Title: Kimi to Boku
Genre: Comedy, Slice of Life
Rating: 6.0/10
Summary: About 4 friends, twins Yuta and Yuki Asaba, the cute and girly Shun Matsuoka, and the class head Kaname Tsukahara, who have known each other since kindergarden. When a half-Japanese transfer student named Chizuru Tachibana joins their group, he brings a new dynamic to their friendship.
Review: I never thought I would consider this a watchable anime after reading the description and watching the preview. Now I didn’t exactly give it an overwhelming score, but it reached the cut off mark at least. Kimi to Boku isn’t something that everyone can get into. It isn’t meant to be fun and exciting, just a nice slice of life about a few friends. The group doesn’t have any crazy characters, and overall they are all pretty average. They each have their own little talents but don’t really stand out in that sense. For example, Yuki’s natural talent for sports isn’t pursued because he doesn’t have much interest in such things. Even the ones that have slightly above average looks take things in stride. It’s kind of nice to sit back and watch anime like these from time to time. It’s a good change of pace and it had some good laughs along the way.
The art for
Kimi to Boku fits the atmosphere. It has a coloring book feel to it and is covered in soft whites and bright colors. Normally I wouldn’t be a big fan of this art style because I lean toward bolder, more out-of-the-box art, but
Kimi to Boku made it work. The calm atmosphere mixed with the gentle art brings you closer to the friends’ lives. I had a small problem and it is one that I see quite often in anime. The school uniforms were not only bleak, but seemed to be the main clothing style. Almost all of the episodes took place at school and had them wearing their school uniform. As expected of course being at school, but I feel that a slice of life can do so much more. They could have taken it more into their personal lives outside of school. They did have a few great episodes such as the going to the festival where they dressed up in traditional clothing (at least some of them). The artists at least put them in normal clothing during those moments. I’m hoping that the second season explores more of their lives and takes them on trips or what have you. Another thing that I noticed was the very similar color usage when things were either very sweet or very sad. Nearly every scene that had a guy and a girl alone had an orange tint. As if everything dealing with romance happens at sunset. Thankfully the stories were a little more diverse.
The story for
Kimi to Boku is really simple so there isn’t much to say. It takes places in modern day and follows a group of five friends around. It is a mix of their everyday activity, love lives, extracurricular activities, and just goofing off during lunch. At first I wasn’t too happy with it because it was extremely boring. There wasn’t anything special about any of the main characters and the story itself seemed pretty lack lustered, however, it started to grow on me before I knew it. I started looking forward to the episodes and laughing at the silly jokes. I wasn’t a huge fan of all the characters though, and I’m sure that is a big reason why I didn’t give this slice of life a high rating. They seemed kind of whiney to me and the back-end romance wasn’t too engaging. Sure romance in real life isn’t that glamorous or amazing, but I feel a slight tweak could have made a nice difference. I did enjoy learning a bit more about the characters despite my general lack of interest. They had nice backgrounds that weren’t completely emo and tear jerking. It was a nice change of pace from the general anime which seems to have rapes or murders as the only stories. Still this short first season didn’t do much for me other than kill time and give me a few quick laughs. So what was good about it? What makes me feel like this should be worth watching? Nothing to be brutally honest. I can’t explain how a slice of life is really worth watching without watching it for yourself. It is a short, sweet tale that is going to have a second season. You wont feel magical or enlightened. There is no hidden message. It really is just about a close group of friends and their daily lives. Something about that just got to me and kept me watching.
I wont say much about the OST because I hardly remember it except for the opening which I found to be rather good. The guitar at the beginning and simple beat of the drums in the background were pleasing to listen to. What really brought it together was the singer. She doesn’t have a powerful voice per se; it is more beautiful and soothing. If any of you want to check it out it is called “Bye Bye” by 7!!. I would also check out the English lyrics if you don’t understand Japanese because they are melancholically breathtaking.
Final statements: A slice of life that caught my attention after a few episodes and managed to keep it until the very end. I will end up watching the second season airing this April 2012 because it might surprise me how much I actually miss the series. I don’t have high hopes, but I’m sure it is something I would find at least worth killing my time. A low priority watch for this one.
