Hana-Kimi — BrandWiki

Hana-Kimi

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (花ざかりの君たちへ), abbreviated as Hana-Kimi, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hisaya Nakajo. The series was serialized in Hakusensha's semi-monthly manga magazine Hana to Yume from September 1996 to August 2004. The series is also published in English by Viz Media, with the final volume released in April 2008. It was also adapted into several live-action television dramas. An anime television series adaptation produced by Signal.MD aired from January to March 2026. A second season has been announced.

The series centers on Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who lives in the United States. One day, she sees a track and field competition on TV, and becomes attracted to one of the high jump competitors, Izumi Sano. She begins to idolize the young athlete and eventually transfers to Japan to attend the same school that Sano attends. Sano attends an all-boys high school named Osaka Gakuen and Mizuki attempts to disguise herself as a boy to enter.

Setting

Osaka Gakuen (桜咲学園; Ohsaka Academy) is an all-boys school and the setting of the series. Its sister school is St. Blossoms, an all-girls high school.

The three grade levels are divided into three classes. These nine classes are divided into three dormitories, as most of the students do not stay around the school area. The cultures within the individual dormitories are immensely different.

Most students residing in the first dormitory are athletes who were accepted into Osaka High on a sports scholarship.

Media

Manga

The series' volumes were first published under the Hana to Yume Comics imprint,[5][6] which were then later re-published into 12 volumes of under the Hana to Yume Comics Special imprint.[7] Each volume featured a new cover illustration and design, as well as colored pages.[7]

The series was also published in English by Viz Media,[8] which was initially only limited to Waldenbooks from February to May 2004, and then made available to other retail stores after May of that same year.[9] In March 2012, Viz Media released a 3-in-1 edition of all the previously published Hana-Kimi manga in North America, which instead of the series' volumes, spans a total of eight 3-in-1 large manga special edition books. The last volume was published in April 2014.[10]

Books

An illustration collection, titled Hanazakari no Kimi-tachi e: Hisaya Nakajō Kakushu (花ざかりの君たちへ—中条比紗也画集), was released on May 19, 2004.[11] 11 days later, on May 30, a character book, titled Hanazakari no Kimi-tachi e: Hisaya Nakajō Character Book (花ざかりの君たちへ—中条比紗也キャラクターブック).[12] The illustration collection was also licensed in English by Viz Media under the title The Art of Hana-Kimi,[13] which was released on November 21, 2006.[14]

On August 20, 2009, a manga anthology was published as a tribute to the series was released under the Hana to Yume Comics Special imprint. Titled Hanazakari no Kimitachi e Tribute: 35th Anniversary Hana to Yume Memorial (花ざかりの君たちへトリビュ-ト — 35周年花とゆめメモリアル), it was drawn by various manga artists, including Satoshi Morie, who was affiliated with the magazine where Hana-Kimi was serialized. The cover was illustrated by the original author herself.[15]

Drama CDs

There were a number of drama CDs released for the series. Only 2 were released commercially by Hakusensha and Marine Entertainment. The first drama CD was released on April 26, 2000.[16] The second drama CD, titled Hanazakari no Kimitachi e II (花ざかりの君たちへ II), was released on August 23, 2002.[17]

Live-action drama

Anime

On May 15, 2024, an anime adaptation was announced by Aniplex,[18][19] which was later confirmed to be a television series produced by Signal.MD and directed by Natsuki Takemura, with Shigeru Ueda serving as assistant director, Takao Yoshioka handling series composition, Shi Yi Su designing the characters, and Masaru Yokoyama composing the music.[20][21] The series aired from January 4 to March 22, 2026, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "Adrena" (アドレナ), while the ending theme song is "Baby", both performed by Yoasobi.[22]

Episodes

Reception

The series sold over 17 million copies in Japan.[28] The English release of Volume 6 was ranked ninth in the Bookscan chart, while Volume 9 came in fifth as one of the top-selling graphic novels in North America 6 months later.[29][30] The English release of the series' first two volumes were nominated under the Graphic Novel category of The Quills Awards in 2005.[31] The series came in third place for Top Shōjo Manga in Singapore in February 2007.[32] According to Tohan, volumes 11 and 12 ranked sixth place for the week of September 12, 2007.[33]

The English release of Volume 17 was ranked eighth in the Publishers Weekly Comics Bestseller list.[34] The 23rd volume of Hana-Kimi was released by Viz Media on April 1, 2008, and was ranked fifth in the monthly Top 20 Graphic Novels rankings for the period between March 31 to April 27, 2008.[35]

The total sales for the series' Japanese volumes came in fifth after Death Note in the ranking of the most read series throughout 2007.[36] The series ranked 37th place in Matt Blind's Top 300 series in 2008,[37] and was later chosen as one of the series for School Library Journal's Good Comics for Kids Summer Reading Challenge in 2009.[38][39]

Maria Lin noted that although she normally disliked female protagonists in manga, she praised Mizuki as an exception, crediting her with lifting the manga above other "pretty boy manga", enjoying her "never-give-up attitude". Moreover, Lin enjoyed the art style but she found the male characters' designs sometimes generic.[40] By Volume 4 and 5, even with the increase in cast characters, Lin felt that the storyline was still coherent despite this.[41]

Sheena McNeil felt that the premise was "shallow", but upon reading, found herself "caught up in the story". McNeil praised the art, citing its importance in a story of deception, enjoying the "gorgeous" character designs, but appreciating the departure from strict aesthetics for humor.[42]

Liann Cooper felt that Hana-Kimi was one of Viz's most important properties due to its combination of humor, angst and the artwork, but criticized their cover design.[43]

Kat Avila found she enjoyed Hana-Kimi better than Girl Got Game, due to Volume 4's humor and attractive male characters.[44]