The Dangers in My Heart
The Dangers in My Heart, abbreviated as BokuYaba, is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by Norio Sakurai. It is serialized on the manga website, and its chapters have been collected in 13 volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by Shin-Ei Animation aired from April to June 2023. A short spin-off original net animation for the series was released in December 2023. A second season aired from January to March 2024.
Though initially being met with mixed reviews, the series has gone on to receive widespread critical acclaim for its writing, characters, emotional depth and art style.
Premise
Kyotaro Ichikawa is a disgruntled loner student who is often reading a murder encyclopedia and learning about human anatomy. He fantasizes about murdering his popular classmates, with the beautiful class idol, Anna Yamada, being his prime target. However, when he observes that Anna is rather quirky in her own way, and when she becomes increasingly friendly towards Kyotaro, he gradually warms up to her and they start to become closer and eventually fall in love.Characters
;Kyotaro Ichikawa;Anna Yamada
;Chihiro Kobayashi
;Moeko Sekine
;Serina Yoshida
;Shō Adachi
;Kenta Kanzaki
;Chikara Ōta
;Honoka Hara
;Kana Ichikawa
;Haruya Nanjō
;Rin Kanaoya
;Mr. Maeda
;Mamiya
;Yamada's mother
;Yamada's father
;Ichikawa's mother
;Yurine Hanzawa
;Kanna Andou
;Nico Kouda
;Ms. Moriya
Production
Norio Sakurai has stated in an interview that she is a fan of idols, and that she enjoys daydreaming about how she would interact with his favorite idol if she were in the same class as her. She was inspired by these thoughts and decided to create the manga and Anna Yamada. She stated that she was thinking about herself when creating Ichikawa. Sakurai decided to call the chapters "karte" to emphasize that Ichikawa "heals" himself after his interactions with Yamada.Producer Kazuki Endo found the manga interesting after reading the second and third volumes and sent a proposal to the editors of Akita Shoten for an anime adaptation. Editor Keita Takakashi stated in an interview that Endo's enthusiasm for the project was one of the main factors in his acceptance of the proposal. Endo approached Jukki Hanada for the script, and Hanada, who was already familiar with the manga, immediately accepted the offer. Endo chose Kensuke Ushio as the anime's composer, as he had enjoyed his soundtrack for A Silent Voice. To compose the anime's soundtrack, Ushio traveled to his hometown and recorded the route he used to go to school as a child. Director Hiroaki Akagi focused on the colors to reflect the emotions and changes in the characters. With Sakurai's permission, he slightly changed the seating arrangements in the classroom for the anime.
Media
Manga
The series is written and illustrated by Norio Sakurai. It started serialization in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine on March 8, 2018. On April 10, 2018, the series was transferred to the manga website. On July 10, 2018, Akita Shoten merged Champion Cross with to form their newly created manga website,. When the websites merged, the manga was transferred to Manga Cross, which was re-launched as Champion Cross in April 2024. As of January 2026, 13 volumes have been released. The series is set to end with the release of its fourteenth volume.In December 2020, Seven Seas Entertainment announced they licensed the series for English publication. The series is also licensed by Tong Li Publishing in Taiwan.
Individual chapters of the series are called kartes.
A spin-off manga written and illustrated by Haika Nanasaka, titled The Dangers in My Heart: Love Comedy ga Hajimaranai, began serialization on the same website on July 22, 2025.
Anime
In August 2022, it was announced that the manga would receive an anime television series adaptation. The series is produced by Shin-Ei Animation and directed by Hiroaki Akagi, with scripts written by Jukki Hanada, character designs handled by Masato Katsumata, and music composed by Kensuke Ushio. It aired from April 2 to June 18, 2023, on the NUMAnimation programming block on TV Asahi and its affiliates. The opening theme is "Shayō" performed by Yorushika, while the ending theme is "Sū Sentimental" performed by Kohana Lam. At Anime NYC 2022, Sentai Filmworks announced that they licensed the series and is streaming it on Hidive. Plus Media Networks Asia to carried the anime in Southeast Asia, to be premiered on Aniplus Asia.On December 10, 2023, an animated collection of shorts based on the spin-off series posted on the author's Twitter account, titled "Twi-Yaba", was released in a standalone episode with the official English title of "Bonus Dangers". The shorts within the special last a few minutes each. Each short contains either a standalone gag, view into their daily lives, or a holiday special.
A second season was announced after the airing of the twelfth episode, and aired from January 7 to March 31, 2024, on the same programming block. The opening theme is "Boku wa..., performed by Atarayo, while the ending theme is "Koi Shiteru Jibun Sura Aiserunda", performed by Kohana Lam. The opening animation is storyboarded and directed by Tetsurō Araki, who is known for directing the anime series Attack on Titan, and produced with the assistance from Wit Studio.
Some scenes take place at Meguro Station and Senzoku Station.
A compilation film version with extra footage was announced during the "Fan Kansha Kikaku!! TV Anime Boku no Kokoro no Yabai Yatsu Furikaeri Jōei-kai ~Bokura wa Futatabi Atsumatta" event on September 29, 2024. The film is set to premiere in Japanese theaters on February 13, 2026, by Toei Company and.
Light novel
A spin-off light novel written by Kota Nozomi with illustrations by Sakurai and sune was released under Media Factory's MF Bunko J imprint on September 25, 2024.During their panel at Anime NYC 2025, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they had licensed the light novel for English publication in July 2026.
Reception
Manga
In 2019, the series ranked fourth in the Next Manga Awards in the web manga category. In 2020, the series ranked first in the same category. The series ranked third in the 2020 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook. It also ranked fourth in the fourth Tsutaya Comic Awards. It ranked thirteenth in Japanese bookstore Honya Club's employee recommendations. It was also nominated for the Manga Taishō in 2020. It ranked fourth in a 2020 poll asking people what manga they most wanted to see adapted into an anime. It ranked first in the same poll in 2021.By September 2023, the manga has over 3 million copies in circulation.
Anime
In June 2023, TV Asahi announced during their end-of-year fiscal results that the anime adaptation has recorded the highest global sales for an anime program in the NUMAnimation programming block.The anime adaptation initially received mixed reviews from critics. Reviewing the first episode, Vrai Kaiser of Anime Feminist described it as mostly "harmless-to-charming school rom-com shenanigans" when Ichikawa's murder fantasies fade away, and said that they would give the series a "cautious wait-and-see" approach, saying it wasn't to their taste, comparing it to the "choppy start" of Teasing Master Takagi-san. Kaiser also said that after three episodes, their optimism was born out, being accurate and sweet to the age group, but that the show's handling of sex as "hit-or-miss for some audiences." Kaiser also argued that the series had "stumbling blocks" in the first season, but that it ends in a "really nice place" and on a "really beautiful place of feeling," and with an appealing "element of naturalness." However, another post on the site gave the series a "yellow flag" for some early monologues by Ichikawa, arguing they "veer too close to actual violent misogyny".
Reviews for Anime News Network took a different perspective. In a Spring 2023 anime preview guide, James Beckett said that the show's premiere was "irritatingly good" and said his defenses crumbled due to the series' "relentless onslaught of cuteness," calling the series "absurdly freaking cute," but hoped that Kyotaro's pension for murder was toned down, while Rebecca Silverman said the first episode blended good humor with an expected "warm emotional undercurrent" and comedic moments, and praised the plot for being "good enough," while criticizing the character designs. In contrast, Nicholas Dupree and Richard Eisenbeis were more critical. Dupree said the series is built upon "pure, undiluted cringe humor," noted that Ichikawa is an "uncompromisingly honest presentation of...an edgelord teenager" while noting that Yamada is "pretty charming." Eisenbeis said that while the story and characters make sense and the animation is fine, he said that the series made him cringe, and said while the series has a "well-written protagonist" and great coming-of-age message, he would watch if it didn't have "awkward humor." Later, MrAJCosplay, in a review on the same site, listed the series as one of their favorite anime in 2023, arguing that the series is a "very simple slice-of-life story," with a satisfying slow-burn romance, with every episode having some importance or dramatic weight, and said they couldn't "wait to see how much further the lovable goofballs will go." In another review, they praised the series "immaculate production values and a very ambient soundtrack." The anime was ranked tenth in "The Top 10 Anime of 2024" by Anime News Network.
Alan Moody of THEM Anime Reviews reviewed the first season. He said that while Kyotaro resembled Nishikata from Teasing Master Takagi-san, Kyotaro is a loner and his "countenance is mildly creepy," while arguing that Yamada differs from Takagi, as she is "statuesque, towering over Kyotaro". He also said that the series comedic timing is "nearly perfect," and that while the series is not "intellectually astute as Takagi-san, the cast...make up for much of that by their charm." He further added that due to the "mild sexual innuendo" in the series, it had mature themes as a result, while Hidive says the series is TV-14, and noted that Lovely Complex is a similar series, and noted the spinoff Twi-Yaba as a related series.
The second season of the anime became the first anime in the history of the anime polling sites Anime Corner and Anime Trending to be ranked first for an entire season. The season was nominated for Best Romance and Best Slice of Life categories at the 9th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in 2025.