Nisekoi

Nisekoi (ニセコイ, lit. "Fake Love"), released in English as Nisekoi: False Love, is a Japanese romantic comedy manga series written and illustrated by Naoshi Komi. Nisekoi was first published as a one-shot manga in Shueisha's seasonal Jump NEXT! magazine before being serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Since November 26, 2012, Nisekoi has been published in English in Viz Media's digital magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump. As of January 2016, the series has been compiled in 21 tankōbon volumes in Japan, and is also being released in English in digital and print volumes by Viz Media. The manga has inspired a novel series, titled Nisekoi: Urabana, written by Hajime Tanaka and published by Shueisha. There have been two volumes published, on June 4 and December 28, 2013.

In May 2013, it was announced that an anime adaptation of Nisekoi had been greenlit.^[2] The anime is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo at Shaft,^[3] and began airing from January 11, 2014.^[4] Aniplex of America has licensed the series for streaming and home video distribution in North America.^[5] Daisuki,^[6] Crunchyroll,^[4] and Hulu^[7] have provided simulcast streams with English subtitles for audiences in the United States, Canada, South America and South Africa. A second season titled Nisekoi: began airing in April 2015.

Plot

Nisekoi follows high school students Raku Ichijo, the son of a leader in the yakuza faction Shuei-Gumi, and Chitoge Kirisaki, the daughter of a boss in a rival gang known as Beehive. They unexpectedly meet when Chitoge hops a wall and knees Raku in the face. After she runs off, Raku realizes he has lost his locket which was given to him by his childhood sweetheart with whom he made a secret promise. After discovering Chitoge is a new transfer student in his class, he forces her to help him look for the locket. During the search, they begin to dislike each other.^[8]

Upon returning home, Raku learns that the Shuei-Gumi and Beehive gangs have agreed to settle their feud by pairing their leaders' children. Raku learns that his girlfriend-to-be is none other than Chitoge. For the next three years, they must pretend to be in a relationship to maintain peace between the gangs. This turns out to be quite a challenging task, not only because of their hatred for one another, but also because Raku has a crush on another schoolmate, Kosaki Onodera, whom he secretly wishes was the girl who bears the key to his locket. Various developments complicate the situation, including Chitoge's over-protective bodyguard, a female hitman, a girl who claims to be Raku's fiancée, and the existence of multiple keys.^[8]

Characters

Raku Ichijo (一条 楽, Ichijō Raku, Raku Ichijou)

Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (drama CD, anime)^[9]

Raku is a high school student who aspires to pursue a normal career when he graduates, although he is the son of a Yakuza family leader.^{Ch. 1} When he is placed in a fake relationship with Chitoge Kirisaki, he hides his feelings for the girl he likes, Kosaki Onodera.^{Ch. 4} He wears a locket that symbolizes a promise of love he made to a girl ten years ago, and hopes he can reunite with the girl who bears the key to unlock it. He shows kindness and care to the girls but remains unsure as to which girl he likes the most.^{Ch. 63, 100, 171, 176} After Marika withdraws from pursuing him, she reveals to him that he loves both Onodera and Chitoge, and should choose between them.^{Ch. 195} Raku realizes that he does like Chitoge beyond just friends.^{Ch. 199, 200}

Chitoge Kirisaki (桐崎 千棘, Kirisaki Chitoge)

Voiced by: Nao Tōyama (drama CD, anime)^[9]

Chitoge is a half-Japanese transfer student from America, and the daughter of the leader of the Beehive Gangsters. She is annoyed by Raku, who calls her a gorilla woman, but pretends to be in a relationship with him in order to prevent their family gangs from going to war.^{Ch. 1} Ten years before, Chitoge makes a promise with a boy, but does not realize it could be Raku until she finds a key that could potentially unlock his locket.^{Ch. 21} She develops feelings towards Raku, and becomes jealous when girls such as Marika show open affections towards him.^{Ch. 35} Eventually, she realizes that she truly loves him, and changes her internal attitude while keeping the external appearance of still finding him annoying.^{Ch. 49, 51} She is very smart and capable at almost anything,^{Ch. 56} except cooking.^{Ch. 67, 116} She and her mom had a "cold" relationship until Raku helps them reconcile with each other on Christmas.^{Ch. 59}

Kosaki Onodera (小野寺 小咲, Onodera Kosaki)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (drama CD, anime)^[9]

Kosaki Onodera is a kind and sweet classmate of Raku. She has a shoulder-length dark brown hair and chestnut brown eyes. Although Raku likes her, she does not reveal that she also likes him. She bears a key that could unlock Raku's locket but denies it when Raku asks, and becomes extremely shy and easily flustered whenever they have a potential romantic situation.^{Ch. 4, 5} Her family owns a dessert shop where she fashions good-looking treats, but she makes terrible food when left to her own devices.^{Ch. 7, 19} She is not as academically strong as her friends, but studied hard to enter the same high school as Raku.^{Ch. 98} As time passes her love for Raku grows and her determination to get him notice her feelings becomes stronger, declaring she will fight for it.^{Ch. 126} She and Raku have similar personalities, showing care for others, but are shy when it comes to confessing their mutual feelings.

Shu Maiko (舞子 集, Maiko Shū)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (drama CD, anime)^[9]

Shū is Raku's best friend. He enjoys doing anything for a laugh, and often makes perverted passes or comments without shame to his friends. He is perceptive of Raku's relationships, knowing immediately that Raku was not really dating Chitoge, that Raku and Onodera have secret crushes on each other,^{Ch. 8} and that Tsugumi has developed romantic feelings for Raku.^{Ch. 20} Academically, he places next to "glasses buddy" Ruri, much to the latter's chagrin.^{Ch. 56, 58} He has not expressed romantic interest in Raku's friends, but in one storyline, he has a crush on their homeroom teacher Kyoko.^{Ch. 84} He has known that Chitoge has become more than just a friend to Raku before Raku even does.^{Ch. 195}

Claude (クロード, Kurōdo)

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (drama CD, anime)^[9]

Claude, one of the leaders of the Beehive gangsters, is one of the few characters who suspects the relationship between Raku and Chitoge is fake.^{Ch. 2} He stalks Chitoge regularly to make sure Raku does not take advantage of her.^{Ch. 3, 5} Chitoge stated that when she was young, she was unable to make friends because of Claude's overprotectiveness and background checks. He raises Tsugumi as a hitman, gave her a boy's name, Seishirou, completely oblivious of her gender.^{Ch. 17}

Ruri Miyamoto (宮本 るり, Miyamoto Ruri)

Voiced by: Yumi Uchiyama (drama CD, anime)^[9]

Ruri is Kosaki's best friend. She often speaks what is on her mind, and actively pushes Kosaki to get closer to Raku,^{Ch. 8} setting up many scenarios to help her. She regularly beats up Shu for his perverted comments,^{Ch. 10, 11} although sometimes she respects what he has to say.^{Ch. 58}

Seishiro Tsugumi (鶫 誠士郎, Tsugumi Seishirō, Seishirou Tsugumi)

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu (drama CD, anime)^[9]

"Black Tiger" Tsugumi is a hitwoman who was raised and trained by Claude of the Beehive Gangsters.^{Ch. 14} Originally introduced as a transfer student in Chitoge's class, she prefers to dress in shirt and pants of the boys uniform, and is mistaken for a boy by Raku and the others. Suspecting Chitoge was forced by Raku into the relationship, she tries to fight him.^{Ch. 15} She and Chitoge are childhood friends; she tries to keep a promise made ten years ago of becoming strong to protect Chitoge.^{Ch. 16} After Raku treats her nicely, she begins to develop feelings for him, even though she is too stubborn and embarrassed to admit it.^{Ch. 18, 20, 40} She shares a rivalry with "White Fang" Paula McCoy.^{Ch. 54} She does well academically, having ranked next to Chitoge on an early exam.^{Ch. 56} Raku has occasionally confided with her as a good friend and also for romance advice.^{Ch. 68, 79, 80, 83} She occasionally has vivid daydreams of being Raku's secret lover.

Marika Tachibana (橘 万里花, Tachibana Marika)

Voiced by: Kana Asumi (drama CD, anime)^[10]

Marika transfers to Raku's class and is introduced as his fiancée; she bears a key that she thinks will unlock Raku's pendant, and is the most vocal about expressing her love to Raku. She is the daughter of the police chief, and has been in love with Raku for the past ten years.^{Ch. 33} She does not get along with Chitoge; she states she hates girls with long hair despite the fact that she also has long hair.^{Ch. 34} Although she has a reputation of being a fighter, she has a frail constitution; ten years prior, she was frequently visited by a young Raku, who brought her gifts and sparked a friendship with her. Because Raku mentions he likes a girly girl with long hair, she grows her hair out and tries to speak politely and feminine, only reverting to her crude Kyushu accent when flustered.^{Ch. 35} Her worsening health condition has motivated her to spend as much time with Raku as she can while hiding the burden from him.^{Ch. 169} She has a story arc where her failing health prompts her mother to withdraw her from Bonyari and forced to marry her mother's cousin. Although Raku and friends rescue her, Marika tells Raku that she will have to get treatment for her illness in America for two years or it will become fatal. She expects Raku to choose Chitoge or Onodera by then or she will take him for herself.^{Ch. 180}

Paula McCoy (ポーラ・マッコイ, Pōra Makkoi)

Voiced by: Manami Numakura (drama CD, anime)^[11]

Paula is an assassin for the Beehive gangsters who has trained in America; her alias is "White Fang".^{Ch. 54} She is a colleague of Tsugumi, whom she considers her rival as she has finished second to her in many missions. She is upset that Tsugumi has gotten soft after going to Japan.^{Ch. 54} When she challenges Tsugumi to a match where the goal is to steal a kiss from Raku,^{Ch. 54} she eventually loses and has to give up on Seishirou returning to America with her.^{Ch. 54, 55} She later returns to Japan as a student at Tsugumi's school.^{Ch. 75} After seeing that Tsugumi acts shy and embarrassed when near Raku, she sets up romantic situations where the two are together.^{Ch. 79, 80} She eventually opens up to the possibility of being friends with people after talking with Haru Onodera.^{Ch. 81, 82}

Haru Onodera (小野寺 春, Onodera Haru)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura (drama CD, anime)^[12]

Kosaki's sister who is a school year younger than Raku Ichijo and the gang.^{Ch. 75, 76} On her way to school she is saved from some delinquents by a mysterious prince (actually Raku)^{Ch. 75} and ends up with his locket.^{Ch. 76} Her first impression of Raku is negative as she believes that he is a womanizer who is trying to trick her sister, a dangerous yakuza, and a pervert for looking at her panties.^{Ch. 75, 76} She also refuses to return his locket until Raku convinces her that he is helping the prince.^{Ch. 78} Unlike her sister, she is a good cook.^{Ch. 77} She later reveals that she was helped by a guy in a mascot costume (also Raku) who treats her with vanilla ice cream.^{Ch. 94} Later, Haru finally warms up to Raku and realizes she too has fallen in love with him, although she puts her feelings aside to support her sister.^{Ch. 109} However, her attempts to have her sister and Raku draw closer often backfire and result in her interacting more often with Raku (much to her dismay).^{Ch. 110}

Suzu Ayakaji (彩風 涼, Ayakaji Suzu)

Voiced by: Kotori Koiwai (drama CD, anime)^[13]

Suzu or Fuu (風, Fuu) is the best friend and classmate of Haru Onodera and also one of the classmates of Paula McCoy.^{Ch. 75} Fuu has light fair skin with indigo eyes. She has thick, dark auburn hair that sports a braid with a pink ribbon on the left side of her hair. Fuu is very kind and understanding. She tries her best to make her friends happy and supports them.^{Ch. 107} She always looks for Haru and truly wishes for her to be happy.^{Ch. 171} Haru states she is a bit weird at times like when she asked Haru to model for her and getting a nosebleed in the process.^{Ch. 131, 132} When Haru starts to have feelings for Raku, Fuu is able to understand her feelings for him and tries to find situations where she and Raku could be together.^{Ch. 131}

Yui Kanakura (奏倉 羽, Kanakura Yui)

Voiced by: Yui Horie (drama CD)^[14]

Yui is Raku's childhood friend and the head of the Char Siu mafia.^{Ch. 118} She comes back to Japan after spending several years overseas. She also knows Chitoge, Kosaki and Marika, and like them, holds a key which could unlock Raku's locket.^{Ch. 119, 120} Although she is only two years older than Raku, she becomes Raku's homeroom and English teacher, having skipped many grades.^{Ch. 119} She also has romantic feelings for Raku, who views Yui just as his older sister.^{Ch. 126, 178} She has a story arc where she has one last bid for Raku's affection before her coming of age ceremony.^{Ch. 176}

Media

Manga

Nisekoi is written and illustrated by Naoshi Komi and began as a one-shot manga, published in Shueisha's seasonal Jump NEXT! magazine on January 8, 2011,^[15] before beginning serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump on November 7, 2011.^[16] In December 2011, Shueisha published the first chapter in English online.^[17] A voice comic (vomic) was also produced and its first episode was released on June 1, 2012.^[18] The manga has been licensed in English by Viz Media and published in their digital magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump since November 26, 2012, under the name Nisekoi: False Love.^[19]

Nisekoi's chapters have been compiled in 21 tankōbon volumes, which were published under Shueisha's Jump Comics imprint between May 2, 2012, and January 4, 2016.^[20][21] The ninth volume was released simultaneously with a special edition, bundled with a drama CD, on November 1, 2013.^[22][23] Since November 26, 2012, Viz Media's have been releasing volumes in English digitally.^[24] They also released the first volume in print on January 7, 2014, and plan to release a new one every two months.^[25][26]

Anime

A 20-episode anime adaptation produced by Shaft and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo aired from January 11^[27] to May 24, 2014. The first opening theme is "Click" by ClariS.^[28] The first ending theme besides "Click" for episode 1 is "Heart Pattern" by Nao Toyama, starting from episode 2. The second ending theme is "Recover Decoration" (リカバーデコレーション, Rikabā Dekorēshon) by Kana Hanazawa, starting from episode 8.

The ending theme for episode 14 is "Step" by ClariS, while the same song is the second opening starting from episode 15.^[29] The third ending theme is "Trick Box" by Mikako Komatsu, starting from episode 15. The fourth ending theme is "Hanagonomi" (はなごのみ, lit. "Fondness for Flowers") by Kana Asumi, starting from episode 18. The ending for episode 20 is "Sōzō Diary" (想像ダイアリー, Sōzō Daiarī, lit. "Imagination Diary") by Toyama as Chitoge Kirisaki, Hanazawa as Kosaki Onodera, Komatsu as Seishirou Tsugumi, and Asumi as Marika Tachibana. On the Japanese Blu-ray version, the fourth ending theme is "Order×Order" (オーダー×オーダー, Ōdā×Ōdā) by Yumi Uchiyama.^[30]

An OVA was aired in the fall of 2014 with the 14th tankōbon volume of the manga.^[31]

A second season^[32] aired on April 10, 2015.^[33] The first opening theme is "Rally Go Round" by LiSA,^[34] and for episode 8, the opening theme is "Magical ☆ styling" by Kana Hanazawa.^[35] The ending theme for the first, third, and sixth episodes is "Aimai Hertz" (曖昧ヘルツ) by Toyama as Chitoge Kirisaki, Hanazawa as Kosaki Onodera, Komatsu as Seishirou Tsugumi, and Asumi as Marika Tachibana. The ending theme for the second episode is "TrIGgER" by Mikako Komatsu. The ending theme for the fourth episode is "Sleep Zzz" by Nao Toyama. The ending theme for the fifth episode is "Matadō Rabu" (またどーらぶ, lit. "Matado Love") by Kana Asumi. The ending theme for the seventh episode is "marchen ticktack" by Ayane Sakura.

Other media

A two-volume novel series, titled Nisekoi: Urabana, was published by Shueisha under their Jump j-Books imprint. The novels are written by Hajime Tanaka and illustrated by Naoshi Komi. The first volume was published on June 4, 2013^[36] and the second on December 28, 2013.^[37]

Chitoge Kirisaki appears as a support character in the Jump crossover fighting game J-Stars Victory VS.^[38] A game adaptation by Konami titled Nisekoi: Yomeiri!? was announced for the PlayStation Vita platform,^[39][40][41] and was released on November 27, 2014.^[42]

Reception

Manga

Nisekoi was listed at number 30 out of Oricon's top 30 manga series sold in 2013, with 1,542,417 copies sold.^[43] In 2014 it was ranked 16 out of top 30 manga series sold in 2014, with 3,816,372 which is more than twice the sale of 2013.^[44]

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network writes that the Nisekoi manga has a large lack of originality, such as "nearly every plot point can be traced back to another shounen series (primarily Sumomomo, Momomo in terms of Raku's home life)." Also "seasoned readers of shounen romance will recognize elements from at least three other series in there." However, she enjoyed the art and overall sense of fun.^[45]

Andy Hanley of UK Anime Network found Nisekoi: False Love to be "packed to the rafters with clichés" but light-hearted and fun to read. He said the character designs were traditional but the author knows when to detail backgrounds or keep things simple. The translations were decent and the dialogue smooth.^[46]

Sales