Kimi ni Todoke - Episode 11

With the end game for Kurumi's behaviour becoming very much apparent come the end of the last episode, it seemed as though she had quite possibly gained the upper hand in her rivalry with Sawako over Kazehaya - Surely Kuronuma is simply going to accede to Kurumi's request to help her?

Well, that's what I thought would happen, but the reality was rather more surprising than that, with Sawako actually flat out refusing to help complete with an instinctive reaction to Kurumi's confession that was easily my favourite moment of the episode, while even going as far as to explain her own feelings towards Kazehaya to some degree (although I still don't think she's quite got a handle on those feelings herself). Needless to say Kurumi is left furious at this, although Sawako's naivety means that a lot of that anger doesn't really permeate her senses as they might with anyone else. Sawako most certainly wins this round then.


Of course, all of this talk of love and romance has to be put on hold for more important matters - Football! Yes, that's right, this episode also allows us to see the girls in action taking part in the "soccer" segment of the school sports competition, complete with some route one football from Sawako that Sam Allardyce would be proud of. I have to confess, I did cheer at Sawako's display of footballing prowess, and needless to say it only goes further to established her as an integral and appreciated member of her class.

With the football game over, it's time for the guys (Kazehaya included) to try their hand at softball, in a match which both Kurumi and Sawako end up going to watch together. This actually makes life rather difficult for Kurumi as she tries to balance her frustration and anger with Sawako without letting the halo that everyone else around her sees slip, but even that doesn't stop her from hatching another plan to try and draw Sawako's interest away from Kazehaya so she can have him for herself. Good luck with that though...

As is pretty much par for the course with Kimi ni Todoke throughout, there were some great moments here, with this episode managing to blend the serious side of the story (Kurumi's anger and frustration in particular) with the comical (Sawako's nonplussed and confused responses). That aside, any actual plot progression was actually pretty subtle this time around, with any major movement pretty much bookending the chance to make the most of the sports festival and have some fun with the characters. This prevents episode eleven of Kimi ni Todoke from being a classic, but it doesn't stop me from continuing to enjoy and appreciate the series as it draws towards the half-way mark.