Kiss Him, Not Me
Kiss Him, Not Me, is a Japanese romantic comedy manga series written and illustrated by Junko. It was serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Friend magazine from April 2013 to February 2018. Fourteen tankōbon have been released. It is published in English by Crunchyroll for online releases and by Kodansha USA in print. The manga won Best Shōjo Manga at the 40th Kodansha Manga Awards.
An audio drama adaptation of the first chapter was released in January 2015. An anime adaptation by Brain's Base aired in Japan between October and December 2016. A live-action film adaptation was released in July 2020.
Plot
Kae Serinuma is a fujoshi, a female otaku who loves reading yaoi and imagining men together in romantic relationships, both fictional and real. When one of her favorite anime characters is killed off, Kae is so shocked that she locks herself in her room for a whole week. When she eventually comes out, she discovers that she has lost a lot of weight. She becomes a beautiful girl that catches the eye of four boys at her school: Yūsuke Igarashi, Nozomu Nanashima, Hayato Shinomiya, and Asuma Mutsumi. Despite learning about Kae's bizarre tendencies, the four boys, along with another fujoshi named Shima Nishina, all fall for Kae and begin competing with each other for her affection, much to Kae's frustration as she wants them to fall in love with each other.Characters
Main characters
;Kae Serinuma;Yūsuke Igarashi
;Nozomu Nanashima
;Hayato Shinomiya
;Asuma Mutsumi
;Shima Nishina
Secondary characters
;Amane Nakano;Takurō Serinuma
;Kazuma Mutsumi
;Mitsuko Serinuma
;Hideo Serinuma
;Takeru Mitsuboshi
;Kirari Nanashima
Others
;Shion;Tera
;Lord
;Akane
;Ruby
;Sapphire
;Diamond
;Hyakki Sametora
;Murasawa
;Tamura
;Narita
;Kyoushi
Production
Junko had been creating yaoi manga professionally since her debut in 2009, and after reading some of her works, a staff member from Bessatsu Friend invited her to contribute to the magazine. Junko decided to focus on an otome game concept, and after the editors had asked her to make the series comedic, Eiki Eiki suggested making jokes about fujoshi culture. Junko created Shima when she wanted to add a new male character to Kae's group and later decided to make her female.Media
Manga
Originally titled Boys, Please Kiss Him Instead of Me in Japan, the manga is written and illustrated by Junko. It was serialized in Kodansha's monthly manga magazine Bessatsu Friend from April 13, 2013, to February 13, 2018. Kodansha published fourteen tankōbon volume of the series.Crunchyroll began releasing the manga in English online on September 5, 2014. A contest was held to determine the series' official English title, with Kiss Him, Not Me winning. Kodansha USA began publishing the physical edition in English on October 13, 2015.
Anime
An anime television adaptation of the manga was announced in the Bessatsu Friend magazine's April 2016 issue. Brain's Base produced the anime, with Hiroshi Ishiodori directing, Michiko Yokote handled the series composition and Kazuhiko Tamura designed the characters. The series aired in Japan from October 6 to December 22, 2016, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll, while Funimation streamed the English dub. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the dub was moved to Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Prince×Prince" by From4to7, while the ending theme is "Dokidoki no Kaze" by Rie Murakawa. Anime Limited has licensed the series in the UK. The anime adapts the first 8 volumes of the manga.Film
A live-action film adaptation was announced in January 2020 and had a nationwide theatrical release in Japan on July 10, 2020. The film was directed by Norihisa Hiranuma, who also wrote the script along with Nami Kikkawa, Shōhei Fukuda, Kei Watanabe, and Daisuke Kamijō. It stars The Rampage from Exile Tribe member Hokuto Yoshino as Mutsumi, Asahi Ito as Nanashima, Fuju Kamio as Igarashi, and So Okuno as Shinomiya. E-girls member Nonoka Yamaguchi and Miu Tomita both star as Kae, with Yamaguchi playing her slim form and Tomita playing her pre-weight loss form. The theme song is "Watashi ga Motete Dōsunda" by Girls², who also make cameo appearances in the film. The extras in the film were played by students from EXPG. Additional cast members were announced on March 6, 2020, with the release of the film's official trailer, consisting of Miku Uehara, Ryōtarō Sakaguchi, Marina Mizushima, Zawachin, Satsuki Nakayama, Naho Toda, Shuto Miyazaki, and Mio Yūki. In addition, Asahi Ito, who plays Nanashima, also provides the voice to Shion. The dance sequence at the end of the film was choreographed by Akane from Tomioka High School's dance club, who is known for choreographing the "bubbly dance."Upon release, the film debuted at #4 during opening weekend and earned a box office total of. Kentarou Muramatsu from Cinema Today gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, stating that the story was "a little rough" but that it "corrects" social norms, with extra praise towards Tomita's performance.
Reception
Kiss Him, Not Me sold a cumulative total of over 3 million physical copies in Japan since January 2020. Volume 3 of the manga reached the 44th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and, as of June 15, 2014, has sold 17,994 copies; volume 4 reached the 43rd place and, as of September 14, 2014, has sold 22,107 copies; volume 5 reached the 17th place and, as of January 18, 2015, has sold 41,112 copies.The manga won Best Shōjo Manga at the 40th Kodansha Manga Awards. It was number four on the 2015 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Female Readers survey.
Publishers Weekly stated that the work is "a well-played farce filled with both laughter and empathy, no doubt helped by the author's background in yaoi."