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 written and illustrated by

Takako Shigematsu is a Japanese manga artist best known for her manga series Her first manga, published in 1995, told the tale of an all-boys dorm. However, it wasn't until her 2002 release of ("3 Meters from the Sun") that she truly stepped into the spotlight ...

. It was serialized in ''

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

'' magazine from February 2003 to May 2006 and published in eight volumes by

Akita Shoten is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita on 10 August 1948. As of 2020, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. Magazines Male-oriented manga magazines ''Shōnen'' magazines * – Bimo ...

. In North America, the manga was published by

Go! Comi Go! Comi was the publishing imprint of the American multimedia company, Go! Media Entertainment, LLC, established to "specializ(e) in publishing Japanese comics for the American market, and in creating new manga and manga-oriented properties for b ...

from October 2005 to September 2007; it went

out-of-print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

when the company shut down in 2010.

Characters

;Hikaru Takabayashi :Her parents are being transferred to France and she does not want to go. Her mother agrees to let her stay if she goes to an all-girls boarding high school, her mother's alma mater. Hikaru went wanting a quiet life, having been bullied at her other schools. She is a kind, loyal girl, extremely strong as at one point she carries Izumi Kido away from a mob of fans. She falls in love with her music teacher, Tsukasa Ayase, and at first he rejects her, but then they start going out. Ayase then breaks up with her, and later Hikaru falls in love with Izumi and they get together. Hikaru used to be bullied by her classmates since they believed she was acting stuck up and snobby while she modeled, and although she loved modeling, she eventually quit to avoid the bullying. ;Izumi Kido :Apparently a very beautiful girl working as a model/actress, she is actually a boy in secret. When he realizes his secret has been discovered by Hikaru, he very aggressively

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

s her into keeping that secret. They eventually come to a friendlier arrangement. He desperately needs a large sum of money to pay his father's medical bills and is dismayed that he fell into this sort of career that barely enables him to make that kind of money. When blackmail is no longer satisfactory, he makes Hikaru his sub-manager and

gofer A gofer, go-fer or gopher is an employee who specializes in the delivery of special items to their superior(s). Examples of these special items include a cup of coffee, a tool, a tailored suit, or a car. Outside of the business world, the term ...

. He falls in love with Hikaru, and is very irritated at first when Hikaru's with Ayase. To his joy, Ayase and Hikaru break up. After confessing his love for her later in the series, he and Hikaru start dating. Izumi disappears after his secret is revealed. A year later, Hikaru spots him attending her graduation ceremony; he had changed his name and studied architecture. The series concludes with the two kissing in the forest as her classmates come running up. ;Yasukuni Inukai :He is Izumi's manager and works at the school as a

janitor A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...

to protect his secret. He is Izumi's best friend, and, depending on the circumstances, eventually a good friend to Hikaru too. Because the dorms are pet-free, he keeps Hikaru's little dog. ;Yuichi Akizuki :He is Izumi's agent. He is quite intent on finding Hikaru bits as an extra, etc., in Izumi's work, despite Hikaru's strong desire to hide in the background. ;Tsukasa Ayase :Music teacher at the high school and grandson of the head-mistress. A relationship develops with Hikaru and she falls in love with him. He has similar feelings for her, until events in volumes 5 and 6 tear him away from the school. ;Hayata Kurobe :A

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

(comedy duo) team member. He and Izumi are frequently cast in the same productions. He accidentally saw Izumi coming on to Hikaru, mistakenly thinking that Izumi was a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

. Nevertheless, he fell in love with Izumi. Hikaru and Yasukuni have to work hard to exclude Kurobe from Izumi's private life. ;Kaoru Habashi :He is Kurobe's friend and the other half of the duo. At first, he was mocked by Hikaru when she said he couldn't live without Kurobe. Later, he fell for her. Just as Kurobe is abusive in trying to make out with Izumi, he is abusive in trying to make out with Hikaru. He and Kurobe finally discovered Izumi's secret.

Reception

received mixed reviews. In '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', author Jason Thompson described the series as "trashy but enjoyable"; he criticized its "stiff" artwork and "unrealistic" plot twists and characters, but admitted that "the romance is entertaining in an over-the-top way". In contrast, Zac Bertschy of

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

found the artwork to be "surprisingly beautiful", with "clean, very elegant linework", and described the plot as "easy to follow and hard to dislike". However, he acknowledged that the series sometimes "dips into cliché"; he also criticized the romance subplot between Izumi and Yasukuni as "standard fangirl pandering" and complained that, in general, the characters "lack ... strong personalities". Nevertheless, Bertschy felt that is a "sweet, light-hearted little comedy that deserves a look from fans of the genre."

References

External links

* at

(defunct; link via the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

) * {{ann, manga, 5802 2003 manga Akita Shoten manga Comedy anime and manga Go! Comi titles Romance anime and manga Shōjo manga