Sukitte Ii na yo
 

Original Creator & Artist: Hazuki Kanae

Synopsis: Mei Tachibana has spent her 16 years without making either a boyfriend or friends. One day, she injures the most popular boy in school, Yamato Kurosawa, because of a misunderstanding but for some reason it seems that he takes a liking to her and one-sidedly claims that they’re friends. Furthermore, he not only protects Mei from a stalker, he does it with a kiss…?!!

The ANN just announced a green-lit adapation of Kanae Hazuki's shoujo romance manga that launched in 2008, and Kodansha published the eighth compiled book volume this past January. Dessert is also announcing that Robiko's Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (The Monster Seated Next to You) manga is getting an anime.

Here's the ANN Link: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...nga-gets-anime

Question:

Is this a shoujo romcom or a shojo drama? Important for me, because I don't give a damn about the former, but I eat the latter like candy (as long as you're not like Kimi ni Slowdoke). Yes, it's a guilty pleasure of mine :heh:. I did come from a heavy shojo drama manga background afterall.

It's a mature shoujo drama that pretty much tells us the ups and downs of first loves, and breaking out of ones shell.

TOTALLY SOLD. Bokura ga ita v2.0? :D

EDIT: Just read a few chapters of the manga and yep this is totally my cup of tea. Everyone has their guilty pleasures, and this is one of mine. Shojo drama angst ftw. Can't wait for the anime.

Oh god both this and Tonari no Kaibutsu Kun???? SHOUJO FANBOYS LET US REJOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't wait because the manga is really amazing and the characters are unique and easy to identify. It's too bad though that the translators don't update a chapter often, but oh well, what can you do? "shrugs shoulders"

Wooow I didn't expect this at all. This is going into my "romantic anime with cool male lead" collection *_* It'll probably be a one cour, so I wonder where will it stop? I have up to vol 7 of the manga and I gotta say, this series makes me all mushy and fuzzy.

So who the hell went ahead and greenlighted this?Not that I'm complaining,just wondering.Will it be a NTVxMadhouse collab?

Oooh ZEXCS is producing this. I wonder how that's gonna work considering ZEXCS's abysmal track record. I do hope they do this justice since it is rare to get a shoujo adaptation (and 2 at that!).

Satou Takuya rumored as director.

Staff:
Director & Series Composition - Satou Takuya
Series Director - Kuroyanagi Toshimasa
Character Design - Okuda Keiko
Animation Production - ZEXCS

The main characters remain voiced by Kayano Ai and Sakurai Takahiro, but the rest get new seiyuu.

The staff's a bit of an intriguing combination, to say the least.

Am I crazy, or is Kuroyanagi Toshimasa known almost entirely as an animator rather than writer? He's been affiliated with some good shows, that's for sure.

This is an unusual combination of talent, no doubt, but there's quite a lot of quality there.

I was wondering the same thing.
Maybe it's a sign they're just going to stick really close to the manga *shrugs*

ZEXCS ... shoujo ... does not compute. Where are they going to fit the gratuitous panty shots?

For the zillionth time, worry about the staff more than the studio. And the staff looks pretty good.

I do admit being surprised,ZEXCS isn't associated to shoujo normally,though of course I look to the staff first and foremost.

It's like Dogakobo (who've been associated with a few echi shows ) doing Natsuyuki Rendezvous this summer, and in that one what really matters is that Kou Matsuo is diracting.

Exactly. And would you have expected Hoods and DEEN to do what they have with MGX and Sankarea?

MGX is actually produced by Hoods Entertainment (Seikon no Qwaser, Manyuu Hikenchou), not feel.

LOL, yeah that's what I meant to say - wee hours here, brain freeze. The point is even more cogent, though! :heh:

Well you can't go wrong with one of Steins;Gate's directors (who's had a hand with a lot of script and storyboards for other series). Still with staff positions and studio involved, this could go both ways (then again MGX was also a big question mark when it was announced and now it's ending up as one of my favorites all time).

Also Ai Kayano as the lead female sounds very interesting (though thinking about her in a Menma voice just doesn't fit).

She's really versatile though so I doubt you'll be hearing the menma voice.

The series is listed on mangaupdates as "smut"...

Kayanon takes my vote for the most skilled active seiyuu (my previous one was Nakahara Mai but she hasn't had any big roles since 2010 :shrug:). Apart from Menma, Kayanon also did Muginami from Rinne (air headed ditz), Inori from Guilty Crown (stoic Rei-clone), and Mikono from Aquarion (typical tsundere), all vastly different from each other. So yeah, the question I ask of Kayanon is not whether she can play a role, but what roles she can NOT play?


And lol, this is a smut? Well, considering smut generally is one notch closer to hentai than ecchi is, I'm not complaining. :heh:

Frankly I still find those somewhat similar even if the personality is different,it's when I hear stuff like this that I think "wow,this girl has some range".

I made a mistake there (well, translated a mistaken report, but anyway) - Satou is actually credited for Series Composition on top of directing, while Kuroyanagi is listed as the "Series Director".

The website's now open: http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/sukinayo/ - they're also still being cautious so as not to mention whether it'll be an OAD or a TV series...

Katapan- They are calling it a "Fall Anime" and the staff involved is just not the "straight to video" type, so I am betting on a series.

I couldn't picture it as anything else than a TV series either, but you can never be too cautious, especially when they precisely avoid the "TV" mention when most announcements make it clear right away. Either way, ZEXCS have confirmed on their Twitter that it will indeed be a TV series!

I believe the "smut" category refers to a side character's actions. You certainly won't be seeing that in the main couple, or any of the other chars besides that one(based on the translated chapters so far).

I wouldn't say I would be upset if it had smut XD I look forward to this as well :) Yay shoujo feed!

Bah, phooey. Want a smut anime for once, as I don't think I've seen any for a long time (if ever, can't remember the last time smut was made an anime).

So I'm up to date with the manga of what's scanlated. My verdict?

This series is amazing. Haven't read a shojo manga this good since Bokura ga Ita and to a lesser extent Sand Chronicles, though I never finished that series. It's got everything I want in a shojo - gorgeous art, drama, comedy, great realistic characters (minus how they look - lol @ fabulous male lead) not afraid to deal with relationships issues such as sex, friends with benefits, cheating (hence the "smut" label, but really, this is in no way anything the level of say something Velvet Kiss level of smut) and with the right amount of "mushy" romance. Extremely impressed. In fact, if this ever gets licensed, I think I'll buy the copies.

Unfortunately, for romance purists (who want straight romance, without any deviations, misunderstandings, complicated drama), I don't think this a series for you. Was the same deal with Bokura ga ita (and the reason why it got a bit of hate from certain audiences), and it's pretty much the same here. But if you're a fan of drama with ups and downs, twists and turns, highs and lows, heartwarming to rageworthy, then this is DEFINITELY for you. Tyvm Deikan, you were right, this is top class.

Very much looking forward to the anime. Assuming this is relatively faithful, I'm expecting great things. And as Guardian Enzo said, screw the studio, it's all about the production staff, and with the Steins Gate director in charge, I'm expecting great things.

Although I'm skeptical, I think I'll give the other Dessert manga a shot to compare even though its a romcom.

Oh ho ... good news indeed. Looking forward to this one as well. :D

Thinking about it, Sukitte might end up like Kaichou wa Maid Sama while Tonari will end up like Kimi ni Todoke. The former would be pretty fun ride while using cliches here and there while the other would give more of a refreshing take on usual shoujo cliches.

Also JC Staff : Production IG :: ZEXCS : Brains Base.

Thanks for your report here, now I'm totally sold. I'm not very fond of straight romance either, so these are all good news for me. It's like a gift these days.


Isn't it the opposite? Sukitte more serious and Tonari more commedy?
Anyways, for the former I had in mind something more rom and less com and for the latter at least something, well, less slow :p

Cast & staff announced:

Nice to see Nobunaga Shimazaki get another major role.

Ai Kayano as the main female lead. Please don't bring out the Menma voice because it wouldn't suit the character lol. But Ms Kayano has a wide range so it should be fine.

Second key visual revealed alongside the renewal of its official website.

The visuals for the characters looks nice. Oh yes, this anime is slated for this fall and I'm sure many of you probably already knew that.

Not impressed by those designs. Guessing that's Mei on the left, and she really doesn't look right. The only way to really tell is skirt length.

They generally just aren't capturing the original character designs. I'd like this series to be well done, the source is really excellent.

Not a fan of "serious" shoujo to be honest. My favorite shoujos are all very light-hearted. But it doesn't mean I won't give this a shot, I will definitely watch the first few episodes :)