From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke is a high school romance drama. It’s sweet, it’s wholesome, and it’s comfortingly familiar. It leans more on its romance than its comedy. It doesn’t have high stakes fantasy or action-packed battles, but it captures the high school experience in such a lovely way. Of course, the show would likely reach its romantic happy ending, but what makes the show compelling isn’t just the thrill of connecting with a crush– it’s the inspiration for Sawako to open up, and enable her to connect and have friends. The live action adaptation may not fully capture everything from the original and it speeds through the plot, but it retains the parts that make it work, even for viewers totally unfamiliar with the story.

Being based on a manga and anime, From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke will inevitably be compared to its predecessors. Sawako is more cute than creepy, and in limiting 30 volumes and 38 anime episodes to just 12 live action ones, it misses out on some of the humor and build-up. That being said, the live action Kimi ni Todoke is still able to keep the essential emotions between Sawako and Kazehaya’s relationship, the pull a crush can have that gets you to open up, as it focuses on Sawako’s perspective, starting with her voice-over. Kimi ni Todoke might be more entertaining in its animated form, but the script and Sara Minami makes the show work rather than suffer the live action curse.