Kare Kano

Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (His and Her Circumstances)
Original Manga	Masami Tsuda
Director/Artist	Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki
Format	Anime
Made By	Gainax
Episode Length	1998-1999
# of Eps/Volumes	26 Episodes

Genre

Romance Comedy, Drama, Psychological

Sum it up in a Sentence:

Yukino Miyazawa and Soichiro Arima are both at the top of their highschool class, however by chance they discover each other's true, darker nature and together resolve to change themselves for the better.

Main Description

Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou follows the life of Yukino Miyazawa, a highschool freshman whose only desire is to win praise from others. Her highschool debut is ruined, however by Soichiro Arima, whose perfect grades, cultured upbringing and good looks steal the spotlight she coveted. It isn't until later that they realize their feelings for each other and decide to change themselves for the better. Expanding from there, the story delves into Arima's past as well as the lives of a number of Miyazawa's classmates.

If You Liked This, You Might Like...

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Hideaki Anno slips in a number of homages to his past work. The psychological aspects are also very similar, as well as the cheap production values towards the end of the show (thanks Gainax!).
Honey & Clover - More of a laid back, slice of life type show. The "discovering yourself" theme parallels Kare Kano strongly.
Skip Beat! - Very similar female lead. Parallels light vs dark internal struggle.
Lovely Complex
Kimi ni Todoke

Personal Opinions

Slowpoke

Exceptionally well-written show with an interesting cast of characters. The production quality varies greatly from show-to-show, mainly in the frame-rates. There are a number of shows that are almost completely unanimated, due in large part to the show exceeding its budget. These episodes get by with still-frame pans and voiceovers and this will probably bother quite a few people. The recap episodes also feel like they were added to "stretch" the series to 26 episodes, and the pacing towards the end of the series feels like there is a lot left out. Having read the manga it is hard to understand why they ended it where they did, however many of the problems can be attributed to Anno leaving as director midway through the production. Despite that, the show's highs easily outweigh its lows, making it perhaps the best highschool drama series out there.

Dr. Jackal

Kare Kano is one of the many where the number of episodes did not allow for completion of a great storyline. The story revolves around multiple arcs that ties into the evolution of the heroine and her relationships with antagonists and protagonists. They also delve into a little episode about each of the side characters with details but after the director swap the amount of time spent into development of character goes out the window. This would've been a show that could use a remake or a second season since the manga has completed. A last bit of warning would be that I personally felt dissatisfied at end because it felt like there was too much left hanging. I would highly recommend anyone planning to watch this anime to consider getting their hands on the manga so they can continue on a finish this great story.