Hana-Kimi
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The manga is serialized in Japan in Hakusensha's Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams), which comes out bi-weekly (5th and 20th of every month). This manga series has ended at volume 23 in August 2004. An artbook was released in May 2005 in addition to a character book.
Hana-Kimi is published in English under the name Hana-Kimi by VIZ Media. The English title originated from a fan abbreviation of the original Japanese title.
Hana-Kimi centers on Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who lives in the United States. One day, she sees a track and field competition on TV, and becomes attracted by one of the competitors, Izumi Sano, competing in the high jump. She begins to idolize the young athlete and eventually transfers to Japan to attend the same school that Sano attends. There is a catch, however-- Sano attends an all-boys high school named Osaka Gakuen, and Mizuki must disguise herself as a boy to enter.
By a stroke of pure luck, Ashiya is assigned to be Sano's roommate. Although she previously believed that she might have time off in forging her masculinity, Mizuki must now keep her false persona about her all day, every day. It also happens fairly early in her time at Osaka high school that she is knocked unconscious and she is forced to include the school's doctor, Hokuto Umeda, in on the secret. Unbeknownst to either of them, the same incident that makes Mizuki tell Umeda also reveals her secret to Sano. Sano's reasons for keeping quiet are very similar to Mizuki's reasons.
The story is usually filled with humor and situations that put all characters involved into uncomfortable places, or at least places they wouldn't have thought they would have entered on their own. Additional characters include Shuichi Nakatsu, a fellow student who is confused over his attraction to Mizuki which often drives the plot forward and Minami Nanba, the dorm R.A. of which Sano, Mizuki, and Nakatsu belong to.
What makes this a great manga is the way genders are pushed to within breaking point, and then sometimes beyond what you might consider to be a breaking point. Often times the end result becomes hilarious. There is a good deal of drama and romance, but it is not overdone which allow the manga to appeal to not just the normal shougo readers but others as well.
Important characters
- Mizuki Ashiya (芦屋瑞希 Ashiya Mizuki) - Main character of this manga. She pretends to be a boy in order to attend the school that Sano attends. Mizuki falls in love with Sano but cannot tell him.
- Izumi Sano (佐野泉 Sano Izumi) - The guy that Mizuki Ashiya likes. He is an excellent high jumper. He finds out that Mizuki is a girl, but does not tell anyone else and actually becomes very protective of her secret. Sano falls in love with Mizuki, but cannot tell her.
- Shuichi Nakatsu (中津秀一 Nakatsu Shūichi) - He likes Mizuki, but doesn't know that she is really a girl, and some of his classmate believe that he is gay due to that fact. Nakatsu also seems to have come to terms with that fact. As Umeda says,"...he's only attracted to her feminine side," meaning that Nakatsu is responding as any teenage male would to being around a female, although it would appear he is a bit more excitable than his classmates as none of them seem to be affected by Mizuki-- or they simply hide it better. He entered the school with a football (soccer) scholarship, and is very good at it. Originally from Osaka(the city, which is different from the school and spelled with different kanji), he has a thick Kansai accent and uses the Kansai dialect a lot. He has bleached blonde hair.
- Hokuto Umeda (梅田北斗 Umeda Hokuto) - The doctor at the school's nurse office. He knows that Mizuki is a girl, and gives her advice. Umeda is gay. He is the uncle of Minami Nanba.
- Shin Sano (佐野森 Sano Shin) - Sano's younger brother. Also a high jumper. He hates Sano for leaving their family.
- Minami Nanba (難波南 Nanba Minami)- The R.A. of Sano and Mizuki's dorm. He's a nephew of Umeda-sensei, and is a year older that Mizuki. He's a "ladies man" although very sensible.
- Senri Nakao (中央千里 Nakaō Senri)- A somewhat effeminate boy who seriously likes Nanba. He was upset for losing the beauty pagent because he helped Mizuki when she was kidnapped.
External links
- [Wild Vanilla] Hisaya Nakajo's Official Website
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