shanie65 - 2015-09-06 15:06:42

I love this anime.  I'm a sucker for the sweet romance.  This is about a girl who's appearance makes everyone frightened.  And this is about a boy who falls in love with her after seeing her smile.

rau.jarrett - 2015-06-28 18:56:54

There's a rather irksome trend in anime that I've noticed as I got older: romances are less about actual romance and are more about a so-called "couple" locked in a perpetual dance of will they/won't they. As much as I love the anticipation and that sweet sense of satisfaction when I see my ship finally set sail, it just feels like it amounts to nothing when the series just ends right then and there. You can only imagine my frustration when I come across a much-lauded title that I eagerly look forward to watching and then I find out that it leaves me completely and totally blue-balled. To get a good idea of what I'm talking about, let's look at Kimi ni Todoke: a much-lauded "romance" that I did enjoy watching but it ended up leaving a somewhat sour taste in my mouth by the time I finished.

The whole plot of Kimi ni Todoke revolves around an endearing yet misunderstood introvert named Sawako Kuronoma and her growing affections for Shota Kazehaya, the most popular guy in class who has a crush on her but can't bring himself to spit it out. Along the way, we're accompanied by their three friends: Yano (a smart girl who wears too much make-up), Chizuru (a slightly dim jock with a heart of gold), and Ryu (a jock with short-term memory loss who's also Chizuru's childhood friend). As far as characters are concerned, Kimi ni Todoke has it down-pat. Everyone in our leading quintet are likeable and endearing individuals and I can safely say that most of them change and grow as individuals throughout the course of the series. MOST of them.

As much as I liked Kazehaya, he was well... boring. Don't get me wrong, I really do appreciate the fact that he's the complete antithesis of Naoki Irie from Itazura na Kiss and actually treats Sawako with respect. What I don't particularly care much for is the fact that throughout the entire run, I know next-to-nothing about this guy. Sure, there are some details that pop up here and there but there's almost nothing else to this guy outside of his feelings for Sawako (which to be fair, do actually seem genuine). That actually struck me as bizarre, to say the least since Kazehaya says that he's not as good a person as Sawako thinks he is in a couple of episodes (if I recall correctly).

What I fail to understand is why Production I.G didn't elaborate on this apparent fault of his more. What is it about Kazehaya that makes him a flawed individual? Is it a nasty temper, a broken home, codependency problems, or what? To be fair, Kimi ni Todoke only covers around the first ~26 chapters of the manga and I'm guessing that the manga actually elaborates more on Kazehaya's flaws as an individual. I can't really recall if it actually DOES do that though since it's been a while since I last read some Kimi ni Todoke on KissManga (that's what happens when you're sidetracked by Kamisama Hajimemashita and IRL stuffs), but I digress.

Kazehaya aside, there was another problem that irked me whilst I was watching the show and that was just how slow it actually is. Don't get me wrong: I don't expect my ship to sail within the first four episodes, but the latter half of the show felt overextended to say the least. A lot of the stuff that these episodes covered could've been condensed without missing out on much of anything. There were points during those episodes where it just got kinda tedious and I was flipping back and forth between Tumblr on my phone and Crunchyroll on my laptop. For the record, if I actually get bored enough to the point where I take out my phone and start perusing through Facebook or Tumblr or whatever, your show done fucked up BIG TIME.

Lastly, there's the ending that just made me furrow my brow in annoyance. KnT reached a fair enough conclusion, don't get me wrong. At the same time, it just left me completely and totally blue-balled in that by the time the show actually went somewhere with the romance, it just ended. Yeah, there's a second season but the second season shouldn't have existed in the first place. All of the content that the second season covered could've easily been in this season had Production I.G decided to actually condense the latter half of the show so that these episodes could've fit into the overall story. Hindsight's a bitch, ain't it? Does this mean that everything that came before was just pointless? NO!!!!!

The thing is that Kimi ni Todoke isn't just Sawako and Kazehaya's story. It's also Yano, Chizu, and Ryu's story as well. We had various episodes focusing on them so that we could get a better idea of who they are as individuals. Not only that, but we had various "arcs" that focused on these people and some challenges that they needed to overcome. Sure, the whole thing surrounding Sawako and Kazehaya might've been a little anticlimactic but you can count on Yano, Chizu, Ryu, Pin, and even Kazehaya's puppy to bring a smile to your face with their exploits.

On the aesthetic side of things, Kimi ni Todoke is very well... bubbly and sparkly. I'm pretty sure that's the most succinct way to describe it. I don't want to say that thsi is typical of shojo romances in general, but the usage of bubble and sparkle effects throughout the entire show remind me of shows like Ouran HSHC and Kamisama Hajimemashita. It looks nice, so I'm not complaining but others will because they suck so what can you do there? Backgrounds are quite lovely to look at and the character designs are pretty damn good... for the most part. My only gripe with the character designs is the fact that Sawako is drawn in chibi style way more than I'd like to see. Guys at Production I.G: Chibi Sawako is also cute, but proper human Sawako is even cuter. Let's see more of her and less of chibi Sawako please. Thank you.

Sound-wise, I have no complaints. The OST works for what it does, the voice-acting is quite nice (well, in Sawako's case at least), so what more could I want? Well... there is one thing I want and that would be an English dub. You see, this show is licensed by NIS America, a company that rarely dubs anything and when they do, it's not for a show that I was expecting to get dubbed. You see, whilst I was watching Kimi ni Todoke, I couldn't help but imagine what these characters would sound like if they were in English. Emily Neves would voice Sawako, David Matranga would voice Kazehaya, Crispin Freeman would voice Ryu, and so on and so forth. Enough about my own delusions though, because it's time to wrap this review up.

Kimi ni Todoke is definitely one of the better shojo romances out there on the market as it currently stands. Whilst it's certainly not as entertaining as the likes of say Ouran HSHC, Maid-Sama!, or Kamisama Hajimemashita, I like to imagine that Kimi ni Todoke stands alongside Fruits Basket's adaptation in that they're both really sweet and endearing shows that are just too slow for their own good. If you're in the mood for an endearing slice-of-life show featuring likeable characters, Kimi ni Todoke definitely fits the bill there and then some. However, you'd better look elsewhere if you want a compelling romance (i.e. Maison Ikkoku, Nana, Solanin) otherwise you'll be saltier than I am whenever I lose to Evilswarm. Anyway, that's all for now. Feedback is always welcome and with that, I'm out. Peace :)

raynor.shawna - 2015-03-14 21:13:55

it was a very heart warming anime and lot of interesting characters.
fun to watch.

kihn.trace - 2015-01-04 13:18:33

One of the best shoujo that I watched so far. A very well developed plot not focused only in the romance but mainly in the characters' feelings. 
Sawako, the main character, is an amazing character, complex and simple at the same time. Congratulations to the creator of the manga series. Kazehaya is good character too, I like characters like him that make everyone smile. They make a perfect couple.
The series also has more great characters, like Yano-Chin and Chizu-chan and also Ryu and Pin (so funny). Essential to focus the series not only in Sawako and Kazehaya, and shows to us a beautiful story of friendship between Sawako and their friends.
The animation by Production I.G was wonderful, perfect to the series, like the soundtracks (my fav are the OP and ED of the first season).
Rating: 5/5 - Supreme / Perfect

kieran.waelchi - 2014-05-15 03:34:45

No spoilers, just friendship.

This review covers both seasons (and all OVAs) of Kimi ni Todoke.

Forgive me if I ramble a bit here, but the majority of my experience with romance anime has been negative. The sad fact is that the anime medium has a really hard time conveying the actual behavior of human beings, which is kind of a paramount element for romance. I realize that being an anime fan involves a lot of suspension of disbelief, but when a genre deals with the relationships between people, forgive me for expecting them to act like human beings. Let me make one thing clear; I’m not even counting harems as romances here, so throw out Bakemonogatari, OreImo, and every similar series. A romance anime is kind of a 1-way track to the end, and if that’s not pretty clear from the beginning, it probably wouldn’t even count for me. I’m also disqualifying anime with romance elements in them if the plot focus is on something more important. That leaves a few subgenres of romance. Aside from yuri and yaoi, we are left with two different types: romance from the male perspective, such as Clannad and Toradora, and romance from the female perspective, such as Say I Love You and My Little Monster, as well as the subject of our review today, Kimi ni Todoke, or From Me to You.

Kimi ni Todoke walks a tightrope between shoujo and josei, perhaps leaning a bit towards the former. Shoujo refers to manga and anime targeted at a relatively young female audiene, and josei refers to manga and anime which is targeted at teenage to adult women. It turns out that not only do I generally enjoy these type of series, but they seem to include my favorite romance anime and manga. I could give a lecture on why, but I’ll leave it at this: male perspective romances generally involve putting the male lead on a pedestal with the needy girl falling in his lap, and (often) the story moves too quickly to be believable. 

Female perspective stories, these falling almost solely into the shoujo and josei genres, usually move a bit slower, since ladies are more interested in the exploration of feelings than men are. The relationships move at a more believable rate, which gives more time for realistic feelings to blossom, along with some good old fashioned real-time character development. However, they have an even greater number of “misunderstandings” than male perspective romance, which can be a bit trying at times, which is the only true downfall of Kimi ni Todoke. Without any more rambling, let’s break it down.

Story - 8/10

Compared to a standard anime, the plot’s progression in Kimi ni Todoke is more akin to continental drift. This is, in fact, one of its greatest strengths. Kimi ni Todoke gives you time to become attached to each and every character, as well as watch relationships progress at a speed which resembles actual human interaction.

The story begins as simply as Sawako directing the school’s perfect male student, Kazehaya, to the school. The simple fact that he smiled and thanked her moves her to tears; Sawako has been an outcast for her entire life due to her resemblance of Sadako of horror movie fame. Her appearance, combined with her resigned personality, mean that the vast majority of the student body finds her scary and avoids her, when in actuality she is one of the kindest and most genuine characters I have encountered in anime.

The story focuses on a few of her classmate’s discovery of her wonderful personality hidden just below the surface. Sawako will meet Ayane and Chizuru, two girls who are each misunderstood in their own way, and throughout the course of the anime they form a bond of friendship that could thaw even the coldest heart.

The romance, for the most part, works at a good pace. Progress is constantly made, but never rushed. Some romance anime force huge loads of substance down the viewer’s throat at random intervals to kick the plot back into gear; Kimi ni Todoke keeps things running smoothly for nearly the entire duration.

The only downfall in this anime are the misunderstandings. Shoujo/josei loves it some misunderstandings, but this takes it to a new level, especially in the second season. Just when you are cheering the characters on, they will suddenly respond to a situation in such a way that makes you want to put your fist through the screen.

“Oh, he says he likes me, so that must mean he feels sorry for me and he actually hates me and I should just run away and leave him alone!”

This thought process is much more common than I would like to see, but it comes with the territory. On one hand, I wonder if they were trying to draw the plot out for a bit longer, but I can’t see a good reason for them to do that.

Another frustration I have with the series is the inclusion of a second season. The second season is even slower than the first, packed full of more fluff and misunderstandings, and introduces conflict through new characters that is resolved so quickly it is completely meaningless. I give the second season credit for actually finishing the story, as so few anime tend to do nowadays, but I feel like the ending could have been shoehorned into season 1 without too much effort.

Bottom line: Be ready for 20 minutes of heartwarming excellence and 2 minutes of fist pounding frustration per episode.

Animation - 7/10

Kimi ni Todoke, like many other shoujo/josei anime, likes to switch up the art style at random, going from a detailed look to a far more chibi, cartoonish look to emphasize comedy. The one the art always does have in common is a soft color pallet and lots of bubbles.

Animation itself is played safe. While there are no major problems with smoothness, character designs and movements are kept simple enough where not much effort would be required to maintain the level of detail throughout. However, this is a product of the art style and not of laziness, at least in this reviewer’s opinion.

Sound - 8/10

Voice acting for Kimi ni Todoke is pulled off extremely well; I have no complaints at all.

The same goes for the backing tracks; while they were subdued, they provided the required atmosphere at all times.

The one outstanding feature is the opening of season 1, which is superb. It gets on my nerves for a strange reason, though: unlike all other anime Ops, it is not 1:30 long.

Characters - 9/10

Simply put, Sawako is one of the best written characters in a romance or slice of life anime, period. Following her struggles to socially adapt, the success she achieves therein is a beautiful thing. This is in no small part to the great supporting cast, whom I will get to in a moment.

In one respect, Sawako is more of a journey than a character. She undergoes a complete transformation from the beginning of season 1 to the end of season 2. This transformation is one of the greatest feats of character development I could have the privilege of telling you about, and I applaud the writer for bringing about these changes gradually and not through huge forced plot points, as is standard procedure in anime.

Sawako is supported by Ayane and Chizuru, each of whom go through their own struggles and develop in their own ways through the course of the anime. While they begin as Sawako’s first friends, taking her under their collective wing, they soon learn her genuine personality has a lot to offer to them as well.

Not too surprisingly, the weakest leading character is Kazehaya. Because he placed on a pedestal from episode 1, the audience is separated from the vast majority of development he may or may not undergo; the only times his faults are shown are his in his inadequacy to deal with Sawako. Because most shoujo/josei make the “target male” perfect from the beginning, this is to be expected, and probably accepted going into the anime. At the very least, he is an incredibly likable “target,” and does a lot to help Sawako along her journey, especially towards the beginning. It is also shown time and again that he is a sweet and caring person. What did you expect? This is wish fulfillment for women, after all.

The side and non-constant supporting characters are all well written with clear motivations of their own. They are so well done, in fact, an anime could probably be made on their stories alone. With an exception or two in the second season, all the characters feel important and as if thought and effort went into writing them.

Enjoyment - 9/10 (Season 1), 7/10 (Season 2)

Kimi ni Todoke succeeds more as an incredibly uplifting tale of friendship more than it does as a romance, but it is still my favorite non-yuri romance yet. Whether you care about romance or not, Kimi ni Todoke is worth it for the development of Sawako and the love of her friends alone. This is an anime for a rainy day; once you’ve lost your faith in human caring, boot up Kimi ni Todoke and let Sawako’s journey from outcast to beloved friend take you to a much happier world.

lesch.vita - 2014-04-09 17:48:07

High school- Memories of high-school differ for everyone who has attended one. Some might have experienced it as a living hell, and for other it might be filled with happy memories. Kimi ni todoke is the story of Kuronuma Sawako, and her high-school experience. Kimi ni todoke is more than your average love story..

This is a review of the first season only.

''Sawako Kuronuma's one wish in life is to make friends. That's a difficult proposition when everyone who meets her cowers in terror, due to her resemblance to Sadako (after whom they nickname her) from the Japanese horror movie series The Ring. Shunned by her classmates, her life starts to change after she befriends her classmate, Shōta Kazehaya, a popular, easygoing and 100% refreshing guy who is nice with everyone, even with her.''

-Summary taken from the hummingbird page/Anime news network.

Kimi ni todoke's story is a far cry from perfect. Like most Shoujo anime, it's filled with clichés you'll find in almost every shoujo anime. The loner girl falling for the popular boy, Sawako and Kazehaya. Is a plot-line you can often find in both western and Japanese media. It's not original, so that's why execution is important with this kind of anime.

And well, the execution has it's perks and cons. The anime has serious pacing problems, the pacing is so slow that it's possible to have missed an entire episode without getting to confused. For example, I accidentally skipped 24 and watched 25 but I didn't notice I clicked the wrong episode before it was over! However, thanks to this pace I guess the characters are being developed more and I don't know if I would care for them as much as I do now if the show had been fast-paced.

What Kimi ni todoke makes distinct from other love anime, is the fact that friendship is also a huge theme. It doesn't only revolve around Sawako and Kazehaya, but explores all sorts of relationships. It genuinely touched me at times.

The art felt really fresh, the light(ish) colours fit the general mood of the show well. The fact that the characters turned Chibi so often can be annoying and maybe even cheap. This depends on your taste of course. Another down-point was that the background consisted mostly out of stills, or side-characters having no faces. But there were also moments where the animation did shine, capturing beautiful shots.

This is what I meant by Chibi.

And this is where the art shines.

The opening was refreshing, and had a relaxed mood to it. And as for the ending, that honestly depends on your taste. Some people might find it as annoying, I thought it as something different from the usual female Japanese voice we hear in endings/openings. (Not saying regular endings are a bad thing, I just think variation is nice).

The soundtrack fit with the anime, and the voice actress/actors did an outstanding job.

This is where Kimi ni todoke shines. The plot didn't make the anime enjoyable, the characters did. Kimi ni todoke is a heavily character driven anime, and it didn't fail to deliver. Sawako, who seems to be your standard wall-flower, turns out to be so much more than that. And even Kazehaya, who at first could seem as a Gary stu, developed a personality beyond that.

But not only Kazehaya and Sawako got development. The other slightly less 'main-characters' also got their respective arcs, wherein the story was slightly more revolving about them. I feel like the relationships between the characters felt surprising natural.The characters created relationships beyond Sawako, and not everything they did was because of Sawako. The main-characters aren't flat, which is really important in a character driven anime.

Friendship and love are both often(not always, not trying to offend anyone) important things in a teenagers live, and I think that's what this anime managed to get across perfectly.

And this is

Like I've said, this anime is character driven. And thanks to amazing characters, I tremendously enjoyed watching it! Although thanks to pacing problems, the anime did have some dull moments. And it understandable why someone wouldn't enjoy the anime as much as I do. But the amazing, touching moments made those dull moments up for me. The interactions made up for the dull moments, and the relaxed mood made up for the dull moments.

If you were to add up all the scores I gave, then divide them by five, you'd end up with 8. Which is a pretty damn nice score. Kimi ni todoke is a much-watch for shoujo lovers or people having no problems with something slow-paced. If you're looking for some good drama, Kimi ni todoke might be something for you.

florida.howell - 2013-11-23 17:08:27

What's This Anime About?

This anime is purely about LOVE, for those who love romance anime..Please watch this anime! Some of the things that really annoys me is the climax, but don't mind me and watch for yourself!

-Romance (The Main Genre for this anime!)

-Comedy (Romantic Comedy)

-Drama (This part is which will THRILL you!)

One day a girl called Sawako Kuronuma is walking to school, as she walks there a guy is standing looking lost. Kazehaya Shota (the most reliable guy in school) can't find his way to school, so Sawako says its that way and he smiled and thanked her. And so the story starts here..no spoiler for you guys!

-The Story, the plot, the awesome drama

-The character design (Sawako Kuronuma is not ugly, shes awesome!)

-Good ending for season 1

-Nice turnabout in season 2!

-The tension (too much drama which causes me to blow up with tension)

-The hesitation (too much over thinking which wastes time and really wants me to fast forward)

-The Climax (the climax is too over climaxing)

Songs: Kimi ni Todoke & Sawakaze Great songs that really match the theme!

The BGM (Background Music): Some of the BGMs really match and some really match which made me teary, this is one awesome anime with astounding effects.

Animation:
For a 2005 anime, it is good. They really made Sawako cute and tried their best to animate well. Even though some parts are ugly, I wouldn't mind. The Story is what really matters!

lonnie.mayert - 2013-08-10 11:00:42

Kimi ni Todoke is a sweet anime that just makes you smile and laugh with the characters. It is quite an original one with wonderful characters such as Kuronuma Sawako who does one good deed a day.

The characters are all not stereotypical each having a story and characteristics that make them all seem too different from each other but when they are all mixed together in this story, it is perfect with it's flaws that make this story great. The best example would be Sawako.

Sawako which means refreshing child is a shy girl who tries her best to help people around her but because of her resemblance to the girl from "the Ring", she is nicknamed Sadako and given a creepy reputation at school.

The main boy character is Kazehaya Shota whom Sawako defines as being refreshing. He doesn't judge people and is the perfect popular, kind boy at school.

Kimi ni Todoke means Reaching You and is how Sawako gets to know her classmates and influences others. It is a funny story that makes you laugh all the way through and a sweet romantic story that makes you smile and doesn't have the usual annoying coincidences that happen in most ditzy shoujo anime.

I strongly recommend it to anyone, even if you don't like shoujo usually because the story is just amazing and you'll love it.

ekutch - 2013-07-24 23:13:45

I am actually a little surprised that I liked this series as much as I did. When I first started this series, I thought it would be a solid series, but nothing noteworthy. The story is nice though typical for the high-school romance genre. However, I think what won me over are the characters and the art. The characters are amusing, well-developed, and fit nicely within the series. The main character Sawako is especially likable, having a level of innocence that is very endearing, plus her voice fits the character very well. The art not only fits the show very nicely, but it also matches each scene. Throughout the series, the art style changes from a more realistic style to a much simpler version during some of the more comedic moments. These changes help enhance the feelings and emotions that each scene attempts to portray, which I think made the show even more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. It's a good thing that there's a second season, as I would like to see how the various romances continue to develop.Kimi ni Todoke is a very heartwarming series, sure to appease fans of high-school romance. It does have some chick-flick moments that may cause some to roll their eyes, yet they didn't deter my ability to enjoy the show. With great art, characters, and even nice opening and ending sequences, Kimi ni Todoke is a 9/10 (Outstanding) for me.

melissa.klocko - 2013-05-23 22:57:29

Normally, I tend to avoid shojo anime at all costs. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Shojo fan but too often I watch an anime that seems interesting only to wind up with the same reused plot over and over again.Kimi ni Todoke at a first glance appears to have that all-too-familiar "unpopular girl falls for popular boy" plot. Matter of fact, that's exactly what it is. However, Kimi ni Todoke manages to take the same plot and turn it into something incredible fresh and enjoyable.The characters are instantly likable and they are the ones that draw you into the story despite it's simplicity. Everyday occurrences are presented in such a charming way that you can't help but simply go along with the flow of the anime, which, admittedly is slow-paced but you'll never be bothered by it.The relationships and the character interactions never seem fake or cheesy and it has a soothing soundtrack to boot.The animation is gorgeous even though it can sometimes be a little over-sparkly but it fits in with everything as a whole Even if you're sick of plots like these (and trust me, sometimes I am) Watching Kimi ni Todoke won't make you regret it ^^