Manga Review: Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Volume 18, by Karuho Shiina

Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: January, 2014

Volumes: 21+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 17. 19.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A bestselling tale of high-school romance with an (almost) supernatural twist. Sawako Kuronuma is the perfect heroine...for a horror movie. Nicknamed "Sadako" after the haunting movie character, everyone is afraid to come near her for fear of being cursed. But her whole life changes when she befriends the most popular boy in class, Shota Kazehaya.

Even though Sawako is dating Kazehaya, lately he's been distant. When the class Christmas party inspires the bristly Chizu and even insecure Yano into taking the next step in their relationships, Sawako takes drastic action to finally reach Kazehaya.

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.

Review:

This series just makes me happy. For me, I don’t think there’s any way I can even think about this series without smiling. And I could reread it forever and never get tired of it.

The first two chapters are everything I have been waiting for, for Sawako and Kazehaya. It’s beautiful and amazing and so sweet. It’s perfection. They’re really starting to get to know each other now, to talk and see how the other person works. They finally talked about things they needed to, realized that they need to pay attention to each other. They still need to talk more, learn more about each other, but they will with time.

I particularly liked the emphasis on paying attention to each other. That’s important in any relationship, something that a lot of people overlook, and I like that they realize they need to do it.

Then the girls have a talk, and afterward the group has a final Christmas party. I love how all of them get along, how Sawako’s father is coming around to Sawako’s growing up, but I especially love how the girls talk. They’re open with each other, even if sometimes they need to be goaded. They’re there for each other when they need to be, always, and that’s important. 

The slow releases with this series sucks given how I just eat up each volume, but I don’t think there can ever be enough of this series. It’s beautiful and emotional and amazing. Now that everyone is starting to settle in their relationships, I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes next.