Volume	Grade	My Notes
Volume 8	C+	Covers the last episode of the anime
Volume 9	B+	School festival that wasn’t included in the anime
Volume 10	B+	Useless prequel chapter, school trip, and Maho’s love story
Volume 11	A-	Tsubasa’s love story – buy with 12
Volume 12	B+	End of Tsubasa’s arc, Rika’s story
Volume 13	B	The Dark Arima arc picks up
Volume 14	A-	A must-have, buy with 13, 15, and 16
Volume 15	A	An extremely intense page-turner
Volume 16	B	Buy for closure after 15
Volume 17	C	A ridiculous volume. It’s all downhill from here.
Volume 18	B+	A mildly intriguing tragic backstory not involving the protagonists
Volume 19	C	The series takes a left turn into melodrama.
Volume 20	D	Reason flies out the window and retroactive continuity flies in.
Volume 21	D	The screaming in my head won’t stop.

Volume #: 21

In Brief: Asaba hooks up with some faceless inconsequential girl. Yukino tells her friends she’s pregnant. High school graduation happens and the group of friends (most of whom we haven’t seen since volume 12 anyway) part ways. Then we get a look into 16 years in the future. Yukino is a doctor with three kids and Soichiro is a detective. Asaba is a successful artist who lives next door. The band Yin and Yang play at the Budokan and the high school friends briefly reunite.

My Review: The last few pages of this book really are beautiful and wonderful. But it’s too late – the screaming in my head won’t stop. There is something unholy and awful in this volume, at least by American standards.

In the beginning of the book, Asaba is being all emo, saying he’ll never find his soul mate. It has long been hinted at throughout the series that if Soichiro were a chick, he would marry Asaba, his best friend. However, Asaba is not gay (in netspeak: gay for Soichiro?) and he can’t be with Soichiro. The way to resolve this is not the way that mangaka Tusda has chosen.

Yukino announces to Asaba that she is pregnant. The following dialog takes place:

Asaba: A girl who looks like Soichiro-kun! I’d love to hold her in my arms!
Yukino: We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl yet.
Asaba: Well… I do. It’s a girl.

On the next page Asaba thinks, “She’s the one I’ve waited for. This baby will grow up to be my soul mate!”

At that point my mind broke. A voice in my head started screaming and didn’t stop until the end of the book. I knew what was going to happen.

A little more than halfway through the book we flash forward to 16 years in the future. Soichiro is a workaholic detective and Yukino is, for some reason, a mediocre plastic surgeon.

Asaba is a successful artist (implausibly so) who lives next door. He has helped raise Yukino’s children from birth, almost like a stay-at-home dad. The eldest child is, indeed, a beautiful girl who looks like Soichiro. The younger kids are fraternal brothers who don’t act like actual brothers (as per manga conventions where many siblings seem hot for each other in inappropriate ways).

In many manga and anime series, there is an emphasis on genetics, and Kare Kano is no exception. For example, in Hikaru No Go, Hikaru’s grandfather was an award winning Go player. It’s an aside to the story, but it is important to the Japanese to let us know that Hikaru comes from a bloodline of winning Go players. In the beginning of Kare Kano Yukino is a super-smart overachiever because she studies very hard in order to be number one. Yukino’s parents are middle class and average. Soichiro Arima comes from a long line of brilliant doctors and has inherited this brilliance. It is apparent by the end of the series that Soichiro is truly brilliant but Yukino was not – she was “faking it” by working hard. Her daughter can be brilliant only because the child “takes after Soichiro”. Yukino’s twin boys are more average, because they “take after Yukino”. It is difficult to convey how angry that makes me. Maybe I have the American sensibility that anyone can achieve greatness if they work really hard at it, no matter who one’s parents are.

Soichiro’s daughter, Sakura, confesses her love to Asaba just before her high school entrance ceremony. And he doesn’t reject her. They even hold hands at the end.

Let’s do the math; If Asaba was 18 when he graduated and Sakura was born the next year, that means he is about 35, and Sakura, beginning high school in 10th grade, Japanese-style, is 15 or 16 years old. In the U.S., their relationship is illegal.

I could accept Maho’s 27-year-old dentist boyfriend because her boyfriend knew it was wrong. Asaba thinks this is not only right – it’s destiny. I might be more accepting if Asaba hadn’t helped raise Sakura from birth like a father.

“Hey baby, I used to change your diapers, but now you’re totally hot!”

It’s totally ridiculous.

Volume #: 8

In Brief: This volume touches on the very end of the Kare Kano anime. Tonami (the kid who used to be fat) and Tsubaki (the volleyball chick) dance around each other in the chaotic beginning of their relationship. Soichiro realizes he has a dark side. Nearly half of the book is dedicated to throw-away characters Kazune and Komako.

My Review: This is a really irritating and weak volume of Kare Kano. I couldn’t bring myself to care all that much about Tonami and Tsubaki, since the “Dark Arima” arc is beginning in the background of their story. Unfortunately, the “Dark Arima” story is left hanging about two-thirds of the way through this book and doesn’t pick up again until Volume 13. That’s five entire books later!

The sixty-two page story of Kazune and Komako comes off as an annoying digression from the main plot. I had absolutely no time for Kazune and his bizarre relationship with his childhood friend Komako. Kazune was always a sickly young child, but grew up to be a loud obnoxious asshole. He’s in love with Komako but can’t see to show it in a way that isn’t annoying. Maybe it’s just a cultural difference, but I couldn’t bring myself to cheer on this couple at all. I desperately hoped that Kazune and Komako wouldn’t get together.

Volume #: 9

In Brief: The girls perform the play “Steel Snow” at the cultural festival. Tsubaki (the volleyball chick) and Tonami’s (he used to be fat) love story comes to a sort of conclusion. The book ends on a cliffhanger as Yukino tells Soichiro she’s no longer trying to be number one. This cliffhanger is not touched upon again for several books, but it’s very important later.

My Review: The “Steel Snow” play, which was not shown in the TV series, is pretty wacky. It’s a sci-fi stageplay, which doesn’t happen very often in American schools, and as you read it you can kind of see why. It really seems as if it was written by a high school student.

I don’t really care that much about Tsubaki and Tonami’s relationship, although I’m glad to see it reach some kind of conclusion here. The climactic scene between the two of them comes off as somewhat confusing. Are they going out or not? Why can’t they just say “So I guess we’re a couple now,” ?

A few very important things transpire between Soichiro and Yukino, so you have to read this volume. Unlike later volumes, it’s also packed with side stories and isn’t lacking in the art department.

Volume #: 10

In Brief: The first third of the book gives us the backstory of how Maho met her much older (27), dentist boyfriend Takashi. The second third is the story of the school trip to Kyoto, and all the characters are included. The final third is “Chapter Zero,” a prequel chapter that tells the story of Yukino and Soichiro taking the high school entrance exam back when they were in junior high.

My Review: Maho’s story is alarming and kind of disturbing. Why would a 27-year-old date a 9th grader? Takashi, the dentist in question, is disturbed by it himself. He doesn’t do anything physical with Maho and refuses to go out with her for quite some time, but Maho is persistent. I’m 27 myself, and I can’t imagine befriending a 14-year-old. I guess if you take the story as pure fantasy, it’s believable. When I was 14, I probably would have liked to meet older guys – although we’re talking college guys and not post-college guys.

The story about the class trip to Kyoto is well done, and makes it worth picking up this volume. It has no real bearing on any of the story arcs, and is just a cute stand-alone story. One gets to learn what Japanese people do when they travel though Japan – they must eat the local specialty dish at every place they visit.

“Chapter Zero” I could take or leave. Sure, it’s cute to see the characters in their junior high uniforms, but by this point in the book you kind of want to get back to the main story.

Volume #: 11

In Brief: Tsubasa is obviously in love with her step-brother, Kazuma. Kazuma’s rock band “Yinand Yang,” is starting to become famous. As Kazuma slowly falls for Tsubasa, he realizes he has to make some hard choices about music, school, and Tsubasa.

My Review: This volume is very beautifully done. Kazuma is standing on emotional crossroads and that come through very well in the art and writing. His love for Tsubasa starts off as innocent and grows into a romantic love. At one point, a member of Kasuma’s band says:

“…No man can stay innocent forever. Someday, Kazuma will have to face reality. When he realizes he has less innocent urges within him too, the songs he sings will change. And the band will be the thing to benefit the most.”

Somewhere in the middle of the book Kazuma realizes he should probably quit school so the band can go on tour. The band encourages him to graduate, and they agree to tour during the upcoming summer break. By the end of the book, Kazuma realizes that his love for Tsubasa is romantic and sexual, and he can no longer live in his parents house.

Soichiro and Yukino appear only very briefly in this volume.

Volume #: 12

In Brief: Kazuma’s band becomes ridiculously successful, but Tsubasa feels hurt and emotionally abandoned. This book ends the Tsubasa/Kazuma story. The final chapter is a side-story focusing on Rika, a minor character.

My Review: Kazuma’s band becomes ridiculously successful very fast in a way that just isn’t believable. The band members all get along very well, and are not plagued by the problems of actual rock bands that I’ve known. If you look at it as pure fantasy, it’s fun to read, but if you are looking for the realities of high school or being in a band, forget about it.

Tsubasa is overwhelmed by Kazuma’s success and is worried that she’s been abandoned by the boy she loves. When Yinand Yang’s next album is titled “Tsubasa”, she stops wallowing in self-pity and realizes that Kazuma loves her so much that all the songs she’s been avoiding are actually about her. The Kazuma/Tsubasa arc ends the same way as the film “Whispers of the Heart”, and it comes off as being just as unlikely and kind of jarring as it does in the movie.

The final chapter is about Rika, who is Aya’s (the best-selling author’s) sidekick and best friend. Rika is not a very spectacular character like the rest of the cast of Kare Kano, but she is a very good cook. It turns out Rika is in love with Kyo, who is Aya’s older brother and Rika’s childhood friend. It’s a sweet little story.

This volume is so sweet and nice! It really doesn’t prepare you for the dark stories in later volumes…

Volume #: 13

In Brief: The Dark Arima arc picks up as Soichiro gets number one in the country on a mock college entrance exam. He’s also chosen to appear on television because of his success in kendo. All of this attention means that Soichiro’s family has taken notice, including his cruel cousins as well as someone else from his past…

My Review: Throughout this book, we see another side of Soichiro that was only hinted at in the anime series. Soichiro reveals (to the reader) that he has worked hard to be number one in everything for the sole purpose of getting revenge on his mean cousins and extended family. There is something he can’t tell Yukino.

In a very bittersweet couple of pages Soichiro and Yukino skip school together. Yukino wants to become a lawyer and Soichiro wants to be a doctor, so they realize their time together as high school students is short before they go on to law school and medical school. That’s one thing that really gets to me about Kare Kano, and high school relationships in general. How feasible are high school couples in the long term, particularly if the students involved go to separate colleges? I knew lots of guys in college who ended up breaking up with their high school sweethearts in the freshmen or sophomore year in college.

Soichiro knows that he and Yukino are headed down separate paths. This is a really suspenseful volume with a cliffhanger, so if you’re going to buy it, you need to buy the next several books all at once.

Volume #: 14

In Brief: Soichiro’s birth mother shows up and wants Soichiro back in her life. Soichiro doesn’t tell anyone he’s been meeting with her, not even Yukino, or his birth parents. Yukino realizes Soichiro is lying to her – and worse, that their relationship changed (back in volume 9) in an important way that she missed.

My Review: Soichiro’s birth mother is seriously creepy in this volume. She’s very beautiful, and used to living the high life. She buys Soichiro fancy clothes to wear just to take him out to eat at an expensive restaurant. For whatever reason, Soichiro doesn’t say no to her, even though she kisses him in a way that seems horribly uncomfortable.

Soichiro lies to Yukino, saying his mother is simply someone from his past. Yukino freaks out and remembers back to volume 9 when she told Soichiro that she was giving up on being number one. That actually hurt Soichiro in a way that she didn’t notice at the time, to the point where they had practically broken up emotionally, without actually breaking up as a couple. Yukino has to get to the bottom of this problem.

On page 180 Soichiro’s heart bursts. Not in a literal way, but some emotions that he’d been keeping locked up have suddenly broken lose, and forgotten memories are coming to the surface in time for volume 15.

Volume 14 is a gripping read that’s hard to put down. It feels as if the series is back on track, and all the side-tracking filler arcs and minor characters’ backstories have gone away. You’ll want to read Volumes 13-16 when you have a lot of time on your hands, because you’ll need to read them all at once.

Volume #: 15

In Brief: Soichiro’s repressed memories of his life with his abusive birth mother come flooding back to him. Yukino and Soichiro’s adopted parents find out and are understandably concerned. Soichiro stabs his hand with a box cutter and breaks up with Yukino.

My Review: I normally don’t read manga during lunch, but when I read the first part of this volume on my morning commute, I couldn’t wait until lunch so I could find someplace quiet to read the rest of the book.

This volume is really intense. Soichiro’s birth mother was abusive to him to the point of melodrama – leaving him alone for days at a time, beating him with scissors – it gets really gross and very disturbing at times. It’s no wonder that Soichiro is going insane as the memories flood back to him.

Soichiro wonders the streets alone and night, doesn’t sleep for days, and eventually crashes at Asaba’s apartment. Yukino will not leave Soichiro alone, not even when he breaks up with her! Soichiro is angry at Yukino for opening up his Pandora’s box of memories.

The thing that’s really well done about this volume (and it happens elsewhere in the series, too) is the way that emotions are shown in abstract images. On some pages, Soichiro is a tiny three-year-old child in a field of thorns, and Yukino appears to save him in an angelic scene.

Volume 15 is so intense that the author’s notes in the margin seem grating and inane. In one of the most tense scenes of childhood abuse, Tsuda’s author’s note in the margin says, “My favorite snacks: I like cracker-type biscuits. They’re crunchy and sweet and salty and delicious!” Meanwhile 3-year-old Soichiro’s blood is spreading across the floor. This kind of contrast was tough to read through – it made me angry at the author for being so inane with one hand while torturing her characters with the other hand.

After volume 15, you can take a break, but this arc doesn’t finish up until the end of volume 16.

Volume #: 16

In Brief: This volume opens with a flashback to Soichiro’s post-adopted life, and some pleasant memories of life with his new family. Then there’s a long section of Soichiro and Yukino putting their relationship back together. Soichiro’s birth mother keeps showing up at the high school, but together, he and his friends find ways to thwart her.

My Review: You’re going to have to buy this and read it after reading volume 15, but that said, this volume is a little disappointing in terms of art. Sure, there are some gorgeous illustrations and character drawings, but there are also several pages which are totally blank except for a few words. Page 61 only has the word “Yes…” on it, and an ellipsis, just like that! Four pages later is another all-white page with four words on it. The rest of the volume is scattered pages that only have two panels with one character’s face in one panel and a few word balloons and some toner in the other panel. It’s like the shojou equivalent of Frank Miller splash pages. It feels as if the author and her staff went all out for the last book and took a sabbatical during this volume.

Not a whole lot actually happens in this volume, but you need it as an emotional recovery from the previous volume. Some of the scenes of Soichiro’s friends helping him avoid his birth mother are genuinely funny.

After volume 16, you can take a long break before starting volume 17, since it begins a new story arc.

Volume #: 17

In Brief: Yukino goes with Soichiro and his family to their vacation home for winter break. It’s there that Soichiro has a flashback about his birth father, Reiji, and we learn more about Reiji from Soichiro’s adopted father. Meanwhile Kazuma, Tsubasa, Maho, and Takashi go to a concert of a cult jazz pianist in New York City – who’s name just happens to be Reiji Arima. Reiji eventually meets his son on a trip to Japan, where he abducts him via motorcycle.

My Review: This might very well pinpoint the moment the series goes downhill. Sure, you’ll want to keep reading to know how it ends, but you’re going to be disappointed.

The implausibly levels of Kare Kano go through the roof at this point. Is there no one in this series who’s just a casual musician? First we had to buy that Kazuma is an insanely talented singer, and now we have to believe that Soichiro’s birth father, Reiji, is a cult jazz pianist who’s music really touches people’s hearts. In the scene where Maho, Takashi, Tsubasa, and Kazuma are at Reiji’s concert, Kazuma starts singing along to Reiji’s music without thinking about it! Sure, Kazuma is a great singer, but they’re at a fancy concert hall, not a rock show! If something like that happened in real life I’d be embarrassed for Kazuma!

Before that, we’re suppose to believe that Soichiro actually met his real dad back when he was four or five years old shortly after he started living with his birth parents. Unlike the flashbacks in volume 15, this doesn’t seem plausible or real at all. It’s an unnecessary scene.

Reiji is a ridiculous person. He abducts Soichiro at gunpoint (although it’s a toy gun) and whisks him away on a motorcycle. Why Soichiro would agree to this after his previous adventures with his birth mother, I have no idea.

The biggest bombshell in this book, though, is on page 78 when Yukino admits (to the reader) that she hasn’t had a period in two months. She might be pregnant, she thinks, although she doesn’t want to worry Soichiro with that news. That scene made me pull my hair out for days! Pregnancy scares are, well… scary! Yukino doesn’t seem very concerned about it, she even seems kind of happy. Hello?! What about law school? What about college? What about prenatal vitamins like folic acid? Yukino is not showing the level of concern I’d expect from a pregnant teenager.

That page was a total shock to me, but as I’ve looked back through the previous volume for this review, I’ve found other foreshadowing. I hope she’s not really pregnant. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a housewife, but I think Yukino should at least go to college.

Volume #: 18

In Brief: Soichiro and Yukino spend time with Soichiro’s father, Reji. Soichiro’s surrogate father, Soji, tells the tumultuous story of how he raised Reji after Reji was rejected as a bastard child in his family’s clan.

My Review: Reji’s backstory is tragic – epically tragic. His mother tried to drown herself and a 3-year-old Reji, but Reji claws his way free and survives. Reji is rejected by his father’s rich clan because he is a bastard son born from an affair. Only Soji, who is infertile and Reji’s much older half-brother, will take the boy in. Soji and Reji have a very dramatic falling out. Much of the problems in the Arima clan are thanks to Reji’s father, a talented and handsome monster of a man who does not love his children – except maybe Reji.

The story at this point borders on melodrama. It is what I imagine gothic tales of twisted family trees are like – if I read those kind of books – but I don’t. The author has long ago done away with plausibility and reality, but in a strange way this volume is more believable than other parts of the series. Families really can have twisted pasts and long lines of abusive fathers. Volume 18 is weirdly more believable than a rock band playing a top 40 hit in volume 12.

Volume #: 19

In Brief: We get the story of Soichiro’s conception and consequent adoption. Yukino is afraid to tell Soichiro that she’s pregnant.

My Review: In case you were wondering how Soichiro’s birth parents hooked up, it’s in this volume, and it’s really sick and weird. Soichiro’s mother was a bad-girl, juvenile delinquent type, who spread a rumor around her high school that she was sleeping with Reji which wasn’t even true. Her real boyfriend beats the crap out of Reji and lands him in the hospital, where Soichiro’s mother essentially rapes him in order to get pregnant.

Later Reji doesn’t even remember sleeping with her. He abandons young Soichiro and moves to New York. Soichiro’s mother’s plan was to milk money off Reji’s rich family. Her plan fails, since no one in the family liked Reji anyway, and she’s obviously a gold-digger. She never intended to be a real mother and hates her child. Soji doesn’t find out that young Soichiro is being horribly abused until he almost dies.

The volume ends with the worst scene in the series so far. Back in the present, Soichiro’s birth mother turns up again and confronts Reji. Reji shoots her, and the last line in the book is: “I came to Japan… to kill her.”

The melodrama!

Volume #: 20

In Brief: Soichiro stops his father from shooting his mother. Reji makes peace with Soji and leaves town. We get Soji’s wife’s backstory. Yukino tells Soichiro she’s pregnant and he proposes to her. The couple tells their parents.

My Review: The opening scene is wholly ridiculous and unbelievable. The bloodsplatters that closed out volume 19 were from the bullet just barely grazing Soichiro’s mother’s ear. Soichiro won’t let Reji shoot her (even though she deserves it). It’s not clear if murder was actually Reji’s intent, but it is clear that extreme measures were needed to ensure that Soichiro’s mother never returns.

The struggle with the gun is totally out-of-place in a series like this, and it’s not well drawn.

Reading Soji’s wife’s backstory the chapter after that is a relief, but it’s also kind of a slap in the face so late in the story. There is only a volume and a half left to cover the pregnancy issue.

Speaking of which, Yukino’s mother guesses that she’s pregnant before she tells Soichiro. Her mother is cool with it since she got pregnant young too. Unfortunately I’m not nearly so calm about it as Yukino or her mother.

Kare Kano is manga, it is fantasy, it is from another culture with different cultural attitudes towards pregnancy, motherhood, college, and careers. Yukino is marrying into a rich family and will still complete her college degree – but this is so far from the reality I’ve experienced. The girls I know who got pregnant in high school were not as lucky as Yukino. Certainly none of them were rich.

While my head was still spinning from this twist I was hit with another: On page 175 the author pulls a total ret-con bullshit move. Apparently Yukino once found Soichiro’s secret stash of detective videos and books. Soichiro actually wants to be a cop! He doesn’t need to go to college at all!

At this point I’m calling shenanigans on the author, Masami Tsuda. Damnit Tsuda! You couldn’t have planted that love of detectives earlier in the series?! If I didn’t love books so much I would have thrown volume 20 across the room. I may have thrown it and since forgotten my blind fury of rage.

Yukino asks to use Soichiro’s college fund to go to medical school herself (!?) after doing some time as a housewife. Fair enough! I’d believe anything at this point! Soichiro wants to be a detective! Pigs can fly! Whatever!