Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You (君に届け?, lit. Reaching You) is a romance shōjo manga by Karuho Shiina (Shīna Karuho). It has been published by Shueisha in Bessatsu Margaret since 2005 and collected in 12 tankōbon volumes as of September 2010. In 2008, it won the Best Shōjo Manga award in the 32nd Annual Kodansha Manga Award.[1] The series was also nominated for the first Manga Taisho awards in 2008.[2] An anime adaptation of Kimi ni Todoke was aired in Japan,[3][4] produced by Production I.G.[5] A second season of the anime had been announced in Betsuma Magazine, and is now being aired in Japan as of January 4th, 2011. A live action film adaptation was released in 2010 starring Mikako Tabe and Haruma Miura.
Plot
Sawako Kuronuma, called Sadako by her classmates for her resemblance to the character from The Ring, has always been feared and misunderstood because of her appearance. There are rumors that Sawako can see ghosts and curse people. However, despite her appearances, she is a sweet and timid girl who longs to be able to make friends with everyone and be liked by everyone else. When her idol, popular boy Kazehaya, begins talking with her, everything changes. She finds herself in a new world, trying to make friends and talking to different people and she can't thank Kazehaya enough for giving her these opportunities. Slowly, but surely, a sweet love is blossoming between the two as they will overtake any circumstance or clear obstacles in their way.
Characters Sawako "Sadako" Kuronuma (黒沼 爽子 Kuronuma Sawako?) Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (anime), Mikako Tabe (live-action) Sawako is a shy yet honest girl who is in search of friendship, but her resemblance to horror film character Sadako makes this difficult. Sawako's modesty prevents her from correcting people's misconceptions, to the point that most of the school believes her name is, in fact, "Sadako." Thanks to Kazehaya's kind and open nature, she is able to gradually open up to her classmates, and talk to different people. Her modesty towards friends is so strong that Yoshida has to tell her point-blank, that "Did you know? Without realizing it ... we were already friends!"[7] With help from Kazehaya, Yano and Yoshida she gradually begins to make friends. She is grateful (and at first, idolizes) Kazehaya for giving her the opportunities to make close friends, which come to include Yano, Yoshida, Kazehaya and Ryu. Yano and Yoshida admit that Sawako's 'like' to Kazehaya might be even more than Yano and Yoshida themselves. She is rather short, in part because her father is short as well (he is only 160 cm tall) and is surprisingly fast (to the point some people believe she is teleporting) which is revealed during a soccer match at the school's sports festival. A running gag is that she seems to take what people say seriously as well as over-analyze a situation, which tends to scare the people around her when she is deep in thought. When Kazehaya practically confessed right in front of her that he likes her, she believes it was a misunderstanding and that he was just saying he doesn't hate her. However, after having everything cleared up, they officially start dating, though this only brings up rumors that she somehow used black magic to get him. Shota Kazehaya (風早 翔太 Kazehaya Shōta?) Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa (anime), Haruma Miura (live-action) Kazehaya is Sawako's outgoing and friendly classmate, and is Sawako's idol. He is so popular that during middle school, so many girls liked him that they formed a "Kazehaya is Everyone's" alliance in order to maintain some level of peace among his admirers and more than half of these girls now attend the same high school. Kazehaya has held a long standing love for Sawako and admits (though not to Sawako) that he likes her, unaware that she feels the same for him.[8] During their second year of high school, he begins to wonder if she actually does like him after she does not give him chocolates on Valentine's Day, not knowing that she had been too nervous to give him any. After the ordeal, he seemingly becomes calmer and shows a depressed and expressionless face more often. However, after being confronted by Ryu (influenced by Chizuru) and Pin, Kazehaya goes to Sawako as his friends jokingly remark that he likes Sawako; however, Kazehaya takes the remark seriously and agrees, subsequently confessing directly to Sawako.[9] However, after Sawako's misunderstanding of his confession, he believes she rejected him. However, in chapter 40, he was finally able to confess his feelings to her, and they are officially dating. Ayane Yano (矢野 あやね Yano Ayane?) Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (anime), Natsuna (live-action) Ayane is a close friend of Sawako. She is the arguably the most mature of the group and she has a boyfriend in college as well as having her ears pierced multiple times. Initially the mangaka conceived of Yano and Yoshida as a pair, and in the first two chapters the two are difficult to tell apart. She then redrafted the characters, combing Yano's hair and styling it in a fashion that looks like a pony-tail. In Kurumi's fake rumors, it is said that Ayane has played with more than 100 guys in middle school. In their current high school, it is said that Yano and Yoshida pretty much have authority in the year group. Perceptive and intelligent, a trait of Ayane's personality is that she takes just enough information to leave others wondering, thus forcing them to move forward, this as well as being able to figure out that it was Ume who spread the rumors and discovering that Sawako "liked" Kazehaya. Although she is usually calm and collected, she is easily infuriated if someone hurts Sawako and does not hesitate to attack the one she believes is responsible (frequently Kazehaya) with kicks and sharp words. She's also fairly intimidating when angry, being called scary by Chizuru a number of times. As of Chapter 20 she broke up with her boyfriend, who had begun to become too possessive of her: calling her all times of the day, wondering what she has been up to, and the fact if she was with any guys. After she suggested they break up, he slapped her across the face. When he tried to apologize and ask her back, she realized that the man she liked was not her boyfriend but rather, who he was when they started dating. As of recent chapters (Chapter 45), it appears she might be attracted to Pin. In Chapter 54, she is confessed to by a boy named Motoki. She immediately agrees to date him, which shocks everybody. However, currently it is unknown if she takes him seriously or not. Chizuru Yoshida (吉田 千鶴 Yoshida Chizuru?) Voiced by: Yuko Sanpei (anime), Misako Renbutsu (live-action) Yoshida is another close friend of Sawako. She is the tomboy of the group, and she even admits this when Ryu calls them brothers, where she argues about who is the older rather than that she is not a 'brother'. She can be very emotional at times, usually seen humorously crying after a touching moment between her friends. She has a soft spot for innocent mannered people, so she takes a near instant liking to Sawako. In Kurumi's fake rumors it was passed around that she was a former Yankee, though Chizuru just takes the rumor as a means of scaring people off or as a joke for her friends. Chizuru is mostly on the slower side of things; she did not realize that Kazehaya liked Sawako (even though she and Ayane planned many events for them) until late in the series, after they started their second year of high school. She is a close childhood friend with Ryu Sanada, her neighbor, and she went to the same middle school as Kazehaya and Ryu. Because of this, Ryu's family regards Chizuru and her family as their own and vice-versa. She has a crush on Ryu's brother, Toru, since she was very young knowing the age gap between them. When he visits with his fiancée, she realizes that he will only see their relationship as just siblings. Ryu Sanada (真田 龍 Sanada Ryū?) Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura (anime), Haru Aoyama (live-action) Ryu is also member of Sawako's group of friends. He is the son of the ramen shop owner of Chizuru Yoshida's favourite ramen shop. He is quiet most of the time and rarely talks, but still can communicate well with Sawako, as they both don't talk much anyways. Ryu and Kazehaya became friends when they were on the baseball team during middle school. He is also close childhood friends with Chizuru and does not deny having feelings for her, such as simply smiling when Sawako asks if he and Chizuru are dating.[10] He later confirms his love when he confesses that he likes Chizuru to Sawako. While his love is one-sided, he is very patient with Chizuru realizing that Chizuru probably won't like him in a romantic sense, at least not right away. He's more than willing to comfort Chizuru if she's depressed, though he would rather have her mad at him as he knows Chizuru can vent out her emotions better. Ryu also seems to like animals a lot; when Shota was going to walk "Maru", his adopted puppy, home with Sawako, Chizuru pulled Ryu away telling him he's going to walk with Ayane and her instead. While being pulled away from Shota's puppy, he cried out for it. A running gag in the series is that he has a very hard time remembering a person's name (with the exception of Kazehaya and Chizuru as he's known them for a long time, and after some time later Sawako and Ayane). In chapter 43, he casually tells Chiziru that he loves her and she reacts by saying "Don't say that so suddenly!". Kazuichi "Pin" Arai (荒井 一市 Arai Kazuichi?) Voiced by: Yuuki Ono (anime), Arata (live-action) Arai is the temporary homeroom teacher for Sawako's class, taking over when the previous homeroom teacher became sick during the summer holidays while Sawako was helping him. Sawako, being formal, always refers to him as "Arai-sensei," while almost everyone else refers to him by his nickname, "Pin." Pin is a great fan of baseball as well as the school baseball team's coach. He used to be part of Kazehaya's father's league team, so he has known Shota since when he was young. A loud and eccentric man prone to believing the silliest things, Pin apparently enjoys interrupting people. He nicknames the puppy that Sawako and Kazehaya find by the river "Pedro Martinez" after the legendary baseball pitcher, which Sawako suggests be shortened to "Maru". A running gag through the series, despite being a teacher he is prone to actions that are more suited to a teenager, such as eagerly running to the bathroom when he heard about a fight yet became depressed when Sawako and her friends were making up rather than fighting. He and Ayane tend to run into each other a lot, often bickering loudly as they walk away, though on rare occasions he will give her advice (though comically ends in him ruining the moment to praise himself). He also has a false impression that Sawako is an exorcist. Ume "Kurumi" Kurumizawa (胡桃沢 梅 Kurumisawa Ume?) Voiced by: Aya Hirano (anime), Mirei Kiritani (live-action) A girl who appears friendly and sweet to everyone around her, she has had a huge crush on Kazehaya since their first year of middle school; as a result, she understands his personality well, despite the fact they were never close friends. She dislikes her given name, Ume, because it sounds old-fashioned and prefers to be called her nickname, "Kurumi." Kurumi is extremely jealous of Sawako, which leads her to spread fake rumors of Sawako's only friends at the time, Yoshida and Yano, using Sawako's name. Kurumi does not attend the same class as Sawako or Kazehaya. She eventually confesses her love to Kazehaya, but receives an expected rejection.[8] Because she is always surprised with Sawako's naiveté, Kurumi is able to be her true self in front of Sawako and regards her as a rival for Kazehaya's affection. Following Kazehaya's rejection, she becomes colder to her classmates, but is able to finally express her feelings and personality. Despite viewing Sawako as a love-rival, she will not hesitate to defend her honour and even gets angry at Miura Kento for saying unnecessary things to Sawako that had caused a rift between Sawako and Shota. She believes Sawako to be a worthy rival but has yelled at her and lectured her in terms of love. Despite Kurumi's harsh personality, she is deep down, a stubborn, clear minded young woman who has stooped to unfair tricks to win a person's heart. Kento Miura (三浦 健人 Miura Kento?) Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (anime) A student in Sawako's class during second year who sits next to her. When Sawako befriends Miura, Kazehaya becomes jealous of him as a potential rival for Sawako. He is interested in girls, particularly Sawako and tries to persuade her to give up on Kazehaya, suggesting that she is burdening him, because he believes that Sawako's feelings for Kazehaya are unrequited. His interference with Sawako and Kazehaya's developing relationship irritates Ayane. He expresses gratitude over the fact that the two began dating before he fell in love with her, although he appears to having some lingering attachment to Sawako (shown in Chapter 51 during a conversation with Ayane.) Tomoko "Tomo" Endo (遠藤 朋子 Endō Tomoko?) and Eriko "Ekko" Hirano (平野 依里子 Hirano Eriko?) Voiced by: Mayuki Makiguchi (Eriko Hirano), Voiced by: Miho Miyagawa (Tomoko Endou) Endou and Hirano are classmates of Sawako. After Sawako begins to open up, Endou and Hirano become some of her first friends. They are in the same class as Sawako and in Sawako's study group. They are close friends of Sawako: In vol. 6 Sawako makes Christmas gifts for them, in addition to gifts for her parents, Yano & Yoshida and Kazehaya. Chigusa Takahashi (高橋 千草 Takahashi Chigusa?) Voiced by: Yurin A classmate of Sawako, Takahashi sits behind Sawako after the seating arrangements change for the third term of first year. She enjoys teasing Sawako and Ayane remarks that Takahashi is eccentric. Yagi (八木?) A classmate of Sawako who sits next to her after the seating arrangements change during the third term of first year. He often consults on supposedly spiritual or occult concerns. Soichi "Joe" Jonouchi (城ノ内 宗一 Jōnouchi Sōichi?) Voiced by: Masahiro Yamanaka One of Sawako's classmates, easily swayed by other people. He generally appears in the background. Jounouchi is very attached to Kazehaya, which usually results in him unwittingly interrupting conversations between Sawako and Kazehaya. At one point, he is rejected after confessing to a girl he liked and is comforted by Kazehaya. After hearing about how Yano broke up with her boyfriend, he sets his attention on her though she is not interested in him. Tōru Sanada (真田 徹 Sanada Tōru?) Tōru is Ryu's older brother by eight years and Chizuru's crush since she was young. Although he is Ryu's brother and they resemble one another, their personalities are nearly opposite. Tōru resembles Kazehaya personality-wise and looks extremely refreshing, except much more mature. He lives three hours away from his parents' house and returns home to get married.[11] He cares about Ryu and Chizuru a lot and loves Chizuru like a little sister. He calls her Chii because a person has to smile when saying it. He asks her to say "Chii" to cheer her up. Yoshiyuki "Zen" Arai (荒井 善行 Arai Yoshiyuki?) The original home room teacher of Sawako's class. He and Pin have the same surname, but are not related. To distinguish between the two teachers Yoshiyuki Arai is called "Zen". "Zen" is an alternate reading of the kanji for "Yoshi". He seems to be afraid of Sawako and the rumors surrounding her as "Sadako". Because he is easily ill, students often believe that Sawako has cursed him. Arai is newly-wed and eventually retires from teaching in order to help his wife's family business, resulting in Pin taking over his class permanently. Shino (詩乃?) Voiced by: Kanae Oki The only link to Sawako's past, Shino was her elementary school classmate and the only person who Sawako talks to as the series begins. During elementary school, by mistake, Shino called Sawako "Sadako." When they attended the same middle school, the boys in their class, afraid by Sawako's appearance, heard rumors that she was known as "Sadako," and since then it became her nickname. It is because of this, that Shino feels guilty about the rumors circulating over Sawako that started from her calling her "Sadako." Thus she cares about Sawako and whether she is fitting into high school. Shino is in a different class and regrets that she doesn't get to see Sawako very much. She is a cipher, appearing only occasionally as a catalyst for Sawako's interactions with other people. Perhaps for story reasons, Sawako is too modest to consider her as a friend. Motoki (茂木?) Motoki is a new character introduced in the recent chapters of the manga. He is a boy from Class 2-B. In Chapter 54, he asks Ayane to date him, to which she immediately agrees. They are currently dating, although it is unknown if she is serious about him or not.
Manga
Originally planned on being a one-shot to be compiled in her previous work, Crazy For You, Shiina decided to expand the story and make it into a full series. It has been running in Japan in Bessatsu Margaret since 2006, with 12 compiled volumes so far. Shiina took a break starting in the March 2009 issue to have a baby;[12] serialization resumed in the October issue.[5] The series is licensed by Viz Media for an English-language North American release.No. Japanese North American Release date ISBN Release date ISBN 01 May 25, 2006[13] ISBN 4-08-846061-8 August 4, 2009[14] ISBN 1-4215-2755-3 02 September 25, 2006[15] ISBN 4-08-846094-4 October 6, 2009[16] ISBN 1-4215-2756-1 03 January 25, 2007[17] ISBN 978-4-08-846134-2 February 2, 2010[18] ISBN 1-4215-2757-X 04 May 25, 2007[19] ISBN 978-4-08-846174-8 May 4, 2010[20] ISBN 1-4215-2786-3 05 November 22, 2007[21] ISBN 978-4-08-846237-0 August 3, 2010[22] ISBN 1-4215-2787-1 06 March 25, 2008[23] ISBN 978-4-08-846278-3 November 2, 2010[24] ISBN 1-4215-2788-X 07 July 25, 2008[25] ISBN 978-4-08-846313-1 Feb 1, 2011[26] ISBN 1-4215-3175-5 08 November 25, 2008[27] ISBN 978-4-08-846356-8 May 3, 2011[28] ISBN 1-4215-3176-3 09 September 11, 2009[29] ISBN 978-4-08-846440-4 July 5, 2011[30] ISBN 1-4215-3688-9 10 January 13, 2010[31] ISBN 978-4-08-846481-7 September 6, 2011[32] ISBN 1-4215-3822-9 11 June 11, 2010[33] ISBN 978-4-08-846539-5 TBA — 12 September 24, 2010[33] ISBN 978-4-08-846568-5 TBA —
Light novels
The series has been adapted into a series of light novels in Japan released by Shueisha under their Cobalt imprint. Eight volumes have been released so far; the first was released on August 1, 2007 and most recent on October 30, 2010.[34][35]
A separate volume was released September 11, 2009.[36] The volume took the place of the manga in Bessatsu Margaret magazine while manga-ka Karuho Shiina took a break due to her pregnancy; it contains the story of Kazehaya and Sawako's first meeting, before the events of the manga.[12]No. Japanese release date Japanese ISBN 01 August 1, 2007[34] ISBN 978-4-08-601059-7 02 November 1, 2007[37] ISBN 978-4-08-601096-2 03 April 25, 2008[38] ISBN 978-4-08-601165-5 04 November 28, 2008[39] ISBN 978-4-08-601242-3 05 October 2, 2009[40] ISBN 978-4-08-601342-0 06 January 29, 2010[41] ISBN 978-4-08-601381-9 07 July 1, 2010[42] ISBN 978-4-08-601424-3 08 October 30, 2010[35] ISBN 978-4-08-601461-8
Video game
Banpresto released a game for the Nintendo DS in Japan based upon the series on October 16, 2009, entitled Kimi ni Todoke Sodateru Omoi (君に届け 育てる想い?).[43] A second Nintendo DS game, also from Banpresto, is to be released in the Spring of 2011 under the title Kimi ni Todoke Tsutaeru Kimochi (君に届け伝えるキモチ?)
Anime Main article: List of Kimi ni Todoke episodes
The first season of the Kimi ni Todoke anime adaptation aired between October 2009 and March 2010.[5] A second season was announced in the November 2010 issue of Betsuma magazine.[46] The second season is currently being aired in Japan on NTV as of January 2011. Both seasons of the anime are produced by Production I.G. and directed by Hiro Kaburagi. The music is done by S.E.N.S. Project, with the opening sung by Tomofumi Tanizawa and the ending by Chara.
Live-action film
The February 2010 issue of Bessatsu Margaret (released in January 2010), announced that a live-action film adaptation of the series has been green-lit, with more information coming in the March issue of the magazine, along with a message from the author about the news.[47] Mikako Tabe and Haruma Miura starred in the film, released in Japanese theatres on September 25, 2010 and directed by Naoto Kumazawa
Manga
Volumes of the series commonly rank in listings of top manga in Japan; the fourth volume was second on the list for two weeks before dropping to tenth place.[51][52][53] The fifth volume debuted at number one on the charts, then fell to fifth place in its second week.[54][55] The sixth volume debuted at number 2, then fell to number 5.[56][57] Volume 7 debuted at number 1 on the charts, then fell to second place in the second week, then to seventh place in its third week.[58][59][60] Volume 8 again debuted at number one on the charts, then fell to seventh place, and then 15th place before falling off the charts.[61][62][63] The ninth volume of the series debuted at number 2, but moved to number 1 in the its second week, then fell to seventh place and finally 29th place before falling off the charts.[64][65][66][67] The seventh and sixth volumes were the 20th and 21st best selling manga in Japan in 2008.[68] The eighth volume was the eleventh best selling volume of manga in Japan in the first half of 2009,[69] and both the eighth and ninth volumes were among the top 25 best-selling manga volumes in Japan for 2009.[70] Volume ten sold 517,358 copies in its first week in Japan, making it the number one selling manga of the week.[71] The following week it sold another 146,758 copies, but fell to the second best selling manga of the week.[72] The third week after its release, volume 10 sold another 57,727 copies, being the 6th best-selling manga of the week.[73] At the debut of the twelfth volume, all twelve of the current volumes were ranked on Oricon's list of best-selling manga for the week. The twelfth volume also sold the most copies of the series in one week to date, with 570,979 copies sold in the first week. According to Anime News Network, Kimi ni Todoke is now the "shōjo manga with the most #1 books and the most books to sell one million copies since 2008" in Japan.[74] The series was the third best-selling manga series in Japan in 2010, with 6,572,813 copies sold.[75] Volumes 10, 11, and 12 were ranked 13th, 15th, and 16th respectively as part of the best-selling individual manga volumes in Japan in 2010.[76]
Anime News Network called the series "hands down one of the best new English-translated manga series of 2009" and suggested that everyone, not just shōjo manga fans, read the series.[77] The first volume of the series was listed as a "Hot Fall Graphic Novel" for libraries in the teen section by YALSA.[78] The series was also listed in the Best Comics for Teens category of the School Library Journal's Best Comics for Kids in 2009 list.[79] Kimi ni Todoke has also been included on the American Library Association's list of 2010 Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Live Action
According to Oricon, the series was listed as 3rd on a list of titles that Japanese readers wanted a drama adaptation for.[81] The live action movie adaptation opened at second place in Kogyo Tsushinsha's box office chart during its first week in Japanese theaters.[74] The movie was number 3 on Box Office Mojo's chart during its first two days, earning the equivalent to US $2,770,613 on 285 screens
Anime
The first season of the anime consistently sold well enough to rank on the Oricon charts. Volume 2 sold 7,449 copies in its first days, placing 19th on the charts,[83] volume 3 sold 7,557 copies in its first days, ranking 18th place,[84] volume 5 sold 7,136 copies in its first days, ranking 17th,[85] volume 6 sold 7,035 copies in its first days, placing 12th on the charts,[86] volume 7 sold 6,613 copies in its first days, ranking 14th,[87], and volume 8 sold 6,125 copies in its first days, ranking 20th.[88]
The second season of the anime was number one in a poll of Dengeki Online readers as their most anticipated anime series debuting in January 2011.[89] Anime News Network reviewer Carl Kimlinger gave the second season 4½ out of 5 stars, saying, "This remains the finest series of its type since Lovely Complex, and the most beautiful since...well, I don't know when.
