Kimi ni Todoke – Chapter 73

It’s always nice when Sawako finally says what she’s been thinking. We’ve clearly seen how badly these two can misinterpret each other’s feelings when they don’t talk things through, so now they get to prove how they can work things out together. It’s interesting to see that a big part of their discussion is about how it’s okay if things aren’t 100% perfect between them. Even if they don’t agree or quarrel sometimes, things can still work out if they care about each other enough. It’s a sign that they’ve matured quite a bit, which they kind of needed to do a while ago if they had such a hard time communicating.

What makes this dialogue work for me is how Sawako seems to understand Kazehaya’s thought process much better than he does. He thinks of himself in a much more negative light than he really deserves, and she can see that. It’s a sign of a good relationship, in my opinion, when the characters involved compliment each other and can grow as a result of being together. After spending so much time apart, it takes only one serious talk for these two to feel better about their relationship. This was an issue they could never have solved on their own, but together they work much more efficiently. That’s a sign of a good romance.

As much as I love seeing the two of them together, sometimes we need to be reminded that this series is about more than just two people. The scenes with the other couples are fairly short, and not much happens in them, but I still consider them to be important. They make for a good contrast with the main couple, so we can still remember what’s been happening with them even after several months since their previous appearances. Yano and Kent have only just gotten together, so things are fairly quiet between them. Chizu and Ryuu are back to acting like friends, which is good for them, though it makes me wonder where their relationship is heading.

This chapter appears to have concluded the Christmas Party, so in a chapter or two we should be returning to the school with the characters talking about how things have changed. That’s usually how things go. I am curious about Sawako’s last line, where she brings up how there’s one secret she still has. Of course knowing her, that could mean just about anything. If that leads to a big, dramatic reveal that she’s tried alcohol once or something equally pointless, I think it will be a fun chapter coming up.