No Matter How I Look at It - It's Y, Girlish Number, The Disastrous Life of Sai, ReLIFE, Drifters
Kiss Him, Not Me, known in Japan as Watashi ga Motete Dōsunda(Japanese: 私がモテてどうすんだ, Hepburn: lit. What's the Point of Me Getting Popular?), is a Japanese romantic comedy shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Junko. It is published by Kodansha since 2013 on Bessatsu Friend magazine. Nine volumes compiling the chapters have been released so far. It is published online in English by Crunchyroll and the volumes will be published by Kodansha USA. An audio drama adaptation of the first chapter was released on January 13, 2015. An anime adaptation by Brain's Base aired in Japan between October and December 2016. The manga won Best Shōjo Manga at the 40th Kodansha Manga Awards.
Kae Serinuma is a fujoshi, a female otaku who loves reading yaoi material and imagining men together in romantic relationships, both fictional and real. After one of her favorite anime characters is killed off, the shock causes Kae to lock herself in her room for a whole week. When she eventually comes out, she discovers that she has suddenly lost a lot of weight, becoming a beautiful girl that catches the eye of four boys at her school: Yūsuke Igarashi, Nozomu Nanashima, Hayato Shinomiya, and Asuma Mutsumi. Despite learning about Kae's bizarre tendencies, the four boys, along with another fujoshi girl named Shima Nishina, all fall for Kae and begin competing with each other for her affection, much to Kae's frustration as she wants them to get along with each other.
A fujoshi in her second year of high school and part of the history club, who becomes excited over the sight of two boys together. Initially possessing a chubby appearance, Kae loses weight after a week of mourning over the death of her favorite anime character, becoming attractive as a result. Despite becoming the object of affection for several boys as a result, she still thoroughly enjoys her otaku hobbies and is unsure how to deal with the attention she gets from the boys.
Yūsuke Igarashi (五十嵐 祐輔,Igarashi Yūsuke)
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (drama CD), Yūki Ono (Japanese); Alejandro Saab (English)
One of Kae's classmates, who is part of the football club. He is characterized as "the boy next door" type and is the most competitive out of Kae's suitors. He was polite with Kae before losing weight but he only became interested in her because of her appearance. After spending more time with Kae, he gets to know her more as a person, making him to realize how admirable and interesting Kae actually is, causing him to truly fall in love with her.
One of Kae's classmates, who is categorized as a "bad boy tsundere" type. He used to be a soccer player when he was much younger, but lost confidence following an incident with Yūsuke. He has a younger sister and is good at housekeeping.
An androgynous first year girl who is the descendant of a rich family and is skilled in both sports and arts. Like Kae, she is also a fujoshi and even runs her own dōjin circle. Having had trouble being respected for her art due to her family's status, Shima came to admire Kae from even before her transformation, receiving the motivation to pursue drawing.
A half-Norwegian first year student and member of the nursing committee, who started having a crush on Kae after she lost weight. He has an effeminate appearance, prone to blushing and getting flustered, and is often characterized as a tsundere by the other boys. He owns a female iguana named Thor, whom he cares for dearly.
A third year student who is president of the history club and one of the few people who liked Kae before she lost her weight. While more laid back and less competitive than the other boys, he can become aggressive when someone picks on Kae. He's very open minded and doesn't seem to notice nor mind any of Kae's otaku eccentricities.
Asuma's older brother, a flirtatious character who doesn't mind flirting with other boys.
Mitsuko Serinuma (芹沼 みつこ,Serinuma Mitsuko)
Voiced by: Yū Sugimoto
Kae's mother, who used to have her own harem of suitor back in school.
Hideo Serinuma (芹沼 英男,Serinuma Hideo)
Kae's father, who is very protective of her.
Takeru Mitsuboshi (三星 建,Mitsuboshi Takeru)
Kae's childhood friend. His parents are divorced and he lives with his father, but uses his mother's maiden name. He is later revealed to be a seiyū.
Kirari Nanashima (七島 光,Nanashima Kirari)
Voiced by: Sayuri Yahagi (Japanese); Brittney Karbowski (English)
Nozomu's little sister, who enjoys the magical girl anime, Puri Puri Moon.
Others
Shion (シオン,Shion)
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa
Shion is Kae's favorite character in her favorite anime, Mirage Saga. His death caused a great shock to Kae that she lost weight in a week. His appearance bears a striking resemblance to Kae's classmate Nozomi Nanashima. Due to her anime-loving mind, she sees Nanashima as Shion himself, much to Nanashima's dismay. However after Kachu Rabu aired, Kae changed her obsession, stating that Shion will be always in her heart.
Tera (テラ,Terra)
Voiced by: Kenjirō Tsuda
A character in Mirage Saga.
Lord (殿,Tono)
Voiced by: Daisuke Ono (Japanese); Aaron Roberts (English)
A character in Kanchu Ranbu who is modeled after fictional samurai Hyakki Sametora.
A character in Kanchu Ranbu, he is a anthropomorphized version of Hyakki Sametora's iconic red armor.
Manga
The original manga by Junko began serialization in Kodansha's Bessatsu Friend magazine from May 2013. The series has been compiled into ten tankobon volumes as of October 13, 2016. Crunchyroll began releasing the manga online as it is published from September 5, 2014, holding a contest to determine the series' official English title. Kodansha USA began publishing the physical edition in English from October 13, 2015.
Anime
A television anime adaptation of the manga was announced in the Bessatsu Friend magazine's April 2016 issue. Brain's Base is producing the anime, with Hiroshi Ishiodori directing, Michiko Yokote handling series composition and Kazuhiko Tamura designing the characters. The series began aired in Japan between October 6, 2016 and December 22, 2016 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll, with an English dub by Funimation streaming from November 8, 2016. The opening theme is "Prince×Prince" by From4to7 (Yūki Ono, Keisuke Koumoto, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, and Nobunaga Shimazaki), while the ending theme is "Dokidoki no Kaze" (ドキドキの風,Heart-pounding Wind) by Rie Murakawa. Anime Limited has licensed the series in the UK.
Reception
Volume 3 of the manga reached the 44th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and, as of June 15, 2014, has sold 17,994 copies; volume 4 reached the 43rd place and, as of September 14, 2014, has sold 22,107 copies; volume 5 reached the 17th place and, as of January 18, 2015, has sold 41,112 copies.
The manga won Best Shōjo Manga at the 40th Kodansha Manga Awards. It was number four on the 2015 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Female Readers survey.
