Azuki-chan

Azuki-chan (Japanese: あずきちゃん) is a manga series about a young schoolgirl named Azusa Noyama, nicknamed Azuki-chan because when she was in first grade, Ken Takayanagi, a boy in her class, accidentally reads her name, "Azusa(あずさ)", as "Azuki(あずき)". Originally serialized in Nakayoshi magazine, later adapted into anime by Madhouse.

Azuki-chan
Cover of Azuki-chan volume as published by Kodansha
あずきちゃん
Manga
Written by	Yasushi Akimoto
Illustrated by	Chika Kimura
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	1992 – 1997
Volumes	5
Anime television series
Directed by	Masayuki Kojima
Produced by	Eizo Kondo Satoshi Yoshimoto (Animation Producer)
Written by	Shun'ichi Yukimuro Tatsuhiko Urahata Chie Wakaki
Music by	Yo Tsuji
Studio	Madhouse
Original network	NHK
Original run	4 April 1995 – 17 March 1998
Episodes	117
Anime film
Directed by	Masayuki Kojima
Licensed by	NHK Enterprises 21
Released	December 23, 1995
Runtime	30 minutes

Plot summary

Azusa Noyama (野山 梓 Noyama Azusa) always hated her nickname, Azuki (小豆ちゃん Azuki-chan).

She hates it until one day a new boy, Yūnosuke Ogasawara (小笠原 勇之助 Ogasawara Yūnosuke), starts in the same class as her on the first day of fifth grade. Earlier that day, Azuki is teased by Ken Takayanagi (高柳 健 Takayanagi Ken), or Ken-chan, about her nickname. Yūnosuke passes by and happily memorizes the name becoming the first girl he notices. Azuki is overjoyed, and instantly falls in love with him, loving both him and her nickname. However, Azuki gets jealous when she sees him closer to other girls.

Azuki lives with her mother, Keiko (けい子), with her father, Tadashi (正), and with her little brother, Daizu (大豆) in an apartment. Azuki has three best friends, Kaoru Nishino (西野 薫 Nishino Kaoru), Midori Kodama (兒玉 持玉 翠 Kodama Jidama Midori) and Tomomi Takahashi (高橋 朋美 Takahashi Tomomi).

Kaoru has blonde hair, and she's calm and sensitive so she often cries. She lives with her mom, who owns a salon, near from Azuki's apartment. Kaoru secretly crushes on Ken but he doesn't accept her because he likes Azuki. Although in that situation, Kaoru still thinks Azuki is her best friend. Later, Ken starts to open up to Kaoru and gets closer to her.

Midori Kodama is a tomboy and her close friends call her "Jidama". She lives with her grandmother. They seem to have a very close relationship except one episode when Jidama have gone out and sneaked in Azuki's bedroom because of an argument with her grandmother. She doesn't have a crush on anyone but in an episode, she falls for a police officer who helped her when her house was robbed. However, Jidama stops crushing on him when she realizes that the police officer is already married.

Tomomi, whom her friends called her "Tomo-chan" or "Tomo" is the class president. She wears glasses and has her hair in a black bob. She really likes Makoto Sakaguchi (坂口 誠 Sakaguchi Makoto), a close friend of Yūnosuke. Makoto didn't notice her at first but at last he asks her to go on a date in his parents' hotel, and eventually gets closer with Tomo.

Makoto is a rich boy but is not one of the spoiled brats. He is kind of sleepy and was intelligent "until 3rd grade". He's one of Yūnosuke's best friends, and they really are close.

Not only Azuki has a crush on Yūnosuke, but apparently most girls in her class also have feelings about him.

One of them is Yōko Sakakibara, a rich girl whose mom is a friend of Yūnosuke's. Yōko thinks she will get Yūnosuke as her boyfriend and tries to separate him with Azuki.

Ken "Ken-chan" Takayanagi is also a best friend of Yūnosuke. He's also a childhood friend of Azuki. Ken's father owns a ramen stall near Azuki's apartment, so Azuki always orders ramen from Ken's stall. Ken's mother doesn't appear a lot in the episodes.

In the second season, there was a new music teacher that Azuki is jealous of because she seems close to Yūnosuke. However, Azuki gets over it soon.

Before, in the first season, Azuki and Yūnosuke have their first kiss after he was beaten up by some middle school students. The funny part is that Yūnosuke thinks that Azuki will have a baby for that. Later, he finds out that this isn't true.

Also, in one episode, a sixth-grader crushes on Azuki and follows her wherever she goes. When they were little, Azuki helped him find his ball. Finally, he stopped wanting Azuki's response.

Daizu, Azuki's younger brother, also get his own story. He has a girlfriend who unfortunately falls for Yūnosuke but then gets back to him because realizing that Yūnosuke is already with Azuki. Before her, Daizu fell in love with Yōko...but he completely forgets her.

Azuki, Kaoru, and Tomo makes a club called "Club of Unreturned Love/ One-Sided Love" in one of the first episodes.

Makoto's older sister, which it's hard to believe she's his sister, appeared in a few episodes.

External links

• Azuki-chan (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia