is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series by

Mayu Shinjo is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1994 in Shogakukan's ''Shōjo Comic'' with "Anata no Iro ni Somaritai". She continued writing for Shogakukan until 2007, with her works appearing in both ''Shōjo Comic'' and their other magazine '' Ch ...

. It was adapted into a

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

film in 2012.

Plot

''Ai o Utau Yori Ore Ni Oborero!''

Akira Shiraishi, a young high school boy with feminine features, joins Blaue Rosen, the all-female band for which Mizuki Sakurazaka, an androgynous girl of the same age, performs lead electric guitar. Their high school life is anything but typical: Mizuki is the "prince" of her all-girl school while Akira is the "princess" of the neighboring all-boy school. A series of comical events brings them closer together, even as the prejudice of the people around them tries to pull them apart.

''Ai-Ore! Danshikō no Hime to Joshikō no Ōji''

After announcing that he is a boy during a concert for Blaue Rosen in the first book, Akira and Mizuki begin to date. But as their relationship heats up, so does the feud between the two's schools.

Publication

Written and illustrated by

, ''Ai o Utau Yori Ore ni Oborero!'' was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's ''

Shōjo Comic , formerly published under its full name until December 2007, is a ''shōjo'' manga magazine published semimonthly in Japan by Shogakukan since 1968. The manga featured in ''Sho-Comi'' are later compiled and published in book form (''tankōbon' ...

'' magazine. Its chapters were compiled into five ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes published from June 26, 2006 to July 26, 2007. A second series titled was serialized in ''

Monthly Asuka , formerly , is a bimonthly Japanese manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten, aimed at teenage girls. The magazine was established in 1985. It is released on the 24th of every odd-numbered month as of May 2021. Much like its sibling public ...

'' by

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...

and was published into ''tankobon'' format between May 22, 2008 to February 22, 2011. As it published ''Ai Ore!'', Kadokawa Shoten also republished the first series into three volumes from February 23 to April 22, 2010. When translating into English

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

combined the two series, with the first series collected into the three first volumes and the second series compiled in the remaining five books. Its first volume was published on May 3, 2011 while the last one was released on February 5, 2013. Viz also published a digital edition from June 17, 2011 to March 8, 2013. The two series were also published in Australia by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

, France by

Pika Édition Pika Édition is a French publisher headquartered in Vanves, specializing in manga. Founded as a daughter company of Media System Editions, it was taken over by Hachette Livre in 2007. Distribution ''Pika Édition'' publications are distributed ...

and in Germany by

Egmont Manga & Anime Egmont Manga (EMA, formerly ''Egmont Manga & Anime'') is one of the largest publishers of manga in Germany. It was founded in 2000 as a daughter company of Egmont Ehapa, after the manga boom in Germany became apparent around the turn of the mil ...

''Ai Ore!''

Shogakukan version

Kadokawa Shoten and Viz Media version

''Ai Ore! – Love Me''

Anime

Along with the official announcement for the live-action film, Shinjo Mayu revealed that the manga was supposed to have an anime adaptation but was canceled due to unfortunate events.

Live-action

A live-action film adaptation, that would premier in the end of 2011, was first announced by Mayu Shinjo through her blog in July 2011. In January 2012, it was revealed that

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

Karam from the

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

band

DGNA The Boss (대국남아, often referred to as DGNA or, incorrectly, D-NA) was a South Korean boy band with five members, formed under Open World Entertainment in 2010. In South Korea they are known as ''Dae Guk Nam Ah'', literally meaning "The ...

and actress Ito Ōno would star it. The film opened on August 25, 2012 and 2,000 copies of a "special mini-comic" by Shinjo herself were distributed. The film is directed by Sakurako Fukuyama and its main theme is "Ikenai 1-2-3" by DGNA.

Cast

* Karam as Akira Shiraishi * Ito Ōno as Mizuki Sakurazaka * Furukawa Yuta as Nikaidou Ran *

Terada Takuya is a Japanese actor, singer and model. He was a member of the Korean boy group Cross Gene. Takuya is also well known as the former Japanese Representative on Korean variety television Show, JTBC's Non-Summit. Biography Early life In 2008, Takuya ...

as Kiryuuin Rui * Akira as Naruse Kaoru * Yoshiwara Shuto as Okita Ai * Kawamura Haruka as Kidera Momoko *

Shishido Kavka , known as a solo artist by the stage name is a Japanese-Mexican drummer and vocalist. Originally a member of the rock band The News, she debuted as a solo musician in 2012 and released her debut album ''Kavkanize'' in 2013. She prominently plays ...

as Yusa Megumi

Reception

The volumes 1, 2, 4 and 5 from the English publication of the series have been featuring in lists of 10 best-selling manga rankings such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

References

External links

official homepage
* * {{Sho-Comi 2006 manga Kadokawa Shoten manga Live-action films based on manga Madman Entertainment manga Manga adapted into films Mayu Shinjo Romantic comedy anime and manga Shogakukan franchises Shogakukan manga Shōjo manga Viz Media manga Japanese romantic comedy films