Kimi ni Todoke - Episode 17

After a bit of a break via that recap episode last week, episode seventeen of Kimi ni Todoke returns us to the serious business of love and school. Except without the school part, for it's time for a break from the rigours of education!

Thus, with no school to worry about, Sawako has invited Yano and Yoshida over to her house for the day - Quite an event given her previous life of loneliness, and indeed you can't help but feel that Sawako's parents (or rather, her dad) are probably more nervous about the whole thing as she is. Anyhow, Yano and Yoshida arrive, bringing with them photographs from the class karaoke party we saw a couple of weeks ago... including some snaps taken during that moment between Kazehaya and Sawako. Naturally, talk soon turns to Sawako's plans regarding whether she's going to confess her feelings to him, and equally naturally she seems unable to even consider it.


Meanwhile, as Kazehaya bumps into Ryuu while walking Maru (who Ryuu is adorably attached to), they both receive some desperate phone calls from Pin, who seems to be spouting nonsense but apparently wants to see Sawako. So, before we know it the full ensemble cast head on over to Pin's house to find him with a fever, while Pin himself thinks he's been cursed by Sawako during a chance meeting at the local video rental store. Some medicine and room tidying later, all is well again, and Pin has even recovered enough to plant an idea in Sawako's head that almost gets Kazehaya into all sorts of trouble... albeit the good sort of trouble, if you know what I mean.

After packing in quite a bit of drama and fraught emotion in recent weeks surrounding Kurumi's shenanigans, it was actually really enjoyable to be presented with an episode of Kimi ni Todoke that was largely played for laughs above all else. Indeed, this episode was laugh out loud funny throughout and packed full of great moments that only serve to make me love this series more, while there was still enough time to build things up further between Kazehaya and Sawako in that inevitably awkward way that romance-based anime loves to portray. Much like Ryuu's absolute love for Maru, I find myself wanting to hug and cling to this series as something that gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling no matter what, and this particular episode certainly didn't disappoint when it came to delivering a laugh, a smile and a feeling of loved-up well-being to brighten my mid-week.