Heroine Shikkaku

Heroine Shikkaku (Japanese: ヒロイン失格, Hepburn: Hiroin Shikkaku, lit. No Longer Heroine) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Momoko Kōda. It is published in French by Delcourt.^[1][2] A live action film adaptation was released on September 19, 2015 with Mirei Kiritani as Hatori Matsuzaki.

Plot

Hatori Matsuzaki is a colorful freshman high school student who harbors a deep crush on her childhood friend, the aloof Rita Terasaka. She is irritated when Rita accepts the love confession of Miho Adachi, a bespectacled awkward student whom he saves from bullies, and tries her hardest to steal him from her. In the meantime, Hatori meets with Kosuke Hiromitsu, a playful womanizer who takes an interest in her and becomes her boyfriend as a lip service for their "accidental" kiss. Rita slowly realizes that he has feelings for Hatori; however, after learning that Adachi has anemia and does not want him to leave her, he reluctantly rejects Hatori's confession. Disheartened, Hatori proceeds to go on a more serious relationship with Hiromitsu. Later, though, Rita cannot keep the pretension further and decides to do a messy breakup with Adachi, who stops attending school in depression.

Hatori struggles on her relationship with Hiromitsu as she keeps thinking about Rita in inappropriate times and is jealous when her best friend, Kyoko Nakajima, briefly becomes close with him. Rita, meanwhile, has made his mind to snatch Hatori from Hiromitsu in anyway. Despite this, Hatori cannot help but becomes jealous when Hiromitsu takes a part-time job as a waiter so he can earn money for his and Hatori's trip, as it requires him to be close to an upperclassman who is in love with him. Unable to take her insecurities further, Hiromitsu breaks up with Hatori.

At the same time, Adachi returns back, now a carefree and dangerously in obsession with free and abusive love, something that Rita is worried with. He tells Hatori that he cannot love her while thinking that his ex-girlfriend has changed into a lewd individual because of him. Certain that he will never return, Hatori decides that she would start fresh and forget any relationships she had. However, she is convinced by both her mother and Nakajima that though Hiromitsu might be a memory to her, Rita is not. With this in mind, Hatori tells Hiromitsu, who has come back to give a second try on their relationship, that she will choose Rita, a decision he quietly gives his blessing with. Hatori finally confesses her feelings for Rita, at that time trying to convince Adachi to stop her current habit. Adachi refuses to be pitied and tells Rita to pursue his own happiness, which motivates him to reciprocate Hatori's confession.

Characters

• Hatori Matsuzaki (松崎 はとり, Matsuzaki Hatori) – The series main protagonist and self-proclaimed heroine, Hatori is a bombastic, colorful, and impulsive freshman high school student who is in love with her childhood friend, Rita. She is insecure and at times self-centered, requiring her constant advice from her best friend, Nakajima. Her attempt to declare her love is hindered when Rita goes on a relationship with Adachi, and his subsequent rejection causes Hatori to pursue an initially shallow relationship with Hiromitsu that turns permanent, though Hatori eventually realizes that while she adores Hiromitsu, Rita will always be her foremost love, and in the series finale, she confesses to him in a more stalwart state, which he reciprocates. In the live action film, Hatori is played by Mirei Kiritani.
• Rita Terasaka (寺坂 利太, Terasaka Rita) – Hatori's childhood friend and self-proclaimed hero, Rita met Hatori when they were 10 years old, shortly after his mother left him to marry a younger man. Rita develops an aloof outlook as a result, thinking that he should not pursue a serious relationship with anyone under fear that they would leave him eventually. Despite this, his friendship with Hatori is unbreakable, thanks to Rita's continuing admiration of Hatori's declaration to be with him at all time. While he pursues a relationship with Adachi, which only lasts for a short while, Rita realizes that he does have feelings for Hatori, which is further ignited when Hatori goes out with Hiromitsu. In the final chapter, Rita reciprocates Hatori's love confession, and the two go out on a date soon after. In the live action film, Rita is played by Kento Yamazaki.
• Kosuke Hiromitsu (弘光 廣祐, Hiromitsu Kōsuke) – Hatori's schoolmate whose athletic build thanks to being a basketball ace and angelic face are often compared by Hatori to "KakiP of NYAS" (a parody of YamaP, a former member of the boy band NEWS). Initially a shameless womanizer who goes out with women who take a liking to his looks, Hiromitsu takes an interest in Hatori, who initially rejects him during her attempt to woo Rita. This affection turns into love, and Hiromitsu and Hatori become a couple eventually. Their relationship is hampered, however, with Hatori's insecurities, leading to their breakup. While Hiromitsu is convinced by Ryosuke to give it a second chance, he eventually concedes to Hatori's ultimate choice to pursue Rita. In the live action film, Hiromitsu is played by Kentarō Sakaguchi.
• Kyoko Nakajima (中島 杏子, Nakajima Kyōko) – Hatori's best friend and voice of reason. Playing the role of straight man, Nakajima provides advice to Hatori about her love life, which at times are sarcastic, mostly because she is annoyed at Hatori's immaturity and lack of common sense. Nevertheless, Nakajima genuinely cares for Hatori and voices concern when she is down. In the middle of the series, Nakajima briefly takes an interest to Rita, who at that time has just broken up with Adachi, but when she realizes that Hatori becomes deeply jealous, she drops the issue for Hatori's sake. In the live action film, Nakajima is played by Ayano Fukuda.
• Miho Adachi (安達 未帆, Adachi Miho) – A bespectacled girl Rita dates after he saves her from two bullies. Hatori considers her as the "perfect heroine", contrasting with her own "evil heroine" persona. She was once awkward and a loner, but with Rita's encouragement, she opens up and even trades her glasses with contacts. Adachi is hopelessly polite as she always respects Hatori and Rita's true feelings for each other despite the fact that they hurt her. When Rita breaks up with her, Adachi is depressed but takes it in stride. She subsequently vanishes for most of the series until near the end, when she returns with a wild and carefree dispositions, something that Rita is worried at. Despite going on abusive relationships, Adachi refuses to be pitied at and tells Rita to find his own happiness, leading him to reciprocate Hatori's confession in the end. In the live action film, Adachi is played by Miwako Wagatsuma.
• Moe Hiromitsu (弘光 萌, Hiromitsu Moe) – Hiromitsu's cousin who becomes a close friend to Hatori. She, Hatori, Rita, and Nakajima were in the same middle school, although Hatori did not know her until the field trip of the freshman high school year. Moe briefly becomes Hatori's rival in attracting Rita, but when Moe finds out that the two are incompatible, she decides to support Hatori's attempt to woo Rita. Moe does not appear in the live-action film.

Reception

Sales

Volume 7 has sold 40,276 copies (as of July 1, 2012),^[3] volume 8 has sold 35,408 copies (as of October 28, 2012),^[4] and volume 9 has sold 45,803 copies (as of March 2, 2013).^[5]

Box office

The film was number-one at the Japanese box office and has earned US$20.5 million.^[6]

References

External links

• Heroine Shikkaku official manga page at Betsuma Magazine (in Japanese)
• Heroine Shikkaku official movie website (in Japanese)
• Heroine Shikkaku at Twitter (in Japanese)