History Manga / SmileDownTheRunway

Chiyuki Fujito has a dream: to become a model. The problem is she's too short to be one, and everyone around her tells her so. But no matter what they say, she won't give up. Her classmate, a poor student named Ikuto Tsumura, also has a dream: to become a FashionDesigner. The two decide to combine their dreams and overcome the naysayers.

''Smile Down the Runway'' is a Japanese manga series by Kotoba Inoya. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Magazine/ShonenMagazine'' from May 2017 to July 2021 and has been collected in twenty-two ''tankōbon'' volumes. Kodansha USA published the manga in North America. An anime television series adaptation by Ezo'la aired from January 10 to March 27, 2020 on the Animeism programming block. Creator/{{Funimation}} produced a [=SimulDub=] of the series, which premiered on January 24, 2020.

''Smile Down the Runway'' is a Japanese manga series by Kotoba Inoya. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Magazine/ShonenMagazine'' from May 2017 to July 2021 and has been collected in twenty-two ''tankōbon'' volumes. The manga is published in North America by Kodansha USA. An anime television series adaptation by Ezo'la aired from January 10 to March 27, 2020 on the Animeism programming block. Creator/{{Funimation}} produced a [=SimulDub=] of the series, which premiered on January 24, 2020.

Chiyuki Fujito has a dream: to become a FashionModel. The problem is she's too short to be one, and everyone around her tells her so. But no matter what they say, she won't give up. Her classmate, a poor student named Ikuto Tsumura, also has a dream: to become a FashionDesigner. The two decide to combine their dreams and overcome the naysayers.

* AmbitionIsEvil: Inverted. Hazime outright says that ambition is ''required'' for a fashion designer to thrive, because the challenges one must face in the industry (i.e. catering to customer demands, liaising with suppliers, managing the production lines, etc.) will wear down even the most passionate designers if they don't have a higher goal beyond their love of making clothes. In fact, part of Ikuto's character growth is marked when he develops a competitive streak and a desire to win against Toh, when previously he's content to merely appreciate the clothes that others made.
* BaitAndSwitch: One of Ikuto's main barriers from becoming a professional fashion designer is that he doesn't have a fashion design degree, as he's too poor to pay for such specialized school. Then, he participates in the Geika Institute Fashion Festival, after which he is offered a scholarship by the headmaster. However, right after he submits his application, Ikuto finds an internship opportunity in Aphro I Dite, and after a few months of work, he is given a full-time position at the company, meaning that he never needs the degree.

* {{Nepotism}}: Discussed. Mii Sakuma, Hazime and Ikuto manages to get their positions at Aphro I Dite through inside connections (Mii is the daughter of Aphro I Dite's main sponsor, Hazime is Mii's old friend, while Ikuto gets his internship thanks to Toh's recommendation), and are hated by many of the other staffs, who see them as incompetent layabouts who's only coasting by through their connections instead of actual merit. However, as Hazime would say, one shouldn't be afraid to use their connections to open up opportunities for themselves, but they should then prove themselves worthy of the position by their hard work and results.

* AmbiguousSituation: [[invoked]] Toh's "bet" with his grandmother. Toh claims that he's aiming to beat her Geika Fashion Festival record in order to make her acknowledge him as a fashion designer and let him go independent. However, Mai says that those condition is a SelfImposedChallenge Toh had set for himself, and Mai wants him to go independent regardless. The flashback where Mai tells her grandson to make her acknowledge his skills was apparently said during her drunk episode, which may be closer to how she actually feels about Toh. When Toh fails to beat Mai's record at the festival, Mai chides him for copying her style, while still encouraging him go independent from Aphro I Dite, which Toh refuses because his pride wouldn't allow him to do so when he failed his own test. Later, Mai drives Toh to quit from Aphro I Dite, after which he plans to outshine her with his own brand in a joint exhibition they plan to host.

* WillTheyOrWontThey: While not the focus, there is a minor love triangle going between Chiyuki and Kokoro for Ikuto’s affections. Who does Ikuto end up with in the finale?[[spoiler: The mangaka explicitly leaves it ambiguous. Ikuto is indeed married, but to who is up to the reader to decide.]]

* [Engrish]: The anime's "commercial break" logo features the words "Smile at the Runway" instead of the actual title.

* [[Engrish]]: The anime's "commercial break" logo features the words "Smile at the Runway" instead of the actual title.

* Engrish: The anime's logo features the words "Smile at the Runway" instead of the actual title.

* WhamLine: Hazime declaring that [[spoiler:he's closing down his studio to work as one of Aphro I Dite's lead designers]], shortly after he hinted to Ikuto that he might hire him full time.

* HeightAngst: Chiyuki doesn't like having her height brought, especially since her short stature is the reason why she had little success in being a model. Fumiyo is also rather angsty about her short stature. Kokoro is additionally quite self-conscious about her height, only for her, being too tall.

* DebateAndSwitch: One of the series' main messages is to not give up/compromise on your dreams. Halfway through the Geika Fashion Festival event, Ikuto's mother goes into critical condition, and he has to use the money he would have needed to buy materials for the fashion show for her operation. Toh offers to pay for the operation if Ikuto drops out as a designer to work as his patterner instead (thus compromising his dream), while Igarashi makes the same offer if Ikuto hires Kokoro as his model to make ''her'' to give up on her dream. This dilemma is easily resolved when [[spoiler:Chiyuki's father offered to buy his design (the first dress he made for Chiyuki) for 2 million yen, which gives him more than enough money to pay for his mother's operation and buy materials for his show.]]

* ToBeAMaster: Both Ikuto and Chiyuki, respectively aspires to be a fashion designer, and fashion model that can take the stage of the Paris Fashion Week, which itself is considered the the apex of the industry.

* AmbiguousSituation: Toh's "bet" with his grandmother. Toh claims that he's aiming to beat her Geika Fashion Festival record in order to make her acknowledge him as a fashion designer and let him go independent. However, Mai says that those condition is a challenge Toh had set for himself, and Mai wants him to go independent regardless. The flashback where Mai tells her grandson to make her acknowledge his skills was apparently said during her drunk episode, which may be closer to how she actually feels about Toh. When Toh fails to beat Mai's record at the festival, Mai chides him for copying her style, while still encouraging him go independent from Aphro I Dite, which Toh refuses because his pride wouldn't allow him to do so when he failed his own test. Later, Mai drives Toh to quit from Aphro I Dite, after which he plans to outshine her with his own brand in a joint exhibition they plan to host.

* {{Nepotism}}: Discussed. Mii Sakuma, Hazime and Ikuto manages to get their positions at Aphro I Dite through inside connections (Mii is the daughter of Aphro I dite's main sponsor, Hazime is Mii's old friend, while Ikuto gets his internship thanks to Toh's recommendation), and are hated by many of the other staffs, who see them as incompetent layabouts who's only coasting by through their connections instead of actual merit. However, as Hazime would say, one shouldn't be afraid to use their connections to open up opportunities for themselves, but they should then prove themselves worthy of the position by their hard work and results.
* RankUp: After applying for an intern job at "Aphro I dite", Ikuto quickly distinguishes himself, rapidly climbing the ranks of the company and is eventually promoted to chief designer of the "Aphro I Dite novice" branch.
* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Discussed at the end of the Geika Institute Fashion Show. Headmaster Takaoka mentions that, while the judges must rank the design collections based on the "artistic merit" of the dresses, this is no way disqualifies the emotional experiences and enjoyment the audience may have had for the "lower ranked" collections. For example, Ikuto is in 11th place due to the lack of finesse and advanced techniques he incorporated in his designs, but at the same time, he is the only other participant aside from Toh (whom the judges deem as the #1) who gets any buyers at all. And Mai seems to be more impressed with the unpolished "unisex" concept Ikuto used for his show, rather than Toh's technically refined dresses, which she regards as an inferior copy of her own style.

Chiyuki Fujito has a dream: to become a FashionModel. The problem is, she's too short to be one, and everyone around her tells her so. But no matter what they say, she won't give up. Her classmate, a poor student named Ikuto Tsumura, also has a dream: to become a FashionDesigner. The two decide to combine their dreams and overcome the naysayers.