"His and Her Circumstances" (Japanese title: Kareshi to Kanojo no Jijou) is a bit hard to describe to someone that has not seen it.  It is, as the producer of the American release notes, a series about unlikeable people that nonetheless keeps you caring about those people all the way through.  Every character in this romantic drama/comedy is flawed to a greater or lesser degree, and it is those flaws which take "Kare Kano" above the level of the average teen romance.  Of course, the fact that it is done by Studio Gainax also means it will avoid many of the cliches that plague other series in the genre, if also resulting in perhaps a less satisfying conclusion at the same time.

Miyazawa Yukino - The female protaganist and self-described "Queen of Vanity."  Yukino got her first taste of praise at an early age and found it sweet - so sweet that she devoted her life to attracting as much of it as possible.  In the process, she spends countless hours working hard at projecting the image of model student, excelling in sports, studies, and becoming beholden to her peers.  In reality, she was sloppy, lazy, and greedy, and cared about nothing except as a means to an end.  Then she hit High School and met...

Arima Souichiro - Apparently the "real thing" to Yukino's ersatz ideal, Souichiro gets top grades without even trying, attracts all the girls (although he displays no particular interest in any of them) and excels at seemingly everything he tries.  but he is crippled by a low sense of self-worth caused by a secret in his family history.  Thus he blocks out all who try to get close and works slavishly to move beyond limitations that he had nothing to do with.

After some predictable initial friction, these two over-achievers soon realize that perhaps they can help each other overcome their various faults.  A highly unusual cast of supporting characters (many of whom have problems of their own...) takes the edge off a story that at times threatens to get too mired in teenaged angst and philosophical truisms for a comedy.  Still, those looking for light viewing in the style of "Marmalade Boy" or "Love Hina" will likely be disappointed.  While the show does have more than its share of light-hearted (and very funny) moments, its also has its moments that can be difficult to sit through because the flow of action has been broken in order to make some heavy point.  And the ending is sufficiently  open-ended, coming right in the middle of a major plot arc, that many will wish for more closure.

The show also features a wide range of atypical animation techniques, including heavy use of live action stills, images from the original manga and other source material, which are interesting the first few times they are seen, but can quickly grow a bit tiresome.  Nearly every episode has a brief repetition of what went on before  which had me fast-forwarding through them after the first few, and three entire episodes of the 26 are devoted to - once again - repeating the story so far.

The DVD is very well executed.  Viewers can choose to view the original Japanese soundtrack, with or without subtitles in English or Spanish, or the English one.  They can further, by selecting one of three subtitle tracks, choose to have only the dialog translated, only the on-screen signs and sound effects, or both.  The "on-screen signs" sub track is particularly useful if you are listening to the English dub and want to know what the signs say but don't want to be distracted by the subtitled dialog.  An excellent technique, which I hope to see become more common.  Extras include interviews with the Japanese voice actiors, translation notes, and telephone answering machine messages by several of the characters (done by the English voice actors).

Parental Advisories: This series should be safe enough for teenagers.  There's no explicit violence, no full-frontal nudity or sex.  However, the series does deal with themes of abandonment and emotional abuse and the two main characters do engage in (off-screen) sex at one point.  Younger kids (and probably some teens) will probably have a hard time with the copious on-screen text that permeates some episodes, and some of the philosophical and cultural allusions will likely be over their heads.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older