, is a three volume
mangaManga consist of comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century...
by Clamp. The title literally means "I like you, that's why I like you." It was published in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
by
TOKYOPOPTokyopop, stylized TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Original English-language manga in English, German, and Japanese. Tokyopop is incorporated in Tokyo, Japan, with headquarters in Los Angeles, California and branches in...
(although their license has since expired).
Suki follows the story of Hinata Asahi, also known as Hina, a child-like teenager who loves
teddy bearThe teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. It is an enduring, traditional form of a stuffed animal, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items.- History :...
s. She lives alone in her house and early in the story, her new homeroom teacher moves into the empty house next door.
, is a three volume
mangaManga consist of comics and print cartoons , in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century...
by Clamp. The title literally means "I like you, that's why I like you." It was published in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
by
TOKYOPOPTokyopop, stylized TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Original English-language manga in English, German, and Japanese. Tokyopop is incorporated in Tokyo, Japan, with headquarters in Los Angeles, California and branches in...
(although their license has since expired).
Plot
Suki follows the story of Hinata Asahi, also known as Hina, a child-like teenager who loves
teddy bearThe teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. It is an enduring, traditional form of a stuffed animal, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items.- History :...
s. She lives alone in her house and early in the story, her new homeroom teacher moves into the empty house next door. Shirou Asou, her new teacher, becomes her first crush and he seems to take an interest in her as well. However, this simple love story grows complicated as Shirou's interest in Hina is put into question as more sinister elements are placed in the story, all while forcing Hinata to grow up at the same time.
Characters
:Although her full name is Hinata, she likes people to call her Hina. Sixteen-year-old Hina gets excellent grades, but is still very naïve and sees the world with child-like wonder and innocence. Hina chooses to live on her own, with two teddy bears named Waka and Tono and her new found friend, a cat. She wants to live on her own to accommodate her father's hectic schedule.
- Her father is the chairman of the school and he also owns many businesses. He hires Shirou Asou, a bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security guard or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, or other threats.Most important public figures such as heads of state or...
, to protect her from another kidnapping attempt (she had been kidnapped nine times before). Because her father always pays the ransomRansom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In early Germanic law a similar concept was called Weregild....
, no matter how large, Hina has been kidnapped many times. She later develops deeper feelings towards Shirou.
:Seemingly cold and unfeeling, 32-year old Shirou moves into the unoccupied house, next door to Hina's and is also her new substitute teacher. He is actually hired by Hina's father to protect her from another kidnapping. Oblivious to Hina's feelings of love, he (at first) seems to think of Hina as merely another job. He later recognizes her feelings, but he rejects them. He had fallen in love with a client before, but he always feels a pang of guilt whenever he thinks about her. The woman he had fallen in love with before, threw herself into the path of a bullet, sparing his life. Although she survived the blast, she was a
diplomatA diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organisation. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
ic guest, and later returned to her home country and married.
:Hina's best and life long friend, Touko is always looking out for the girl. Touko also is very suspicious about Asou. Many boys like her.
:Emi is another friend of Hina's. Opinionated and loud-mouthed, she never gives up the chance to explain how childish and naïve Hina is. Emi's father borrowed a lot of money from
Yakuza, also known as and violence groups, are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan.-Etymology:The term Yakuza comes from a Japanese game, Oicho-Kabu . The worst hand in the game is a set of eight, nine and three...
loansharks and he doesn't have any to repay them. Emi concocts a scheme to help her father kidnap Hina for the ransom that Hina's father is guaranteed to pay. After she is rescued by Shirou, Hina, in her loyalty and naïvete, forgives her and asks her father to loan Emi's family the money that they need. Emi is ashamed of what she's done and is grateful for Hina's forgiveness.
: A famous 21 year old writer, Hina refers to Tomoaki as Tomo-kun, a name that he hasn't been called in at least 10 years. Curiously enough, the genres he writes in are
eroticaErotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of human sexual relationships which frequently arouse the reader sexually. Such erotica takes the form of novels, short stories, poetry, true-life memoirs, and sex manuals...
and children's books. Tomo is the writer of Hina's favorite series of children's books, all featuring bears. Like Hina, Tomo is very carefree and sometimes hard to handle. He has also hired a bodyguard to protect him. Later in the story, Tomo writes a series of books that mirror the lives of Hina and Shirou, much like in
Chobitsis a Japanese manga created by Clamp. It was published by Kodansha in Young Magazine from February 2001 and November 2002 and collected in eight bound volumes. Unlike most stories by Clamp, Chobits is a seinen series commonly mistaken for shōjo because of its strong romantic themes and flowery art...
, another work by Clamp. The title of this work is Suki.
: Kizu is a colleague of Shirou, both having worked with the Secret Police. Now employed as Tomo's bodyguard, for reasons unexplained in the book, though it was implied that the circumstances are similar to Hina's.
Important locations
Hina's house
Hina's house is a large, two story home in a safe neighborhood. Shiro moves into the house next door to hers, to keep a watchful eye over her. Her house is (unbeknownst to her) tapped with multiple cameras and microphones, placed secretly by Shiro, to monitor Hina.
Outo High School
The high school that Hina attends and Shiro's place of employment. Outo High has also appeared in
Legal Drugis a manga series by Clamp. The main artist in this serialization is Tsubaki Nekoi, formerly Mick Nekoi. It is published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten and it is published in English by Tokyopop who have currently released 3 volumes...
(along with Shiro and a graduating Hina).
Chūō Doori Shopping District
-
- Bookstore
- Hina's favorite place to buy books, mostly by her favorite author, Tomo.
-
- Cafe Piffle Princess
- A cafe, a favorite place of Tomo's, he can often be seen writing his latest book (children's or otherwise) at his favorite booth near the door. The cafe is themed around the Piffle Princess, a cute
Since the 1970s, cuteness, in Japanese , has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, entertainment, clothing, food, toys, personal appearance, behavior, and mannerisms...
mascot character that appears frequently in Suki and other works by Clamp.
Manga
Tokyopop licensed
Suki: A Like Story for an English-language release in North America and published the three volume from February 10, 2004 to June 8, 2004. However, all three are now out of print.
Volume list
CLAMP in Wonderland
Suki, along with most of CLAMP's other titles, appeared in CLAMP's second music video,
CLAMP in Wonderland 2, which was the first time the manga was animated.