To pay homage to the innocence and optimism this show radiates, I'll get the most and pretty much only big negative I have out of the way first. The last little bit of the second arc focusing on "the main antagonist" (AKA secondary love interest that has no chance in hell) was very jarring. They tried to justify this characters extremely mean-spirited and plentiful actions to no real effect. To have a character that tries to cause so much damage only to try and justify it all feels pointless. Also, Sawako's (the MC) innocence at the climax of this arc was too much for me to handle. It makes sense in the context of her character, but I felt they blew it a little out of proportion.
Other than that, there isn't much negative to say about Kimi ni Todoke. It used the right amount of drama to create some interesting character interactions and character development, but never to the point where it feels melodramatic.
That's the best part of Kimi ni Todoke as a whole really. Nothing ever outstays it's welcome. It gets it's point across in a timely and effective fashion, and then moves away so that the next big point has it's time to shine. This keeps everything fresh.
The last thing I will say about the story is the love triangles. While I normally don't like love triangles in romance anime (which is sad for me since most anime have them), this show handles it almost perfectly. This because of two things. First off, it goes off the thing I said earlier in that it doesn't outstay it's welcome. Secondly, the love triangles never include 3 main characters. It is always 2 mains and 1 supporting. With these things in place, the love triangles add to the drama quite nicely, and then they fade away after that arc they are in is finished.
But of course, none of these things matter if you don't have good characters and good bonds between said characters, which is especially important for romance anime. Kimi ni Todoke delivers this, with all the main characters being very likeable and not distinctly falling into archetypes.
Kuronuma Sawako is a very good lead (except for the part I mentioned earlier). Her optimism and positive attitude to almost everything makes it hard not to like her, and her development early on was very well done. Whenever she's happy or tries to make others happy, you can't help but be happy for her. Also, her relationship with the main love interest, Kazehaya Shouta, was handled well. Each had something to gain from their relationship. It just felt very balanced, as one never outshadowed the other.
Also, she's like the cutest thing ever.
The secondary romance between Sanada Ryu and Yoshida Chizu was great as well. The anime spent a decent chunk of episodes developing them, making their relationship a lot more 3-dimensional than most secondary romances. The two characters by themselves were nice too. Chizu brought a great energy to every scene she was in, and Ryu's honest and "lazy" take on everything was a breath of fresh air. Their contrasting personalities is what made them stand up to the primary romance in my opinion.
Lastly we Ayane Yano. Although we didn't get a proper arc with her this season, she was no less of a presence throughout the entire show. She brought a lot with her perceptive eye. She is always the character that knows what's actually going on, and does her best to help her friends get to the desired conclusion. When her and Chizu got introduced in the first episode, you get the feeling that they are going to be a thorn in Sawako's side, but I was pleasantly surprised when they both turned out to be amazing friends and characters.
The side characters are no less interesting. Pin brings a lot to the comedy, and Kurumizawa is a character you love to hate. I also really like how Ryuu's older brother looks like a delinquent, but is actually a very nice guy.
Speaking of, this show looks extremely shoujo, which is not a bad thing. It looks very nice, it's easy to look at, and it fits the overall tone of the show well. The animation is fairly limited, but you come to expect that with these types of anime.
This soundtrack stood out to me far more than most in the genre do. It fits the tone well, and it's something I feel I could listen to outside of the show. There is just this nice calm feel to a lot of the soundtrack, and the one track that is played in the dramatically intensified parts of the show is brilliant. The OP was also fantastic. The ED slightly less so.
While Kimi ni Todoke doesn't really break the mold of it's genre, it elevates what it is given a great deal. Each arc tackled something different, which made it easy to just keep watching without stopping. Save for the last bit of the second arc, I thoroughly enjoyed all of Kimi ni Todoke. It has what I like in a shoujo romance anime. A great main lead and romance, heartfelt dramatic moments, comedy that doesn't feel out of place, and most of all, extremely cheesy and cute moments that you can't help but go "awww!" every time one of them pops up. I highly recommend Kimi ni Todoke to any fans of romance anime, especially if you like shoujo romance.
