Kimi ni Todoke: Episode 1

msasis — 2015-03-21 07:24:39 UTC

The show:

First Entry

msasis — 2015-03-21 07:26:02 UTC

http://www.crunchyroll.com/kimi-ni-todoke-from-me-to-you/episode-1-prolouge-612583

msasis — 2015-03-21 07:27:55 UTC

msasis — 2015-03-21 07:29:10 UTC

EDSC 320 Adolescence in Media Kimi Ni Todoke - Episode 1 Kimi Ni Todoke is about a teenage girl named Sawako Kuronuma who has a frightening appearance, but a kind heart and an overwhelming desire to befriend as many people as she can. She is shown to have lived a rather solitary life because of her appearance due to the fact that people readily assume that she is a strange person who must have connections with evil, spiritual things (her appearance is similar to that of a character from the movie "the Ring"). Until she is fourteen years old, she operates separately from her classmates (eating lunch separately from everyone, doing class chores on her own, etc), which shows her to be virtually ostracized from her classmates. A boy named Shota Kazehaya, who is from the same class, decides to befriend her, because he feels sorry for her and feels there is more to her character than what everyone initially sees. From the start of her friendship, she changes as a person, and her class begins to discover the sweet, gentle person behind the intensity of her expressions. In the episode I watched, I decided to write about the first episode, because it reflects the heart of the whole show. The episode highlighted the start of Sawako and Shota's friendship, as well as the start of her friendship with two other girls in her class, Ayane Yano (a "gangster"), and Chizuru Yoshida (a fashionable character), students who are also judged by their appearance. The plot of the episode revolved around a student run "bravery test" wherein pairs of students tried to brave a run through the woods where students in costume would scare them. Playing the part of an evil spirit in order to be of help to her classmates, Sawako was left alone in the woods, thinking that everyone was being fully entertained, and that she was being an effective, helpful student. Shota, who goes solo on the bravery run, happens upon her and they engage in conversation about the evening, becoming friends through their experience. Through this scene (midway through the episode), Shota realizes the earnestness of Sawako's character and becomes enchanted with her. Soon after this scene, Ayane and Chizuru become friends with Sawako, because they are impressed by her bravery and ability. The impact Sawako's peers was, for the most part until she openly defends Shota, extremely negative. First of all, her characters treated her as an "evil spirit," thus they always ran away from her in fear, and she often ended up trying to cheer herself up at every point. This creates within her a self-deprecation and low self-esteem to the degree where she constantly sees herself as a bother rather than as another individual who has feelings that need to be cherished. In the textbook in Chapter 5: Peer Groups, there is a particular statement that addresses this issue partially: "Membership in a crowd is based mainly on reputation and stereotype rather than on actual friendship or social interaction" (146). Rather than feeling offended or trying to defend herself, she tries to remove herself from the situation in order to not be a burden to others. Towards the end of the episode in order to preserve Shota's image (as they were teased for being together during the bravery competition), she says that their being together is a misunderstanding, and then leaves the classroom. The next day, standing in the walkway in front of the school, she starts crying, stating "I do feel lonely," indicating that she was greatly affected by the absence of a person that could have been her friend, as she was always alone. This indicates the impact of friendship on Sawako that she never knew existed until that point in her life. Following on the heels of this initial monologue, Shota appears and befriends Sawako, intending on truly befriending her, and not letting her be embarrassed or ridiculed in front of her classmates. He brings a gift from the class for Sawako, an apology written on it for ridiculing her. By this point, it is clear that she is positively impacted by her classmates, because it begins to change her perception of herself and the equality of herself to those around her. The impact of Sawako's family was not shown in this episode, but in later episodes, Sawako's parents are shown as a big influence in her character, as her father also has a degree of intensity in the way he expresses himself. Her father is also greatly authoritarian, a type of parenting discussed in Chapter four wherein the parent exercises a great deal of control over the child (116). In the case of Sawako's relationship with her father, it is clear that due to Sawako's father being extremely controlling, she often holds back on her own impulses, and thus is a great deal more repressed in her feelings, explaining her behavior in her classroom. Media is a really big factor in Sawako's life, as the superstitious behavior of her classmates is largely influenced by the power of Japanese horror movies that showcase a female character with long black hair and an intense expression. Although Sawako herself does not necessarily say why she prefers her appearance as it is, it is clear that perceptions of the horror culture in Japan, projected by the media, influences how those around her think of her. Another particular quote from chapter five deals directly with this topic: The fact that crowd membership is based on reputation and stereotype can be very difficult for individual adolescents, who--if they do not change their reputation early on in high school-- may find themselves stuck, at least in the eyes of their peers, in a crowd that thy do not wish to belong to (or even see themselves as part of it). (146) Her inability to have friends among her classmates prior to Ayane and Chizuru is clearly due to this issue and it really is sad to see. As far as attire is concerned, because all of the adolescents in this show go to a Japanese school, there is generally a dress code, so as far as fashion or trends go, it is generally difficult to keep up with trends within the school culture, Outside, however, students dress as they want and generally reflect the fashion of the season. Sawako Kuronuma is a character who reflects a lot of adolescents who have a more timid personality, influenced largely by family and by perceptions put upon them by the media and peers. Although Sawako herself is often unable to move forward on her own due to the restrictions she places on herself in her own mind, the urging of her closest friends allows her to move forward as a person and actively become engaged in the lives of others rather than being cooped up by herself. The show itself is about how adolescents behave with one another, treat others who are different, and especially how they deal with difficult situations. Because students in this show are projected as normal kids with every day issues, many of the problems that arise are realistic in the sense that adolescents of this particular age do deal with certain issues such as bullying, being ostracized by certain groups, dealing with complex emotions, and things of this nature.

Adolescents in Media: Melody Sasis by Melody Sasis

Kimi ni Todoke: Episode 1

First Entry

http://www.crunchyroll.com/kimi-ni-todoke-from-me-to-you/episode-1-prolouge-612583