The series focuses on the ups and downs, as well as the happiness and the disappointments, of first love and teen romance. Boys Be... follows several students at Otowa-no-Mori as they struggle to find their perfect partner. Their only real enemy to their goals is their own adolescent limitations. The series primarily focuses on two characters in particular (Kyoichi Kanzaki and Chiharu Nitta), although there are also storylines that put a focus on the other characters. The Boys Be... anime is also known for including philosophical quotations in each episode.
Kyoichi Kanzaki is a young man who is having a hard time expressing love for his childhood friend, Chiharu Nitta. Chiharu is very athletic, and runs for the school's track and field team. Kyoichi has two friends, Yoshihiko Kenjo and Makoto Kurumizawa. Yoshihiko is talented in sports, but he has no real interest in playing. He also appears to have no interest in girls. Makoto, on the other hand, is a guy who is obsessed with girls; he keeps an electronic database of almost all of the girls at Otowa-no-Mori with him. One of the few girls not included in his database is Chiharu Nitta, because he thinks she's a "barbarian." Makoto also uses computer dating simulators and guide books in his quest to find a girlfriend.
During the series, there is some turbulence in Kyoichi and Chiharu's relationship. At one point, he ends up with a student named Shoko Sayama, a girl who's hoping to make it big in the music business. Chiharu meets a dashing young man named Yuki Okazaki during the summer, and falls for him. Also during the series, Yoshihiko ends up falling for a couple of girls, and Makoto falls for girls over and over.
Boys Be... features romance, comedy, and school life. It's a decent "slice of life" anime that should appeal to viewers who enjoy watching teen dramas. Personally, I would recommend Boys Be... to anime viewers who are 13 or 14 years of age and older.
| Boys Be... | 13 | 2000 | Masami Shimoda | Hal Film Maker | N/A |
