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Old 2011-10-04, 02:03   Link #41
Guardian Enzo
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Shun was definitely a big part of the problem, Reckoner, but I don't think it was all him. He was the most effeminate, but all four of them - in their emotional reactions, in their mannerisms - acted like girls.

I get that this is probably targeted at women, but I would ask again - if this is just another four girls series except with penises, what's the point? Is there so little appetite for trying something meaningfully different? As Creb said, if I want to watch a four girls school-life show (I don't) I'd just as soon look at four girls.
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Old 2011-10-04, 02:09   Link #42
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In fairness, the twins and Kaname come across more or less like normal teenage guys to me. They seem reasonably masculine to me, and not like a male version of a female anime character.

Now, as for Shun... yeah, I'm getting strong male Yui Hirasawa vibes from him. And the guy we have yet to meet just screams male Ritsu to me in every image I see of him in that OP.


One thing should be pointed out though - the Kimi to Boku manga predates K-On, so the similarities between Shun and Yui are not necessarily intentional. Mind you, this actually makes those similarities even more funny for me.


All-told, it's a nice relaxing watch, that earned a few chuckles from me, but not a whole bunch of laughs. Just like the first episode of, well, you know.

I'll probably be sticking with this one.
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Old 2011-10-04, 02:37   Link #43
Guardian Enzo
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I didn't find anything any of those three other guys said or did to be remotely authentic as far as acting like actual teenaged males. But that's me. Clearly, it doesn't really matter because they're sticking with a proven crowd-pleaser in terms of formula, and anime is a business after all.
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Old 2011-10-04, 02:53   Link #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo View Post
I didn't find anything any of those three other guys said or did to be remotely authentic as far as acting like actual teenaged males. But that's me. Clearly, it doesn't really matter because they're sticking with a proven crowd-pleaser in terms of formula, and anime is a business after all.
Well, I do understand where you and creb are coming from. While those three are not exactly what I'd call effemine, they aren't particularly manly either.

A slice of life show involving hotblooded guys would certainly be different, so I can see why this show is a bit disappointing to you compared to that concept.
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Old 2011-10-04, 03:43   Link #45
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I seriously don't see how the four are acting like girls, it's nothing at all like that. Heck, when i used to have long hair, a male friend would brush it for me sometimes when i arrived late for school. No one seen anything wrong with that, and it should be the same here for the first episode. It just shows how close they are as friends.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo View Post
I didn't find anything any of those three other guys said or did to be remotely authentic as far as acting like actual teenaged males. But that's me. Clearly, it doesn't really matter because they're sticking with a proven crowd-pleaser in terms of formula, and anime is a business after all.
What do you want them to do then, talk about girls and porn for 22 minutes? It's like you're saying boys can't help each other out, which is exactly what happened in the first episode.
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Old 2011-10-04, 04:45   Link #46
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Have yet to watch this, but apparently the manga is published in a shonen magazine, so it was supposed to be aimed at boys.
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Old 2011-10-04, 05:00   Link #47
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Aside from Shun, I don't see how the other three aren't acting masculine or 'like authentic teenaged males'. Heck, I know a guy who is a little like Shun, long hair, soft voice and everything. Sure they're not the paragon of what is defined as manly but I think it's unfair to call them girls. As a guy myself, I find most of their interactions similar to my own experiences or at the very least relatable to some degree. It's that very reason I found the manga enjoyable enough to be hyped up over the anime. Perhaps this is a cultural problem where such behaviour or traits are uncommon.

Another thing which I liked was that unlike a certain tea and cake slice-of-life with occasional music show, KB also acknowledges the opposite gender as side characters that interact with the main cast and everything. Having said that, I won't deny that KB's main audience is definitely towards girls and that there is a little of what can be seen as homolust here and there but that does not make KB inaccessible to guys either. It's also most definitely not BL (well, Akira is suspect but I'd like to think I just haven't read enough).

Anyway as for the episode itself, I liked it. It kept with the slow and uneventful pace of the manga and the characters had the same charm I enjoyed. The cat scenes are new but they worked. Definitely something for cat lovers to enjoy in between. The anime cast for the main boys definitely worked well, moreso since they were voiced by male voice actors. Looking forward to Miyu Irino's Chizuru and how Yuki Kaji will handle Akira. As for their kindergarten selves, I think the drama cd cast would have worked better. Kousuke Toriumi worked rather well as Azuma-sensei that I actually thought he was Showtaro Morikubo for a split second. Production wise, it does the job. If I had to complain, I'd say they abused the insert song and it's various instrumental versions throughout the ep too much. It's nice and all but surely they have more pieces they could use? Waiting for episode 2 to come~
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Originally Posted by DemiSoda View Post
Have yet to watch this, but apparently the manga is published in a shonen magazine, so it was supposed to be aimed at boys.
To be precise it's serialised in G-Fantasy, which is also home to Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts and Nabari no Ou. Take of that what you will.
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Old 2011-10-04, 05:37   Link #48
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Originally Posted by Kakkou View Post
To be precise it's serialised in G-Fantasy, which is also home to Kuroshitsuji, Pandora Hearts and Nabari no Ou. Take of that what you will.
Nevermind then. I take my comment back
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Old 2011-10-04, 05:59   Link #49
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I don't suppose you've spent a great amount of time in a Japanese school, have you?

I'll admit that I didn't actually have lunch with the boys when I was teaching, but the twins and Kaname definitely come across as Japanese high school boys to me. And my fellow ALTs always had amusing stories about stuff they'd see the boys doing that you just wouldn't see in any Western country (e.g. sit on each other's laps in the classroom)...
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Old 2011-10-04, 09:02   Link #50
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Finally got to watch this. This is actually pretty good, I love the cynicism amongst the male characters. However, I can't help but agree with Enzo and Reckoner that Shun is causing some serious homo vibes which is making me enjoy it less than I want to. I mean, if that hair brushing scene isn't "gay", I don't know what is...

This is how I see Kimi to Boku:

Male watchers: Hey this is not bad, but man is Shun kinda homo.
Fujioshi: KYAAAAA~ SHUUUUUUUN ~ <3<3

Yes, I'm only generalizing, I don't honestly believe everyone is like that
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Old 2011-10-04, 09:23   Link #51
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The only thing that bothered me about this anime was the red haired '' dude '' who might as well been crossdressing with that kind of hair style, as well as the animation.. More precisely, the eyes .. or lack of them.
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Old 2011-10-04, 10:03   Link #52
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Hmm.. not really much different from shows centring about friendship between girls. Think the first episode, thematically, is a bit too general and can apply to boys and girls. Hopefully we see stories and stuff, that highlight difference between male and female friendships.
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Old 2011-10-04, 10:47   Link #53
Guardian Enzo
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@Guardian Enzo
I don't suppose you've spent a great amount of time in a Japanese school, have you?

I'll admit that I didn't actually have lunch with the boys when I was teaching, but the twins and Kaname definitely come across as Japanese high school boys to me. And my fellow ALTs always had amusing stories about stuff they'd see the boys doing that you just wouldn't see in any Western country (e.g. sit on each other's laps in the classroom)...
No, that's fair - and I did point that out on my blog. But given the way boys behave in a lot of other series where they aren't main characters - and even a few where they are, such as School Rumble - I honestly don't think the context is so different that the characters in KtB are authentically guys in the way they act. Again - can you point out one scene in the first episode that wouldn't have worked equally well or better if they were girls? I don't buy the scene with the teacher, because if she'd been a guy that could easily have been four girls emo-ing over where they'd sleep while one of them was crushing on the teacher.

If you want a comparison, well - I don't think there is one in the school life genre that gets it right, which is why I'm so sad this one doesn't seem to be, either. But if you look at the boys in Ghost Hound and the way they interact and think, that's a show where the guys act like guys.

Just to clarify: it's not a "gay issue" for me. In fact, a realistic school life show about four guys where one of the guys was gay sounds like a fascinating series. Where I'm a little disappointed is that I really hoped this would be a distinct counterpoint the avalanche of four girls shows that have appeared in recent years, and do something very recognizably different in showing the high school experience from a male perspective. Based in the first episode, it appears to be exactly like those other shows except they flipped the genders. It's not a gay issue, and not that it was a terrible episode. It's just that it appears not to be what I was - perhaps unrealistically - hoping it was.
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Old 2011-10-04, 13:19   Link #54
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Originally Posted by DemiSoda View Post
This is how I see Kimi to Boku:

Male watchers: Hey this is not bad, but man is Shun kinda homo.
Fujioshi: KYAAAAA~ SHUUUUUUUN ~ <3<3

Yes, I'm only , I don't honestly believe everyone is like that
Wow really? From reading blogs and twitter comments, this is my reaction:

Male watchers: Wth? This is so fucking gay. Disgusting yaoi shit, no way I'm watching this.
Fujoshis: Nice to have an anime that isn't harem this season. The boys are pretty cute too.

But then again, I'm only generalizing.
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Old 2011-10-04, 13:42   Link #55
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@Guardian Enzo: Setting aside the hair brushing, what would you have had the guys do differently during their lunch breaks & immediately after school for their first few days of the new year in order to make the show more about "guys who act like guys"? I'm not trying to sound snarky. I'm genuinely curious.
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Old 2011-10-04, 14:01   Link #56
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Just watched the first episode, and honestly I feel Kimi to Boku fell short of my expectations.

I'm agreeing with Guardian Enzo here, change their gender to girls and their conversation will be the same, nothing different. I'm a girl who watches the first season of K-on (and love it!) and those K-on girls are actually more lively than these guys.

And this is actually my problem with the first ep, even if nothing really interesting happens they need to make up with their interaction, but even their interaction seems like they are bored. Especially the twins, their voices like they can sleep at any time. Only Kaname the one who seems lively, but against three unlively voices make the first ep really boring to me.

But maybe next ep will more interesting, so I'm not giving up on this one yet. Just I really feel like theirs not a really genuine manly interaction.
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Old 2011-10-04, 14:12   Link #57
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Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo View Post
I didn't find anything any of those three other guys said or did to be remotely authentic as far as acting like actual teenaged males. But that's me.
Yeah I agree, and to be honest all this effeminate stuff was really off putting. There were some funny jokes but I really struggled to get through this episode. I'll give the next episode a try but i reckon I'll probably drop this one.
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Old 2011-10-04, 15:06   Link #58
Guardian Enzo
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Originally Posted by LKK View Post
@Guardian Enzo: Setting aside the hair brushing, what would you have had the guys do differently during their lunch breaks & immediately after school for their first few days of the new year in order to make the show more about "guys who act like guys"? I'm not trying to sound snarky. I'm genuinely curious.
A fair question, and one I admit is not easy to answer as there's some element of "feel" to it. Again, I would reference Ghost Hound as an example of a non-slapstick or especially machismo series where teenaged boys behave naturally.

I don't think having the guys fixated on cute things that happened when they were chibis was a good idea, for starters. HS guys don't, as a rule, act tsundere towards each other, and there was a strong tone of that here. Guys that age tend to verbally push each other a lot, test their limits, act a little crudely. They talk about girls and sex, they talk about gaming, or something on TV or a movie, they make fun of people they don't like.

In sum, there needed to be some rough edge to their interaction, and there wasn't. It was soft and sepia-colored and gentle, and - though I may be struck by lightning for saying it - emo. As a rule, teenaged boys feel very emotional and act like they don't. Really, these scenes were just lifted straight from a story about girls - there wasn't anything different about them. I hope that makes sense - it's not a terribly easy thing to describe. When it comes to authentic guy behavior, I know it when I see it - and this wasn't it.
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Old 2011-10-04, 15:51   Link #59
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Actually I quite liked it.

I quite liked Yuki's deadpan snarkiness - the way he took on the basketball club was hilarious - a good foil for uptight Kaname.
Shun is far, far, far more moe than any male character has a right to be...

And yes, the hair brushing scene did surprise me, maybe it's cultural differences?

But yes. I quite liked it. But then again i like that kind of slow moving lifey-slicey stuff as a whole.
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Old 2011-10-04, 16:01   Link #60
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Honestly, I've never seen a slice-of-life with an all-girl cast that was realistic either.

Most slice-of-life animes are supposed to be about cute people doing cute things anyway, they are not supposed to be realistic (at least they don't succeed in doing it, imo).

I thought it was really adorable and refreshing. I didn't find any of the guys particularly "homo", but I will admit that this is, perhaps, more girl-oriented than most slice-of-life shows. Which is good. FINALLY we have something that's not a shoujo or a reverse harem.
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