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The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All

(Redirected from Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta)

The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All (Japanese: 気になってる人が男じゃなかった, Hepburn: Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sumiko Arai. Originating as a short story posted on Arai's Twitter account from July to September 2021, it started its current weekly run in April 2022, before being serialized on Pixiv Comic in April 2023. Kadokawa Shoten published the series in print, with its first volume releasing that same month.

The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All
Cover of the first volume, featuring Mitsuki Koga (left) and Aya Oosawa (right)
気になってる人が男じゃなかった
(Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta)
GenreYuri[1]
Manga
Written bySumiko Arai
Published byKadokawa Shoten
English publisher
MagazinePixiv Comic
DemographicShōjo
Original runApril 29, 2023 – present
Volumes2

The series has been a critical and commercial success, with critics praising the story, artwork, and characters. It won the 2023 Next Manga Award in the web manga category.

Characters edit

Aya Oosawa (大沢あや, Ōsawa Aya)
Voiced by: Akari Kitō (drama CD)[2]
A popular high-school girl who has an interest in rock music. Aya first gets acquainted with Mitsuki through stumbling on the CD shop by chance and develops a crush on her workplace persona as she frequents it, not knowing that she’s her classmate through her school persona.
Mitsuki Koga (古賀みつき, Koga Mitsuki)
Voiced by: Mariya Ise (drama CD)[2]
A high-school girl and classmate of Aya who also has an interest in rock music and works part-time at a CD shop. To maintain her anonymity during work, Mitsuki wears unisex clothing, face mask, and contacts in place of her glasses and school uniform, causing instances of her being mistaken for a boy and being dubbed by Aya and her friends as Onii-san (おにーさん). After Aya falls for her workplace persona, Mitsuki takes measures for Aya to not connect it with her school persona.
Joe (ジョー, Jō)
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (drama CD)[2]
Mitsuki's uncle who manages the CD shop.
Megumu Narita (成田恵, Narita Megumu)
Voiced by: Tasuku Hatanaka (drama CD)[2]
An acquaintance and classmate of Aya and Mitsuki who was the first to connect Mitsuki’s workplace and school personas after noticing similarities between the two.
Chizuru (ちづる)
Voiced by: Erina Koga (drama CD)
A friend and classmate of Aya.
Mao (まお)
Voiced by: Nene Hieda (drama CD)
Another friend and classmate of Aya.
Kanna (カンア)
Joe's ex-girlfriend and acquaintance of Mitsuki who moved to Los Angeles.

Production edit

In an interview with Shuko Yokoi, Sumiko Arai shares that the concept of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All originated from her being drawn to stories about individuals from differing backgrounds connecting and wanting to tell a story about girls, so she drew short stories featuring no dialogue which are posted to Twitter, as Arai believed it can resonate with international readers.[3] One of these short stories, uploaded between July to September 2021, served as the inspiration to the series.[4]

Since Twitter only allows four images per Tweet, chapters of the series were limited to four pages. As a result, the interactions of Aya and Mitsuki had to be depicted concisely.[5] The series' editor commented that the character's faces are illustrated to be detailed enough to understand the story without the dialogue, which made the series more accessible to Twitter users not from Japan.[5] The yellow-green color which complements the black-and-white illustrations was stated by Arai to be a late addition before the first chapter was uploaded.[3]

Media edit

Manga edit

Written by Sumiko Arai, the series originated on the author's Twitter account on April 10, 2022.[6] It later began serialization on Pixiv Comic on April 29, 2023.[7] Kadokawa Shoten began publishing the series in printed tankōbon volumes in April 2023.[8]

Yen Press will be publishing the series in English.[9][10]

Volume list edit

No. Japanese release date Japanese ISBN
1 April 19, 2023[8]978-4-04-681732-7
2 February 27, 2024[11]978-4-04-683173-6

Other edit

Apple Music and Spotify released an official playlist containing songs that Mitsuki and Aya listen to throughout the series.[12]

A pop-up store selling merchandise from the series was open in Ikebukuro from September 15–24 and in Nagoya from September 30 to October 9, 2023.[13]

A drama CD adaptation was released on March 27, 2024.[2]

Reception edit

The first volume sold 150,000 copies within a week of its release.[14] By September 2023, the series had 200,000 copies in circulation.[15]

The series won the 2023 Next Manga Award in the web manga category.[16] The series ranked second on the 2023 "Book of the Year" list by Da Vinci magazine.[17] The series ranked second on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2024 for female readers.[18]

A columnist for Animate Times praised the artwork, particularly its use of color, and the story's progression.[19] Momo Tachibana of Real Sound praised the main characters and their interactions, describing them as understable.[20] Erica Friedman felt the story was "not the first of it's kind" but that it handled its subject better than similar series. Friedman also praised the artwork and its use of black, white, and green.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Friedman, Erica (August 14, 2023). "Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 1". Okazu. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e 「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」ドラマCDのジャケット用イラスト公開. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. January 31, 2024. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Yokoi, Shuko (April 7, 2024). 『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』新井すみこさんの大人気作品がSNSから広がった理由【横井周子が訊く！ マンガが生まれる場所 vol.7】. Yoi (in Japanese). Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Arai, Sumiko [@agu_knzm] (July 30, 2021). 「…ごめん、気づいてると思ったからなおさら声かけれなくて…」 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved February 27, 2024 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ a b Sairenji, Kurara (September 8, 2023). 「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」初の期間限定ショップ、池袋＆名古屋パルコで開催. Walkerplus (in Japanese). Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  6. ^ Arai, Sumiko [@agu_knzm] (April 10, 2022). 気になってる人が男じゃなかった (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ 気になってる人が男じゃなかった. Pixiv Comic (in Japanese). Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  8. ^ a b 気になってる人が男じゃなかった VOL.1 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  9. ^ Tai, Anita (April 3, 2024). "The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy at All Manga Gets English Release". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  10. ^ Mateo, Alex (April 26, 2024). "Yen Press Licenses 9 Manga, 5 Light Novel Series for October 2024". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  11. ^ 気になってる人が男じゃなかった VOL.2 (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  12. ^ 「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」1巻、フルカラー描き下ろしや公式プレイリストも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. April 20, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  13. ^ 「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」初の期間限定ショップ、池袋＆名古屋パルコで開催. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. September 8, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  14. ^ 『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』発売即重版決定！ 発売1週間で累計15万部に!! (Press release) (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Corporation. May 1, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via PR Times.
  15. ^ 『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』が「次にくるマンガ大賞2023」Webマンガ部門第1位を受賞！ (Press release) (in Japanese). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Kadokawa Corporation. September 1, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via PR Times.
  16. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (August 31, 2023). "Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru!, Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta Win Next Manga Awards Print, Web Categories". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  17. ^ Tai, Anita (December 5, 2023). "Tomoko Yamashita's Ikoku Nikki Tops Da Vinci Manga Ranking". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  18. ^ Pineda, Rafael (December 11, 2023). "Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Editors Unveil 2024 Rankings". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  19. ^ ミステリアスな推しの「おにーさん」の正体は、隣の席の女子だった──人気沸騰の漫画『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』読者の心に響く理由とは？. Animate Times (in Japanese). July 29, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  20. ^ Tachibana, Momo (September 30, 2023). ギャルが好意を抱いた“おにーさん”の正体は……次にくるマンガ大賞で注目『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』. Real Sound (in Japanese). Retrieved November 9, 2023.

External links edit

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