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Kimi ni Todoke
Manga Review
In high school, cliques exist -- and this is both a negative and positive experience for teenagers growing up. It allows friendship to be born, but it also creates the sensation for some individuals as being left out or bullied. For Sawako Kuronuma, she is a socially introverted girl in her class who happens to be feared by her classmates due to her uncanny resemblance to Sadako, the character from Japanese horror film 'The Ring'. Sawako tries not to let this ostracization let her down, as her actions also attract the attention of Shota Kazehaya, the 'ikemen' in her class (ikemen is Japanese slang for good-looking guy).
This is Karuho Shinna's second and most well known title, the other title is a volume of one shots known as Crazy For You, and has been released in Germany under Tokyopop's German imprint. Kimi ni Todoke was initially planned as a one shot, but Karuho changed her mind, and it has since then won the best shojo manga category in the Japanese manga awards.
 Growing up is a time of discovery, development and often filled with painful bittersweet experiences. Kimi ni Todoke is not the first of its kind to explore such themes, but what makes this title appealing is how much emotional depth it showcases in its characters (and not just the main characters by the way), and how often in the hearts of readers, they are rooting for the misunderstood heroine to have a great happy ending with the hero.
Viz courtesy of Shojobeat has the responsibility of bringing this series out in English, and if this doesn't send the reader mentally swooning, then I don't know what else can. For readers interested in other manga that has similar familiar themes of an individual feeling alone at first and then maturing into relationships of friendships or romance, then Kare Kano, I am here, and A Devil and Her Love Song are good read-alikes.
Reviewed by Linda Yau, October 2012
Kimi ni Todoke
Anime Review
It's hard to approach this sensitive romantic comedy with anything approaching critical rigor, because it's just so classy, so effortlessly charming, that any attempt to nitpick just seems like missing the point by a mile. Any weakness in the writing that we could possibly expose means nothing in the face of the sheer beauty of the first opening, or one of shy Sawako's rare smiles. However, it would probably be irresponsible to just point in the general direction of Production I.G. and say "Go forth and watch Kimi ni Todoke!" so we will make some attempt to explain why it's so good. Keep in mind, though, that this is somewhat like trying to explain why chocolate is delicious.
 As she begins high school, naive Sawako Kuronuma has spent most of her life as a social outcast due to her resemblance to Sadako, the creepy girl from the horror movie "The Ring." Due to the combination of her looks and some unfortunate coincidences, rumors that "Sadako" really is cursed have taken over the school, and most students think that she's bad luck, if not outright evil. Naturally shy, Sawako doesn't know how to make it clear to her classmates that she means well, and her awkward attempts at friendly overtures only make things worse.
The cruelty of the high school social hierarchy is a common theme, but what's nice about Kimi ni Todoke is that it's handled in a nuanced manner. Sawako may be an outcast, but very few characters are outright malicious towards her; her rumored persona has taken on a life of its own, and most of the students who avoid her don't even seem to realize how hurtful they're being. Furthermore, most of the popular kids aren't shown to be evil, and there isn't any one group of teenaged kings and queens of school so much as a bunch of well-established cliques.
 Furthermore, it's one of the most popular kids in school, Shota Kazehaya, who stands up for Sawako and helps her start to turn her image around. Since he's friendly with everyone, Sawako thinks that Kazehaya is only helping her out of his natural kindness- it never occurs to her that this golden boy, whom most of the girls in school have massive crushes on, could be interested in her for her own sake. And so, Kazehaya begins the monumental task of making his feelings clear to a girl who doesn't have the self-esteem to imagine herself as a worthy target of his affections. As early as the first episode, Kazehaya hopes that his feelings will "reach" Sawako someday: one possible translation of "Kimi ni Todoke" is "Reaching You."
At first, it might seem like Kazehaya is too perfect to be realistic: a veritable Prince Charming, tailor-made for girls watching the show to crush on as much as his classmates do. However, Kazehaya soon proves himself very much the yin to Sawako's yang. While she's too shy to relate to people easily, Kazehaya is friendly with everyone, but by the same token, keeps most people safely at arms' length. The few people who really know him- Ryu, his childhood friend and the teacher Arai (affectionately called Pin, a great comic relief character) know that he's much more emotionally vulnerable than he lets on. Despite his smooth persona, he doesn't have the courage to really show Sawako what she means to him, meaning that while she admires him for helping her stand up for herself, he needs to learn that lesson just as much- or more- than she does.
 Occasionally, the show takes a break from Sawako and Kazehaya's budding romance to focus on the other characters, all interesting in their own right. We loved Ayane and Chizuru, classmates who start out as apathetic to Sawako but soon become her fiercely protective friends, and the perennially laid-back Ryu. We also loved to hate the two-faced Kurumi, who wants Kazehaya all to herself. Be prepared; this is one of those romances where you will probably want to hurt anyone who comes between your couple of choice. However, we assure you that the rumors stating that we all chanted "Die Kurumi, DIE!" while we watched her arc were greatly exaggerated.
With a pale color palette, the show's tendency to portray the characters as super-deformed moppets (little Sawako is particularly adorable) and the focus on finding the humor in school life, the show may remind romantic comedy fans of Karenishi Kanojo no Jiho, another TV series that did a great job melding romance between two well-realized characters and everyday hilarity. However, while Kare Kano notoriously peters out towards the end, despite some weaker episodes, Kimi ni Todoke is a much smoother ride, with a far more satisfying conclusion. In that respect, it has more in common with the charming ToraDora than any other show of its genre. Kimi ni Todoke is a bit more laid back and ponderous than ToraDora, but fans of Ryuji and Taiga's tumultuous courtship will probably find a lot to like here.
 While we were pretty much in love with the first season, by the second the show doesn't shine quite as brightly; at a certain point, the constant miscommunication that delays the progress of Sawako and Kazehaya's relationship can become slightly annoying. We can understand Sawako not picking up on the fact that Kazehaya likes her- being a social outcast isn't something you get over overnight- but the fact that both characters continue to misinterpret each other as the show goes on will cross the line from interesting to frustrating for some viewers. In fact, we started calling it Kimi ni Misunderstanding.
It's probably just as well that the show will not be receiving an English dub; it caused some consternation among fans when NIS America announced that they would be releasing the show on DVD and Blu-Ray in sub-only format, but we're not sure if this show would really make any sense in English. Sawako and Kazehaya's chronic inability to lay out their feelings results in part from the fact that confessing one's love is a very big deal in Japanese, and arguably, the fact that spoken Japanese requires more reading-between-the-lines than English does. Taken out of its native language, the couple's communication difficulty may seem more forced and contrived than it is in a Japanese context.
Above all, Kimi ni Todoke stands as a testament to the power of interesting characters to drive a narrative; the show lacks flashy animation, character designs, or any of the other bells and whistles many tend to associate with modern anime. Chances are, you will not miss those flourishes one iota. We know we were perfectly happy to watch Sawako and Kazehaya find their way into each other's hearts, even if we wanted to give them a hint and a nudge at times
Reviewed by Karen Gellender, March 2012
Below: Scenes from Kimi ni Todoke.
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