Kimi ni Todoke – 12



This episode was… tedious to sit through. It was basically just Kurumi trying to get a love triangle started, which is probably going to be worthless in the next episode when everyone realizes that it was just a misunderstanding. Agh, it’s like Itazura na Kiss all over, but without the funny parts.

Let me list a bunch of shoujo-series that actually did get the love triangle right (Minor spoilers included):
Bokura ga Ita: mainly worked because the love rival got fed up with the indecisiveness of the lead male, which was a huge theme of the series.
Kodomo no Omocha: worked because we actually see both the lead male and female go through other relationships with other people, while it’s actually the distance between them, created by the lead female’s job as an idol that prevents them from hooking up, rather than the ditzy love rivals being the sole reason.
Ashita no Nadja: we actually see the lead female hanging out with other guys without it suddenly creating a huge drama.

On top of that, we also have shoujo-series as Glass Mask, DNAngel and Full Moon wo Sagashite in which the romances work because of their realism and the way they let their relationships progress naturally. Not in the forced way that Kimi ni Todoke has been doing for the past twelve episodes…

I’m interested to see the other sides of the story, though. I’ve heard quite a few arguments why this show is popular, but those all seemed to come from the ones who didn’t like it. When I look at various blogs, all I see is squealing over various characters, but for the past months I’ve hardly seen any people who liked this show and came with valid reasons.

Sure, that might just been me, looking at the wrong places, but still: fans of Kimi ni Todoke, enlighten me! What makes this show so great that it deserves such a high score on various anime sites? What was so good about this series that everyone vote for it here? Or is this really just another Twillight which has tons of squealing fangirls who like it just because of the hot guys and sparkles?

Whether I’m going to drop this show at the start of the Winter-Season, I don’t know yet. Because Aoi Bungaku, Darker than Black, Erin, Konnichiwa Anne, Kuchuu Buranko, Umineko and White Album are going to be ending all within a week, this means that I need to find seven new bloggable shows among the line-up of the upcoming Winter-season. Which is a lot during such a small season. However, if number eight does pop up, then expect to see this show in the dropped-list.

Right now, this show is just… too convenient. Sawako doesn’t really have to work hard for her newfound popularity. She gets protected everywhere, and her exaggeratedly weird personality makes sure that all the bad guys’ plans go wrong. At first I praised this series because it showed outcasts as they try to live back into society, but that’s not even what this series is about. We’ve just got another Mary Sue here where the entire plot revolves around. Sure, Sawako has flaws, but all those flaws seem to be more and more used in favour of her, rather than creating her as a character.
Rating: — (Lacking)

44 thoughts on “Kimi ni Todoke – 12

  1. I already dropped this series. I don’t think it’s bad just not good enough for me to keep watching.

    As for the shoujo with the best love triangles try Princess Tutu (I know I have told you to watch this before). It’s not typical at all and works out wonderfully in the end.

    Although not shoujo I also love how Rumiko Takahashi handles her love triangles in Maison Ikkoku. Which is one of the best anime/manga romcoms out there.

  2. I like it because i really like the characters… I thought it was hilarious how ticked off Kurumi with her naitivity…

    I will probably keep watching it, but this better be it for the love triangles… I can see them using the first one to set up the characters more, especially the friendships… I can understand this one because of the lasting love Kurumi has for him. But any more and i will probably drop it. But i enjoy the animation, the writing, and the characters… So, it will be a tough one for me to drop..

  3. What I’m actually more interested in now, in Kimi ni Todoke, is Sanada and Chizu, as I actually find them more interesting as characters… Kazehaya and Sawako are… cute, I guess. But I kind of got tired of them. I actually started watching KnT because it sort of brightened up my week. But there are definetly better shows out there.

    But I do respect and understand why you feel like this about the series. The sparkles are way overdone. I’m probably going to keep watching, though. 🙂 Thanks for blogging this far, anyway! ^^

  4. Compared to a lot of shoujo, Kimi Ni Todoke isn’t anything special but is defiantly a good series. I think some of it’s strong points is it’s ability to incorporate its side characters as well as take a slower and more simplistic approach to the story line.

    Bokura Ga Ita for example, was a good series but often got over taken by too much angst and drama. Kimi Ni Todoke I agree isn’t a series to rave about but it’s entertaining that’s all I can say 🙂

  5. I don’t know why you need someone to tell you why this is popular and I don’t know why you continue to blog this. You clearly don’t like it and none of its charms work on you. This isn’t your show. I don’t see a problem here.

    You like many shows that most of the fan base and blogging community have no love for. Many people don’t understand how you can rate some of your shows so highly. So is it really a surprise that you might not get a show that lots of other people love?

    Please drop this. It is looking like this is going to be a 24 ep series of more of the same. You are going to be cut and pasting your blog posts on this soon. If you were being witty and sarcastic and making fun of the show it might have been worth it but your slow death by befuddlement is just painful. Lots of others are blogging this so save your efforts for the good shows that few even know exist. I am enjoying your blogging on Kemono no Souja Erin.

  6. I have NO idea why guys watch shouju anime/read manga. . .whats so good about watching high school love bad visual cartoon dramas?

    I love a lot of the Adult stuff that is out there (i.e aoi bunraku) I have no idea why there arent many of thoese shows that bloggers want to watch instead of the same old same old junk, random wimpy guy gets 5 girls around him, or love triangle with guys that either a)dont know how to get a girl or b)are soo horny AND stupid (its cool to be horny and smart) that the bang all the girls and cant be discreet about it (think school daze. . .i didnt watch it, I just read some blog posts here and there) with random obligatory panty shots, shower scenes, onsen scenes, more panty shots, guy seeing a girl naked by accident and blushing while she hits/yells at him, or *accidentally* falling on a girls giant tits or *accidentally* falling on top of a girl in a sexual position or vice versa. . .it sjust the same ol shitsakebap all over, wouldnt the blogosphere get tired of this? Or am I just too, old/manly/hetero??

    Where the hell are all the adults blogging the nice mature adult shows? I swear the only blogger that blogs adult stuff is Psgels. . .and even then there are more shows on this site that should be replaced by more adult and mature type stuff, I wanna hear about more aoi bungakus, and kemono no erin, east of eden, guin sage type shows each season, much more than *panty shot harem heaven part 5000*

  7. theone: please, if there’s an adult show I missed this season, then let me know about them, because I’m looking for them as well. Also, the reason I watch shoujo is because of the good series in the genre. I’m not sure whether you’ve seen Ashita no Nadja, Glass Mask 2005 or Kodocha, but these shows really show how enjoyable this genre can be when done right.

    lester: you have a good point, yeah. It’s not the worst show I’ve had to blog, but I’ve gotten tired of Kimi ni Todoke by now. My only question is whether or not something is going to show up in the next season that can replace it (eight good shows… that’s really going to be a close one).

  8. I agree with lester. You often prove that your tastes aren’t quite in-sync with ‘the norm’, loving shows that many find boring, so what is with all the complaining? If you hate it so much then please stop blogging it as you’ll only hurt other people’s enjoyment.

    The reasons people like Kimi ni Todoke are relatively simple: it has charm, it’s sweet, the character interaction feels natural and makes you smile, Sawako’s progress somehow soothes some of life’s little frustrations and most importantly it’s entertaining. Entertainment value isn’t something you can explain well. A show can be a total train wreck and yet still remain very fun to watch each week (yes, most notably Code Geass R2). In a lot of ways I enjoy it for the exact same reasons as Cross Game.

    Comparing KnT to Twilight with claims of “hot guys and sparkles” just because you don’t enjoy it is insulting and immature. KnT is popular among guys too, not just girls. Narrow-minded comments like that make me feel you should probably stop watching any shoujo anime. God knows that any other shoujo series has more than three guys (two of which do little but serve as comic relief). Also, I’m fairly sure girls aren’t obsessed with Twilight because of the sparkles, its just an element people make fun of because it happens to be pretty damn funny/stupid.

  9. yeah,I have pretty much same comment with Kanao about KnT.Compared to other shoujos full of reverse harem-ing,gender bender-ing,shounen-ai-ing,KnT is a rather refreshing one.It’s like enjoying shoujos like Fruits Basket/Shugo Chara (manga) for me (i’m a guy,and Furuba/Shugo Chara also has a lot of male fans..:) )

    By the way,the next season’s preview sounded like it’ll be a dull one for you (full of ecchis and moeblobs…but I’m looking for OmaHima and soranowoto,by the way.It has only about 4-5 non moe/ecchi shows.) are you sure you’ll drop this?

    Lastly..Cross Game has 39 episodes only.It’ll end in next episode,so you have 8 free slots..

  10. The story of Kimi ni Todoke is intentionally upbeat. It’s an unrealistic tale of how teenage drama is worked out through mutual understanding. It makes no pretense at realism, and the mangaka basically beats you over the head with her motivations.

    Still, I dropped the anime after a few episodes. Listening to Sawako talk was painful. I had to watch the first episode in pieces, because listening to her performance was so taxing. The manga is a quick read, so the absence of depth doesn’t bother me at all, and the uplifting nature of the story is sometimes just what you’re looking for. It’s like Chi’s Sweet Home in that I don’t want to watch twenty minutes of a kitten being cute, but watching a few episodes of Chi is pretty uplifting.

  11. “Lastly..Cross Game has 39 episodes only.”

    Actually it’s continuing into next season so it’ll probably be around 50. Too many people seem to go by ANN’s list of episode titles – they only include the ones with official confirmation. ^^

    “Sawako doesn’t really have to work hard for her newfound popularity.”

    What? I watched the episode (just as great as usual by the way) and she isn’t ‘popular’. People are just noticing her a bit more as a human being now that they aren’t expected to avoid her. It’s not like classmates are inviting her to hang out, go to karaoke, shopping or anything. Can you really call someone popular just because a few people in class are willing to say ‘hello’? As usual, you’re determining flaws on your own.

    “exaggeratedly weird personality”

    She’s just incredibly honest and dense/innocent. Her personality isn’t that strange.

  12. Personally I agree with the ones telling you to drop it. Not because I like it, but because that poll you held was obviously going to lead to you blogging a show like that since thats what the majority of anime/manga viewers seem enjoy, Romanace/School Life.

    There hasn’t been one thing is this series that makes it anything above average and sure I guess the teen girls will love this stuff but it really isnt anything more than average.

    I love this blog because most of the series you’ve rated high/reviwed, which many other bloggers failed to blog/review/, turned out to be absouletly amazing and greatly changed the type of animes I watch. This series just doesn’t fit in a blog of this caliber and belongs else where like RC.

  13. I think your comparison with this to twilight was perfect. Sure it may just be another average story from a a genre thats largely overused, but they make it look good and sparkly, and it appeals to the masses. Sure there are guy fans to twilight too but what do you think the majority of the fans and what makes it so popular are, teenage females. Just like this anime, how the majoirty of female teens would prefer romance/school life.

  14. What I’m actually more interested in now, in Kimi ni Todoke, is Sanada and Chizu, as I actually find them more interesting as characters…

    Same here, except for me it’s Chizu and Ayane. Whereas Sawako and Kazehaya are pretty one-dimensional, with Chizu and Ayane you get some richness and subtlety. They’re both really likable, the kind of friends you wish you had in high school. I would love to see a spin-off with these two characters going off to college or transferring schools.

    The scene with Ayane and Kurumi sent chills up my spine – that could get interesting if they handle it well.

    I can’t decide yet if Sanada is interesting in his own right or just as a love interest for Chizu. He didn’t really get much dialog until this episode.

  15. “The reasons people like Kimi ni Todoke are relatively simple: it has charm, it’s sweet, the character interaction feels natural and makes you smile, Sawako’s progress somehow soothes some of life’s little frustrations and most importantly it’s entertaining.” – Kanao

    I agree with this, entirely. Even though there are shoujo series way better than KnT, I think it does a nice job at being what it’s supposed to be: a sweet story between two innocent teenagers finding love for the first time. The fact that both Kazehaya and Sawako are clueless does make it a bit annoying sometimes, but it would be out of character for them to be forward.

    Also I disagree when you say that their relationship is progressing in a forced way. Actually I think it couldn’t be more natural, since they’re slowly getting to know each other and their own feelings.

    The only thing that’s bugging me about KnT is the fact that they’re taking too much time on something that could be dealt with in one/two episodes. I’ll keep watching it anyway though, since I’m curious to see how Kazehaya and Sawako’s relationship is going to evolve, as well as Ryu and Chizu’s.

    Psgels, if you don’t want to blog KnT, don’t force yourself. I was one of the people who voted for it and I love to read your reviews, but I can’t say I’m enjoying the ones you write for KnT since they always feel like they were written as a chore.

  16. I think your retarded hahah
    everything you just said is completely inaccurate, Kurumi wasn’t trying to get a love triangle started, she was trying to stop one from getting started. She likes him and doesn’t want Sawako in the way. This is an amazing show with the best characters I’ve seen. I guess this show only appeals to people who can comprehend the depths of peoples emotions.
    Did you honestly just say DNangel has a more realistic take on romance than Kimi ni Todoke???? That is probably the funniest thing I’ve ever heard, I think you need to get out of the house a little more, cause guys flying down into your house and kissing you out of the blue typically doesn’t happen in real life hahahah.

  17. “since thats what the majority of anime/manga viewers seem enjoy, Romanace/School Life.”

    No offense intended but damn you’re being delusional. If you had ever paid attention to the anime-fansub community you’d know that Kimi ni Todoke may just be the first romance shoujo anime to generate such mass-appeal among everyone, not just girls. This is pretty impressive when you consider that there appear to be many more guys than girls in this particular ‘community’. The ones with any interest in Japanese culture seem to be much more active in the live-action and manga communities. And they also seem to prefer livejournal to the ‘Anime Blogosphere’.

    “I think your comparison with this to twilight was perfect.”

    Once again someone who doesn’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Don’t respond unless you’ve watched these (protip – they prove just how bad Twilight is): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L253VLwH3w

  18. De-lurking to hopefully provide some insight into why people might like the show (and if not, I apologize in advance).

    I watch the series weekly in a mixed-gender group (3 guys, 4 girls) and everyone is enjoying it. I think that perhaps the reasoning behind this is that, while much of the show feels very typical of the shoujo genre, it’s just slightly off from people’s expectations and those little elements of surprise seem to really engage the group.

    Perhaps what I personally find most enjoyable is Sawako, since she’s such an atypical shoujo heroine. I can’t tell you how sick I am of female leads being either bimbos or tsunderekko. Sawako may be unrealistically naive, but she’s also earnest and sweet. Where your typical female lead would want to seek vengeance, Sawako genuinely just wants people to understand. She assumes the best in people and doesn’t expect them to manipulate her. I find that appealing about her.

    The supporting characters are also engaging because, as my husband put it, they’re people that he would like to know and with whom he’d like to hang out. I especially like Yano and Yoshida, because they’re also misunderstood in their own way, judging by how easily rumors about them being a slut and a delinquent spread throughout the student body.

    I also have to give some credit to the background artwork in this series which is just beautifully colored and feels warm. Our group often gets a giggle out of the copious shoujo bubbles, but I think that the use of those visual tropes coupled with the unusually high-quality visual elements sums up what gives the show its broad appeal; it embraces the typical aspects of the shoujo genre and also one-ups them in certain ways, making its characters a bit different and having them react to typical shoujo-genre situations in slightly different manners than one might expect.

    But, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I will echo the sentiment from some other commenters that it might be time to stop blogging the show, especially if it’s become a chore.

  19. seriously, if you really don’t like it, why bother blogging just because your poll says it’s one of the top series to watch and blog in Fall?

    stop antagonizing those of us who actually love the show for its simplicity.

    because come on, it’s a high school setting. do you seriously think there’s so much backstabbing and hidden motives like adult series?

    so really.

    stop blogging this, and save all of us the agony.

  20. as one of those rare Western anime fans in their thirties, I can tell you that backstabbing and hidden motives were MUCH more common when I was in high school than they are in the adult world that most of us live in. While my relationships in high school were always complex things with daily betrayals and alliances taking place in a complex social milleiu by teenagers so otherwise unengaged they filled their time and directed their libidos at pointless coming-of-age rituals, seemingly inane group traditions and an otherwise disgusting game of social behavior that only a few could ever play really well. In the adult world, relationships have more depth, but people also tend to value honesty, loyalty and sincerity more, and one becomes judged not so much by how you are but by who you are. There is much less deciet, backstabbing, etc. A show about high school depicted innocently is what is unrealistic.

  21. I believe I just watch it because it’s cheerful and cute and makes you feel better… yeah, some episodes were a drag to watch, but at some moments it feels like school all over again.

    BTW, Kazehaya is finally getting some character development…

  22. because come on, it’s a high school setting. do you seriously think there’s so much backstabbing and hidden motives like adult series?

    Where did you go to high school? Where I come from high school girls are the most vicious, backstabbingist creatures on the face of the earth.

  23. The very likely reason for liking (and yes I overuse like) this show is all the innocence it brings out. It shows how things really happen all without going into a casually perfect world but still keeping a degree of warmth to appeal to a wide range of audiences. I would say it’s very much a matter of personal taste and experiece. It surely does go with the moe anime idea, but it also doesn’t go into unhandled humor giving it an all around soft feeling. The relationship between the characters is very stereotypical , shy girl, indecisive boy and various agents like kurumi or sanada who serve purely for screenwriting purposes. Psgels probably already figured out the very logical outcome of the anime so he is not to blame. It would be intricate to not express what he , thinks in this situation but hey, its his blog :p

  24. Kanao & Jessi: I agreed with your comments because they are my same thoughts.

    I’m a girl and I love shoujo animes when it’s done right. So far, I enjoyed this anime because Sawako’s a irregular heroine. From her lack of socialization, she could be called a dull personality but what do you expect from someone who doesn’t socialize. Sawako is surprised at the acceptance she have received from fellow classmates. She also have trouble understanding Kurumi’s fake friendship but is excited to be noticed. Sawako is not your typical cute heroine and hey, I’d rather watch more dull characters like Sawako than the cute, annoying types. In fact, Sawako’s sweet and honest.

    Aagh…I keep hearing about Bokura ga Ita and how it’s a better shoujo. I’ve watched it and there were moments I enjoyed but I couldn’t say I enjoyed it completely to go back and re-watch it. If I like the anime, I could go back and re-watch it, but this anime wasn’t one of them. The agonizing part was how the main guy and girl kept distancing themselves from their issues as a couple. Instead, they involved another guy and girl which made their issues more complicated. Sure, I agreed that the anime depicted real romances (love triangles) but how they kept dragging on their issues got too annoying. At times I was just agonizing how each of them couldn’t keep their heads straight. It’s like they knew how rocky their relationship was but instead of solving it together, they hung out with the other guy and girl and created more issues.

    So, I quickly checked the other “better” shoujo-series recommended by PSGELS and all of them look annoying except for Glass Mask. I’ll check that one out.

    The animation for Kimi ni Todoke is awesome and I like the music.

    PSGELS, if this anime is completely dull to you and you’re agonizing to write about it weekly, then it’s only fair for you to drop it. But I always check your blog and like to get your views on the animes I’m currently watching (this being one of them). So I hope you don’t end up dropping it. ^_^

  25. I love this show! But why is a more difficult question than I thought…

    The basis of the attraction for me is simply two things, one of which is that Sawako is such a gosh darn nice person. It is so refreshing to see a character that is so guileless and genuine that it makes me want to pull for her in every situation. The blushing, awkward romance between her and Kazehaya reminds me of high school (and post high school life sometimes) to a tee.

    I suppose the other reason that I love this show is simply the social awkwardness of Sawako strikes a chord with my own social shortcomings. To see someone grow from a isolated existence to someone more integrated with her classmates makes me smile. Sawako’s trials and tribulations remind me in a positive way that people are for the most part genuinely good and that one doesn’t have to be awkward around others forever.

    That being said, please don’t interpret this to mean that all fans of the show are shut-ins, unable to interact successfully with others. I’m sure everyone has had feelings of loneliness and social awkwardness and perhaps this shows resonates with those times. I do alright nowadays but there are times I can relate…

    The characters may not have layers upon layers (at least what we’ve seen so far) and the plot may not twist but the show just is great. Love it or hate it, I’ll still watch it with a smile 🙂

  26. I like this show simply because it has a uncanny ability to evoke the tension, anxiety, and awkwardness of social interactions. This is, in part, achieved through its many subtle animations and dynamic facial expressions. The art style only enhances and furthers this effect. All in all, this feeling of tension and anxiety help to beautifully illustrate a young girl’s path toward social competence.

  27. I like the post from legato29…..I don’t think this show is really about romance as much as it is about social acceptace and competance, i.e. i don’t think romance is supposed to be the main focus. That might be why the romance doesn’t seem that great to some people, it’s not the main point of the show, it’s just another element of Sawako becoming more socially accepted/assimilated, and THAT’s the main focus of the show and what the fans seem to really like.

    I don’t know, this isn’t my absolute favorite series. But I tend not to agree with psgels on everything anyways (I absoultely love Cross Game – that and Tokyo Magnitude have been the only really enjoyable series for me for the past couple seasons, and I certanly don’t stick with most of the shows covered here)

    But it’s nice to watch…and honestly, Chizu and Ayane are two of my favorite characters ever. They should get more screen time.

  28. I think I’m gonna disagree with lots of people here saying that you would do everyone a favour by dropping the serie. I always find it interesting to see differing point of views on any subjects. Should Pgels do only reviews that agree with your opinion? It’s by watching people debating a subject that you can have a more accurate idea about it.

    I don’t understand all those people saying you are “hurting” them because you disagree with them, do you guys shun all the people that disagree with you? Should they only compliment you and agree with you? Or should they just keep quiet when they disagree? I doubt most of you would do that in real life and I see no reason why you should act in this way on the net. Moreover, if you don’t like reading his opinion, you can always choose not to read him.

    I also need to point out that this post is only addressed to people like Charlie, Kanao, Naixil and the like. I don’t mind those who specifically addressed the reason why they liked the show, I found those opinion as interesting as Pgels’.

  29. NguyenSon: disagreeing with people and insulting them are very different things. Psgels complains about many episodes of Kimi ni Todoke and I’ve only chosen to comment this time; because he’s being offensive. He’s talking as though KnT viewers must be shallow fangirls simply because he doesn’t like the show. I’m a guy, as are most of my friends watching it.

    My responses are to his childish contempt, not his complaints – although they too seem to consist of nitpicking and flaws that don’t exist rather than any logical arguments. I recommended he drop the show because disliking a show bad enough to fall this low means that he’s simply not in any position to provide an alternative perspective.

    Of course, he said “fans of Kimi ni Todoke, enlighten me!” and yet he’s not even willing to respond to our explanations of why it’s good.

  30. So here is how you can make this show actually worth watching: Sawako is teased about looking like Sadako relentlessly, even Kazehaya’s kindness turns out to have been an elaborate prank, and Sawako loses it and starts murdering her classmate. Screaming,
    “You want Sadako, I’ll give you Sadako!” The rest of the season could be her mercilessly hunting down each and every one of her tormentors. Then this show might be worth continuing to watch. She is killed before finally killing Kazehaya. Next season, the murders start again, and the show could be called Kimi ni Todoke: Blood Sparkles in the Moonlight, and it turns out that Kazehaya has snapped and he’s the one murdering people now. Then, we find out that actually, Kazehaya wasn’t really in on the prank, that he was working with Sawako all along, and that as a kid he had a problem spelling and reading and got teased a lot too, and he transformed himself into someone popular just to make his revenge more satisfying.

  31. What a disappointment this turned out to be… It keeps getting worse

    Couldnt watch through this episode, so here is another dropped anime for Fall… I think he only anime Im still watching is Darker than Black, hurray!

    Wtf? After the crap that was episodes 4-6, they still have to go and get yet another love triangle and misunderstanding started? I thought Kurumi wasnt gonna be your evil bitch antagonist, but I was wrong

    This might have worked if it was the first anime I ever saw, but now its just a waste of my time

  32. You see what happens when you blog a twilight like series. You get commenter like the ones here trying their hardest to defend something that is just average and pretty much the exact same as many shoujo’s/romance that have been done before.
    TO you people taking offence, deal with it. Thats what a blog is about, bloggers stating how they feel, and obviously this show turned out to be crap, nothing above the average romance.
    And don’t spout this crap that its the first school life, romance, shoujo to appeal to all both female and males. There are plently of shoujo’s that have been very succesful without being the typical fake school life formula

  33. Personally, I agree with you. The show to me is best when it is easygoing and emphasizes the characters growing up together; the two big drama arcs have fallen really flat, I think. They’re just really clumsy — the only really enjoyable part has been the cracks in Kurumi’s armor. It’s funny when she has to force herself to keep up her golden image. All her other deviousness is just getting tiresome, though.

  34. place a couple of shojou themed story lines out there, make it into an anime and WHAMP! girls would be squeling over it. like twilight, bloody stupid book, don’t even get me started on why i hate it. Kimi na todeke was spoiled by crappy anime story tellings and stupid male lead character. and why, why tell me why must the girl always fall in love with the stupid dull boy first AND why must there always be love traingles

  35. While I’m certainly no fan of the series I would just like to point out that the whole “love triangle” aspect people keep complaining about is nothing more than a passing episode. If anything its just the series trying to go into the conventions of any high school romance, i.e. there needs to be a love triangle arc (much like how we have ecchi shows with the convention of hotspring/beach arcs).

    While comparing it to Twilight may need better contextualizing, in this case its just the POPULARITY and yes DEPTH that could be akin to it but certainly not the other aspects especially its catering to young teen women.

    Moving on I do disagree with the points raised by its fans/devils advocate. For one I fail to see how anyone could label the interactions of characters as “natural”. Case in point already is this episode to show just how “unnatural” or a better word would be fairy tale-esque interactions. Face it Kurumi and Sawako’s interractions are anything but natural, would anyone actually try to befriend their love rival who tried to sabotage them or even pursue talking to them to the point of confessing to them (I think not). Sure you can say its in her extremely sweet and innocent personality but thats exactly why I call it almost fairy tale-esque because such a personality is far too pure and exagerrated to be anything natural but definitely a shoe in for fantasies or fairy tales. Hell another case in point is how Sawako made friends with Chizu and Yano, seriously the way they suddenly made friends like that was definitely not natural nor are their interactions.

    Now this is precisely why the charm that others are so enamored with fails, to connect to what appears from the posts above, with a larger audience than I expected including psgels (myself included). I don’t see myself adhering to the suspension of disbelief required by the series in accepting its exaggerations on Sawako or Kazehaya, cmon ITS SO DAMN OBVIOUS THAT KAZEHAYA LIKES SAWAKO YET YOU SUDDENLY GET THROWN IN STARTING WITH THIS ARC THAT SAWAKO IS DENSE (when clearly that was less pronounced in previous stories). So rather than charmed one in the end feels frustrated with the series. Thing is its not just a matter of suspension of disbelief but also the weaker side of the story telling.

    For one as I mentioned last post with this series I still fail to see WHY Sawako is trying to hard to be “normal”. When clearly being “normal” is being sheep or mindless much like her classmates who follow every word of Kazehaya around. I mean fitting in is quite a normal thing in most animes and mangas but in this series it doesn’t appear at all appealing considering how mindless and cardboard the class is, its quite devoid of personality and no wonder Kazehaya reigns supreme over them all.

    Then you have the sudden conversions of characters, Yano and Chizu are the case in point for that, that are far too quick that it does appear effortless to gain their friendship. Or if not characters say events, as this episode would show with things turning around way too quickly to Kurumi’s disadvantage.

    These are just some of my gripes regarding the series.

  36. I fail at arguing, so I won’t bother.
    I love watching Kimi ni Todoke because…it just makes me feel warm and happy. I’ve been able to laugh and cry (though this started only after watching Cross Game) while watching anime, but this is probably the first that just makes me smile.

    Also, please review Ashita no Nadja. Maybe it’s because I don’t hear about it much, but I find it underrated. D: (The manga can burn in the depths of hell for all I care though.)

  37. So when do the rest of the episodes air from this point on? Is it really airing in Japan at this moment…??Please get back to me with the info guys, i appreciate it 😉

  38. Looks like this show really isn’t your cup of tea. I recommend dropping it.

    If watching this show doesn’t give you a fuzzy feeling, then you are only wasting your time.

    However, I think this is one of the best shows of 2009.

  39. ahhh i wish you hadn’t given up on this series 🙂 .. really ep 13 is one of the few times an anime made me spontaneously laugh out loud while no one else is around. it was great ^^

  40. So I just started watching the show yesterday and I’m up to episode 12 now. I checked in to see if the show was covered here. I’m surprised by the drama.

    I can understand why someone would dislike the show. Especially when that person lacks empathy toward what the main character is going through.

    Yeah the Twilight comment is WAYYY over exaggerating. Instead of judging the show’s popularity, just judge the show. Getting frustrated about what other people think is wasting time.

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