(I haven’t written a proper anime review in years. Hopefully I’ve still got it :P)

INTRODUCTION

Kimi ni Todoke is an anime that’s been on my watchlist for literal ages. I’ve had a copy of it rusting away in a USB over the last three years or so. But recently, two people I know recommended it to me after finishing Kare Kano. I thought to myself, I guess they are both shoujo and romance anime… How different can they be?

Well to answer that question: they are NOTHING alike. It’s almost hard to believe why these people recommended Kimi ni Todoke. But I don’t mean this in a bad way. Rather, I think it’s interesting to see how these anime navigate their genres differently. Watching Kimi ni Todoke was a very interesting experience, and there are definitely things that make it stand out from other shoujos I’ve seen.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

The series first introduces us with Sawako (seen above), a very shy, lonely first-year high school student who many of her classmates believe to be cursed due to her resemblance to zashiki-warashi and Sadako from The Ring (which becomes her nickname).

However, Sadako then encounters Kazehaya (seen in the first image in purposely low resolution), a friendly boy in her class who takes an interest in her after she helps him with some directions. This encounter then inspires Sawako to interact more with others in her class, such as the tomboyish Chizuru (best girl), gyaru Ayane (voiced by Kanbaru from Monogatari series, you know the one, she sounds the same in everything xD), and the stone-faced Ryu (voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura who is basically just playing his character in Hyouka).

Through these interactions, Sawako is able to grow within herself. However, she and her classmates face multiple hurdles that threaten their blossoming friendship - such as misunderstandings, nasty rumours, and jealous peers. The characters must learn to properly deliver their feelings to mend their relationships, hence, Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You).

THOUGHTS

I think this anime is pretty much the ultimate shoujo. I feel like any shoujo and high school romance trope can be found here. But it is very light and easy to watch. I’ve just come back from a long burnout and it was the perfect thing to watch for that.

The main appeal of the show, in my opinion, is the wholesome characters. In the grand scheme of things, the characters are incredibly normal. Just average kids who live in a rural town. None of the characters have special talents or tragic backstories (at least, not yet) but I think that’s refreshing in a way. Some people may find that more relatable and realistic.

All the characters are very lovely and likeable, I can’t remember the last time I genuinely wanted to be friends with any fictional character. Whenever Sawako hit a bump in her relationships and started doubting herself, I literally felt so bad for her, I think I even teared up. I barely ever do that anymore which goes to show how invested I got in the characters.

It was a good contrast with Kare Kano where the main appeal was the lead romance and you never felt all that invested in the side characters (most of whom I’ve forgotten since). Of course, there is an great appeal with the lead romance in Kimi ni Todoke (between Sawako and Kazehaya) but I think it's all the characters in general that shine, not just the main two romantic interests.

I also appreciate how Kimi ni Todoke doesn’t try to be overly comedic. It definitely puts the drama and wholesomeness first and uses gags/comedy appropriately. Sawako’s chibi expressions always got a laugh out of me. I’ve seen similar types of anime that try way too hard to be funny and it just doesn’t land (cough Horimiya cough)

What I will say about this anime though (and this brings me back to my first point), it is very very tropey. A lot of things that happened, I felt like I’d seen it all before in other anime, so I often knew what to expect. As a result, I did find myself getting bored some of the time.

It may be a fault of mine though… I’m wondering if I’m starting to outgrow these kinds of high school anime. I mean, I graduated high school four years ago!!! I’ve definitely moved on and grown a lot since, so some of my nitpicks and boredom with the series might not correlate with a viewer who is in high school currently.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think if you’re new to shoujo or romance anime, this might be a good starting point to get the general gist of what the genre is like. I would also recommend this to anyone who doesn’t want to watch anything that requires too much brain power - Kimi ni Todoke is very easy to switch your brain off to (in a good way).

But if you’re sick of the usual romance or shoujo tropes and want something a bit different, I would advise you to proceed with caution. Like I explained, Kimi ni Todoke has a lot of elements that distinguishes itself, but it is still very tropey at the end of the day. I also acknowledge that some of the elements that I call ‘refreshing’ may not be so for others.

(P.S. yeah, I intentionally included the most cursed screenshots on purpose xD)