Kimi ni Todoke – The Rebuilding Phase

Aw, I missed these reaction faces.

I did something that I should not have done. A few days before this chapter came out, I found a link to one of the Japanese raws for the series. I ended up looking through that with no real idea what the characters were saying, and that got me a little worried. What was Sawako crying about? What did this mean for their relationship? When I finally read the translated version, I found out that things were nowhere near as bad as I’d thought. The thing that really got Sawako upset was how Yano and Kent have been acting, and while her relationship with Kazehaya was discussed, that part of the discussion wasn’t as sad. However, after everything that happened there’s still something bothering me. Do you know why I decided to check out that raw scan?

It’s because I was scared.

As strange as I find it to criticize Kimi ni Todoke, the most recent chapters have been a little hard to take. The whole appeal of Sawako and Kazehaya has always been how charming they come across, even when they can’t get out the words they want. In the last few chapters, they’ve still been awkward around each other, but that charm they used to have hasn’t been in it. This has only made me concerned about the direction their relationship could take, because this doesn’t feel the same as just having the relationship mature.

Now there’s something in particular I noticed with this series. This isn’t the first time we’ve had these longer misunderstandings, since the introduction of Kent and, to a degree, the early chapters with Chizuru and Ayane, felt like this too. The thing that got my attention is that each of those sections of the story came before a big moment in the plot. First it was Sawako becoming friends with Chizu and Ayane, and then her hooking up with Kazehaya. So there’s always the possibility of the current situation being the setup for something further down the line. I just hope that if this is true, whatever is being set up will be worth it.

I got into this series because of how these two kids interact, and while I still have faith that everything will work out in the end, I’m still worried that the story might do something it will regret. I’ve grown too attached to this series to see that happen, so a little reassurance from the manga would be nice. This chapter was a step in the right direction because at least Sawako got back some of her silly expressions, which means things are a bit less depressing. And now we have this Christmas party to look forward to. I highly doubt this party will just leave everyone more awkward than before, because we just had a vacation like that. I’m also still hoping that my “first kiss on New Years” theory will turn out to be correct, though if they end up kissing before that, I’ll be okay with it.