Love Me, Love Me Not (manga)

Did You Know?

• The original Japanese title was inspired by a tagline from an 1980s acne advertisement campaign popular among schoolgirls.
• Io Sakisaka reflected on plot lines from her previous series Ao Haru Ride to display love experiences differently.

Plot

Yuna Ichihara, before her first year of high school, is upset that her best friend Sacchan is moving away. At a train station, a girl named Akari Yamamoto asks Yuna for train fare; Yuna gives it, and Akari gives her a bracelet as a promise to repay her. That same day, Yuna twice encounters a boy resembling her childhood first love. Akari returns the money, and the two discover they live in the same apartment building. They become friends but find they approach love very differently: Yuna may be in love with Akari's younger brother, and Akari with Yuna's childhood friend.

Characters

Yuna Ichihara, portrayed by Riko Fukumoto, is a shy girl who loves romance manga but has never experienced love. After her best friend Sacchan moves away, she befriends Akari. Yuna is initially suspicious of Akari following her home, though they are neighbors. She falls in love with Rio, Akari's younger stepbrother; after a first rejection, she confesses again and he accepts her.

Akari Yamamoto, portrayed by Minami Hamabe, is Yuna's neighbor and a first-year high school student. She initially has a boyfriend who later breaks up with her. Her stepbrother is Rio. She thinks Yuna's childhood friend Inui is a good person and tries to push them together until she learns Yuna loves Rio.

Akari eventually falls in love with Inui. Her mother married Rio's father, and Akari hates that her mother distrusts her and Rio alone together. She pretends not to know Rio loved her but has known since the series' start; with Yuna's help they reconcile. By the end, Akari lives in America with her parents and awaits Inui, who moves there to be with her.

Rio Yamamoto, portrayed by Takumi Kitamura, is Akari's younger stepbrother and the object of Yuna's affection. He rejects many girls, claiming he only likes pretty faces. He knew Akari before his father married her mother and was in love with her. Rio develops a close friendship with Yuna, confiding in her about his frustration over Akari.

He eventually falls for Yuna but hesitates because his friend also loves her. He confesses at the same time Yuna confesses to him, and they become a couple attending college together. Kazuomi Inui is portrayed by Eiji Akaso.

Media

Love Me, Love Me Not was serialized in Bessatsu Margaret from June 13, 2015, to May 13, 2019, and collected in twelve tankōbon volumes released from October 13, 2015, to June 25, 2019. Viz Media licensed the series for English release in North America; the first volume came out on March 3, 2020, and the last on January 4, 2022. A live-action film directed by Takahiro Miki opened in Japan on August 14, 2020, starring Eiji Akaso, Minami Hamabe, Riko Fukumoto, and Takumi Kitamura, with theme song "115man Kilo no Film" by Official Hige Dandism.

An anime film adaptation by A-1 Pictures, announced on April 22, 2019, was originally scheduled for May 29, 2020, but delayed to September 18, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Directed by Toshimasa Kuroyanagi, with scripts by Erika Yoshida, character designs by Yuu Yamashita, and music by Yuuji Nomi, its theme song is "Gravity" by Bump of Chicken. The live-action film's main cast also have cameo roles in the anime film.

Reception

The shōjo manga Love Me, Love Me Not was a finalist for the 41st Kodansha Manga Award in 2017 before taking home the 63rd Shogakukan Manga Award in the same category the following year. It also placed ninth on Takarajimasha’s 2017 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list for female readers. By July 2020, the series had more than 5.5 million copies in print. Sales figures show strong performance: Volume 3 entered Oricon’s chart at number four, rose to number two, and moved roughly 325,010 copies. Volume 4 launched at number one, selling about 168,863 copies in its first week and 293,419 within a month, staying on the charts from October through November. Volume 5 started at number six with 110,175 copies sold, then climbed to number one in its second week after an additional 121,903 copies.