Ooh, even higher. So it was a gem I picked out after all.
:P Actually, I meant to say that I had finished reading Kare Kano; did the whole 21 volumes in some 4-5 days, actually. I probably had just a bit too much free time around then.
Anyway, on the characters. Yukino is indeed excellent, so I regret that she was moved from the focus in the later volumes. I'll say that I actually found Souichiro's unease with Yukino's expanding world sympathetic, however: his 'emoness' didn't really bother me until he went and stabbed his hand. Despite Souichiro's somewhat exaggerated heritage, though, it was actually the ending which bothered me most; both his and her profession seemed to come completely out of left field, and the development of Asaba towards their daughter was plain unconvincing.
My favourite couple actually, was probably Maho and Takeshi. Although their development was comparatively short, it was compelling; Although Maho's initial viciousness was a little off-putting, her sustained preference for solitude served as an interesting counterpoint to Yukino. Takeshi's initial identification of himself as an 'incomplete' person was also refreshingly honest, so his later familiarity with Maho belied growth in that regard. :P It was a shame, then, to see that Maho's principle function in the later volumes was to be a Yin & Yang fangirl; and as for Takeshi, he wasn't even get mentioned in the epilogue.
Anyway, as for what you mentioned in your private message:
On Chibi Vampire, your description was fairly compelling. It sounds like a fun ride, so I'll look it up when I have time. As for Nana and Confidential Confessions (:P you gotta admit that's a pretty awkward name, though), I saw their names around the time I found Kare Kano. Nana's reputation I'm aware of, so I might pick it up on that basis alone. The complete shadowing of one character by another, however, seems like it might be turn off. I'm a bit of a jaded person, in that I don't believe sympathy is worth anything to the recipient; no matter how sincere Nana might be, their friendship already sounds to me questionable. This view of sympathy applies to how I conduct myself as well, however: bad luck and unfortunate circumstances alone (however terrible) don't really generate any feelings within me. Given that Confidential Confessions in particular seems entirely focused on those kind of stories, it seems like I probably wouldn't get much out of it. On the other hand, you have also emphasized that the stories are exceptionally well put-together; given the concern I outlined, would you still recommend it?