![[HorribleSubs] Kimi to Boku - 02 [720p].mkv_snapshot_03.04_[2011.10.10_16.25.23]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ukEwZrH-Lmg/TpOFPJSAbRI/AAAAAAAAU84/Q3zu8j2OEi0/s1600-h/%25255BHorribleSubs%25255D%252520Kimi%252520to%252520Boku%252520-%25252002%252520%25255B720p%25255D.mkv_snapshot_03.04_%25255B2011.10.10_16.25.23%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg "[HorribleSubs] Kimi to Boku - 02 [720p].mkv_snapshot_03.04_[2011.10.10_16.25.23]") |
![[HorribleSubs] Kimi to Boku - 02 [720p].mkv_snapshot_04.08_[2011.10.10_16.26.26]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-j-bDM7p9elE/TpOFQOh3VII/AAAAAAAAU9A/hFNqIibzvIE/s1600-h/%25255BHorribleSubs%25255D%252520Kimi%252520to%252520Boku%252520-%25252002%252520%25255B720p%25255D.mkv_snapshot_04.08_%25255B2011.10.10_16.26.26%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg "[HorribleSubs] Kimi to Boku - 02 [720p].mkv_snapshot_04.08_[2011.10.10_16.26.26]") |
![[HorribleSubs] Kimi to Boku - 02 [720p].mkv_snapshot_16.04_[2011.10.10_16.38.23]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gRjyjr2JI7U/TpOFRvzychI/AAAAAAAAU9I/JglxZOohLd4/s1600-h/%25255BHorribleSubs%25255D%252520Kimi%252520to%252520Boku%252520-%25252002%252520%25255B720p%25255D.mkv_snapshot_16.04_%25255B2011.10.10_16.38.23%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg "[HorribleSubs] Kimi to Boku - 02 [720p].mkv_snapshot_16.04_[2011.10.10_16.38.23]") |
I’m dropping this one, but given that it was high on my priority list coming into the season I didn’t feel right doing so without briefly explaining why.
If you read the first impressions last week, you pretty much know – I’d hoped I’d like the second episode more, but it wasn’t to be. Certain series are cut out for certain people, and this one isn’t for me. This is a series for folks who like the formula of shows like K-On and it’s myriad copycats, because it’s exactly like those shows except with guys standing in for girls. It seems to me that this isn’t even a particularly good example of that genre – though I may be the worst anime-aware person in the world to make that call – but even if that weren’t the case it’s not my cup of tea. It’s perfectly fine and I blame myself, as I clearly misunderstood the nature of what this show was. I do think it’s a shame, though, because an opportunity to do something really different – a school-life show about four typical high-school guys that stands out from the ones about four girls – is a pretty rare thing. As in, it’s never been done. But that’s not what Kimi to Boku is, so c’est la vie.
I do have one question and one reservation. The question is a small one – why are all the characters cross-eyed? Is that in the manga? It’s not a problem for me, per se – the falseness of the characters and the torpid pacing are problem enough – but I am curious. And the reservation – I know there’s a character yet to be introduced, and he’s played by Miyu Irino. In my view Miyu-Miyu is the best male seiyuu in the business and this is the only show he’s in this season apart from UN-GO. So I feel I ought at least to watch the first episode his character appears in, in the unlikely event he can add some authenticity and spark to this one.
Anyway, that’s all – nothing more to see here.
Kim
October 11, 2011 at 1:13 amYeah I was also really looking forward to Kimi to Boku but I was also very disappointed. I honestly didn't even give it to the second episode, I could tell it wasn't for me from the first.
As I said on the Anime Suki boards what I was hoping for was Oofuri just without the baseball. That is the type of interaction I expected from the characters. But hey if other people enjoy this great for them. I am sure there isn't going to be a shortage of series for me to watch.
In my view Miyu-Miyu is the best male seiyuu in the business
I agree he is one of the best "newer" seiyuu, but best in the business? I am not sure if I would go that far. But he has definitely become a new favorite of mine as well. 🙂
marinasauce
October 11, 2011 at 9:40 amI'm really, really contemplating dropping this show as well. I keep looking out for something new, something fresh, to justify the making of this show. Even if the producers replaces males with females as a joke, that doesn't explain the lack of anything even remotely interesting in the story. Te faces are mostly deadpan, and cross-eyed as you say, and there's nothing unique about any of the characters excepting the fact that they either haveno personalities and/or act exaclty like stereotypical school females.
I'm on the lookout for a feeling similar to what I feel with Natsume in his school setting, but am afraid that that's an impossible wish.
beginnerxp
October 11, 2011 at 1:33 pmSlice of life is my favorite genre, I had high hope before it starts too. In the end I couldn't even last through entire first episode. Voice acting, pacing and everything was so boring…
Fortunately Tamayura is much better than expected (at least for the first episode, still waiting for sub of 2nd episode)
Ulisses
October 11, 2011 at 3:10 pmCouldn't finish the first episode.
Slow pacing with uninteresting settings, souless characters, nothing really amusing happening and just plain worse than last season's Slice of Life animes.
It's like looking at a cute, shy kid, smiling to him, and moving on the second after.
Anonymous
October 11, 2011 at 5:44 pmI think people thought that this was supposed to be about boys – for a male audience. There's already plenty of shows like that, when the boys act like boys for a boy audience.
This show seems to be about boys, but made for a female audience to watch.
Its like watching the boy that Sawako liked on Kimi ni Todoke.
Kim
October 11, 2011 at 6:00 pm@Anon
Well I am female and I don't think this show is for me.
But from what I understand Kimi to Boku is actually shounen and aimed at a male audience. Of course that is just the manga, I am not sure who the anime was targeted at (sometimes it's not the same).
admin
October 11, 2011 at 7:21 pmKim, this is definitely not shounen – the mag it appears in has featured series like Kuroshitsuji and Nabari no Ou. That should tell you all you need about the target audience.
Anon, I honestly don't think there are a lot of series where boys "act like boys" – not school life series, anyway. Can you name one? In most shows, boys are either GAR shounen leads or clueless harem leads or punching bags. About the closest thing I can say is Cross Game, which sort of transcends genre – and that's two years old and one show.
I do agree that I was incorrect about what this series was supposed to be. I thought it was a real look at high school life for boys, and it's actually a novelty show.
Kim
October 11, 2011 at 7:46 pmGuardian Enzo,
They are all published in Monthly GFantasy which is apparently a shounen magazine published by Square Enix.
But target audiences can be surprising in Japan sometimes.
Anonymous
October 11, 2011 at 8:19 pmI think people just like to complain, and grasp at ANYthing at all that they can to talk down.
First of all, I'm also not sure about the "boys standing in for girls" thing…They don't act like girls….Shun maybe, but he's nowehere to the level of Hideyoshi from Baka Test and people don't seem to have the problem with him that they have with Shun. Maybe because with Hideyoshi the whole thing was ridiculed, and with Shun, it's just accepted as how he is.
Cross Game, (LOVE that show.) I don't believe many of the characters are particularly masculine or feminine – you could switch the sexes of all the characters and I believe the show would still work. Wakaba I'd have to think about though. Also, I do love Kou Kitamura, but if he wasn't dragged into things initially by other characters, I wonder if he'd be more like the boys in this show. One of the twins, in particular.
I also think this is a show about five guys, judging from the blond haired kid that's all over the opening.
Is everyone upset because this show isn't groundbreaking and ? Not every anime is supposed to be THE BEST THING EVER CREATED IN THE HISTORY OF ITS GENRE.
I think it is a realistic look at high school life for SOME boys. Walk into a high school AP Physics class, or orchestra rehearsal, and I bet you'll find more than one boy that acts like they do on this show. And – kids tend to hang out with similar types to them in high school! Not all boys are so masculine and stuff all the time. I remember plenty of boys in high school who were into marching band and just hanging out with friends, and they didn't have to be jocks or womanizers. You can still be a boy and not be into sports and peeking at women. Many times, those are the boys who get ignored. It's nice to see them get some focus.
Sometimes, real life (slice of life) looks boring to some people and interesting to others. I can sit through a 3 hour orchestra rehearsal and find that fascinating, and the next person might find it personally boring.
Boys that act like boys in a school series? Where the lead is not harem lead or a punching bag? Hmm. Sket Dance comes to mind. Major. Slam Dunk. Genshiken. Koko wa Greenwood. Touch. (the boys other than Souske – though he's still not exactly a harem lead) I'm sure there's more but that's what was on the top of my head.
I guess I dunno. I think the show delivered what it promised and that people somehow expected something that wasn't promised. It seems like the show isn't the problem, it's that people wanted a show that isn't actually slice of life, they wanted a different type of show.
Or maybe Adachi Mitsuru minus the sports is what people are disappointed that they're not getting? Not everyone can create to that level, unfortunately 🙁
admin
October 11, 2011 at 9:40 pmKim, a few of the series carried by Monthly GFantasy:
Nabari no Ou
Kuroshitsuji
Durarara
Magical Musō Tenshi Tsukisase!! Ryofuko-chan
Pandora Hearts
It may have been shounen at one time, but it should be pretty clear from those titles who the target audience is currently.
Kim
October 11, 2011 at 10:37 pmShrugs everything I read says the magazine was and is still shounen. I think you are assuming that just because a series has a lot of female fans (even more female fans than male fans) does not automatically make it Shoujo.
Take Inuyasha for instance, that definitely had a larger female fanbase but it was most definitely shounen.
However, it could be that the magazine saw that it had a large female readership and made its magazine more "female friendly" so to speak. I can buy that.
Kim
October 11, 2011 at 10:39 pm@Anon,
I don't think anyone is complaining about the series. It isn't what I thought it would be and that's fine, I just won't watch.
If other people enjoy it than more power to them. I am certainly not saying that other people can't find enjoyment from a series like this. I don't think it horrible, just not for me personally.
Anonymous
October 11, 2011 at 11:45 pm@Kim,
You're not complaining, true, but other people are on other comments that are posted here. Even the cross-eyed thing that's been mentioned a couple of times sounds extremely nit-picky to me. It's like the people who complain about the ears in Cross Game/Touch/other Adachi works.
That post was not directed at you specifically – sorry if it seemed like it was.
deafvader
October 12, 2011 at 2:15 am@Enzo: I am a guy, i like Nabari no Ou, a lot. Like Durarara. am ok with pandora hearts. I didn't like Kuro, but i know guys who do. don't know the magical shoujo one. i do not know mahout shoujo
admin
October 12, 2011 at 2:35 amI like a couple of those too, DV, but face it – we're not the majority audience for those series.
deafvader
October 12, 2011 at 7:37 amGuess the question would be are there my guys after Gar characters or more gals after cool chars in the anime community