Tonikaku Kawaii, a manga currently being serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday, will be adapted into an anime starting in October 2020. I'd like to introduce the storyline, interspersed with spoilers. However, there's no need to give away any spoilers—90% of the story is simply about the main character flirting with the cutest bride, so there's probably no need to give away any spoilers. But I'd like to introduce the story of Tonikaku Kawaii!
Story 1: The shining protagonist, Nasa Yuzaki, rises to earth
The protagonist, born as the eldest son of the Yuzaki family, is named Nasa, which means "starry sky." Nasa, who has what's commonly called a "kirakira" (fancy name), has had a complex about his name since childhood. He hated being mocked for it, so he worked hard to avoid being mocked. Nasa was a genius, the type who would go all out when fired up. As he became one of the top intellectuals in the country, he also began to believe he was a perfect superhuman who could do anything. He was certainly a genius, but it was a sad kind of genius.
Story 2: Nasa Yuzaki Has a Fateful Encounter
One day, on his way home, Nasa spots a girl who's just so cute, she's his type. Nasa instinctively approaches to call out to her, but is hit by a large truck without noticing it. While this would have been a fatal blow, miraculously, Nasa is spared. This is because a very cute girl jumps out to shield him. Although the girl's impact was clearly more fatal than Nasa's, she only bled a little and left the scene.
Story 3: Nasa Promises to Marry
Nasa almost loses consciousness, but with determination, he regains consciousness and chases after the girl. Nasa catches up with the girl and, with the same momentum, confesses his love. The girl responds, "I'll go out with you if you marry me," to which Nasa immediately replies, "I'd be happy to!" However, he loses consciousness shortly thereafter. Nearly fatally wounded, he is rushed to the hospital. The mysterious girl then disappears.
Story 4: Nasa Skips Years and Turns 18
After that, due to his injury, Nasa has to repeat middle school. From then on, he continues to focus solely on his studies, and a year later he passes the exam with top marks, but declines the offer. After that, he works part-time jobs day and night, believing that he will meet the girl again someday, but she never appears and Nasa turns 18. Then, one day, that girl suddenly appears in front of Nasa. The girl's name is Tsukiyomi Tsukasa. On the day Nasa turns 18, she appears in front of him with a marriage registration form. This concludes episode 2.
Story 5: Nasa Yuzaki and Tsukasa Yuzaki become a married couple and start flirting.
After that, Nasa and Tsukasa submit their marriage registration to the city hall and get married. And so, happily ever after, the couple simply enjoys their newlywed life, flirting with each other. Romantic comedies are fun until they're established, and the author himself would probably say that once they're established, the story will quickly become boring unless the heroine is kidnapped or there's some other twist in the plot, but that's not the case. There are many times when the story is just about flirting with a cute bride without much of a punchline. That's what this work is about.
Story 6: Introducing Arisugawa Kaname, the poster girl of the public bath, Kusatsu Onsen Fuyufuin, and her sister Aya
Nasa's apartment, Tachibana No. 3, doesn't have a bath, so he has to go to the bathhouse regularly. At his favorite public bath, Kusatsu Onsen Fuyufuin, he meets his junior colleague, Arisugawa Kaname. A slightly cheeky but reliable former junior colleague, he now works part-time at the bathhouse. She also gives them sound advice. Also appearing is Arisugawa Aya, Nasa's unfortunate older sister who has feelings for him. However, since Nasa is constantly flirting with his wife, she only makes a few appearances. She's the loser heroine from the start.
Story 7: The Big Sister-Loving Little Sister, Kaginodera Chitose, Makes Her Appearance
A girl who adores Tsukasa as her "older sister" suddenly shows up at Nasa and Tsukasa's love nest. The girl's name is Kaginodera Chitose, and she is said to be the daughter of a family that Tsukasa once took care of. She tracks down Tsukasa's whereabouts and shows up to see him. He is shocked to hear that they are married! She absolutely refuses to accept Nasa-kun, and in order to rescue Tsukasa from his clutches, she tries to drive him to ruin with a Bunshun Bomb, but for one reason or another, she fails. The bond between the couple only deepens. After that, Chitose settles into a minor character who appears occasionally.
Story 8: A Life of Flirting and Raising Communication Levels
The rest of the story continues with a series of heartwarming, self-contained episodes about everyday life. They include buying a TV for Tsukasa, who loves TV, games, and shark movies, wanting to kiss him, visiting his parents, getting cozy on a trip, returning home to find their house gone, playing Virtual-On, getting a cat, watching movies, going to a theme park, and finding their former homeroom teacher getting married. There's no particular change in direction for the series, and the story continues with just the cute bride and the lovey-dovey wife.
Story if... Since they're no longer popular, I'll bring in characters from the previous series
Tonikaku Kawaii is all about the cute bride and the lovey-dovey relationships, with no super-developments like heroine races, misunderstandings typical of romantic comedies, or battles due to a change of direction. However, if it continues like this, it's likely to become boring. The author's mentor mentioned at the start of the series that if that were to happen, characters from the previous work might be introduced, turning it into a Hayate II: Tonikaku Kawaii story... but it looks like it's going to continue without any particular developments.
[Tonikaku Kawaii] Story Summary
Contrary to common beliefs that romantic comedies are fun until they're established, or that they lack appeal if they don't have a variety of cute heroines, this story goes against that convention by featuring just one heroine! They're married from the start! There aren't any major challenges for the two characters, they're just plain lovey-dovey! In a sense, this manly, self-centered style of storytelling was what was most needed. That work, "Tonikaku Kawaii," will be made into an anime starting in October! It's overly sweet, but not at all toxic, and is a heartwarming, lovey-dovey, slice-of-life story, so I think it's a must-watch for anyone seeking healing in a slice-of-life story!
