Kimi ni Todoke

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Kimi ni Todoke (officially translated as From Me to You, more literally as Reaching You) is the story of Sawako Kuronuma, whose resemblance to the horror movie character Sadako has made her a social outcast. Being outcast from a young age has made her socially awkward, which only makes her more of an outcast, so it's all really a vicious cycle.

The actual inciting event of the story proper is the beginning of Sawako's friendship with Shota Kazehaya, the most popular guy in school. Unlike 99% of other "most popular guy" characters, Kazehaya is genuinely nice, and has feelings for Sawako, despite her loner nature. As they get to know each other better, Sawako forms an ever-expanding network of friends, yet she and Kazehaya never seem to realize they like each other in the same way.

Ultimately, a very touching story about liking people for who they are without trying to change them.

The ongoing manga has been adapted as a 25-episode Anime series that started airing October 6th 2009, and the notable voice actors are listed under their characters in the character page. The second 12-episode season continues the story. There's also a light novel adaption and a live-action movie adaptation that was released on September 25, 2010. Both seasons are now licensed in North America by NIS America.

Tropes used in Kimi ni Todoke include:

• Alertness Blink: Every so often.
• Almost Kiss
• Alpha Bitch - Yuka and her friends from Class A.
  • Also, on a more personal level, Kurumi.
  • Yano may also count, but she's more of a Lovable Alpha Bitch, considering she's on Sawako's side and is even encouraging her to open up.
• Anguished Declaration of Love - Sawako's confession to Kazehaya in Season 2 Episode 9.
• Animals Hate Her: Sawako's usual ghostly appearance make animals fear her.
  • After a while though, at least Maru gets used to her.
• Anime Accent Absence: Averted in the weirdest way. Sawako has a habit of giving herself and Kazehaya American accents in her Imagine Spots.
• Armor-Piercing Slap:
  • Ayane's (then) older boyfriend slaps her when she suggests that they break up.
  • Kurumi slaps Kent when he suggests that he goes out with Sawako so that Kurumi could have Kazehaya for herself.
• Beach Episode - Chapter 51, even though Chizuru was the only one who wore her swimsuit; the rest came in their school uniforms.
• Beautiful All Along - Sawako; rather than changing her appearance in any tangible way, she's very beautiful when she smiles genuinely, as opposed to forcing herself (which just comes off looking really creepy).
• Beautiful Dreamer - Kazehaya sits near Sawako and finally manages to say her first name while she sleeps on the staircase during the sports festival afterparty.
• Because You Were Nice to Me
• Best Her to Bed Her - In Chapter 51, Ryuu was the only guy able to defeat Yoshida in arm-wrestling and "won" her for a romantic walk along the seashore.
• Beta Couple - Chizuru and Ryu fill that role, though Chizuru didn't notice it yet until recently.
• Betty and Veronica - Sawako and Kurumi for Kazehaya, Kazehaya and Kent for Sawako.
• Be Yourself - Arguably the point of the story, and not in a heavy-handed way. Sawako makes friends and wins Kazehaya's affection by using her natural gifts and personality, not with the aid of makeovers. Not that makeovers are a bad thing, as Sawako finds out on New Year's Eve.
• Birds of a Feather: Subverted by Kazehaya and Kurumi. Even though many students (Sawako included) feel that they suit each other, Kazehaya only thinks of Kurumi as a friend while Kurumi pines an unrequited crush on Kazehaya.
• Bishie Sparkle - Sawako's world is filled with this, as well as Love Bubbles and flowers. Even the Japanese tankubon covers have these.
• Bishounen - Kazehaya, and the female side of the school is very aware of this. Ryu and Kento also count.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing - Kurumi acts sweet and nice to gain Sawako's sympathy, then tells her to keep her hands off Kazehaya. She gets better.
• Brick Joke - Chizuru inadvertently causes things to become awkward between Sawako and Kazehaya by telling Kazehaya that he was the most distant person from Sawako. Ayane eventually finds out that it was Chizuru who caused that awkwardness when she (Chizuru) blurts it out by mistake while watching Kazehaya ask Sawako out formally at the beach from afar.
• Brother Chuck - Shino, the girl who gave Sawako her nickname, is never shown again after Episode 6.
• Bumbling Dad - Sawako's father, who along with his wife are both a Doting Parent.
• Character Development - Sawako's character development is the main point of this series.
• Character Overlap - The cousin that Sawako mentions in the New Year's episodes, Eiji Akahoshi, is a character from the mangaka's previous series Crazy for You. The fanbook has a short crossover chapter where he visits her family after her first date with Kazehaya.
• Chekhov's Gunman - Hirano and Endo have actually witnessed Kurumi spreading out those rumors about Sawako in Chapter 2 of the manga. This information is enough for Chizu and Ayane to confront Kurumi.
• Clingy Jealous Girl - Kurumi uses every indirect attack in the book - slander, threats, manipulation - to pry Sawako away from Kazehaya. Against someone as innocent as Sawako, it's like kicking a puppy. Sawako's kindness, however, severely unnerves her, and all her plans backfire spectacularly when she only ends up bringing Sawako and Kazehaya even closer.
• Clip Show: One about Kurumi's crush on Kazehaya as she shops for Valentine's chocolate opens the second season of the anime.
• Color Failure
• Completely Missing the Point - One of Sawako's defining traits and a main point of comedy -- being honest to a fault, she assumes everyone else is as well and takes everything literally without hearing any of the pretext behind it. Thus, she thinks Kurumi is flattering her when Kurumi writes down her name in the "Bastards Who Call Me Ume Note".
• Continuity Nod - Lots of it.
• Covers Always Spoil - The cover of the manga's tenth volume pretty much spoils the fact that Sawako and Kazehaya become an official couple in that volume. Not that anyone wasn't expecting it from the get go, though.
• Cross-Popping Veins - Especially Kurumi, when Sawako refuses to take her bitchiness as something other than good intentions.
  • Kazehaya also prone to this when he's angry or jealous (or both).
• Cute Shotaro Boy - Touta Kazehaya.
• Cuteness Proximity - Ryuu with Maru.
• A Day in the Limelight: Kazehaya in Chapter 44.
• Early-Bird Cameo - Ayane and Chizuru, Hirano and Endo, and Kurumi all appeared as unnamed sketchy background characters before receiving proper names and personalities.
• Epic Fail - Kurumi attempts to make Kazehaya think Sawako and Ryuu are an item. It ends with Kazehaya and Sawako walking off together, with Sawako realizing her feelings for Kazehaya, who in turn asked her out. Pin then came to where Kurumi waited for Kazehaya to come back, and, thinking Kurumi was going to confess to him, rejects her just as Kazehaya came back. The guy then promised to "not say anything". Ouch.
  • Kurumi will never get Kazehaya even if she's Umerella or Snow White Ume and Sawako is the evil Stepmother/Queen.
• Everyone Can See It - Everyone can see Sawako and Kazehaya's feelings for each other. Acknowledging it, though, took some time for most of them.
• Precious Puppies -> Big Friendly Dog - Maru-chan.
• Evil-Detecting Dog - Well, you can't call Sawako "evil," but still...
• Extreme Doormat - Sawako, at least initially. Part of her Character Development has to do with mustering enough courage to not agree to things she cannot go along with. Thus, Kurumi gets a big surprise when Sawako flat-out refuses to help hook her up with Kazehaya out of her own feelings for him.
  • Actually not really- Sawako may come off as an Extreme Doormat, but part of her charm, at least to Kazehaya, is that she's always enjoying whatever she's doing. She doesn't do things because she feels forced, she does them because she likes being helpful. Exemplified early on in the manga when Yano jokingly suggests she learns how to tell scary ghost stories and Sawako is *sparkling* with excitement. She's got the looks, she's got the aura, she might as well do it right.
• Fade to Black
• Family Business - Ryuu's family runs a ramen shop. Kazehaya's family runs a sports equipment store.
• First-Name Basis - A very Serious Business. Sawako finally calls Kazehaya by his first name "Shota" in Chapter 53.
• Five-Man Band
  • Sawako - The Heroine, of course.
  • Kazehaya - The one who acts most individually and has the rest of the team scheming "against" him most often.
  • Chizuru - The Big Guy.
  • Ayane - The Smart Guy.
  • Ryu - The Chick... Yes, that does sound hilarious, but given the calming and not-so-active role he's usually playing... Also subs for the role of The Smart Guy, when the rest of the band is too busy with feeling to actually think a little.
  • Kento - Sixth Ranger
    • Beauty, Brains, and Brawn - Sawako, Yano, and Yoshida.
• Flash Step - Sawako apparently learned how to do this while being taught football (or soccer) by Kazehaya. Though it's been established that she's very fast from doing daily jogs.
• The Foreign Subtitle - Viz is releasing it under the full title Kimi ni Todoke: From Me To You.
• Four-Girl Ensemble - Kurumi may not really be a part of the friends' circle, but the important female characters in the series fall into this:
  • Ayane - the mature one.
  • Chizuru - the tomboyish one.
  • Sawako - the quiet one.
  • Kurumi - the popular one.
• Friendless Background - Sawako.
• Friend to All Living Things - Maru instinctively liked Kazehaya and hated Sawako.
• Gecko Ending - The Live Action Adaptation is basically the first season with a slightly different ending.
• Genki Girl: Chizuru is very excitable.
• Girl Posse - Complete with bullying in the toilet.
• Good Bad Girl - Ayane. Aside of her mentioned older boyfriends, in a series in which holding hands is Serious Business, she's quite casual about kissing a guy she barely knows.
• Good Is Dumb - Not actually dumb, but extremely naive in the case of Sawako and Kazehaya, the author even comment on creating a "guy who is so nice that he's dumb."
• Good Parents - From what we can see, the main characters' parents are doing a really good job.
• Happily Married - Sawako's parents.
• Heel Face Turn - Kurumi earns a heartwarming redemption (sort of) in recent chapters, when she defends Sawako from a bunch of girls jealous of Sawako's relationship with Kazehaya.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation - Without the heroic part, but on a scale of 100, Sawako has a self-esteem in the single-digits.
• Heterosexual Life Partners - It's not easy to find a scene where Ayane and Chizuru aren't side-by-side.
• Hey, It's That Voice!
  • Chizuru is voiced by Yuko Sanpei, who also voiced Renton Thurston, or Kanata Saionji.
  • And even from the very first scene of the anime some people would not be surprised a bit if Sawako said "ippen shinde miru".
  • Ryuu sounds like an even more disinterested Tomoya Okazaki.
  • Kento is voiced by Mamoru Miyano, who voiced some other passionate blond-haired bishies.
  • Kurumi starts off sounding all nice and sweet, but once she starts acting like she's some sort of god, she starts sounding like one too.
• Hime Cut - Sawako, of course.
• Hold Me - Episode 21.

Chizuru: Comfort me, Ryuu.

• Holding Hands - Chapter 48.
• Hot-Blooded - Pin and Chizu.
• Hot Mom - Sawako's mother is quite attractive for someone her age. Chizuru's mother isn't bad-looking either, though she shares her daughter's over the top facial expressions. Ryuu's mom, in turn, looks like gender-bent Tooru and definitely gets the prize, though we only get to see her in flashbacks (but by that time she's already a mother of a high-schooler, just like Mrs. Kuronuma and Mrs. Yoshida in the present).
• Humiliation Conga - Kurumi. Sawako may be a saint, but Pin certainly isn't.
• Ignored Confession - In the last episode of season two of anime Ryuu confesses his love to Chizuru. Further in the manga, in chapter 57, they have a conversation in which they both act as nothing like this has ever been said. One must remember, though, that Chizuru took his confession as a platonic one and not romantic.
• I Just Want to Have Friends - This was Sawako's situation pre-series...
  • I Just Want to Be Special - ...to the point where she actually wished she could summon ghosts.
• Imagine Spot - A lot of them, mostly from Sawako. And they are all ADORABLE.
• The Ingenue - Sawako, to the point that Chizuru and Ayane tease about her "300% innocence".
• Intimidating Looking Guy Hot Wife - In terms of looks and personality, Shota seems to take on more from his mother than his father. His mother and Pin, though, think otherwise.
• It's Personal - Played for laughs, when Ayane's hostility towards Kurumi seems exist equally because of the latter's beautiful skin as well as because of hardships she's given to Sawako.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy
  • Eventually, Kurumi towards Kazehaya and Sawako.
  • Kent reconciles with the fact that Kazehaya and Sawako are a couple, but he is depressed when he sees them having fun together at the beach in Chapter 51.
• Jerkass/Jerk with a Heart of Gold
  • Pin.
  • Chizuru has her moments, such as her treatment of Ryuu.
• Just Friends - Sawako and Kazehaya, and Chizuru and Ryu. The latter two are just a little more convincing.
• Just the Way You Are - One of the best features of the series as a whole is that Sawako is constantly rewarded for being herself, and not having to change to please anyone.
• Kissing Discretion Shot - Subverted in Episode 5 of the second season. Chizu was asking Ryu to help her with the problem that she made worse for Kazehaya. Ryu was even well aware that she was going to ask him something.
• Last-Name Basis: As of Chapter 53, Sawako has yet to call Ryu by his first name
• Letting the Air Out of the Band
• Like Brothers And Sister - Chizuru and Ryuu claim to be like that. Yes, no gender-related doubts; as long as she can be the older "brother," Chizuru is fine.
• Live Action Adaptation - A live action movie was released last September 2010 in Japan.
• Loners Are Freaks: As it turns out, all three girls were outsiders before befriending one another. The most obvious example is Sawako, but Chapter 50 reveals that before Chizu and Ayane became friends, Chizu felt like a loner for always known as One of the Boys and Ayane was somewhat alienated for Urban Legend Love Life.
• Lonely Together - Parodied and invoked with Joe in regards to Ayane, she complies only due to the situation she's in.
  • Recent chapters suggest Kent and Ayane are heading this case too, her comforting him when he's visibly hurt by how lovey-dovey Sawako and Kazehaya is, and vice versa when Ayane broke due to her inability of finding true love, he deliver a heartwarming Cooldown Hug.
• Love Bubbles
• Love Epiphany - Sawako gets one in Episode 13 with some help from Kurumi.
• Love Triangle - Ryu, Chizu, and Tooru; Sawako, Kazehaya, and Kurumi; Kazehaya, Sawako, and Kent.
• Love You and Everybody - Sawako tends to innocently declare her "love" for her friends, which made her "confess" to Ryuu. He didn't misunderstand her, but Yano and Yoshida were shocked for a moment.
• Luminescent Blush - 2nd Season's Episode 9 was full of them because of Sawako's Love Confession.
• Manipulative Bitch - Kurumi tries to be this, but fails spectacularly. Yano seems to be better at it, and even then she usually has good intentions.
• Missing Mom - Tetsuko Sanada.
• Moment Killer - Joe.
  • Believe it or not, Ayane becomes this in Chapter 58.
• Name's the Same - The 1st season's opening theme, the 2nd season's ending theme, and the live action movie's theme all share the same title with the series.
• Nice Guy - Kazehaya. Atypically for shoujo, he's the main character.
• Nice Guys Finish Last - Pretty much completely subverted as Kazehaya gets the girl. Subversion could also apply to a few others in the series.
• No Social Skills - Sawako's social skills are poor in the beginning...
• Not What It Looks Like
  • Kurumi happens to be "refused" by Pin in front of Kazehaya, who earlier walked off with Sawako after confronting her. The fact that Pin himself is convinced she was confessing to him doesn't help.
  • In the manga, when Pin sees Ayane with a swollen cheek (after having been slapped by her college-age ex-boyfriend for suggesting to break up), he automatically assumes a guy in the class did it.
  • When Kazehaya stumbles upon Sawako crying and Kent holding her by the arms, he assumes the worst out of a very confused Kent, who was just trying to comfort Sawako.
• Obligatory Swearing: Here. Somehow it's hard to imagine Kazehaya saying "fuck." It's more likely just in the translation, though.
• Oblivious to Love
  • Basically the definition of Kazehaya and Sawako's relationship for a good duration of the manga and the entirety of the anime's first season, despite their feelings being mutual. Also applies to Chizuru when it comes to Ryuu. But it's an enjoyable torture for the series audience because the next step feels much, much sweeter as a result.
  • Mostly Sawako though. By the time the New Year's Eve episode rolls around, Kazehaya is dropping anvil-sized hints that he really likes Sawako.
• Off-Model - Near the end of the first season, only Sawako has footprints in the snow. Some fans have jokingly interpreted this as Sawako completely imagining Ayane and Chizu.
• Official Couple - Sawako and Kazehaya, and everyone can already see it from miles away. Ultimately they confess their feelings for each other.
• One of the Boys - Chizuru, especially before she started hanging with Ayane and Sawako.
• Overprotective Dad - Sawako's father.
• Pair the Spares
  • From the looks of the manga, Kurumi and Kent seem to be heading in this direction.
  • Kent/Ayane seems to be getting some hints as well. Chapter 59, most especially.
  • Pin and Ayane are constantly teased throughout the manga. Chapters 45 and 56 have several key moments.
• Pet the Dog - In Chapter 45, when Ayane confesses that she doesn't believe she's kind (compared to Sawako and Chizu) because of how cunning she can be in front of Pin, she dreads another Ted Baxter lecture from a surprisingly quiet Pin, who instead stares at a candy Ayane gave him because he was whining about not getting one after the festival. Then, Pin literally pats Ayane on the head and reassures her that she is kind before walking up the stairs, leaving Ayane (and the readers) speechless that Pin could actually have a Pet the Dog moment.
• The Power of Friendship
• Precocious Crush - Touta appeared to be blushing a bit when he met Sawako.
• The Quiet One - Ryuu.
• Recap Episode
  • Done halfway through the anime by the little old men Pin believes haunts his house.
  • The first episode of the second season, dubbed Episode 00, is a recap of the first season told from Kurumi's point of view.
• Relationship Upgrade - Well, finally.
• Rousseau Was Right - Taking Kurumi out of the equation, this might be the single most optimistic view of teenage life you'll ever see. And even she comes around in the end, thanks to some Character Development.
• Scenery Porn - Starting with the opening.
• Sensei-chan - Pin could be considered a Gender Inverted Example.
• Serious Business: Sawako's dad is EXTREMELY serious about checking if Kazehaya is appropriate enough to be his daughter's boyfriend.
• Serial Escalation - The anime takes this to heart with its prevalent and spectacular use of Bishie Sparkle, Love Bubbles, and other stereotypical Shoujo frills. Hell, one of the first times Kurumi grabs Sawako's hands, an entire flowering bush sprouts behind the former.
• Shallow Love Interest - Mogi.
  • Which is arguably the point. Shallow Love Interest => Shallow Love
• She Cleans Up Nicely - Both Sawako and Chizuru look gorgeous after their respective makeovers.
• Ship Tease - Combinations of the 'spares', ie. Kent/Kurumi, Kent/Ayane and Pin/Ayane get some moments. With the exception of Pin/Kurumi, which's been humourously 'sank' early in the story.
• Shipper on Deck - Sawako ships Ryuu and Chizuru. Meanwhile, her friends ship her with Kazehaya.
• Shout-Out
  • "I'll write your name in the 'Bastards who call me Ume' Note."
    • Bonus points when you notice that Kurumi and Death Note's Misa Amane share the same voice.
  • Episode 00 saw the appearance of the Ume Note.
  • And of course Sawako's nickname Sadako.
  • The mini theater has Umederella Kurumirella with Sawako as both the Evil Stepmother and Fairy Godmother. Also Snow White Ume with Sawako as the Evil Queen with Gulliver Travels.
  • In episode 17, Ryu is seen with a hat that reads, RHCP.
• Sibling Triangle - Ryuu likes Chizuru, Chizuru likes Ryuu's elder brother Tooru, who is engaged.
• Sibling Yin-Yang - Ryuu and Tooru.
• Sick Episode - Episode 17. Except the person who got sick was Pin and Kazehaya ended up doing all the "couple-like" things for him -- only because he didn't want Sawako to do all of the "couple-like" things for Pin.
• Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy - Not only does the guy actually like her back, he's genuinely nice.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man - One of the things that makes this series so refreshing to read
• Slasher Smile - Sawako's forced smile is ALWAYS mistaken for this.
• Sleep Cute - Awwwwwwwwwww they were so cute sitting on that staircase ...
• Snow Means Death - For Tetsuko Sanada. Heck, it's what caused her death in the first place.
• Stalking Is Love - Kurumi, towards Kazehaya.
• Stringy Haired Ghost Girl - Sawako. She even dresses up as one for the Test of Courage.
• Strawberry Shorthand - Strawberry time, anyone?
• Strong Family Resemblance - Tooru gets his looks from his mom.
• Super-Deformed - Happens a lot. And happens whenever Sawako gives off admiration or is shocked by something.
  • The Mini Todoke theater.
• Surrounded by Idiots - Ayane, often.
• Team Mom - Ayane, seemingly more mature than Chizu and Sawako.
• Team Pet - Pedro Martinez AKA Maru-chan.
• That Was Not a Dream: Sawako will sometimes put notes near her or her diary to remind herself that everything amazing that happened the night before actually happened.
• Theme Tune Cameo: A variation. In the anime's first Christmas episode, Joe sings the opening theme's B-side, "Uchuu Ryokou", for karaoke.
• They Do - Tooru and Haruka Sanada.
• Third Option Love Interest - Mogi from Class B was this for Ayane.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself - Sawako and her feelings for Kazehaya, at least according to Ayane.
• Three Faces of Eve - Sawako (the wife), Chizuru (the child) and Ayane (the seductress).
• Those Two Guys - Hirano and Endo.
• Title Drop: By Kazehaya at the end of the first episode of the anime.
• Tomboy - Chizuru Yoshida.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl - Chizuru's the athletic one, Ayane's quite prissy.
• Trademark Favorite Food - Chizuru's obsession with ramen stems from her childhood love, whose family owns a ramen shop.
• Trickster Mentor - Ayane has sprinklings of this; That is, intentionally tricking or being outright mean to Sawako, but purely for the sake of helping her and Kazehaya out.
• Twice Shy - Take a guess.
• Unlucky Childhood Friend
  • Chizuru to Tooru and Ryuu to Chizuru, at least for now.
  • Kurumi to Kazehaya, though "middle-school-hood" rather than childhood.
• Unnamed Parent - None of the names of the parents shown in the series are revealed within the story. However, the anime's official blog reveals two of their names: Genji Sanada (Ryu's father) and Youko Kuronuma (Sawako's mother)
• The Un-Smile
• Visible Silence - Combined with Colour Failure when Chizu 'concludes', after Yano presents the evidence, that Kurumi likes Ryu. Uhh...
  • The combination mentioned above is once again shown when it's revealed that Chizu had no idea of Kazehaya liking Sawako.
• Visual Novel Shot
• WAFF - Majority of the show is this.
• ~What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome?~:
  • "Sawako, you have a call from a friend!!"
  • Chapter 51: "The beach is only fun if everyone goes!!!" Chizu definitely lost her way to the Shounen series. Or maybe it was a mecha anime.
• When She Smiles: Two things can happen when Sawako smiles, depending on whether the smile is forced or natural: either it comes out as The Un-Smile, or everyone watching gasps in awe.
• Whole Chapter Flashback - Chapter 44 is a flashback within a flashback. Kazehaya flashes back to his point of view of the very first chapter. The end of his flashback reveals him hugging Sawako after her confession, the same scene shown in Chapter 39.
• Woman in White - Sawako wore a white dress to play the role of the ghost during the test of courage.
• Wrong Genre Savvy - Pin really lost the way to his sports Shounen series. Yoshida and Ryu may have been heading there too.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Sawako is a fine example of this trope. First of all she looks the part with the black hair and Hime Cut. Second she's kind and helpful to the point of Extreme Doormat. Third she takes turns cooking for her family and is a good cook to books.