Real Girl, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mao Nanami. The series was serialized in Kodansha's Dessert between July 2011 and May 2016, with the series later being compiled into twelve tankōbon volumes released between December 2011 and August 2016. The series is currently published digitally in English by Kodansha Comics. An anime television series adaptation directed by Takashi Naoya and animated by Hoods Entertainment aired from April 4 to June 20, 2018 on AnichU programming block. A second season aired from January 8 to March 26, 2019.
Plot
High school student Hikari Tsutsui is unpopular with classmates for his otaku behavior. One day, as he was sentenced for pool cleaning duty for being late, and is paired with the beautiful but reputed troublemaker Iroha Igarashi. When Iroha asks if he would like to be in a relationship with her, Hikari agrees. However, there is a catch: Iroha is moving in six months, owing to her father's work; and transferring to another school as a result.
The manga series was serialized in Kodansha's Dessert between July 2011 and May 2016, with the series later being compiled into twelve tankōbon volumes released between December 2011 and August 2016. Kodansha later republished the series with new cover designs from August 2017 to November 2017. Kodansha Comics announced on May 16, 2017 that they would publish the manga digitally in English, with the first volume being released on May 30, 2017, and the final volume being released on January 30, 2018.
Volume list
English release dates and ISBNs are for the digital version. Chapters are numbered as episodes, for example: episode・19
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced in November 2017. The series is directed by Takashi Naoya and written by Deko Akao, with animation by Hoods Entertainment and character designs by Satomi Kurita. It aired from April 4 to June 20, 2018 on Nippon TV's AnichU programming block. The series ran for 12 episodes. The first season was released on Blu-ray/DVD in four compilations, each containing one disc with three episodes, by VAP between June 27 and September 26, 2018. On June 19, 2018, the anime official website tweeted plans for a second anime season that aired from January 8 to March 26, 2019. The cast and staff reprised their roles. The second season ran for 12 episodes. In March 2018, Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime for an English-language release and simulcasted it on Hidive for the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, the Netherlands, the Nordics, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. In July 2018, Sentai Filmworks announced plans to record an English-language dub for the series. The dub began streaming on October 30, 2018. Two pieces of theme music are used. The opening theme is "Daiji na Koto" by Quruli and the ending theme is "HiDE the BLUE" by BiSH. The opening theme for the second season is "Futari nara" by BiSH and the ending theme for the second season is "Hagan" by Fujifabric.
Season 1
Season 2
Live-action film
A live-action film adaptation directed by Tsutomu Hanabusa and distributed by Warner Bros. was released in Japanese theaters on September 14, 2018.
Reception
In reviewing the anime's first season, Paul Jensen of Anime News Network criticized the animation quality for the first three episodes as "mediocre". However, he praised the storyline and characterizations between Iroha and Hikari. For the final episode, Jensen said that Iroha and Hikari's chemistry was the episode's "saving grace". Although he felt that the season overall "wasted far too much time trying to spice up the drama", Jensen said that it "wasn't terrible, but it never made the most of its strengths".
