Candy Boy: Nonchalant Talk of the Certain Twin Sisters in Daily Life

Candy Boy is a sweet, good natured slice of life romantic comedy. Right off the bat you should understand that this series revolves around yuri love and an incestuous relationship between fraternal twins. Even saying this though, there is really nothing to be offended about in regards to this series. While normally my creep-o-meter would be signaling its alarm bells, I actually really enjoyed Candy Boy.

The plot in Candy Boy is uncomplicated and revolves around twin sisters Kanade and Yukino and their high school life together. Unlike a lot of slice of life series, Candy Boy's episodes feel like they are ... all part of one large movie sized one as events flow seamlessly from each episode. Both sisters struggle to find time for each other and both get into college. Little happens in terms of dramatic romance, while there are very tender moments, those hoping for mushy love scenes and romantic kisses will likely be very disappointed. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of social consequences from either classmates or family due to the sisters’ quite obvious relationship. In a way this is both disappointing and a relief. Though I thought it was the right choice because, for me, it kept my attention off of the creepy aspects of the show.

The characters are excellent in the series. This is helped by the fact that the cast is extremely small and focuses exclusively on only four characters. In fact I can really only remember a couple instances where people other than those four even spoke any dialogue. This was an excellent decision since the series is already short and doesn’t have time to build much depth in the characters. The sisters Kana, Yuki, and to some extent their younger sister Shi get the majority of the attention. Kana is the most interesting of the group and feels the most complete as a character. Most of the story elements flow through her and what she is thinking and feeling. You get a good feel for all of their personalities and their motivations, though it does feel like of the twins, Yuki gets a bit of the shaft in terms of depth. Sakuya is the comic relief and while she is in love with Kanade, she is never a serious love interest. There really isn’t any angst in terms of relationships which I found a bit refreshing. Kanade and Yukino love each other deeply and basically nothing can separate them.

The art and animation is truly fabulous. I loved the character designs and the settings and backgrounds were all wonderfully dawn and animated. There did seem to be a bit of inconsistency though, even though it was great looking sometimes characters didn’t always look the same throughout the show. The acting was very good and it featured a number of good musical pieces.

I enjoyed Candy Boy quite a lot. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of yuri or just wants to see a sweet slice of life series and is not bothered by the subject matter. While it may be a bit controversial to some audiences, I think it will appeal to most people.

In many ways this is a subdued yet sweet story of two sisters’ nourishing their budding romance. It never turns explicit, but instead moves slowly through everyday moments. It is easy to sense that the sisters relationship is a true progression built top of many years which allows their interactions to feel natural. Best of all is their banter, which is highly enjoyable, and feels like two siblings reminiscing and having fun together.

Like some slice of life shows Candy Boy meanders, but in a good way. The characters are school girls and so the story follows the trials and tribulations of their simple daily ... lives. There isn’t really much drama to speak of and it’s all about the fluff. The love that the two share is never clearly defined. It is suggested to be romantic in nature but the two rarely do anything of that nature when they are alone. If anything they just seem a little closer than “normal” sisters: they hold hands and flirt with each other. Their relationship is all about living in the present; they wish to stay together for the foreseeable future but they never worry about the small things. It’s light hearted and sweetly innocent.

Being so brief, you can watch it quickly; however the show easily touches the heart. It fleshes out the lives of the sisters, and is about the small moments in a relationship such as sharing an umbrella, shopping for a Christmas presents, etc. which is part of what makes it so charming. The characters don’t make grand overtures, rather they illustrate their love in small and tender ways.

One sister, Kanade, is a bit shy (she’s a little bit of a tsundere) but you can sense her affection for her sister. The other one, Yuki, is the complete opposite. She’s cheerful, spirited and outgoing. The other character is the stalker underclassman, Sakuya, who provides the comic relief of the series. Her amusing fangirl ways add some spice and vary the tone.

The animation looks dated but it has a certain nostalgic air. The colors are muted but cheerful and the characters are well designed. The characters eyes in particular are well detailed and convey more than what the characters say along with the movements of their bodies. Their faces always are exceptionally expressive and the backgrounds can be dazzling with natural scenery. It’s almost as if the whole show is in love like the main characters.

The music is... Not the best. To be blunt it sounds like upbeat elevator music. The ending song is an outdated 90's pop ballad that seems overly saccharine for how restrained the series is.

In closing, all I can say is that I really think everyone should give this series a try. While it may not be to everyone's tastes, with the way the series deftly handles everything, most should find little objection to it. It treats these two like a normal couple who are easily empathetic and lovely. Their love isn’t a flashy love, rather it is quiet, sweet and simple, and all the better for it.

Why do people like the anime? It baffles me. I picked up this anime because it was on the recommendations page for an anime I liked, so I had high hopes. Those high hopes were destroyed pretty swiftly.

---Character---
I am talking about character first because it is the biggest thing that bugged me about this series. Right away, I felt something wrong with this anime. At first I couldn't put my finger on it, but then I realized it was because the characters are flat as paper. Sure, they were animated pretty decently, but that doesn't matter when there is nothing memorable about any ... of them. They all seemed fairly genetic. Not to mention that their sister (Shi-chan) was kind of annoying.

---Story---
I know that this was a fairly short series, so it didn't have time to develop a whole lot, but there was no trace of an actual story. Now, this normally wouldn't bug me, since I love pointless animes (Azumanga Daioh, etc), but the happenings of this anime were just awful. It says that the twins are in love, but are they? It seems like a fairly normal sister relationship, except for a few aspects. Their so called relationship doesn't go anywhere. I'm pretty sure normal sisters tell each other they love one another, so that's not anything special. Don't misunderstand me, though. It's not like I was in it just for yuri action and am upset because I didn't get to see any; I generally wanted their relationship to advance.

---Art---
This was the only thing about this anime that I enjoyed. The animation was done well. As I mentioned before, the characters were designed well, plus the scenery and background images were decent too. Not much else to comment on.

---Sound---
Same as art, not much to comment about. It wasn't awful though, that is for sure.

---Enjoyment---
This anime left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not sure if I don't appreciate it because I've never watched a shoujo-ai anime before, but either way I didn't like it. Maybe if I rewatched this anime at a later date I would appreciate it for what it is, but as of right now I stand by my overall score. I really wanted to like this anime too, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get myself to enjoy it.

---Overall---
Overall I give this anime a 4/10. I'm probably just being a prude, so the majority of you reading this will probably enjoy this anime.