Volumes 16 | Genre Comedy | |
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Original run 17 December 2002 – 23 June 2008 Similar Anpanman, Me‑teru no Kimochi, Suzuka, King of Thorn, Aishiteruze Baby |
Gacha Gacha (Japanese: ガチャガチャ, Hepburn: Gachagacha) is a shōnen manga by Hiroyuki Tamakoshi. As of November 2008, the first 13 volumes have been published in North America by Del Rey Manga. However, according to the Anime News Network, the series ended in Japan at volume 11 of the second season. The reason for this discrepancy is likely because the series is broken up into two story arcs, essentially two different, unrelated stories, the first being "Capsule", and the second being "Secret". An interview with David Ury, the series' translator for Del Rey, shows that they were planning to release all of both arcs.
Contents
Capsule (Volumes 1–5)
Nanjou Kouhei has been classmates with Hanazono Kurara since elementary school, and he has recently realized that he has developed a crush on her. However, after a fateful trip to Hawaii, Kurara has started to behave oddly at times—specifically acting extremely promiscuous and flirting shamelessly for short periods, then remembering nothing. Kouhei is often the target of this flirtatious and exhibitionistic behavior, leaving him to take the blame when Kurara returns to normal.
After one such episode, leaving Kouhei—and Kurara—in an uncomfortable position, Kurara tells Kouhei that she now has multiple personality disorder, with her other, uninhibited, personality being named Arisa. After her confession she enlists Kouhei's help in dealing with her while the Arisa personality is in control, as well as covering up the existence of her embarrassing promiscuous side from other people.
As Kouhei and Kurara try their best to control Arisa, several other personalities emerge: Alice, the young, questioning adolescent; Rin, the martial arts expert; and Meow, a housecat. As Kouhei and Kurara try their best to remove the disorder while controlling the wild and wacky personalities that emerge, their relationship begins to grow into love.
Secret (Volumes 1–11)
Known as Gacha Gacha: The Next Revolution in English, the Secret story arc starts in Japanese volume 1 of Gacha Gacha. It revolves around a malfunction at the Gacha Gacha virtual reality video game, which has since gone retail after the events in the Capsule story arc. The malfunction causes the main character, an unlucky young man named Akira Hatsushiba, to transform into a young girl whenever he sneezes. The body is the tutorial character's body with which he was interacting when the Gacha Gacha game crashed. He later finds out that eating natto (fermented soybeans) would transform the girl form (Akira-chan) into a taller and much more buxom form.
Akira uses his newfound body to learn more about women, specifically getting closer and improving his relationship with the girl with whom he is infatuated, Yurika Sakuraba.
Gacha Gacha
Kouhei
The main character of the Capsule arc, he is a dopey high schooler who has been friends from childhood with Clara. Early on in the story, he realizes his feelings for her. As the story progresses, he comes to be slightly smitten with the other AIs imprinted in Clara's mind. He has an unwavering love for Clara and would do anything for her. He understands Clara to the point of being able to tell a perfect copy of Clara from the real Clara. He loves gyudon and that is pretty much the only thing he ever eats.Kurara Hanazono
The daughter of Karin Hanazono. (Kurara Hanazono is known as Clara Hanazono in English translation.) She is the heroine of the story and also Kouhei's love interest. She is bossy and sometimes mean to Kouhei but she comes to realize how much she loves him. In the middle of the story, Kurara's condition and how she acquired it is revealed to Kouhei by Karin. Her condition of multiple split personalities is the cause of a malfunction of the GachaGachaX2 virtual reality machine, where her curiosity caused major bugs and errors to surface and have the AIs of the game imprinted into her brain. When she changes personality, her mind goes blank and she can not remember what the AIs have done. The exception is the Original 4, the four AIs that serve as models for any future AIs. With the Original 4, Clara is able to still be conscious while the AIs are controlling her. The Original 4 are also able to change Clara's appearance to how they look.Reona Grace Hitachi
An exotic beauty from the United States of America. She becomes one of Kouhei's lovers. A super genius with an IQ of 200, she graduated from Harvard at the age of 13, and came to the Rose Corporation for a job as an S Class programmer. She was originally sent by the Rose Corporation to take care of Clara but after watching Kouhei protect her, she realized that Kouhei was better suited to the job than she ever could be. Later, she flies back to America to give the data she collected on Clara to the Rose Corporation to analyze. She is skilled in aikido and, despite being a super genius, is naive about love. She and Clara both appear in the final chapter of "Secret" in order to help restore Akira to his normal self.Noda
A popular boy in Clara and Kouhei's class. A handsome boy and pro soccer player, he's adored by many. After mistaking 'Rin' for Clara, Noda becomes determined to kiss Clara during a performance of "Snow White". But Clara (mistaken for Rin by Kouhei) punches Noda at the last second, an act which only strengthens Noda's feelings.Karin Hanazono
Clara's mother. A young beauty despite being a mother, she is the CEO of the famous gaming company, Rose. She invented the GachaGachaX2 machine. She is slightly unconscious of her outward appearance as she is sometimes seen scratching herself under her shirt in public.Alissa
One of Clara's split personalities and an AI. She is completely shameless and will often reveal cleavage or upskirt panty shots to anyone. She once even fondled one of Clara's friends. Once the Original 4 show up, she ceases to appear again in the real world. She dresses in a very skimpy fashion.Alice
Another of Clara's less powerful AIs. Alice is completely innocent at grade 8, age 14. She often asks embarrassing questions such as "Are bigger breasts better?" or "What does a guy's parts look like?" Once the Original 4 show up, she ceases to appear again in the real world. She dresses in a very cute, lolita way.Rin
One of the weaker AIs residing in Clara's mind. She is a strong martial arts expert and is very dangerous due to her great strength and skill. She has a weakness regarding her breasts in that she is very sensitive physically and mentally about them. Once the Original 4 show up, she ceases to appear again in the real world.Meow
The personality of a kitten AI in Clara which acts exactly like a real kitten would. In its first appearance, it fights a cat gang boss and accidentally makes Clara the cat gang boss. Once the Original 4 show up, it ceases to appear again in the real worldAyame
One the original 4. Ayame is a ninja AI with amazing ninja skills such as pinpoint shuriken throwing, and cloning techniques. She has a sexual interest in Kouhei.Kiriko
One of the Original 4. Kiriko has a cute, lively personality. She often hits Kouhei in a playful manner. She is one of the AIs Kouhei feels very close to. She also has a strong sixth sense and can tell when Kouhei is hedging, often straightening him out.Ran Ran
Another of the Original 4. She is a master of the Drunken Fist martial arts style and is a heavy drinker. Despite being a heavy drinker and using Clara's body, she is able to hold her liquor very well.01
The last, most powerful and dangerous AI. She/it is the original basis for all AIs and is able to copy any personality, including Clara's. She/it copies Clara and tries to get close to Kouhei, but Kouhei sees through the nearly perfect veil. As a result, she/it gets extremely angered and attempts to delete all the personalities in Clara's mind, including Clara herself. Somehow, 01 fails to delete Clara and gets deleted herself.Umeda
A pervert living in his own delusional world, he is Kouhei's best friend. In his class, he was voted by the girls as "the guy you would least like to date or be with". He all but disappears later in the story.Next Revolution
She is Akira Hatsushiba's female form. She was caused by a computer error during a dating game with Kikuchi. Even though she's a girl, she retains the mind and personality of Akira (original male form). She develops a friendship with the Sakuraba sisters. Kikuchi also falls for her, although with disastrous consequences. It is later found that eating natto in this form will transform the form (Akira-chan) into a taller and much more buxom form.