Junjo Romantica
Encyclopedia
, stylized as Junjo Romantica ~Pure Romance~, is a yaoi
series by Shungiku Nakamura
. It focuses on three storylines; the main couple, which comprises the bulk of the books, and two other male couples which provide ongoing side stories (Junjo Egoist and Junjo Terrorist). It has expanded into several cd-dramas, a manga
series with a spin-off running in Asuka Ciel, a light novel
series running in The Ruby with a spin-off and a 24-episode anime
series.
Shungiku Nakamura has written a spin-off to Junjou Romantica (mentioned above), titled Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
(lit. The Best First Love in the World) focusing on a shōjo
manga editor and his first love, which was also animated by Studio Deen in 2011.
.
is a 28-year-old popular author of fiction and erotic BL (Boys' Love) novels, and the youngest recipient of the distinguished Naomori Award. His nickname is "Usagi", which means "rabbit" in Japanese. Usagi is Misaki's tutor for the upcoming entrance exams, and a very close friend of Takahiro (he, in fact, harbored an unrequited love for Takahiro for a long time). He and Hiroki were childhood friends. Shortly after meeting Misaki, he finds that Takahiro has gotten engaged. Seeing how upset this makes Misaki on Usagi's behalf, Usagi realizes that he loves the younger boy and the two become lovers. He makes a cameo appearance in the first episode of the anime adapted Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
. He is henceforth mentioned a few times as the central character was once his editor. In the anime adaptation, Misaki doesn't know that Usagi had a relationship with the other professor Hiroki Kamijou, Usagi is voiced by Hikaru Hanada
is Akihiko's 30-year-old half brother (they have different mothers). He is generally cold and disapproving towards his brother, though no one really knows why. After a brief appearance by him in the middle of the series he begins proclaiming that he 'loves' Misaki, but that was only after he found out how close he and Usagi were. When he begins sending Misaki flowers and saying that he would take Misaki as his own, Usagi claims that Haruhiko was "always trying to take [his] things." In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kōsuke Toriumi
.
is Misaki's 28-year-old brother, and Akihiko's long-time friend. He was the subject of Akihiko's love interest for a long time, but never noticed Akihiko's feelings due to him being naive. He is extremely caring towards his brother, even dropping out of school to support Misaki's studies after their parents died. Early in the series, he engages and marries Kajiwara Manami. They soon move to Osaka due to his job. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kishō Taniyama
.
in the anime, he is 29 years-old and a long-time friend of Akihiko's, who is an associate professor at the college Misaki studies at. He is a bit of a loner and is extremely passionate about classical Japanese literature, apparently having graduated at the top of his class. Hiroki initially loved Akihiko, his childhood friend. He is an example of the tsundere
character archetype: he has a bad temper and is feared among his students, though he is actually shy and gets flustered easily. He is often called "Devil Kamijou" by the students. Hiroki has now fallen in love and is in a relationship with Nowaki, who calls him Hiro-san. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kentarō Itō
.
was orphaned without a name as an infant, he was named "Nowaki" ("typhoon" in Japanese) by the head of the orphanage because he was found in a heavy rain storm. Elders call him "Wacchan". 6 years previous to the main story, Nowaki first comes across Hiroki when he finds Hiroki crying about his fruitless relationship with Akihiko, and goes on to insist that Hiroki become his tutor. Originally studying to become a social worker, he changes his mind and is currently in training to become a pediatrician. Nowaki is very kind, understanding, and patient, and shows these traits most when around Hiroki. Nowaki is 4 years younger than Hiroki, leading to a desire to quickly catch up to him (mostly career-wise) so the two can stand on equal ground. Despite his age, Nowaki is actually much taller than Hiroki, a fact that initially irritated the older Hiroki. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Nobutoshi Canna
.
in the anime, he is 35 years old and a literature professor at Mitsuhashi University and a co-worker of Kamijo Hiroki. He was once married, but is now divorced most likely due to his indifference to feelings and emotions. His love interest is Takatsuki Shinobu, his young ex-brother-in-law. Miyagi is often playful when it comes to teasing Hiroki, though his true character is far more serious due to an event from his past. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue
.
is an 18-year-old high school student (and the son of Mitsuhashi University's dean of literature and of Miyagi's boss) who believes it to be fate that he is in love with his ex-brother-in-law, Miyagi Yo. He would very much like Miyagi to take responsibility for Shinobu falling in love with him. He is often blunt and unreasonable, though he is shown to have a softer side. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Daisuke Kishio
.
is a senior college student at Mitsuhashi University and Misaki's friend. He is very mysterious and it is hard to tell whether he is serious or not, though he is not a bad person. He is the son of famous novelist Ryouichi Sumi. Keiichi is also a member of the university's Onsen Research Group, ORG, which have been known for generations as makers of Japan's most terrifying haunted house. He has stated that he was merely using Misaki to get closer to his true object of affections, Usagi. Despite this the two remain close friends afterwords, showing that he does care for Misaki. In the anime adaption, he is voiced by Isshin Chiba
.
is the senior managing director of Marukawa Publishing, and Haruhiko's childhood friend. He is 32 years old in the main time line. He and his assistant Asahina are the main characters of the short comics released with the DVDs, Junjou Mistake. Junjou Mistake takes place ten years before the main Romantica storyline. Isaka aspired to be a novelist, but his real talents lay in finding future best-sellers. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa
.
is Ryūichiro's assistant, and came to work for the Isaka family when they helped the Asahina's out of a bad situation. Originally intended to be Isaka's playmate, he ended up becoming something more of a caretaker. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Ryōtarō Okiayu
.
is Usagi's editor, as well as friend to both him and Misaki. She is roughly the same age as Usagi and is constantly pushing him to finish his work on time. On the outside she seems like a very nice mannered person, but when Usagi does not hand in his manuscripts on time she is famous for freaking out and even, on one occasion, attacking him. In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Noriko Namiki.
is the father of Akihiko and Haruhiko and uncle of Kaoruko. He loves both of his sons equally and wants what's best for them, however, he can become quite ruthless in his need to accomplish that. Like his youngest son, Akihiko, he is very fond of bears and enjoys the art of woodcarving. He owns a successful business and is often seen carrying rubber ducks. It is briefly mentioned by Akihiko that Fuyuhiko was adopted. In the anime adaption, he is voiced by Jūrōta Kosugi
.
is Akihiko's cousin on his mother's side (though she has the same last name as Akihiko's father. Akihiko did mention once that his father was adopted so it's possible that Akihiko's mother is a blood relative of the Usami family, including Kaoruko Usami). She is 20 years old and came to Japan because she heard that her parents had fallen ill, but really it was a trick by her uncle Fuyuhiko to get her to come back and marry Haruhiko in order to separate him from Misaki. As time progresses in the story, Kaoruko claims to love Misaki as she has the "same taste" as Usagi. She wants to be a pâtissier (pastry chef). In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Mizuki Nana.
is Akihiko's 25-year-old cousin from his father's side of the family. He has returned from America to visit Akihiko, freeloading in his apartment. While he is very attached to Akihiko, he comes off as quite cold to Misaki. It turns out that the reason he's so cold to Misaki is that he has feelings for Kaoruko.
is Misaki's friend and classmate. He is attending Mitsuhashi University as a law student with aspirations of becoming a police officer in the future. He is also a member of the Kendo club. He met Misaki when he picked up The☆Kan phone strap that Misaki dropped. The two easily bonded over their shared love of The☆Kan manga.
is the creator of Misaki's favorite manga, The☆Kan. Whenever the deadline for his next manga installment is near, he becomes incredibly pessimistic. According to Isaka, it is disputed whether The☆Kan is in 1st or 2nd place in sales for the Marukawa Publishing Company. Misaki first met him at the Marukawa Publishing Company when Kyō is in one of his pre-deadline funks. Misaki gives him the motivation to continue by telling him how much his work means to him. Later on, Misaki is selected in a lottery to meet him once again for an autograph signing. Kyō's a bachelor, and when he's cleaned up he's a considerably attractive man. The majority of his fans are women. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Hozumi Gōda.
is a real estate agent who met Hiroki while trying to get him into a real estate contract. He and Hiroki had a short romantic relationship while Hiroki was dealing with his feelings for Akihiko. He appears very briefly and only in the manga.
is the Usami household butler, often mistakenly called 'Sebastian' by Misaki. (A joke based on the Japanese pop-culture stereotype of "Sebastian" as a typical butler name.) In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kenta Miyake
.
volumes by Kadokawa Shoten
. The first volume was released on June 2, 2003 ; as of May 1, 2011, 14 volumes have been released.
The series was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Blu Manga, an imprint of Tokyopop
, until Tokyopop's closure in May 2011. As of April 2011, 12 English volumes have been released. An attempt to gauge relative sales of manga titles by online vendors (based on publicly available "bestseller" listings) suggests that Junjo Romantica was the best-selling yaoi
manga
series of 2008 among online vendors. Volume 10 was #6 in the manga category of the New York Times "Graphic Books
" weekly bestseller list for July 11, 2009, and volume 12 was #4 on the same list for September 10, 2010.
produced an anime adaptation based around the manga series. Premiering in Japan on TV Hokkaido
on April 10, 2008, the series' first season ran for twelve episodes until its conclusion on June 26, 2008. A second season premiered on the same channel on October 12, 2008, it also ended after twelve episodes.
The anime series is licensed for release in North America by Kadokawa Pictures USA; Season 1 was released on May 4, 2010. The series has not been dubbed for English audiences, but released in Japanese with English subtitles. Per their website, they may be releasing the series under the name "Romantica: Pure Love".
(boys' love) title to enter the New York Times Manga Best Seller list when it debuted in week 28.
According to Oricon
and DVD
sales data from Animesuki, the first DVD for the Junjō Romantica anime adaptation was released on July 25, 2008 and it became a hit, selling 8,406 copies in its first week. It is currently the fourth best selling debut DVD for an anime series of 2008, just after Gundam 00, Macross Frontier
and Aria the Origination. It continued to dwell on the Oricon anime DVD charts for the second week charting on the top 5 with total sales for the first DVD at 10,986 copies. With those sales, it is currently ranked at number 1 for the shōjo
category on DVD sales for the year 2008. According to Oricon sales for the past 5 years, it is the best selling BL (Boys Love) anime so far and has performed the best on the charts.
The second season's DVD sales have performed extremely well as well, selling an average of 7,000 to 8,000 copies which makes it one of the most profitable anime series of the year. It is constantly ranked very high on Amazon Japan for the DVD category as well. Fan reviews and the responses were amazing.
Yaoi
In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...
series by Shungiku Nakamura
Shungiku Nakamura
is a Japanese manga artist most famous for the boys love manga Junjo Romantica: Pure Romance.- Works :* Junjo Romantica: Pure Romance * Hybrid Child * Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi - References :...
. It focuses on three storylines; the main couple, which comprises the bulk of the books, and two other male couples which provide ongoing side stories (Junjo Egoist and Junjo Terrorist). It has expanded into several cd-dramas, a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series with a spin-off running in Asuka Ciel, a light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
series running in The Ruby with a spin-off and a 24-episode anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series.
Shungiku Nakamura has written a spin-off to Junjou Romantica (mentioned above), titled Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
is a Japanese boys-love manga series written and illustrated by Shungiku Nakamura. In 2011, the manga was adapted into an anime television series under the title Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi. Produced by Studio DEEN under the direction of Chiaki Kon, the anime series began its broadcast run on April 9, 2011...
(lit. The Best First Love in the World) focusing on a shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
manga editor and his first love, which was also animated by Studio Deen in 2011.
Characters
is the 18-year-old (19 in episode 8 of Junjo Romantica) little brother of Takahiro. At the start of the series, Misaki is about to sit for his college entrance examinations. His dream is to go to Mitsuhashi University since that was the college his brother turned down so that he could begin taking care of Misaki after their parents died. Although seemingly childish and brash, Misaki is later revealed to be a person who is simply adamant on insisting against doing anything that might be troublesome for anyone else. This is due to the fact that he still blames himself for his parents' death (believing that if he had not asked them to hurry home, they would not have sped in the rain and crashed). Misaki and Usami eventually begin a relationship together which puzzles Misaki, who is not outwardly confident about his feelings towards the older man because of his narrow view of a typical relationship. In the anime adaption, he is voiced by Takahiro SakuraiTakahiro Sakurai
is a voice actor who was born in Aichi. He is a member of 81 Produce; his height is .Many of his roles are handsome men. However, he has also voiced reluctant heroes as well as the occasional villain...
.
is a 28-year-old popular author of fiction and erotic BL (Boys' Love) novels, and the youngest recipient of the distinguished Naomori Award. His nickname is "Usagi", which means "rabbit" in Japanese. Usagi is Misaki's tutor for the upcoming entrance exams, and a very close friend of Takahiro (he, in fact, harbored an unrequited love for Takahiro for a long time). He and Hiroki were childhood friends. Shortly after meeting Misaki, he finds that Takahiro has gotten engaged. Seeing how upset this makes Misaki on Usagi's behalf, Usagi realizes that he loves the younger boy and the two become lovers. He makes a cameo appearance in the first episode of the anime adapted Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi
is a Japanese boys-love manga series written and illustrated by Shungiku Nakamura. In 2011, the manga was adapted into an anime television series under the title Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi. Produced by Studio DEEN under the direction of Chiaki Kon, the anime series began its broadcast run on April 9, 2011...
. He is henceforth mentioned a few times as the central character was once his editor. In the anime adaptation, Misaki doesn't know that Usagi had a relationship with the other professor Hiroki Kamijou, Usagi is voiced by Hikaru Hanada
Hikaru Hanada
is a Japanese voice actor who is currently affiliated with Office Osawa.He is known for roles such as Usami Akihiko in Junjou Romantica.-Filmography:* Armitage: Dual-Matrix * Bleach...
is Akihiko's 30-year-old half brother (they have different mothers). He is generally cold and disapproving towards his brother, though no one really knows why. After a brief appearance by him in the middle of the series he begins proclaiming that he 'loves' Misaki, but that was only after he found out how close he and Usagi were. When he begins sending Misaki flowers and saying that he would take Misaki as his own, Usagi claims that Haruhiko was "always trying to take [his] things." In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kōsuke Toriumi
Kosuke Toriumi
, born on May 16, 1973 in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, is a seiyū employed by Arts Vision.-Profile:* Sometimes credited as Fube Tomomi** Nickname: , , -Anime:1999*Di Gi Charat 2000*Saiyuki Reload: Burial 2001...
.
is Misaki's 28-year-old brother, and Akihiko's long-time friend. He was the subject of Akihiko's love interest for a long time, but never noticed Akihiko's feelings due to him being naive. He is extremely caring towards his brother, even dropping out of school to support Misaki's studies after their parents died. Early in the series, he engages and marries Kajiwara Manami. They soon move to Osaka due to his job. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kishō Taniyama
Kisho Taniyama
' is a seiyū who is affiliated with Ken Production. He is also the vocal and lyricist of the Japanese rock unit / band GRANRODEO under the name KISHOW.-TV Anime:* Basquash! * Bleach * Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo...
.
in the anime, he is 29 years-old and a long-time friend of Akihiko's, who is an associate professor at the college Misaki studies at. He is a bit of a loner and is extremely passionate about classical Japanese literature, apparently having graduated at the top of his class. Hiroki initially loved Akihiko, his childhood friend. He is an example of the tsundere
Tsundere
is a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms , meaning to turn away in disgust, and meaning to become 'lovey dovey'...
character archetype: he has a bad temper and is feared among his students, though he is actually shy and gets flustered easily. He is often called "Devil Kamijou" by the students. Hiroki has now fallen in love and is in a relationship with Nowaki, who calls him Hiro-san. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kentarō Itō
Kentaro Ito
is a seiyū who was born in Hachiōji, Tokyo, Japan. He has been affiliated with Mediarte since May 2009.- Notable anime roles :* Ai No Kusabi - Riki* Ao no Exorcist - Shiratori/Astaroth* Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! WGP - Brett Astaire...
.
was orphaned without a name as an infant, he was named "Nowaki" ("typhoon" in Japanese) by the head of the orphanage because he was found in a heavy rain storm. Elders call him "Wacchan". 6 years previous to the main story, Nowaki first comes across Hiroki when he finds Hiroki crying about his fruitless relationship with Akihiko, and goes on to insist that Hiroki become his tutor. Originally studying to become a social worker, he changes his mind and is currently in training to become a pediatrician. Nowaki is very kind, understanding, and patient, and shows these traits most when around Hiroki. Nowaki is 4 years younger than Hiroki, leading to a desire to quickly catch up to him (mostly career-wise) so the two can stand on equal ground. Despite his age, Nowaki is actually much taller than Hiroki, a fact that initially irritated the older Hiroki. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Nobutoshi Canna
Nobutoshi Canna
is a seiyū who was born on June 10, 1968 in Tokyo. Canna is currently affiliated with Aoni Production.He is most known for the roles of Tasuki , Ban Mido , Nnoitra , Basara Nekki , Kabuto Yakushi , Guts , Knuckles the Echidna Lee...
.
in the anime, he is 35 years old and a literature professor at Mitsuhashi University and a co-worker of Kamijo Hiroki. He was once married, but is now divorced most likely due to his indifference to feelings and emotions. His love interest is Takatsuki Shinobu, his young ex-brother-in-law. Miyagi is often playful when it comes to teasing Hiroki, though his true character is far more serious due to an event from his past. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kazuhiko Inoue
Kazuhiko Inoue
is a veteran voice actor from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.-Biography:Since his debut in 1973, Kazuhiko Inoue has become one of Japan's most well established voice actors. His early roles from the 1970s include Anthony in Candy Candy, and later as Joe in the 1979 remake of Cyborg 009...
.
is an 18-year-old high school student (and the son of Mitsuhashi University's dean of literature and of Miyagi's boss) who believes it to be fate that he is in love with his ex-brother-in-law, Miyagi Yo. He would very much like Miyagi to take responsibility for Shinobu falling in love with him. He is often blunt and unreasonable, though he is shown to have a softer side. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Daisuke Kishio
Daisuke Kishio
is a male Japanese voice actor. He is a member of Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society . Kishio changed his given name from 大輔 to だいすけ on June 1, 2007 with the pronunciation and romanization remaining the same....
.
is a senior college student at Mitsuhashi University and Misaki's friend. He is very mysterious and it is hard to tell whether he is serious or not, though he is not a bad person. He is the son of famous novelist Ryouichi Sumi. Keiichi is also a member of the university's Onsen Research Group, ORG, which have been known for generations as makers of Japan's most terrifying haunted house. He has stated that he was merely using Misaki to get closer to his true object of affections, Usagi. Despite this the two remain close friends afterwords, showing that he does care for Misaki. In the anime adaption, he is voiced by Isshin Chiba
Isshin Chiba
is a Japanese voice actor who currently works for Arts Vision. He is best known for doing the voice of Jin Kazama from the Tekken series.-Anime:*Aoki Densetsu Shoot *.hack//SIGN *Bleach *Chobits...
.
is the senior managing director of Marukawa Publishing, and Haruhiko's childhood friend. He is 32 years old in the main time line. He and his assistant Asahina are the main characters of the short comics released with the DVDs, Junjou Mistake. Junjou Mistake takes place ten years before the main Romantica storyline. Isaka aspired to be a novelist, but his real talents lay in finding future best-sellers. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa
Toshiyuki Morikawa
is a prolific Japanese male voice actor from Yokohama, Kanagawa, was affiliated with Arts Vision. Lately, however, he has become the head of that a voice actor company he founded in Apr 2011. His name is also sometimes mistranslated as Tomoyuki...
.
is Ryūichiro's assistant, and came to work for the Isaka family when they helped the Asahina's out of a bad situation. Originally intended to be Isaka's playmate, he ended up becoming something more of a caretaker. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Ryōtarō Okiayu
Ryotaro Okiayu
is a Japanese voice actor, who was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and raised in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. He has been active since 1989, and is currently affiliated with Aoni Production....
.
is Usagi's editor, as well as friend to both him and Misaki. She is roughly the same age as Usagi and is constantly pushing him to finish his work on time. On the outside she seems like a very nice mannered person, but when Usagi does not hand in his manuscripts on time she is famous for freaking out and even, on one occasion, attacking him. In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Noriko Namiki.
is the father of Akihiko and Haruhiko and uncle of Kaoruko. He loves both of his sons equally and wants what's best for them, however, he can become quite ruthless in his need to accomplish that. Like his youngest son, Akihiko, he is very fond of bears and enjoys the art of woodcarving. He owns a successful business and is often seen carrying rubber ducks. It is briefly mentioned by Akihiko that Fuyuhiko was adopted. In the anime adaption, he is voiced by Jūrōta Kosugi
Jurota Kosugi
is a Japanese voice actor. His deep voice is often used for rough and imposing characters. He is well known for playing the role of Sukashii from Kyattou Ninden Teyandee and Asuma Sarutobi from Naruto....
.
is Akihiko's cousin on his mother's side (though she has the same last name as Akihiko's father. Akihiko did mention once that his father was adopted so it's possible that Akihiko's mother is a blood relative of the Usami family, including Kaoruko Usami). She is 20 years old and came to Japan because she heard that her parents had fallen ill, but really it was a trick by her uncle Fuyuhiko to get her to come back and marry Haruhiko in order to separate him from Misaki. As time progresses in the story, Kaoruko claims to love Misaki as she has the "same taste" as Usagi. She wants to be a pâtissier (pastry chef). In the anime adaptation, she is voiced by Mizuki Nana.
is Akihiko's 25-year-old cousin from his father's side of the family. He has returned from America to visit Akihiko, freeloading in his apartment. While he is very attached to Akihiko, he comes off as quite cold to Misaki. It turns out that the reason he's so cold to Misaki is that he has feelings for Kaoruko.
is Misaki's friend and classmate. He is attending Mitsuhashi University as a law student with aspirations of becoming a police officer in the future. He is also a member of the Kendo club. He met Misaki when he picked up The☆Kan phone strap that Misaki dropped. The two easily bonded over their shared love of The☆Kan manga.
is the creator of Misaki's favorite manga, The☆Kan. Whenever the deadline for his next manga installment is near, he becomes incredibly pessimistic. According to Isaka, it is disputed whether The☆Kan is in 1st or 2nd place in sales for the Marukawa Publishing Company. Misaki first met him at the Marukawa Publishing Company when Kyō is in one of his pre-deadline funks. Misaki gives him the motivation to continue by telling him how much his work means to him. Later on, Misaki is selected in a lottery to meet him once again for an autograph signing. Kyō's a bachelor, and when he's cleaned up he's a considerably attractive man. The majority of his fans are women. In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Hozumi Gōda.
is a real estate agent who met Hiroki while trying to get him into a real estate contract. He and Hiroki had a short romantic relationship while Hiroki was dealing with his feelings for Akihiko. He appears very briefly and only in the manga.
is the Usami household butler, often mistakenly called 'Sebastian' by Misaki. (A joke based on the Japanese pop-culture stereotype of "Sebastian" as a typical butler name.) In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kenta Miyake
Kenta Miyake
is a Japanese voice actor who is affiliated with 81 Produce.He is known for his unusually low voice .After the death of Hirotaka Suzuoki in 2006, Kenta took over the role of Giovanni during Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. He has since expanded this role into the new series, Pokemon Best Wishes...
.
Manga
Written by Shungiku Nakamura, Junjo Romantica: Pure Romance began serialization in Asuka Ciel in 2002. The individual chapters were compiled into fourteen tankōbonTankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes by Kadokawa Shoten
Kadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
. The first volume was released on June 2, 2003 ; as of May 1, 2011, 14 volumes have been released.
The series was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Blu Manga, an imprint of Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
, until Tokyopop's closure in May 2011. As of April 2011, 12 English volumes have been released. An attempt to gauge relative sales of manga titles by online vendors (based on publicly available "bestseller" listings) suggests that Junjo Romantica was the best-selling yaoi
Yaoi
In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series of 2008 among online vendors. Volume 10 was #6 in the manga category of the New York Times "Graphic Books
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
" weekly bestseller list for July 11, 2009, and volume 12 was #4 on the same list for September 10, 2010.
Volume listing
Anime
Studio DeenStudio DEEN
is a Japanese company that produces anime. Three years after Sunrise was founded in 1972, Studio Deen was established by Sunrise's members in 1975. As a result of this, anime shows such as Cowboy Bebop that were produced by Sunrise may have had assistance from Studio Deen.-Produced anime:* Urusei...
produced an anime adaptation based around the manga series. Premiering in Japan on TV Hokkaido
TV Hokkaido
is a TV station headquartered in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan, and is affiliated with TXN.- Offices :*Headquarters - 6-12-4, Odori-higashi, Chūō-ku, Sapporo*Tokyo office - Hashizen Building, Shinbashi, Minato, Tokyo...
on April 10, 2008, the series' first season ran for twelve episodes until its conclusion on June 26, 2008. A second season premiered on the same channel on October 12, 2008, it also ended after twelve episodes.
The anime series is licensed for release in North America by Kadokawa Pictures USA; Season 1 was released on May 4, 2010. The series has not been dubbed for English audiences, but released in Japanese with English subtitles. Per their website, they may be releasing the series under the name "Romantica: Pure Love".
Reception
Junjo Romantica became the first yaoiYaoi
In careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...
(boys' love) title to enter the New York Times Manga Best Seller list when it debuted in week 28.
According to Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
sales data from Animesuki, the first DVD for the Junjō Romantica anime adaptation was released on July 25, 2008 and it became a hit, selling 8,406 copies in its first week. It is currently the fourth best selling debut DVD for an anime series of 2008, just after Gundam 00, Macross Frontier
Macross Frontier
is a Japanese animated science fiction space drama that aired in Japan on MBS from April 3, 2008 to September 25, 2008. It is the most recent Japanese anime television series set in the Macross universe. Animated by Satelight, premiered Japan on MBS on April 3, 2008...
and Aria the Origination. It continued to dwell on the Oricon anime DVD charts for the second week charting on the top 5 with total sales for the first DVD at 10,986 copies. With those sales, it is currently ranked at number 1 for the shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
category on DVD sales for the year 2008. According to Oricon sales for the past 5 years, it is the best selling BL (Boys Love) anime so far and has performed the best on the charts.
The second season's DVD sales have performed extremely well as well, selling an average of 7,000 to 8,000 copies which makes it one of the most profitable anime series of the year. It is constantly ranked very high on Amazon Japan for the DVD category as well. Fan reviews and the responses were amazing.