one of the decade's best, You and Me is currently streaming in Australia on Crunchyroll, and in the US on Crunchyroll with a 7/10 audience score that speaks for itself. 26 episodes — the right length to tell the story it is telling. Television that earns its era label is rarer than the number of shows attempting it suggests — most of what gets called prestige TV is really just expensive TV. You and Me is one of the genuine examples: the craft is there in the writing, the performances, and the way it handles its subject matter. Toshiyuki Toyonaga's involvement signals the kind of production that attracts serious talent and uses it properly. Available now on streaming — no excuses left for not watching it.

You and Me does what great comedies rarely manage — it is actually funny, consistently, across the whole run. The story revolves around four teens - the good-looking twins Asaba Yuuta and Yuuki, the effeminate Matsuoka Shun, and the class head Tsukahara Kaname - who have known each other since early childhood. While they are not necessarily good or bad friends, they continue to hang out well into high school. The half-Japanese transfer student Tachibana Chizuru joins the circle of friends in this comedy about the everyday life of adolescence. Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Saki Nakajima lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. The series ran for 2 seasons (2011–2012), building a story that gave its audience time to invest properly. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and You and Me holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-season curiosities. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

The kind of show you put on in the background and find yourself actually paying attention to. It earns every laugh across its entire run — no coasting on goodwill. The comedy comes from character rather than situation, which means it holds up on rewatch in a way that pure farce never does. Toshiyuki Toyonaga sets the tone, but the supporting cast is where a lot of the best moments come from. If Skip and Loafer is already in your rotation, You and Me fits naturally alongside it.