From the author to you.

Like most shoujo manga, Kimi ni Todoke’s art focuses mainly on the characters rather than dramatic scenes and backgrounds. (This is generally because they’re more dialogue-heavy than shounen series.) Karuho Shiina’s art style also isn’t entirely unique in the world of popular shoujo titles, although it does have it’s own flavor when combined with the story. It’s reminiscent of The Wallflower, only minus Sunako’s brand of intentional creepy and host of beautiful guys. The author also includes little side panel blurbs and mini-comics within the volume about her life and the creation of the book, as well as a brief afterward at the end. And the good editors at Viz have added cultural clarifications at the end of the book and a nifty page of stickers of chibi versions of the characters.

From Me (the reviewer) to you.

As I mentioned before, Kimi ni Todoke distinctly reminds me of the Wallflower in that its heroine is not a wishy-washy school girl—though Sawako is a little thick when it comes to recognizing Kazehaya’s feelings—out to score a boyfriend or fall madly in love with the first boy introduced in the series. It starts out simple in that she merely wants to become a good person that people will want to be friends with (that’s the part where it differs from Wallflower). It’s a refreshing change of pace from other popular shoujo titles in that respect, though there will still be the obligatory jealousy and catty behavior on the part of other girls in the series. It’s a cute story and starts slow, which is good for readers who are tired from falling in love with a manga only to be given repetitive stress disorder from the onset of the first chapter. This also gives Kimi ni Todoke a higher chance of being read over and over. The artwork is good and the stickers are a nice added touch, but I could be biased. All in all, this initial volume is worth the time to read and will be the start of an enjoyable series to add to your collection.