Kimi to Boku. 2 | Me and You.

This dictum from Kimi to Boku season 2 leads us through the entire series. It does not sound really outstanding or impressive, even not meaningful. But after we get to see the show we might change our mind. We start thinking about how deep this statement in fact is and how important it will become, even if it seems difficult to imagine at the very beginning.

The “heroes” of this second season are the same as last time; the Twins Yuta and Yuki, Kaname, and Shun. All have been childhood friends since kindergarten, and after Chizuru joins them, their school life changes and becomes livelier. That is it. Well, what did you expect? A bunch of good-looking teens trying to find their love – or just someone who does their homework? No, at all. The twins, Kaname, Shun and Chizuru are as normal as anybody out there could possibly imagine. Normal in a rather extraordinary way.

One of the great pleasures of Kimi To Boku is its inherent lightness, the way it seems wholly unaware that it is a grand achievement – even though it actually is. It’s a story? The “ordinary” daily life of “normal” people. Have you ever had one of those days when the night came and you were watching or reading something – and all of a sudden someone asked you: how was your day? And the only thing you said was: “Just normal… daily stuff…”

In modern society, people tend to forget the daily life; the little things that happen all the time – but we do not pay attention. We would rather see something else. And from that point of view, this anime appears to be quite different – and yet normal. Kimi to Boku is one of the great animes precisely because it is not set out to “wow” us. None of the characters are flawless; and yet, they are all very well fleshed out – but not storyboarded. They act normal, ordinary – and unpredictable.

The twins are very talented in their own ways but can hardly be separated; Kaname is very into his studies whereas Shun keeps an eye on all of them. Last but not least there is Chizuru, the energetic and cheerful young guy who used to live in Germany. Each of them has a specific set of gifts, skills, dreams, qualities and flaws – as well as we do. But just recognizing them is not enough: what counts is what we do with them.

Timing is everything – the anime has its own. And this can be seen in each dialogue, each emotion, and each movement from the characters and, of course, the camera: nothing happens too early, nothing too late. The plot is the pounding heart of the series. Every episode takes one of the characters – whether this is a main or not – and does something clever with him or her. There is a lot of character development to be found in this series.

The Design/Visuals should not go unmentioned. It stayed the same as we had seen this in its predecessor; however, it still had a relaxing colour palette. There are scenes where the anime stands still: and then in the way as the scene changes its colour, it does remind of a storybook. The wonderful, seemingly unimportant score and the beautiful colour help to get deeper into the “ordinary” story and the series.

What is most wonderful about it is the way how the cat – which is some sort of a “hidden” main character – is embodying and carrying a certain moment which the characters are facing at this time; fear, anger, happiness, loneliness, boredom, tiredness and so on.

“No matter how many years go by, I’m sure we’ll still be laughing together.”
By the time the show has ended, we should be able to understand what they meant; it helps the series to become what it is: art. It is not the colour, the score or the characters. The fact, that the series talks about “daily life” – which is a really boring topic for most of us – could confuse. However, it also shows us that we do not always need a big story or topic to create something big. Something that is worth to be seen.

And laughing, on the other hand, is not just about being happy; it is also about the pursuit of pleasure and delight and surprise, being able to spend your time with those people you hold most dear; Laughing can be symbolized with the seeking of both sensation and meaning.

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