Ah, the cheese.
I know full well that romances are supposed to be annoying and irrational. Heck, I really liked Bokura ga Ita, and I’m currently even enjoying White Album which has more drama than Kimi ni Todoke could ever hope to achieve, but still this episode just felt off. Instead of going for the subtle route, the characters in this episode cried more than Lag Seeing in your average Letter Bee episode.
I can see how this story worked in manga-format though. The manga-readers seem surprised at how the creators managed to stretch this arc over three episodes, and even I could pick it up that these past three episodes dragged horribly. I really don’t hope that the rest of the series is going to be like these past three episodes. The first three overall were fine, but the past arc just… felt off.
Also, there’s one thing I don’t get in this episode. Did I miss anything? Sawako finally confronts the “evil bitches” about the rumours. The episode closes, and suddenly the entire class is outside the bathroom talking about how a fight has ensued. Did something get cut or something? The “evil bitches” only pushed Sawako to the ground after the entire class was already gathered and talking about this fight.
Also: Kazehaya, please grow a personality in the next couple of episodes. I’m getting pretty tired of how he’s supposed to be this perfect guy in love with the lead character. His only flaw at the moment is his crush on Sawako, and I’m still not buying this guy, even though he had relatively little airtime during the past arc.
Rating: – (Disappointing)
I think you are being overly harsh on this episode. I actually liked it.
There was an argument inside the restroom with Sawako and the other girls, given that the last episodes dealt with rumors, it wouldn’t be hard to see how an argument can be turned into a “physical fight” with rumors. This theme has been recurring again and again. The scene just compliments it.
In regard to Kazehaya, yes he is a bit one-dimensional but his flaw is not that he likes Sawako but that he is the jealous type and sometimes wants Sawako only to himself.
P.S.
I truly disliked episode 4 and wasn’t too impressed with episode 5, but i liked the conclusion with this episode. The anime is pretty faithful to the manga.
I think you are being overly harsh on this episode. I actually liked it.
There was an argument inside the restroom with Sawako and the other girls, given that the last episodes dealt with rumors, it wouldn’t be hard to see how an argument can be turned into a “physical fight” with rumors. This theme has been recurring again and again. The scene just compliments it.
In regard to Kazehaya, yes he is a bit one-dimensional but his flaw is not that he likes Sawako but that he is the jealous type and sometimes wants Sawako only to himself.
P.S.
I truly disliked episode 4 and wasn’t too impressed with episode 5, but i liked the conclusion with this episode. The anime is pretty faithful to the manga.
might as well drop it if u think its bad. I mean, how much time can u waste? r u a masochist?
This was a good closing to the rumors. So it wasn’t done by the long hair blond girl…she’ll play a part later on. I’m disappointed that this arc dragged on for 3 episodes, but thank you it ended…now to focus on Kazehaya and Sawako.
I don’t care about the cheese in this anime. It still feels heart warming for Sawako, a lonely girl, to find friendship and eventually love. And I love the guitar music!!!
Can’t wait for next episode…I hope there’s more than 12 episodes. ^_^
@XIX : He is not dropping it because it was voted as the anime that the readers want him to blog on.
http://psgels.net/2009/09/01/which-autumn-series-do-you-want-me-to-blog-2/
Yeah, this “arc” was definitely a let down, not even close to the first 3 episodes… Lets hope it picks up now that this is done with… For the love of anime makers, dont make more drama with the “blonde” girl at the end of the episode-.- just give us a heart warming story kthx
I’m really trying hard to like Kimi no Todoke, but so far it’s just normal to me and I don’t get what people are raving about. Or maybe reading about 100 shoujo titles made me numb to shoujo romances.
I’m still holding out for the story to become better again, since first arcs aren’t always the best. I must be pretty masochistic LOL, I can name at least 4 shows that I still watch because they looked kinda like they had potential.
cheese indeed, just me or did the drawing look strange at times, at one point i thought i saw a double-chin sawako from a side angle O_O …needs moar pin pls
wow, i loved the episode and im really disappointed at your review.
I agree fully with your take on the 4-6 story arc. I loved the first three episodes as well, but have nearly decided to stop watching this series based on this arc. If this season had more good animes, I think I would have already given up on Kimi no Todoke. Hopefully things will improve once they move on.
I’m also disappointed.
I really liked the first few episodes because I was enjoying the calm pacing and how Sawako’s character could discover for herself. But now that she’s gotten over her biggest hurdle (cheesily) and has the good life I feel like the potential for this series to be unlike any other shojou just died. It’s going to be a lot harder for this to be unlike any other shojou about a really good good good-natured sweet girl blundering naively through school life. I hope it improves.
The ending could’ve also done without the driveling on about how amazing Kazehaya is and how much he’s done for Sawako in this situation… Really? I’m pretty sure Sawako just made her own friends.
I agree with Sanity. It seems like this was over hyped. I hope it does get better..
Gotta say i kinda of agree with the review, i am a fan of the manga but the anime is just not working out for me, don’t know why but it feels forced al ot, and i think many people are gonna give up on the anime but i will keep watching for an improvement because like i said i am a big fan of the manga
I might have liked this episode if I had not already read the manga. But I think this particular arc could have all fit into a single episode, which would have helped the flow. It really feels like they’re dragging out the misunderstandings.
I liked neither the manga nor the anime for pretty much the same reasons you’ve just said, especially the part about Kazehaya. For me, Kimi ni Todoke didn’t even work out in the manga format, so having it drag on for 20+ minutes is painful. As such, I dropped this series on episode 2.
I also think, that psgels may think about dropping this series. It’s obvious, that the people who voted for KIMI to get blogged didn’t expect, that it would turn out to a series, that psgels just didn’t like. So what’s the thing about keeping the promise?
I think it helped either the readers nor psgels himself. Even for me, who think about watching KIMI, these reviews are not helpful, because I think, I have to find out myself, if this is my kind of series.
I also was interested in KIMI-reviews, but this martyrdom isn’t what I expected. Maybe it’s better if psgels pick up another series instead of this.
Just my 15 cent.
Let me put this into context: for me to have to drop a show in the middle of a season, it has to be either:
1) Really bad or annoying to watch.
2) or a really busy season (like the past summmer season).
Kimi ni Todoke has the luck to air in a season in which there aren’t that many other shows worth blogging at the moment.
On top of that, while Kimi ni Todoke definitely has its flaws for me, it also isn’t the worst. In comparison, Valkyria Chronicles was just painful to watch and hardly had anything that made it worth watching. Kimi ni Todoke definitely has its cheese problem, but it also has good dialogue.
I’ve sat through far more annoying stuff than this one. Take Gundam 00’s second season for example, which on retrospect deserves a far lower rating than I’ve given it in my reviews.
If I do end up dropping this show, it’ll be in january, but that’ll totally depend on how busy the Winter Season will be.
Well, I kinda like this series, but that’s probably because I never watch shoujo… the arc was a bit of a let down, but I sorta like the heart-warming thing it gives me =P I think I’m getting old (and soft).
I really liked ths anime but wtf they didnt kiss at the end i was so friken pissed but im glad everything ended happily