Christmas parties bring drama and love troubles more than anything else!

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It seems that the Christmas party is going the be the climax of this arc because it just started and there is already so much going on.  In one corner we have Kazehaya and Sawako’s relationship troubles, stemming from lack of communication AGAIN, and in another we have love issues with Chizuru and Ayane as well.  And of course, there is traditional victimization of Joe.  It wouldn’t be a Kimi ni Todoke party without that!

I really like the continuation of the dynamic for Kazehaya and Sawako.  I enjoy that they are figuring out their relationship like normal people and things don’t come too easily to them.  The main problem I have with this chapter and arc is that I am worried that the two will never grow and mature enough to understand that they need to communicate to be successful.  Just tell him that you want to kiss him, Sawako!  I also love the typical humor brought to the chapter with the interactions of Chizu and Yano, and Sawako’s awkward fears as shown above.

My favorite part of the chapter was the continuation of focus on the supporting characters.  I am really interested to see how the relationship between Yano and Kent turns out because I think it is fascinating to learn more about her self-esteem issues.  I also really like the focus on Chizu trying to deal with Ryu liking her because I honestly really want them to get together.  I like his continuing awkwardness and her embarrassment at the whole situation.

This chapter was pretty good overall and had a nice bit of foreshadowing for the next chapter.  I am looking forward to seeing what Chizu and Ryu say to each other and whether or not Yano gives a nice guy a chance for once.  Hopefully Kazehaya and Sawako get out of their rut soon and figure out how to talk things out.  That would prevent a lot of problems in this series.

GO Rating: 3/5

[mangahere]