is a Japanese Romantic comedy

Romantic Comedy

Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...

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 written and illustrated by Minoru Toyoda. It began serialization in 2003 Afternoon a Japanese manga magazine. The first bound volume was released in September 2003 in Japan; as of December 2005, the story concluded with five volumes released. The manga was licensed by Del Rey

Del Rey Books

Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...

, with the first volume being released on August 30, 2005.
The story is about a boy, Hoshino, who to attract the girl he likes, Negishi, chooses to be completely honest.

Plot

In the middle of class, in front of everybody, Hoshino approaches Negishi (who doesn't even know his name) with "Negishi, I like you. Please go out with me" and is obviously refused; she refuses to go on a date too, so they settle for walking home together, and the whole class starts laughing and clapping their hands (a leitmotiv in their story, marking every significant advancement in their relationship). The day after their walk, Negishi approaches Hoshino with "Hoshino, I like you. Please go out with me."

Characters

Undoubtedly an honest guy who always says what he thinks. He loved Negishi since the first moment he saw her, because she was saying and doing what he too had in his heart, but he didn't have the courage to act upon according to his feelings; from that moment on, he decided he'd always be honest.

The girl Hoshino loves; she has more common sense than he does, and thus she often slaps or punches him out of embarrassment. She gets a little embarrassed when Hoshino's and her relationship is often put on display to the high school public. Negishi is a horrible cook who can barely make any edible food for anyone including Hoshino. She thinks that she is like the tsukkomi in a Manzai

Manzai

is a traditional style of stand-up comedy in Japanese culture, which usually involves two performers —a straight man and a funny man —trading jokes at great speed...

, where Hoshino is the boke; in a panel, though, Hoshino claims to be the tsukkomi.

Negishi's best friend (Hoshino at first calls her "Negishi's friend" and never uses her name), intriguing and scheming; she often thinks of absurd plans for Hoshino, and is the primary source of comedy in the story. Although her pranks often make their relationship more difficult, she really roots for them, and accepts going on a double date with Tsukahara, leaving the couple alone as soon as they don't notice.

She is very often depicted drinking tomato (or other vegetables) juice with a straw, or sucking a lollipop

Lollipop

A lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. They are available in many flavors and shapes.- Types :Lollipops are available in a number of colors and...

. When the class claps their hands, she is often depicted waving her hand like a music director

Music director

A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...

.

Hoshino's best friend, cool as the author tags him in the character box. Soon after Hoshino's proposal, he gives him a condom

Condom

A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...

, but Hoshino doesn't understand he was teasing him and thanks him deeply. He represents the rational counterpart to Hoshino. Although he generally sees through Yoko's pranks he stays silent, preferring to be the onlooker.

A member of the Occult Research Club, often involved by Yoko in her plans, generally for fortune-telling, as her predictions are always wrong.

A member of Tsukahara's band and Hoshino's classmate; likes dirty talk, and his advice to Hoshino is generally sex-related.