Kimi Ni Todoke Volume 1 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rated “T” for “Teen”

With her jet black hair and glum demeanor, high school student Sawako Kuronuma comes across as something scary to her classmates.  They think that she is strikingly similar to a haunting horror movie character named “Sadako,” so that becomes her nickname.  But Shota Kazehaya, the most popular boy in school, is about to change everything for Sadako… um, Sawako.

As Kimi Ni Todoke, Vol. 1 opens, Sawako is a total outcast.  Her classmates and fellow students avoid being near her because they believe that she (1) is cursed and that curse could spread to them; (2) will bring them bad luck – like the teacher she gave diarrhea; (3) can summon ghosts, and (4) just plain looks scary.  Then, the most popular boy in school speaks to her and suddenly Sawako has a friend who goes out of his way to make her fit in with the other students.  Are the other students, however, willing to accept the girl they call “Sadako?”

[This volume comes with a bonus insert of stickers featuring this series’ lead characters.]

THE LOWDOWN:  Perhaps, some audiences outside Japan have grown tired of the Japanese ghost girl – the angry spirit with the straight, long black hair that covers her deathly pale face.  Well, that image is the axis upon which the high school romance Kimi Ni Todoke (From Me to You) turns.  Creator Karuho Shiina features as a running gag students reacting in horror every time they get a glimpse of Sawako’s face.  In those reveal panels, Shiina deforms Sawako’s face so that it looks rather unappealing, but looks more funny than scary.

That gimmick aside, Kimi Ni Todoke is a nice series that manages to both focus on how high school students usually find a few classmates to turn into scapegoats, and also depicts one of those handsome prince/ugly duckling high school romances.  However, the strength of this series will probably rely on the Sawako vs. her classmates conflict.  That’s where the dramatic tension truly lies in this series, because, this early in Kimi Ni Todoke, the Sawako/Kazehaya romance just isn’t that interesting.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for a shojo high school romance with a twist – any twist – will like Kimi Ni Todoke.

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