The manga was first published as a one-shot in Shueisha's shōjo manga magazine Bessatsu Margaret on August 11, 2005,[3] and planned to be compiled in her previous work, Crazy For You. Shiina decided to expand the story and make it into a full series.[ch. 1:author's note] The manga started in the January 2006 issue of Bessatsu Margaret, released on December 13, 2005.[4][5] The manga was put on hiatus in February 2009, due to Shiina's childbirth,[6] and resumed in September of that same year.[7] The manga finished on November 13, 2017.[8] Shueisha collected its chapters in 30 tankōbon volumes, released from May 25, 2006,[9] to March 23, 2018.[10]
An irregularly published sequel spin-off manga series, titled Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You: Soulmate (君に届け 番外編～運命の人～, Kimi ni Todoke Bangaihen: Unmei no Hito) (which is also a sequel spin-off of Shiina's other manga Crazy for You), was serialized in Bessatsu Margaret from April 13, 2018, to May 13, 2022, and collected into three volumes.[11]
The series was licensed by Viz Media for an English-language North American release. The sequel spin-off manga was also licensed by Viz Media.[12]
Sawako Kuronuma is a 15-year-old high school freshman who has always been ostracized by her peers due to her frightening resemblance to the horror movie character Sadako. But underneath her frightening exterior is a kind, gentle girl in search of friendship. Naturally drawn to the most popular boy in her grade, Shouta Kazehaya, who she met under a road of cherry blossoms, Sawako considers him the "100% refreshing" role model whom she can only admire from afar. But when he suddenly begins talking to her, Sawako's world is turned upside down as she learns to communicate and form relationships with other human beings for the first time in her life.
Sawako's dream to make friends shows hope of coming true with newfound friends Ayane Yano and Chizuru Yoshida, but her chances take a dark turn when strange rumors begin spreading throughout school Ayane is a slut and Chizuru is a former gang member. When Sawako herself is wrongly accused of being the culprit of these rumors by her peers, she is deeply saddened and retreats to her former isolation in order to protect her friends. This causes tensions between the 3 as they all begin second-guessing their friendship. When confronted by nasty bullies, Sawako is finally driven to step up to the plate and defend her friends. With clear, direct communication, Sawako is able to convey her feelings of love for Ayane and Chizuru, and clear up the misunderstanding regarding her as the culprit. The 3 girls officially become best friends.
Sawako finally begins to open up socially with and connect with her classmates instead of scaring them off. Strangely, even the prettiest and most popular girl in her grade, Ume Kurumizawa, is suddenly eager to be her best friend. But appearances are misleading, and when Sawako and Ume become friends, Ume immediately reveals she has a crush on Shouta (due to him being the only sincere person she knew in middle school) and asks Sawako to support her. Sawako is suddenly forced to take a deep look into the nature of her feelings for Shouta.
Sawako finds herself unable to support Ume but cannot understand why. Ume is angered and hypothesizes Sawako herself may have a crush on Shouta. Sawako begins to wonder what romantic love is, and asks Chizuru's childhood friend, Ryu Sanada, to explain it to her. Ryu explains romantic love is a love where the person in question is special to you, and reveals to Sawako he is in love with Chizuru. Sawako realizes she is in love with Shouta. Ayane uncovers evidence Ume was the actual culprit behind the rumors and wanted to ostracize Sawako from Shouta, Ayane, and Chizuru due her jealousy. Ume's plans are thwarted when Shouta is mistakenly led to believe Ume was in an unrequited love with Arai Pin, the P.E. coach and the group's teacher. Upset, Ume reveals herself to be a dishonest, manipulative individual to Sawako. Sawako is saddened, but let Ume know she is also in love with Shouta. Ume feels like giving up on clearing up the misunderstanding made between her and Shouta, but Sawako advises her to just tell him the truth.
The disheartened Ume encounters Shouta, who comforts her on being "rejected" by Pin. Ume remembers Sawako's words, and finds the courage to clear up the misunderstanding by confessing her romantic feelings to Shouta. Shouta cannot accept her feelings, as he has fallen in love with Sawako, and respectfully rejects Ume. Ume is saddened, but happy she was able to genuinely express herself instead keeping things misunderstood. After the rejection, Ume becomes more honest and open with her harsh personality, and declares Sawako as a worthy rival in love. From this experience, Sawako begins to learn to live with her romantic feelings for Shouta. Ayane breaks up with her college boyfriend after he slaps her face. On the other hand, Chizuru is excited to learn her longtime crush and Ryu's older brother Toru Sanada is returning to their town, but she is left heartbroken when she learns he is getting married.
Chizuru gets into a fight with Ryu during his birthday when he tells her love was futile, and he wished she had given up sooner. Sawako and Ayane are saddened when they realize they cannot do anything to fix the situation. But Shouta assures them Chizuru will be fine as long as they are there for her. Ryu calls Toru to talk to Chizuru one last time before getting married, and Chizuru finds the strength to finally confess her feelings to Toru. Toru assures Chizuru he will always see her as a little sister. Chizuru begins to accept their relationship will never change, and congratulates Toru on his engagement. Ryu comforts the heartbroken Chizuru, and they reconcile.
The Christmas holidays arrive, and freshman year is coming to a close. Sawako wants to attend her class Christmas party along with her friends, but she has already promised to celebrate with her parents. With the help of her friends, Sawako finds courage to ask her parents to attend. Realizing their daughter is beginning to grow up, they allow her to attend and gift her her first cell phone. On New Year's Eve (which also happens to be Sawako's 16th birthday!), Chizuru and Ayane invite Sawako to join them in visiting a local shrine. As a birthday surprise, they get her to go alone on a "date" with Shouta. Sawako and Shouta are initially nervous, but eventually become comfortable as they learn more about each other's childhoods. Once they get their fortunes, Sawako and Shouta exchange phone emails. They walk together and part at the same path where they met, eager and anxious about the future of their relationship. Near the end of freshman year on Valentine's Day, Sawako intends to give Shouta Honmei chocolates along with her friends, but Ume spitefully discourages her by making it appear Shouta will only accept Giri ones. Sawako ultimately chickens out, as her chocolates are too serious to be considered Giri chocolates, but she is afraid to risk Shouta's rejection. Shouta, on the other hand, is disheartened when he discovers Sawako has given everyone chocolates except him, and begins to wonder if this is a clue she is romantically rejecting him.
As she begins her second year of high school, Sawako is glad that she shares the same homeroom as Chizuru, Ayane, Kazehaya, and Ryu again. With her reputation changing and classmates becoming receptive to her true personality, she feels lonely now that Kazehaya no longer sits next to her. After Valentine's Day incident, their relationship is strained as Sawako feels self-conscious and ashamed for favouring Kazehaya and wanting to be more than friends. A new classmate, Kento Miura, notices Sawako's dilemma and befriends her out of pity, which causes Kazehaya to be jealous. While Kazehaya would prefer not to let others interfere with his relationship with Sawako, he worries that he will trouble her with his feelings but his inaction will lead to others snatching her away. As midterms approach, Kento announces to the class that Sawako is holding a study group after school, which Kazehaya encourages a lot of students to attend. The sessions are a success, with everyone praising Sawako for being a great teacher. Kento confronts Kazehaya, believing Kazehaya befriended Sawako because he pitied her as an outcast, and tells Kazehaya is no longer necessary in Sawako's life now. Kazehaya rejects Kento's offer to help him when Kazehaya admits that he likes someone, but loses confidence in how Sawako perceives him. When he confides in Chizuru about his insecurity, Chizuru, unaware that he likes Sawako, thoughtlessly says that Kazehaya is the most distant person to Sawako due to their differences. Although they attempt to communicate how they feel, various misunderstandings prevent Sawako and Shouta from understanding each other. They begin to avoid each other.
With midterms over, Sawako's class focuses on their summer school festival exhibition event and parade. Ayane separately advises Sawako and Shouta each to stop avoiding each other and act. Chizuru attends Toru's wedding and solidifies her sibling-like relationship with Toru. Having realized Shouta likes Sawako and feeling guilty about what she said to Shouta, Chizuru convinces Ryu to follow-up with Shouta. Ryu and Pin push Shouta to confess to Sawako, but Kento interferes, causing further misunderstandings between Shouta and Sawako. Although Shouta confesses his feelings, Sawako believes his feelings are only friendship and they both think the other has rejected them. With her self-esteem crushed, Sawako deems herself conceited to Ayane and Chizuru and thinks she has inconvenienced Shouta the entire time with her feelings. Her friends are upset at Sawako's lack of self-confidence, but believe she will be able to fix the problem herself. When Kurumi learns about the "rejection", she confronts Sawako and declares her an unworthy rival for failing to see that Shouta is the only person to never pitied her and for not even trying to fight for him. Pin scolds Shouta for leading Sawako on and rejecting her, but learns Shouta believes Sawako rejected him. Seeing that Shouta is only thinking about himself instead trying to understand Sawako, Pin tell him to give up on Sawako, leaving Shouta to realize he has always been self-involved. Ayane and Chizuru confront Kento and Kurumi for interfering with Sawako and Shouta, resulting in Kurumi admitting in frustration she thought Sawako would fight back, while Ayane blames Kento for only helping Sawako to satisfy his own narcissism. At the school festival, Sawako takes her friends' words to heart and realizes that she initially looked up to Shouta as a divine role model, but the person she fell in love with is an ordinary boy. With this conclusion, Sawako no longer cares who Shouta likes or if she will be rejected, and is spurred to take on action by finally letting her feelings out.
Shouta apologizes to Sawako for troubling her with his selfish thoughts, and promises to properly listen to what she has to say. Sawako tells Shouta she used to always receive frightened apologies whenever she tried to help others, but Shouta smiled and thanked her when they first met as if she were like everyone else, which made her really happy. Sawako thanks him for changing her world, and confesses her romantic love to him. All misunderstandings are cleared, and Shouta realizes Sawako feels the same way he does, but they are interrupted by Joe, causing Sawako to run off while Shouta mulls over her confession. Sawako worries about having "impure hopes" when she looks Shouta, but is assured by Pin that everyone has a heart and it's natural to have such thoughts, inspiring Sawako's confidence in seeing Shouta again. When she and Shouta meet again, they are both able to clearly express their feelings for one another, and make their new relationship clear to their entire class to avoid future misunderstandings. The next day, Sawako goes to confront Ume, and the girls end up defending each other against the girls who once bullied Sawako in the washroom. Sawako reports to Ume that she is now dating Shouta, but she cannot thank or apologize to her as she is dating him is itself disrespectful to Ume. Ume confesses the only reason she had the courage and confidence to profess her love for Kazehaya was because of Sawako, and states she was glad she was her rival. Ume explains to Kento and Ayane that she and Shouta having a romantic relationship was impossible from the beginning, as Ume had been a dishonest, manipulative individual, and though heartbroken, is relieved everything has ended. Shouta thanks Ryu for listening to his troubles and Pin for advising him. Sawako and Shouta part ways outside their school. Remembering Ume's heartbreak, Sawako initially stops him, but realizes there is nothing she can do for Ume, says nothing. Watching Shouta go, Sawako cries for Ume's situation, and vows to treasure Shouta always as a way to honor her.
Half the volume retells the previous events of Kimi ni Todoke up until now from Shouta's point of view. Shouta monologues how he was a rather impatient young man before he met Sawako, and how falling in love with her changed him. In the present, summer vacation is about to begin and Sawako learns that she missed Shouta's birthday back in May and wonders how to make it up to him. Ayane notices Sawako and Shouta getting along well, and Chizuru comforts her on being single. Realizing Pin's students stole his candy after the failed school festival, Ayane gives him sweets; Chizuru tells Ayane she is too kind and not to waste it on useless men. Once Chizuru leaves, Ayane reveals to Pin in actuality, she is a cruel, calculating coward, fundamentally different from Sawako and Chizuru. Pin, however, forms his own opinion of Ayane based on her kindness towards him and says, "you're a kind girl". Ayane is astonished, and watches him walk away. When Chizuru visits Ryu, he gives her a family picture taken at Toru's wedding and asks her to state his good qualities. After Chizuru says he is kind, honest, and caring, Ryu smiles and replies he is patient. Sawako goes on her first official date with Shouta to a planetarium and finally gives the Valentine's Day chocolates she originally couldn't give to Shouta. Tearing up, she tells Shouta that she doesn't know how to properly do a girlfriend's job, and wants time to pass so that being in a relationship with him will feel normal. Shouta hugs her and tells her that being a girlfriend is not a job, and to just be herself. He tells her that as they thought that their respective loves were unrequited, they must not waste the time they have together.
Due to her failing grades, Chizuru has to attend summer school. Although their grades are well off, Sawako and Ayane decide to keep her company and study. Afterwards, the three best friends walk home together and discuss many topics, including Sawako’s date with Shouta and how Ayane and Chizuru were bitter rivals before they became best friends. As Sawako is still trying to feel natural about being in a relationship with Shouta, she is at a loss of what to tell her parents. Sawako’s mother, Youko Kuronuma, suddenly discovers them while they are on a date. Shouta politely introduces himself, and Youko invites Shouta to have dinner with them. Sawako lets her father, Kitao Kuronuma, know that she is now dating Shouta, and he is shaken. Although their meeting initially starts off rocky, mostly due to Sawako’s father’s overprotectiveness and distrustfulness, Shouta and Kitao eventually hit it off after he realizes that Shouta is worthy of his daughter. Shouta assures Sawako that he will never hate her, and promises Kitao that he will date her seriously. Kitao and Youko thank Shouta for influencing Sawako to become more sociable and confident.
Chizuru badly needs a vacation from summer school, so she and the gang go to a local beach to relax. But there, while waging arm-wrestling matches with tourists who want to spend time with her, Ryu suddenly wins her hand, and Chizuru finds herself strangely uncomfortable and flustered. Kento finds himself saddened that Sawako and Shouta got together, as he had fallen in love with Sawako. Ayane comforts him. Shouta later invites Sawako to his place to study and meet his family: first his lookalike mother, who has health issues, his mischievous little brother Touta, and strict father Shouichirou, a baseball coach. While studying together, Sawako and Shouta pluck up the courage to call each other by their first names for the first time. Summer school eventually ends, and the second semester begins. Everyone is excited when a school field trip to tropical Okinawa is announced, but then a boy named Mogi suddenly confesses to Ayane. Ayane agrees to date him and get to know him over the trip.
The second year students arrive in Okinawa for their school trip. When Sawako asks Ayane when she had started liking Mogi, Chizuru comments that Ayane never talks about her own love affairs, which surprises Ayane, who replies that she had never thought about such things. Shouta, on the other hand, becomes self-conscious when the class teases him over his relationship with Sawako. Returning from a date with Mogi, Ayane runs into Pin and asks if he's ever truly loved anyone. When he replies "of course!", Ayane is taken aback, and realizes that unlike everyone else, she has never loved anyone. Chizuru becomes jealous when she learns that Ryu rejected a girl from Class C because he likes another girl but kept the information to himself. The girl later confronts Chizuru and tells her to stay away from Ryu if they aren't in a romantic relationship, which infuriates Chizuru, who yells that the girl should mind her own business. However, the encounter leaves Chizuru wondering if she and Ryu will become distant from being only childhood friends instead of lovers. When Ryu confesses to her, she is horrified and rejects him on the spot. Sawako and Shouta meet up during the evening, but things become awkward after they end up nearly kissing. While on a date with Mogi, Ayane overhears him talking with his friends and discovers that he was only dating her under false pretenses. Ayane breaks up with him. After some time, Kento finds Ayane sitting alone. Realizing that all this time, she has never been in a proper relationship, Ayane begins to cry, and Kento hugs her. As everyone returns to Hokkaido, they find themselves troubled and distant from one another.
Fall has arrived. Sawako and Shouta have become distant ever since the almost-kiss incident in Okinawa. Kento has developed a new interest in Ayane, but Ayane avoids him out of embarrassment. Although Chizuru is sent to bring food for Ryu by her parents, she cannot even look him in the eye and makes Shouta give him food. Realizing that her friendship with Ryu has ended, the anguished Chizuru broods by the harbor, even skipping school and meals because she is too depressed. Her friends find her and Chizuru explains why she cannot look at Ryu in a romantic light. When Chizuru and Ryu were children, they were inseperable as toddlers, even with opposite personalities. When Ryu’s mother Tetsuko Sanada died in a car accident, Ryu became depressed and did not smile for many months. Realizing that he was suffering, Chizuru began leaving his favourite food, onigiri, on his doorstep. After finding Chizuru standing at his doorstep, Ryu finally let down his stoic face and broke down crying for the first time since his mother’s death. The same year, Toru left Ryu and his father for college and asked Chizuru to look after Ryu. The evening Toru left, Chizuru vowed to Ryu at the harbor that she would be by his side forever as his sister. In the present, Chizuru realizes that she still wants to salvage her friendship with Ryu, and brings him onigiri as an early birthday present. Ryu looks at her with gratitude, and Chizuru immediately becomes uncomfortable and yells that his confession is ruining their friendship. Ryu responds that he had been waiting for it to end, and that it is impossible to salvage it. He eats the onigiri and leaves Chizuru devastated.
Ume Kurumizawa thinks she's found her soulmate in Sawako Kuronuma, her former rival turned best friend with whom she attends university, but seeing Sawako's romantic relationship with Shouta Kazehaya continuing to flourish, Ume wonders if there's someone else out there for her. When an opportunity to attend a mixer comes up, Ume persuades Sawako to attend with her, only to draw unwanted attention from a persistent attendee, who begins to stalk the girls. They're rescued by Sawako's cousin, Eiji Akahoshi, and a mutual interest begins to form between Ume and Eiji, who suggests they date. As they spend more time together, Ume finds herself overwhelmed by her growing feelings for Eiji but is unsure why he would like her. When the stalker returns and sets his sights on Ume, Eiji arrives to drive him off and a relieved Ume asks him to stay her with for the night.
After surviving a frightening encounter with a stalker, Ume finds Eiji supporting her in all the ways she needs, but begins worrying that she's depending on him too much. After his previous experiences with unrequited love, Eiji wonders if Ume, the girl he likes, will feel the same way he does for her. When Eiji accidentally kisses Ume while he is half-asleep, Ume believes that Eiji still has feelings for a past love and begins distancing herself from him. After Ume learns that Eiji will be going to a party with his old friends from high school, she decides to secretly attend with Sawako in hopes of learning more about the girl he had a crush on. She and Sawako are caught spying and are invited join the group, where they meet Sachi Takamura, who rejected Eiji because she loved his friend Yuki instead. Eiji apologizes to Ume for kissing her before she was sure of her feelings and confesses that he likes her and would like her to return his feelings, but they end up fighting because she doubts that he would like someone like her.
Ume runs away from the gathering, believing herself to be too awful for Eiji to genuinely like; Sawako orders Eiji to give Ume space. As Ume admits that she likes Eiji to Sawako and how she wanted to find the right away to tell her best friend, Sawako tells her that she's been waiting for Ume to confide in her. While she consoles Ume, Sawako tells Ume that instead of worrying over details, she should try to focus on what is important to her. Eiji tells Yuki that since meeting Ume, he's started to become comfortable with remembering his past instead of avoiding it. Ume and Eiji reconcile, admitting their feelings for one another, and become a couple. Though Ume wonders if Sawako and Eiji are her soulmates, she finds happiness in being able to spend time with people she loves.
Kimi ni Todoke has been adapted into two series of light novels in Japan released by Shueisha, one under their Cobalt imprint and one under their newer Mirai Bunko imprint.[61] Sixteen volumes have been released in the Cobalt imprint series; the first was released on August 1, 2007, and the last on December 25, 2015.[62][63] They were written by Kanae Shimokawa, who also novelized the Nana movie and Yūkan Club.[ch. 26:author note#2] Thirteen volumes of the Mirai Bunko version have been released; the first on March 1, 2011, and the last on June 5, 2015.[64][65] They were written by Kanako Shirai. Both series were illustrated by the author of the original, Karuho Shiina.
A separate volume, Kimi ni Todoke: Ashita ni Nareba (君に届け ~明日になれば~, Kimi ni Todoke: When Tomorrow Comes), also by Kanae Shimokawa, was released on September 11, 2009.[66] The volume took the place of the manga serialization in Bessatsu Margaret magazine while Karuho Shiina took a break due to her pregnancy in 2009; it contains the story of Kazehaya and Sawako's first meeting, before the events of the manga.[6]
