Kimi ni Todoke 2
September 16, 2009
Karuho Shiina – Viz – 2009 – 8+ volumes
Ah! I just finished reading this! Too cute for words! Part of me feels secretly bad that I liked something that is literally injected with as much niceness as any book could possibly take, but the result is… well, too nice not to like.
Misunderstandings run rampant through this volume, and Sawako spends most of the story here feeling bad. Someone is spreading rumors about her new friends, and that someone is apparently her. Yano and Yoshida don’t believe she’s spreading the rumors, but when they overhear Sawako telling someone that they aren’t friends, and when she says point blank that she doesn’t like them… well, what can they think? Of course Sawako was telling one of her old classmates that she wasn’t friends with Yano and Yoshida because she couldn’t presume to be freinds with them, and she got cut off when she started saying “I don’t like you, I adore you.” So, you know. Don’t worry though, Yano and Yoshida can’t get Sawako’s niceness out of their heads, and Kazehaya is watching Sawako crash from a distance, so you know something good will happen in the end.
Like I said, the niceness is almost too much. A couple classmates that pick a fight with Sawako at the end of the volume are eventually driven away because Sawako has no wish to fight and just keeps talking about how nice Yano and Yoshida are. Yano and Yoshida also put a lot more thought into their relationship with Sawako than any high school students ever would.
But it’s just so cute. I can’t begrudge it its niceness, especially when, as I said, the result winds up being so enjoyable. After all the bad stuff that happens here, when things are straightened out and Yano, Yoshida, and Sawako are better friends because of it, and Kazehaya is looking on with his crush on Sawako written all over his face… I mean, isn’t this what every shoujo manga should be like?
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
September 16, 2009 at 6:43 am
[...] of Crimson Hero (i heart manga) Julie on vol. 11 of High School Debut (Manga Maniac Cafe) Connie on vol. 2 of Kimi ni Todoke (Slightly Biased Manga) Michelle Smith on vols. 12 and 13 of Love*Com (Soliloquy in Blue) Amy [...]
September 16, 2009 at 10:38 am
Hello, let me just say that I’m jealous that u have volume 2 already! I just love the manga! May I ask u a question? Does Viz keep the cover clean like the first volume? By the way thank you for the awesome reviews you write!
September 18, 2009 at 7:56 am
Hi Connie!
Nice to see you’ve written a review about volume 2! How I wish I can get volume 2 early..
Volume 2 is one of the most heart wrenching and heart warming scenes I’ve read in shoujo.
I can’t get enough of Kazehaya being anxious cause he thought that Sawako is avoiding him thinking he did something bad.
I shed a ton of tears when Sawako tried to distance herself from Chizu and Ayane of course Kazehaya too! I like the part where she mentioned about “she forgets her old self, she doesn’t remember how to be alone anymore now that she got to experience socializing. That she wonders how did she survived all the time that she was lonely” something along the lines..
But yeah its a great series I tell you over and over. I LOVE this series.
Thanks for the review!
PS: I wasn’t able to reply to some of the other comments.. We just got our internet fixed this week. We didn’t have internet from almost a month!
Ttyl and hope to hear from you soon!
September 19, 2009 at 4:19 am
Oh, no problem! I’ve been sort of infrequently updating the site anyway.
Yes, I had forgotten to mention how Sawako talked about how she needed her friends at the end! It was definitely an excellent feel-good moment, as you say, that entire ending. I fell for it completely, even though I knew it was coming. It’s really hard to resist the charm of the series. Kazehaya in particular is someone I want to see more of, he hasn’t had too much of the spotlight yet, but his blushing and feeling anxious around Sawako is adorable, and I can’t wait until the story involves him a little more.
And I was really impressed with the way the volume managed to cover complete despair and hopelessness along with all the cute, happy, friendship and romance moments it managed to squeeze in at the end. It was actually a pretty impressive range, there aren’t very many series that can pull off something so sincere.
I like it a lot so far, but I think I need to read another couple volumes before I fall totally in love.
September 19, 2009 at 4:21 am
Stella: Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the review!
The cover is completely clean, like the first volume. No extra logos or stylistic fourishes or anything aside from the cute circles and little sparkles that surround the logo and type. They even kept the background color, which I liked since the author discusses the colors on the cover to both volume one and two in the book itself.
September 20, 2009 at 2:37 am
Definitely! Shiina Karuho is really good at her character interactions and the execution of the plot. I like how slow paced Kimi ni Todoke as well. Oh you’ll really like the latter volumes.
Indeed, Kimi ni Todoke has lots of thing going, even though the plot is reused, its very well written and it manages to create something spectacular out of a simple plot.
Count on it, you’ll fall in love with this series more. Can’t wait to read up to the latest volume, oh and the anime is going to air next month. Very excited about that. And seeing the promotional trailer was even more wonderful and exciting!
September 21, 2009 at 2:40 am
Thanks! I’m glad to hear all the good news.
And I remember reading about the anime, and was scanning through articles about it as I was writing this review. I don’t frequently watch anime, but I was considering checking out at least a couple episodes of this. I tend to like anime a bit better when they are light and romantic, I think. Well… usually. My taste in anime is really erratic, but I did want to try this one out at least a little.