Myself; Yourself

"Asami; she's sweet, innocent, and pure."

Myself ; Yourself is set in 2007 in the fictional town Sakuranomori (桜乃杜 or 桜の杜, "Sakura Forest") in W Prefecture which is modeled after Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. The town is in a quiet, rural area on the southern tip of the prefecture and borders the Pacific Ocean.

Sana Hidaka is a young boy who moves away from Sakuranomori, leaving his friends behind. Five years later, he returns to his hometown to find that much has changed, both the town and his friends. The one most changed is Sana's childhood friend, Nanaka Yatsushiro; she's no longer the kindhearted person he knew during their childhood. Starting a new beginning in his hometown, he's determined to reconnect with Nanaka. But with a storm descending onto their lives, problems rising among every turn, Sana and his friends recollect through their own memories to find a solution for each of themselves. But what will they sacrifice to do what they believe to be the right choice for themselves and each other?

This series portrays the different tragedies of modern life that people experience, but also what it means to truly care for that special someone close to you and what you would to help him/her.

Myself ; Yourself is based on a Visual Novel. There is also a light novel titled Myself ; Yourself: Sorezore no Overture.

---

Tropes used in Myself; Yourself include:

• Accidental Pervert: It's a miracle Sana's never arrested for being a pedophile! Hinako is in fifth grade. That makes her ten when we first meet her!
• Actor Allusion: Yukari Tamura, voice actress for Shuri, narrates the preview for episode 5 in the voice and style of Rika Furude, which is then lampshaded by Hidaka.
• Beach Episode: The cast goes to an indoor water park in Episode Three.
• Black Blood: All blood from humans, even a drop from a papercut, is black. However, blood from a fish showed up as red.
• Bland-Name Product: In the opening, a "Starbobs Coffee" shop appears in the background.
• Broken Bird: Nanaka, due to her Dark and Troubled Past.
• Brother-Sister Incest: When Syusuke is asked about his dream girl, he takes a long look at his sister... and describes the exact opposite. He's not fooling anyone.
  • While mere conjuncture during most of the series, it's hinted to be canon in the Distant Finale.
• Chekhov's Gun: Sana's watch, which gets a lot of spontaneous camera attention throughout the series. It hides a scar from his pre-series suicide attempt.
• Cherry Blossoms: The Japanese school year begins in April, around the time cherry blossoms bloom, which is why they appear in the opening shots of so many school stories. Myself; Yourself takes this to absurd extremes, having the trees still in bloom at the end of the series. Unless the whole story takes place in a couple weeks, this is unlikely.
• Christmas Cake: In the Distant Finale the teacher is 35 and still single. The only plausible explanation is that every single guy in town is gay.
• Closet Otaku: Sana has an entire box of full of anime stuff (including artbooks from AIR and "Kamon") which he hides from his friends. He also plays visual novels on his laptop in his spare time.
• Distant Finale: The last part of the final episode takes place ten years later.
• Dojikko: Aoi.
• Driven to Suicide: Nanaka, in the last episode; and Sana, pre-series.
• Fan Service: Episode Three, a.k.a. The Water-Park Episode.
• First Girl Wins: Averted: Aoi is the first character to appear, and then Syuri and Nanaka appear simultaneously. However, Nanaka is the first to appear when Sana returns to town.
• Five Man Band Concert: The opening credits.
  • Syuri: Lead Singer /Guitarist, despite being The Chick.
  • Syuusuke: Drummer / The Big Guy
  • Aoi: Keyboardist / The Smart Guy, though she's actually playing a keytar.
  • Sana: Guitarist / The Hero.
  • Nanaka: Violin, which... doesn't have a place in the traditional Five-Man Band.
  • Hinaka: (Bass?) Guitar / Sixth Ranger
• Freak-Out: Syusuke, after he sees the Together Umbrella sketch on the blackboard and preceding his Unstoppable Rage after he sees its effect on Syuri.
• Genki Girl: Syuri, with Aoi and Hinaka filling the role occasionally.
• Groin Attack
• Hair Colors: Subverted in that all hair-colors are real-world black or brown... but eyes run the gamut of the usual anime rainbow.
• Heroic Bastard: Nanaka. Her real father was actually the best friend of her mother's husband (and who also happened to be her music teacher who taught her the violin), and the mother hid the fact to prevent her husband from forcing her into an abortion. The husband obviously didn't take it well when he found out from the said father on the latter's deathbed, leading to the fire.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Nanaka's memories about the fire that killed her parents.
• Lethal Chef: Hinako.
• Likes Older Women: Youta, the little boy whom Hinako helped 'escape' a haunted house, is her boyfriend a decade later. Still, Hinako's only five years older than him...
• Love Makes You Crazy: In the maternal-love sense, the old woman in the rest home towards her granddaughter, who died in an accident. She mistakes Nanaka for her, rather creepily. Later, she tries to bring her granddaughter back to life by killing the rest home's pet bird and cat. When that doesn't work, she decides a "human sacrifice" must be necessary, so she attacks Shuri with a knife.
• Meganekko: Aoi, since she reads a lot.
• Meaningful Name: The cat named Poe has a moment reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-tale Heart.
• Miko: Nanaka, since her uncle is the head priest.
• Moe Moe: Aoi in general. She also wears an apron during lunch because she doesn't want to mess up her uniform.
• New Transfer Student: What Sana is., though he does transfer in at the beginning of term.
• Not What It Looks Like: Always said by Sana. Usually caused by Aoi (who has the worst timing in the universe) walking into his apartment without knocking, or by Nanaka (who has the second worst timing) observing Sana and Asami together.
• Porn Stash: Sana's box of porn magazines and anime DVDs.
• Psycho Lesbian: Asami. She mails a fake letter to cause the rumor of Twincest between Syusuke and Syuri, in hopes of forcing Syusuke to leave, because Syuri rejected her confession a year ago.
• Room Full of Crazy: In this case, an object: Sana's and Nanaka's private mailbox.
• She's All Grown Up: When Sana comes back after five years, he notices that his female friends have grown in certain areas.
• Takehito Koyasu: One-half of the two protagonists, a.k.a. Syusuke Wakatsuki
• The Anime of the Game: Somewhat subverted, as the game came out two months after the anime debut.
• Title Drop: The name of Nanaka's violin song.
• Together Umbrella: In the form of a sketch on the blackboard
• Token Mini-Moe: Hinako
• Tsundere: Nanaka and Hinako.
• Twelve-Episode Anime: Plus one makes Thirteen.
• Twincest: First in the form of a baseless rumor, but possibly a truth by the series' end.
• Victorious Childhood Friend: Most of Sana's love interests are from his gang of childhood friends (making the game has almost as many childhood friend characters as Kanon). They all have a chance to become victorious in the game. The anime adaptation has Nanaka taking the spot.
• Yandere: Asami. Whoo-boy.
  • At least she doesn't physically harm anyone...unlike Nanaka's father, who burned himself and his wife to death when he found out she had an affair before they were married.