Mamiko Noto plays a shy, submissive girl? What a twist.
Two episode impression
School-life romance shoujo aren’t my thing. I don’t know what compelled me to pick up Kimi ni Todoke, seeing as it falls precisely into that genre, but I’m glad I did because this is a bloody brilliant show. Wow, just wow.
Kimi ni Todoke is a genuinely heartwarming show with a *gasp* likable female lead. The thing that usually turns me off about shoujo is that female leads tend to be overly annoying and fickle, which makes them unlikable to me. I suppose they’re made that way because so real girls can more easily identify with them, but I’m not a girl. That possibility should never be completely ruled out though. I may fall into a cursed spring or become a Kampfer some day, which would actually be really cool. My subconscious desire to become a woman nonwithstanding, Sawako is the first shoujo female lead I’ve liked since… Ever. Well I did like Haruhi from Ouran, but she was always more male than female in my mind, but I’m going off on another tangent now.
KnT is brilliantly written and transitions effortlessly between being genuinely heartwarming to raucously funny without feeling forced. Like I said earlier, Sawako is a very likable and genuine character, and is excellently characterized by the writing and Mamiko Noto. Sure Noto is in typecast hell, but she does excel in these roles. Sawako’s many expressions (usually of gloom and despair) will elicit laughs but also make you feel bad for her plights at the same time. The rest of the cast thus far is pretty memorable as well, and I even like the male lead and main love interest, Kazehaya just as much as I like Sawako. Imagine me, liking characters in a shoujo romance. Huh.
Sawako is adorable… Just not in this picture.
Overall this is a quality show in every respect. Stellar animation from Production I.G., great writing, great characters (especially Sawako), good music, and a very nice mix of romance and comedy. This is my tentative pick for best show of fall next to Darker than Black 2, which I will assume is the number one pick of the huddled otaku masses.
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Chibi Sawako is great.
Keep us posted, would be good to know if it remains good or not.
P.S. What is Darker than Black about? No, didn’t watch “1″.
Guy´s last blog ..Figure Friday – October 2nd-15th.
@Adrian: *gloom face*
@Guy: Why don’t you just watch both to find your answers? One thing I can wholeheartedly say for sure is Kimi ni Todoke is worth a watch.
Well, two things:
1. I don’t watch series while still airing, unless they are LONG series, if I can avoid it.
2. I could Wikipedia/ANN check Darker than Black, but asking is simpler, and would also find why YOU like it
And these days I rarely watch shows before checking them up first, to-watch list is too long for blind guesses, heh.
And well, 3.!
Kimi ni Todoke is only at its second episode, and I’d rather see how it pans out. Some series grow weaker, and too many to mention have an uber-crappy ending.
Guy´s last blog ..Figure Friday – October 2nd-15th.
“that female leads tend to be overly annoying and fickle”
That drives me nuts too, lately I’ve been trying to find shoujo series where the female lead is more likable. Kimi ni Todoke has me very interested, I’ll probably watch it in the near future. Not to mention shoujo type series don’t often get treated to having an anime series, so the ones that do get an anime are usually pretty worthwhile.
lovelyduckie´s last blog ..Collecting Figures: Fun and Profitable
Ducky, the one series I felt that about judging just from the description (from research made for my To-Watch List) is Nana?
I actually think, that while it may be shonen (I think it’s more of a genderless series), the females in Onegai Teacher! are ok as people.
Guy´s last blog ..Holy Flaming Computers, Batman!
i’ve read the manga, so i know how great it is