Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You Blu-ray Review
Simple but effective.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, April 23, 2012
When last we left the mismatched pair of erstwhile lovers in
Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You, outcast girl Sawako and ultra
popular boy Kazehaya had moved from mere friendship—in and of itself something of a miracle to Sawako, who had
never been part of Kazehaya's starry social circle—to perhaps something more. This gentle, kind hearted anime (based
on a popular and long running manga series) is a slow and steady small scale work that doesn't offer much in the way
of bombast or even very convoluted plot mechanics, but which sways somewhat persuasively, probably appealing most
to those who have ever felt they're on the outside of some exciting activity or clique. Sawako has been branded with
the nickname Sadako, after the vengeful spirit from
The Ring, and she's thought to be able to (in best M. Night
Shyamalan fashion) "see dead people", though she is in fact just a sweet, shy young girl who can't quite understand
how she's become such a pariah at her high school. Enter Kazehaya, a Big Man on Campus, who reaches out to
Sawako and slowly draws her into not just his group of "in crowd" denizens, but also draws Sawako
out of her
inherent introspection and uncertainty. As the first half of the first season came to a close in Volume 1 of this NIS
America release, Sawako had borne the brunt of some vicious rumor mongering and outright jealousy, especially on the
part of another female character, Kurumi, who also has eyes for Kazehaya, but as the second half of the first season
gets
underway, Kazehaya and Sawako seem to suddenly understand that, as incredible as it may seem, they are meant for
each other, leading Kazehaya to drop the bombshell that he wants to officially date Sawako, sending the girl into a
flustered tailspin.
Though Kazehaya and Sawako seem to be on the verge of something bigger, the series takes time to deal with the
incipient conflict between Sawako and Kurumi as this second half of Season 1 gets underway. As has consistently been
the case with this understated anime, things don't get overly hyperbolic, and in fact Sawako, who might have gone
ballistic in a less restrained outing, here actually seems to understand that Kurumi is going through pain, pain at least
somewhat similar to what Sawako herself experienced when she was being relentlessly teased by kids growing up.
While
Kurumi's pain is that of unrequited love, Sawako proves herself to be an empathetic heroine, and actually congratulates
Kurumi for having the courage to reveal her feelings about Kazehaya to Sawako.
Anyone wanting big moments in their anime entertainment would be well advised to skip over
Kimi ni Todoke – From
Me to You, for this show is deliberately on the quiet, reserved side. Plot developments are usually incremental and
never really get into huge amounts of conflict. For instance, a friend of Kazehaya's who is at least tolerating Sawako
may believe he's become possessed by an evil spirit after spending time with the girl, while Sawako knows that the kid
is only experiencing the onset of a common cold. That's the sort of storylines
Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You
tends to deal with more often than not, for better or worse, and while it must be admitted it's never very exciting, the
show is so good natured and often heartfelt that it almost seems curmudgeonly to complain about it too much.
Playing out against the slowly developing love story between Kazehaya and Sawako are similar star crossed subplots,
especially one involving secondary characters Ryu and Chizuru. Sawako acts as a facilitator in this plot, lending a
listening ear as Ryu confesses his love for Chizuru, but then not knowing quite how to respond when she finds out that
Chizuru actually isn't interested in Ryu, but in Ryu's older brother. Again, this entire arc plays out with a minimum of
melodrama, but some quietly effective moments that make Sawako such an inherently appealing character.
While her developing relationship with Kazehaya has at least partially raised Sawako's profile in school, she still finds
herself an outcast some of the time, something exacerbated by Sawako's own inarticulate and awkward, fumbling
attempts to ingratiate herself with her schoolmates.
Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You is adept at portraying the
uneasy feeling of knowing you don't belong, as well as the poignant attempts by those who don't belong to try to
somehow make their way in what can be a cruel and unforgiving world. The fact that
Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to
You manages to depict this sometimes unseemly aspect to growing up so charmingly is perhaps its greatest
achievement.
Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You Blu-ray, Video Quality
My comments about
Kimi Ni Todoke - From Me To You Volume 1 are equally true for this second volume.
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 Blu-ray, 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 Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You may be an acquired taste, as it's resolutely quiet and mild mannered. It may well
appeal more to females than to males, but the series is touching and extremely good natured, without any epic pretensions
or overly hyperbolic emotional elements on display. The series may well be
too quiet an uneventful to those who
like their anime outings brisk, full of action, and with over the top dialogue. But for those who want a very nice looking,
"kinder and gentler" approach to a romance anime,
Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You has a lot to offer. This new NIS
America release is awfully sparse on supplements, even taking into account its deluxe packaging, but it offers nice video
and audio, and, like Volume 1 of the release, comes
Recommended.
