If you check the tags on Candy Boy you'll find that it is a romance story between two sisters. And given the first few episodes, it becomes obvious that the story is exactly that: a romance between two sisters. The one thing that may throw you for a loop in this process is how they rarely explicitly talk about being a couple or being in love, and instead just live out normal, comfortable lives as a couple and as sisters. It's almost disarming in the world of anime, where romance is defined by the two parties having irrepressible feelings for one another that awkwardly enter the conversation at every other turn. These sisters have been together their whole lives, and have the familiarity and comfort to poke fun at one another, take different classes, and talk about the issues going on in their lives. And when we get two or three episodes with nothing but these sort of interactions, there is a sense of comfort with the relationship that we can grasp on to, something that gives the couple the type of mundane nature that makes it thoroughly believable.
Why did the writers choose for them to be sisters? There are no discussions on the taboos of sisterly love, no controversies or stares of any kind. Overall there seem to be two major motivations for making them sisters. The first is the sense of comfort I mentioned before. Kanade and Yukino are twins, and while they are not identical in any sense, they share a clear bond of having spent many years entangled with one another’s presences. The second motivation comes from another key theme in the work, which is the topic of family. Towards the middle we see how they interact with their younger sister, Shizuku, and the tension that she feels from being the odd one out of their group. Her two sisters are inseparable, sharing a bed together at a private high school miles from home, and even getting romantically involved. From this we get fairly mundane exposition and progression, and at times things can get a bit too dramatic, but there are also a few lines about family that stand out as quite thoughtful rather than corny or clichéd.
Not that there are no clichés. The key side character besides Shizuku, a rich underclassman named Sakuya who loves Kanade, is ripped straight out of the stock character manual, obsessively taking pictures of Kanade, trading goods and favors to Yukino for any of her memorabilia, and excitedly planning on ways to get into the bath with her alone. It can be funny once or twice, for sure, but it serves no real purpose in the show other than to give another focus besides the key couple. The show also breaks its composed character to find odd tensions to put between the sisters, which tend to come across as very out of place. Kanade spends the money they needed to get home for the winter break on a Christmas present for her and Yukino to share, simply because she felt a lack of material connection between them. It seems completely superficial, especially for two sisters who are closely watching their budgets for the sake of school.
It also goes the other way, by having a lot of time towards the end spent talking about the future and budgets and school. While most anime couples inevitably have drama when talking about their futures, matters like keeping on top of schoolwork and working to make way for a better education are often neglected, and seeing Kanade and Yukino attempting to take responsibility for their family with regards to all the details of their future is well worth taking up the last episode or two. It goes hand in hand with their comfort as a couple that they should think about matters that will affect their lives, matters that apply both to themselves and each other, as well as the rest of their family. They have different academic interests and talents as well, but rather than exaggerate the difference in their levels or use those differences to define their personalities, it forces them to think about spending extra time in cram school, or where to apply for college, and other reasonable human choices. All of these factors together allow Candy Boy to make the simple passage of time interesting and relevant to these characters, without any wacky hijinks to move their relationship along.
So while nothing interesting happens, Candy Boy does give a nice outline of a more mature romance than is often seen in anime, and while there are a few moments that feel too specific or contrived, it is certainly a short and sweet romance story that is worth the quick watch. Having the non-traditional setup of two girls, particularly twins, does not add anything to the narrative, but there was no reason to not have it. There is only one kiss in the entire show, just at the very end, and seeing it makes us realize that we were missing it the entire time. But looking back, it was never needed. They are sisters, who can kiss one another as a greeting, a sign of affection, or a quirky action on the spur of the moment. It replaces the traditional kiss scene finale with the sort of kiss that happens to every couple every day. The result? A cute moment for the cute couple where we take our leave.