True Love (manga)

True Love is a Japanese slice-of-life romance shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Miwako Sugiyama. It was published by Shogakukan, with serialization on Shōjo Comic magazine and with seven volumes^[1] compiling the chapters released between 2013 and 2015.

Synopsis

Ai just loves her big brother, Yuzuru! He's so kind, so reliable, and so cool! He always protects Ai from trouble and when she cries, he cheers her up! He's the perfect big brother. But, bad things happen soon. Her parents divorce and she and her brother are separated! Now, after 9 years, one day Ai, now 14-years-old, finds a tall boy in front of her school! Who is this boy?

Characters

• Ai Souda

The female protagonist. She is 14-year-old girl and a first year middle school student. She is Yuzuru's precious little sister. Ai is a sweet and innocent girl who is caring towards those dear to her, especially her older brother. After their parents' divorce when Ai was only 5, she longed to find Yuzuru again and almost didn't recognize him when he returned to Japan after a 9-year separation. Initially overjoyed to have her big brother back, Ai started to see Yuzuru less as a brother and more as a man, and gradually fell in love with him. Realizing how wrong her feelings were, she tried to resist them but couldn't help feel jealous as her friend, Nanayo, showed an interest in Yuzuru. After receiving her first kiss from him, Ai and Yuzuru confess their feelings to each other and tried to keep their relationship a secret. However, with their secret being discovered by their friends and mother who opposed them, Ai decided to break off the relationship on the condition that she become Yuzuru's lover, and loses her virginity to him. In a time-skip, Ai, in high school, agrees to an arranged marriage in order to forget Yuzuru. On the day of the wedding, they find out they are not biologically related and are free to be together. Happy by this, Ai gets back together with Yuzuru, although they have a long-distant relationship due to Ai finishing high school in Japan and Yuzuru's job in America. In the final chapter, Yuzuru proposes to her and she accepts, and they are shown living happily together.

• Yuzuru Souda

The male protagonist. He is 17-years-old and a high school student. He is Ai's beloved older brother. Yuzuru is kind, gentle, and modest towards his family and friends, and enjoys teasing Ai, as he is unable to resist her cuteness. After their parents' divorce, Yuzuru went to live with their father in America while Ai stayed with their mother in Japan, and they were never able to contact each other until 9 years later, after receiving his mother's blessing to see Ai. At first presenting himself as the protective and doting big brother, Yuzuru has always considered Ai to be the most important person in his life and is willing to do anything to see her happy. However, he starts to fall in love with Ai and is the first one to initiate a relationship with her by (accidentally) kissing her on the lips. After a while, they admit their feelings for each other and begin a secret relationship. As time went by, their closest friends find out, followed by their mother who refused to allow them to be together. After consummating their relationship, Yuzuru returned to America to move on, but finds a letter written to him from his father which reveals the truth about Yuzuru; he is not Ai's biological brother but was adopted by her parents, and his real parents were actually siblings who kept their marriage a secret from everyone but his father. After this, he and Ai get back together, leading him to propose to her a couple of years alter and they begin living together.

• Nanayo Takeuchi

Ai's friend from school. She immediately takes an interest in Yuzuru and tries to get Ai to talk him into spending more time with her. This makes Ai jealous and sad, as she is also in love with Yuzuru. Nanayo is among the first people to find out about the relationship between the siblings and is against it. She becomes increasingly jealous at Ai that she ends their friendship and attempts to tell her mother about her dating Yuzuru.

• Shuuji

A classmate of Ai and Yuzuru, and he is best friends with Yuzuru. He has a crush on Ai and tries repeatedly to get her to go out with him. Ai, on the other hand, simply sees him as a dear friend, in addition to being in love with Yuzuru. Once Shuuji discovers the secret relationship between Ai and Yuzuru, he is disgusted and warns Yuzuru of the consequences of committing incest, as well as vowing to take Ai from him no matter what.

• Mrs. Souda

Ai and Yuzuru's mother. She raised Ai after divorcing her husband and had no contact with her son, due to her refusal to see her ex-husband. By the start of the series, she agrees to let Yuzuru move to Japan to see Ai. She is the most oblivious to Ai and Yuzuru's secret relationship and they tried to keep it hidden her from the most, knowing she will try to separate them again. Following the death of her ex-husband, she is further distraught when she discovers the relationship and forbids them from being together, and wanted Yuzuru to return to America. She later arranges a marriage for Ai, but when Yuzuru tells Ai the truth of them not being related, it turns out Mrs. Souda knew Yuzuru was adopted. Seeing how happy Ai is with Yuzuru, she allows them to be together.

• Mr. Souda

Ai and Yuzuru's father. He raised Yuzuru after his divorce with his wife and had no contact with Ai because his ex-wife didn't want anything to do with him. Years later, he and his ex-wife reach an agreement to have Ai and Yuzuru meet each other again, and he moved back to Japan with his son. Unknown to Ai and Yuzuru, he finds out about the relationship early on and instead of confronting them, he keeps quiet about it. He dies in the late part of the manga from a plane crash as he was returning to America for his job. After his death, he leaves a letter to Yuzuru that details his knowledge of the relationship, as well as revelations that he was best friends with Yuzuru's biological parents and knew they were siblings. After they died, he took custody of Yuzuru and raised him with his wife before Ai was born.

Volumes

• 1 (May 24, 2013)^[2]
• 2 (September 26, 2013)^[3]
• 3 (December 26, 2013)^[4]
• 4 (April 25, 2014)^[5]
• 5 (June 26, 2014)^[6]
• 6 (October 24, 2014)^[7]
• 7 (March 26, 2015)^[8]

Reception

Volume 2 reached the 40th place on the weekly Oricon manga charts and, as of September 29, 2013, had sold 33,158 copies;^[9] volume 3 reached the 36th place and, as of December 29, 2013, had sold 36,615 copies;^[10] volume 4 reached the 31st place and, as of April 27, 2014, had sold 31,071 copies;^[11] volume 5 reached the 27th place and, as of June 29, 2014, had sold 35,408 copies;^[12] volume 6 reached the 40th place and, as of November 2, 2014, had sold 55,129 copies^[13] and volume 7 reached the 22nd place^[14] and, as of April 5, 2015, had sold 62,096 copies.^[15]

References