Search - His and Her Circumstances (Vol. 5) on DVD

Still as fun as always, but ends(stops?) much too soon.

Jonathon Turner | Highland Park, NJ USA | 09/13/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Every once in a while comes something so addicting that the last thing you would want is for it to come to an end, or abruptly stop. Even in the Anime community, you find yourself wishing that a series you love would go on, only to be disappointed that it finishes rather too soon, or with more questions than answers. Sadly, this is all too true of the final entry of HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES. The first four volumes were lots of fun and a delight to watch, so what could possibly be wrong with Volume 5? Is it that the episodes are terrible? Can it be that the characters are no longer appealing? The answer to both of these questions are no. The content is as enjoyable as ever, and the characters no less appealing, from their activities, interactions, conflicts, and resolutions. The problem here is with the show's conclusion, or therefore lack of it. It starts out entertainingly: the first two episodes continue Yukino's attempts to get her friends' school play on in time for the culture festival while trying to reassure a now lonesome Arima that she cares no matter what. At the same time, Asaba continues to flirt with the ladies, irritate Arima and Yukino, and surprisingly lends a hand with the play (in addition to Mr. Kawashima). Furthermore, Takefumi Tonami's longtime rivalry with Tsubaki Sakura climaxes when he tries to hurt her for all the cruel things she's done to him, only to realize that hatred may not have been what he felt for her after all. The storylines do not feel intrusive here, but work out wonderfully (a problem that the filler episodes of NADIA suffered from, when they jammed a lot of needless garbage into a great story and almost sank it). The real problems don't start until about three-quarters of the way through the third episode, where the show turns from a surreal dream Yukino has about helping Arima rid himself of his inner demons to a rerun of the opening theme song and a recap of all that happened from first Yukino's sisters, Mr. Kawashima, and finally, Yukino's troop of friends (including Shibahime, who complains about not having enough lines). This is so sudden and redundant that it's enough to make one wonder what the heck happened to the show where there were other points to resolve. Matters do not improve with the next two episodes; the fourth one tells a pointless side story about a mysterious stalker tracking Yukino's sisters, while the last one is, whoa, a complete mess. No longer is the action animated, but now in the style of a comic book, with two offscreen narrators doing commentary. There's very little that is resolved here, and worse, we never get to see the play that Yukino and her friends were working hard on putting on! In other words, it just stops instead of really finishing. "The script's fine just the way it is," says one of Yukino's friends. That would have been a more accurate thing to say if the show had a more conclusive ending! It seems that animation studio Gainax -- or in this case, director Hideaki Anno -- displays a lot of promise when it comes to animated shows but has a share of problems when it comes to wrapping it up. NADIA started -- and finished -- wonderfully, but was plagued by a number of filler episodes which should never have been written. I realized then, that it wasn't Gainax's fault; the studio executives were trying to squeeze every last ounce of cash from the show and forced them into writing stuff that was irrelevant to the original plot (written by Hayao Miyazaki). EVANGELION, on the other hand, got off to a decent beginning and seemed to show steady progress until the show dissolved into a mind-bending turmoil of unanswerable questions -- the folks didn't even know HOW they wanted to end the show, which resulted with two controversial final episodes and a theatrical attempt to recreate them (which was brilliant but flawed), causing endless confusion and still more heated debates about determining what the heck was going on. Sadly, this also applies to HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES; the first four volumes were fun, lighthearted, but also comprehensible. The last volume has its moments but, toward the end, turns into yet another case of nobody knowing where they wanted to take the story, much less finish it. Too bad, because HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES has a LOT of enjoyable things to be plagued by even one such glaring fault. That it falls into the same status of "flawed, but worth a look" status of Gainax's other two shows is a letdown since the show stayed on its plateau much longer than its predecessors. Not that there's nothing to recommend this volume, however. It's still fun to watch Yukino and her friends goofing off, working together, and hanging out, and the extras provided on the DVD -- which includes English Voice Actress outtakes and outrageously funny Phone Messages from the various characters (including one where Yukino tries to silence her sisters as she records her voice message) -- warrant its purchase. As with Gainax's other shows, HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES is recommended for its assets but not without its flaws, most notably its lack of providing a clear, satisfying finish for viewers or fans."

Read the manga

Karl Lentz | Atlanta, GA United States | 10/30/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As has already been pointed out, the 5th volume of His and Her Circumstances ends incredibly abruptly. And while the last couple episodes include a great deal of recap and filler part of the reason for the abrupt ending is that His and Her Circumstances is based on the manga Kare Kano by Masami Tsuda which was still running when His and Her Circumstances was being produced. And as is often the case when a manga is made into an anime the anime producers will catch up to the current manga and then either make up the story on their own or insert filler.There is actually a great deal of story in the manga Kare Kano after the end of the anime series. Unfortunately, everything I have read has indicated that while Gainax expressed interest in making another season of His and Her Circumstances there were some disagreements with Masami Tsuda over the direction of the show and so there most likely won't be another season.Therefore I highly recommend that anyone who really loved His and Her Circumstances check out the manga which is currently being released in the US by Tokyopop. They currently have the first 5 manga volumes out which ends with the first half of the story on how Yukino's parents met."

At least it's over...

J. Fink | St. Louis, MO | 06/09/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I know that all other reviewers hit on the fact that the series ends very abruptly. And they are right, of course, it does end abruptly. However, I was tremendously relieved that it did end when it did. To me, it was kinda like watching a train wreck...I just couldn't look away.
Of course, you may want to take this in with the information that for me, this series ended after the 1st half of the series. For the most part, I found the 2nd half too experimental, farily dull, and not at all keeping with the tone of the 1st half. (if I wanted to read the manga, I wouldn't have bought the DVDs, now would I?)
That being said, I've started reading the manga and it is great! (I'm not very far yet, though)
So, final thoughts....? If you've already gotten this far in the series, you will want to see it to it's conclusion, but don't expect anything."