The boys are back and what better way to start off than with a sleepover.
What They Say:
Shun is sharing his tangerine and ends up going to Kaname’s house, but Chizuru, Yuki and Yuta end up going too and all 5 stay for dinner. While it was expected they would leave after dinner, instead at Chizuru’s suggestion, it becomes their first 5 person sleepover.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After an enjoyable first season of relaxing tones, You and Me returns for another season with the boys. The show was one that won me over in small doses as it played out in those first episodes of the previous season and I liked it as a welcome alternative to brash shows that were all over being silly, hyper and so forth. There’s room for a lot of different shows out there and there’s something about this one that simply felt comfortable for me. So getting to have a bit more of it is certainly welcome and the season starts off well here, essentially making it a very comfortable return to a group of friends that haven’t changed much and are glad to see you.
Naturally, the show does continue to be a heck of a lot about nothing much. Just an exercise of the guys hanging out together and having small experiences that shape and mold them in generally positive ways, which can be frustrating for some to watch unless it involves cute girls. The guys here hanging out together at different places is a draw, but it’s fun when they’re at Kaname’s house and he chides some of them for their eating habits and how they act in someone else’s house. But there’s also just the fun of hanging out in Kaname’s room because Chizuru seems to have such a way of frustrating him and getting him to overreact to just about everything. Even the calming influence of Shun isn’t enough to bring things down and instead it just makes Kaname even more tense since he feels like he’s being called out for things that aren’t his fault.
With the time spent together turning into a sleepover with the five guys, it’s actually fun watching this relaxed kind of atmosphere between them that’s similar to how they usually are but with some mild differences well since they’re a little sillier and have different things to talk about. Things like stargazing may not seem like much to build a show on, but the way they talk and some of little bits, especially with how they manage to make Kaname so mad so easily, paints a very fun picture for these young men. Add in his mother snooping and you just have to grin. As the night wears on there’s a certain kind of goofiness that permeates some moments, but it also gets nicely personal as well between some of them.
In Summary:
While the show certainly isn’t a fan favorite and has limited overseas appeal, this is the kind of show that I definitely like having one or two of each season. It’s very relaxed, mellow and character driven. As character driven as normal high school students can be. There are no outlandish moments here, exceptional gags or personalities that are over the top. They’ve all got their mild quirks and personalities that let them stand out, but they’re like the kinds of guys that you’d know in the real world in this situation. There’s something comfortable and well done about that, especially since it doesn’t constantly revolve around getting girlfriends or issues with girls in general. It’s the kind of change of pace that I do enjoy for these reasons and am excited to see more of the season.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
