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is a Japanese four-panel
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 ...
series written and illustrated by Izumi Tsubaki. The chapters are serialized online in ''
Gangan Online is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company merged with Square to form Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in t ...
'' and have been published in ''
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 by
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
. An anime adaptation produced by
Doga Kobo is a Japanese animation studio formed by former Toei Animation members Hideo Furusawa and Megumu Ishiguro, located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. The studio was established on July 11, 1973, and is a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation. Although the st ...
aired from July to September 2014.


Plot

High school student Chiyo Sakura has a crush on schoolmate Umetarou Nozaki. When she confesses her love to him, he mistakes her for a fan and gives her an autograph. When she says she wants to be with him, he invites her to his house and has her help on some drawings. Sakura discovers that Nozaki is actually a renowned '' shōjo''
manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...
working under the pen name Sakiko Yumeno. She agrees to be his assistant in order to get closer to him. As they work on his manga , they encounter other schoolmates, who assist them and serve as inspirations for the story.


Characters


Main characters

; : : A cheerful high school girl with a crush on Nozaki. When she confesses to him by saying she's a fan, she gets Nozaki's autograph and, through further misunderstandings, becomes his
inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. After the penciller creates a drawing with pencil, the inker interprets this drawing by outlining and embellishing ...
assistant instead. She is a member of the school's art club, and is skilled at drawing still life and using watercolors. She is petite and notably wears two large hair ribbons with a polka dot pattern. Sakura first met Nozaki at their school entrance ceremony. Her hairstyle and ribbons back then were used subconsciously by Nozaki when designing his manga's heroine Mamiko. Due to her intense enthusiasm about Nozaki, almost all of her peers are aware of her crush. She is in class 2-A and shares a class with Seo. She has a younger brother named Towa. ; : : A tall, stoic high school student and the object of Sakura's affection. Using the
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
, he is secretly the creator of the
shōjo manga is an editorial category of Manga, Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent girls and young adult women. It is, along with Shōnen manga, manga (targeting adolescent boys), Seinen manga, manga (targeting young adult and adult men ...
''Let's Fall in Love'' published in the magazine . Despite making a romance manga, he has no personal experience in love and seems unromantic in real life. He appreciates Sakura's friendship and drawing ability but is oblivious to her feelings. He lives on his own, having convinced his father that he can cover expenses with his manga royalties. In middle school, he was captain of the school basketball team but stopped playing to focus on making manga. He is in class 2-B. He has two younger siblings, Mayu and Yumeko. ; : : Mikoshiba, nicknamed , is one of Nozaki's assistants. Despite being popular and flirtatious with girls, he is shy and becomes embarrassed shortly after making bold statements. Sakura learns that he is the inspiration for Nozaki's heroine character Mamiko, unbeknownst to Mikoshiba. He assists Nozaki in filling backgrounds with flowers and other embellishments to bring out the charms. He is in class 2-G and shares a class with Kashima. His hobbies include collecting ''
bishōjo In Japanese popular culture, a , also romanized as ''bishojo'' or ''bishoujo'', is a cute girl character. characters appear ubiquitously in media including manga, anime, and computerized games (especially in the ''bishojo'' game genre), and al ...
'' figurines and playing dating simulation games, though he tries to hide his
otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...
interests from others. Mikoshiba admires a blog which features suggestive art by Nozaki's brother Mayu, under the assumption that it is run by a girl. ; : : Sakura's athletic friend and classmate. Often unintentionally, Seo offends her peers with her brash personality. Nozaki classifies her as : she cannot read the mood of a situation. She also has zero sportsmanship; the boys' basketball team has her practice with them so they can learn how to deal with difficult players. Despite her rude and tomboyish demeanor, she has an angelic singing voice and is nicknamed the . She enjoys pestering Wakamatsu, whom she calls "Waka", due to her developing a crush on him. Inspired by their relationship, Nozaki makes a male character based on her named Oze. Her older brother is Ryōsuke. ; : : Mikoshiba's best friend and classmate. She is extroverted, tall, and androgynous. In their first year, Mikoshiba and Kashima considered each other rivals but Kashima beat Mikoshiba in all aspects, eventually leading to their friendship. Nearly every single girl in the school is infatuated with Kashima due to "his" princely demeanor and complete confidence compared to Mikoshiba. Although she enjoys reveling in the attention she gets from girls, Kashima is instead openly in love with Hori and wants him to consider her his favourite "cute '' kōhai''". She is the star member of the school drama club and acts in every lead male role, usually that of a prince. However, she often skips club activities and creates bizarre ideas or comments regarding Hori, making her the target of his anger. Furthermore, Kashima is
tone deaf Amusia is a music-specific disorders, musical disorder that appears mainly as a defect in processing pitch (music), pitch but also encompasses Musical Memory, musical memory and recognition. Two main classifications of amusia exist: acquired am ...
and thus is never cast in musicals, so she has Seo be her singing coach. She has a younger sister named Rei. ; : : President of the school drama club and Nozaki's assistant for background work, in exchange for Nozaki writing scripts for the drama club. Despite having incredible acting talent, Hori is self-conscious of his short height and prefers to work on directing plays and building sets instead. He has a short temper, triggered mostly by Kashima, and reacts violently towards her whenever she does anything inappropriate. Despite this, he still dotes on Kashima like a parent for her handsome appearance and acting ability. He is in class 3-C. ; : : Nozaki's junior from the basketball team in middle school. He joins Nozaki's staff to do screentones. He can be too forgiving and naive, making him the main target of Seo's harassment. Due to stress caused by Seo during and outside of basketball practice, he suffers from insomnia. Ironically, Wakamatsu immediately falls asleep whenever he hears Lorelai sing. He develops an infatuation with Lorelai, unaware of her true identity as Seo. Inspired by their relationship, Nozaki makes a female character based on him named Waka. He is in class 1-D.


Supporting characters

; : :Nozaki's current editor. Although Ken appears as a grumpy overweight man, Nozaki admires him because he is competent in comparison to his previous editor. Ken is 28 years old (27 in the anime), and although he is the same age as Maeno, he had to retake college entrance exams and ended up being two years behind Maeno. It is revealed that his body became overweight due to stress caused by Maeno. ; : :Nozaki's former editor, Maeno is currently in charge of Miyako Yukari. He is a narcissist who is fond of cute characters such as tanukis. He and Miyamae have known each other since high school. He regularly posts on the ''Monthly Girls' Romance'' editor's blog. He is careless in his actions; for example, he casually loses Yukari's manuscript and spills curry on another one. ; : :Nozaki's upstairs neighbour. Miyako is a college student who is also a shōjo manga artist going by her real name. Her manga works feature a tanuki, mainly because her editor Maeno suggests it, and she has trouble standing up for herself. She keeps her identity as a manga artist a secret from her schoolmates, who are regularly concerned about her unknown job and relationships. ; :Nozaki's overly lazy younger brother. Because he was bullied when he was young, he rarely talks. He sometimes writes abbreviated phrases on what he wants to say, but will talk if it is quicker. The rare time when he puts in effort is when he captains his school's
judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...
club. In order to teach his club members floor grappling techniques, he learned to draw cute girls in various positions and holds referencing Mikoshiba's otaku collection under the penname MayuMayu. He is unknowingly in email communication with Mikoshiba. In an earlier draft, Mayu was drawn as a girl but the idea was scrapped due to reasons like her incompatibility with other male characters. ; :Seo's older brother is a college student who has a crush on Miyako, his classmate. Ryosuke works part-time in a cafe. His efforts to be closer to Miyako usually fail, and he once ends up mistaking Nozaki as her boyfriend. He knows that his younger sister is attracted to Wakamatsu, and assumes the love is mutual when Wakamatsu states he is in love with Lorelei. ; : The younger sister to the Nozaki brothers. She is bad at drawing, and is the only one in her family who refuses to believe her oldest brother is a manga artist. She loves the character Suzuki and her ideal guy is a transfer student. Yumeko was originally drafted as the main character of the series, with her brother Umetarō as a support character. This idea was scrapped and her and Umetarō's roles were reversed. ; :Sakura's younger brother, Towa is a second year in junior high. He is a member of the tennis club. Sakura often annoys him with biased love talk about Nozaki. As a result, Towa's first impression of Nozaki is that he is a popular model. ; :Kashima's younger sister, a sheltered girl who is a big fan of Yumeno Sakiko's works. Having only ever attended all-girls schools, she is very interested in notions of romance, her imagination easily spinning out of control.


''Let's Fall in Love'' characters

; : :Heroine of Nozaki's manga. Much of the manga surrounds Mamiko and her various attempts to win over Suzuki's affections. Her personality is modeled after Mikoshiba, while her appearance is based on Nozaki's first meeting with Sakura, when she gave one of her white-coloured ribbons to him and walked away with the other one in her hair. In the anime, Sakura wears a single white-coloured ribbon, styled just like Mamiko's. ; : :Hero of Nozaki's manga. He is Mamiko's love interest. Suzuki's appearance is Nozaki's easiest and favourite face to draw. As a result, Suzuki and his friend and rival initially all looked the same, so Nozaki had Sakura scout for other character designs. ; :A male supporting character of Nozaki's manga, whose personality is modeled after Seo. The character has shown to be quite popular within the readership of Nozaki's manga. ; :A female supporting character of Nozaki's manga, whose personality is modeled after Wakamatsu.


Media


Manga

Izumi Tsubaki began serializing the
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 ...
in
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
's online magazine ''
Gangan Online is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company merged with Square to form Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in t ...
'' on August 25, 2011. As of August 2024, the series has been collected into sixteen ''
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. Apart from the comics, an official fanbook and an
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
manga (containing stories by Satsuki Yoshino ('' Barakamon''), Yasunobu Yamauchi (''
Daily Lives of High School Boys is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by . The manga was serialized in ''Gangan Online'' and was released in seven manga volumes between May 21, 2009, and September 27, 2012. A twelve-episode anime series produced by Sunrise air ...
''), Tachibana Higuchi (''
Gakuen Alice , also known as ''Alice Academy'' or ''Alice School'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tachibana Higuchi, serialized in the shōjo manga magazine ''Hana to Yume'' from issue 19 of 2002 to issue 14 of 2013. It was adapt ...
''), Shigeru Takao, and Dan Ichikawa) have also been published, both on August 22, 2014. North American publisher
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, ...
announced that they had licensed the series at Sakura-Con in April 2015. Individual chapters are called "issues".


Volumes


Drama CD

Frontier Works released a
drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
on June 26, 2013 featuring the casts below which differ from the later produced anime. It reached at 32nd on Oricon's CD Album rankings. * Chiyo Sakura: Asuka Nishi * Umetarō Nozaki:
Hiroki Yasumoto is a Japanese voice actor and narrator. He belongs to Sigma Seven. His representative works are ''Hozuki's Coolheadedness'' (Hozuki), ''Bleach'' (Yasutora Sado), '' Hetalia: Axis Powers'' (Germany), ''Super Soccer'' (narration), and '' Close-up G ...
* Mikoto Mikoshiba: KENN * Yuzuki Seo:
Miyuki Sawashiro is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. She has played voice roles in a number of Japanese anime/games including ''Beelzebub'', Bishamon in '' Noragami'', Petit Charat/Puchiko in '' Di Gi Charat'', Mint in '' Galaxy Angel'', Sinon in ...
* Yū Kashima: Chie Matsuura * Masayuki Hori:
Junji Majima is a Japanese voice actor who is contracted to I'm Enterprise. He was born in Nagoya, Aichi. Filmography Anime ;2002 *'' Midnight Horror School'' – Borocca *'' Princess Tutu'' – Funeral Attendee (ep 4), Townsperson B (ep 6) ;2003 *'' BA ...
* Hirotaka Wakamatsu:
Daisuke Namikawa is a Japanese actor and singer associated with Stay Luck. He began acting as a child and is sometimes mistaken with Daisuke Hirakawa, as their names only differ by one character when written in kanji. Despite his wide range of roles, he usua ...
* Mamiko: Yukari Tamura * Saburō Suzuki:
Daisuke Namikawa is a Japanese actor and singer associated with Stay Luck. He began acting as a child and is sometimes mistaken with Daisuke Hirakawa, as their names only differ by one character when written in kanji. Despite his wide range of roles, he usua ...
* Tomoda:
Takahiro Mizushima is a Japanese voice actor and singer. When voicing adult games, he is known as . After leaving the former office AXL-ONE on March 31, 2022, he changed his stage name to "Daichū Mizushima" while keeping the kanji. Biography Mizushima is a for ...


Anime

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. ...
announced an anime adaptation on March 21, 2014 and the anime's official website posted several videos, revealing key cast and staff members, which differ from the drama CD. The anime is produced by
Doga Kobo is a Japanese animation studio formed by former Toei Animation members Hideo Furusawa and Megumu Ishiguro, located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. The studio was established on July 11, 1973, and is a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation. Although the st ...
and directed by Mitsue Yamazaki, who had worked on '' Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East'' and ''
Durarara!! , shortened to ''DRRR!!'' in some official materials, is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita, with illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda. ''Durarara!!'' tells the story of a dullahan working as an underworld courier i ...
''. Series composition is handled by Yoshiko Nakamura. Junichirō Taniguchi, who did the second season of ''
Genshiken is a Japanese manga series by Shimoku Kio about a college club for ''otaku'' (extremely obsessed fans of various media) and their lifestyle. The title is a shortening of the club's official name, , or "The Society for the Study of M ...
'' and the ''
Puella Magi Madoka Magica , also known simply as ''Madoka Magica'', is a Japanese anime television series created by Magica Quartet, and animated by Shaft. The story follows a group of middle school girls, led by protagonist Madoka Kaname, who make supernat ...
'' film, is in charge of character design. It premiered on July 7, 2014 on
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.TV Osaka JOBH-DTV (channel 7), branded as , is a Japanese television station serving as the affiliate of the TX Network for the Osaka prefecture. Owned-and-operated by , the station's headquarters and studios are in the Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku ward of ...
,
TV Aichi Aichi Television Broadcasting Company, Ltd. (TVA; ), also referred to as , with the callsigns JOCI-DTV (channel 10) is a Japanese television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity ...
, TSC,
TV Hokkaido , callsigns JOHI-DTV (channel 7) is a Japanese television station based in Sapporo serving as the affiliate of the TX Network for Hokkaido. TVh started broadcasting in 1989. Nikkei, Inc. is the biggest shareholder of TVh. History In June 19 ...
, TVQ, AT-X over the rest of the week. The opening theme, titled is composed and performed by
Masayoshi Ōishi is a Japanese musician. His professional music career began in 2001 as vocalist of the band Sound Schedule. Following the band's disbandment in 2006, he began a solo career, releasing his debut single "Honoka Terasu" in 2008. Sound Schedule reun ...
, and the ending theme is performed by
Ari Ozawa is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with I'm Enterprise, which she joined in April 2013. Ozawa decided to become a voice actress after becoming a fan of '' Negima!'' during her seventh grade. She played her first leading role as Chiyo Saku ...
under her character name, Chiyo Sakura. After the announcement, a campaign was launched around the fictional manga magazine Nozaki publishes his series in. First, the author Izumi Tsubaki tweeted on April Fools' that an issue of the magazine had been released. Later in June, an actual manga ''
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 ...
'', made to look like the magazine and containing bonus content and sample chapters, was printed and distributed in limited numbers. In August, a website for the magazine was launched and the special manga reprinted and distributed nationwide in September. After the anime finished airing, the website was removed. On July 25, 2014,
Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC (or simply Sentai) is an American entertainment company. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sentai Studios. The ...
announced it has licensed the series for home video release. Media Factory released it on Blu-ray and DVD formats in Japan starting on September 24, 2014 across six volumes. Mini-OVA specials were bundled with each Blu-ray/DVD volume. The series began streaming on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
on May 1, 2020, including dubs in English, Spanish and Portuguese.


Episodes

All episodes were written by Yoshiko Nakamura.


Reception

The manga's second volume reached 18th place on
Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...
's weekly manga chart, its third volume reached 11th, and its fourth volume debuted at fifth with 117,310 copies. The fifth manga volume debuted at fourth place, selling 185,392 copies. The series placed third on a list of top 15 manga recommended by bookstores in 2013, and ranked 11th in the list of top 20 manga for female readers of the 2014 edition of
Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...
's ''Kono Manga ga Sugoi!'' guidebook, which surveys manga industry professionals. It also ranked 11th at the 8th
Manga Taishō The is a Japanese List of comics awards, comics award recognizing achievement in manga. It is awarded annually to a manga series published in the previous calendar year of eight or fewer Tankōbon, collected volumes in length. The Manga Taish� ...
in 2015. The official fan book reached 14th, and the anthology book reached 17th on Oricon's weekly best-sellers chart. Greg Smith of The Fandom Post found the anime adaptation to be a "both a celebration and a send-up of shoujo manga at the same time". He found it to have a natural flow and enjoyed the emotions and expressions presented by the characters. He gave the series an A, noting it was one of the two consistently funny comedies of the season. He liked that "there was in general a lack of meanness or malice (except towards Maeno, which was quite well deserved)," and that it effectively showcased the absurdity of shojo tropes. Andy Hanley of UK Anime Network gave the series 7 out of 10, highlighting its charming and lovable cast as well as the show's visuals, although he would not call it a comedy classic. Dee Hogan, in an article for ''
The Mary Sue Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, and author. He is currently the host of '' On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz, and ''The Dan Abrams Show: Where Politics Meets The Law'' on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. cha ...
'', found the show to be "simultaneously very funny and sneakily brilliant" and wrote about how the show "manages the rare feat of a triple-reversal, and all three deal with our understanding of gender roles in fiction". The reviewers at
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 ot ...
listed the anime as one of the best of the year for 2014, with Amy McNulty and Theron Martin naming it their top pick. Kelly Quinn of
Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...
also listed it among her top 10 best shows of 2014.


Notes


References


External links

* * at ''
Gangan Online is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company merged with Square to form Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in t ...
'' * {{Doga Kobo, state=expanded 2010s webcomics 2014 anime television series debuts Doga Kobo Gangan Online manga Japanese comedy webcomics Manga creation in anime and manga Parody anime and manga Romance webcomics Romantic comedy anime and manga Anime and manga set in schools Sentai Filmworks Shōjo manga TV Tokyo original programming Webcomics in print Yen Press titles Yonkoma