Due to its nature as a sequel, all spoilers for Kimi ni Todoke and Crazy For You will be left unmarked.
Kurumi (bottom left) with her Love Interest Eiji (top left) and her best friend Sawako (bottom right)
After the events of Kimi ni Todoke, Ume "Kurumi" Kurumizawa and Sawako Kuronuma now attend a teaching university in Sapporo. Kurumi, who wants a new love, and Sawako, who wants to support Kurumi, got invited to a mixer and a creepy guy started hitting on them as soon as it starts. Luckily, they are saved by Sawako's cousin, "Big Brother Eiji". Eiji part ways saying that if Kurumi wants a boyfriend that much, he can introduce someone next time.
The next day after dinner at Sawako's with the three of them, Kurumi finds herself telling Eiji about her past self- how she used to stalk Sawako's boyfriend and dream about him every night. After baring a dark part of herself, Kurumi snapped out of her daze when Big Brother Eiji asks: "Shall we go out, Ume?"
Kimi ni Todoke Bangai-hen ~Unmei no Hito~ (translated as Kimi ni Todoke Special ~Soulmate~) is a Spin-Off of Kimi ni Todoke. The manga was serialized in Bessatsu Margaret from 2018 to 2022. The series is notable for pairing Ume Kurumizawa from Kimi ni Todoke and Eiji Akahoshi from the same mangaka's previous work, Crazy For You, which also makes this a sequel for those two series.
This series provides examples of:
- A-Cup Angst: At one time, Kurumi asks Eiji if he's after her body. He replied that she's pretty flat. She and Sawako agree that it's mean of him to say that.
- Beautiful Dreamer:
- In Chapter 2, Eiji watches a sleeping Kurumi, who was exhausted thinking about him. Finding them in this state tips Sawako that something more is going on between the two.
- In Chapter 6, Eiji wakes up first and spends a few minutes looking at the still sleeping Kurumi. Unfortunately, he wakes her up since he has things to do that day.
- Beta Couple: Sawako and Kazehaya act as a Foil to Kurumi and Eiji. The former has issues with communicating clearly and awkward when dealing with romance resulting in them getting together after a year of being friends. In contrast, Eiji says his romantic interest in Kurumi early on and they both have the courage to be honest with one another resulting in them being a couple a few weeks after their first meeting.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Kurumi's confession starts with 6 pages of Kurumi mustering up the courage to confess (including a page of Eiji getting impatient and ruining the moment) followed by a chaste kiss initiated by Kurumi while confessing. Eiji deepens it on the next page.
- Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Inverted and downplayed. Kurumi still has emotional baggage during the time when she's still bullying Sawako and still having unrequited feelings for Kazehaya. Eiji understands and tries to help her get over them, having managed to get over his unrequited feelings for Sachi.
- Canon Welding: This series serves as a sequel to two of Karuho Shiina's previous works, Kimi ni Todoke and Crazy For You.
- The Charmer: Eiji used to be one, picking up girls left and right in high school. He's also proud of the fact that he can make it hard for people to refuse him.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Before meeting them, Kurumi is jealous of Eiji's female friends, especially his First Love.
- Continuity Cameo: Chizu appears in a panel in Chapter 6.
- Continuity Nod:
- After Kurumi tells Eiji about the Love Triangle between her, Sawako and Kazehaya, Eiji tells them that he finds it nostalgic, recalling his own Love Triangle from Crazy For You.
- Eiji recognizes Kazehaya from Kurumi's middle school graduation yearbook since he already knows what he looks like. Eiji visited the Kuronuma home before and learned that Sawako got a boyfriend in a special chapter from the Kimi ni Todoke fan book.
- Cry into Chest: Kurumi and Eiji's height difference makes it more likely for Kurumi to cry like this.
- Declaration of Protection: Eiji told Kurumi that he would protect her since she has always been protecting Sawako and neglecting to protect herself.
- Dreaming the Truth: Once Kurumi starts having an interest in Eiji, she gets Recurring Dreams about them as a couple. Of course, Kurumi being Kurumi, she denies having interest when fully awake.
- First-Name Basis:
- Eiji calls Kurumi by her first name "Ume". She eventually stops trying to scold him for it because she realizes early on that he would keep on doing it the more she scolds him.
- Eventually, Kurumi stops scolding Sawako for using "Ume-chan". Sawako guesses that Kurumi had gotten so used to being called "Ume" by Eiji that she stops noticing it.
- Kazehaya and Sawako call each other by first names but only when talking to each other. One scene has Kazehaya urging Sawako to practice calling him "Shota" instead of "Shota-kun".
- Friend Versus Lover: Played for Laughs as Kurumi and Kazehaya now fight over Sawako's attention. They even stop Sawako on calling the other so that their time doesn't get interrupted, going as far as stealing Sawako's phone and hanging up.
- Fully Absorbed Finale: Chapters 7 to 9 function as a finale for Crazy For You and resolves some points of the Maybe Ever After ending of that series.
- Sachi is still together with Yuki. Yuki works as a part-time cook instead of going to college just as he discussed with Eiji and Yuuhei.
- Eiji eventually got his own happy ending after getting over Sachi.
- Akemi keeps her promise of not confessing to Yuuhei until she improved herself. She plans to confess to him during the reunion party.
- The Gadfly: Eiji knows how to push Kurumi's buttons early on and uses that knowledge to get several cute reactions from her.
- Has a Type: It seems that Eiji has a thing for short girls with curly hair. Kurumi also thought of it after seeing Sachi and noticing their physical similarities.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Kurumi thinks of herself as a disgusting person, due to her previous bullying of Sawako and her friends as well as her stalkerish behavior to Kazehaya.
- Insecure Love Interest: Due to her Heroic Self-Deprecation, Kurumi is fairly confused on why a Nice Guy like Eiji is interested in a disgusting person like her.
- Lap Pillow: After their first sleepover, Kurumi Fell Asleep Crying onto Eiji's lap.
- Last-Name Basis: Eiji still gets called "Akahoshi" by his friends.
- Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Sawako notices that Kurumi's been acting weird since her first date with Eiji and went to peep when they're together. Eiji notices her and tries to get her to leave by winking at her twice (which didn't work) and by sending her a message (which did work).
- Long-Distance Relationship: Sawako and Kazehaya, continuing from the end of Kimi ni Todoke. Becomes a plot point when Sawako goes back home for Golden Week to spend time with Kazehaya, leaving Kurumi alone with Eiji.
- Love Chart: During the reunion party, Sawako made a love chart about Akemi's relationships since Tomoyo/Tonchan's introduction about her got too complicated for both her and Kurumi to follow.
- Love Confession:
- Eiji confessed after Kurumi questioned him about his intentions.
- Later on, Kurumi confessed with The Big Damn Kiss.
- Love Confessor: After walking out of the reunion party, Kurumi confesses to Sawako that she likes Eiji.
- Luminescent Blush: Kurumi usually becomes a blushing mess when Eiji flirts with her.
- The Missus and the Ex: A month after Eiji and Kurumi got together, Kurumi and Sachi met at a public bath house by coincidence. They left the bath house together on friendly terms to the confusion of Eiji who saw them.
- More Experienced Chases the Innocent: Eiji used to pickup girls and had several girlfriends even before falling in love and dating Sachi meanwhile Kurumi never had a boyfriend and had not even gone on a single date. Eiji uses his experience to be more proactive in the relationship such as asking Kurumi out, setting up their dates, guiding her on dating in general and getting cute reactions out of her. Meanwhile, Kurumi is receptive and appreciates what Eiji is doing but simply has no idea on how to respond to his advances and falls back to how she usually treats her friends (that is, being abrasive and cranky). Lampshaded by Kurumi as she thinks that she's at a total disadvantage when dealing with him.
- Nice Guy: Kurumi sees Eiji as one, comparing him to a saint and Sawako. Eiji admits that he's not actually that nice, and that he's willing to use dirty tricks to get the girl.
- Not a Date:
- Eiji and Kurumi's first date has Kurumi insisting that it's not a date.
- The first day of Golden Week has them casually hang out with each other, ending with them on a bench, drinking ramune and enjoying the cherry blossoms. Kurumi asks if this is a date and Eiji replies that he's happy if she thinks it's a date.
- Official Couple: The series follows the romance between Kurumi and Eiji, and how they ultimately moved on from their First Loves and found happiness with each other.
- Sawako and Kazehaya, and Sachi and Yuki (the Official Couples from Kimi ni Todoke and Crazy For You, respectively) are featured in the story as supporting characters.
- One Dialogue, Two Conversations: Sawako and Eiji's conversation after Golden Week in Chapter 7. Sawako is talking about the stalker incident while Eiji is actually thinking about the kiss he stole from Kurumi while half-asleep.
- One Head Taller: Kurumi doesn't even reach Eiji's shoulders.
- Pair the Spares: Taken to an extreme as the author pairs Ume "Kurumi" Kurumizawa, the Romantic Runnerup of Kimi ni Todoke, and Eiji Akahoshi, the Romantic Runnerup of Crazy For You.
- Please, Don't Leave Me:
- After a close call with the stalker, Kurumi tells Eiji that she's scared and would want him to stay.
- On the morning of their sleepover, a half-asleep Kurumi tells Eiji not to go home.
- Rescue Romance: Eiji saves Kurumi three times, and each time she changes her opinion of him.
- Eiji rescues Sawako and Kurumi from a creepy guy when they attend a mixer.
- When the same guy is seen around the neighborhood looking for Sawako, Kurumi tries to make him leave unsuccessfully. Eiji comes a bit later and forcefully makes him leave.
- At a later date, the same guy shifts his attention to Kurumi and forcefully tries to touch her. Eiji arrives just in time (she sent him a message about the guy) while calling the police.
- Relationship Upgrade: Kurumi and Eiji become official after Kurumi confesses to Eiji in Chapter 10.
- Second Love: Kurumi and Eiji are Second Loves to each other, having moved on from Kazehaya and Sachi, respectively.
- Shipper on Deck: Sawako secretly hopes that Kurumi and Eiji start dating after finding out that her cousin is single and that she's quickly becoming the Third Wheel to their conversations.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Kurumi falls more in love with Eiji the more he shows his good qualities. Unfortunately, Kurumi also believes that nice guys like Eiji should date nice girls, and not someone disgusting as her. This forms a major roadblock in them getting together since Kurumi doesn't think she deserves a Nice Guy like Eiji.
- Soulless Bedroom: Kurumi's bedroom is rather minimalist and the only sentimental stuff that she brought with her are her middle school year book and Sawako's graduation brooch. Justified because Kurumi likes having minimal stuff in general, and that she goes to Sawako's most of the time anyway. At the end of the series, she buys more things including plants and since Eiji likes to stop by, a kettle and coffee.
- Stalker with a Crush: Tsubasa Shirai, the weird guy from the mixer. Eiji regularly keeps him in contact to make sure he doesn't bother the girls.
- Talking in Your Sleep: Kurumi is rather honest when half-asleep. It lets Eiji know that she's dreaming of him.
- Title Drop: In Chapter 1, Kurumi wonders if Sawako is her soulmate.
- Tsundere: Kurumi, of the Harsh type. Kurumi is cold and/or cranky with everyone including her best friend Sawako. When she's being honest, she can be very sweet as Eiji and Sawako can attest to. Lampshaded by Sawako's short story in Chapter 5 where Kurumi is compared to a very hard walnut with an adorable plum seed inside.note
- You Must Be Cold: In their first sleepover, Kurumi lends Eiji her sweatshirt to keep him warm.
