Kimi ni Todoke - Anime Review, All 3 Seasons

The good and the bad - anime review.

In this section we will take look at the shows I've watched and I will try to give you a few reasons to watch or a few reason why it's not worth your time. Sometimes it's hard to write a review for every show you watch, a good review that is. But you can always make a list of things you liked and disliked about the show!

I am covering a lot of the anime in Anime wrap-up or Down the memory lane, but that's usually just to tell you my opinion and score.

In this section, I will try to address the strong and the weak sides of the anime we're covering. Standalone series will have one post dedicated to them, and series (OVAs, specials and sequels) will be done together as well.

Kimi ni Todoke 1st Season

Quick summary:

Kimi ni Todoke is a beautiful coming of age anime that reminds us all how it felt to be a teenager.

Sawako has been misunderstood her whole life - having the appearance of Sadako (the girl from the horror Ring) meant that she couldn't make any friends - everyone was scared of her and excluded her from their activities.

That changed one day, when the popular boy Shouta Kazehaya begins to talk to her and Sawako suddenly makes friends, gets the love and attention she deserves and a real world opens up to her - leading to heartwarming moments of a girl that finally found happiness she deserved.

I am biased, but this is definitely a masterpiece that cannot be described.

Genres: Comedy - Drama - Romance - Slice of Life

Studio: Production I.G

Season: Fall 2009

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👌 Art: check; Goofiness: check; Manga bits: check

The anime itself had a great flow through it. Despite being "longer", you really go through episode incredibly quickly. They have this iyasheki feeling to them, like everything is going to be okay.

I appreciated the narrative aspect - Sawako was the one telling us the story of her friends.

The whole anime looks like painted in watercolors - which is not something that we usually see - and it works well. Also, the bubbles and sparkles that we always see in the manga were very very fun.

I will just say, that I enjoyed episode 23 the most. It was comedy gold and Sawako's VA did a great job.

👌 Lovely MCs, lovely side characters, lovely villains

Take for example Kurumi-chan. We all knew she is a biach, ever since episode one we knew it. But in the end... if we all give her a chance to explain herself, we will realize that not everything she did was because she was evil. She was a simple girl that fell in love too hard to know what to do with it. She made wrong choices, but who didn't?

You just want to cheer on everyone - even though sometimes a decision has to be made.

It was heartwarming to see Sawako making friends and facing those happy, fuzzy feelings. (At times, she reminded me of Tooru Honda (Fruits Basket) at times - with her goofiness, her light weighted look on the world... she was a total sweetheart.

Ryu - a supporting male character, Chizu and Kazehaya's childhood friend was a great example, that even small roles can do big things for a story. Despite being blunt, bland and boring, he managed to grab my heart, hold it gently and become my prince. If I was in the story, he would be my love interest for sure. And I am telling you, this guy wasn't anything special!

Another not special character that was just lovely was Sawako's dad. His little gig with taking Kazehaya's present because he thought Sawako made it for him was really funny, and we can immediately tell that this person has the biggest heart in the game.

I know this is not important but I have to get it off of my chest. Ever since I realized that Daisuke Namikawa is the VA for our male MC I could not take him seriously!

👌 Relationships are too complex sometimes, but thankfully we have friends!

Everything about the way they addressed the character's troubles was perfect. Despite not being a teenager for a few years, I felt heard and seen. The juvenal feelings set a great mood for the story that the authors decided to unravel in front of us. This kinds of feelings would not translate good if the characters were adults.

One of the themes, that was important for the story was bullying. Not only our MC, but some others went through it - some as kids, some a bit older. The constant bullying made my heart bleed, but it was a real depiction. Some things won't just disappear because you made a friend or grew older.

A bit of spoilers incoming: Chizu being in love with Ryu's older brother was a great way to show that feelings aren't something that make sense. When it happens, it happens. Even though it hurts many people...In the end, Chizu did confess and got the answer she expected, and didn't want. That hurt to watch... Props to the authors for that.

👇Drama on repeat

We had the same twist of someone hearing half the story and being depressed about it at least twice. Someone asked Sawako if she saw Chizu and Ayane as her friends, and she couldn't reply to it, so she just said, she "didn't think of the girls like friend" but she loved them. Of course, Chizu and Ayane only heard half the story and became really sad about it.

Then, the same happened with Ryu who heard Chizu complaining about something not important.

I do have to mention that the girls were very mature about the situation and about the rumors that were being spread about them. I admired their strong spirits.

Conclusion: it's a must watch 💖

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Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season

Quick summary:

First season ended on a happy note. Our two protagonist found out they have certain feelings for each other, but decided to stay friends for a while, until they are sure what they want.

But new problems arise. When Kurumi isn't giving up and a new boy starts pursuing Sawako, things start to get messy for everyone.

Thinking the other does not like them but someone else after all, Sawako and Kazehaya's relationship takes an unexpected turn.

Genres: Comedy - Drama - Romance - Slice of Life

Studio: Production I.G

Season: Winter 2011

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Review time:

When I watched this season, I was so deep in other things, I completely forgot to write a review or write down anything for it. It appeared in the Wrap-Up, with a promise that I will update this page one day.

With Season 3 approaching, I ought to finish this to my best abilities.

Not holding the official way of doing this type of review, let me just summarize what I remember, and give you a quick overview.

I hated the second season. I will say it straight away. Why? Because it was stupid. I love drama, and I am always in for some relationship problems that make the protagonists talk about the important issue between them.

But this season seemed like it's whole point was to stretch the time and prepare space for the two of them getting together. I would be fine with them just being friends and having a season of sweet moments and friendly encounters, really.

But the moment Kento Miura appeared, giving Sadako his awful relationship advices and making sure to spin her head, I was angry and upset with the show.

This can practically sum it up - unhappy babies, that spend whole night crying over something that didn't happen.

People around either tried to help, or they tried to step out and let the two talk it out, because they did not know what really happened and actually believed, that Kazehaya and Sadako had an argument, or "broke up".

You might ask, okay, but how did they handle the situation? How was it resolved?

You will not believe me - Kurumi stepped up and gave Sadako a good talk. She was the one that swallowed her pride, realized her love was going nowhere and actually helped Sadako to talk it out.

I do love her for it, but then again, this was Kento's reaction. And while I do not care too much for Kurumi, it made me frown. This boy is not done plotting and if he will drag into next season and make another mess I will loose it.

I want my romance!

But like I said, they managed to talk it out and in the funniest matter of things. This was one of my favorite scenes, and I was laughing so hard. God these kids! They have my heart...

It wasn't all bad, we had some funny moments as well. Like when Kurumi thought she was confessing to Kazehaya, but it turned out to be their homeroom teacher. And he did not let her forget it multiple times.

Poor girl!

And my favorite 4th wall break:

[What's with these sparkles? Shoo shoo!]

In conclusion: absolutely mixed feelings 💫

Borderline anger. I was so disappointed, I gave the second season the rating of 7/10, which is 3 numbers down. I wish I could be nicer, but it just did not do it for me.

Talking to readers - it is a good show, a good season that sticks to art, animation, jokes and drama I loved in the first season. Story-wise it just didn't seem like a good choice.

Let's hold off until the third season and see if it will get better!

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Kimi ni Todoke 3rd Season

Quick summary:

Kuronuma and Kazehaya are officially a couple now. Being in their awkward stage (still), love is something that comes naturally but with loads and loads of embarrassment.
But once you are in a relationship, try to command your heart. Or logic.
This season is all about finding and understanding your heart - whether you're in love, confused or lost in yourself.

All three of our main heroines are going through it. And neither of them has it easy...

Genres: Comedy - Drama - Romance - Slice of Life

Studio: Production I.G

Season: Summer 2024

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Review time:

I do enjoy romance as any girl. But there is a certain type of romance I like - and Kimi ni Todoke waited a long time for it's turn. It just seemed so sweet and cute and boring...
But it found it's way into my life, and my heart.

I am absolutely in love with the love story of Kuronuma and Kazehaya... and I felt like that is it. But this season opened my eyes to characters I liked, but didn't care much about.
I mean, seriously, the way they shown Ayane in a whole another light... Crazy, insane, perfect.

Ayane has been portrayed as this chick that has a new boyfriend every week, because she is just that pretty and love doesn't mean hell to her. But this season showed that Ayane is just another victim of not understanding love but wanting to be loved.
It was so sad to watch her get into relationships just because and then finding out she was just a pretty keychain for guys to boost their ego with. Poor girl. I wish her all the luck she can get.

~~Not Kento tho. That is no one's happiness. That's a punishment from God.~~

Let's get a bit technical though.
The opening pleasantly surprised me, the song was actually a bop. But I couldn't handle the episodes being 1 hour long. There is just something about it that makes me upset and impatient. Like I cannot wait for the episode to be over - even thought I am enjoying it a lot.
It doesn't work for me. I like when things are balanced in a good way.
(For example: if Gintama had a long hour episodes, I would appreciate it a lot more, since there is a lot more content to be covered. Here it seemed like they were hurrying through some parts, and putting the pieces together so there would be enough scenes to fill the hour...)

But a lot can be forgiven when you like the series, right?

There were moments that melted my heart. Like when Kuronuma was taking everyone's pictures, happy as she can be... and then she found out that her friends have been taking pictures of her. 💗 How adorable is that???

I stand by my original thought - the first season was the best season. The slow unraveling of romance, the look into who Kuronuma is and how she feels and how she is finding her place in her classroom... It was perfect.
Then it just started to get twisted, and more and more weird. I can live without the silly romance drama that has no place to be there.
Or maybe it's just that I am no longer 16 and think about different problems when it comes to relationships.

This was just a short look into it, because 5 hours of content is not enough for me to go into details about. Not when I was watching another god-knows-how-many seasonals and anime between that.
Good season though!

Bonus screenshots: