Otomen


Otomen is a Japanese romantic comedy manga written and illustrated by Aya Kanno, which began in Bessatsu Hana to Yume in late 2006 and concluded on November 26, 2012. The series has been adapted into a live action TV drama. The series has been one of the best-selling shōjo properties in America, since being licensed by Viz Media. The series is also licensed in France by Delcourt and in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini.

Plot

Asuka Masamune is the coolest, manliest guy in his school. He is the captain of the kendo team where he reached the national championship tournament, and also excels in judo and karate. However, he harbors a secret: he is an otomen, a guy who really loves things that are usually associated with girls: cooking, sewing, and especially reading shōjo manga love stories. He hides this part of his life from his classmates until he meets and falls in love with Ryo Miyakozuka, the daughter of a martial artist and heir to his dojo who appears to be interested in manly guys. He is encouraged by his schoolmate Juta Tachibana to pursue a relationship with her and for them to be honest with each other, but unbeknownst to him, Juta is secretly a shojo manga artist of Asuka's favorite manga.

Characters

Main

;Asuka Masamune
;Ryo Miyakozuka
;Juta Tachibana
;Yamato Ariake
;Hajime Tonomine
;Kitora Kurokawa

Supporting

; Kiyomi Masamune
; Miyuki Yoshino
; Mira Jonouchi
; Hiromi Yoshino
; Kasuga Masamune
; Mr. Amakashi
; Otowa Moematsu
; Kibino
; Naito Mifune
; Suzaku Ohji
; Hanamasa
; Joji

Media

Manga

The manga is written and illustrated by Aya Kanno and was serialized in the shōjo manga magazine Bessatsu Hana to Yume from 2006 to November 26, 2012. Serial chapters were collected in eighteen tankōbon volumes by Hakusensha Viz Media licensed the series for its Shojo Beat imprint. French publisher Delcourt licensed Otomen and released its first volume in September 2008. As of November 2013, all eighteen volumes have been released. In Spain, the publisher Planeta DeAgostini has licensed the series as Otomen with its first volume released in December 2008. As of April 2011, nine volumes have been released. The German publisher Carlsen Verlag has made eighteen volumes available in the ePub format.

Volume list

Live-action drama

The July 2009 issue of Hana to Yume magazine, in which Otomen runs, announced that a live-action drama had been green-lit, and would premier on Japanese television on August 1, 2009. Kaho portrays Ryo, and Masaki Okada plays Asuka. The ending theme song is "ラバソー〜lover soul〜" sung by Kou Shibasaki. A photobook for the live action series by Hakusensha in September 2009 for 1000 yen, entitled .
Cast
Similar to Kanno's earlier works, the series has become quite popular, scoring high on both Tohan and Oricon's weekly comic charts. The seven volumes available in Japan as of May 2009 have sold over 2.5 million copies. The series was listed as being the 3rd best-selling shōjo property, along with the 13th over-all manga property, in America for the first quarter of 2009.