Kimi ni todoke

Based on a comic of the same title by Karuho Shiina, "Kimi ni todoke" is a movie adaptation done well, and acted superbly by the cast.

The story is a play on the movie "Ring". A girl that resemble "Sadako" of the movie Ring is being feared by her classmates. Rumored to become cursed if she looks at you, she is avoided like the real Sadako by her classmates. The girl's real name is Sawako Kuronuma (Mikako Tabe), and she's really a nice girl. While everyone is avoiding her, Shota Kazahaya (Haruma Miura) befriends her, and her popularity begins to grow. She also gets two friends Ayane Yano (Natsuna), and Chizuru Yoshida (Misako Renbutsu) who befriends her. There's a strong friendship between the four of them, and the story revolves around the four of them, their romance, and their friendship. Shota loves Sawako, and he confesses his love to her. Sawako slowly starts to accept the fact that she is worthy of Shota's love, and starts to become active part of his life.

The story is superb in describing the intricacies of friendship, and romance of the cast and characters. Each scene highlights the emotions of the characters involved, and how they are maturing in their life.

The performance of the cast is fantastic. They really carry the story with their acting, charm, and presence.

Without a question, this is one of the best teen based movie to come out of Japan in the past 10 years. It's a delight to watch, with characters that you can identify with.

A little bit disappointed that I just found out about this movie in 2024. Omg heart melts with the lead actor. He is too perfect for what I want in a man in reality. A man with an attractive smile and a funny guy. In addition to being a gentleman, he is also galant. He doesn't be shy of protect the girl he loves in front of a crowd. And show his love to her, even though he is famous and she is the one that people get away from.

After seeing it for the first time, I watched it several times in the following days and beyond. I have a crush on him, the perfect man.

A little bit confused with a girl, but her kindness and sympathy are good qualities to skip over the others. Must watch live action movie for the genre of school romance movies.

Watching the first 2 episodes of this would bring anyone to tears. You really feel bad for her. The actress that played sawako is very good and convincing. You almost feel like it actually happened. A popular boy later befriends her and gets her to open up and they eventually fall in love. The rest of the cast was very good as well. Her two friends who befriended her and later told her when she was trying to stay away from them that she was not causing them any problems. This was due to a rumor that was started by a jealous girl who in the end becomes her friend as well. The ending was full of too many holes and loose ends that weren't tied. You only saw sawako coming back to shota. What happened to Ryu. Did he not come back to the other girl and what about Ayane did she not come back from overseas. This was not a netflix original as this was just shown on netflix and the date of release was 2010. Can they rectify this? Yes they can make a movie to tie up all of the loose ends and show how the others fared. Had that been addressed during this series I would have rated it a 10.

For those familiar with the anime this feature is based upon, a number of the scenes will be easily recognizable, and though some changes have been applied, both subtle and massive, the directionality and focus the anime developed is well produced in this live action teen drama.

Mikako Tabe is especially brilliant in her role as Sawako, an outcast, who is largely feared in the classroom due to her likeness, in both name and appearance, to Ringu's Sadako, despite her genuinely friendly demeanor, and desire to help, often abandoning her own wants for the sakes of other people. Haruma Miura provides a performance that is equally satisfying as Kazehaya, the most popular boy in class, whose sincerely charming and appreciative attitude towards Sawako, assists in heightening her communicative abilities, allowing her to find friendship and happiness, while also discovering herself.

The film moreover, refines the back-story behind Sawako's nickname in a broader, and more visual manner than was attempted in the anime, the use of scenes from the movie Ringu, furthering the resemblance between our favorite long haired ghost, and the sweet high-school student. This is heightened by Ms. Tabe's facial expressions and tone, her socially awkward persona having the capacity to be misinterpreted as sadistic by those unfamiliar with her. These acting techniques enable her character to appear even more reserved and introverted, while her compassionately sweet personality is additionally accentuated, allowing the audience to easily sympathize with her situation.

Though similar instances occurred during the anime, the feelings and tone expressed in the series being potentially relatable for those who had experienced comparable occurrences in high-school, this was occasionally accompanied with humor, while the more dramatic atmosphere of the film allows the emotional flare to be more impacting. Despite Sawako appearing equally kind in the anime, this was potentially hindered by the continuous repetition, alongside the longevity applied to certain segments. Where a couple episodes may have sufficed, often these were drawn out, whereas in this live action movie adaption, though a couple of sub-characters and plots are removed, the focus on the primary narrative makes it easier to follow.

Moving on, during the anime, the characters could potentially be described as 'stiff' in regards to their movements, while in the film, which is especially true for Sawako (who appears very girly), the bodily gestures further the characterization. The film immediately demonstrates Kimi Ni Todoke to be a love story, the narration occasionally provided by both lead characters strengthening their emotions and points-of-view. Though the awkwardness and tension between the leads is perhaps not as well conceived as it was in the anime, the chemistry, reactions and feelings are very well preserved, and when combined with the musical score, makes for a heartwarming experience.

Ume (Mirei Kiritani), who could be described as the antagonist, deserved more screen time. Although her feelings for Kazehaya, alongside her motivations to discourage other girls from attempting to date him are shown, her relationship with Sawako suffers due to the film prioritizing other characters. Furthermore, though Misako Renbutsu may initially seem a strange choice to portray Chizuru, this particular actress on many an occasion playing shy, introverted characters, Ms. Renbutsu shines as this in-your-face opinionated and athletic student, while Natsuna is equally superb in her role as the sultry Ayane. Despite their characters been provided adequate screen-time, the sub-plots regarding their romantic relationships/crushes are largely unexplored, and by the end of the feature, seem incomplete, the film sacrificing these stories for the relationship between the leads.

Moreover, the sub-plot about the nefarious rumors spread about their characters is not given enough screen-time to be either poignant or humorous, unlike the anime. At the same time, homeroom teacher and sport enthusiast Ping is potentially the one character from the animation who is the most under-developed. During the anime, the back-story regarding his character assisted in conveying his personality, making his unusually unprofessional antics not only humorous, but greatly enjoyable, while in this live-action remake, his character seems peculiar, a couple of his scenes appearing forced, as though his character was inserted as an after-thought. This is similar to the role of Sawako's parents (Yasuko Tomita and Masanobu Katsumura) whose roles are incredibly limited in contrast with the animation, which is disappointing considering their talents, especially those of Mr. Katsumura.

When contrasting the animation with the live action adaptation, the film proves to be neither better nor worse than the anime, but equal, much of the story being based on the first volume of the series. Even with some of the lacking elements that were particularly enjoyable in the anime, this live action remake is a satisfying narrative in a bite-sized package.

I'm a fan of the anime and found the film to be quite charming and moving, the characters endearing and well acted and the overall feel of the film, wholesome. The casting was spot on for the principals. Mikako Tabe, as Sadako, was especially impressive, as were the the actors playing Chizu, Yanosan, Ryu and Kazehaya. I don't know if this film is for everyone, but as an older person, with a varied taste in film and entertainment genres, I rank it up there with The Railway Children and The Swiss Family Robinson. My only complaint were the constraints put on it time wise. Trying to fit a 24 episode anime into a two hour film is a difficult task. The filmmakers succeeded, but I and I'm sure most fans of Kimi Ni Todoke, could have easily sat through a four hour version.