Name: Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances)
Details: Written by Masami Tsuda, Kare Kano was first serialized in LaLa between February 1996 and June 2005. The 101 individual chapters, referred to as "Acts", were compiled into 21 tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha. The first volume was released on June 5, 1996, with the final volume released on August 5, 2005. Kare Kano was initially licensed for an English language release by Mixx Entertainment in 2002, but it subsequently lost those rights before publication began. In July 2001, the company's Tokyopop division announced that it had reacquired the license and that it would be serializing the title in their Smile magazine starting in 2002. However, Smile was discontinued in 2002 before the Tokyopop released the first collected volume of the series on January 21, 2003; the final volume was released on January 10, 2007. It was one of the first manga series that Tokyopop released in the original Japanese orientation, in which the book is read from right to left, and with the original sound effects left in place. In February 2008, Tokyopop reissued the first three volumes in a single omnibus volume. The series is licensed for regional language releases by Editions Tonkam in France by Grupo Editorial Vid in Mexico, by Glènat España in Spain, by Dynamic Italia in Italy, by Carlsen Comics in Germany, and by Planet Manga in Portugal. It chapters were also serialized in the French magazine Magnolia and the German magazine Daisuki.
Story: Yukino Miyazawa is a Japanese high school freshman who is the envy of classmates for her good grades and immaculate appearance. However, her "perfect" exterior is a façade, a charade she maintains to win praise. In the privacy of her own home, she is spoiled, stubborn, a slob, and studies relentlessly and obsessively to maintain her grades. On entering high school, she is knocked from her position at the top of the class by Soichiro Arima, a handsome young man whose very existence Yukino considers a threat to the praise on which she thrives, and she vows to destroy him. When Soichiro confesses that he has a crush on her, Yukino rejects him then boasts about it at home. Her observant little sister Kano points out that her rivalry with him comes from admiration, causing her to rethink her own feelings. Before she can figure out if she hates or likes Soichiro, he visits her home and discovers her being herself. He uses the information to blackmail her into doing his student council work. At first Yukino accepts it, coming to realize that he is also not the perfect student he pretends to be. Tired of being used, Yukino revolts and Soichiro apologizes, and admits he still loves her and just wanted to spend time with her. Yukino realizes she loves him as well, and together they resolve to abandon their fake ways and be true to themselves, though she initially has trouble breaking of her lifelong habit of pretend-perfection and her competitive ways. As the series progresses, Yukino is able to open her true self to others and earns her first real friends beyond Soichiro. It is eventually revealed that Soichiro was striving to be perfect in order to avoid turning "bad" like the parents who abandoned him. Falling in love with Yukino, he is able to become more true to himself, but he also finds himself becoming increasingly jealous of Yukino's change bringing new friends and new activities into her life, and of her having parts of her life that don't involve him. When Yukino unknowingly hurts him, he becomes even more jealous and afraid, and begins to wear another facade of the "perfect boyfriend" in an effort to protect her from his "ugly" self. The return of both of his parents into his life sends Soichiro into a dark area, but helps him finally break free to truly be himself as Yukino and their friends help him learn to lean on and trust others. The end of the series shows Yukino and Soichiro in their 30s, with their three children, and gives updates on the various friends they made along the way.
Volumes: 21
Volumes[]
- Kare Kano Volume 1
- Kare Kano Volume 2
- Kare Kano Volume 3
- Kare Kano Volume 4
- Kare Kano Volume 5
- Kare Kano Volume 6
- Kare Kano Volume 7
- Kare Kano Volume 8
- Kare Kano Volume 9
- Kare Kano Volume 10
- Kare Kano Volume 11
- Kare Kano Volume 12
- Kare Kano Volume 13
- Kare Kano Volume 14
- Kare Kano Volume 15
- Kare Kano Volume 16
- Kare Kano Volume 17
- Kare Kano Volume 18
- Kare Kano Volume 19
- Kare Kano Volume 20
- Kare Kano Volume 21