This episode begins in November with Chizu telling Sawako that she can’t wait of the New Year to arrive. Sawako tells herself that her feelings towards Kazehaya are advancing but Sawako also notices that others around her are having relationship problems. Sawako and Chizu notice that Ayane is having a problem with her boyfriend, he seems to be getting very possessive of Ayane by constantly calling her and demanding to know what she’s doing and whom she’s with. Well, Chizu asks why she’s going out with him. Ayane laments that he hit on me, and it’s always guys like him that seem the most mature in the beginning.
Sawako also notices how alike Chizu and Ryuu are, how they even have the same aura, and she wonders if Chizu likes Ryuu. Then the scene switches to Ryuu’s place where we hear Ryuu’s father tell Chizu that sometimes he wishes she was his daughter, and she wishes she could. Chizu casually walks in on Ryuu while he’s changing, and they hangout playing games and Chizu talks about Ryuu’s birthday. While they’re hanging out we see two things; firstly, that Ryuu has been attracted to Chizu since middle school, and secondly that Chizu gets all flushed and it’s not over Ryuu.
The next day, after school, Chizu invites Sawako and Ayane to go shopping with her. Ayane begs off saying she has to see her boyfriend right away, so Sawako and Chizu head off to shop for Ryuu’s birthday gift. As Chizu and Sawako are leaving the school grounds they see one of Kazehaya’s friends (Jo) chase after a girl and confess to her only to be rejected in a humiliating way.
While at the shopping center, Chizu picks out Ryuu’s gift, and the girls look at clothes. On their way home, Sawako sacks up and decides to ask Chizu if she likes anyone. Well, as Chizu tells Sawako about her unrequited love Sawako thinks its Ryuu she’s talking about but it turns out to be Ryuu’s older brother (Tooru). Chizu basically laughs off the idea of liking Ryuu in that way; she loves him like a brother and doesn’t think Ryuu knows she has the hots for his brother.
Back at school, Chizu continues to show Sawako more pictures of mini-skirts wanting one by New Years. Well, Chizu drops Tooru’s name and New Years in front of Kazehaya and Ryuu causing an awkward silence.
Then the relationship shit really hits the fan when Ayane walks into class with a bandage on her face. Ayane tells them that she met with her boyfriend, told him her true feelings, told him she was dumping him, and he slapped her. She goes on to tell them that he told her stuff like I only have you, and she concludes that he didn’t even listen to her. She tells them it’s not like she wanted it to end this way, and Sawako thinks to herself that love is tough and comes with break ups.
Later, Kazehaya and Ryuu talk about Chizu with Kazehaya asking Ryuu if he’s told Chizu. No, should I tell her. Yes. Then we switch scenes to the girls where Chizu says they’ll have a sleepover on Friday to help cheer up Ayane.
That evening, Ryuu stops by Chizu’s place and enters her room, and Chizu is a little bothered when Ryuu enters her room in the same casual manner she entered his room. Ryuu sits next to her and moves in close for the confession when she hops away from him to stop him from seeing is birthday gift. Chizu then tells Ryuu to leave and hustles him out of the house leaving Ryuu to wonder WTF. As Ryuu is heading home we hear Sawako comment on how she never thought about love before, and that it must be difficult and this is because she’s fallen in love with Kazehaya. Well, that’s all for this brew of teen hormonal angst.
Well, after resolving the Kazehaya/Sawako/Kurumi love triangle, and slowly moving Sawako’s and Kazehaya’s relationship forward, Kimi ni Todoke focuses its lens on Chizu and Ryuu. While Sawako’s and Kazehaya’s dance was one of shyness, longing glances and tentative touches, Chizu and Ryuu’s dance is more complicated and fraught with dangerous land mines.
Chizu and Ryuu, childhood friends, as close as brother and sister, both sharing unrequited loves, Chizu loves Ryuu’s older brother and Ryuu loves Chizu. While both unrequited loves might be filled with equal longing, Chizu’s longing is for is a virtual stranger she hasn’t seen in two years, and she might find out that her love is for a shadow, a past image, a fondly remembered vision of a boy that’s now a man who might not still exist in the present. But, I feel that Ryuu’s unrequited love for Chizu is far more painful, his love sits right next to him in class, sits next to him on his bed, so close that he can feel the warmth of her body, smell her scent, so close that he can reach out and touch her hair. While Kazehaya advises Ryuu to come clean and confess his feelings to Chizu, it’s a dangerous approach that could backfire and drive Chizu away from him. I really liked how Ryuu decided to go for it and let the chips fall where they may but due to Chizu’s reaction to him almost seeing his birthday gift he was left even more confused than before, girls and women have that effect and it doesn’t get better with age.
Also, Sawako continues to show slow but steady progress in her maturation into a normal teen aged girl. When the series began, Sawako never really noticed the subtle byplay occurring between boys and girls, but her newly awakened feelings for Kazehaya has made Sawako more aware of the world around her, and she discovers love is tough.
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