Kare Kano volume 1
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(quoted from the back of Kare Kano volume 1)
Yukino Miyazawahas it all-perfect grades, looks, the admiration of her peers. She's the #1 student at her school...at least she was until he showed up. The new boy, Soichiro Arima, one-up's her in every department. And the worst thing about it is that he's sincere! With her ego in jeopardy, Yukino will do whatever it takes to regain the spotlight, but falling in love was never part of the plan.
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Kare Kano volume 1 contains:
Act 1: Her Circumstances
Act 2: The Secret
Act 3: His Circumstances
The Tiger and the Chameleon: A Promise For One Week
Storyline:
Kare Kano has to have one of the most original storylines from any series. How many series have the main character be a selfish, arrogant, snob? Okay, maybe that is a bit harsh but Yukino is definetly a conseedated little girl. On top of that she pretends to be perfect in order to recieve praise and then she meets her match and falls in love. This is definetly an excellent shoujo manga that could easily stand as a one volume series (but it
ISN'T!!!).
Artwork:
The artwork is basically like poetry. The way that the author draws the pictures and has momentary gaps in the pages makes it seem as if you aren't reading a manga, but reading fine, teenage poetry. The characters are also pretty well done and they fit the overall series. I don't think that this is the best artwork I've ever seen, but it is up to par with most other mangas.
Characters:
While Kare Kano is known for its huge cast of characters with excellent character development and interaction, this volume solely focuses on Yukino. Masami Tsuda gives the readers an excellent glimpse on what to expect from future volumes simply by showcasing her masterpiece, Yukino. She created such a brilliant character with this volume. Yukino is just a highschool student who falls in love and throughout this volume you witness her dramatic change once she falls in love. This is not only relevent to the story but in real life too. This series demonstrates how love can change a person from being selfish and greedy to a notable human being.
Summary (Warning: May Contain Spoilers)
In chapter one of Kare Kano the author introduces Yukino. She seems like the perfect girl and she gives a nice introduction to her. Yukino isn't really the sweet, smart, athletic girl that she seems. She has put up a front in order to make everyone to believe that she is perfect and studies excessively, goes through hours of athletic training, and is a complete couch potato at her home. To everyone she seems perfect. That is, until Arima walks into the picture. He scores the highest entrance exam scores and immediately steals the spotlight from Yukino. At that moment, Arima became her number one rival and throughout the beginning of the chapter she studies zealously in order to beat him. When the next test arrives she scores the highest in the school and all Arima says is "congratulations" and walks away. Arima also tells Yukino that he loves her, and after Yukino feels horrible for the way she's been acting, Arima goes over to her house and finds out that Yukino is a fraud.
In chapter two Arima leaves Yukino's house and the next day at school he tells her that she has to be his slave. He forces Yukino to do all types of work until she eventually gets pissed and tells him to leave her alone. While she's running away she realizes that she loves Arima and then notices that he's chasing her. When he finally catches up he tells her that he only wanted to spend time with her and after that moment they became good friends. At the end of chapter two Yukino realizes how Arima had changed her from the selfish person that she once was and promises herself that one day she will become a brand new person.
In chapter three, Yukino starts off the chapter by visiting Arima's house and then he visits hers. After Yukino's parents say he's a keeper Arima leaves and after that he starts to avoid Yukino. During the chapter he has brief glimpses of his hard past and the author shows the reader the hardships that he had to go through. After a while Yukino gets mad and tries to avoid Arima and he eventually tells her that he was only avoiding her because she somehow made him remember his past. He tells her that his parents were rotten and that he was adopted by his grandparents. The reason that he has to be so perfect is to prove his other relatives wrong and show them that he wouldn't be the problem child they thought he would become. Yukino immediately slaps him in the face and tells him that he should be himself and that she is giving up on her old self "fake" self. After that Arima and Yukino start acting more like themselves and start to freak out the other students because they aren't used to the laid back Arima and Yukino. At the end of the chapter Yukino reflects on her meeting with Arima and states that she has always loved Arima and is starting to like herself, which ends the first volume.
Extras:
For the first volume of Kare Kano, the author gives the readers quite a few extras. The extra story, The Tiger and the Chameleon: A Promise For One Week, is given, which is considerably longer then any of the Kare Kano chapters, and then just a lot of artistic rambling. This is probably the weakest part of this volume. Thankfully the short story is cute and a bit touching which makes up for the fact that it was basically just a filler.
Summary of The Tiger and the Chameleon: A Promise For One Week:
This short story is about a young girl who was told she was ugly when she was a kid and is later shown that she is a human being by one of her classmates. At the end of the story the boy who changed her shows signs of falling in love with her. THE END (very basic story that takes up a lot of room).
Content Warnings:
-Language: Very slight
-Violence: No
-Nudity: No
-Sexual Situations: No
Overall:
Kare Kano is definetly a good series. This volume managed to bring forth two excellent main characters and a good story to help set up for future volumes. Sadly, Kare Kano isn't for everyone. The people who will probably get the most enjoyment out of this series are people who are into heavy shoujo (this series is definetly the finest form of shoujo) or romances. There is very little action and almost nothing else except character interactions and plot development which makes this series a hit or miss for many people.
+ Excellent lead characters and setting are brought out in this volume.
- If you aren't into shoujo or you want some action you will probably ask "what the fuck?" when you read the series.
Score: 8.5/10
