Kimi ni Todoke Manga: Volume 3

Sadako finally becomes friends with her classmates, instead of scaring them off. Even Kurumi, the cutest girl in school, wants to be her friend. But will this new friendship make Sadako realize that her feeligns for Kazehaya might be more than just friendly?

 – Summary of Kimi ni Todoke Volume 3

In previous volume, Kuronuma Sawako had cleared the misunderstandings and now is friends with Yano Ayane and Yoshida Chizuru. Now that she’s tackled one of the challenges in her social life, another challenge is thrown her way. Volume 3 covered four chapters that chronicles Sawako’s meeting with Kurumizawa Ume and her struggles in understanding her own feelings for Kazehaya. These are the chapters that formally introduced Kurumi as a supporting character and also a glimpse into life outside regular school days for Sawako and her friends.

Perhaps because it has been a year or two since I read these chapters and seen these scenes animated, reading this volume brought me down to a memory lane filled with goodness of Kimi ni Todoke – the characters I like and dislike at the beginning of the series, the time when each of these characters were still growing and when things were a bit simpler. These four chapters are the seeds sowed for what would be an interesting journey for Sawako…and Kurumi…and Kazehaya. Yeaps, those three.

What this volume reminded me of particularly is how much I like Ayane. Perceptive, she plays a huge role in Kazehaya and Sawako’s relationship. Being the more mature student among her peers, she sees things a little differently. She was quick to catch on Kazehaya affection towards Sawako and proceeded to tease the poor boy at every given opportunity. And she was having lots of fun doing that. Chizu calls her a sadist but really, she’s just pure evil…in a good way. That’s what I like about her – good evil. Is this even a valid description for a person, or anything?

She’s the kind of character I don’t see very often in other series. There’s a little more meat to her personality. Ayane’s a strong, smart, independent girl who carries a certain mysterious air around her. I always see her as the kind of person that one shouldn’t mess with. When she’s a friend, she’s real good and will never abandon you. But when she’s your enemy, she’ll destroy you in a classy way. While she’s supportive of her friends, her friends never had the chance to do the same for her. The truth is, very little known is about Ayane.

Besides that, this volume reminded me of how much I didn’t like Kurumi. Her two-faced personality annoyed me. She knew Kazehaya was on the sports committee and yet she acted pleasantly surprised when they actually met during one of the meetings. I kind of had this evil grin on my face when Kazehaya paid no attention to her and was instead mesmerized by Sawako, who was sharpening her soccer skills with stone (how cute!). She befriended Sawako only to keep a close eye on her because she knows Sawako is the only girl Kazehaya has eyes for. If Sawako isn’t the innocent and dense girl she is, Kurumi could’ve easily manipulated her with dirty tricks.

These four chapters were the happy times for Kazehaya and Sawako. The times when they are talking to each shyly. Though a little afraid, a little nervous, they talked to each without a wall. Yes, the wall Sawako said that was non-existent between Kazehaya and her. Kazehaya would constantly check up on her to see if she’s okay and helped her if she needed any. He even lied about needing to go to a convenience store just so he can spend time alone with her and walk her home. How sweet!

Ah…those were the happier, sweeter days…