The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All explained

Ja Kanji:気になってる人が男じゃなかった
Ja Romaji:Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta
Type:manga
Author:Sumiko Arai
Publisher:Kadokawa Shoten
Magazine:Pixiv Comic
First:April 29, 2023
Volumes:2
Portal:yes

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sumiko Arai. Originating as a short story posted on Arai's Twitter account from July to September 2021, it started its current weekly run in April 2022, before being serialized on Pixiv Comic in April 2023. Kadokawa Shoten published the series in print, with its first volume releasing that same month.

The series has been a critical and commercial success, with critics praising the story, artwork, and characters. It won the 2023 Next Manga Award in the web manga category.

Plot

Aya Oosawa has developed a crush towards the clerk of the CD shop she frequents. Unbeknownst to her, the store clerk is her classmate Mitsuki Koga. The manga follows the budding relationship between Aya and Mitsuki and their shared love for music as they experience daily high school life.

Characters

A high school girl who has an interest in rock music. Aya first gets acquainted with Mitsuki through stumbling upon the CD shop by chance and develops a crush on Mitsuki's workplace persona as she continues to frequent the shop, not knowing that it is her classmate.
  • A high school girl and classmate of Aya who also has an interest in rock music and works part-time at the CD shop. To maintain her anonymity during work, Mitsuki wears unisex clothing, a face mask, and contacts in place of her glasses and school uniform, causing her to be mistaken for a boy and be dubbed by Aya and her friends as . After Aya falls for her workplace persona, Mitsuki takes measures for Aya to not connect it with her school persona.
  • Mitsuki's uncle who manages the CD shop and serves as her parental figure and guardian.
  • An acquaintance and classmate of Aya and Mitsuki who is the first to connect Mitsuki's workplace and school personas after noticing similarities between the two.
  • [1]
  • A friend and classmate of Aya's.
    [2]
  • Another friend and classmate of Aya's.
    Joe's ex-girlfriend and an acquaintance of Mitsuki's who moved to Los Angeles.

    Production

    In an interview with Shuko Yokoi, Sumiko Arai shared that the concept of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All originated from her being drawn to stories about individuals from differing backgrounds connecting and wanting to tell a story about girls, so she drew short stories featuring no dialogue which were posted to Twitter, as Arai believed it could thus resonate with international readers.[3] One of these short stories, uploaded between July to September 2021, served as the inspiration to the series.[4]

    Since Twitter only allows four images per Tweet, chapters of the series are limited to four pages. As a result, Aya and Mitsuki's interactions have to be depicted concisely.[5] The series' editor commented that the character's faces are illustrated to be detailed enough to understand the story without the dialogue, which makes the series more accessible to Twitter users not from Japan.[5] The yellow-green color which complements the black-and-white illustrations was stated by Arai to be a late addition before the first chapter was uploaded.[3]

    Media

    Manga

    Written by Sumiko Arai, the series originated on the author's Twitter account on April 10, 2022.[6] It later began serialization on Pixiv Comic on April 29, 2023.[7] Kadokawa Shoten began publishing the series in printed volumes in April 2023.

    Yen Press will be publishing the series in English.[8] [9]

    Volumes

    Other

    Apple Music and Spotify released an official playlist containing songs that Mitsuki and Aya listen to throughout the series.[10]

    A pop-up store selling merchandise from the series was open in Ikebukuro from September 15–24 and in Nagoya from September 30 to October 9, 2023.[11]

    A drama CD adaptation was released on April 24, 2024.[12]

    Reception

    The first volume sold 150,000 copies within a week of its release.[13] By September 2023, the series had 200,000 copies in circulation.

    The series won the 2023 Next Manga Award in the web manga category.[14] The series ranked second on the 2023 "Book of the Year" list by Da Vinci magazine.[15] The series ranked second on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2024 for female readers.[16]

    A columnist for Animate Times praised the artwork, particularly its use of color, and the story's progression.[17] Momo Tachibana of Real Sound praised the main characters and their interactions, describing them as understandable.[18] Erica Friedman felt the story was "not the first of kind" but that it handled its subject better than similar series. Friedman also praised the artwork and its use of black, white, and green.[19]

    Notes and References

    1. Koga, Erina. ErinaKoga. 1777266981298905289. ja: お知らせ
      4/24(水)より発売開始のドラマCD「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」にて、【ちづる】役で出演させていただきました！
      発売に先駆け、視聴動画も公開されております✨
      ぜひチェックしてみてください♪. ja.
    2. Hieda, Nene. nene_hieda. 1777297372542046699. ja: 4月24日(水)より発売開始のドラマCD
      「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」に
      まお役で出演させていただいております！
      元々原作を楽しんでいたいち読者且つ、
      洋楽ロックも大好きな私にとって、
      あまりにも嬉しい告知…！！
      是非是非お楽しみに！
      #気になってる人が男じゃなかった. ja.
    3. Web site: ja:『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』新井すみこさんの大人気作品がSNSから広がった理由【横井周子が訊く！ マンガが生まれる場所 vol.7】. https://yoi.shueisha.co.jp/body/culture/6900/. Yoi. Yokoi. Shuko. April 7, 2024. April 8, 2024. ja.
    4. agu_knzm. 1421076802882072577. ja:「…ごめん、気づいてると思ったからなおさら声かけれなくて…」. Arai. Sumiko. July 30, 2021. February 27, 2024. ja.
    5. Web site: ja:「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」初の期間限定ショップ、池袋＆名古屋パルコで開催. https://www.walkerplus.com/article/1145457/. Walkerplus. Sairenji. Kurara. September 8, 2023. November 9, 2023. ja.
    6. agu_knzm. 1512998788025110532. ja:気になってる人が男じゃなかった. Arai. Sumiko. April 10, 2022. November 9, 2023. ja.
    7. Web site: ja:気になってる人が男じゃなかった. https://comic.pixiv.net/works/9276. Pixiv Comic. November 9, 2023. ja.
    8. Web site: The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All Manga Gets English Release . Tai, Anita . 2024-04-03 . . 2024-04-08.
    9. Web site: Yen Press Licenses 9 Manga, 5 Light Novel Series for October 2024 . Mateo, Alex . 2024-04-26 . . 2024-04-26.
    10. Web site: ja:「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」1巻、フルカラー描き下ろしや公式プレイリストも. https://natalie.mu/comic/news/521595. Comic Natalie. Natasha, Inc. April 20, 2023. November 9, 2023. ja.
    11. Web site: ja:「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」初の期間限定ショップ、池袋＆名古屋パルコで開催. https://natalie.mu/comic/news/540008. Comic Natalie. Natasha, Inc. September 8, 2023. November 9, 2023. ja.
    12. Web site: ja:ドラマCD「気になってる人が男じゃなかった」【通常盤】. https://www.fwinc.co.jp/goods/85766/. Frontier Works. Frontier Works. July 30, 2024. ja.
    13. ja:『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』発売即重版決定！ 発売1週間で累計15万部に!!. https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000013236.000007006.html. Kadokawa Corporation. May 1, 2023. November 9, 2023. Chiyoda, Tokyo. ja. PR Times.
    14. Web site: Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru!, Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta Win Next Manga Awards Print, Web Categories. Anime News Network. Loveridge. Lynzee. August 31, 2023. November 9, 2023.
    15. Web site: Tai. Anita. Tomoko Yamashita's Ikoku Nikki Tops Da Vinci Manga Ranking. Anime News Network. December 5, 2023. December 5, 2023. https://archive.today/20231206031031/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-12-05/tomoko-yamashita-ikoku-nikki-tops-da-vinci-manga-ranking/.205150. December 6, 2023. live.
    16. Web site: Pineda. Rafael. Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Editors Unveil 2024 Rankings. Anime News Network. December 11, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231211112354/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-12-11/kono-manga-ga-sugoi-editors-unveil-2024-rankings/.205367. December 11, 2023. December 11, 2023. live.
    17. Web site: ja:ミステリアスな推しの「おにーさん」の正体は、隣の席の女子だった──人気沸騰の漫画『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』読者の心に響く理由とは？. https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1690523863. Animate Times. July 29, 2023. November 9, 2023. ja.
    18. Web site: ja:ギャルが好意を抱いた“おにーさん”の正体は……次にくるマンガ大賞で注目『気になってる人が男じゃなかった』. https://realsound.jp/book/2023/09/post-1445930.html. Real Sound. Tachibana. Momo. September 30, 2023. November 9, 2023. ja.
    19. Web site: Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 1. Okazu. Friedman. Erica. Erica Friedman. August 14, 2023. November 9, 2023.

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