The Pure Innocent Love -- Kimi ni Todoke

Konnichiwa minasan! I am sorry that I did not blog for some nice TV series, movie, anime series or manga for sometime. The reason is I was having some health problems lately and could not do spend so much time for the blogging. But I am OK now and would like to introduce a Japanese romance movie to you all. It is called "Kimi ni Todoke". The story is about the pure love story of 2 high-school students. This is the movie of Year 2010.

Well, if you are a manga fan, probable you would know that it is the live-action film from the romance shōjo manga series named "Kimi ni Todoke" by Karuho Shiina (Shīna Karuho). The film is directed by Naoto Kumazawa, who also co-wrote the film's script with Rika Nezu.The film stars actress Mikako Tabe, who plays the role of Sawako Kuronuma, also known as "Sadako", and Haruma Miura, who plays the role of Shota Kazehaya, an outgoing teenager who is popular with his classmates.

^{Title        :} Kimi ni Todoke (君に届け)
Genre  : Movie, Romance, School-life
Length : 128 minutes
Story   :

 Sawako Kuronuma has always been avoided by her classmates because her name resembles that of "Sadako", the main character in the 1998 horror film Ring. They believe that when one stared into Sawako's eyes for more than three seconds, bad luck will befall the person. They also believed that she could summon ghosts. These rumors got worse because Sawako is unable to express her views openly. However, Sawako is a kind person whose motto is "to do one good thing once a day". Shota Kazehaya, on the other hand, is an outgoing student who is popular with his schoolmates, especially the girls.

On the first day of school, Sawako helped Kazehaya, who was lost, to find his way to the school. Since that day, Kazehaya treats Sawako with kindness, making Sawako respect and admire him. Sawako also made friends with her classmates Chizuru Yoshida and Ayane Yano after she agrees to play the role of the ghost in their class's "Bravery Challenge" activity. With their help, she manages to gain self-confidence and interacts better with her classmates. The rumors about her also began to subside. However, Ume Kurumizawa, an admirer of Kazehaya, starts to become jealous of the way Sawako is being treated by Kazehaya.

Strange rumors like "Chizuru has slept with 100 guys" started spreading. Sawako distances herself from her new-found friends, believing that they were targeted by the rumors because they were close to her and she did not want them to get hurt because of her. Both Chizuru and Ayane felt hurt after they overheard Sawako saying that she did not regard them as friends. However, with advice from Kazehaya, Sawako stands up to the people who were spreading the rumors. Sawako did not back down in spite of violence, and Chizuru and Ayane were greatly touched by Sawako's actions. Their friendship becomes stronger.

At a sports festival, Kurumizawa, on the pretense of being Sawako's friend, confessed her feelings for Kazehaya to Sawako and asked Sawako for her help. Sawako refused, saying that Kazehaya was also special to her. Kurumizawa then tried desperately to turn Sawako's attention to Ryu, even to the extent of secretly arranging a meeting between them so that she could "coincidentally" walk past with Kazehaya. However, the plan backfired as Kazehaya got jealous and grabbed Sawako's hand and pulled her away. Chizuru and Ayane later discovered Kurumizawa's plot and cornered her, warning her about breaking apart Kazehaya and Sawako. However, Sawako begged both of them not to reveal this incident to Kazehaya. Kurumizawa later confessed her feelings for Kazehaya, who rejected her but said that he was happy that she confessed to him.

As winter came, Sawako's father requested that she take a bus home instead of walking because he was concerned for her safety. When applying for the student concessionary pass, her teacher misplaces her student handbook, which contains treasured items such as a cherry blossom leaf Sawako picked up on the day she first met Kazehaya, causing her grief. Kazehaya and Sawako also begin to spend less time together, because Kazehaya used to walk Sawako home. Kazehaya then tries desperately to go with her on a date and to confess to her, but Sawako always misunderstands and invites Chizuru and Ayane along.

Out of desperation, Kazehaya suddenly confesses his feelings for Sawako and asks her to be his girlfriend. He also asked if she could go out on a date with him on Christmas Eve. Sawako rejected him and ran to the bus, leaving Kazehaya feeling dejected. To make matters worse, she did not turn up at a Christmas Eve party that she promised to go to, leaving Kazehaya in a foul mood at the party. Chizuru and Ayane suggest that she go apologize to Kazehaya on New Year's Eve, when he volunteers at a festival every year. However, Sawako's father's orchestra has a concert that night, leaving Sawako conflicted over which to chose. Sawako eventually decides on Kazehaya, and apologizes to her father. Meanwhile, Kazehaya, after seeing Sawako's handbook that the teacher passed to him, finally understands Sawako's feelings towards him. Eventually, they meet up just after New Year's Day and embrace.

Characters Description :

Mikako Tabe as Sawako Kuronuma, whose name is often mistakenly pronounced as "Sadako", the name of a lead character in the film Ring. She is actually a kind person who puts others before herself, and she is also a hardworking student who consistently scores high grades in examinations. Her birthday is on 31 December 1994.
Haruma Miura as Shota Kazehaya, a popular and outgoing student in school who has won many admirers. He fell in love with Sawako during the first time he met her.
Misako Renbutsu as Chizuru Yoshida, a ex-delinquent who comes from the same junior high school as Yano and Ryu. She secretly likes Ryu's brother, though this later changed when she found out that he was engaged.
Natsuna Watanabe as Ayane Yano, who is not good at expressing herself like Sawako. Her best friend is Chizuru, whom she was classmates with in junior high school.
Mirei Kiritani as Ume Kurumizawa, a girl who had a crush on Kazehaya since they knew each other in junior high school. He was the reason why she enrolled in this high school.
Haru Aoyama as Ryu Sanada, a star of the school's baseball team. He confessed to Sawako that he likes Chizuru, whom he has been friends since they were young.
Yuta Kanai as Soichi Shironouchi.
Arata as Kazuichi Arai, the class's homeroom teacher. He is neither passionate nor responsible, and does things according to his own liking. However, he sometimes gives his students useful advice.
Yasuko Tomita as Sawako's mother.
Masanobu Katsumura as Sawako's father, who plays the clash cymbals in an orchestra.

Personally, I like the lead actress of this movie as I think she is lovely. I also like her 2 friends as they have a good friendship. The cherry blossoms are very beautiful in the movie and I like it very much. Besides the live-action film, "Kimi ni Todoke" has also adpated into the anime series with 2 seasons. I am yet to watch such anime series yet but I am sure will catch it soon. FYI, I have never read its manga series before. :P

Well, if you are interested to catch the movie, anime series or the manga series of "Kimi ni Todoke", you may click on the links respectively as provided below.

Kimi ni Todoke Movie

Kimi ni Todoke Anime Series (S1)

Kimi ni Todoke Anime Series (S2)

Kimi ni Todoke Manga Series

OK, hope you all like "Kimi ni Todoke". Enjoy watching and/or reading!!!