It’s off to get some work experience by returning to kindergarten.

What They Say:
Every year the second years participate in the “workplace experience.” When the boys discover the Hidamari Kindergarten they attended is on the list, they all agree to visit. While the boys have not visited in a while, the place has not changed. Shun and the others feel nostalgic, and Kaname feels nervous at the thought of meeting Kaori-sensei again. As Chizuru observes the scene, an acorn falls directly on his head! Terrorized by the brats Ken-chan and Sono-chan, will the boys finish their workplace experience without any trouble?

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
One of the fun things that the second year students get to to, though it’s not something that’s really exciting some of them, is to do a bit of work experience before they get closer to the real world itself. It’s essentially field trip time to approved places to learn about how to work and what the real world is like. For the gang, they have a bit of a special connection to one of the places as Hidamari Kindergarten is on it. While Chizuru is the odd man out on this one, he’s excited to go back to the kindergarten where this gang first came together all those years ago, especially since Shu is actually outwardly glad that he’s coming along as well to be a part of it all.

There’s plenty of cute fun to be had with this kind of return, especially since Kaname has an interest in one of the teachers there named Kaori. It’s a cute little blushing crush kind of thing that everyone is aware of and how he handles it is just adorable. Especially since as time goes on and they work with the kids, they see the little relationships there picking up in different ways and can see flavors of themselves as well. There’s some good, simple humor here as the little kids take over part of the show, but unlike some other series, they don’t actually dominate it in a way that has them stealing scenes. The focus remains mostly on the main cast as they try and cope with what’s a much harder job than they realized it would be, having done it from being a kids perspective.

The kids do get some time, particularly with “Ken-chan” who has a crush on one girl in the class and does what he can to try and win her affections in the way all little boys do. He’s a rough and tumble type that grates against Kaname in particular since they spend a lot of time together over the course of the day, but it works well since Kaname’s own particular style is one that lets him be both frustrated and annoyed with him but also understanding of what he’s going through. It’s the kind of situation where you do want to see more of Kaname working out of because it helps to soften him a bit but it’s also generally just fun to see young men like him having to deal with things that they normally don’t. Kaname hasn’t needed softening or anything, but having him and the others in a more innocent and simple situation like this does help them to be a bit more fully formed.

In Summary:
You & Me is one of those series that hits all the right notes when it comes to giving us a good cast of calm and relaxed characters in simple but enjoyable real world situations. Taking them out of their normal school environment and away from being just with each other by putting them in the kindergarten area works very well. Particularly because the main focus is on that of Kaname who is pretty much my favorite of the group because of how he handles everything. Pairing him up with one slightly problematic little kid is definitely cute, but they never force it in a particularly over the top way so as to make one or both of them a problem. As a closer to the season, it’s definitely good because it keeps the focus on the group and what they have to deal with, retaining the heart and soul of it all while still exploring things a bit more outside the norm. The show has definitely made me smile and come away from it enjoying the dynamic of it all.

Grade: B

Readers Rating: [ratings]

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.