I noticed that there wasn't a thread so far for this manga, which just recently won the 2008 Kodansha Manga Award for best shōjo manga, so I thought I'd throw one up for those that haven't heard of it, and see what others that have read it think of it.
Kimi ni Todoke (君に届け, Kimi ni Todoke? lit. Reaching you) is a romance shōjo manga by Karuho Shiina. It has been published by Shueisha in Bessatsu Margaret since 2006 and has 7 tankobon released so far (2 scanlated, none published outside of Japan yet).
Plot Summary: Sawako Kuronuma, called Sadako by her classmates for her resemblance to the character from Ring, has always been feared and misunderstood because of her appearance. There are rumors that Sawako can see ghosts and curse people. But when her idol, popular boy Kazehaya, begins talking with her, everything changes. She finds herself in a new world, trying to make friends and talking to different people and she can't thank Kazehaya enough for giving her these opputunities. Slowly, but surely, a sweet love is blossoming between the two as they will overtake any circumstance or clear obstacles in their way.
My thoughts: So far I really enjoy this series, and I'm hoping that it's recent award win will motivate either a publisher in the US or a scanlation group to pick it up so I can get up to date on it. It's a very cute one, and so far very happy-go lucky except the last chapter or so, but I really like the overall postive feel that it has, as opposed to the overly depressing and tragic feel of a lot of shōjo manga. I think future chapters probably get a bit more serious, but overall I really like how most of the main characters so far seem like actually good people, and not screwed up weirdos. It's nothing too spectacular in terms of original story or character designs, but I really enjoy the art. It's not too airy, nor too many weird bubbly or flowery backgrounds, which turn me off a lot of shōjo, mainly because it tends to make it hard to make out what is really going on in any scene because everything blends together at times.
The main character does somewhat remind me of a female version of the lead in Angel Densetsu, but only with the fact that they have disturbing visages and keep a positive and somewhat innocent outlook on life and people even though they often get treated like crap. Two girls that are her friends (Yano and Yoshida) are both great characters I think, I especially like how they aren't the usual girl or boy side-kicks in a lot of manga, and actually seem to have brains and don't just react in stereotypical ways.
Anywho, I hope someone picks up this manga, because I'd really like to catch up on it, I get a feeling it starts to get a bit more serious and dramatic from where the scans leave off, but if the beginning is any indication I have a feeling it will still be well executed and hopefully make me feel all warm and fuzzy when all is said and done.