KANOJO NO JIJOU manages to overcome the varying production quality is a testament to how good the story really is. The show is uproariously funny, and the moments of random wackiness are almost worth the price of admission alone. The scene where Yukino goes on a rampage and employs her Mazinger Z Flying Shoe trick is priceless. But the show sets itself apart from most run-of-the-mill romantic comedies on a more fundamental level. There's no love triangle to speak of—you already know that Yukino and Arima are going to be paired up and stay that way. Instead, the show is about positive change, and how love can change a person for the better. And in the case of Yukino, the changes are quite drastic. Not only does she drop the facade she used to treasure so much, she even develops enough humility to admit her past hypocrisy in front of her classmates. And in so doing, she is able to develop true friendships for the first time in her life. Over time, the girl who starts out as a conceited, attention-hungry, and petty individual becomes a truly likable, beautiful person. It is this message of positive change that makes KAREKANO so powerful. In the end, KARESHI, KANOJO NO JIJOU turned out to be a great show. Whether you think Anno and Gainax did a good job of bringing this story to life on TV, or whether you think the story was able to shine despite the sometimes lacking production values, will probably depend on where you stand on the Anno debate. But the comedy and the touching story more than make up for any shortcomings in the presentation. And in the end, that's what really matters.