Photo by Nicole. Shiina, Volume 1 Cover Art, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Viz Media.
Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You – Information
Author of Story: Karuho Shiina
Chapter Count: 30 volumes, around 123 chapters
Status: Completed
View the official Viz Media page for Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Bullying
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Kimi ni Todoke – Plot Summary
Okay, hear me out. I know that Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You is a pretty well-known shoujo manga. It’s not exactly a new or uncommon recommendation or anything; but I still really wanted to talk about it! Its a favorite of many manga enthusiasts, and is a super sweet love story. So, let’s get into it!
This incredibly sweet, wholesome, and fluffy story primarily focuses on the heroine Sawako Kuronuma. She is a high school student who is referred to as “Sadako” by her classmates and schoolmates. Yes, “Sadako” like the scary, long-haired woman from the horror film The Ring.
This is due to many misunderstandings and rumors spreading from as early as elementary school, as well as Sawako’s rather creepy demeanor which is caused by her intense nervousness.
Sawako’s nervousness and insanely low confidence play a very big role in this story, as she struggles to make friends and find her place of belonging within school. She even tries often to make friends, but sort of goes about it in the wrong way. However, she meets a couple people during this journey that help turn her life around in new ways!
Kimi ni Todoke is a fluffy romance about youthful experiences and first loves, with a slow-paced, slice-of-life style that is often comedic, too.
It’s very enjoyable and a top ranking choice for many shoujo lovers! It’ll pull you through a journey of emotions—crying at one moment, laughing at another, and feeling excitement over the very pure romance.
Shiina, Volume 7 Cover Art, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Viz Media.
Why I Enjoyed Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You
I want to specify that this review is primarily for the Kimi ni Todoke manga; although the anime was very well done (I especially love the season 1 opening song). The anime follows the manga pretty closely (maybe not 100% exact, but very close); however, I primarily review mangas on this site anyway.
I also think the anime makes the story feel slower—so if you’re impatient like me, I highly recommend reading the manga instead!
Plus, the manga has a really cute art style. I’ve said this before in other reviews, but I love slightly older manga art styles. Kimi ni Todoke isn’t super old (first published in 2006 in Japanese and then in 2009 in English), but it also isn’t drawn in the way modern mangas are.
I think that the shoujo art styles around this time have their own special charm, and have always been a favorite of mine. Even all of the Kimi ni Todoke manga cover designs are so lovely!
There are tons of other reasons to like this series. It’s so cute and sweet, and will sometimes even make you cry over the youthful challenges portrayed in this manga. It’s the definition of a sweet, fluffy manga. It’s a great read for people who love sweet, pure romances.
I feel like this manga and Takane no Ran San are some of the fluffiest mangas you can find out there. However, in Kimi ni Todoke we have other characters that aren’t as sweet or shy, and really help push the story along.
Firstly we have Shota Kazehaya. He met Sawako by chance while trying to find his school on the first day. Since that moment, these two have a special connection that very slowly grows stronger. He is the sunflower of the class, whom everyone likes and adores.
They follow him, as Shota is an approachable person and an ideal leader for the class. Obviously, he becomes the love interest throughout Kimi ni Todoke.
I really like Shota’s character. He’s a lot more gutsy than I expected him to be, and often says some funny stuff. I think he is the perfect match for Sawako. The author did an amazing job at creating two characters who just naturally have a good chemistry and who match each other well.
Shota also becomes incredibly important for Sawako’s character growth. He helps others see that Sawako is just a normal and sweet girl, and also serves as a support for Sawako as she learns how to make friends and grow close with others. He seems perfect, but he also has times where he hesitates or gets embarrassed, too. He’s such a likable male lead!
Next, we have the two incredibly important characters, Chizuru Yoshida and Ayane Yano. These two girls are sort of the “different” girls of the class for their own reasons. They become very important characters in this series, helping Sawako often and becoming her precious friends.
I love these two characters, because we get a super sweet friendship arc in this manga that will make you sob. Romantic love isn’t the only type of love out there, after all! These two characters even get their own side-story romances too, which were really nice additions to the plot.
However, when it does come to romantic love in Kimi ni Todoke, you wholeheartedly root for Sawako. She has to overcome not only her shyness, but also her low confidence in order to believe she can date. It would be difficult to love others properly if she don’t learn to love herself first!
Therefore, Sawako must overcome a pretty big hurdle after being made into the creepy outcast “Sadako.” She has to be able to believe that someone can have romantic feelings for her. She also has the hurdle of a love rival!
All in all, this story is filled with lots of emotion and love of different kinds. It explores the difficulties of friendship and learning to love yourself, as well as dealing with new feelings in the form of your first crush.
Altogether, Kimi ni Todoke is incredibly wholesome and will warm your heart in so many ways. It’s no wonder that so many people have come to love it!
Shiina, Volume 27 Cover Art, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Viz Media.
Any Cons?
I will warn that this is one of the most excruciatingly slow romances in terms of shoujo. It is filled with hesitation, doubts, lots of misunderstandings, and low self esteem; all of which contribute to a very slow burn romance.
Even in the anime, many scenes are drawn-out, so I sort of preferred being able to just read it quicker it in the manga, haha. Either way, the plot progresses very slowly no matter the format you choose!
However, this con sort of makes sense considering a few factors. Firstly, Kimi ni Todoke is a shoujo, so this sort of plot style is pretty common.
Also, the characters are really young, still learning about new emotions, and maturing; so, it completely makes sense that they’d struggle to be honest or blunt when it comes to admitting how they feel. However, I know many readers may get frustrated with the pacing, so just be mindful that this story is very slow to develop romance-wise.
This next con goes hand-in-hand with the previous con. This manga is an extremely fluffy and sweet shoujo, where every interaction is very romanticized. If you don’t like the fairy-tale vibe of some shoujos, you may not like this manga very much. Even the smallest interactions are dramatized.
Personally, I think that is part of the appeal of the Kimi ni Todoke manga and even the anime. It’s supposed to be a representation of high school experiences! High school years are very formative for people, so I do think it’s accurate to say that everything feels incredibly important during that time.
However, I know the dramatization isn’t something everyone enjoys in manga.
More In-Depth Review (Warning: Spoilers!)
One of the things I wanted to discuss in depth more is the love rival in Kimi ni Todoke, Ume Kurumizawa.
She is, in my opinion, a very well-written love rival character. She shows her hate for Sawako so obviously from the start, especially considering Shota shows obvious interest in Sawako. She’s a high school girl with a big crush; of course she would be upset.
However, she absolutely cannot free herself from the rays of innocence and the good intentions from Sawako. I love that in the end of Kimi ni Todoke, they become sort-of friends through their mostly one-sided rivalry, and Ume’s character improves tremendously once she is rejected.
Instead of showering more hate on Sawako, she sort of accepts defeat and even provides her own sort of assistance, albeit begrudgingly.
Regardless, she definitely gets a redemption from her rude actions from earlier in the manga, and is pretty realistic in the fact that she doesn’t just flip a switch and become besties with Sawako…yet also can’t completely hate her either! Because of how interesting her character was, I really wanted to see more of her.
Luckily for me and other readers who appreciated Kurumi’s character in the Kimi ni Todoke manga series, we get to see her even more! Karuho Shiina created Kimi ni Todoke: Soulmate, a short spin-off that focuses primarily on Kurumi.
As you’ll remember from the ending ofthe original, Kurumi and Sawako end up going to the same college and are friends by the end of the series. This spin-off story tells a new love story for Kurumi, featuring Sawako as her close friend and support.
This was an exciting announcement for me because Kurumi’s character is one of my favorites. She’s the anti-heroine, and I love that about her character. She deserved a happy ending, and I’m so glad the author created this short story to grant her a special story, too.
Also, it involves a few characters from Shiina’s other work, Crazy For You, which was a fun surprise. I won’t go in depth about this spin-off here, because I have actually reviewed it separately—feel free to read my review of this adorable spinoff series here: Kimi ni Todoke: Soulmate!
Shiina, Volume 1 Cover Art, Kimi ni Todoke: Soulmate, Viz Media.
Final Thoughts
This incredibly sweet and wholesome story is a shoujo must-read. Kimi ni Todoke is well-known for good reasons, as the story warms your heart and provides a really sweet first-crush sort of romance.
The manga is completed, so you can enjoy the full story! The anime also has three seasons, so you can enjoy much of the story that way, too.
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Shiina, Karuho. Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Viz Media, 2009. Margaret Comics, Shueisha, 2006. Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You ~ Soulmate, Margaret Comics, Shueisha, 2019.
