My rating has nothing to do with the series. This is my favorite anime series of all, however, I have to give this specific product 1 star because it comes in a poorly designed DVD case. Upon opening my box, I immediately saw what the problem was. The studio producing this anime, Right Stuf, has crammed all five DVDs into a single clamshell case, and this case can barely fit them all. Upon opening the DVD case, two the of the DVDs spilled out and almost hit the ground. After examining the case, I saw that part of the lock that keeps the DVDs in place had broken and could not hold the DVDs in place. While this can be attributed to a damage in transit issue, I also attribute it to the poor design of the case and the cost cutting measures of Right Stuf. To shave off some costs of including individual cases, they’re sacrificing the quality and safety of the product by shoving it all in a single, easily damaged, case. Also, the DVDs can only be taken out two at a time and it’s inconvenient to swap them in and out, especially with a broken case.

Do yourself a favor and purchase the box set with individual cases. I used to own that unit and it was much easier to use with less stress.

“His & Her Circumstances” eases anime watchers with touching teenager romance, even if quality declined at the end.

This series has suffered from mixed reviews throughout its run. Director Hideaki Anno, known as the director of “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” helmed the production of this series. However, the series literally degenerated as the director fought with Masami Tsuda, the original manga artist of this series.

For anyone unfamiliar with the manga, “Kare Kano” is about a girl named Yukino Miyazawa. She is a talented, beautiful overachiever who strives for perfection. She’s frustrated with having to compete with Soichiro Arima, a boy who is also one of the top students.

Unlike Arima, Miyazawa is a spoiled slob at home who studies endlessly to maintain her grades. Arima discovers her alter-ego when he arrives at Miyazawa’s house to return a Brahms CD he borrowed from her. At first, he threatens to reveal her secret facade by forcing her to do his work for the student council for a few days. However, their feelings gradually deepen for each other. After a small argument, they begin to care for each other.

“His or Her Circumstances” takes a closer look at the complications of high school romance. It also looks into the deeper problems of Arima’s own family conflicts. His own parents were blackmailers, who deserted him because of a huge debt they couldn’t pay off. Although this series tends to ramble during some episodes, it never loses its charm until the director of the series quit working on the series.

Certainly this series has its flaws. The ending sequence is a boring motion sequences with a live camera in a Japanese high school. Parts of the series were taken out of the DVD because of arguments between animation studio Gainax and the manga artist. The last story arc of the series remains unfinished.

Yet the series never loses the charm it retains in the opening sequence. “His & Her Circumstances” easily has the best opening animation of a shoujo series ever. The theme song, “Tenshi no Yubikiri” (translated as “The Angel’s promise”), is a lovely ballad as charming as an American Motown song. Viewers will be even more impressed by Anno’s ability to mix the psychological elements of “Evangelion” seamlessly into a romantic atmosphere.

Overall, “His & Her Circumstances” is a must-buy. The warm relationship of Miyazawa and Arima is worth every penny, no matter how you may argue about the unfinished ending. Everything, from the beautiful character designs to the touching anime shading, is too wonderful to pass up.

His and Her Circumstances is a story of 2 high school students who are seen as exceptional and perfect individuals. Sadly both only put up a front so they can get ahead and please the ideals of others. When they discover that they understand each other rather well Yukino and Arima develop a friendship that begins to form a romance; however, the dark secrets within Arima’s past make their relationship difficult, but Yukino tries her best to save Arima from destroying himself with depression.

This DVD set features all 26 episodes and while the series loses some steam in the final episodes, the entire series is definitely worth owning. The writing style and emotional nature of the show is refreshing and pleasant. The DVD set from Right Stuf is well packaged, very well priced, and comes with a nice set of extras. The English dub and Japanese audio tracks are both exceptional.