Comic Girls

Comic Girls (こみっくがーるず) is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Kaori Hanzawa. It made its first appearance in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Max magazine with the May 2014 issue. An anime television series adaptation produced by Nexus aired in Japan between April and June 2018.

Plot

Kaoruko Moeta, a yonkoma manga artist who goes by the pen name "Kaos", is a freshman in high school. After her manga ranks at the bottom of a reader survey, her editor recommends that she enter a special dormitory for manga artists. Kaoruko's roommates are shōjo manga artist Koyume Koizuka, teen romance manga artist Ruki Irokawa, and shōnen manga artist Tsubasa Katsuki. The girls support each other as they work to create their best manga series.

Characters

  • Kaoruko Moeta (萌田 薫子) Kaos (かおす)
  • A shy 4-koma manga artist who moves into the Bunhousha Dormitory to improve her manga. As she looks much younger than she is, her appearance often becomes the butt of jokes and a target of others' affection.
  • Koyume Koizuka (恋塚 小夢) Koisuru Koyume (恋スル小夢)
  • A shōjo manga artist who struggles with drawing boys. She develops a crush on Tsubasa. She has no experience with romance, so she is always nervous about the quality of her romantic manga and the nature of her "strange" feelings for Tsubasa as another girl.
  • Ruki Irokawa (色川 琉姫) Big Boobies♥Himeko (爆乳♥姫子)
  • A serialized teens' love manga artist. She originally wanted to draw cute animal manga for children, but her ability to draw big-breasted women led to her drawing erotic manga.
  • Tsubasa Katsuki (勝木 翼) Wing V (ウィング・V)
  • A serialized shōnen manga artist with a boyish appearance. She will often put herself in the role of one of her characters when working on her manga. Because of her handsome appearance, other girls often fall in love with her making her very popular in school, the most notable example of which is Koyume. She comes from a rich family, keeping her hair long and adopting a different personality while at home.
  • Ririka Hanazono (花園莉々香)
  • The housemother at the Bunhousha Dormitory, who is a former yuri manga artist.
  • Mayu Amisawa (編沢 まゆ)
  • Kaoruko's editor.
  • Miharu Nijino (虹野 美晴)
  • The strict homeroom teacher of Kaoruko's class and a former yaoi manga artist.
  • Suzu Fūra (怖浦 すず)
  • A horror manga artist who enjoys the screams of others.
  • Haruko Moeta (萌田 はる子)
  • Kaoruko's mother.
  • Miki Irokawa (色川 美姫)
  • Ruki's younger sister.
  • Nyaos (にゃおす)
  • A cat who is taken in by the dorm residents due to its similarities to Kaos.

Media

Manga

Comic Girls is a four-panel series written and illustrated by Kaori Hanzawa. It made its first appearance in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Max with the May 2014 issue,[3] and began serialization in the magazine with the August 2014 issue.[4] The series ended serialization in the April 2023 issue released on February 17, 2023.[5]

Anime

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Nexus aired in Japan between April 5 and June 21, 2018.[7] The series is directed by Yoshinobu Tokumoto, with series composition by Natsuko Takahashi, character designs by Keiko Saito, and music by Kenichiro Suehiro. The opening and ending themes are respectively "Memories" and "Namida wa Misenai" (涙はみせない), both performed by Comic Girls (a group formed by Hikaru Akao, Kaede Hondo, Saori Ōnishi, and Rie Takahashi).[8][9] The series was simulcast by Crunchyroll worldwide except for in Asia and parts of Europe.[10]

Video game

Characters from the series appear alongside other Manga Time Kirara characters in the 2018 mobile RPG, Kirara Fantasia.[13][14]

References

  1. Jennifer Sherman. Comic Girls Anime Casts Hikaru Akao, Kaede Hondo, Rie Takahashi, Saori Ōnishi Anime News Network, December 19, 2017, retrieved December 19, 2017^
  2. Egan Loo. Comic Girls Anime Announces Additional Cast Members Anime News Network, February 17, 2018, retrieved February 17, 2018^
  3. まんがタイムきららMAX 2014年 5月号 Houbunsha, retrieved June 17, 2017^
  4. まんがタイムきららMAX 2014年 8月号 Houbunsha, retrieved June 17, 2017^
  5. Joanna Cayanan. Comic Girls Manga Ends in Next Chapter Anime News Network, January 22, 2023, retrieved January 22, 2023^
  6. こみっくがーるず Houbunsha, retrieved June 17, 2017^
  7. Crystalyn Hodgkins. Comic Girls TV Anime to Premiere in April Anime News Network, December 29, 2017, retrieved December 29, 2017^
  8. Jennifer Sherman. Kaori Hanzawa's Comic Girls Manga Gets TV Anime Anime News Network, June 16, 2017, retrieved June 16, 2017^
  9. Rafael Antonio Pineda. Comic Girls TV Anime Unveils Staff, Promo Video Anime News Network, August 19, 2017, retrieved August 20, 2017^
  10. Rafael Antonio Pineda. Crunchyroll to Stream Comic Girls Anime Anime News Network, April 5, 2018, retrieved September 6, 2019^
  11. ストーリー retrieved April 8, 2018^
  12. 放送情報 Tokyo MX, retrieved May 14, 2018^
  13. 「きららファンタジア」に「こみっくがーるず」の参戦が決定 4Gamer.net, April 23, 2018, retrieved January 14, 2021^
  14. 「きららファンタジア」で「こみっくがーるず」の参戦に合わせたイベントが開催 4Gamer.net, June 13, 2018, retrieved January 14, 2021^