is a romance shōjo manga by . It has been published by Shueisha

Shueisha

is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...

 in Bessatsu Margaret

Bessatsu Margaret

, or for short, is a shōjo manga magazine published monthly in Japan by Shueisha. It is targeted at girls aged roughly 12-17. It is a spinoff of the magazine Margaret.-Current:*360° Material - Touko Minami*Acanthus - Izumi Yamaguchi...

since 2005 and collected in 14 tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

volumes as of September 2011. In 2008, it won the Best Shōjo Manga award in the 32nd Annual Kodansha Manga Award

Kodansha Manga Award

is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...

. The series was also nominated for the first Manga Taisho awards in 2008. Two anime adaptations of Kimi ni Todoke were aired in Japan. produced by Production I.G. The second season of the anime was announced in Betsuma Magazine, began airing in Japan on January 4, 2011 and lasted for 12 episodes. A live action film adaptation was released in 2010 starring Mikako Tabe and Haruma Miura.

Plot

Sawako Kuronuma, called Sadako by her classmates for her resemblance to the character from The Ring

Ring (film)

is a 1998 Japanese horror film by Hideo Nakata, adapted from the novel Ring by Kōji Suzuki, which in turn draws on the Japanese folk tale Banchō Sarayashiki. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rikiya Ōtaka as members of a divorced family...

, has always been feared and misunderstood because of her appearance. There are rumors that Sawako can see ghosts and curse people. However, despite her appearances, she is a sweet and timid girl who longs to be able to make friends with everyone and be liked by everyone else. When her idol, popular boy Kazehaya, begins talking with her, everything changes. She finds herself in a new world, trying to make friends and talking to different people and she can't thank Kazehaya enough for giving her these opportunities. Slowly, but surely, a sweet love blossoms between the two as they overcome circumstances and obstacles that stand in their way.

Characters

Sawako is a shy yet honest girl who is in search of friendship, but her resemblance to horror film character Sadako makes this difficult. Sawako's modesty prevents her from correcting people's misconceptions, to the point that most of the school believes her name is, in fact, "Sadako." Thanks to Kazehaya's kind and open nature, she is able to gradually open up to her classmates, and talk to different people. Her modesty towards friends is so strong that Yoshida has to tell her point-blank, that "Did you know? Without realizing it ... we were already friends!" With help from Kazehaya, Yano and Yoshida she gradually begins to make friends. She is grateful to (and at first, idolizes) Kazehaya for giving her the opportunities to make close friends, which come to include Yano, Yoshida, Kazehaya and Ryu. Yano and Yoshida admit that Sawako's 'like' to Kazehaya might be even more than Yano and Yoshida themselves. She is rather short, in part because her father is short as well (he is only 160 cm tall) and is surprisingly fast (to the point some people believe she is teleporting) which is revealed during a soccer match at the school's sports festival. A running gag is that she seems to take what people say seriously as well as over-analyze a situation, which tends to scare the people around her when she is deep in thought. When Kazehaya practically confessed right in front of her that he likes her, she believes it was a misunderstanding and that he was just saying he simply likes her as a friend. However, after having everything cleared up, they officially start dating, though this only brings up rumors that she somehow used black magic to get him.

Kazehaya is Sawako's outgoing and friendly classmate, and is Sawako's idol. He is so popular that during middle school, so many girls liked him that they formed a "Kazehaya is Everyone's" alliance in order to maintain some level of peace among his admirers and more than half of these girls now attend the same high school. Kazehaya fell in love with Sawako shortly after meeting her and admits (though not to Sawako) that he likes her, unaware that she feels the same for him. During their second year of high school, he begins to wonder if she actually does like him after she does not give him chocolates on Valentine's Day, not knowing that she had been too nervous to give him any. After the ordeal, he seemingly becomes calmer and shows a depressed and expressionless face more often. However, after being confronted by Ryu (influenced by Chizuru) and Pin, Kazehaya goes to Sawako as his friends jokingly remark that he likes Sawako; however, Kazehaya takes the remark seriously and agrees, subsequently confessing directly to Sawako. However, after Sawako's misunderstanding of his confession, he believes she rejected him. However, in chapter 40, he was finally able to confess his feelings to her, and they are officially dating. Kazehaya is prone to become easily jealous over and protective of Sawako, and deeply treasures her.

Ayane is a close friend of Sawako. She is the arguably the most mature of the group and she has a boyfriend in college as well as having her ears pierced multiple times. Initially the manga artist conceived of Yano and Yoshida as a pair, and in the first two chapters the two are difficult to tell apart. She then redrafted the characters, combing Yano's hair and styling it in a fashion that looks like a pony-tail. In Kurumi's fake rumors, it is said that Ayane has played with more than 100 guys in middle school. In their current high school, it is said that Yano and Yoshida pretty much have authority in the year group. Perceptive and intelligent, a trait of Ayane's personality is that she takes just enough information to leave others wondering, thus forcing them to move forward, this as well as being able to figure out that it was Ume who spread the rumors and discovering that Sawako, "liked" Kazehaya. Although she is usually calm and collected, she is easily infuriated if someone hurts Sawako and does not hesitate to attack the one she believes is responsible (frequently Kazehaya) with kicks and sharp words. She's also fairly intimidating when angry, being called scary by Chizuru a number of times. As of Chapter 20 she broke up with her boyfriend, who had begun to become too possessive of her: calling her all times of the day, wondering what she has been up to, and the fact if she was with any guys. After she suggested they break up, he slapped her across the face. When he tried to apologize and ask her back, she realized that the man she liked was not her boyfriend but rather, who he was when they started dating. As of recent chapters (Chapter 45), it appears she might be attracted to Pin. In Chapter 54, she is confessed to by a boy named Mogi. She immediately agrees to date him, which shocks everybody. However, it appears that she is not in love with him, and her feelings towards Pin seem to increase. However, starting from chapter 59, it has been strongly hinted that Kento has feelings for Ayane.

Yoshida is another close friend of Sawako. She is the tomboy of the group, and she even admits this when Ryu calls them brothers, where she argues about who is the older rather than that she is not a 'brother'. She can be very emotional at times, usually seen humorously crying after a touching moment between her friends. She has a soft spot for innocent mannered people, so she takes a near instant liking to Sawako. In Kurumi's fake rumors it was passed around that she was a former Yankee, though Chizuru just takes the rumor as a means of scaring people off or as a joke for her friends. One of the rumors states that Chizuru holds a record of ninety nine strait wins on being able to beat a guy on a one on one fight(Chizuru took credit of this rumor, she herself state that her streak was broken when she lost to her hundredth opponent, Ryu Sanada). Chizuru is mostly on the slower side of things; she did not realize that Kazehaya liked Sawako (even though she and Ayane planned many events for them) until late in the series, after they started their second year of high school. She is a close childhood friend with Ryu Sanada, her neighbor, and she went to the same middle school as Kazehaya and Ryu. Because of this, Ryu's family regards Chizuru and her family as their own and vice-versa. She has a crush on Ryu's brother, Toru, since she was very young knowing the age gap between them. When he visits with his fiancée, she realizes that he will only see their relationship as just siblings. She is very dense to the fact that Ryu loves her, even interpreting him saying "I love you" as an expression of their friendship.

Ryu is also member of Sawako's group of friends. He is the son of the ramen shop owner of Chizuru Yoshida's favourite ramen shop. He is quiet most of the time and rarely talks, but still can communicate well with Sawako, as they both don't talk much anyways. Ryu and Kazehaya became friends when they were on the baseball team during middle school. He is also close childhood friends with Chizuru and does not deny having feelings for her, such as simply smiling when Sawako asks if he and Chizuru are dating. He later confirms his love when he confesses that he likes Chizuru to Sawako. While his love is one-sided, he is very patient with Chizuru realizing that Chizuru probably won't like him in a romantic sense, at least not right away. He's more than willing to comfort Chizuru if she's depressed, though he would rather have her mad at him as he knows Chizuru can vent out her emotions better. Ryu also seems to like animals a lot; when Shota was going to walk "Maru", his adopted puppy, home with Sawako, Chizuru pulled Ryu away telling him he's going to walk with Ayane and her instead. While being pulled away from Shota's puppy, he cried out for it. A running gag in the series is that he has a very hard time remembering a person's name (with the exception of Kazehaya and Chizuru as he's known them for a long time, and after some time later Sawako and Ayane). In chapter 43, he casually tells Chizuru that he loves her and she reacts by saying "Don't say that so suddenly!". However, in chapter 59, he truly confesses his love for her, but she replies saying, "I have never looked at you in that way". In response, he smiles and says, "I know."

Arai is the temporary homeroom teacher for Sawako's class, taking over when the previous homeroom teacher became sick during the summer holidays while Sawako was helping him. Sawako, being formal, always refers to him as "Arai-sensei," while almost everyone else refers to him by his nickname, "Pin." Pin is a great fan of baseball as well as the school baseball team's coach. He used to be part of Kazehaya's father's league team, so he has known Shota since when he was young. A loud and eccentric man prone to believing the silliest things, Pin apparently enjoys interrupting people. He nicknames the puppy that Sawako and Kazehaya find by the river "Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martínez

Pedro Jaime Martínez is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He is an eight-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, and 2004 World Series champion...

" after the legendary baseball pitcher, which Sawako suggests be shortened to "Maru". A running gag through the series, despite being a teacher he is prone to actions that are more suited to a teenager, such as eagerly running to the bathroom when he heard about a fight yet became depressed when Sawako and her friends were making up rather than fighting. He and Ayane tend to run into each other a lot, often bickering loudly as they walk away, though on rare occasions he will give her advice (though comically ends in him ruining the moment to praise himself). He also has a false impression that Sawako is an exorcist.

A girl who appears friendly and sweet to everyone around her, she has had a huge crush on Kazehaya since their first year of middle school; as a result, she understands his personality well, despite the fact they were never close friends. She dislikes her given name, Ume, because it sounds old-fashioned and prefers to be called her nickname, "Kurumi." Kurumi is extremely jealous of Sawako, which leads her to spread fake rumors of Sawako's only friends at the time, Yoshida and Yano, using Sawako's name. Kurumi does not attend the same class as Sawako or Kazehaya. She eventually confesses her love to Kazehaya, but receives an expected rejection. Because she is always surprised with Sawako's naiveté, Kurumi is able to be her true self in front of Sawako and regards her as a rival for Kazehaya's affection. Following Kazehaya's rejection, she becomes colder to her classmates, but is able to finally express her feelings and personality. Despite viewing Sawako as a love-rival, she will not hesitate to defend her honour and even gets angry at Miura Kento for saying unnecessary things to Sawako that had caused a rift between Sawako and Shota. She believes Sawako to be a worthy rival but has yelled at her and lectured her in terms of love. Despite Kurumi's harsh personality, she is deep down, a stubborn, clear minded young woman who had stooped to unfair tricks to win a person's heart but has since learned better.

A student in Sawako's class during second year who sits next to her. When Sawako befriends Miura, Kazehaya becomes jealous of him as a potential rival for Sawako. He is interested in girls, particularly Sawako and tries to persuade her to give up on Kazehaya, suggesting that she is burdening him, because he believes that Sawako's feelings for Kazehaya are unrequited. His interference with Sawako and Kazehaya's developing relationship irritates Ayane. He expresses gratitude over the fact that the two began dating before he fell in love with her, although he appears to having some lingering attachment to Sawako (shown in Chapter 51 during a conversation with Ayane). In recent chapters, however, it hints that Kento may be developing a sort of attraction for Ayane and has helped her through some difficult times.

and
(Eriko Hirano), (Tomoko Endou)

Endou and Hirano are classmates of Sawako, and also members of her study group. After Sawako begins to open up, Endou and Hirano become some of her first friends and try to find ways to encourage her to be less formal around them. They both become close friends of Sawako, who shows her appreciation of their friendship by making them Christmas gifts in addition to those she makes for her parents, Ayane, Chizuru, and Kazehaya.

A classmate of Sawako, Takahashi sits behind Sawako after the seating arrangements change for the third term of first year. She enjoys teasing Sawako and Ayane remarks that Takahashi is eccentric.

A classmate of Sawako who sits next to her after the seating arrangements change during the third term of first year. He often consults her on supposedly spiritual or occult concerns.

One of Sawako's classmates, easily swayed by other people. He generally appears in the background. Jounouchi is very attached to Kazehaya, which usually results in him unwittingly interrupting conversations between Sawako and Kazehaya. At one point, he is rejected after confessing to a girl he liked and is comforted by Kazehaya. After hearing about how Yano broke up with her boyfriend, he sets his attention on her though she is not interested in him. It appears Joe is a character used for comedic value, often blundering with simple tasks or interrupting serious moments. He does not seem to take hints nor does he often realize his mistakes when they are pointed out.

Tōru is Ryu's older brother by eight years and Chizuru's crush since she was young. Although he is Ryu's brother and they resemble one another, their personalities are nearly opposite. Tōru resembles Kazehaya personality-wise and looks extremely refreshing, except much more mature. He lives three hours away from his parents' house and returns home to get married. He cares about Ryu and Chizuru a lot and loves Chizuru like a little sister. He calls her Chii because a person has to smile when saying it. He asks her to say "Chii" to cheer her up.

The original home room teacher of Sawako's class. He and Pin have the same surname, but are not related. To distinguish between the two teachers Yoshiyuki Arai is called "Zen". "Zen" is an alternate reading of the kanji for "Yoshi". He seems to be afraid of Sawako and the rumors surrounding her as "Sadako". Because he is easily ill, students often believe that Sawako has cursed him. Arai is newly-wed and eventually retires from teaching in order to help his wife's family business, resulting in Pin taking over his class permanently.

The only link to Sawako's past, Shino was her elementary school classmate and the only person who Sawako talks to as the series begins. During elementary school, by mistake, Shino called Sawako "Sadako." When they attended the same middle school, the boys in their class, afraid by Sawako's appearance, heard rumors that she was known as "Sadako," and since then it became her nickname. It is because of this, that Shino feels guilty about the rumors circulating over Sawako that started from her calling her "Sadako." Thus she cares about Sawako and whether she is fitting into high school. Shino is in a different class and regrets that she doesn't get to see Sawako very much. She is a cipher, appearing only occasionally as a catalyst for Sawako's interactions with other people. Perhaps for story reasons, Sawako is too modest to consider her as a friend.

Mogi is a new character introduced in the recent chapters of the manga. He is a boy from Class 2-B. In Chapter 54, he asks Ayane to date him, to which she immediately agrees. They are dating, although it appears Ayane does not really love him.

Manga

Originally planned on being a one-shot to be compiled in her previous work, Crazy For You, Shiina decided to expand the story and make it into a full series. It has been running in Japan in Bessatsu Margaret

Bessatsu Margaret

, or for short, is a shōjo manga magazine published monthly in Japan by Shueisha. It is targeted at girls aged roughly 12-17. It is a spinoff of the magazine Margaret.-Current:*360° Material - Touko Minami*Acanthus - Izumi Yamaguchi...

since 2006, with 14 compiled volumes so far. Shiina took a break starting in the March 2009 issue to have a baby; serialization resumed in the October issue. The series is licensed by Viz Media

VIZ Media

VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...

 for an English-language North American release.

Light novels

Kimi ni Todoke has been adapted into multiple series of light novels in Japan released by Shueisha, one under their Cobalt imprint and one under their newer Mirai Bunko imprint. Nine volumes have been released so far in the Cobalt imprint series; the first was released on August 1, 2007 and most recent on April 1, 2011. Two volumes of the Mirai Bunko version have been released thus far; the first on March 1, 2011 and most recent on April 5, 2011.

A separate volume was released September 11, 2009. The volume took the place of the manga in Bessatsu Margaret magazine while Karuho Shiina took a break due to her pregnancy; it contains the story of Kazehaya and Sawako's first meeting, before the events of the manga.

Cobalt Imprint Volumes

Mirai Bunko Imprint Volumes

Video game

Banpresto released a game for the Nintendo DS

Nintendo DS

The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...

 in Japan based upon the series on October 16, 2009, entitled . A second Nintendo DS game, also from Banpresto, is to be released in the Spring of 2011 under the title .

Anime

The first season of the Kimi ni Todoke anime adaptation aired between October 2009 and March 2010. A second season was announced in the November 2010 issue of Betsuma magazine. The second season aired in Japan on NTV on January 2011. Both seasons of the anime are produced by Production I.G.

Production I.G.

is a Japanese anime studio and production enterprise, which was founded on December 15, 1987 by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa. It is headquartered in Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan....

 and directed by Hiro Kaburagi. The music is done by S.E.N.S. Project

S.E.N.S.

S.E.N.S. is a Japanese new age instrumental group formed in 1988, originally with two members. The name stands for "Sound, Earth, Nature, and Spirit" based on their spiritual policy....

, with the opening sung by Tomofumi Tanizawa and the ending by Chara

Chara (singer)

, better known by her stage name Chara, is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress and video jockey. She debuted in 1991 with the single Heaven...

. NIS America announced at Anime Expo

Anime Expo

Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation . With rare exceptions, the convention is traditionally held on the July 4th weekend and lasts for four days...

 2011 that they have licensed the first season of Kimi ni Todoke. They will release the series on DVD/Blu-ray combo sets in January 2012. They also acquired the 2nd season and will release the second season as well.

Live-action film

The February 2010 issue of Bessatsu Margaret (released in January 2010), announced that a live-action film adaptation of the series had been approved. Mikako Tabe

Mikako Tabe

is a Japanese stage and film actress who is from Tokyo. She has played the role of Yaten Kou in the Sailor Moon musicals. She also starred in the comedy series Yasuko to Kenji.-Movies:*Kimi ni Todoke *Fish Story *Kowai Douyou...

 and Haruma Miura

Haruma Miura

is a Japanese actor and singer. He is part of the Amuse agency, and debuted as one of the members of Brash Brats, a J-pop group. However, they are currently on hiatus, while Haruma is still active as an actor. He gained popularity with Gokusen 3 and 2007 film Koizora...

 starred in the film, released in Japanese theatres on September 25, 2010 and directed by Naoto Kumazawa. The Live-action movie was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 11, 2011.

Manga

Volumes of the series commonly rank in listings of top manga in Japan; the fourth volume was second on the list for two weeks before dropping to tenth place. The fifth volume debuted at number one on the charts, then fell to fifth place in its second week. The sixth volume debuted at number 2, then fell to number 5. Volume 7 debuted at number 1 on the charts, then fell to second place in the second week, then to seventh place in its third week. Volume 8 again debuted at number one on the charts, then fell to seventh place, and then 15th place before falling off the charts. The ninth volume of the series debuted at number 2, but moved to number 1 in the its second week, then fell to seventh place and finally 29th place before falling off the charts. The seventh and sixth volumes were the 20th and 21st best selling manga in Japan in 2008. The eighth volume was the eleventh best selling volume of manga in Japan in the first half of 2009, and both the eighth and ninth volumes were among the top 25 best-selling manga volumes in Japan for 2009. Volume ten sold 517,358 copies in its first week in Japan, making it the number one selling manga of the week. The following week it sold another 146,758 copies, but fell to the second best selling manga of the week. The third week after its release, volume 10 sold another 57,727 copies, being the 6th best-selling manga of the week. At the debut of the twelfth volume, all twelve of the current volumes were ranked on Oricon's list of best-selling manga for the week. The twelfth volume also sold the most copies of the series in one week to date, with 570,979 copies sold in the first week. According to Anime News Network, Kimi ni Todoke is now the "shōjo manga with the most #1 books and the most books to sell one million copies since 2008" in Japan. The series was the third best-selling manga series in Japan in 2010, with 6,572,813 copies sold. Volumes 10, 11, and 12 were ranked 13th, 15th, and 16th respectively as part of the best-selling individual manga volumes in Japan in 2010.

Anime News Network

Anime News Network

Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...

 called the series "hands down one of the best new English-translated manga series of 2009" and suggested that everyone, not just shōjo manga fans, read the series. The first volume of the series was listed as a "Hot Fall Graphic Novel" for libraries in the teen section by YALSA. The series was also listed in the Best Comics for Teens category of the School Library Journal's Best Comics for Kids in 2009 list. Kimi ni Todoke has also been included on the American Library Association's list of 2010 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

Live action

According to Oricon

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

, the series was listed as 3rd on a list of titles that Japanese readers wanted a drama adaptation for. The live action movie adaptation opened at second place in Kogyo Tsushinsha's box office chart during its first week in Japanese theaters. The movie was number 3 on Box Office Mojo's chart during its first two days, earning the equivalent to US $2,770,613 on 285 screens.

Anime

The first season of the anime consistently sold well enough to rank on the Oricon charts. Volume 2 sold 7,449 copies in its first days, placing 19th on the charts, volume 3 sold 7,557 copies in its first days, ranking 18th place, volume 5 sold 7,136 copies in its first days, ranking 17th, volume 6 sold 7,035 copies in its first days, placing 12th on the charts, volume 7 sold 6,613 copies in its first days, ranking 14th, and volume 8 sold 6,125 copies in its first days, ranking 20th.

The second season of the anime was number one in a poll of Dengeki Online readers as their most anticipated anime series debuting in January 2011. Anime News Network

Anime News Network

Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...

 reviewer Carl Kimlinger gave the second season 4½ out of 5 stars, saying, "This remains the finest series of its type since Lovely Complex

Lovely Complex

, also known as Lovely Complex, is a romantic comedy shōjo manga by Aya Nakahara. It was published by Shueisha in Bessatsu Margaret from 2001 to 2006 and collected in 17 tankōbon volumes. The series is about the romance between a tall girl and a short boy who are treated as a comedy duo by their...

, and the most beautiful since...well, I don't know when." Japanese viewers voted it the most enjoyable anime of the Winter 2011 season during a poll taken just before the season ended.

External links

• Viz product page
• Official Anime Site