Kimi ni Todoke - From Me To You - Reviews

I started Kimi ni Todoke after a recommendation from my friend, since I’m not usually that keen on romance anime, I wasn’t exactly in a rush to watch this. But am I glad that I did!

Story - 8/10

Kimi ni Todoke is to put it simply, a brilliant anime; it blends the first school love, with comedy and drama and succeeds without making it awfully cheesy like most of the anime out there at the moment.

The storyline, although it can be awfully cliché at times, it succeeds in monopolizing a great, original concept which remain entertaining for the full 25 episodes, without ever getting boring! Big shocker for me since I have a short attention span!

Sawako is a school girl forsaken by most in her class because she has an uncanny resemblance to the Girl from the Ring, and because of this she is dubbed “Sadako” by her classmates, with the exception of one boy, who is actually the most popular guy in the class! Through a sudden seating change, they end up sitting near each other, and in doing so grow to know each other, and develop feelings for each other. Not that it isn't evident; it is a romance anime after all. But being a shoujo anime, many obstacles stand in the way to their love and true happiness, thus presenting the drama that takes place in Kimi ni Todoke, such as rivals and Sawako and Kazehaya themselves.

These obstacles, as mentioned earlier, are pretty mediocre, as in, they are present in nearly all shoujo anime and manga, even shounen contains these obstacles, however Kimi ni Todoke has something that makes it so different from every other anime, something that makes it so good that you can't even put it into words.

Animation - 7/10

Yes.. I'm giving it a low score! I love the animation in Kimi ni Todoke, however there is something that gets in the way of this, and that is THE CHIBI MOMENTS!!! Seriously! I'm all for chibi moments but in careful moderation, however in Kimi ni Todoke I don't think it can go five seconds without one of the characters going all chibi! This really annoyed me! But other than that, I think the animation is pretty good.

For a shoujo anime, I think the art is really cute. The colours were pretty and interesting to look at, and its clear and sharp and well done, as well as characters being well polished as well, with the exception of the chibi moments...

The lip syncing was amazingly good also, basically, to sum it up, I have no complaints except that it was very, very annoying sometimes!!!

Sound - 9/10

The music in Kimi ni Todoke was one of the best things about it. The opening song is so sweet, and corresponded perfectly to the overall feel of the anime, the soft shyness of it, and the evident romantic feeling about it. The ending song too, was relevent, and I actually have them on my itunes because I love them so much!

As well as the opening and ending song, there are also the voices to consider. The voice actors they used, do their job well; they project the character's feelings so well, that you can almost feel what they're feeling, and imagine what they must be thinking at the time they say it. Sawako's voice wasn't annoying, or at least it wasn't as annoying as some girl voice actors out there, and I think she portrayed her character really well. The other main character, Kazehaya was voiced by Daisuke Namikawa, a popular voice actor who is in almost every anime I've watched! I swear! He's a really talented voice actor, with his roles ranging from Italy in Hetalia: Axis Powers, to Ulquiorra in Bleach, which is an extreme contrast. However, because he's so popular, I think for me, this is what brought the anime down a bit, at first, I couldn't concentrate because all I could picture was him standing up and shouting "PASTAAA!", yet he does do his job well, and about halfway through the second episode I just rolled with it.

The background music is also nicely done. It sets the scene nicely, and I have no complaints about it, except that now, looking over an episode, the music really reminds me of something off Harvest Moon, which is really bizarre.

Characters - 8/10

The characters were mostly original, except for Kazehaya, however I found that I liked him more than Sawako.

Sawako is, as mentioned above, supposed to look like the girl from the Ring, however she has a bright personality, and is very shy. This is what annoyed me! Come on! I'm really shy and even I can speak my mind more than this girl! Seriously, I felt myself wanting to jump into the screen and shake her until she says to Kazehaya, "I like you". IT'S NOT THAT HARD! Granted, it probably is when it's someone you're in love with, but honestly, she could hardly speak to anyone!! Not only this, she was really annoying when her friends, Chizu and Ayane, did something nice for her she's always apologizing! She's always worrying, which in my opinion is not an accurate portrayal of a school girl, even if she is meant to be really shy!

Half the time I just wanted to shake the characters or whack them over the head or something!! But I did really like most of the characters, even the bitchy girl Kurumi had an interesting character, so it was okay!

Sawako and Kazehaya are one of my favourite couples out of anime ever! Just beating them are Azuki and Mashiro from Bakuman and Tamaki and Haruhi from Ouran High School Host Club.

Overall - 8/10

In conclusion, yes, Kimi ni Todoke has an original concept that pulls through in the anime, however there are some factors dragging it down in my opinion. If you like this kind of girlish, romantic anime, with cute chibi moments, then I definitely recommend it!

I honestly enjoyed this anime. The main couple is pretty cute, and I absolutely love the main girl's two friends. My biggest complaint is how long the "misunderstandings" last. They are drawn out for a whole episode when the whole thing could be fixed in 5 minutes. A lot of the problems that make up the plot of this anime could be solved if the characters were just more straightforward. As someone who never beats around the bush and is pretty blunt, watching this was kinda hard. Like, if you have a problem... go talk to your boyfriend and stop making assumptions!!! I feel like a lot of shoujo romance has this problem, but I still really enjoy this genre. Also, I watched this anime over like... 5 years ago, but this is just what stuck with me.

I totally reccomend watching it, it won't dissapoint you. The anime is romance,comedy, and its just a good anime overall. You can definetly watch it w/your pearents. 

I was overtly hostile to the notion of perceiving the anime Rewrite 2 as a 'modest romance.'  Call it a matter of timing and watching diverse anime series at the same time.  Talk about the kindlings of love in the hearts of Sawako Kuronuma and Shota Kazehaya in the series Kimi ni Todoke ... that's modest romance!  Sorry Kotarou and Kagari, that bit of kiss and slaughter doesn't hold a candle to this tale of high school road to romance.

It all centers on the character of Sawako who has this unfortunate semblance to the diabolic character of Japanese lit call Sadako.  It's something like dealing with the wicked witch persona.  But Sawako is a sweet, shy student whose withdrawn nature just fuels the notions that looking into Sawako's eyes deals out a deadly curse.  And the animators did an incredible job on the delicate eyes of the heroine.

Sawako's first act at high school was to give directions to fellow in-coming student Kazehaya.  Talk about converse personalities.  Sawako is quiet and lonely.  Kazehaya is everybody's friend, whose out-going nature appeals to Sawako, unworthy as she feels about herself.  The whole premise of the series is having these two unlikes to like each other.

The animation, soft and subdued as it is, is the secret to the success of the story.  There are two animation techniques for Sawako (and every character, come to think of it).  We have the 'status' character, the beautiful young girl with the bewitching glance, and the 'caricature' person, usually popping up as Sawako ponders the complexities of young love.  Sawako tends to over-think everything.  The caricature bumbles about in hypothetical situations about the world of the classroom and in conversations with Sawako's two close friends Ayane and Chizuru as this pair explains the intricacies of understanding a boy like Kazehaya.  The pair of life-coaches conspire to get Sawako over the bumps of falling in love.  The tough-minded delinquent Chizuru and the glamorous Ayane are excellent, if unscrupulous, mentors.

Let's complicate matters.  More characters, please!  Bring in Kurumi, another girl who has designs on Kazehaya.  Sawako loves the cuteness of Kurumi and can't comprehend that the manipulative little vamp is her rival.  Sawako is confused about the aspects of 'admirable' and 'foe' which Kurumi represents.  Toss in an arrogant young sensei by the name of Arai, with the hopes that someone will have the brains to toss him back.  Throw in as a bonus Ryu, a boy who has feelings for Chizuru but holds back because Chizuru has those same feelings ... for Ryu's older brother (recently engaged to another girl ... don't you love these story twists?).

Place all these people into the world of the spring/summer and fall/winter semesters in the first year of high school, combine with awesome music set to the theme of the slowly budding blossom, and you have the sweet and simple struggle of Sawako who is trying to overcome all the insecurities of being Sawako, not Sadako and learn what winning someone's heart is all about.

The second season will pick things up on Valentine’s Day in the winter/spring semester with hopes for love still fresh though frail.

this was so boring and repetetive. at one point i got sick of hearing "i'm happy". i managed to watch the first season but couldn't get past fifth episode of season two. some characters weren't bad but the rest - just generic. the girl with big lips, the mc's bestie (sorry often i don't bother learning names from any show i watch) did more for the main couple's romantic progress than them. honestly i can't phantom why this gets so much love and why am i being recomended such boring and below average shows advertised as one of the bests in its genre. i am here to tell you, it is very not. if you are looking for a funny and sweet high school romance which is far better than this one i would recommend watching "lovely complex" with similar style also it's far more entertaining even though at one point it does get a little repetitive. but anything's better than this.