Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

The shōjo must go on.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 28, 2012

Anime can often be a bombastic, hyperbolic genre that is full of sound and fury, but which often signifies (next to) nothing. Occasionally it’s nice to take a break from all the craziness and just settle into something relatively quiet and gentle, and that’s where appealing little anime like Kimi ni Todoke—From Me To You come in. This simple but effective series, based on yet another popular franchise that included light novels and a manga, is really about little more than mismatched lovers, or erstwhile lovers. Sawako is the outcast girl who has been teased and branded with the sound alike name Sadako, after the evil spirit in The Ring. Kazehaya is the ultra popular boy who seemingly has the world at his beck and call and yet who against all odds finds himself attracted to Sawako. There are a number of other characters in Kimi ni Todoke whose various alliances and even romantic exploits enter into the fray, but this is at its core an intimate character study about two people who end up together despite considerable odds. Shows like Kimi ni Todoke are generally marketed to females, but there is such a heartfelt, appealing demeanor to the series that even hard hearted males may find themselves melting, if only a little bit, under the warm breeze this series has to offer. They may not want to admit it, of course, and may want to claim they’re watching only to placate their significant other, but for those willing to take a chance on an anime that doesn’t involve marauding aliens, goofy fan service or anything much other than some extremely gentle humor, Kimi ni Todoke—From Me To You is a welcome breath of fresh air.

For those not up to speed with the Kimi ni Todoke—From Me To You universe, reviews of the two previous volumes can be found here (though please note some content disappeared after our unfortunate server crash some months ago):

Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You Blu-ray review

Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You Blu-ray review

This second season starts with a brief recap of Season One from the perspective of supporting character Ume, who prefers to go by her nickname Kurumi. Kurumi has had an unrequited crush on Kazehaya for years, and she initially hated Sawako for seeming to be a rival. However, Sawako actually convinced Kurumi to share her feelings with Kazehaya, something that led to an unexpected backlash when Kazehaya rejected Kurumi outright. Perhaps not quite ready to give up the fight for Kazehaya anyway, Kurumi invests in some extremely expensive chocolate for the young man as a Valentine’s Day gift.

Valentine’s Day, that day set aside for lovers, turns out to be a focal point for the opening story arc of Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You’s second season. And in this regard, the one element that may drive viewers a little crazy about the series rears its teeny, tiny head, namely that this show can go on forever about incredibly trivial minutiae. In this case we get a whole build up of Sawako making special chocolate to give to Kazehaya, and then an unbelievable amount of cosmic soul searching as she decides what “type” of chocolate she should be describing her gift as (evidently the Japanese tradition includes labeling gifts as “love chocolate” or “graduate chocolate” or other such appellations). Kurumi comes into play of course, leading Sawako slightly astray and ending up giving her extremely expensive gift to the lad with a certain smug awareness she may have prevented Sawako from following through with her gift. This whole story continues to play out beyond this episode, believe it or not. If you’re able to relax and just let the admittedly picayune elements of Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You’s story unfold, it can be enjoyable on its own terms, but this is not a series for those who want in your face anime entertainment.

There’s a lot of typical high school angst playing out in the rest of this second season, with a number of faltering missteps between Kazehaya and Sawako that may lead some viewers to simply scream out, “Just get together, already!” Misunderstandings and an inability to completely articulate feelings run rampant through this series, as they have in the previous season, but the show also has a tendency to treat everything with a knowing sense of humor and some relatively genuine emotion which help to at least partially offset the repetitiveness of the show (one is reminded somehow of how long for example it took Sam and Diane to finally become a couple on Cheers). Sawako continues to be mercilessly teased by a number of kind of vicious classmates, but finally she and Kazehaya finally come to understand what they mean to each other. This kind of surprisingly doesn’t automatically alter Sawako’s social standing in her class, another way that Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You is able to inject some unexpected elements into its story arcs.

Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You is most definitely not a show for everyone, and perhaps not even for the typical anime fan. This is a deliberately slight, lightweight affair that can spend a lot of time on seemingly miniscule issues. But the show has an incredibly sweet air about it that becomes hard to resist, even for the most cynical (and I count myself among that category). For anyone who’s ever felt outside of the “in crowd”, Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You can speak volumes, despite (or maybe because of) its stumbling, faltering, inarticulate characters.

Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of NIS America with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. My comments about the two previous volumes of this serious hold equally true for this third volume. Production I.G (that's not a typo—there's no period after the "G") continues to crank out some of the loveliest looking animation around and it is presented with spectacular clarity on this Blu-ray. Colors are beautifully saturated and nicely robust, ranging from subtle pastels to bright, vivid primaries. Line detail is also exceptionally strong and sharp throughout this offering. As with the previous two volumes, chibi show up quite a bit of the time, adding some character design variety and injecting their typically chaotic humor into the proceedings.

Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You's third volume follows suit with the two previous releases by featuring the original Japanese language track delivered via an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 mix. As with the second volume, NIS America has wisely opted to encode the subtitles as optional, so that those who simply want to enjoy the beauty of the animation can turn them off. The soundtrack here is, as with the two previous volumes, certainly acceptably strong, with excellent fidelity, but there's not a lot to "write home about" here. This is often a relatively quiet show, featuring little dialogue moments or voiceover narration. Both of those elements are presented very cleanly and clearly. The show's often delicate underscore also sounds just fine in this audio mix.

Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is another handsomely package so called Premium Edition from NIS America which comes housed in a sturdy oversized slipcase and which includes a nicely illustrated hardback book which offers brief recaps (via quotes from various characters) of each episode. In terms of actual on-disc supplements, Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You features:

• Mini-Todo Theater contains two short episodes, "Ume-derella" (HD; 3:57) and "Sno-Ume White" (HD; 5:31).


• Creditless Opening Theme (HD; 1:01)


• Creditless Closing Theme (HD; 1:14)

Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You: Volume 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's no denying that Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You can occasionally (or even perhaps a bit more than occasionally) be a maddening experience. Just give the guy your friggin' chocolate, Sawako. But buried underneath the anguish over life's trivialities are some salient truths about growing up and finding your place in society. The series also makes some cogent observations about the clique-ish behaviors of high schoolers and also how love can triumph over everything, given the right amount of patience and perseverance. Kimi ni Todoke—From Me to You requires some patience and perseverance itself from its viewers, for the show is so subtle at times some may swear there's nothing to it. But the series has its own gentle, small scale pleasures that make it undeniably appealing if you're in the right frame of mind. This Blu-ray set continues NIS America's nice looking and sounding releases of the show, and it once again comes in a Premium Edition which includes an oversized slipcase and hardback book. Recommended.