japanese version of hana kimi aka hua yang shao nian shao nu

Hana-Kimi

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Hana-Kimi, known in Japan as Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (花ざかりの君たちへ For You in Full Blossoms) is a shōjo manga series written by Hisaya Nakajo. (The official US translation, by VIZ Media, ends the title with a "he" instead of "e".)

The manga is serialized in Japan in Hakusensha's Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams), which comes out bi-weekly (5th and 20th of every month). This manga series has ended at volume 23 in August 2004 in Japan, but is only up to volume 16 as of February 20, 2007 in the US. An artbook was released in May 2005 in addition to a character book.

Hana-Kimi is published in English under the name Hana-Kimi by VIZ Media. The English title originated from a fan abbreviation of the original Japanese title.

Hana-Kimi centers on Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who lives in the United States. One day, she sees a track and field competition on TV, and becomes attracted to one of the competitors, Izumi Sano, competing in the high jump. She begins to idolize the young athlete and eventually transfers to Japan to attend the same school that Sano attends. There is a catch, however-- Sano attends an all-boys high school, named Osaka Gakuen, and Mizuki must disguise herself as a boy to enter. The majority of the series happens during Mizuki's second year at Osaka (from volume 4 onwards), although her first year was significant for her being able to remain in Osaka.

A new Taiwanese drama based off Hana-Kimi is currently airing, titled Hanazakarino Kimitachihe or, in Mandarin, Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nü ('花樣少年少女'). This Chinese title is also the title used by the translation published by Tong Li.

A series of three drama CDs has been released in Japanese. Nevertheless, the first CD is not available as a commercial release.

Two of Nakajo's one-shot works are included in the volumes of the series. Thirsty Moon is included in volume 4.

Plot

Ashiya is late on her very first day to Osaka (樱开) Gakuen, running into Sano (泉) (unknown to her at first) and dropping her bag after freaking out, as Sano asked why her hands were so soft. Sano is able to return the bag to her during class however, since they end up being in the same class. His first impression of Mizuki was that she (he) was gay, because she said, "I like you. Let's be friends." Ashiya is also assigned to be Sano's roommate by pure fate. Although she previously believed that she might have time off in forging her masculinity, Mizuki must now keep her false personal about her all day, every day. She is however, overjoyed that she is now Sano's roommate and is determined to be his friend. It also happens fairly early in her time at Osaka High that she is knocked unconscious and she is forced to include the school's doctor, Hokuto Umeda (田每老师), in on the secret. Unbeknownst to either of them, the same incident that makes Mizuki tell Umeda also reveals her secret to Sano. Sano, however, keeps quiet so that Mizuki would not have to leave, and he could continue to have her by his side.

The story is usually filled with humor and situations that put all characters involved into uncomfortable places, or at least places they wouldn't have thought they would have entered on their own. Additional characters include Shuichi Nakatsu, a fellow student who is confused over his attraction to Mizuki which often drives the plot forward and Minami Nanba, the R.A. of the dorm to which Sano, Mizuki, and Nakatsu belong.

The gender-bending nature of this series gives for many amusing hi-jinx and a lot of laughter, but at the core, the series also has just the amount of drama and romance that makes it so appealing to the normal shoujo audience.

Also, the theme of friendship is frequently expressed in the story, from the trio of Sano, Ashiya and Nakatsu to their group of friends: Kayashima, Noe, Sekime and Nakao. These friends helped each other through times of trouble (e.g. Nakao dealing with his feelings for Nanba).

School Environment

Osaka High is a school with a fairly long tradition. Its sister school is St. Blossoms, an all-girls high school.

There are three classes for each of the three school years. These nine classes are also divided into three "dormitories", as most of the students do not stay around the school. The culture within the individual dormitories is greatly different, as many found out when they were forced to bunk with students from the First Dormitory when the dorm underwent emergency renovations. Inter-dorm rivalries are common, and gets particularly intense during the school's cultural festival. However, the three dorm heads would work together to help any student who was in any kind of trouble.