When you think of fiction targeted towards young girls, romance is probably one of the first things that pops into mind. Japanese shoujo comics targeted towards young girls are no different and are chock full of all kinds of romance from "pure love" to provocative and sexy. "Kimi ni Todoke" by Karuho Shiina is an example of the "pure love" kind, the story of a sweet, shy, innocent high school girl's quest to make friends and while in the process falls in love.
This story is a huge success in Japan, and it is rather unique for a shoujo manga in that it is popular with both guys and girls. One can attribute this to the author's attention to the details of making friends and falling in love as well as the deliberately slow place and setting of a heartwarming atmosphere for the piece. Additionally, the female and male lead are just absolutely adorable and irresistable to both sexes. The female lead is presented as a pure, honest, but lonely girl who's never been able to make friends due to her gloomy looks, and yet she is still happy and optimisitcally continues helping people in her attempt to make friends. Kazehaya, the male lead, on the other hand, is a popular boy who is genuinely kind and recognizes Sawako's efforts to make friends and helps her on her quest (who wouldn't fall in love with a boy like that?!). Often times shyness can come across as fake or an overdramatized problem caused by some childhood trauma in manga, but the light-hearted tone and senstivity with which Karuho presents Sawako's personality really adds a layer of believability and genuineness to the manga, keeping the tone of the manga pure and child-like, and reminding readers that it's ok, and even attractive, to be shy <3!
In addition, the relationship between Sawako and Kazehaya is rather unique and unusual within a manga, as both characters struggle to honestly express their feelings to one another and treat each other with love and respect. The largely unnecessary and overcomplicated drama of love triangles and make-ups and break-ups of other manga is replaced with the inner turmoils and miscommunication that occurs due to Sawako's shyness, and in this way this manga is an interesting study of social anxiety and nervousness around crushes, something I'm sure most if not all of us can relate to.
I am personally very excited to see where this manga will go. It is currently 15 volumes and ongoing in Japan, and it's gotten veeerrryyy innnteresting currently because [spoilers!] Kazehaya has been aloof with Sawako lately, it seems because he doesn't want to taint her innocence, but he doesn't know how much longer he can control himself from moving to the next step of the relationship <3. I myself am very interested in seeing how this author will handle the blooming of their sexualities and hope she will write and draw something just as sensitively and purely as she handled Sawako's attempts at friendship.
So click here to buy and read the manga right now!!!!!
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