Kimi ni Todoke 4

Kaoru Shiina – Viz – 2010 – 10+ volumes

Once again, I am ridiculously fond of this series.  I think my heart lies with super-dramatic and slightly trashy shoujo, but that’s why I need series like Kimi ni Todoke and Otomen to lighten the mood for me a little.  They are essential reading in a diet that consists primarily of stuff like We Were There and… uh, Gakuen Prince.  Well, this and stuff like Lapis Lazuli Crown, which I also just read and is also a very light shoujo story.  But very few things can make me feel genuinely good inside like Kimi ni Todoke.

Which is saying something, considering this volume is mostly depressing stuff about Sawako’s new “friend” and how she’s trying to manipulate her into giving up on Kazehaya.  It takes place at the school sports festival (so that you know it’s a manga), but everything going on is so crazy that the mundane setting is completely lost.

Kurumi tries everything to try and get Sawako away from Kazehaya, but Sawako doesn’t understand that her new friend is being a jerk.  Kurumi’s attempt at making Sawako meekly submit fails, as does her stab at trying to get Sawako’s attentions to point elsewhere or even doubt her own feelings.  She casts a dark shadow over everything in the volume, but it helps that Sawako is completely oblivious and also too smart to fall for her simple tricks.  And I like that both of those are possible on the same character.

Sawako’s friends more or less leave her to her own battles, until it becomes obvious that Kurumi is going to start playing very dirty, and has in the past.  They do some legwork to try and catch Kurumi in her crimes.  The confrontation is comedic, which relieved me since I thought it would be unbearably sad.  The friends help lighten the mood immensely, but when Kurumi finally pulls her mask off in front of Sawako, it really is sad to see Sawako’s reaction.  She doesn’t believe what she’s hearing at all, and then finally understands.  It is most heartbreaking.

And the most heartbreaking thing of all is that Sawako doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.  She makes me feel guilty for rooting for Kurumi’s downfall.  And that’s the magic of Kimi ni Todoke.

There is a love confession towards the end of the volume.  It is shoujo manga magical, and unlike any love confession I’ve ever seen.  It made me laugh very, very hard.  I’m happy to see that this series will take its time dipping Sawako’s toes into things, and that everyone will be there for her when she’s ready to step out on her own.

Man, this series is good.  Super good.  There is nothing that makes me quite as happy as Kimi ni Todoke, and I love it best because it really isn’t a comedy, it’s just Sawako being herself.

This was a review copy provided by Viz.