Myself; Yourself

Sana Hidaka finds Sakuranomori, his hometown, a very familiar alien place after his 5 years away. Sana lives on his own apartment owned by the parents of his old friend Aoi Oribe. He rejoins his other childhood friends at high school: Nanaka Yatsushiro, Syusuke Wakatsuki (Sana’s best male friend), and Syuske’s twin sister Syuri Wakatsuki. But despite how unchanged they seem, 5 years is a very long time. Even Sana has secrets to hide.

Myself; Yourself explores how people change yet remain friends. Despite the glossy happy exterior, the innocence of childhood for Sana and all his friends are long past. Only Aoi remains untouched by the often cruel events of life.

The story has moments of sexual and social faux-pas that draw out a chuckle or a wince. For much of the anime, Sana remains painfully clueless about the girls around him, and how his actions seem to be playing them. Aoi has the unfortunate habit of entering Sana’s apartment without knocking.

What teenage male in anime doesn’t have a …magazine collection that happens to cover up his keepsake box from childhood? Some of these socially awkward scenes are endearing; others just feel contrived, particularly the scenes with Sana and the 10 year old Hinako Mochida when she runs away from home and stays at Sana’s apartment.

Sana’s love interest with Nanaka swings from irritatingly clueless to “awww” eliciting. Nanaka keeps up a strong exterior despite being tormented by her past and Sana’s absence when she was needing a friend the most.

Nanaka’s depression becomes tragic when Sana opens the mailbox they shared for their secrets as children.

The story attempts a few plot twists that come without any foreshadowing at all. The crescendo to the drama between Sana and Nanaka in the final episode comes as a dark surprise to a relatively light-exterior anime.

The animation is solid; although the character designs pretty much template. If you are looking for action you won’t find it here. This anime focuses on character development and relationships.  The character development does well; the main characters don’t feel completely one-dimensional. Although Nanaka does feel too stereotypical emo and mopey. The supporting cast are sketchily developed. Background music is nothing remarkable, nor does it detract from the series.

Overall, it is a touching but forgettable series. The characters are endearing but just don’t have enough uniqueness to stand out. The story does have a few unexpected twists, but generally is just another high school romance. It’s a good watch if you enjoy character development and developing romance.