Kimi ni Todoke 02-03: Changing Seats, Changing Views

With Kazehaya's help and the support of Yano and Yoshida, Sadako slowly but surely makes some friends. Along the way, Sadako's relationship with Kazehaya also blooms. However, not everything is sunshine and roses as rumors about Yano and Yoshida spread around school, with the source pointing to...Sadako?!
EPISODE 02: Seat Change
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Summer break is over. On her way to school, Sadako finds an abandoned puppy by the side of the road and leaves her umbrella to shelter it from the rain. When she arrives in class, she scares the crap out of a couple of students who are freaked out by her rain-soaked appearance. Kazehaya lends her his towel while Yoshida lets her borrow her gym uniform to wear. Overwhelmed with gratitude, Sadako gives back to her friends by buying them refreshment drinks. But people in class are starting to notice Kazehaya's seeming closeness to Sadako, despite the rumor going on that Kazehaya dumped her over the summer. Still, no one calls up Kazehaya on this and the two remain oblivious to the curious onlookers. After class, both of them check out the puppy and it is then that Kazehaya decides to adopt it. The next day, the homeroom teacher announces a seat change. But little is changed about the class' general opinion of Sadako and no one wants to sit with her. No one -- that is, except Kazehaya, and then Yano, Yoshida and Ryuu. To thank them, Sadako brings them home-baked cookies. This makes the class, and including even students not from the same class, wonder even more at the relationship between Kazehaya and Sadako.
EPISODE 03: After School
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A substitute teacher has been assigned to the class and he proceeds to good-naturedly bully his students into submission. Sadako winds up volunteering for another after-school task of completing the attendance sheet. Fortunately, Kazehaya volunteers to help her, though he doesn't do much in the end because the substitute teacher keeps calling him to the faculty room. Then again, this gives Sadako the chance to make nice with two classmates. After school, Kazehaya invites Sadako to hang out with him and his puppy, now named "Maru-chan" (short for Pedro Martinez). On her way there, she meets a pretty "French doll" girl who helps her pick up the attendance sheets that she dropped. The next day, Kazehaya asks for Sadako's help with English translation and before long everyone in class crowds around them. Sadako is happy to be of help and unconsciously slips a smile. It's the first time that she has ever smiled and everyone is shocked. As expected, the smile breaks the ice between Sadako and her classmates. Later, Sadako thanks Kazehaya for helping her open up to her classmates but Kazehaya only tells her that she's not the only one changed; without her realizing, people around her, including himself, are changed because of her. Again, Sadako smiles. At about the same time, some classmates call out to Kazehaya but he doesn't answer. Instead, he moves closer to Sadako, covering her from view, saying that just for today, he wants to keep her smile for himself. Meanwhile, in the lockerroom, Yano and Yoshida overhear some girls talk about some bad rumors about both girls. When Yoshida confronts one of them, the girl says that Sadako told them about it.

COMMENTS:

Kimi ni Todoke has passed the three-episode test so that means I'll be following this anime through. But summarizing a slice of life anime like this is much harder than I thought. Hell, I'm just bad at summarizing stuff, I guess, but I'll try my best.

So what's going on? It looks like Sadako is beginning to make some friends and some enemies, too. That's usually the problem when you suddenly rise from the cesspool of anonymity to the glaring spotlight of the public eye. Or, in Sadako's case, from being horror movie character to being apple of the eye of the class crush. You're bound to make people, err, uncomfortable. It's a good thing Sadako is naive enough to remain oblivious to all the acid starting to bubble around her. But for how long? Especially when the acid is starting to affect her precious few friends?

Speaking of which, I really like Yano and Yoshida. The two of them are like a comedy duo -- Yoshida, ostensibly tough but gets extremely emotional at the slightest things, and Yano, outwardly soft but treats everything with a cavalier attitude. I hope the coming conflict won't affect their friendship with Sadako too much. Yoshida, by the way, is voiced by the same person who voiced Nakiami from Xam'd: Lost Memories. I thought her voice sounded familiar. That's why. ^_^

Despite myself, I find myself getting all excited over Kazehaya and Sadako's romance. It's embarrassing, I know. Ahhhh, high school -- cigarettes and Shakespear. That's how it was for me. ^_^ Also, am I the only one who wants Yoshida x Ryu? ^_^