Hikage No Musume
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

is a
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 culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
shōjo manga series by Ema Tōyama. The series was serialized in the shōjo
manga magazine 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 used ...
, ''
Nakayoshi is a monthly ''shōjo'' manga magazine published by Kodansha in Japan. First issued in December 1954, it is a long-running magazine with over 60 years of manga publication history. Notable titles serialized in Nakayoshi include '' Princess Kni ...
''. The series ended with 5 volumes released by Kodansha under the imprint, ''Kodansha Comics''. It was announced in the
New York Anime Festival The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a f ...
2009 that the series will be licensed in English by
Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing relation ...
and the release for the first volume will be November 23, 2010. They titled it "I Am Here!".


Story

The series centers on a girl named Hikage who describes herself as "plain". She is a very shy and insecure child. Because of her unassertive attitude and unappreciated beauty, she finds herself constantly ignored by her classmates and has a difficult time making friends at school. In the first chapter of the manga, Hikage begins middle school, vowing to overcome her loneliness and find companionship. Then Hinata starts to notice her in the first volume. She is supported in her ambitions by two online friends, Black Rabbit and Mega Pig, who read her blog about the sunflower shes been nurturing. A romantic and sad plot soon develops involving Hikage and the two most popular boys in her class, Hinata and Teru, who have more to them than meets the eye. A few bumps occur along the way as Hikage grows closer to Hinata, such as bullying and gossip. When she later sticks up for herself she gains recognition and friendliness from the class, but most importantly she obtains confidence in herself.


Characters

; : Hikage has brown hair and blue eyes, and is a shy, plain 8th grader. The only friends she has at the beginning of the series are the people who visit her blog. They are "MegaPIG" and "Black Rabbit". Ever since she was little she has never been noticed (she appears to be practically invisible in her class) as we see in a game of hide and seek. She doesn't seem to know that Teru is Black Rabbit in her blog until later on when he tells her. What will happen afterwards....? ; : A popular boy who likes Hikage. He is considered to be more serious than Teru, and ranks high in exams. He is also on the Kendo team. Hinata states he has always been watching Hikage since the very start of the year and tells her about how he felt when he first saw her. He felt jealous when Hikage started talking about her friends in the blog, Black Rabbit and MegaPIG. In chapter 14, it's revealed when Hinata was a child he used to be a lonely person. He told Teru was like a Black rabbit because Teru is popular but doesn't actually have any friends (when they were young.) He then admits that he's afraid of becoming Teru's love rival but he tells Teru that he will never give up Sumino. ; : Another of Hinata's friends, who is also popular. Known for his jokes and charming personality. Teru speaks bluntly and seems to care for Hikage. He always cares about Hikage's change and supports her in her blog. He found Sumino's blog accidentally and has been supporting her since. After when Hikage and Hinata got together, Teru said goodbye to Hikage in her blog because he felt that Sumino no longer needs him since she already has Hinata by her side. Later on, Teru tells Hikage that he is Black Rabbit. When he was a child he never had a true friend until Hinata who compared him to a lonely black rabbit. His parents had fought very much and believed it was his fault the marriage didn't work out. He is currently the love rival of Hinata. He was rejected by Sumino when she realized her own feelings for the two of them, but he does not intend to give up on Sumino and occasionally threatens Hinata as his rival. ; : A guy who is under the alias as ''MegaPIG'' in Hikage's blog. He speaks in a Kansai accent. Even though he says if he was 200 kg, in truth he isn't. He just afraid of telling Hikage about his real appearance. He appears cool but rude to girls because he doesn't often smile. Although he is aggressive on the internet he is really a shy person. Appears in a one-shot following the conclusion of the manga. ; : The first girl in Hikage's class to greet her. In school she was the first to warm up to Hikage. Even though her test scores are bad, she worked hard to see the fireworks with Hikage. "Suminon" is the name she calls Hikage by, as adding an ''n'' to the end of someone's name in Japanese culture is a form of friendly affection. ; :Aya is a part of Hinata's most popular fan group. She begins to bully Sumino after discovering Sumino and Hinata's relationship starts to bloom. She becomes jealous and decides to turn the whole class against. Sumino, for the first time in her life, stood up and defended herself. Soon, the class realizes Aya is being a bully and shuns her. As a result, Aya is now alone and is out to get revenge on Sumino's relationships with Teru and Hinata.


Reception

Volume 2 of the manga, ''I Am Here'', ranked number 10 on ''
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 d ...
'' manga best sellers list for the week of July 24–30, 2011.


References


External links


Koko ni Iru yo! @ Kodansha Comics

I Am Here!
at Anime News Network {{Nakayoshi 2007 manga Ema Tōyama Kodansha manga Shōjo manga