Hana-Kimi

Hana-Kimi, known in Japan as Hanazakari no Kimitachi E (花ざかりの君たちへ For You in Full Blossoms) is a shōjo manga series written by Hisaya Nakajo (中条比紗也 Nakajo Hisaya).

Related Topics:
Japan - Shōjo - Manga - Hisaya Nakajo

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The manga is serialized in Japan in Hakusensha's Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams), which comes out bi-weekly (5th and 20th of every month). This manga series has ended at volume 23 in August 2004. An artbook was released in May 2005 in addition to a character book.

Related Topics:
Hakusensha - Hana to Yume - Artbook

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Hana-Kimi is published in English under the name Hana-Kimi by VIZ Media.

Related Topics:
English - VIZ Media

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Hanazakari no Kimitachi E or "For You in Full Blossom" (shortened to "Hana-Kimi" by fans) centers around Mizuki Ashiya is a Japanese girl who lives in the United States. One day, she sees a track and field competition on TV, and becomes attracted by one of the competitors, Izumi Sano, doing the high jump. She decides that she wants to befriend her new hero, and goes all the way to Japan to look him up. However, Sano goes to a boys' school, and thus Mitsuki takes it upon herself to pretend to be a boy and enters Osaka Gakuen in order to meet him, thus hilarity ensues.

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By a stroke of pure luck the two of them are put in the same room and are in the same class, and soon Sano figures out Mizuki's secret on his own, though he chooses to keep quiet about it. The story is often times highly comedic, thanks to an interesting mix of supporting characters, namely the flashy school doctor Umeda who happens to be gay, and Nakatsu, Izumi Sano's best friend, who is forever in torment over his apparent attraction to Mizuki, who he still thinks is a guy.

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The gender-bending nature of this series gives for many amusing hi-jinx and a lot of laughter, but at the core, the series also has just the amount of drama and romance that makes it so appealing to the normal shoujo audience. Hanazakari no Kimitachi E was serialized in the popular magazine for high school girls called "Margaret" and is wildly popular in Japan. It is currently being licensed in the United States by Viz under the simpler title of "Hana-Kimi".

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