My thanks to NetGalley and VIZ Media LLC for an eARC of this book to read and review.

I never read the series this is a spin-off from, but from what I can tell, this is trying hard to bring the drama that the original series had. Meh, I'm not into drama and this wasn't that interesting to me. It was kind of cute and that fist bump deserves a star all on it's own, but not enough of one to give it a higher star rating from me. I do like the idea of the redeemed villainess, but she was a bit too high-strung for my taste.

3, middle of the road on this one for me, stars.

5/5

The final volume of soulmate. And probably the vinyl volume of Kimi ni Todoke. As always, the story is very cute and has a good balance between drama and romance. I will always love this world and I’m so happy that’s there’s a happy ending for everybody.

It’s the end of an era. It makes me feel so bittersweet. Kimi ni Todoke is such a vital part of all manga romcom discourse. It really set the bar high for what romcoms could be in the shoujo genre.

It’s so sad to say goodbye to these characters. I remember loving Sawako so much when I first watched the anime in 2009. Reading this spin-off series was so fun because not only the characters have come a long way, but so have I.

There’s something so compelling about Ume that at first, we don’t see. I’m really glad that Shiina put so much care into her character. Of anyone in the series, I probably relate to Ume the most.

Thank you Karuho Shiina. Can’t wait to see what you do in the future. (Also I need to finish S3 of the anime)

The story concludes in this volume as Kurumi admits both to herself and to Eiji how she feels about him.

While it was interesting to see how Sawako is leading her life after high school, I did not enjoy Kurumi and Eiji as lead characters. Kurumi's history of bullying Sawako is explained as the reader discovers her deep seated negative self-talk, but I still didn't like her as a character - she's difficult to empathize with. As always, your mileage may vary

I was a fan of "Kimi ni Todoke" when it first came out and I really enjoyed the first and second volumes of this spinoff. This third volume is also wonderful!

As Kurumi grows closer and closer to Eiji her feelings get more chaotic, almost like she is an ill tempered cat. When Eiji decides to attend a group get together with his friends and an ex she impulsively decides to go try and spy on him. It doesn't work out how she intended, but the situation only makes her and Eiji grow closer together.

Kurumi is such a fun character! She can be spiteful and silly, but I really enjoy how the author portrays her inability to properly socialize with others without her mask on. She's slowly learning through the loving patience and guidance of Sawako and others. I really hope there's a volume 4!

Kimi ni Todoke was always good at the warm and fluffy feelings and this final volume of the spin-off delivers. Like I've said in volumes past, a lot of this will depend on how much you like Kurumi. What stood out to me the most was the genuine friendship she and Sawako have. It's very sweet to see how much the two girls have come to care about each other. The romance was good too! I always love to see romantic partners communicate in my fiction. This was just a really nice continuation all around! It was nice to see some of these characters again!