Genre: Romance, School
Rating: 9/10
Summary:
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?
Story: 9/10
The story of this 2nd season pick up exactly where the first season had left off. Last season we saw Sawako and Kazehaya starting to get closer bit by bit and we also saw Sawako opening up little by little. It all started with that chocolate that Sawako made for Kazehaya during Valentines Day. When Kurumi asked Sawako if those chocolates she made doesn't have a meaning to it, our protagonist started to think about it and eventually she realized that her choco are full of hidden desires and with that she had lost the courage to give the chocolate to Kazehaya. After all that drama everything started to get awkward as misunderstanding began to accumulate between the two and we were plunged into the love story of this two high school students as they try to reach and understand each others feelings.
Sooo it’s the chocolate's fault? Lol…I'm just kidding :P
The main problem of this series is its really slow pace that if you watched it on a weekly basis you'll eventually finding yourself wondering what happened last episode so I marathoned the first season. Unlike the first season, they hasten up the pacing for a bit but it is still quite slow for a 13(?) episode series but I managed to watch it in a weekly basis without forgetting what happened in the previous episodes.
What makes this 2nd season gripping and memorable is how we find the main characters in situations where they want each other to be happy and then there's a misunderstanding and one of them confessed though in a vague way that leads to another misunderstanding and then the other says something and she hurt the feeling of the guy and the misunderstanding just keeps on building up (confusing right? Well people who watched this already might get this). I just love how the dialogues in this series could be interpreted in another way that may lead to the other party misunderstanding which I think is very cleverly crafted. We even got a possible love triangle with the person of Kento Miura but I think he was there to simply urge the protagonist to finally say his feelings but somehow I felt bad for him specially when he said that he fall in love in a wrong time. Its also very entertaining to watch Sawako as she becomes the person she is now where she could finally reach out her feelings to others unlike the shy and outcast version in the first season. As the series is nearing its end we finally found our main characters were finally officially a couple and they were able to say their feelings out loud even in public. What makes this series a very unique romance is we get to see the after confession events and its really sweet. Unfortunately this series didn't end with a kiss *shrugs* oh well, I think I can't imagine Sawako kissing Kazehaya since she's just so innocent and pure.
Characters: 10/10
Like I said in the story part, the character have been nicely fleshed out specially the character of Sawako since we saw her transformation as a timid and socially awkward girl becomes someone who could openly express her feelings. Kazehaya on the other hand we began to see his other self which is a guy who easily got jealous and a guy who rushes things that was concealed in that outgoing personality of his. Sawako's friends was also been used in this series as they gently pushed and supports Sawako to be person she is now. Kurumi on the other hand its hard not feel sorry for this antagonist. I think a lot of people out there would've sympathize with her with her unrequited love. Her appearance this season has been greatly reduced but heck, every time she shows up there would definitely a huge impact of emotions. With that limited time we were able to see her from being a jealous and cruel person to a defenseless and honest one as she both managed to get in Sawako's way and eventually helping her realize her feelings so I have been attach to her. If I would award the best character to this series I would definitely award it to Kurumi. Though she's still not over Kazehaya it seems that she's going to be ok and that she'll eventually get over her first love. Then there's Kento Miura which is a bishie who took interest with Sawako. It seems that his job in this series is to push Kazehaya to make his move to Sawako and also to add more misunderstanding between the two protagonists. He was an entertaining character since he was a breath of fresh air where the love story is mainly focused on Kazehaya & Sawako. It was a bit bitter sweet that he admit that he liked Sawako but the timing just isn't right since Sawako already liked Kazehaya when he met her. Oh I almost forgot the dog Maru-chan…..how did he get that big? O_o
Animation: 10/10
Nothing much changed from the animation its still the same nicely animated with water colored hues all over which really fits this series' overall mood. There's also the very impressively drawn and animated facial expressions that will get you caught up with the emotions of the characters. Also with this kind of show you'll expect all flowery, bubbly effects you'll have which was nicely timed with the certain scene.
Sounds: 9/10
Oh I love both the OP an ED song since both are really catchy and it definitely fits the series. The OP song Soufuu by Tanizawa Tomofumi is really light hearted and refreshing somehow reflects that side of the series. The ED Kimi ni Todoke by MAY'S is just breathtaking as we get to the part where 'Kimi ni Todoke' was finally sung I was already standing on my seat when I first heard it and still it gives me goose bumps since it is a really good song. Somehow this song reflects the drama going on with the two protagonists. The bgm on the other hand is really impressive since it was nice to the ears and it was played in the right time. Whenever I see or hear the name Noto Mamiko the first thing that pops in my mind is Kuronuma Sawako since I think she really fits the character and voice of Sawa-chan and her performance in this series is quite commendable and memorable.
Enjoyment: 9/10
Yep, I definitely enjoyed this one week after week. I was either cheering for Sawako on the computer screen, comforting Kurumi and shouting to Kazehaya and Miura for complicating things. Though like I said the problem lies with the pacing since some people who are not patient as me might eventually get bored. Now that I think about it maybe the pacing of this series teaches us to be patient in a lot things but the main focus would've been love. Since we live in a world where people always want 'instant' things, instant noodles, instant spaghetti, instant soup, instant baby, instant relationship and a whole lot more, its nice to see that a show shows us the good side of waiting for the right moment and work on it little by little and with that you'll get rewarded with a strong relationship like the relationship of Sawako and Kazehaya. In short, everything has their own time so don't rush things and enjoy your life at the moment and eventually you'll be rewarded.
Overall: 9/10 (High Priority Watch)
Until then…
~ ja
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