Kimi ni Todoke - From Me to You: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Kimi ni Todoke - From Me to You: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Slight but sweet.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 16, 2012

Kids can be mean, as any kid, or anyone who’s ever been a kid, can tell you. Childhood and adolescence is a precarious journey at times, rife with cliques and teasing, and it can shatter even the seemingly strongest individual’s resolve and self-esteem. Typically name calling and teasing center on some supposed defect of whomever is the object of the derisive attacks, and that in turn seems to stem from the apparently genetic tendency that kids have to be accepted, which often means to conform and be like everyone else. Even the slightest difference in any given individual can be held up as the object of derision, and if there’s something really different about a kid, something like being overweight, or, oh, you know, ostensibly being able to see dead people, all bets are off. Consider the plight, then, of Sawako Kuronuma, erstwhile heroine of the manga, and later anime, Kimi no Todoke. Sawako has been saddled with the lamentable nickname “Sadako” by her less than friendly classmates. If that word doesn’t immediately mean anything, think back to the original Japanese version of The Ring, and it may (forgive me) ring a bell. Sadako was the name of the malevolent spirit that appeared in the evil videotape, Sawako is rumored to be in touch with the spirit world, and, like Sawako, is supposedly able to curse people with a mere glance in their direction, on videotape or not. Of course, the truth turns out to be somewhat more mundane, and a like a lot of maladjusted youngsters, Sawako is basically a very kind and gentle girl who is, in those inimitable words from West Side Story’s “Gee Office Krupke”, misunderstood. Sawako’s life takes an unexpected turn when she meets one of her school’s most popular boys, Shota Kazehaya. Unlike a lot of guys who fall into the Big Man on Campus category, Kazehaya is an outgoing and friendly type, and he doesn’t deride Sawako, as might be expected, and instead forges an unlikely alliance with the girl, leading to a burgeoning romance. That, in sum, is pretty much all there is to Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You, a sweet and kind hearted anime that is quite reminiscent in its own way of another recent NIS America offering about a mismatched pair of outcasts, Arakawa Under the Bridge.

The “battle lines,” so to speak, are drawn right off the bat in Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You, with contrasting vignettes showing all of Sawako’s classmates screaming and running in terror from her presence (could it be those really odd and patently evil looking eyes of hers?), while Kazehaya is surrounded by his buddies and is obviously the object of many of the girls’ affections (maybe even all of the girls). When Kazehaya walks by Sawako on the way to school one morning and actually stops to say “Hi” to the flustered young girl, she stammers and hems and haws, not really knowing how to respond to someone who actually speaks to her rather than shrieking and running in the opposite direction.

Much as with Arakawa Under the Bridge, when viewed objectively, there simply isn’t much to Kimi ni Todoke, at least with regard to traditional plot arcs and even character evolution. And yet this show is, again like Arakawa Under the Bridge, immensely enjoyable when taken on its own smaller scale merits. There’s something inherently charming about Sawako coming to realize she’s not the outcast she may have thought she was, and there’s something equally winning about Kazehaya’s unselfish attempts to bring her into the “fold”, as it were, of the school community. In fact many watching this series, some of whom at least probably experienced the trials and tribulations of having been horribly teased as a kid, will no doubt be wishing they had had someone like Kazehaya in their corner, always willing to step up and demonstrate friendship when those around are more prone to laughing and name calling.

Despite the “sweetness and light” character of a lot of Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You, the series delves ever so slightly into subjects like jealousy and insecurity. As Sawako and Kazehaya become closer and closer, another girl named Kurumi who has been nursing an unrequited crush on Kazehaya for years becomes increasingly disturbed by Sawako’s ability to attract Kazehaya’s attention. This first volume contains twelve episodes, and it details the slow unfolding and deepening of Sawako and Kazehaya’s relationship as it also brings in a number of other characters (like Kurumi) who play into various sidebars while never really intruding on the main storyline of the looming romance between the two leads.

The manga of Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You was aimed squarely at female audiences from the ages of adolescent to late teens, and its story of an outcast girl being befriended (and ultimately wooed) by the most popular boy in the school is obviously appealing to girls who dream of dating “above their pay grade”, so to speak. But Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You is really such a sweet natured little show that it may well end up appealing to guys, even though they might be loathe to admit it. This is a quiet, unassuming and unpretentious series that makes no bones about being concerned with supposedly “trivial” matters that confront youngsters as they grow up. It may indeed be deliberately small scale, but there’s something universal about its message.

Kimi ni Todoke - From Me to You: Volume 1 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. This is yet another really pretty offering from NIS America which once again shows what exceptional work Production I.G (there's no period after the "G") often provides anime fans. Colors are exceptionally vivid, though they tend to quite frequently be on the pastel side of things (especially with regard to some of the lovely backgrounds, which almost resemble traditional Japanese silk screened illustrations at times). Line detail is very sharp, and character designs, at least in close-ups, are quite complex and well rendered. As is typical with most animes, midrange shots tend to feature characters only in the barest outlines, with virtually no facial characteristics. This series also tends to dabble in chibi more than most, with characters "devolving" into these forms at the slightest emotional provocation. The design aesthetic here isn't especially innovative, but it's quite pretty and very enjoyable.

Kimi ni Todoke - From Me to You: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You features an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 audio in the original Japanese. There's really not much to "wow" audiophiles here with, as the bulk of the show really revolves around smaller dialogue moments and Sawako's omnipresent narration, which fills in a lot of each episode. Fidelity is excellent and the show's score also sounds fine in this lossless rendering. The best news here is that NIS America has made the English subtitles optional, instead of encoding them into the video. All of this label's releases that I've personally reviewed up to Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You have had mandatory subtitles, something that makes just sitting back and enjoying these usually spectacularly presented animes harder to do, but with this release, the subtitles can be turned off for subsequent viewings. And let's face it, the dialogue here isn't exactly literary in quality.

Kimi ni Todoke - From Me to You: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As continues to be the case with these NIS America "Premium Editions", Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You comes packaged in an oversized slipcase which holds two slimline cases, each with one DVD and one Blu-ray, as well as an oversized hardback book full of appealing illustrations and recaps of each of the episodes. The actual on-disc supplements include:

• Clean Opening (HD; 1:01)


• Clean Ending (HD; 1:12)

Kimi ni Todoke - From Me to You: Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You is a sweet little show, with the emphasis on little. This is quiet, unassuming entertainment that will frankly probably appeal to girls more than boys, though the show certainly deals with some issues that both sexes have to contend with as they ford their way through the roiling waters of adolescence and teendom. This is another impeccably designed offering that may not be especially innovative, but which is just downright pretty, with nice looking characters and some exceptionally rendered backgrounds. Once again, NIS America has provided a very handsome "Premium Edition" that may not fit standard Blu-ray shelves, but which offers a sturdy slipcase, a hardback book and two volumes of Blu-rays and DVDs. For those who don't mind an anime that isn't stuffed to the gills with action, and which in this opening set of twelve episodes, only begins to hint at the romance that is obviously in the cards, Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You comes Recommended.