is a Japanese four-panel

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 Fumita Yanagida. It was serialized on the Twi4

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account and ''Saizensen'' website from April 2015 to July 2019, and published in eight volumes. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation by

Lay-duce is a Japanese animation studio formed by former Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store ...

is set to premiere in January 2023.

Plot

Tomo Aizawa is a

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...

who has had a crush on her childhood friend Junichiro Kubota for a long time, who sees her not as a woman but "one of the boys". Hilarity ensues when she tried many time in vain to show her love, but ended up physical at times. Also, their mutual friend, Misuzu Gundo, does things her way. Others are also mixed in the mess.

Characters

; : :Tomo is a tomboy who excels in sports. She struggles to confess to her childhood friend Junichirou. ; : :The childhood friend that Tomo had a liking. He was oblivious to her advances, seeing her only as one of the boys. ; : :The third wheel of the trio, Tomo's other friend and Junichirou's ex-girlfriend. She loves messing up with her friends. ; : :The class rep's childhood friend and is of British descent. An airhead, she takes anything in literal sense. ; : :The class rep who had a rocky relationship with Carol. ; : :Another classmate of the trio. He had a crush with Misuzu, but always rebuffed by her. ; :Tomo's father and a karate instructor. He is the reason why Tomo cannot show her feminine side.

Media

Manga

''Tomo-chan Is a Girl!'', written and illustrated by Fumita Yanagida, was serialized on the Twi4

account and on the ''Saizensen'' website from April 7, 2015 to July 14, 2019.

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

published the individual chapters in eight ''

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. In February 2018,

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...

announced they licensed the series for an English release.

Volume list

Anime

television series adaptation was announced at

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

in July 2022. It will be produced by

and directed by

Hitoshi Nanba is a Japanese anime director. Nanba started working in the anime industry in 1982 and directed his first full series in 1989. Since then, some of the series he has directed include ''Heroman'', ''Gosick'', and ''Golden Kamuy''. Biography Hitoshi ...

, with assistant direction from Noriko Hashimoto, scripts written by Megumi Shimizu, character designs handled by Shiori Hiraiwa, and music composed by

Masaru Yokoyama is a Japanese composer and arranger, known for his work on television dramas and anime series. Biography Yokoyama was born in Nagano Prefecture. He started to take piano lessons at the age of three, taught by his aunt who is an alumna of Kunit ...

. The series is set to premiere on January 5, 2023, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

and other networks. The opening theme song is by Maharajan, while the ending theme song is "yurukuru＊love" by

Rie Takahashi is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with 81 Produce. She had a leading role in the anime series ''Seiyu's Life!'', where she became part of the musical unit Earphones. She voiced Futaba Ichinose in ''Seiyu's Life!'', Megumin in ''K ...

Rina Hidaka is a Japanese actress from Chiba Prefecture. Biography She became interested in the entertainment industry during kindergarten when she was watching television, and wrote on a script during Tanabata. Her grandfather, who saw the script, applied ...

, and Sally Amaki. The series will consist of 13 episodes.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

has licensed the series and will be streaming it along with an English dub.

Reception

As part 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 ...

's Fall 2018 manga guide, Rebecca Silverman, Amy McNulty, Faye Hopper, and Teresa Navarro reviewed the first volume for the website. Silverman, McNulty, and Navarro praised the characters and art, while Hopper was more critical of the plot. In 2016, the series won the

Next Manga Award The is an annual award for manga series presented by Kadokawa Corporation's ''Da Vinci'' magazine and Niconico streaming website. It is divided into two categories: one for print manga, and one for web manga. Overview The award was originally ...

in the web manga category.

References

External links

* * * {{Lay-duce 2023 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga Aniplex Crunchyroll anime Japanese webcomics Kodansha manga Lay-duce Romantic comedy anime and manga School life in anime and manga Seinen manga Seven Seas Entertainment titles Slice of life anime and manga Webcomics in print Yonkoma