Though I’m a huge fan of adorable Tabe Mikako, I didn’t feel an immediate urge to watch her latest movie Kimi Ni Todoke at the time I downloaded it, so I put it aside to save for when I had a free weekend or something. And as I mentioned in the above post, it wasn’t until I got interested in cutie Renbutsu Misako that I put it on the HIGH priority list and got down to watching it RIGHT AWAY! MAN, this was SUCH an AWESOME movie!!! To think I would have just let this one sit on my desktop for weeks... At the time I guess I thought it would be nothing more than a wacky movie, (and with the premise of a girl who looks like SADAKO from RING scaring her fellow students, who could blame me? ) who would have thought that I would find such an UTTERLY SWEET and HEARTWARMING Show? Such an earnest and sincere film, this one really made you feel good! And HEY!!! Tabe Mikako aside, no one told me this show was gonna be FILLED with SO MANY HOT, SMOKIN’ CHICKS! I mean, I DID. NOT. KNOW. that MIREI KIRITANI was in this show, and I mean to tell you, she was lookin’ fine. Renbutsu Misako plays one of her best characters yet with the tough but loveable Chizu, and I got my first introduction to the sultry Natsuna Watanabe, playing the sexy and cool-headed Ayane (And I’ve got more to talk about HER next time). There were these gorgeous gals all over this film! KIMI NI TODOKE is the tale of a girl named Sawako who, because of her scary looks, is feared by her students, till an outgoing and cheerful boy named Shota (played by Haruma Miura) takes a liking to the shy, insecure but good-hearted girl, and along with friends..This would be a fine story as is, but what I really, REALLY loved about it was the fact that the heart of this movie clearly centered around the importance of FRIENDSHIP. The way they showed Sawako’s bonding with Shota, Ayane and Chizu is so thoughtfully paced and actually quite believable. When it gets to the point when they think to ask her if they are friends, they realize that they’ve already passed the point where you even have to! When things like backhanded lying, gossiping rumours, and aggressive attitudes develop in front of them and threaten to tear their friendship apart, it’s that very friendship that they draw their strength from, and you watch this movie truly feeling like, Hey, these kids really love each other! This movie came as a bright, clear breath of fresh air after the somewhat disappointing HANAMIZUKI which seemed (to me) to be mired in melodrama. While I’m sure (positive, actually) that there are people out there who disagree with me, Kimi Ni Todoke is the way to go- This one is a winner!