REVIEW: Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Volume 2, Standard Edition (anime TV series)

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You boxed set 2 includes episodes 13 to 15 and 17 to 25 on both DVD and Blu-ray discs (episode 16 was omitted because it was a recap episode). It’s a high school romance series.

Oddly, the info on the back of the case indicates that Disc 2 of the Blu-ray portion has episodes 9-12 and Disc 1 has the episodes after that. I’m going to say that’s probably an error, because I think I watched Disc 1 and then 2, and I don’t recall there being any episode order issues.

This post includes a few spoilers.

Review:

Again, I’ve previously reviewed this series, so I won’t say too much here. This set picks up right where the first one ended. Kazehaya and Sawako continue to be adorable together, and their romance continues to move at a snail’s pace. The bit where Sawako fell asleep on Kazehaya’s shoulder was wonderful - as was Ayane’s continued enjoyment at embarrassing Kazehaya by taking a picture of the moment.

The trouble with Kurumi continues and is resolved. Kazehaya really is one of the nicest anime boys around. His rejection of Kurumi was perfect - clear and unambiguous, without being cruel.

Unfortunately, the set was a bit of a slog for me after that. I had forgotten how painful the storyline involving Chizuru and Ryu’s older brother was. It was difficult for me to watch, even knowing that it’d be resolved in the best possible way. Ryu screwed up a bit but managed to smooth things over eventually. Meanwhile, Ryu’s older brother, like Kazehaya, was extremely kind. I couldn’t recall if he knew about Chizuru’s feelings or not, so the bit just as he was saying goodbye to Ryu was lovely.

Still: I had such a hard time getting through this storyline. The part where Chizuru, Ayane, and Sawako were at odds with each other in the first boxed set was difficult but not nearly in the same was as Chizuru trying to deal with her unrequited feelings for Ryu’s brother. It reduced my enjoyment of this boxed set a lot.

That said, there were still lots of things I liked. The bits focused on Sawako’s relationship with her parents were lovely. Sawako’s father, especially, was used to having Sawako around all the time, so adjusting to her having friends and potentially a boyfriend was difficult for him. Seeing Sawako try to carve out a life for herself without hurting her parents’ feelings was tough. (Although, again, not in the too-painful way of the Chizuru and Ryu’s brother storyline.)

The boxed set ends with Sawako and Kazehaya’s first “date” - an excellent place to stop. Unfortunately, if I recall correctly, most of the rest of the series is filled with painful misunderstandings with a happy ending tacked on at the very end.

Extras:

Absolutely nothing.