If you’re reading this, let’s safely assume you’ve watched the first season of Kimi ni Todoke, so you have a good idea of what you’re getting yourself into.
For a little refresher, the first season ended on a high note with a couple of solid episodes that further developed Sawako’s and Kazehaya’s feelings for each other. The whole scene of New Year’s together gave the final episodes that serious, romantic ending the series was heading towards. Well-timed comedy from a few of the lesser characters helped keep the episodes interesting with some variety instead of overloading us with idealized, shoujo-style romance. The finale to the first season began a new year in which Sawako and Kazehaya would be together. So, you’d figure the first episode of the second season would start off right where the first one left off…
Well… not quite. The first episode of Kimi ni Todoke Season 2 is unlike anything from the first season. Instead of having our kind-hearted Sawako as storyteller, we were switched into the head of the ultra-pretty, ultra-popular Kurumi, Sawako’s competition from the early half of the first season.
On top of that, this first episode really wasn’t a first episode, at least in the more traditional scene. Titled Episode 0 “Unrequited Love”, this story retold the events of Kurumi’s past. Most of the episode focused on Kurumi thinking to herself about her history with Kazehaya and the emergence of Sawako as her rival the past year. Arranged in an organized series of flashback clips, Kurumi recalls the major events between herself, Kazehaya, and Sawako until finally concluding with the scene in which she confessed to Kazehaya at the bike racks. The final scene, in present time, shows Kurumi in a chocolate shop (appropriately named ‘Chocolate Shop’ in the episode) looking for the right Valentine’s Day chocolate for Kazehaya.
The series certainly picks up right where the first season left off with the serious, romance as the focus. It sets the tone for what probably will be a romance-heavy second season where we get development on the relationships between all the kids. But you have to wonder two things… why start off season 2 with a recap episode and why a Kurumi-centered one at that? The two main reasons that come to mind on the Kurumi factor is that we’ll either be seeing a lot more of her this season or that this was her one chance to shine before drifting into the background. I’m kinda hoping to see more of Kurumi since she was a pretty well developed character in the first season and it’d be a shame if she faded into irrelevancy in the second season. I’m still not quite sure about having the clip episode start the new season but I guess it’ll be a refresher for those who haven’t seen or thought about the show in quite a while. To be honest, it kinda disappointed me to not get a continuation of the story between Sawako and Kazehaya, but whatever. There’s no real point in dwelling on this subject as the next week returns back to our familiar routine. Sawako is again our narrator and the episode takes place on Valentine’s Day.
And with that being said, it’s time to get all excited again for episode 1 of Kimi ni Todoke Season 2!
