Koyoi, Nao, Ayumi, Yuu, and Misaki animated!? If it’s true, I’m so there.
Hatsukoi Limited Anime, Drama CD to Be Announced
Mizuki Kawashita’s manga depicts vignettes in lives of 8 female students
The 40th issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine will reportedly announce on September 1 that Mizuki Kawashita’s Hatsukoi Limited manga will be adapted into both an anime and a drama CD. The manga depicted many vignettes in the everyday lives of a junior high school girl named Ayumi and seven other junior high and high school girls. The two adaptations will show the first loves of Ayumi and the other students, but no more information will be provided until future issues. Kawashita just ended the manga last May after less than eight months, and she created a one-shot manga called Sonezaki Shinjū in Shueisha’s Jump Square magazine.
Try to keep that love polygon straight.
The last Kawashita Mizuki anime that I watched (Ichigo 100%) left a terrible taste in my mouth, but the slate is wiped clean for the new Hatsukoi Limited anime that is supposed to be announced soon. Unlike Kawashita Mizuki’a two other major (manga) works, Ichigo 100% and Lilim Kiss (and even Akane-chan Overdrive), Hatsukoi Limited reads more like a slice-of-life series with each chapters focused in on a specific story of one or two of the characters. Romantic comedy, yes, but none of the long drawn out arc and occasional over-dramatics. I really think an anime series would work out positively for Hatsukoi Limited, as long as it keeps the characters innocent and edgy and they keep the romances and love polygons funny and genuine. If Hatsukoi Limited were presented similar to the way Ichigo 100% or School Rumble were done, with an episode consisting of two shorter episodes they could definitely hit almost all the characters in the manga. And unlike longer romance plots, because the stories are short, self-contained, and fairly independent of each other, there is less of a chance for whoever would produce the show to “screw up the manga.”
The middle school group minus 1
Most of the guys were actually pretty cool characters
I was initially drawn to Hatsukoi Limited for a couple reasons. First, was obviously Kawashita Mizuki’s character designs. Really ever since the first time I saw Aya in Ichigo 100%, I have had a thing for the female characters she has drawn. So Hatsukoi Limited is just loaded with goodness. But more importantly, the characters are all charming in their own way and bring something different to the manga. And, while some of the interactions can be silly and unexpected, everyone played off each other and fit together well. The second reason I was drawn to the story was its lightheartedness. Ichigo 100% turned into a dragged out melodrama that was at times tedious to read. While Hatsukoi Limited did have a few heavy moments it stayed down-to-Earth and mostly lighthearted. The story, the setting, and the characters are all genuine and sincere, but most importantly, it retained all that throughout all 32 chapters. From the first chapter to the very end it doesn’t try to do too much and never gets too extreme.
If or whenever Hatsukoi Limited does get animated, I’ll definitely be looking forward to it. Having recently finished, it’s a series that almost feels like it should get animated. It’s simple, it’s to the point, and it has colorful character that are likable (not to mention EPIC bishoujo). Plus,it’s a series that would be hard to really mess up. Someone would really have to completely change a character’s personality or completely rewrite a scenario to really screw things up. That or go the ecchi angle, which would really take away from the series’ sincerity (I’m looking at you Rosario + Vampire). The manga does have a few ecchi shorts (this is Kawashita Mizuki after all), but it’s infrequent, so I’d hate to see an anime adaptation trying to see boobies and panty shots when there is so much going for Hatsukoi Limited. Not much other news about it that I’ve come across, but Hatsukoi Limited is on my radar full-time now.
Kei felt like the main character more than Ayumi at times…
…but Ayumi <3 no less.
If I were left to decide who would be voicing the main girls in an anime version, here are who I’d pick based on some brainstorming. Reading through the story, these were the voice that kept popping into my mind:
Arihara Ayumi: Kanae Itou
Enomoto Kei: Itou Shizuka or Sawashiro Miyuki (or Horie Yui for tsundere ojousama)
Yamamoto Misaki: Noto Mamiko, Toyoguchi Megumi, Yukana, or Endo Aya
Chikura Nao: Hanazawa Kana
Bessho Koyoi: Goto Mai (the quintessential imouto voice)
Watase Meguru: Shiraishi Ryoko
Dobashi Rika: Asano Masumi
Enomoto Yuu: Yahagi Sayuri
Yeah, I can see this manga can fit a 12-episode format anime. I absolutely lurve Kei’s antics
oh this looks interesting, i might have to pick this up