Anime Review: Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season Episode 1
Anime Review:
Kimi ni Todoke Second Season Episode 1
What this is about: I am reviewing every single subtitled anime show during the Winter of 2011. For more information about me and my reviews, click here.
About the series: Kimi ni Todoke is a long-running manga series by Karuho Shiina, that was adapted into a 25-part weekly television series in 2009/2010, followed by a second 12-part series from January to March 2011. Sawako is a very quiet and shy girl, who has been shunned by her classmates due to her scary appearance and timid nature. Until one day when the most popular boy in the class reaches out and befriends her, slowly helping Sawako emerge from her shell. More information: Wikipedia Entry.
Click on the thumbnails below to view the picture in full size in a new window:
ep.1 tl;dr review: Quiet, shy girl too scared to give Valentine's Day chocolates; In other news, Kimi ni Todoke loses out to wall of drying paint in excitement competition.
Episode 1 Summary: With new seating arrangements in class, Sawako manages to make a couple of friends with people around her, but worries that she is no longer near Kazehaya. Valentine's Day approaches, and Sawako makes several batches of special chocolates to hand out to her friends, including a package for Kazehaya. But when it comes to actually giving them to him, she freezes up and is unable to approach him. Stressed out for the entire day, she ultimately musters up the courage at the very end of the school day. But at the moment she calls out to him, Kurumi arrives and gives Kazehaya chocolates instead. Kurumi then notices Sawako was eavesdropping on them, and explains that Kazehaya would only accept the chocolates if they were an "obligatory gift", rather than a heart-felt gift with romantic intentions. Kurumi then warns Sawako that if she does give Kazehaya the gift, she better be prepared for the consequences. Ultimately, Sawako decides not to give him the chocolates, realizing she had put more meaning into them than just an "obligatory gift".
My reaction: Kimi ni Todoke has been on my radar as one of those shows that I "should" watch based on its positive buzz and reputation. And this being the start of the second season seems to have offered the perfect opportunity to give it a try. I had read that the first season of the anime series was achingly slow-moving, and feared that the second season may continue that trend. Based upon watching this first episode, I fear that may actually be the case.
First the artwork. I do like the artwork and the character designs, although the tendency to shift into "cartoony-mode" at the drop of the hat with alarming frequency got on my nerves. Seriously, Sawako must have spent half the episode stuck in cartoony-mode. Also, based on what I read Sawako is supposed to be a bit scary-looking, compared to the creepy girl Sadako from the Japanese horror film series "The Ring". I dunno, I think she looks kinda cute.
Getting to the story itself, it all centers around a uniquely Japanese tradition where the girls give boys chocolates on Valentine's Day. There's the "obligatory chocolates" that you are required to give to friends, which don't really have any significance. Then there's the "love chocolates", essentially a confession that you like the guy. Sawako gets totally hung up between the two, completely paralyzed into a immobile lump of flesh when it comes to giving chocolates to Kazehaya. Half the episode is nothing but inner dialogue as she agonizes over what she is supposed to do.
And this is when I decided that I really don't *like* Sawako much at all. She's extremely shy and timid -- which in itself is okay. But this reticence is so overpowering that she is essentially mentally huddling in a corner unable to act towards anyone or anything. At the start of the second anime season, she has greatly improved over her much shyer earlier self in the first season. If *this* is an improvement, I can hardly imagine how meek she was before. It was frustrating to watch her not do anything the entire day, letting opportunity after opportunity slip by, all the while mentally beating herself up over her inaction. Grow a backbone, already!
I hate to condemn this show so quickly, I *want* to like Kimi ni Todoke. But if the show continues along this glacial pace, and if Sawako doesn't show some glimmer of character advancement, then I simply cannot abide.
P.S. After watching the first episode of the second season, I learned that there was an "Episode Zero" that aired the week before, that serves as recap of the first season as well as a bridge to the second season. I guess I really should have watched that first, huh. The good news is that "episode 1" does a pretty decent job of mapping out the situation and the characters, so I don't feel like I have to go back and watch the first season to know what's going on. But maybe I'll go back and give episode zero a try.
My pre-viewing expectations: Light-hearted romantic drama
How did the show meet my expectations? Light-hearted romantic snooze-fest
The verdict:
- Willing to give it another chance
For more information:
For the first round, the goal is for 65-75% of all first episodes to receive a passing grade:
Shows from the Winter 2011 Season receiving a thumbs-up: Dragon Crisis, Fractale, Is This a Zombie?, Houkago no Pleiades, Hourou Musuko, Yumekui Merry (with reservations), Gosick, Freezing, .hack//Quantum, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, Tailenders, Kimi ni Todoke Second Season
Shows from the Winter 2011 Season receiving a thumbs-down: Rio: Rainbow Gate, Nichijou OVA, Cardfight Vanguard, Oh My Goddess: Itsumo Futari de OVA, Morita-san wa Mukuchi OVA, Starry Sky, I Don't Like You At All Big Brother, Mitsudomoe: Zouryouchuu
What's Up Next (not necessarily in this order): Infinite Stratos, Wolverine, Beelzebub, Level E, Suite Precure, Supernatural the Animation, Isshoni Bathing: Bathing with Hinako, DD Hokuto no Ken, Drawer Hobs, Ojii-san no Lamp, Kizuna Ichigeki, Bannou Yasai Ninninman, Epic of Zektbach, Fortune Arterial OVA, Baka to Test OVA, Love Live Snow Halation, Goulart Knights, Kampfer fur de Liebe OVA, Otona Joshi no Anime
Kimi ni Todoke Second Season Episode 1
What this is about: I am reviewing every single subtitled anime show during the Winter of 2011. For more information about me and my reviews, click here.
About the series: Kimi ni Todoke is a long-running manga series by Karuho Shiina, that was adapted into a 25-part weekly television series in 2009/2010, followed by a second 12-part series from January to March 2011. Sawako is a very quiet and shy girl, who has been shunned by her classmates due to her scary appearance and timid nature. Until one day when the most popular boy in the class reaches out and befriends her, slowly helping Sawako emerge from her shell. More information: Wikipedia Entry.
Click on the thumbnails below to view the picture in full size in a new window:
ep.1 tl;dr review: Quiet, shy girl too scared to give Valentine's Day chocolates; In other news, Kimi ni Todoke loses out to wall of drying paint in excitement competition.
Episode 1 Summary: With new seating arrangements in class, Sawako manages to make a couple of friends with people around her, but worries that she is no longer near Kazehaya. Valentine's Day approaches, and Sawako makes several batches of special chocolates to hand out to her friends, including a package for Kazehaya. But when it comes to actually giving them to him, she freezes up and is unable to approach him. Stressed out for the entire day, she ultimately musters up the courage at the very end of the school day. But at the moment she calls out to him, Kurumi arrives and gives Kazehaya chocolates instead. Kurumi then notices Sawako was eavesdropping on them, and explains that Kazehaya would only accept the chocolates if they were an "obligatory gift", rather than a heart-felt gift with romantic intentions. Kurumi then warns Sawako that if she does give Kazehaya the gift, she better be prepared for the consequences. Ultimately, Sawako decides not to give him the chocolates, realizing she had put more meaning into them than just an "obligatory gift".
My reaction: Kimi ni Todoke has been on my radar as one of those shows that I "should" watch based on its positive buzz and reputation. And this being the start of the second season seems to have offered the perfect opportunity to give it a try. I had read that the first season of the anime series was achingly slow-moving, and feared that the second season may continue that trend. Based upon watching this first episode, I fear that may actually be the case.
First the artwork. I do like the artwork and the character designs, although the tendency to shift into "cartoony-mode" at the drop of the hat with alarming frequency got on my nerves. Seriously, Sawako must have spent half the episode stuck in cartoony-mode. Also, based on what I read Sawako is supposed to be a bit scary-looking, compared to the creepy girl Sadako from the Japanese horror film series "The Ring". I dunno, I think she looks kinda cute.
Getting to the story itself, it all centers around a uniquely Japanese tradition where the girls give boys chocolates on Valentine's Day. There's the "obligatory chocolates" that you are required to give to friends, which don't really have any significance. Then there's the "love chocolates", essentially a confession that you like the guy. Sawako gets totally hung up between the two, completely paralyzed into a immobile lump of flesh when it comes to giving chocolates to Kazehaya. Half the episode is nothing but inner dialogue as she agonizes over what she is supposed to do.
And this is when I decided that I really don't *like* Sawako much at all. She's extremely shy and timid -- which in itself is okay. But this reticence is so overpowering that she is essentially mentally huddling in a corner unable to act towards anyone or anything. At the start of the second anime season, she has greatly improved over her much shyer earlier self in the first season. If *this* is an improvement, I can hardly imagine how meek she was before. It was frustrating to watch her not do anything the entire day, letting opportunity after opportunity slip by, all the while mentally beating herself up over her inaction. Grow a backbone, already!
I hate to condemn this show so quickly, I *want* to like Kimi ni Todoke. But if the show continues along this glacial pace, and if Sawako doesn't show some glimmer of character advancement, then I simply cannot abide.
P.S. After watching the first episode of the second season, I learned that there was an "Episode Zero" that aired the week before, that serves as recap of the first season as well as a bridge to the second season. I guess I really should have watched that first, huh. The good news is that "episode 1" does a pretty decent job of mapping out the situation and the characters, so I don't feel like I have to go back and watch the first season to know what's going on. But maybe I'll go back and give episode zero a try.
My pre-viewing expectations: Light-hearted romantic drama
How did the show meet my expectations? Light-hearted romantic snooze-fest
The verdict:
- Willing to give it another chance
For more information:
- MyAnimeList Entry: http://myanimelist.net/anime/9656/Kimi_ni_Todoke_2nd_Season
- Anime News Network Entry: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=11983
- AniDB Entry: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=8014
- "Kimi ni Todoke is quite adept at not only conveying emotions, but throwing you in a pool of them, and having them seep into your brain, oozing slowly while it suddenly creeps up behind you with unforeseen shivers. I’d say that’s the show’s main strength, and is one of the biggest reasons why I like it so much." - Random Curiosity
- "The most romantic but tragic beginning ever - all in just one bag of valentine chocolate cupcakes. Grade: 9/10." - The Otaku's Blog
- "A solid first episode, and it sure reminded me a lot of all of the emotions I felt in the first season." - Sutoraiku Anime
- "How I love the emotions that this anime can draw from you. It’s quite amazing and that’s why I love it so much and because it’s so beautifully done." - LuRa's Blog
- "But, man, what a melancholy start to the new season. I mean, you would figure that Valentine’s Day would be a day to celebrate, but instead we get a rather saddening, almost depressing conclusion to the first episode. Grade: 7.7/10." - Emory Anime Club
- "This episode was an awesome come-back episode. Not only because Valentine’s is just around the corner but it rightly captures the continued tension between Sawahaya, which is going to mount with time." - Metanorn
- "This was a good start to the season, and im (sic) sure well (sic) get plenty more KnT goodness in the following episodes where ill (sic) have more to say!" - Chocolate Syrupy Waffles
- "My problems with this series really lie when you look at the big picture: it’s pretty much angst, angst and more angst. Potential: 50%" - Star Crossed Anime Blog
- "while the plot and pacing have never been the most original or breakneck aspects of the show respectively, it’s all about the execution of the plot and character development. Thus, in this respect, Sawako’s inner dorama does nothing short of suck you right in." - That Anime Blog
- "Lots of moments of awkward silence? This is the Kimi ni Todoke we all know and love." - Otaku Ako
- "I guess I like my shoujo with a little more spice and a little less sugar - as good as the show is at making incredibly banal things marginally involving, there's only so much I can care about trivialities." - Lost in America
- "It’s more of the same basically - if you liked Kimi ni Todoke’s 1st season, you’ll like this one as well." - Caraniel's Ramblings
- "It’ll be an awesome second season!" - Angry Anime Bitches
- "Sure, the franchise doesn’t break new ground, yet it happens to be delightfully refreshing in a sea of derivative melodramatic sob stories." - Drastic My Anime Blog
- "Where the show excels in making the path along the way as poignant as possible, and this season seems confirmed to continue that trend." - The Anti-Otaku
For the first round, the goal is for 65-75% of all first episodes to receive a passing grade:
Shows from the Winter 2011 Season receiving a thumbs-up: Dragon Crisis, Fractale, Is This a Zombie?, Houkago no Pleiades, Hourou Musuko, Yumekui Merry (with reservations), Gosick, Freezing, .hack//Quantum, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, Tailenders, Kimi ni Todoke Second Season
Shows from the Winter 2011 Season receiving a thumbs-down: Rio: Rainbow Gate, Nichijou OVA, Cardfight Vanguard, Oh My Goddess: Itsumo Futari de OVA, Morita-san wa Mukuchi OVA, Starry Sky, I Don't Like You At All Big Brother, Mitsudomoe: Zouryouchuu
What's Up Next (not necessarily in this order): Infinite Stratos, Wolverine, Beelzebub, Level E, Suite Precure, Supernatural the Animation, Isshoni Bathing: Bathing with Hinako, DD Hokuto no Ken, Drawer Hobs, Ojii-san no Lamp, Kizuna Ichigeki, Bannou Yasai Ninninman, Epic of Zektbach, Fortune Arterial OVA, Baka to Test OVA, Love Live Snow Halation, Goulart Knights, Kampfer fur de Liebe OVA, Otona Joshi no Anime