Kimi ni Todoke (Anime) | First Impressions

Production I.G's latest series, Kimi ni Todoke, was the next to try and worm its way into my affections. Being an adaptation of Karuho Shiina's popular manga, the question is: Is it a good adaptation?

They nailed moments like this one, so that's a good start.

First things first. As expected, this series is gorgeous!!

And those are just some the outdoor backgrounds/vistas! The backgrounds inside the school are also nicely rendered, as are the character designs. The animation sequences of the opening and ending themes are also very pretty and colorful (but not to the point of being garish). The songs are nice as well.



The character animation is also superb. Production I.G proves yet again that they are one of the best in the business, churning out yet another series with beautiful, fluid animation. They do fall back on the usage of super-deformed characters a bit, but this same art style was also present in the manga so it is nice to see I.G sticking with it. The music is barely noticeable most of the time, but when it is it adds to the atmosphere quite nicely. Especially during the more horror-styled moments.

Finally, we have the story. The prologue chapter of the manga is adapted perfectly. That doesn't mean that the story doesn't have it's flaws, however. The dialogue is repetitive, the characters could be called "ridiculously nice," and Mamiko Noto, surprisingly, actually manages to grate on the nerves a little. Still, the story has such an undercurrent of warmth about it that I found it hard not to like it. Your mileage will vary, though, as it really depends on how well you can handle the high levels of sentiment. Even so, Kimi no Todoke the anime is off to a strong start. Hopefully it (supposedly) only being a 12-episode series doesn't end up being a bad thing.