Japanese Title: Kimi ni Todoke

 

Similar: Lovely Complex

My Love Story

Maid Sama!

 

Watched in: Japanese

Genre: Drama Romance Slice of Life

Length: 37 episodes (2 seasons)

 

Positives:

• A sweet romance.
• Cute art.

Negatives:

• Hits its peak within a few episodes.
• Plays it too safe.

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For those who aren’t aware, the movie The Ring (or just Ring in Japanese) is a cultural icon in Japan. It’s their Jaws or Dracula. In particular, the ghost girl with long black hair over her face is recognisable to all the Japanese. Unfortunately for our protagonist Sawako, she looks just like the Ring girl and terrifies her classmates at every turn. Down the empty school corridors, in the damp bathrooms, behind the schoolyard trees lurks the shy, sweet, introverted and utterly terrifying Sawako. Fear her.

Of course, she’s a harmless girl just trying to make friends. She has a crush on the most popular guy in class, Kazehaya, who turns out to be the one person not afraid of her. He doesn’t have trouble talking to the horror that is Sawako.

Despite the ghostly premise, From Me to You gives off feel-good romance vibes from the beginning. I would go so far as to say that it gives these vibes too early. Kazehaya likes her right away and they got along without delay, so it already feels like the conflict is over. They keep the drama going with so much self-pity and unspoken misunderstandings that it makes for a weak romance. Her core personality trait is shyness, true, but not saying anything at every convenient moment is just dim-witted. Too much time is spent with her watching shyly, too timid to talk to the guy, too timid to do anything. Grows old fast. Her flabbergasted expression by someone merely talking to her also wears thin before long (and she cries each time). If everything is flabbergasting, nothing is.

There is no inherent problem with the feel-good direction – I’m not advocating Shakespeare come in to dramatise every romance – yet if taking that route, a story needs another driving force. Comedy is the most common substitute. Romantic sitcoms can go for seasons on end with little true progression. Doesn’t mean it will be great – viewers will want progress and a conclusion eventually. Regardless, the audience needs something. From Me to You, while amusing in a charming way, isn’t laugh-out-loud funny. These characters aren’t compelling enough either to want to observe in daily life, intrigued by what they will do next.

As for the episodic story, we have the usual high school fare of festivals, classes, and school events. It’s what you expect from a high school anime. I see this as neither positive nor negative. Using these events in a more interesting way with actual conflict (i.e. something other than shyness) even if done for comedy matters more.

For some positives though, it is a pretty anime. You can feel the manga artist’s touch in the visual style (needs more animation than a manga page though). It has a strong shoujo flair that brightens up the screen. It makes for a nice compliment to the feel-good romance. The chibi humour is also amusing – not as funny as the likes of Get Backers, but successful nonetheless. The characters are most likeable (though not particularly memorable).

From Me to You is a difficult anime to dislike. I think that’s the secret to it’s success. Pleasant best describes it. However, while I did finish the series, I would not have gone beyond six or so episodes had it not been for the purposes of this review. Pleasantry can only keep me going for so long. Give me pleasantry plus something else and I could go forever, but not by itself. I feel this pleasantry makes it difficult for people to be critical of the series. It’s like telling the girl scout that her cookies taste awful. Makes one feel mean.

Now, if such pleasantry sounds appealing to you, then by all means, give this anime a go. From Me to You is an innocuous romance that pleases the eyes.

Art – Medium

The art is cute – pretty and feminine, reminiscent of Nana – with frequent use of chibification. The animation, however, has little to show for itself.

Sound – Medium

I am not a fan of Mamiko Noto’s meek voice, but it works here for the timid Sawako. Even so, I couldn’t take it for long periods at a time. Like the pleasant music.

Story – Medium

A girl that reminds every one of the creature from Ring struggles with love and friendship at school. Though a sweet love story, From Me to You resolves its major conflicts early on and makes the rest feel like an extended epilogue.

Overall Quality – Medium

Recommendation: For anime romance fans only. From Me to You is for those who like their conflict light and their romance safe.

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Awards: (hover over each award to see descriptions; click award for more recipients)

Positive: None

Negative: None