Kimi Ni Todoke: Volume 20 manga review

Manga
Kimi Ni Todoke: Volume 20 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
December 7, 2014 - 18:48

Viz Media
Writer(s): Karuho Shiina, Ari Yasuda, HC Language Solutions, Inc.
Penciller(s): Karuho Shiina
Letterer(s): Vanessa Satone
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7335-9
$9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK, 184pp, B&W, paperback
Rating: T (Teen)

Kimi Ni Todoke Volume 20 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

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Rated “T” for “Teen”

She has jet black hair, a gloomy attitude, and a sinister smile – a combination that makes her scary … or so her high school classmates think. They call her “Sadako,” after the haunting horror movie character. Her name is really Sawako Kuronuma, and she is actually a sweet person. Shota Kazehaya, the most popular boy in school, starts talking to Sawako and her life changes. Now, they are a couple, getting closer all the time.

As Kimi Ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 20 (Chapters 80 to 83) opens, Sawako, Kazehaya, and their classmates are attending career conferences with their parents. Sawako surprises everyone with her choice of careers. When Kazehaya shares his future plans with his father, it starts a small war. Also, it's Valentine's Day, and Sawako is determined to make this year's exchange of chocolates much better than the previous year's. Will offerings of giri-choco, however, complicate her gift of honmei-choco?

THE LOWDOWN: After 83 chapters, the Kimi Ni Todoke manga makes the same love story seem fresh and new. Sawako and Kazehaya are like a couple still discovering new things about each other and new avenues of love and happiness.

I thoroughly enjoyed Kimi Ni Todoke Volume 20, after finding Vol. 19 less enjoyable to read than previous volumes. A series like Kimi Ni Todoke reminds me that I really love teen-oriented, high school shojo manga. I find myself especially drawn to “Shojo Beat” titles, with lovelorn tales and aching romance. Of course, there is no point in resisting it anymore.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Readers looking for high school shojo romance will like the Shojo Beat title, Kimi Ni Todoke: From Me to You.

Rating: A-/10