Kimi ni Todoke is one of those shows that has such a good start, that you would never even consider it being disappointing. What starts off with an interesting premise with fun, likeable characters soon loses itself in its slow pace, strange humor, and awkward interactions. Though the show manages to stay afloat, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few people jump ship by the end of it.
The story of Kimi ni Todoke begins with our main protagonist Kuronuma Sawako. The name “Sawako” has the unfortunate case of sounding a lot like “Sadako”, the creepy girl from The Ring. This, along with Sawako’s general shyness and quiet demeanor, leads all of her classmates and instructors to believe she is cursed. This is not helped by the fact that every time she tries to correct any misunderstandings, she speaks with a gravelly voice and looks like she’s about to murder everyone in her vicinity. This leads Sawako to become ostracized by the entire school until the magical day when Kazehaya Shouta, the most friendly, popular, and cutest boy in school, decides to invite Sawako to a “test of courage”-type class event. This allows Sawako to befriend Chizu and Ayane, two girls from her class, and have a private, little moment with Kazehaya, which allows their romantic story to slowly begin.
It is here that the show begins its slow decline towards mediocrity. While the premise feels like it sets up a lot of interesting things to happen, the reality is that it’s a set-up for a few things to happen at an excruciatingly awkward pace. The first thing that the show focuses on is Sawako’s efforts to become more sociable with her class and with her two new friends. This feels like it happens almost immediately. Though Sawako herself takes almost the entire series to come out of her shell a little, she almost instantly becomes friends with her classmates through little “bribes”. Whether its cookies, class notes, or “medical attention”, Sawako’s immense kindness wins over the school almost instantly. Though not a deal-breaker, this makes the entire “The Ring” setup feel contrived and created just to give Kazehaya a reason to talk to her, because apparently he’s conveniently into girls that don’t get a lot of attention. The second thing the show focuses on is her growing infatuation with Kazehaya. Conversely, this part of the story is incredibly padded. Despite both of these characters’ obvious romantic interest for each other, not a single one of them is capable of ever pulling the trigger. Almost every interaction between these two characters involves awkward dialogue, close-ups of them blushing, and you screaming at the screen for them to just confess and kiss already! Usually this drawn out style makes these shows endearing, but the frequency of it in Kimi ni Todoke can be infuriating at times. This simplicity is expected for this type of show and isn’t inherently bad, but it is ruined by a somewhat mediocre cast of characters.
I’ve already briefly talked about Sawako, but despite generally being a really nice, sweet, and loveable character, Sawako frequently turns into an airheaded, socially awkward, bore. She will spend hours of this show’s runtime being confused by social norms and generally making poor decisions because of her failing to grasp a situation. This happens so frequently that the show even creates a specific, cutesy art-style for every occasion that Sawako starts freaking out about minor things. This also makes up for the bulk of this show’s comedy, and while it started out as a quirky thing to chuckle about, there’s simply too much of it. Kazehaya has the opposite problem of just kind of being there because he’s the main love interest. He exists simply to allow Sawako to grow and develop into a more well-rounded character, while he shows little to no growth or development. If anything, he degrades overtime from a charismatic jock to a shy, awkward mess that can barely even look Sawako in the face.
The three “friend” characters don’t fare much better. Chizuru Yoshida is introduced as the athletic type who is initially rumored to be a brute that is quick to anger and beat people up. Despite having some rough, Sawako-esque attempts at humor, Chizu is given a decent arc that results in her being one of the more developed characters in the series. Ayane Yano is introduced as the flirty, beauty-queen who is initially rumored to sleep around A LOT. While being my favorite of the friends, Ayane suffers from an “abusive boyfriend” arc that ends as quickly as it begins, and not really having much personal growth besides that. Ryuu Sanada is introduced as Kazehaya and Chizuru’s less-than-talkative friend. Ryuu suffers from very little screen time and a “secret crush” side story that doesn’t really go anywhere, but his cool and stoic nature generally makes him a treat to see. The only other character worth mentioning is Sawako’s short-lived rival Kurumi. Kurumi’s two-faced nature sets her up as a potential antagonist for the series and is responsible for one of the more interesting series of moments in the story. It, however, turns out disappointing because of how quickly it is dealt with and how little it actually accomplishes in bringing Sawako and Kazehaya together.
This mostly positive, mixed bag of characters eventually leads the story to a sweet, but severely lacking conclusion. I’m positive that the second season will do a lot to alleviate my problems with this show, but it doesn’t change the fact that season one feels lacking. Though the characters were entertaining enough to warrant me finishing this story in the near future, nothing presented thus far makes this show a must-watch series.
