Romantic comedy fans have a new anime to look forward to, as 2023 will bring the anime adaptation of Tomo-chan Is a Girl!. Featuring unrequited love of hilarious proportions, the series is sure to be a star-crossed riot in the coming anime season. Set to bring the well-received four-panel manga from the 2010s to life, the show is fortunately on its way soon.
The series is brought to life by voice actors and creators with tons of anime experience, including a fan-favorite seiyuu who even the perkiest ears might not recognize. With the scope and size of the source material, the anime could very well adapt the entirety of the manga source material. With days away until release, here's what viewers anticipating the new anime season should know about Tomo-chan Is a Girl!.
The Plot of Tomo-chan Is a Girl!
Like the manga of the same name, Tomo-chan Is a Girl! involves the eponymous Tomo Aizawa, a young tomboy who's best friends with Junichiro Kubota. They're both fairly athletic and enjoy the same activities, leading Junichiro to see Tomo as simply "one of the guys." This explains the series title, as Tomo has a surprising secret regarding her childhood friend.
Unknown to Junichiro, Tomo has had a crush on him for quite a while. These romantic feelings have gone completely unanswered, with her friend's view of her as essentially being a guy making him oblivious to her advances. Making matters worse is the presence of Misuzu Gundo, a third wheel in the relationship who's both Junichiro and Tomo's mutual friend and the former's ex-girlfriend. What results from this bad romance is a series of events that prevent Tomo from making her love for Junichiro plain.
Trailer for Tomo-chan Is a Girl!
The trailer for Tomo-chan Is a Girl! is just as uproarious as it is seemingly heartfelt and down-to-earth. The over-the-top antics of Tomo and those around her are coupled with her legitimately wanting to reveal her feelings to her friend, who's of course almost comically unaware of them. The voice acting does a great job of separating Tomo from the more feminine and conniving Misuzu, with several other characters also seen. These include Tomo's father Goro and British student Carol, the latter of whom is portrayed in a ditzy, almost saccharine fashion.
Production News for Tomo-chan Is a Girl!
Created by Fumita Yanagida, the original Tomo-chan Is a Girl! manga ran in the magazine Saizensen from 2015 to 2019 and has been collected in eight tankobon volumes. The adaptation was announced in the Summer of 2022 at Anime Expo, with the studio Lay-duce -- best-known for the 2022 series Heroines Run the Show and movies in the Fate/Stay series -- producing the show. Hitoshi Nanba, who directed anime such as historical adventure Golden Kamuy, is directing Tomo-chan, with Megumi Shimizu, Shiori Hiraiwa and Masaru Yokoyama handling scripting, character designs and music.
Popular seiyuu Rie Takahashi (Hu Tao from Genshin Impact and Megumin from the isekai anime KonoSuba) voices Tomo, with many noting that she sounds quite different from her usual characters. Kaito Ishikawa and Rina Hidaka voice Junichiro and Misuzu respectively, with Sally Amaki, Kohei Amasaki and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka rounding out the rest of the voice cast. The English counterparts for these roles are Lexi Nieto, Ricco Fajardo, Jad Saxton, Ciarán Strange and Christopher Llewyn Ramirez, although Sally Amaki voices Carol in both the dub and sub versions.
Release Date for Tomo-chan Is a Girl!
Tomo-chan Is a Girl!'s premiere is right around the corner, with the series set to hit Japanese television on January 4th, 2023. Even better for fans who want viewing options, there won't be a wait between the show's release and the English version's availability. Tomo-chan will have a same-day release on the Crunchyroll streaming service, offering both the original Japanese version with subtitles and the English dub. This might make the series easier to understand for those who don't speak English, but it's unlikely to make Tomo's quest for romance any easier. The series is scheduled to run for 13 episodes, likely adapting the entirety of the manga.