Kimi Ni Todoke 19
Really love the chemistry between these two. For those following along at home, we’re now halfway through the Ryuu and Chizuru arc. Chizu has discovered that her long-time unrequited love, Ryuu’s older brother Tohru, is getting married and the shock of this blow is causing her to distance herself from her best friends and Ryuu’s family.
I’m a big fan of osana najimi couples, sporty characters, genki girls and taciturn dudes, high school baseball players (especially CATCHERS who BAT FOURTH), taller darker best friends of the lead male character, girls who can beat up boys, etc, so it should be no surprise that I ship Ryuu x Chizu hardcore in my fangirl heart. But on a less utterly subjective level, I think the relationship between Ryuu and Chizuru is one of the essential cornerstones that makes Kimi ni Todoke brilliant. These two provide the refreshing contrast that this series needs to break up the glacial pace of the two painfully shy main leads getting to know each other, while still offering genuine depth. (I honestly think the complicated way Ryuu comforts Chizu when she is upset is one of the most touching parts of the manga for me.)
Just the way Ryuu and Chizu address each other, having grown up together, is really great to listen to, since it establishes a standpoint of true intimacy that is absent from the rest of the series. In a story about relative strangers making friends and falling in love, their closeness makes for an interesting juxtaposition. And indeed, an interesting counter to Kazehaya and Sawako, whose crushes are requited but who have trouble reaching each other. Ryuu and Chizu underline the titular theme of the series crucially by showing that even in the closest relationships, getting your feelings to “reach” another is a problematic dealio.
