It’s time to look at one of the more well known Shojo titles from back in the day. Kimi ni Todoke made a lot of waves and I can see why because at its core its a very pleasant romance title. The drama never gets too crazy and the main romance actually works which is already putting it above 90% of the competition. This is a pairing where both characters are not on the rebound or anything like that. I can really appreciate this and ultimately the series had a good ending as well. It’s a romance that was so good I was tempted to bump it up to an 8 but ultimately I think having it as a very high 7 is still the best spot for it.

The story follows a girl named Sawako who people have dubbed Sadako because she always looks really creepy and upset. Sawako is actually a very nice girl but she’s rather timid and has never been able to stand up for herself. This puts her in a rather difficult position all the time and she would really like to just make friends at some point. So the series is really about her gaining that confidence and finally meeting some people at school. She even gets the attention of Kazehaya, the popular boy at school and he may even like her back? This is Sawako’s time to really make the most of her life and she is ready for this!

The romance is a huge part of the series so lets talk about that right off the bat. Why does it work? Well for one thing we have a lot of time here. It’s not like Sawako meets Kazehaya and they immediately start dating the same week. They don’t even get together immediately in the same semester, it takes over a year before they really get formal and even then they still have to work on getting closer. It’s a romance that takes a lot of time to develop and slow burns are always the best ones without a doubt. I do believe in true love (Not so much love at first sight though) so it’s fine if you fall for someone right away but it should still take time to really be going out and everything. So the series cleared the first big hurdle.

Second big hurdle, there were no rebounds. Sawako wasn’t dating another guy before Kazehaya and he wasn’t dating someone else. They were each other’s first and that’s a big deal. I’m not saying it’s impossible to move on but the romance absolutely gets a mega bump by having them not have any kind of a past. They each stayed strong until they found the right person and didn’t rush things along.

Both characters also have complete lives outside of each other. You’re not having every scene be them obsessing about each other. Kazehaya is still there for his friends like Ryu and even Kento to give advice to. He has a reasonable relationship with Sawako’s friends as well and the same is true for her. We get to really see into their lives and see how they are quality characters. It makes the romance feel a lot more fulfilling.

They’re also not immediately going crazy either, just holding hands took a while. So yes this was a slow burn that followed all of the right steps. If I had any nitpicks, it’s that they came so close to waiting until they were married/engaged but ultimately Kazehaya ran out of willpower near the end when Sawako was on a sleepover. It’s a shame since her parents were counting on him. Obviously since they each love each other and everything it’s not a huge deal but literally they made it to around the last or second last chapter. Would have been nice if he could have stayed strong there.

Since the main romance is good, the rest of the series is automatically on to a good track. That said, the side romance was not as good. Ryu and Chizuru is the B plot on this one. So for some context here, she was originally in love with his brother. The problem is he’s quite a bit older and always saw her as a kid sister. He eventually found a girlfriend and got engaged so Chizuru was forced to move on. This leads to her falling for his younger brother Ryu who has always liked her from the shadows. Unfortunately this is the very definition of a rebound.

The series tries to take its time and develop this one as well but it was unsuccessful this time. No matter how you slice it, she wasn’t ready to move on until she had absolutely no choice. I also don’t think Ryu looked good in staying silent for so long and then making his move after she was rejected. The pairing just never worked and if anything I just felt he was being selfish the whole time so no dice there.

Some characters didn’t have an end game romance and that actually was handled really well. First up we have Kurumi. She started out as the school bully who picked on Sawako. This is because Kurumi secretly liked Kazehaya. Kurumi was good at what she did, she never left any evidence and she actually managed to get completely under Sawako’s skin. That’s not an easy feat and by the end of the series they are true rivals. Sawako and her have a dynamic that can’t be replicated by any of the other characters, she helps Sawako be her true self. Of course Kurumi becomes a better character as the series goes on and is no longer bitter about things.

Where the series really shines is in how her character arc ends. She doesn’t find some guy to rebound with or anything like that. Instead she focuses on her studies and makes peace with the fact that things didn’t work out. Kazehaya likes someone else and always will. She was still a tad awkward around him by the end but that makes sense, it’s not like the feelings completely vanish overnight. One of the characters even mentions how there is nothing admirable about holding onto a one sided love and that’s definitely very true. While getting over someone is not nearly as easy as the movies would have you believe, you just have to try your best and put some distance between you.

Ultimately the feeling might fade or it might not. If it doesn’t, well that’s rough but that’s how it goes. You’d better get used to being single but either way you don’t want to obsess over someone that’ll never be yours. So Kurumi had a very constructive way about getting over her feelings by putting her everything into work and this succeeded. She definitely ended up being one of the better characters by the end.

Another character who had a unique but solid character end was Yano. Again, she fell for someone who couldn’t possibly love her back and this put her into a bit of a slump. Initially she would date any guy just to pass the time by and because she felt bad saying no. Well, that all changed once she met Sawako and Chizuru and got to see what a real relationship was like. Falling for the teacher was definitely a rough blow but the series handled it perfectly. Ultimately she was able to move on and you can assume that down the line she met someone and got to have a good time. She was a really good ally to Sawako throughout the series and always put others first. I appreciated her selflessness the whole time.

Also, at one point she goes out with a guy named Kento and this was another subplot that the series handled masterfully. He’s a really nice guy who did everything he could to win her over. He was as kind as could be and said/did all the right things. Ultimately it just didn’t work out because she didn’t love him. Sometimes that just happens. You could do all of the right things but if the other person is not in love with you then that’s the end of that. It’s all about accepting this and moving on. He didn’t resent her for it and they were able to still talk semi normally.

Kento respected her space and her decision and so I thought he was a very good character. Honestly he’s one of the best in the series because there was no “Nice guy” twist. He wasn’t a faker or insecure or anything like that. He was someone who genuinely wanted to make everyone else happier and I could appreciate that. It’s very rare to see a character like this who is not rewarded in some way by finding someone. As long as he can stay happy then that’s the important part.

While I didn’t care for Chizuru’s romance plot, I will say that she was still a good character. She was always there for Sawako and was a reliable figure. Chizuru may not be the smartest character and can get lightly teased for that but she always means well and works really hard. She is always trying to do the right thing even when there are a lot of misunderstandings and drama.

Ryu also wasn’t bad although I do think he is the weakest out of the main cast. His main thing is that he’s not very emotional or expressive. He tends to think a lot and has good things to say but it takes him a while to get there. Some people are just like that, but ultimately it does mean that he’s not going to be quite as interesting or entertaining as some of the other characters. They’ve definitely got him beat in that area.

His older brother Toru gets a pretty small role but I’ll give him a shoutout for always being cool about everything. He lets Chizuru down very kindly while still being definitive about it. He’s a guy who is very sure of himself and has a lot of confident. Those are important traits in any guy. The same goes for Pin. Yes, Pin messes around a lot and likes to joke but when things get serious, he is always there ready to make the right decision. He especially gets really important in the second half of the series where he is constantly giving everyone really good advice. Without him they all would have fumbled and had tough times for quite a long while.

Pin knows how to support characters based on their personality. Sometimes this even means tricking them a bit with some reverse psychology. Whatever he needs to do, Pin will do it. It’s part of what makes him such a top rate teacher. By the end of the series he even ended up being my favorite out of the whole cast. Just a lot of depth to him and in general I would say most of the characters here had a whole lot of depth. It was really quite impressive.

As for the main two, I talked about their romance but what about their characters? Well first up for Kazehaya, he was a very solid character as you’d expect. One subtle thing the series gave him was a decent amount of jealousy and possessiveness. He was always a nice guy in terms of how he would present himself and how everyone would see him but at the same time he would actually get upset if someone tried making a move on Sawako. He had a bit of a quick temper there and had a hard time not showing it. He dealt with a lot of other issues as well and never took them out on anyone. Kazehaya mixed the traits of being a nice guy with someone who wasn’t perfect all the time and it was good.

Sawako got to see sides of him that nobody else would and it helped to make their relationship feel even more special. Meanwhile Sawako got a ton of great character development. She is able to speak up for herself really easily as the series goes on. She makes her own decisions and gets to also explain herself. The series has her address each and every one of her flaws and insecurities from early on and spin them all the way back around.

There are a bunch of other side characters I haven’t gone into either so read the series to check them all out. The fact that this ran on for 30 volumes is super impressive and it’s another strength to the series. Length plays a huge part in making a romance good like I said earlier. Additionally, I dare say that it helps a series in general as well. You’re given more time to meet the characters, see what makes them tick and everything. By the time the series is over you feel like you’ve gotten to see the characters grow and mature in real time.

I pretty much blasted through the series but I imagine you’d feel this effect even stronger if you had been reading it live, chapter by chapter. They get to show us Christmas and Valentine’s on different years. There are a whole lot of events in the middle, school trips, etc. The series really got to explore all of the different scenarios you would expect to see in a school based story.

Additionally, the series knew how to have fun as well. While romance and drama are probably the main two genres I would list for the series, it definitely had a fair share of comedic moments as well. The series always had a very light tone in between these events. It wasn’t like an onslaught of bad things that kept happening to the characters or it wouldn’t feel like a fun series.

For every tough moment that Sawako had, she got to experience over a dozen great memories. The characters are also very mature and even during an argument they aren’t breaking up or doing anything drastic. They eventually get better and better at actually talking things out and overreacting. From a pure realism standpoint I would say this has to be near the top because just about everything here is fairly believable. You even have the desperate guy in the classroom who flirts with everyone in the hopes of getting any kind of success but it shot down all the time. I didn’t feel bad for Joe by the way, he really didn’t try or apply himself at all. Being desperate like that is just rough.

Overall, Kimi ni Todoke is definitely a high quality series. It succeeds on the romance which is a really big deal all thing considered. The series is long enough where every character gets to have a whole lot of development. Yes, there are setbacks that the various characters have to deal with and some drama that definitely could have been avoided but all in all I thought this was a great story. It felt like a pretty good adaption of what school life would be like and nothing was too exaggerated. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in the genre. It has aged really well.

Overall 7/10