This is a list of characters of the manga series Kimi ni Todoke and its spinoff series, titled (which is also a sequel spin-off of the creator's other manga Crazy for You), written and illustrated by Karuho Shiina. The main series was published by Shueisha from December 2005 to November 2017 and collected in 30 volumes. It follows the lives of Sawako Kuronuma, a modest and introverted 15-year-old girl beginning high school, who hopes to shed the mistaken reputation she formed due her resemblance to horror film character Sadako Yamamura and make new friends, Shōta Kazehaya, a friendly and popular boy at Sawako's high school whom she initially looks towards as a role model, and Sawako's eventual friends in high school.
Main characters
Sawako, the main protagonist, is a high school girl in search of friendship, but her resemblance to the horror film character Sadako Yamamura made this difficult. Her unhealthy levels of modesty and ineffective communication skills has prevented her from correcting misconceptions. As a result, she was tragically ostracized by everyone she met, and has forgotten how to understand others and express herself. Despite these obstacles, she remains a pure, positive, and caring person who works hard in everything she does. On the day of the entrance ceremony at Kitahoro High School, Sawako meets Shōta under cherry blossoms by chance and helps him find his way. Due to his friendly and broad-minded nature, he is the first person she is able to smile genuinely and get through as herself. Her world begins to change as she learns to communicate her feelings and form closer friendships with fellow human beings, especially Chizuru Yoshida and Ayane Yano, for the first time. She is rather petite – a characteristic inherited from her father, who is only 160 cm tall (however, by the end of the series, she is taller than him) – but is surprisingly fast, to the point some people believe she has teleportation powers. She takes everything people say so very seriously and tends to over-analyze situations. When she is deep in thought, her dark appearance terrifies her peers. With her pacifist nature and protectiveness nature, she sacrifices herself for others, when she avoided Ayane, Chizuru, and even Shōta, to protect their reputations. Though on top of academics, Sawako is oblivious and socially awkward, often scolded by Shōta and Chizuru for putting herself down and avoiding others. Sawako is forever grateful to Shōta for giving her the opportunities to make friends and initially idolizes him. Thanks to her rival Ume Kurumizawa and Ryu Sanada explaining what the feelings of romantic love are, she realizes she is actually in love with him. Working through various misunderstandings, she eventually finds the courage to confess to him during the school festival during her second year, and they finally become a couple. Later in the same year when Shōta acts distant towards her for months due to his own insecurities, Sawako openly questions their relationship and cries and yells at him for neglecting her. This snaps him back to his senses, and they get their relationship back on track. During her third and final year, Sawako begins to ponder for the first time what she wants to do in the future. With the help of her homeroom teacher Pin Arai, Sawako discovers her wish to pursue her innate ability of teaching, particularly in Japanese Language (the reason is because it is her worst subject, but challenges her to improve her communication skills). Ultimately, she decides to leave her hometown and attend a Sapporo Educational University along with Ume, who becomes her best friend. By the end of high school, Sawako finally is able to clear up the misconceptions of her as "Sadako" by her class, graduating with a positive note. Bidding Ayane and Chizuru heartfelt farewell, and retaining a strong long-distance relationship with Shōta, she receives a ring from him on her 18th birthday and a letter the day she leaves with promises for the future. Some time later, Sawako returns to her hometown after graduating from university, and reunites with and hugs Shōta at the place where they first met.
Shōta is Sawako's friendly classmate, and initially her idol. His popularity is so widespread regardless of gender because of his refreshing exterior. However, Shōta himself does not believe he is refreshing. With a serious, honest personality and his father's inherited stubbornness and temper, Shōta follows his own inflexible ideals and does not mindlessly follow the crowd. Though he treats everyone equally and without any bias, this is because he keeps a certain distance between himself and others, excluding those who he regards as familiar and trustworthy. In Sawako's case, he regarded her existence as special to him from the beginning. Shōta's family owns a sportswear store, and his father is a baseball coach. He has known his best friend Ryu Sanada and Chizuru Yoshida since elementary school. Ever since he was a young boy, Shōta was on his father's baseball league team, and played along with Ryu on the middle school baseball team. However, due to his strained relationship with his father, and his mother's failing health, Shōta quit playing baseball in High School "before he could hate it", a decision that disappointed his homeroom teacher Pin, and angered his father. Thus, he does not belong to any club in high school, though still attends Pin's morning practices. When he sees Sawako smile on the day of the entrance ceremony, Shōta immediately feels a need to get to know her better. Willing to look past false rumors about her, Kazehaya is able to see who Sawako truly is, and feels a deep admiration for her strength, optimism and kindness. Early on he recognizes these are feelings of romantic love, though is unaware she feels the same way. Despite her gratefulness towards him, Shōta is unassuming about the impact he has on her, believing Sawako is able to stand up and make everything possible with her own willpower, regardless of the circumstances, the very thing he had always wanted to be able to do. During his second year, Shōta begins to feel depressed when Sawako does not give him chocolates on Valentine's Day, unaware she had been too nervous to give him any. Attempting to work through the misunderstandings plaguing them, he eventually confesses to her during the school festival, promising to always take care of her. After, she confesses her own feelings, and they become a couple. Later, Shōta begins to avoid Sawako for many months because of his own fear of not being the refreshing persona he believes Sawako is in love with, unconsciously causing a rift in their relationship. It is only after Sawako deems him a liar for ignoring her, does he realizes not facing his fear was his mistake, and they get their relationship back on track. Shōta's relationship with his father throughout the series is sour, as he believes Shōta is irresponsible and dependent on others. As a result, Shōta is constantly trying to prove to his father he can be independent. Although initially deciding to succeed his family's store, Shōta thinks again about what he wants to do, and decides to return to baseball as a sports trainer and inherit the store at the same time. He ends up taking the entrance examination of the department of sports science at a local university. With the final full confidence, he is able to make his own decisions, and he makes amends with his father. Some time later, Shōta returns to the place where he first met Sawako after graduating from university, and reunites with and hugs Sawako at the place where they first met.
, Rinka Kumada (TV series) Ayane is a close friend of Sawako's and part of Kitahoro's advanced school program. She is fashionable and noted to look mature for her age. An intelligent tactician, Ayane is easily able to decipher people's intentions and use them to her advantage. On the other hand, she gives just enough information to leave enemies and friends alike wondering and thus, force them forward. Generally, Ayane is strong-willed and caring, but also calculating and cold. Though appearing to be a self-assured individual, Ayane is actually quite shy. She suffers from an aversion to taking risks and striving towards her dreams like her friends. For this reason, she envies them and has severe lack of self-esteem, thinking of herself as a cruel coward. However, Pin affirms she is nice, surprising her. From a young age, Ayane was cautious academically and socially, easily giving up and never striving beyond her abilities. Retaining an aloof demeanor, she was a social recluse who hated being around others. Though once the captain and setter of her middle school volleyball team, after a sticky incident where she was shunned by her team, she quit before the last tournament and moved to a different high school (Kitahoro). During freshman year, she makes her first true friends, Chizuru Yoshida and Sawako Kuronuma. Admittedly, they are the only people she has ever extended a hand to outside her immediate family, for they were the first to inspire her with their sincerity and courage. Fiercely loyal to them, she often takes up the role of an elder sister who supports and advises them. However, even with them, Ayane does not confide her own worries or intimate details, preferring to not make them worry about her. During her second year, a schoolmate named Mogi confesses to her, and she agrees to date him, but their relationship instantly falls apart when she realizes he was just using her. Despite her many romances, Ayane has never actually fallen in love. Kento Miura comforts and forms a crush on her, and though Ayane is not in love with him, she is moved by his sincerity and agrees to date him. Throughout her senior year, Ayane struggles with what she wants to do when she graduates, and it is ultimately Pin who drives and encourages her, personally believing in her potential to become tremendously successful. As they spend more time together and he sheds his usual rambunctious image to seriously advise Ayane, she realizes he saw through her from the beginning. Ayane begins to admire him as a teacher and an individual, cherishing every piece of advice and encouragement he had ever given her. Ayane's longtime dream has been to get into a prestigious university in Tokyo and eventually go overseas, but Kento expresses his disapproval and wishes for her to attend a university in Sapporo with him. Though Kento is the first boyfriend who truly cared for her, Ayane is unable to fall in love with him in the long run. Eventually Ayane realizes she will never get anywhere if she does not take responsibility for her own actions. No longer wishing to take the easy path, she decides she wants to challenge herself by pursuing her dream, and breaks up with Kento on mutual terms, though they remain good friends. While studying for the university exams, Ayane finally realizes she is in love for the first time, with none other than Pin. Due to their nearly 10-year age gap and roles as teacher and student, she does not expect him to return her feelings, or ever see him again after graduating. Still, thanks to Sawako and Chizuru's encouragement, she summons the courage to confess her feelings and passing university result to him on Valentine's Day. As expected, he rejects her confession as "10 years too early", but praises her as a kind person. Applauding not only her academic efforts, but her growth as a person, Pin lets Ayane know he believes in her future and encourages her to have more self-confidence. Tearfully smiling, Ayane thanks Pin for everything he has done for her and aspires to become an amazing adult who does not shame him in 10 years.