Itazura na Kiss (イタズラな) is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Kaoru Tada. Itazura na Kiss was first serialized and published in 1990 by Shueisha through Bessatsu Margaret magazine. It became successful very quickly and became the manga series that Tada became known for in Japan. The manga became so popular that three live TV series have been made so far in 1996, 2005, and 2010, with a sequel of the 2005 drama in late 2007. In 2013, a remake of the Japanese live TV series, called Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo, was made. Despite its success, the manga was never completed due to the unexpected death of the author in a house accident while she was moving to another house with her husband and son. However, the manga series continues to be published with the permission of the artist's widower. The manga has sold 35 million copies, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. A drama CD series was released in 2005–2006 and a 25-episode anime adaptation aired in 2008. In an interview, the author's widower, Shigeru Nishikawa, revealed that the manga's intended finale was to be conceptualized in the anime for the first time. Scripts regarding the plot of the anime closely followed the author's planned ending. On January 27, 2009, Digital Manga Publishing issued a press release announcing the acquisition of the license to publish Itazura na Kiss in English. They published the series in 12 omnibus editions; the first two were scheduled for November 2009 and March 2010, respectively. The last two volumes were available in their Akadot Retail store. The manga is also available through Amazon Kindle and BookWalker. The series was recently adapted into four live-action films.

Plot

In this romantic comedy story, a dim witted high school girl named Kotoko Aihara finally confesses her romantic feelings to a fellow senior named Naoki that she has been infatuated with from afar since she saw him on their first day of high school. However, Naoki, a hottie "super-ikemen" (handsome male) who is smart and good at sports, rejects her offhand. Fate intervenes when a mild earthquake ruins Kotoko's family house. While the house is rebuilt, Kotoko and her father stay at the home of her father's childhood best friend, whose son is revealed to be Naoki. Naoki eventually falls for Kotoko despite her clingy ways and childish behavior and starts to have romantic, protective feelings for her.

Characters

Main

Family members

Classmates

Other characters

Adaptations

TV dramas

In 1996, Itazura na Kiss was first adapted into a Japanese television drama of the same title, which ran from October 14 to December 16, 1996, for 9 episodes every Monday at 20:00 until 21:00 JST. This version did not cover Kotoko's and Naoki's married life. In 2005, it was adapted into two Taiwanese dramas, It Started with a Kiss and its sequel They Kiss Again, both starring Ariel Lin as not-so-bright Yuan Xiang-qin and Joe Cheng as the genius Jiang Zhi-shu. In 2010, it was adapted into a South Korean drama series, Playful Kiss, starring Kim Hyun-joong of SS501 as the perfectionist Baek Seung-jo and Jung So-min as the clumsy Oh Ha-ni. The series consisted of 16 TV episodes and 7 webisodes. In 2013, a second Japanese live-action adaptation aired on Fuji TV under the title Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo. It starred Miki Honoka as Kotoko Aihara and Yuki Furukawa as Naoki Irie. At the end of 2014, the sequel Mischievous Kiss 2: Love in Okinawa was aired, with both lead actors reprising their roles. The second season ended in March 2015. In 2015, it was adapted into a Thai drama series, Kiss Me (รักล้นใจนายแกล้งจุ๊บ). It starred Pirath Nitipaisankul and Sushar Manaying, and it aired on True4U. In 2016, it was adapted into a second Taiwanese drama, Miss in Kiss, starring Esther Wu as Xiang Yue-qin and Dino Lee as Jiang Zhi-shu. 39 episodes (20–30 minutes each) were broadcast from December 8, 2016 to March 24, 2017. The Japanese-dubbed version of the drama was released in mid-2017.

Anime

Itazura na Kiss was adapted into a 25 episode Japanese animated TV series by TMS Entertainment and shown on TBS from April 4, 2008 to September 25, 2008. The opening theme was "Kimi, Meguru, Boku" by Motohiro Hata, and the primary ending themes were "Kataomoi Fighter" by GO!GO!7188 and "Jikan yo Tomare (Stop Time)" by Azu featuring Seamo. Discotek Media licensed the animated series for Northern America and released it out on DVD in late 2014.

Films