First impressions - 'Kimi ni Todoke'

School- life shoujo at its best: lots of laughters, lots of tears, lots of sparkles floating, many chibis and a huge dose of innocence. What makes it so good though is its sweetness. It warms your heart like no other anime. Sawako and Kazehaya are one of a kind, so very kawai and so very shy and gentle. The word 'yasashii' appears already from the opening and it's one of the reappearing words along with the 'thank you' , 'hajimete' (=first/ beginning) and 'I am happy' that come from the lips of Sawako :)

After the first episodes (till episode 5)


Neko: Aaaaw, I wish students were like that... (Referring to Sawako et al)


Kitsune: Hai...but the rumour thing- students ARE like that :(


N: Well, actually it makes mes sad how untrue the whole story is. Nice characters though.


K: That's shoujo for you! Although harassment like the one inflicted on Sawako and misunderstandings do exist. Plus Japanese people had always a difficulty being straight with words about their feelings. I mean in real life, it's said, 'aishiteru' (=I love you) is hardly ever used. And some couples don't get to call one another with their first name suffixless (-> indication of intimacy). So, it's not soooo unreal.


Yup, the characters are very refreshing to watch, how they interact, how they react- who doesn't giggle at sweet Kazehaya, who turns bright red, when he gazes Sawako? Who doesn't laugh at the torrents that fall from Chizu's eyes? Who doesn't smile, when Sawako flashes a unique smile? Who doesn't root for the latter to realize her feelings for Kazehaya-kun and reach him? And then there is silent Ryu, who's a good friend of Chizu, and the silly Pin-sensei...Oh, right, and that 'french doll', the blondie who's very suspicious...It smells like a rival.


It surely will move very slowly until we see the protagonists together and surely as shoujo will have some cliches, but I'm sure we'll enjoy the way the series unfolds. We are curious how they'll reach the happy ending. Besides, the issues that are addressed are perhaps common, but nontheless important, like the fact that someone should handle his/her problems on his/her own and that you should make your feelings clear.

There's no knowing how others are feeling unless you ask them. ~ Sawako

We went to watch 2 episodes in a row unexpectedly, because we couldn't wait to see how the misunderstanding between Sawako and the girls will be solved and it was already late at night. Neko should go back to study and Kitsune felt a bit tired, so...


K: Do you want us to skip the opening?


N: No way I'm losing such a beautiful opening.

Indeed. Kimi ni Todoke has great music and great artwork!. The other day Kitsune was singing the opening all day long! It's so addictive! And the soft colours get you in the gentle and sweet atmosphere perfectly! The scenes change nicely from one to another and even opposite colours are combined very well, too. Let's let the pictures speak.

 
And then comes the ending theme with some chibi forms and watercolour combined with colour pencils. 

K: The ending's artwork reminds me of Thumberlina, where she feels weak in the beginning due to her size, she gets in many adventures, gets lost many times and in the end finds her prince on a flower just right in her size. 

P.S.: Sawako has a beautiful smile!