Kimi ni Todoke – 25 (END) (?)

A question mark of course because the ending leaves everything wide open for a second season. :p

The finale is not at all unexpected but still fairly sweet overall. It’s nice to see how much more natural Kazehaya and Sawako’s interactions are; I like how when Ayane stumbles upon them after being freed from the stupidity of Joe, from the outside everyone can see that Kazehaya and Sawako are having fun talking together, even though they’re both nervous inside because they are silly anime teenagers.

Even though the ending is frustrating because Sawako and Kazehaya refuse to make any sort of move, it’s at least somewhat satisfying in the sense that Sawako has grown up quite a bit and is able to be honest with herself without flying into dramatics or putting herself down or whatnot (she still needs to work on that when other people are in the picture, though). Kimi ni Todoke is as much about Sawako growing out of her shell and finding her place in the world as it is about Sawako falling in love with Kazehaya. Really, she isn’t even able to recognize her feelings for Kazehaya until she gains some social context.

I won’t pretend I wasn’t among those shouting, “Go for it, already!” when Sawako’s written oracle basically says, “Hey, dummy, confess to him already! He’s right there!” however. Ah well. So many cockteases in romances I blog about here (although Aoi Hana and Sasameki Koto are metaphorical cockteases, of course :p).

There are some good moments outside of Sawako and Kazehaya shooting the breeze, such as this hilarious moment where Ayane gives a very thankful prayer after Joe the Retard is dragged away from her by his parents. Whew, crisis averted! If this world is governed by a kind and just God, surely he will do Ayane a solid and erase her time with Joe from the memories of all bystanders. (Speaking of the bystanders, they all seemed relieved to have Joe out of their hair as well. Or maybe they just all felt horrible for Ayane, who was clearly suffering quite a bit.) If not, then maybe Lelouch will be kind enough to provide some cross-series promotion and erase this terrible time from the memories of all involved.

Ryu is also funny in this episode, ditching Ayane and Chizuru without any qualms — not that I can blame him; who the hell would want to hang out with Joe for that long? — and trying his best to quench his thirst for amazake. (SPOILER: He never gets it. Yes, my heart was broken when the episode ended without Ryu enjoying the delicious fruits of his sweet, slightly alcoholic beverage of choice. This is worse than Sawako and Kazehaya not getting to first base. Ryu x amazake forever!! lol at me) At least there are some nice Chizuru x Ryu moments to make up for the bitter disappointment of Ryu getting his (presumably light) buzz on.

Pin is also a welcome surprise; he seems to be using New Years as an opportunity to hit on many women, which gives him a good deal in common with most of America. Good man! Ayane is really getting the shaft, though, if being inadvertently saved by Pin is the best she can look forward to on New Years. Pin is funny, sure, but what did Ayane do to deserve this? She needs a better agent — one who can negotiate for more screen time and a guy to be with who isn’t a total loser. (And make sure that agent is also able to get Kurumi some more screen time!)

Overall, I enjoyed Kimi ni Todoke even though it is an uneven series. The beginning, with its emphasis on Sawako breaking out of her shell, is nice, but the Rumors/Kurumi nearly broke my enjoyment of the series with its wayward melodrama. However, as is often the case with anime, the series takes a good leap forward in the second half; just about every episode is quality, with Chizuru’s arc being a particular highlight. As long as the series can keep that level of quality up, I am totally on board for a second season.