, released as ''We Hope For Blooming'' in Southeast Asia, is a Japanese '' shōjo''

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 Anashin. It was serialized in the monthly manga magazine ''

Dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and ...

'' from April 2014 to September 2019, with the chapters collected in 14 ''

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. During the series' run, a drama CD was released on June 24, 2017. A live-action film adaptation was released on December 14, 2018.

Plot

Mitsuki is a shy first-year student at Seiryo High School struggling to make friends. To her dread, one day, four popular boys from the basketball team, heralded as the school's "four heavenly kings", drop by the café she works at. Initially reluctant, Mitsuki soon develops an unlikely friendship with them, particularly with Towa, even though Seiryo High School's basketball team is banned from dating. Just when Mitsuki finds herself growing fond of Towa, her childhood friend, Aya, returns.

Characters

; : (drama CD); portrayed by Tao Tsuchiya (film) :Mitsuki is a first-year student in class 4 at Seiryo High School. Though shy, she is determined to make new friends. ; : (drama CD); portrayed by Takumi Kitamura (film) :Towa is Mitsuki's classmate and a member of Seiryo High School's basketball team. He is indifferent to the attention he receives from girls, but he finds Mitsuki easy to get along with. Over time, he gradually falls in love with Mitsuki. ; : (drama CD); portrayed by

Yu Inaba is a Japanese actor, best known for his role as Go Shijima/Kamen Rider Mach in the Kamen Rider Series, Kamen Rider series ''Kamen Rider Drive''. Biography Inaba was born in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture. In November 2009, when he was a 16-yea ...

(film) :Rui is a first-year student in class 7 and a member of Seiryo High School's basketball team. He is mischievous and loves to pull pranks on Mitsuki. He sees Towa as a rival. ; : (drama CD); portrayed by

Hayato Isomura is a Japanese actor who is represented by the talent agency Blue Label. Filmography TV series Films Awards References External links Official profile * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isomura, Hayato 21st-century Japanese male actors 1992 births L ...

(film) :Kyosuke is a second-year student in class 4 and a member of Seiryo High School's basketball team. He gets along with girls very well and earns top scores in his grade. ; : (drama CD); portrayed by Yosuke Sugino (film) :Ryuji is a second-year student in class 4 and a member of Seiryo High School's basketball team. He is in love with Nanase, but he has trouble telling her his feelings. ; : (drama CD); portrayed by Yuta Koseki (film) :Aya is a second-year student and the star player of Hōjō High School's basketball team. He is also Mitsuki's childhood friend in elementary school who moved away upon entering middle school. Mitsuki finds him a source of inspiration and had assumed him to be a girl because of his long hair until they reunite when they are older. Aya has been in love with Mitsuki for years and views Towa as competition. ; : (drama CD); portrayed by Yuki Saso (film) :Reina is Mitsuki's classmate and friend. She supports the basketball team's no-dating rule because she is a

fujoshi The ''yaoi'' fandom consists of the readers of (also called Boys' Love or abbreviated to BL), a genre of male x male romance narratives aimed at those who participate in communal activities organized around yaoi, such as attending conventions, m ...

and enjoys watching the boys interact with each other. She often takes pictures of the boys, especially during games. ; : (drama CD) :Maki is a first year in class 1 who is also on the girls' basketball team. She and Mitsuki become fast friends, but she secretly has feelings for Towa. ; : (drama CD); portrayed by

Rika Izumi is a Japanese model, actress and singer. She formerly used the stage name when she was with Snow Rabbits Productions. After Izumi returned to the modeling world in 2008, she used both 泉里果 and 泉里香 as stage names; both are pronounced ...

(film) :Nanase is the owner's daughter of the café Mitsuki works at and is nicknamed as "Nana" for short. Ryuji is in love with her. ; :Rino is the manager of Hōjō High School's basketball team and is in love with Aya.

Media

Manga

''Waiting for Spring'' is written and illustrated by Anashin. It was serialized in the monthly ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''

'' from April 24, 2014 to September 24, 2019. The chapters were collected in bound volumes by

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 ...

for a total of 14 volumes, released between July 11, 2014 and May 13, 2020. During the series' run, drama CDs were released in limited edition bundles of volumes 7 and 9.

M&C! m&c! Publishing or better known as m&c! (stands for Magazine & Comics; id, Majalah & Komik) is a publishing company in Indonesia. The company has its roots on Komik Majalah in the 1980s, which often published various comics from foreign publisher ...

announced that ''Waiting for Spring'' had been licensed in English for

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

n distribution on September 24, 2016 under the manga's original English subtitle ''We Hope For Blooming''. Kodansha USA announced that ''Waiting for Spring'' had been licensed in English for North American distribution on October 6, 2016, with the first volume releasing in summer 2017.

Film

A live-action film adaptation was announced in March 2018 and released in theaters on December 14, 2018. The film is directed by Yuichiro Hirakawa and written by Satoko Okazaki, produced and distributed by Office Crescendo and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

, The film stars Tao Tsuchiya as Mitsuki, Yuta Koseki as Aya, Takumi Kitamura as Towa,

as Rui,

as Kyōsuke, and Yosuke Sugino as Ryuji. Additional cast members include

as Nanase, Yuki Saso as Reina, and Tamaki Ogawa as Yuko (Aya's mother).

Reception

Rebecca Silverman from ''

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 ...

'' praised Mitsuki's character and the overall story composition. Volume 2 debuted at #49 on

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

and sold 15,428 copies in its first week. Volume 3 debuted at #24 on

with 44,674 copies sold in its first week and fell to #46 with 21,443 copies sold in its second week, totaling 66,117 copies sold overall. Volume 4 debuted at #5 on

with 47,250 copies sold in its first week and 119,395 copies sold overall. Volume 5 debuted at #9 on

with 80,699 copies sold in its first week and 135,329 copies sold overall. Volume 6 debuted at #9 on

with 95,329 copies sold in its first week and 203,581 copies sold, making it the 98th best-selling manga in Japan for the first half of 2017. Volume 7 debuted at #8 on

with 52,563 copies sold in its first week and 140,115 copies sold overall. Volume 8 debuted at #6 on

with 60,037 copies sold in its first week and 140,396 copies sold overall. Volume 9 debuted at #4 on

with 52,563 copies sold in its first week and 139,640 copies sold overall. Volume 10 debuted at #11 on

with 68,150 copies sold in its first week and 144,725 copies sold overall. ''Waiting for Spring'' was nominated for the 41st Annual

Kodansha Manga Awards is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...

under the Best Shojo Manga category. The first two volumes were included in the 2018 list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens produced by

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

References

External links

Official website

Official website
* {{Kodansha's Dessert Basketball in anime and manga Kodansha manga Live-action films based on manga Romance anime and manga Shōjo manga Japanese romance films