Bloom Into You (Japanese: やがて君になる, Hepburn: Yagate Kimi ni Naru, lit. Eventually, Becoming You)[3] is a Japanese yuri manga series written and illustrated by Nio Nakatani.[4] The manga began serialization in the Japanese monthly shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Daioh[5] on April 27, 2015,[6] and ended on September 27, 2019.[7] The story follows two female high school students, Yuu Koito and Touko Nanami, and the relationship that develops between them as they learn more about themselves through their experiences together.
Bloom Into You | |
![]() Cover of first manga volume, featuring Touko (left) and Yuu (right). | |
やがて君になる (Yagate Kimi ni Naru) | |
---|---|
Genre | Yuri,[1] romance[2] |
Manga | |
Written by | Nio Nakatani |
Published by | ASCII Media Works |
English publisher | NA Seven Seas Entertainment |
Magazine | Dengeki Daioh |
Demographic | Shōnen |
Original run | April 27, 2015 – September 27, 2019 |
Volumes | 8 (List of volumes) |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Makoto Katō |
Produced by | Shinpei Yamashita Tatsuya Kusunoki Noritomo Isogai Kaori Kimura Mitsuhiro Ogata Daisuke Iwasaki |
Written by | Jukki Hanada |
Music by | Michiru Ōshima |
Studio | Troyca |
Licensed by | Sentai Filmworks |
Original network | AT-X, Tokyo MX, SUN, KBS, TVA, TVQ, BS11 |
Original run | October 5, 2018 – December 28, 2018 |
Episodes | 13 (List of episodes) |
Light novel | |
Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka | |
Written by | Hitoma Iruma |
Illustrated by | Nio Nakatani |
Published by | Kadokawa |
English publisher | NA Seven Seas Entertainment |
Imprint | Dengeki Bunko |
Demographic | Male |
Original run | November 10, 2018 – March 10, 2020 |
Volumes | 3 (List of volumes) |
![]() |
The manga was collected in eight tankōbon volumes that were first published in Japan between October 2015 and November 2019 by ASCII Media Works under the Dengeki Comics NEXT label.[8][3] The volumes were later licensed for English release in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment, and were released between January 2017 and August 2020.[1][9] An anime television series adaptation by Troyca covering the first five volumes of the manga aired between October and December 2018.
First-year high school student Yuu Koito unexpectedly receives a confession from a middle school classmate, and turns him down, not knowing how to feel about such things. She later sees second-year student council member Touko Nanami turning down a confession herself and becomes convinced that Touko's situation might be similar to her own. Upon speaking to Touko, the two begin to bond over their similarities. To Yuu's surprise, Touko suddenly confesses her feelings to her. Yuu is uncertain how to respond, but Touko brushes this aside, telling Yuu that she would be very happy if Yuu were to not fall in love with her in return. Yuu agrees.
Touko declares that she will be running for the position of student council president and asks Yuu to be her campaign manager. To the dismay of Touko's best friend Sayaka Saeki, Yuu accepts the role. Despite both her and Touko being highly nervous, Yuu gives a powerful campaign speech on election day and simultaneously announces her decision to join the student council, resulting in Touko winning the election.
As president, Touko announces her intention to revive the student council play, which has not been performed in seven years. When the student council looks for someone to write a script for the play, Yuu considers that her friend Koyomi Kanou could write it, but does not mention this, wanting Touko to forget about doing the play. However, Sayaka tells Yuu to solicit Koyomi to write the script, and to look into the student council president of seven years ago. Yuu subsequently learns that Touko's older sister Mio was the student council president seven years ago and had been producing a play when she was killed in a traffic accident before its premiere. Yuu realizes that Touko wishes to produce the play in her sister's stead and tries to convince Touko that this is unnecessary, but Touko coldly refuses.
The play's production continues and Koyomi finishes the first draft. The narrative follows an amnesiac girl who must choose which person's view of her is her true self, with the original ending involving the girl choosing to be with her lover. When the student council holds a study camp to practice for the play, professional actor Tomoyuki Ichigaya, a former classmate of Mio's, is brought in to help with the rehearsals. Touko asks him about her sister and learns that Mio was a very different person than who she is now, leaving her conflicted. Concerned, Yuu has Koyomi change the ending to have the protagonist choose to be herself instead of conforming to a specific person's view, believing that this will help Touko come to terms with herself. When the play is performed at the cultural festival, its narrative and Touko's performance are acclaimed by the audience, and the manager of a local theater troupe approaches Touko, asking her to join them and become an actress. She initially declines, but eventually reconsiders and accepts.
Touko thanks Yuu again for her support and reiterates her wish for Yuu to stay with her as she is. However, Yuu has slowly begun to reconsider how she feels towards Touko and abruptly confesses her love. She misinterprets Touko's shocked response as rejection and runs away, causing Touko to realize that she has been overly imposing towards Yuu. Meanwhile, Sayaka speaks with café owner Miyako Kodama, with whom she confides her own romantic feelings for Touko. When the second-years take a class trip to Kyoto, Sayaka formally confesses to Touko. Touko is somewhat surprised but eventually turns Sayaka down, acknowledging her love for Yuu. Although dejected, Sayaka accepts this. Elsewhere, Yuu realizes that she is running away from her problems. Upon Touko's return, the two reconcile, and Yuu openly reciprocates Touko's feelings for the first time.
Over time, Yuu and Touko meet up at various places together and gradually become more emotionally and physically intimate with each other. This culminates when they go bowling together, with the agreement that whoever wins gets to request something from the other. Yuu wins and asks to sleep over at Touko's house. Touko agrees, confessing she had wanted to arrange that as well. On the day, Yuu arrives at Touko's parents' condo, where they spend the evening together. Touko waits as Yuu takes a bath, and when she later comes into Touko's bedroom, they have sex.
Some years later, Yuu and Touko have graduated high school, enrolled in college, and are now wearing rings on their fingers. They reunite with the former student council members to attend the cultural festival at their old high school. As Yuu and Touko reminisce about how their relationship started and reflect on their new lives as adults, they walk off into the night.
Bloom Into You was conceived by Nakatani after she became known primarily through her work on doujinshi, especially those based on the Touhou Project series.[17] Because her works were primarily about girl-girl relationships, she gained a reputation as a "yuri mangaka," leading the editor of Dengeki Daioh (in which she had professionally debuted with their publication of her previously self-published short Farewell to My Alter)[18][19] to approach her at a doujinshi convention, asking if she wanted to draw a yuri series for the magazine.[20][21] Although Nakatani viewed her works as being about "human relationships" and had not intentionally set out to write yuri, she had already been considering trying to write a "love story" and thus accepted the offer.[20] This led Nakatani to create Bloom Into You, with the intention of creating a yuri story "that could only be seen as yuri no matter which way you looked at it."[22]
The manga is written and illustrated by Nio Nakatani. It began serialization in ASCII Media Works' monthly magazine Dengeki Daioh on April 27, 2015[6] and ended on September 27, 2019.[7] The eighth and final tankōbon volume of the manga was released in November 2019.[23] Describing the series as having “…Adorable artwork and [a] charming love story,” Seven Seas Entertainment announced its licensing of the manga for English release in North America on February 14, 2016.[24] The manga is currently published in Japanese, English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Thai, French, Italian, German and Spanish.
The manga was relaunched as a full-color webtoon by Kadokawa Future Publishing's Tatesuku Comic imprint.[25] It began serialization on BookWalker August 11, 2021.
No. | Title | Original release date | English release date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | I Think I Might Be Falling in Love with You… Suki o shiranai shōjo ga deau, hitosujinawade wa ikanai ── on'nanoko dōshi no ren'ai (好きを知らない少女が出会う、一筋縄ではいかない──女の子同士の恋愛) | October 27, 2015[26] 978-4-04-865432-6 | January 3, 2017[27] 978-1-626923-53-9 |
2 | Only Time Can Tell… Watashi ni suki wa, otozurenai (わたしに好きは、訪れない) | April 27, 2016[28] 978-4-04-865875-1 | May 16, 2017[29] 978-1-626924-79-6 |
3 | Never Say Never Kono mama de itai. Hontoda yo. (このままでいたい。ほんとだよ。) | November 26, 2016[30] 978-4-04-892431-3 | September 19, 2017[31] 978-1-626925-44-1 |
4 | Practice Makes Perfect Wagamamada. Anata mo, watashi mo. (わがままだ。あなたも、わたしも。) | June 27, 2017[32] 978-4-04-892919-6 | February 20, 2018[33] 978-1-626926-84-4 |
5 | Going Out! Kokode wanai basho e (ここではない場所へ) | January 27, 2018[34] 978-4-04-893541-8 | August 14, 2018[35] 978-1-626928-02-2 |
6 | The Curtains Rise… Senpai wa mou, daijoubu da ne. (先輩はもう、大丈夫だね。) | September 27, 2018[36] 978-4-04-912047-9 | March 26, 2019[37] 978-1-626929-41-8 |
7 | A Change of Heart Gakkō ni nokoru Yū wa, suki ga wakarazu ni… … . (学校に残る侑は、好きがわからずに……。) | April 26, 2019[38] 978-4-04-912493-4 | April 7, 2020[39] 978-1-642750-20-1 |
8 | Love in Full Bloom Suki o shiranai shōjo-tachi no koi monogatari, saishū maki. (好きを知らない少女たちの恋物語、最終巻。) | November 27, 2019[40] 978-4-04-912869-7 | August 18, 2020[41] 978-1-64275-746-0 |
Two volumes of an official manga anthology were published by Kadokawa and released between December 2018 and March 2020. Seven Seas announced its licensing of the manga anthology for English release in North America on December 4, 2020.[42]
No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | December 25, 2018 | 978-4049122381 | September 28, 2021[43] | 978-1-64827-788-7 |
2 | March 26, 2020 | 978-4049131130 | January 18, 2022[44] | 978-1-64827-789-4 |
A side-story novel, Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka (やがて君になる 佐伯沙弥香について, Yagate Kimi ni Naru: Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite), is written by Hitoma Iruma and published through Kadokawa's Dengeki Bunko imprint since November 10, 2018.[45] The second volume was released on May 10, 2019,[46] and the third volume was released on March 10, 2020.[47] Seven Seas Entertainment announced in July 2019 that they had licensed the series for release in English in North America.[48]
No. | Original release date | Original ISBN | English release date | English ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | November 10, 2018[45] | 978-4-04-912165-0 | December 19, 2019 (digital) February 11, 2020 (physical)[49] | 978-1-64275-754-5 |
2 | May 10, 2019[46] | 978-4-04-912518-4 | April 23, 2020 (digital) August 11, 2020 (physical)[49] | 978-1-64505-462-7 |
3 | March 10, 2020[47] | 978-4-04-913129-1 | December 22, 2020[49] | 978-1-64505-727-7 |
A 13-episode anime television series adaptation was announced in the June issue of the Dengeki Daioh magazine on April 27, 2018. It was animated by Troyca, produced by Kadokawa, Docomo Anime Store, AT-X, Sony Music Solutions and Kadokawa Media House and directed by Makoto Katō, with Jukki Hanada handling series composition, Hiroaki Gōda designing the characters and Michiru Ōshima composing the music.[14] The series aired in Japan from October 5 to December 28, 2018.[50][51] Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series outside of Asia and are streaming it on Hidive in both subtitled and English dubbed formats.[52][53] The opening theme is "Kimi ni Furete" (君にふれて, Touched By You) by Riko Azuna,[54] while the ending theme is "hectopascal" by Yūki Takada and Minako Kotobuki.[14]
No. | Title[55][lower-alpha 1] | Directed by | Original air date[56] | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "I Can't Reach the Star" Transcription: "Watashi wa Hoshi ni Todokanai" (Japanese: わたしは星に届かない) | Makoto Katō | October 5, 2018 (2018-10-05) | |
Asked to help out with her school's student council, Yuu Koito comes across student council member Touko Nanami turning down a confession, stating she doesn't intend to go out with anyone. Recalling a confession from a boy she had yet to reply to, Yuu confides in Touko about feelings she didn't understand. After helping her turn down the boy properly, Touko tells Yuu that she has fallen in love with her. Later, Touko asks Yuu to be her campaign manager for the student council president election. | ||||
2 | "Heating Up / Application for First Love" Transcription: "Hatsunetsu / Hatsukoi Shinsei" (Japanese: 発熱/初恋申請) | Shū Watanabe | October 12, 2018 (2018-10-12) | |
Touko's decision to make Yuu her campaign manager doesn't settle well with her long-time friend Sayaka Saeki, but Sayaka decides to help Yuu nonetheless. Later, as Yuu states she's not the type to fall in love, Touko suddenly kisses her. As attentions turn to the campaign, Yuu notices that Touko really thinks of her as special, and becomes jealous that she can't experience the same feeling. Noticing this, Touko asks Yuu to let her be in love with her without Yuu falling in love with her in return, which Yuu agrees to. | ||||
3 | "Still Up In The Air / The One Who Likes Me" Transcription: "Mada Taikiken / Watashi o Suki na Hito" (Japanese: まだ大気圏/わたしを好きな人) | Geisei Morita | October 19, 2018 (2018-10-19) | |
During school break, Yuu meets up with some of her friends from middle school, one of which was turned down by her crush. On the day of the student council elections, Touko reveals to Yuu that she is nervous about remaining perfect in everyone's eyes and scared of reverting to the person she used to be, but Yuu assures her that it's fine to show her weakness to her. Despite being nervous herself, Yuu manages to pull off her campaign speech while also announcing her intention to join the student council, resulting in Touko winning the election. | ||||
4 | "The Distance Between Fondness and Kisses / Not One of the Characters" Transcription: "Suki to Kisu no Kyori / Yakusha janai" (Japanese: 好きとキスの距離/役者じゃない) | Masatoyo Takada | October 26, 2018 (2018-10-26) | |
Touko reveals that she wants to revive a tradition where the student council would hold a stage play during the culture festival. Later, fellow student council member Seiji Maki spots Touko and Yuu kissing. After confronting Yuu about it, Maki, who prefers observing the romance of others, agrees not to tell Touko or anyone else about what he saw, hinting to Yuu that she may actually love Touko more than she realizes. | ||||
5 | "The Problem with Choices" Transcription: "Sentaku Mondai / Zoku Sentaku Mondai" (Japanese: 選択問題/続・選択問題) | Kōhei Hatano | November 2, 2018 (2018-11-02) | |
While in denial about what Maki implied, Yuu is asked by her classmate Koyomi Kanou to give her feedback on a novel that she is writing. Later, Yuu invites Touko to her house to study, where Touko worries about how Yuu feels about her before exchanging contacts with her sister Rei. | ||||
6 | "Words Kept Repressed / Words Used to Repress" Transcription: "Kotoba wa Tojikome / Kotoba de Tojikomete" (Japanese: 言葉は閉じ込めて/言葉で閉じ込めて) | Shū Watanabe | November 9, 2018 (2018-11-09) | |
As the student council look for someone to write a script for their play, Sayaka approaches Yuu, who had Koyomi in mind but didn't bring it up out of concern for Touko, and tells her to look into the student council president of seven years ago. Unable to find any relevant documents from seven years ago, Yuu learns from both Rei and one of the teachers that the president back then was Touko's older sister, Mio, who died in a traffic accident before she could perform at the culture festival. Realising that Touko has been trying to imitate her sister, Yuu tries to convince her not to force herself to do the play, but Touko refuses, feeling she can't let go of what makes people consider her as someone special. Stating that she can't fall in love with either side of Touko, Yuu promises to stay by her side and help with the play. Later, while walking together, Touko thinks about how she never wants Yuu to change, because she fears if Yuu does then Touko wouldn't love her anymore and go back to being lonely. As such, Touko hopes Yuu will never fall in love with her. | ||||
7 | "Secrets Galore / Sparks" Transcription: "Himitsu no Takusan / Tanebi" (Japanese: 秘密のたくさん/種火) | Hayato Sakai | November 16, 2018 (2018-11-16) | |
Sayaka recalls how she dated a girl in middle school, only to find that she wasn't taking it seriously, after which she fell for Touko. As Yuu, Touko, Sayaka, and Koyomi get together at a café to discuss the play, Sayaka notices something between her teacher Riko Hakozaki and café owner Miyako Kodama. Speaking to Miyako alone, Sayaka learns that she and Riko are dating each other and confides with her about her feelings for Touko. | ||||
8 | "Intersection / Rained In" Transcription: "Kōten / Ori Komeru" (Japanese: 交点/降り籠める) | Geisei Morita | November 23, 2018 (2018-11-23) | |
While waiting for Touko, Sayaka has a brief run-in with her ex-girlfriend, managing to say her peace to her. Later, as the student council prepare to take part in a competitive relay event, Yuu spends some time with Sayaka to hear her thoughts on both the play and Touko. On a rainy day, Yuu ends up walking home with Touko, who becomes wary of Yuu showing affection towards her. | ||||
9 | "On Your Marks / The Unheard Start Signal" Transcription: "Ichi ni Tsuite / Gōhō wa Kikoenai" (Japanese: 位置について/号砲は聞こえない) | Masatoyo Takada | November 30, 2018 (2018-11-30) | |
While preparing for Sports Day, Touko brings Yuu into the sports supply closet to kiss her, asking for a kiss from her in return at the end of the day. On the appointed day, Maki tells Yuu that he doesn't have romantic feelings towards anyone, preferring to watch other romances from a distance. Yuu expresses that she feels similarly, but Maki notices she doesn't feel exactly the same way. At the end of the day, as Touko claims her reward, Yuu starts to become aware of her own feelings towards her. | ||||
10 | "The Incomplete Me / Midday Star / Mirage" Transcription: "Watashi-miman / Hiru no Hoshi / Nigemizu" (Japanese: 私未満/昼の星/逃げ水) | Shū Watanabe | December 7, 2018 (2018-12-07) | |
Koyomi finishes her first draft of the play script, which centers around a girl with amnesia having to choose which person's interpretation of her is her true self. As the student council make plans for a study camp to rehearse for the play, Yuu goes shopping with her middle school friend Natsuki, who notices how Yuu has changed. Meanwhile, Touko remains obsessed with the idea of becoming Mio. | ||||
11 | "Centroid of the Triangle / Lit Fuse" Transcription: "Sankakkei no Jūshin / Dōka" (Japanese: 三角形の重心/導火) | Kana Kawana | December 14, 2018 (2018-12-14) | |
The student council begin their study camp, with Koyomi having concerns over whether the ending she chose for the play is the right one. On the second day, Tomoyuki Ichigaya, a former classmate of Mio, is brought in to coach the students. Upon asking Tomoyuki about what kind of person Mio was like, Touko is shocked to learn that the person he knew is different from the person she thought she was. | ||||
12 | "Suddenly Suffocating" Transcription: "Kigatsukeba Iki mo Dekinai" (Japanese: 気が付けば息も出来ない) | Shū Watanabe | December 21, 2018 (2018-12-21) | |
As the camp draws to a close, Yuu grows more concerned about Touko's behavior. Following the camp, Yuu invites Touko to her room and learns of Touko's worries about what Tomoyuki told her about Mio. Wanting Touko to stop hating herself, Yuu decides to ask Koyomi to rewrite the ending of the play in order to change Touko. | ||||
13 | "To The Last Stop / Lighthouse" Transcription: "Shūchaku Eki Made / Tōdai" (Japanese: 終着駅まで/灯台) | Makoto Katō | December 28, 2018 (2018-12-28) | |
While Yuu and Koyomi work on the new script, Sayaka asks Touko about what she personally knew about Mio. Later, Yuu and Touko go to an aquarium together, where Touko talks about her feelings for her. Deciding to rehearse the play with her, Yuu indirectly tells Touko that she doesn't have to force herself to become someone else. |
A stage play adaptation of the manga ran in Japan in May 2019. A second stage play, adapting events in the Regarding Saeki Sayaka light novels, ran from October to November 2020.[57] An encore performance of the stage play, with a script revised to include the events of the manga's conclusion, was announced in October of 2019 as part of the "Curtain Call" project following the end of the manga's serialization.[58] It was planned for the fall of 2020, however, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July of 2022, the encore was rescheduled to be performed between November 25 and December 4, 2022, with the previous main cast slated to reprise their roles.[59]
As of 2019, there are 1,000,000 copies in print in Japan alone.[60] It placed 4th in the 2017 Next Manga Awards from Niconico and Da Vinci.[61][62] The manga has also ranked on Oricon's weekly manga rankings chart, with Volume 4 reaching 30th place and Volume 5 reaching 21st place.[63][64] The manga placed 3rd in AnimeJapan's 2018 "Manga Most Wanted as Anime by Fans" poll.[65]
In September 2020, Nicki "YuriMother" Bauman wrote about the series, describing it as "one of the most successful yuri works," saying it defies many tropes associated with yuri, while accepting others, with tropes especially in the relationship between protagonists Yuu Koito and Touko Nanami, Sayaka harboring a crush on Touko, just like "Tomoyo from Cardcaptor Sakura, Tamao in Strawberry Panic!, and...A Certain Scientific Railgun's Kuroko" and said that some parts of the anime contribute to the trope of "the predatory lesbian" and noted the discussion about supposed asexuality in the series.[66] On the other hand, she stated that the "best qualities" of the series are challenging and manipulating yuri tropes, especially when it comes to "pure" relationships and against the idea of "transitory same-sex love," stating this idea is countered in the relationship between Sayaka and Touko.
Troyca | |
---|---|
Television series |
|
OVA/ONAs |
|
![]() |