Line #7 Literature/Koizora


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/koizora.png]]
2	''Koizora: A Sad Love Story'', or known as ''Koizora'' for short, is a cell phone novel written by Mika and published in 2005 on the website ''Maho no iLand''. The novel received a print publication in 2006 and was split into two volumes. During its serialization, ''Koizora'' amassed widespread popularity and was considered a cultural phenomenon in Japan, as approximately 20 million people subscribed to the story and over two million copies of the book was sold.
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4	Part of the reason to its popularity is because of WordOfGod claims it's [[WriteWhatYouKnow biographical]], and her anonymity makes the events of the story believable. This has been {{Retcon}}ned as being VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, though there are rumors going on that it's BasedOnAGreatBigLie due its exaggerations and suspiciously strategic emotional appeal. Nevertheless, the success of ''Koizora'' led to a manga adaptation drawn by Ibuki Haneda, a theatrical film starring Yui Aragaki and Haruma Miura, and a television drama starring Erena Mizusawa and Koji Seto.
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6	The story follows young NaiveEverygirl Mika Tahara, a girl who daydreams of love. Through a random encounter of phone calls, she meets Hiroki "Hiro" Sakurai, a delinquent boy who she is initially afraid of, and the two gradually fall in love. Do they live HappilyEverAfter? ... Not exactly, when challenges in their lives pop up and threaten to split the couple apart, including a sociopathic ex-girlfriend, an unplanned pregnancy, and the possibility of death. There's a lot of TearJerker moments, so get your tissue boxes ready.
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8	!!This series contains examples of:
9	* AdaptedOut: Tatsuya and Uta are removed from the film due to time constraints. People who have only watched the film might not even know that Tatsuya was the guy originally competing Hiro for Mika in the beginning of the story.
10	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Hiro's pretty much a delinquent, but he's really a NiceGuy.
11	* BettyAndVeronica: Tatsuya and Yu are the Betty and Hiro is the Veronica to Mika's Archie.
12	* BerserkButton: Don't try to hurt Mika or else you'll face Hiro's bout of UnstoppableRage.
13	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Hiro dies during a routine check-up before Mika can say goodbye and Mika almost commits suicide, but after reading a posthumous letter from him she decides to live on for him, their late daughter, and to Mika's surprise, their new baby girl.]]
14	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The original novel was darker than the film adaptation. Of note is [[spoiler:Hiro's]] [[DomesticAbuse abusive tendencies]] in the second part, where [[spoiler:Mika]] is literally put in danger when he tries to get her to break up with him. [[spoiler:(Inhaling chloroform, anyone? Pressing a cigarette to your arm?)]]
15	* BreakHerHeartToSaveHer: [[spoiler:Hiro's reaction to finding out he has cancer is to emotionally abuse Mika and force her to break up with her so that she won't be in pain when she finds out.]]
16	* BreakTheCutie: The series really does push how much pain Mika has to go through.
17	* ClingyJealousGirl: Saki, Hiro's ex-girlfriend. This doesn't even begin to cover her. [[spoiler: Hiring a bunch of guys to gang rape the girlfriend of the boy who recently dumped you, spreading rumors and becoming the direct cause of her bullying, pushing said new girlfriend down the stairs because she's pregnant with your ex-boyfriend's child...and the fact that she does all of this and virtually gets away with it.]]
18	* CompressedAdaptation: The film can generally be seen as this for the novel, as many of the characters like Tatsuya, Uta, etc. in the original story were left out due to time constraints.
19	* CoolBigSis: Minako, Hiro's older sister, helps Hiro and Mika with their relationship and even helps get revenge on Saki after Mika is harassed.
20	* DelinquentHair: Oh, so very much. Hiro and his friends have dyed hair and it's what scares Mika away from them at first.
21	* DomesticAbuser: [[spoiler:Hiro]] starts to become emotionally abusive in the second part of the story, [[spoiler:though he only pretends to be to get Mika to break up with him]].
22	* DoggedNiceGuy: Yu loves Mika very much, but when Mika discovers [[spoiler:Hiro has cancer]], he is sympathetic to her and allows her to go back to him.
23	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Mika]] attempts this several times, first time being [[spoiler:right after she gets gang-raped]]. It doesn't make it any better when [[spoiler:Hiro dies of cancer]].
24	* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Played straight with Mika. Subverted with [[spoiler:Uta]], who genuinely is a good girl but was forced by her boyfriend to get an abortion not once, but ''twice''. Inverted with [[spoiler:Saki]], who was a jerk to Mika but keeps her baby when she gets pregnant.
25	* HarassingPhoneCall: Saki sends a lot of these to Mika when she tries to do a RelationshipSabotage.
26	* HeDidntMakeIt: [[spoiler:Hiro and Mika's baby dies when Mika has a miscarriage, and, later, Hiro dies in the hospital.]]
27	* HerHeartWillGoOn: [[spoiler:Hiro stays conscious long enough to see Mika run towards him, but he dies. Mika is very depressed at first and even contemplates suicide, but she ultimately realizes that Hiro would have wanted her to live. At the end of the story, she moves on with her life, pregnant with her child with Hiro.]]
28	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Mika is often deescribed as tiny and cute, while Yu is very tall.
29	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: [[spoiler:Hiro intentionally becomes an [[DomesticAbuse abusive boyfriend]] to convince Mika to break up with him, as he knows his days are numbered.]] Later, [[spoiler:Yu]] heartbreakingly does this when [[spoiler:he lets Mika return to a dying Hiro.]]
30	* {{Jerkass}}: [[spoiler:Hiro]] in the second part of the story pretends to be a mean jerk [[spoiler:to distance himself from Mika]].
31	* KarmaHoudini: After all the horrors Saki put Mika through, she never gets retribution in the end. The most "punishment" she got was Hiro's older sister cutting her hair in revenge, but other than that, she gets away with everything.
32	* LoveDodecahedron: It's a little confusing, since everyone's feelings change in the course of the story. [[OfficialCouple Hiro and Mika obviously like each other]]. Saki likes Hiro. Aya and Nozomu date for a while until Nozomu develops a crush on Mika. Yu and Tatsuya also like Mika.
33	* LoveMakesYouEvil: LoveHungry Saki tries to pull a RelationshipSabotage on Hiro and Mika's relationship when they start going out.
34	* MoodWhiplash: Did you think it was going to be a light-hearted love story? Wait until you see what happens after Hiro and Mika get together.
35	* MurderTheHypotenuse: It might be unintentional, but Saki attempts this when she pushes Mika down the stairs. [[spoiler:Mika survives, but her baby doesn't.]]
36	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Hiro is rarely called by his full name, Hiroki.
37	* PetTheDog: Hiro gets such a moment in the final part of the story, [[spoiler:where the audience realizes that he's dying of cancer]].
38	* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: Had only Hiro explained to Mika that he had cancer...]]
39	* ThePowerOfLove: How did Hiro find Mika [[spoiler:after she gets gang-raped]]? "The Power of Love!"
40	* RaceForYourLove: Mika makes one to Hiro near the end of the novel, [[spoiler:only to find out halfway that HeDidntMakeIt]].
41	* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler:Mika gets raped by a group of men hired by Saki. This event alone causes Mika to have a HeroicBSOD and Hiro helps her through it.]]
42	* SecondActBreakUp: [[spoiler:Halfway into the story, Hiro breaks up with Mika after learning he has cancer and resolves to keep his condition a secret so she won't have to suffer.]]
43	* SecondLove: Mika dates Yu after breaking up with Hiro, and he helps her move on from him. [[spoiler:Mika eventually leaves him to spend time with Hiro after finding out he has cancer.]]
44	* SecretlyDying: [[spoiler:Hiro discovering he has cancer]] sets up the second and final part of the story.
45	* ShoutOut: Mika sings "Who?" by Music/AyumiHamasaki in the manga to affirm her love for Hiro.
46	* SmokingIsCool: Hiro is seen as cool and he also smokes.
47	* StockShoujoBullyingTactics: Saki gets in on bullying Mika by ganging up on her with her friends and SlutShaming her on every single chalkboard at school.
48	* TheTopicOfCancer: [[spoiler:Hiro is afflicted with cancer.]]
49	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The story is said to be based off a true story and the author's own experiences. However, one can't help but feel that it's a very embellished story.

Context Literature / Koizora