Peach Girl

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Peach Girl

ピーチガール (Peach Girl)
Genre	Shōjo, Romance
Manga
Authored by	Miwa Ueda
Publisher	Kodansha Tokyopop Egmont Panini Comics
Serialized in	Bessatsu Friend
Original run	–
No. of volumes	18
TV anime
Directed by	Hiroshi Ishiodori
Studio	Studio Comet
Network	TV Tokyo, QTV 11
Original run	8 January 2005 – 25 June 2005
No. of episodes	1-25

Peach Girl (ピーチガール, Pīchi Gāru^?) is an extremely popular shōjo manga and anime series by Miwa Ueda (上田美和 Ueda Miwa). There was also a live action version produced in Taiwan.

The manga is published in Japan by Kodansha, and is published in North America by TOKYOPOP. TOKYOPOP divided the series into two parts, the first eight books being 'Peach Girl' and the last ten being Peach Girl: Change of Heart. This split doesn't happen in the original Japanese versions of the manga. In Japan the manga ran from 1998 to 2003, the anime ran in early to mid 2005, and the live action ran in 2002. The manga has 18 volumes, the anime has 25 episodes, and the live action has 13 episodes. Although the manga has ended, Ueda is currently working on Ura Peach Girl (Peach Girl: Sae's Story in the TOKYOPOP version; literally, "Reverse Peach Girl"), a sequel story with Sae as the main character. Both stories appear in Kodansha's Bessatsu Friend magazine in Japan.

The anime has been licensed by FUNimation Entertainment and they will release the series in early 2007.

[edit] Plot Overview

Peach Girl is a high school drama centered on Momo Adachi. A member of the swim team, Momo tans easily and her hair is bleached out; unfortunately, she is stereotyped as a ganguro girl by her ignorant classmates, and is forced to endure rumors about being a beach bunny and a slut. Her only friend is Sae, who is actually responsible for spreading the nasty gossip. Momo is in love with Toji, a taciturn baseball player, but the scheming Sae also has her eye on the boy. Momo's life is further complicated with the introduction of Kiley Okayasu, a wise-cracking playboy who is determined to make her his because Momo saved him from drowning the summer before high school started. Things became even more complicated when Sae, in an attempt to make Momo miserable, forced Toji to break up with Momo by threatening to discredit Momo with her newly acquired access to the mass media. Though Toji was defiant to begin with, he reluctantly broke up with Momo in order to protect her. Momo was heartbroken at first, especially because she didn't know that it was part of Sae's schemes. However, she eventually began dating Kiley, whom she had previously considered annoying, and soon began to love him.

When Toji revealed to Momo what had happened and why he broke up with her, Momo was left to choose between Toji and Kiley.

She decided to choose Toji, who in her mind was the right one for her, but Kiley was undoubtedly infatuated with her. More problems arose and a love triangle was formed.

[edit] Characters

Momo Adachi (安達もも Adachi Momo): The main character. She has dark skin and light hair, giving others the impression that she is a "beach bunny" and sexually promiscuous. On the contrary, Momo is a shy and insecure girl, though she has a fierce temper. She has loved Toji for many years. Momo's given name means 'peach' in Japanese.

Sae Kashiwagi (柏木さえ Kashiwagi Sae): Momo's 'best friend'. Her fair features (pale skin, black hair) serve as a contrast for Momo; her "innocent" appearance belies her scheming, manipulative nature. Sae is very jealous of Momo, and is determined to make her miserable. Unbeknownst to Momo, Sae is the one who spreads malicious gossip about her.

Kazuya "Toji" Tojigamori (東寺ヶ森一矢 Tōjigamori Kazuya, とーじ Tōji): A baseball player who has been Momo's crush since junior high school. He has a good heart, but tends to be hard-headed and oblivious to what's in front of him.

Kiley Okayasu (岡安浬 Okayasu Kairi, カイリ Kairi): A popular and carefree classmate of Momo's. He has the reputation of being a playboy. Momo once saved his life when he almost drowned at the beach; his interest in her is renewed when Sae spreads rumors about them being a couple. Momo's kiss with him is Momo's first kiss. "Kiley" is a non-standard romanization of "Kairi" used by TOKYOPOP. Other groups, such as Kodansha and non-English language publishers, use "Kairi" [1].

Ryo Okayasu: Kiley's older brother who works in the video game industry. He serves as a male counterpart to Sae, only he is much more dangerous.

Misao Aki: The school nurse and a big sister figure for Momo. Misao was once Kiley's tutor, and an old flame of Ryo's.

Goro "Gigolo" Oji (大路吾郎 Ōji Gorō): A male model who is smitten with Sae and unaware of her true personality. She uses him in her schemes against Momo.

Morika: A young woman who once dated both Okayasu men, Morika has a grudge against Ryo and tries to use Kiley against him.