KareKano was a really interesting experience for me.

I can talk about the emotional moments of personal growth that left an impact on me as Shirō Sagisu's beautiful ost and Hideaki Anno's creative visual style swept me away in the pure shojo feels. Or I can talk about how these moments feel disjointed with some characters being forsaken nearly entirely, leaving the moments that did hit with a slight sting of disappointment in my mind. I can talk about how funny KareKano was with its slapstick animation style, but I can also talk about how this style took away from the focus of the series at moments that had me questioning the tone as a whole.

KareKano feels like a series that wins a lot of battles but ultimately loses the war.

After doing research on the trainwreck that is the end of the show, production, and the mangaka, Masami Tsuda, It is apparent what things went wrong and I think hindsight into Gainax as a studio from our point of view in 2023 only further cements these missteps. Fresh off the heels of Evangelion, Gainax' goldenboy, I think they were still trying to find their footing as a studio and the Creative differences between Anno as well as his own mental health surely complicated production. Looking back I find myself asking, "Was KareKano a psychological? Comedy? SOL? Drama?" and while all these feel fitting to some extent, I think that in itself is the issue.

KareKano feels like it is trying to balance too many things in too short a time and falling because of it.

That being said, there are some truly standout things about this series that make it worth watching in my opinion. For one, KareKano as an anime succeeds at being funny, despite coming at the expense of the mangaka's intentions in writing the series. The animation is something I haven't seen in many series and I'd compare it to Guren Lagann at times. There is exceptional use of real-life footage and shots which I know can be divisive, if you like that kind of creative cinematography in anime you will enjoy this. The ost is also one of the biggest compliments I can give the series, Shirō Sagisu has delivered a post-evangelion masterpiece that evokes his prior work while branching off into something beautifully human. A stand out ost for me was 「一期一会」"ichigoichie," which I have been learning on piano since watching the series.

And finally, the characters. I like them for the most part. I loved a lot of their moments but found that the unreliable development and introduction of so many characters made me feel as if I couldn't quite connect with them as much as I genuinely wanted to because they are so likeable. If you had a more focused 24 episode season with even just a 12 episode second season I think you could've honed in these characters so much more. You would've had something closer to a "kimi ni todoke," or a "honey and clover," which I both think are better anime and adaptations. anyway, miyazawa is great, love her. shibahime was great while she lasted. Maho, good. I even liked the tonami-sakura stuff at the end until it was forced to commit suicide. the other friends, eh. Of course arima is good mostly. asapin stopped mattering. And one of the best developments to me was Miyazawa's parents', mostly her dad's development. That was so powerful and I wish they would've focused on it more or given other characters that same love.

tldr: watch it if you are a fan of Gainax's style, and are ok to take the good and disappointing character moments this series offers. The characters are mostly good albeit sometimes flat, with beautiful ost and creative cinematography.

I'm curious to explore more of Gainax's catalogue in the future, thanks for reading :)