Title: 君に届け Kimi ni Todoke
English Title:
- Reaching You
- From Me to You
Language: Japanese
Year: 2010
Cast:
- 三浦春馬 Miura Haruma
- 多部未華子 Tabe Mikako
- 蓮佛美沙子 Renbutsu Misako
- 渡辺夏菜 Watanabe Natsuna
- 桐谷美玲 Kiritani Mirei
- 青山ハル Aoyama Haru
- 金井勇太 Kanai Yuta
SYNOPSIS
Kuronuma Sawako is a quiet and painfully shy girl whose mannerisms and disposition are unfortunately quite similar to Sadako, the villain in the widely popular horror film The Ring. Sawako is an extremely kind and thoughtful person who intends to not trouble other people and to do at least one good thing every day.
Sawako helps Kazehaya Shota find his way to school on his first day. He is a good looking guy with a very outgoing personality. Shota is nice to everyone, even Sawako. Getting to know him, Sawako admires and respects Shota's personality.
Shota has special feelings for Sawako. He helps Sawako get out of her shell and develop friendships with Yoshida Chizuru, Yano Ayane, and Sanada Ryu. He tries to let his feelings reach to Sawako through his actions but she's too oblivious to notice and too innocent to interpret his actions as more than ordinary kindness.
REVIEW
In a nutshell, Kimi ni Todoke is a movie about first love. There are a lot of moments in the movie that are quite ordinary but become extremely romantic when viewed through rose-colored eyes: showing indifference when hearing rumors about other people (particularly about a certain someone), greeting someone properly, helping someone fix something, defending someone when her feelings are hurt, willingly sitting beside someone in class, asking someone to eat some snacks with friends after class before going home, walking someone home, etc.
In a scene where Shota is teaching Sawako how to play soccer and pass the ball, Shota told her it is important that the person passing the ball intends that the ball will reach the person who is supposed to receive it.
Kazehaya Shota: When passing something, if you don't think that it will actually reach the other person, they won't be able to properly receive it.
This is a nice analogy on the theme of the film wherein Shota tries to make Sawako know about his romantic feelings for her. He's doing everything he can to let her know he likes her and some people have obviously caught on to that fact but Sawako remains unaware and she thinks everything he is doing is simply because he is a good person to everyone.
However, I'm not sure I like the characterization of the main characters in the movie. Kazehaya Shota is too perfect for words while Kuronuma Sawako is flawed in so many ways, although she has a good heart. The characterizations of the lead characters are too extreme and too simplistic to be real and authentic representations of ordinary people.
I like Miura Haruma's portrayal of his character but to be fair, Shota does not seem to require much in terms of acting abilities. Nonetheless, I'm impressed with what I've seen that I'm looking forward to see his other productions. To be quite honest though, I think I just find him really good-looking and charming.
One thing that I find troubling is how Shota helps Sawako to become a better person but it does not seem that he became a better person through loving Sawako. Perhaps there's not much to improve on given that he's too perfect already but I always thought a good relationship is a two-way process of give-and-take.
I also do not understand Sawako's reaction after Shota confessed to her. I find it strange that she ran away and avoided Shota after hearing his confession given that she's supposed to be too literal and straightforward for her own good. Her actions are not only out of character, the reasoning behind her actions don't make any sense.
Of course, all ends well for the main couple after a few complications. However, I think the earlier romantic scenes far outweigh the latter scenes. The scene where both lead characters finally confess their feelings to each other falls flat, perhaps due to a multitude of reasons such as the acting, the music, etc. It does not help that Shota and Sawako end their confessions of 好きです。Suki desu. (I like you.) with よろしく。Yoroshiku. instead of a romantic first kiss or a loving embrace.
I know よろしく Yoroshiku has a multitude of meanings; from "Please take care of me" to "Let's get to know each other better". But since it is something people ordinarily say to everyone they first meet and given the fact that people tend to use it for everyone and all the time, it does not seem particularly special or extraordinary.
Anyway, at some point in the movie, the teacher Arai Kazuichi, also known as Pin, delivered a line that I think is a great life lesson for everyone.
Arai Kazuichi, also known as Pin: I don't really understand the situation but don't just blame others. Blaming things on others doesn't solve anything. There are countless unfair things in this world but in the end, you have to try and deal with it yourself.
###
君に届け Kimi ni Todoke
