is a Japanese

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...

series written by Haruki Kuō and illustrated by konomi.

Media Factory , formerly known as , was a Japanese publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing. History The company was founded on December 1, 1986, and was a subsidiary of Recruit (Japanese company), Recruit Co., Ltd., based in Shibuya, Tokyo. ...

has published fifteen volumes from April 2019 to November 2023 under their

MF Bunko J is a publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company Media Factory. It was established in July 2002 and is a light novel label that is aimed at young men with a focus on visual novel-style plots and harem romantic comedies. Ligh ...

imprint. A

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation with art by Funa Yukina has been serialized in Media Factory's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Monthly Comic Alive is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Media Factory. The first issue was released on June 27, 2006. Serialized titles *'' Absolute Duo'' *'' Alice or Alice'' (until 2015, part of the supplement magazine '' Comic Cune'') *'' Ano Ko ni ...

'' since August 2019. An

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

television series adaptation by

Geek Toys was a Japanese animation studio based in Nakano, Tokyo. Establishment The studio was founded in South Kōenji, Tokyo in October 2017 by Tamotsu Kosano, serving a subsidiary of Japanese mass media corporation Geek Pictures, before moving to Na ...

aired from July to September 2023.

Plot

At Academy Island, everything is settled through "Games" waged for a certain number of stars, with the strongest student being granted the ranking of Seven Stars. Hiroto Shinohara, a transfer student, unexpectedly beats the strongest empress, Sarasa Saionji, and becomes the pseudo-strongest in the school, letting to the shocking discovery of the true identity of Sarasa. As the mind game of lies and bluffs begins, also lies a darker past that has been awaiting both Hiroto and the fake Sarasa.

Characters

; : :The protagonist, he gained a seven-star ranking after cheating and defeating Sarasa. ; : :She works as Hiroto's maid and is childhood friends with Sarasa. She is not used to being around with men. ; / : : She was previously known as the most powerful student in Academy Island and a seven-star, but after she lost a duel to Hiroto, she loses a star. She is currently living as Sarasa as the real Sarasa was kidnapped and is missing. She seems to have known Hiroto when they were children. ; : (Japanese);

Alexis Tipton Alexis Tipton is an American voice actress and ADR director. She has provided voices for English-language versions of anime series, films and video games. Some of her roles include Sun Seto in '' My Bride Is a Mermaid'', Musubi in '' Sekirei'' ...

(English) ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : :The student council president and a six-star. He has a very strong memory. ; : :A third-year student and a six-star. She is childhood friends with Shinji.

Media

Light novel

The series is written by Haruki Kuō and illustrated by konomi.

published the series in fifteen volumes from April 2019 to November 2023 under their

imprint. The light novel is licensed by

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

for English publication.

Manga

adaptation with art by Funa Yukina has been serialized in Media Factory's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' since August 2019. It has been collected in four ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes. During their panel at

Anime NYC Anime NYC is an annual four-day anime convention held during August at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Programming The convention typically offers arcade games, an artist alley, concerts, manga library (Carolina Manga Li ...

in 2024, Yen Press announced that they also licensed the manga adaptation for English publication.

Anime

adaptation was announced on April 1, 2021, which is

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. Mas ...

. It was later revealed to be a television series produced by

and directed by Satoru Ono and Naoki Matsuura, with scripts written by Momoka Toyoda, character designs handled by Yumi Nakamura, and music composed by Kuniyuki Takahashi and Keiichi Hirokawa from Monaca. The series aired from July 8 to September 23, 2023, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...

and other networks. The opening theme song is "Lies Goes On" by

May'n , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer from Nagoya. Aspiring to become a singer since childhood, she began her music activities in 2003 upon passing an audition held by talent agency Horipro International. She made her major de ...

, while the ending theme song is "Fakey Merry Game" by Smile Princess.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

streamed the series.

Medialink Medialink Group Limited is a content distributor and licensor based in Kowloon, Hong Kong specializing in the distribution of Japanese anime and brand licensing. Its offices are located at Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Registered from Hong Ko ...

licensed the series in Taiwan, South and Southeast Asia; will stream it on Ani-One Asia's Youtube channel via their ULTRA subscription service.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Geek Toys 2019 Japanese novels 2023 anime television series debuts Anime and manga based on light novels Crunchyroll anime Geek Toys Kadokawa Corporation franchises Light novels Media Factory manga MF Bunko J Romantic comedy anime and manga Seinen manga Tokyo MX original programming Yen Press titles