Peach Girl

Plot

Momo Adachi, a Yokohama high school student, is a former member of the junior high school swim team. She tans easily and her hair is bleached out because she spends so much time in the pool. Unfortunately, she is stereotyped by her classmates and is forced to endure rumors about being an "easy girl" who has had many sexual relationships. Her only "friend" is Sae who is actually responsible for copying her and spreading nasty gossips due to her jealousy of Momo. Momo is in love with Toji, a taciturn baseball player, but the scheming Sae also has her sights set on the boy. Momo's life is further complicated with the introduction of Kairi Okayasu, a wise-cracking playboy who is determined to make her his.

Things become even more complicated when Sae, in an attempt to make Momo miserable, spreads rumors about Momo and Kairi making out. The rumor about the kiss between the two is true, but it was Kairi who initiated it while Momo remained stunned by the interaction. As a result of that, Toji gets jealous and openly admits his feelings for Momo so they end up dating. When Toji is hospitalized for appendicitis, Sae manipulates Toji to break up with Momo. Thanks to Kairi, he finds out about all the lies and rumors Sae has made up, e.g. Momo has stolen Toji from Sae. Toji saves Momo from being bullied (due to Sae's lies again) and tells the truth about being a couple, resulting in the students apologizing to Momo and hating Sae. Toji and Momo get back together, but Sae later tries to complicate their relationship again by threatening to discredit Momo with her newly acquired access to the mass media as she has a compromising photo of Momo and Goro (one of Sae's plots to make Momo's life miserable). Though Toji is initially defiant, he reluctantly breaks up with Momo and is forced to date Sae in order to protect Momo. Momo is heartbroken at first, particularly due to not knowing (Toji doesn't reveal her the truth, he just lies that he likes Sae better). However, she eventually begins dating Kairi, whom she had previously considered annoying, and soon begins to fall in love with him. To complicate things even more, Ryo, Kairi's brother, and Morika as well as Kairi's past (his unrequited love for Misao) interfere into Momo's and Kairi's relationship, thus, causing them to break up. Meanwhile, Sae breaks up with Toji and starts dating Ryo who is treating her poorly. During the break-up with Kairi, Momo discovers why Toji broke up with her so Momo is left to choose between Toji and Kairi; she chooses Toji this time. More problems arise and another love triangle appears: Misao-Ryo-Sae. In the end, Misao blows off Ryo due to his personality and goes to an arranged marriage meeting, Ryo is getting interested into children, Sae becomes kinder and is back to her normal high school life, and Momo and Kairi are back together.

In "Sae's Story", Sae is left back a year, for she was always skipping classes. She is too stubborn so she goes to Momo's and Kairi's university every day. Toji goes to a good university by himself. Sae then meets one of her childhood sweethearts, Kanji (or Monkey Boy), who left for Malaysia when they were young, and promised to marry Sae when he was back. In love with Sae, Kanji follows her around, trying to win her over. He takes care of Sae's dog, Sora, when her parents would no longer let her keep it. The dog walks with a little limp; one day when Sora tried to follow Sae, she threw a rock at its paw and injured it. Sae starts modeling and pretends she goes to college with Momo, when she is really still in high school. She meets Honda and works for CC as a model. She meets a guy named Takuma, and he later turns her down. Sae meets another guy named Shinji but realizes he never really liked her. All these ups and downs make Sae realize that Momo, Kairi, and Kanji are the only people who care for her.

Characters

Momo Adachi (安達 もも, Adachi Momo)

Voiced by: Saeko Chiba (Japanese); Kate Oxley (English) Played by: Mizuki Yamamoto (Live Action 2017) The main character. Her given name means 'peach' in Japanese. She has tanned skin and light hair (derived from her constant swimming in chlorinated pools while on the swim team), mistakenly giving others the impression that she is a "beach bunny", lover of the Ganguro style, or sexually promiscuous. On the contrary, Momo is a shy, insecure girl. She has loved Toji for many years, although later on she finds herself falling in love with Kairi. When she found out Toji disliked girls with tan skin, she started to avoid swimming pools and wore a lot of sunblock to get her skin to its original color (presumed to be fair). Later on, Momo finds out that Toji never said he disliked girls with tan skin - her friend (Ryoko) from junior high had made that up because she had liked him too. She is often confused later on when she likes both Toji and Kairi at the same time, causing several disputes between the two boys. In the end, she chooses Kairi.

Sae Kashiwagi (柏木 さえ, Kashiwagi Sae)

Voiced by: Megumi Nasu (Japanese); Cherami Leigh (English) Played by: Mei Nagano (Live Action 2017) The main antagonist who does everything to ruin Momo's life. Her fair features (pale skin, dark hair) serve as a contrast for Momo; her "innocent" appearance belies her scheming, mischievous, trouble making nature. She is the one who spreads malicious gossip about Momo; something Momo knows, but has trouble dealing with, as people are more apt to believe in Sae than the 'airheaded Ganguro girl' to the point that Toji believed Sae over Momo (who was currently his girlfriend). She often uses the gossip to make people dislike Momo, as a result of her own jealousy and insecurity. She spreads rumors that she is dating Toji, and that Momo is trying to steal him from her when it is actually the other way around. She really is mean and doesn't care for Momo and isn't her "real" friend. All she wants is popularity in school, to humiliate Momo, and to get Toji all for herself. She will stop at nothing to complete this task. Later, she dates a male model named Goro and in the end exploits him to help break up Toji and Momo, the nastiest scheme she has ever plotted. She begins to repent after she falls in love with Ryo. She understands the hurtful feeling that she caused Momo, especially when Ryo seemingly gets her pregnant (it later turns out to be a medical condition that simulates pregnancy) and subsequently abandons her. In Sae's story, it's revealed she has two older siblings and she was a nice and quite girl who was often sick and liked reading when she was a child.

Kairi Okayasu (岡安 浬, Okayasu Kairi)

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese); Orion Pitts (English) Played by: Kei Inoo (Live Action 2017) A popular and carefree classmate of Momo's. Sae goes after him after Momo lies that she likes him to protect her and Toji's relationship, but he is the only boy to see straight through Sae for what she really is. He has the reputation of being a playboy, something he is not exactly proud of. He thought that Momo was the one who once gave him CPR when he had nearly drowned at the beach when they were younger; only to later find out he had been saved by the local male lifeguard. His interest in her is renewed when Sae spreads rumors about them being a couple; he adds to this by claiming he has kissed Momo. When Momo is upset by his rumor, he tries to make the rumor true by kissing her unexpectedly in the beginning of the series. Afterwards, he always stays by Momo's side and helps her when in trouble, although most of the time he teases her. After he and Momo start dating, his insecurities about relationships are revealed to stem from his unrequited love for Misao, thus, it causes big fights between them. However, after he confesses to Misao and is shot down by her, he actually feels relieved and confident to pursue his relationship with Momo. After they break up and she gets back together with Toji, he begins fighting over her with Toji. In the end, they get back together.

The English-language manga uses the non standard romanization "Kiley Okayasu". Other groups, such as FUNimation, Kodansha, and non-English language publishers, use "Kairi".

Kazuya "Toji" Tojigamori (東寺ヶ森 一矢, Tōjigamori Kazuya, とーじ Tōji)

Voiced by: Hidenobu Kiuchi (Japanese); Robert McCollum (English) Played by: Mackenyu (Live Action 2017)

A boy who has been Momo's crush since junior high school, although she never then confessed to him due to a friend saying he "doesn't like girls with tan skin". He overhears Momo's love confession for him to Kairi and then eventually dates Momo but Sae wants him for herself. He has a good heart, but tends to be hard-headed and oblivious to what is in front of him, especially believing what Sae says over what Momo says, much to the frustration of Momo. He doesn't like Kairi because of their rivalry, although he accepts him because he takes good care of Momo and he sees her to be more easy-going and happier while hanging around with Kairi. Sae later blackmails Toji into dating her using pictures of Momo and Goro in a hotel bed together. He then reluctantly breaks up with Momo and, as part of Sae's blackmail, starts to date Sae who after some time leaves him for Ryo. More problems arise but Momo and he eventually get back together but he feels that her heart isn't into it, especially during some intimacy occasions. In the end, she breaks up with him.

The Tokyopop manga renders his family name as "Toujikamori".

Misao Aki (安芸 操)

Voiced by: Mami Kingetsu (Japanese); Colleen Clinkenbeard (English)

The school nurse and a big sister figure for Momo. Misao was once Kairi's tutor and crush, and an old flame of Ryo's. Although Misao dated and broke up with Ryo, she still loves him. Nevertheless, after confessing Ryo her feelings again, she decides that his personality doesn't match hers and, instead, goes for an arranged marriage meeting.

Ryo Okayasu (岡安 涼, Okayasu Ryō)

Voiced by: Sho Hayami (Japanese); Charles Baker (English) Kairi's older brother who works in the video game industry and in other shady businesses. He serves as a male counterpart to Sae, only he is significantly more dangerous. Ryo is in love with Misao, and dated her once briefly, but Misao broke up with him because of his cold and manipulating attitude which is revealed when he smacks Sae after hurting Misao. Sae meets him and quickly falls for him because of their obvious similarities, though Ryo barely takes the relationship seriously and treats Sae poorly. When Sae tells him she is pregnant with his child, he gives her some money and abortion pills. Ryo is quite touched by Sae, when she tells him she wants to make a family with him that will love him. After they find out Sae had a false pregnancy, the two split. However, Ryo stills feels happy about what Sae told him, and seems to be interested in having kids.

Goro Ooji (大路 吾郎, Ōji Gorō)

Voiced by: Junichi Suwabe (Japanese); Viktor Walker (English) He is called Jigoro (ジゴロー, Jigorō) and is a male model who is smitten with Sae and unaware of her true personality. She uses him in her schemes against Momo.

Morika

Voiced by: Miho Yamada (Japanese); Kira Vincent-Davis (English) A young woman who once dated both Okayasu brothers, Morika has a grudge against Ryo and tries to use Kairi against him. Morika hires some thugs to beat up Ryo as revenge for using her.

Peach Girl: Sae's Story

Peach Girl: Sae's Story (裏 ピーチガール, Ura Peach Girl, lit. Reverse Peach Girl) is a sequel to Peach Girl, told from the point of view of Sae, the main antagonist of Peach Girl. It was published in Japan by Kodansha in Bessatsu Friend from 2004 to 2006 and collected in three tankōbon volumes. It is licensed in North America by Tokyopop.

Live-action drama

In November 2002, a 13 episode Taiwanese drama of Peach Girl was adapted titled (Chinese: 蜜桃女孩), starring Annie Wu, Vanness Wu of F4 and Kenji Wu. The setting was changed from high school to college. It was produced by Comic Ritz International Production (可米瑞智國際藝能有限公司) and Chai Zhi Ping (柴智屏) as producer and was broadcast in Taiwan on free-to-air Chinese Television System (CTS) (華視). The events of the drama stay true to the original story up until the forced break up between Xia Tao(Momo) and Dong Si(Toji) after which many events differ possibly due to the limited number of episodes.

Cast

Annie Wu as Xiao Tao (安達桃)

Vanness Wu of F4 as Ah Li (岡安浬)

Kenji Wu as Dong Si (東寺森一矢)

Guan Ru as Sha Hui (柏木紗繪)

Edward Ou as OD

Vicky Chen (陳孝萱) as Misao Aki (安芸操)

Music

Opeing theme song: "愛的就是你" (Love Is You) by Wang Leehom

Insert song: "你不愛我愛誰?" (Who Do You Love If Not Me?) by Vanness Wu

Ending theme song: "我依然相信你還愛我" (I Believe in Your Love) by Ginny Liu (劉虹嬅)

Reception

In 1999, Peach Girl won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo.