Rant 2: Kimi ni Todoke (Season Two) 7

On this lovely Wednesday evening comes rant 2, this time for Kimi ni Todoke (Season Two) Episode 7. Before I begin however, here's a summary of the series, once again taken from a source due to laziness. :D

Season One

Kuronuma Sawako is completely misunderstood by her classmates. Her timid and sweet demeanor is often mistaken for malicious behavior. This is due to her resemblance to the ghost girl from "The Ring", which has led her peers to give her the nickname Sadako. Longing to make friends and live a normal life, she is naturally drawn to Kazehaya Shouta, the most popular guy in class, whose "100% refreshing" personality earns him great admiration from Sawako. So when Kazehaya starts talking to her, maybe there is hope for the friendships Sawako has always longed for. Maybe...there is even a little hope for some romance in her future.

Season Two

The continuation of the first season. Sawako Kuronuma and her friends have just begun their second year of high school and they are in the same class together again. To make matters more interesting a male student newly transferred into their class is seated right next to Kuronuma and has taken an interest in her. What hurdles will Sawako and Kazehaya face next?

Also before I begin going over the episode, there are certain feelings and opinions I have regarding Kimi ni Todoke that I feel should be voiced; if you're following the series then maybe you can relate and by all means keep reading it, but those of you who have no idea what's going on or need to cut to the chase might find skipping this over the appropriate action.

• "ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH." Yes, you read it right, ARGH. Say it out loud with a little anger in your voice and you'll at least sort of know how I feel. Kimi ni Todoke is a frustrating watch. Not because it's outright bad, but because it doesn't move. In the first season and clearly well into the second, while it'd be difficult to say there hasn't been plot development, development is particularly lacking in other areas - namely, Kuronuma x Kazehaya. Watching 25 episodes of the first season was hard enough because while Kimi ni Todoke has its moments and the character side stories were pretty interesting and well done, in the end nothing ground-breaking happens between our couple, and the second season appears to want to continue that trend.
• "BLLLLAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH." The evolved form of ARGH--I kid, I kid. But I'd be lying if I said my negative feelings toward Kimi ni Todoke ended here. My focus here is on the six episodes prior to this one and the seventh included, because now even the way the story is being told is bothersome. "Kimi ni Todoke" translates to something like "From Me to You," but honestly I can't see it at all. Perhaps if the series was named something along the lines of "Misunderstood" I'd have fewer issues, but it is what it is. While I suppose credit is due because both Kuronuma and Kazehaya are trying to convey their feelings to one another, how oblivious they are to one another adds to the frustration. I sympathize with Chizu, Ayane, and Kurumi (if you don't understand you'll see why later) and firmly believe that their broken communication (or whatever; call it what you may) is both stupid and uncalled for. I've heard of misunderstandings and airheads but Kimi ni Todoke presents the most extreme of extreme cases.
• "Mehh." If I could describe how I feel about Kimi ni Todoke in a word, this would be it. Once again, say it out loud if you need to. The large issue with the plot I have aside, I feel pretty neutral about the series other than that. The characters are three-dimensional (for the most part), and I'd be hard-pressed if I had to say Kimi ni Todoke didn't have its moments, because it does. More on this at another time.

TL:DR, I'm kinda mad, but I'll continue to watch this anyway because in my opinion it's not THAT bad.

If you didn't know there was a second season to Kimi ni Todoke, or need to know where to get it, you can find gg fansubs here.

In the last episode, OMGWTFBBQ, Kazehaya confessed. Many other things happened, but that was the big point of the last episode, and guess what? -insert misunderstandings here- (Yup, that was plural) Kuronuma takes it the wrong way, and episode 7 plays out on the basis that they each believe the other rejected their feelings.

「あきらめちまよ」 - "Just Give Up" (This is the episode title)

The sign says "Sadako's Black Magic;" the theme the class agreed upon.

Yaaaay it's that time of year again (in this, and pretty much every other high school anime out there)! School Festival preparations are well under way, and everything's peachy...or is it?

Busy, busy, busy. Love the facial expressions. (Chizu & Ayane)

Everyone's working hard! Even Ryu joins the fun after Baseball practice.　がんばって、みんなさん！...Oh wait.

Even Joe's at it! Good man. Love his face too.

Why so glum, sir? Preparations won't make themselves! (Kazehaya)

You may or may not have read my opinions regarding Kimi ni Todoke, but here's where things started to make me rage a little, at least in this episode. Kazehaya believes he was rejected because Kuronuma "didn't want people misunderstanding." See the irony? He himself misunderstands, and later, we see she's no different. Now to make them realize...

Errr...no, you didn't.

Kurumi deserves special mention in this episode, for having the backbone that Kuronuma clearly lacks. I didn't like her in the first season; they made her character that way, but she's a strong girl. Oh yeah, and not an airhead. Anyway, elsewhere at the school...

You tell her, Kurumi. I think she gets it now..? Oh wai--

After dinner at home, Chizu invites Kuronuma over to work on the costumes for the school festival together with the rest of the girls via text; her parents (being the amusing, loving couple they are) let her go without finishing the dishes. I know, right? I'd get beat for that. This scene happens after the next but doesn't really have anything worth mentioning so I'll stop here.

KIND Asian parents? NO WAY. I also think the father may be partially deaf.

Jump to the school and we have the boys of the class smuggling their class float out to finish it. As I boldly foreshadowed earlier--what, you didn't catch it? Well I fail. Anyway, the class was behind in much of its work for the school festival so they opted to do the rest after hours, and things continue as normal. *cough* Kazehaya's also here, and for those of you who follow the series, you know what happens when Pin and Kazehaya cross.

Wait, why is he (Pin) still at the school..?

Oh, probably to give Kazehaya trouble.

Pin's understanding of the situation at this point, having seen Kuronuma crying and skipping class in the previous episode, is that Kuronuma was rejected when she confessed to Kazehaya. Now, keep in mind that Pin is a real airhead as well. Kimi ni Todoke seems to love the character type.

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. NO, YOU WEREN'T.

Oh, for the love of...I give up.

For a good while, Kazehaya has to insist that he was rejected before it penetrates Pin's brain. This scene was not an easy watch...anyway, in the end (and I suppose this is what the episode title refers to), Pin says that maybe Kazehaya should just give up on her. I thought it was pretty random but then again, the guy isn't exactly predictable.

The next morning, everyone's only just woke up, and they're already at it. Miura, being the oblivious guy he is (did someone say airhead?), shouts "I think Kazehaya might actually like you," in front of a good portion of people. One thing leads to another, and guess what? Misunderstanding! It's getting old, isn't it? Sorry, I don't make this stuff up though. Even Ryu jumps in with his infamous one-liners and tries to tell Kuronuma she isn't saying enough.

Back, demon!

I'm gonna go with...yeah? At this rate...

Following this, we see Kurumi, Chizu, Ayane, and Miura clash by the vending machine. Chizu and Ayane find out Kurumi knows a lot more than they think, Miura finds out Kurumi actually likes Kazehaya as well, Miura says something stupid and--oh no she didn't! But she did. She did. Gotta give the girl credit once again for that awesome backbone.

Owned.

After school, Kuronuma's at the library and does a little reflecting with a book (don't exactly know the significance, or if there even is any), coming to terms with the fact that maybe she hasn't been doing enough. And time will tell if that actually means anything, because the episode ends here.

Random screen-caps time! Actually I felt I put enough screen-caps in this rant so I only have one, "From Me, To You!" Get it? Get it? Ahhhhh I'm so hopeless.

Off topic, but I like the intro. Remember Rant 1? Ahh never mind.

And with that, my bed calls. As always I hope this was enjoyable!

Elunix