So Cute it Hurts!!

So Cute it Hurts!!
The cover of the first volume of the manga
小林が可愛すぎてツライっ!! (Kobayashi ga Kawai Sugite Tsurai!!)
Manga
Written by	Gō Ikeyamada
Published by	Shogakukan
English publisher	NA Viz Media SG Shogakukan Asia
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Shōjo Comic
Original run	August 2012 – August 2015
Volumes	15
Original video animation
Released	July 26, 2013
Runtime	15 minutes each
Episodes	2

So Cute It Hurts!! (小林が可愛すぎてツライっ!!, Kobayashi ga Kawai Sugite Tsurai!!) also known as Koba Cute! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gō Ikeyamada. It was adapted into an original video animation, included in volume 3 limited edition of the series.^[1] The series concluded on August 20, 2015.^[2]

Plot

The story revolves around a twin brother and sister: Mitsuru and Megumu Kobayashi who are now attending separate high schools. One day, they decided to exchange places without knowing what fate had waiting for them.

Characters

Megumu Kobayashi (小林 愛, Kobayashi Megumu) aka Mego

Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura (OVA), Ayahi Takagaki (game)

One of the main protagonists, Megumu ("Mego") is the twin sister of Mitsuru. Her name was based on Megohime, Japanese warlord Date Masamune's wife. She is a Japanese history otaku and holds a deep admiration for Date Masamune. During her swap with Mitsuru, Mego befriends and falls in love with school delinquent Aoi Sanada, a boy with a troubled past and an eye patch, similar to Masamune's. She holds a deep love for Aoi, as evidenced by her kissing Aoi's scar and accepting it. Towards the manga's conclusion, Mego marries Aoi and has a daughter named Ibuki.

Mitsuru Kobayashi (小林 十, Kobayashi Mitsuru)

Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura (OVA), Ayahi Takagaki (game)

Mitsuru is one of the main protagonists and the twin brother of Mego. He is very skilled in kendo and is one of his school's top fighters. Mitsuru falls in love with Shino at first sight while he and Mego have exchanged identities, however eventually gives up on pursuing Shino after discovering her feelings for someone else. Whilst recovering from the loss of Shino, he gradually falls in love with Azusa, proposing to her after learning of her father's intentions to betroth her to another. At the end of the manga, Mitsuru marries Azusa.

Aoi Sanada (真田 蒼, Sanada Aoi)

Voiced by: Daisuke Ono

A main protagonist of the series, Aoi is his school's top fighter, however has a troubled past that resulted in him wearing an eye patch on his right eye. Aoi meets Mego when she falls down of the stairs of a bridge and he gradually falls in love with Mego during her and Mitsuru's identity exchange, leading Aoi to question his sexuality due to him being unaware of Mego's true gender. Aoi also has a phobia towards women. Due to the scar under Aoi's eyepatch, his mother abandoned both him and Shino, his half-sister; thus resulting in him being afraid of anyone seeing the scar as they might leave him as his mother once did. He and Shino also have a younger sibling called Akane who is the only son of their lost mother; both Aoi and Akane develop a strong friendship. Near the end of the manga, he marries Mego and had a daughter named Ibuki.

Shino Takenaka (竹中 紫乃, Takenaka Shino)

Shino is a student in Mego's high school and a main protagonist. An aspiring author, Shino is deaf and therefore can only communicate through writing and sign language. Mitsuru falls in love with her while he is posing as Mego, coming to her rescue while she is being tormented by her half-sister Azusa. Shino is half-sister to both Aoi and Azusa; she and Azusa share fathers while both her and Aoi have the same mother. Tormented and bullied by Azusa, her life vastly improves once she meets Mitsuru (disguised as Mego), who vows to protect her. She later becomes romantically involved with a university student due to a sacrificial push from Mitsuru, later marrying the former and having a daughter with him named Shiori. At the end of the manga, she and Mego write a children's book together.

Azusa Tokugawa (徳川梓, Tokugawa Azusa)

Voiced by: Azumi Asakura (OVA), Yū Serizawa (game)

A student at Mego's school and a popular model, Azusa has an outwardly pleasant demeanor, however is seemingly a manipulative and sadistic bully to Shino as well as anyone who gets in her way. After vowing to protect Shino, Mitsuru unintentionally wages an unfriendly rivalry with her, resulting in Azusa using her power to torture Mitsuru and anyone who sides with him. Failing to do so, Azusa unintentionally discovers "Mego" is really Mitsuru. Having the power to expose him, she decides not to as she realises she has feelings for Mitsuru, begrudgingly falling in love with him. It is revealed that she and Shino are half-sisters and Azusa bullied Shino as her father loves Shino and her mother more than her and Azusa’s mother. Azusa and Mitsuru become a couple and at the manga's conclusion, have twins.

Reception

Volume 1 reached a total of 117,197 copies by January 13, 2013 on the Oricon manga chart.^[3] Volume 2 reached the second place on the week of March 25 to March 21, 2013 with 100,762 copies.^[4] Volume 3 reached a total of 143,886 copies by August 11, 2013.^[5] Volume 4 reached the 7th place on the week of August 21 to September 1, 2013 with 113,820 copies.^[6]

References