Kimi ni Todoke (Reaching You) episode 2 review; changing seats, changing minds, and changing feelings.

 

       Well, this episode picks up at the end of summer break with Sawako continuing her life motto of “one good deed a day”, and Sawako still seems to have a frighting affect on other students. When Sawako gets to class, she’s soaking wet because she left her umbrella to cover an abandoned puppy, and when Kazehaya notices this he asks Sawako if she has a spare gym uniform, no. So, Kazehaya asks Yoshida if she has a spare, so she loans Sadako one that’s buried at the bottom of her locker, and Kazehaya loans her his towel. Sawako is very happy that her classmates would care enough to loan her things.

       Later, one of Kazehaya’s friends tells him he’s being too kind worrying about Sadako since he rejected her, and Kazehaya tells him he didn’t reject her. So, you agreed to go out with her? No, it’s not like that. Then we see a further flashback of Sawako and Kazehaya’s roadside conversation and what she told him. Later, we see that Sawako has left drinks on Yano, Yoshida, and Kazehaya’s desk in return for being kind to her. Then Kazehaya tracks her down and asks if she left him the drink, yes. I’m glad it was you, and I was worried that it was someone else. Once Sawako and Kazehaya get talking they both find out that they both left items for the puppy by the river.

       After school, Sawako and Kazehaya head back to the river, and find the puppy and their stuff still there. Kazehaya asks if he can keep the puppy, and it takes a liking to him right away, but it has hostility towards Sawako. She tells Kazehaya that it’s OK, she’s used to kids and animals not liking her. Well, Kazehaya tells her that he heard that dogs will like their owners friends, so he’ll like her because they’re close friends. As Kazehaya is about to leave, Sawako asks if she can see the dog again, and Kazehaya says only the dog and not me? Of course I want to see you again. Then Kazehaya says it’s OK.

 

       The next day, at school, Sawako has brought some homemade treats to give to Yano, Yoshida, and Kazehaya but she starts to get nervous about the gift. After she talks with Kazehaya, she gets up to leave and two new girls come into the class and talk about not wanting to be near Sadako’s seat, and she overhears them talking about her. In her mind, Sawako tells the girls it’s OK it’s not dirty, and that she doesn’t have that kind of powers, but only in her mind. Then we see that Yoshida has taken in the whole scene and is looking at Sadako intensely.

 

       Then comes the big announcement from the teacher, it’s time for a new seating chart, so he tells the class to figure it out on their own. Well, the kids draw numbers for their seats and most of the class wishes to be nowhere near Sadako and she can hear all their talk. So, when Kazehaya sees that no one wants to be by Sawako’s he asks another guy for the seat next to her, and he’s soon joined by Yano and Yoshida. Then Sawako offers the homemade treats to the three of them for their help yesterday. Kazehaya thinks her snacks taste great, and Yano and Yoshida also like them. Hell, even the boy sitting behind Sadako has a go at her treats.

       After school, Kazehaya sees Sawako walking home, so he rides up to her on his bike and they talk for awhile while three other girls see this happening. One girls comments that she thought that Kazehaya had rejected her, one girls says she’s been seeing them together a lot, and the last girl just watches the scene. After Kazehaya rides off, Sawako thinks to herself that her feelings of respect and admiration for Kazehaya are still there, but she thinks that maybe the feeling of love has entered the picture. Well, that’s all for this episode.

       Well, It was very interesting watching Sawako/Sadako begin the process of opening up to her fellow classmates, and while she experiences some successes she also experiences some failures. Sawako continues try and follow Kazehaya’s advice of telling people how she feels and to make herself clear. She fails when it comes to the two girls who where talking about her in the classroom, but I do have to say that as Sawako/Sadako is slowly trying to integrate herself in greater school society other students are starting to notice who she spends time with. Also, it seems that Sawako/Sadako has won over Yano, and Yoshida with her forthrightness from the other episode, and her acts of thanks from this episode.

      It was also interesting to see that not all of the students other than Kazehaya, Yano, and Yoshida buy into the Sadako curse. I really liked it when Ryuu refused to change seats with Yoshida (he was sitting right behind Sadako) he either didn’t care that he’s sitting by Sadako, or he doesn’t buy into all the rumors surrounding her, and he even joined in by eating some of Sadako’s treats. What’s really interesting about the students that chose to show support for Sawako/Sadako is that they seem for the most part to be members of the social elite.

       One of the affects of Sawako opening up herself to other also makes their rejection more painful than ever, while she tells Kazehaya that she’s used to rejection it clearly pains her more than ever when others say mean things to her. I also like the fact that Kazehaya is not completely perfect, because while he’s quite smitten with Sawako, he’s just as shy about telling her these things as she was of telling other people how she feels.

      In closing, it was pretty cool watching Sawako come to the conclusion that she now has feelings of love for Kazehaya, wow it only took 2 episodes. But, one thing that Sawako will quickly discover is that loving a prince comes with its own risks, I can almost hear the sound of daggers being drawn from their sheaths.