Line #31 Manga/SayILoveYou


1	[[quoteright:237:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/say_i_love_you_v01_000a_1323.jpg]]
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3	''Say "I Love You"'' is a {{shoujo\|Demographic}} manga by Kanae Hazuki which ran from 2008 to 2017.
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5	[[TheQuietOne Quiet and unassuming]], sixteen-year-old Mei Tachibana has spent her high school years without making friends or getting a boyfriend after an incident in her childhood causes her to believe that all people betray each other. When she encounters [[SchoolIdol popular boy]] Yamato Kurosawa, he becomes interested in her and it is through their tentative friendship and blossoming relationship that Mei ultimately begins to branch out and befriend others.
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7	A 13 episode anime adaptation by {{Creator/ZEXCS}} aired as part of the Fall 2012 season, and an OVA was released in July 2013. Currently streaming on [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/say-i-love-you Crunchyroll]] and the [[http://theanimenetwork.com/Anime/Say-I-Love-You/Info Anime Network]]. The manga was also made into a LiveActionAdaptation in 2014, with Haruna Kawaguchi and Sōta Fukushi respectively starring as Mei and Yamato.
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9	Now with a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/SayILoveYou Character Sheet]] that needs editing.
10	----
11
12	!!This series contains the following tropes:
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14	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Yamato's middle school crush on [[SatelliteLoveInterest Arai]], who only shows interest once he gets more good-looking, but by then, he isn't attracted to her anymore. Asami, Aiko, and Megumi have unrequited feelings for Yamato; Kai has unrequited feelings for Mei. Subverted with Nakanishi's crush on Asami, Masashi's crush on Aiko, and Chiharu's crush on Hayakawa. Their crushes were initially unrequited, but they were reciprocated in the end.
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16	* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler: Aiko and Masashi in the final arc. Mei and Yamato after the timeskip, closely followed by Asami and Nakanishi.]]
17	* BetaCouple: Nakanishi and Asami.
18	* BettyAndVeronica:
19	** Mei is the Betty and Megumi the Veronica to Yamato's Archie, but ultimately subverted in that Megumi never had a chance to begin with.
20	** Kai is also the Betty to Yamato's Veronica for Mei's Archie, though it is admittedly short-lived.
21	* BigEater: Mei. Asami in episode 12.
22	* BirdsOfAFeather: Kai and Mei. They have both been bullied in the past, have difficulty with being looked at, being around a lot of people, or participating in group activities (e.g. karaoke), and thus they can understand each other fairly well and talk to each other easily.
23	* BitchSlap:
24	** Mei seems to have received one in episode 2 after she defends Asami from two girls who insult her breasts. Judging by the injuries on her cheek, they may have scratched her face as well during the slap.
25	** Asami delivers one to Aiko in episode 7 after the latter is being too [[BrutalHonesty blunt]] with Mei while unsure about her feelings towards Yamato.
26	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Megumi at first.
27	* BrokenBird: While all of the girls qualify, Mei is probably the biggest one. Due to friends betraying her when she was younger, she avoided making friends in high school, and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible to avoid standing out.
28	** Episode 11 shows much more of Megumi's background, [[spoiler: and how she was a lot like Mei, in that kids also made fun of her until she changed her image to match her friendly, GenkiGirl facade. Which quickly begins to break down when she starts turning on the people hanging out with her.]]
29	* BrutalHonesty: Mei.
30	** Kai does this in episode 10 towards Yamato. And again in episode 11 towards Megumi.
31	* CannotSpitItOut: Mei towards Yamato. Although she clearly begins to show feelings for him, she still can't find the courage to say it [[spoiler: until the very end of episode 13.]]
32	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Hayakawa and Chiharu.
33	* ClingyJealousGirl:
34	** Due to Yamato's popularity with most girls, Mei unintentionally causes several girls to fall into this trope. It only infuriates them further that Mei didn't seem to do anything special, such as losing weight or putting on lots of makeup, yet attracted Yamato's attention.
35	** Yamato's sister, Nagi, acts this way towards Mei in the first part of episode 5. She does it again, although in a cute way, in episode 13, pretending to be sick so she could stay at home to watch over him, and attempting to keep Mei away from him, at least for that day, so she could have him all to herself.
36	* DeathGlare: Megumi gives one to Mei when Asami was asking her to join them with tea. Her look ultimately causes Mei to turn the invitation down.
37	* DisappearedDad: Mei lives only with her mother. Based on the small memorial shrine in episodes 1 and 12, it seems he passed away at some point before the series. Discussed more in the manga, where he does appear in flashback. [[spoiler: He died of cancer when Mei was in her first year of middle school.]]
38	* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: A couple of examples:
39	** Mei when she kicks Yamato after Nakanishi tried to peek up her skirt on the staircase in the first episode. Subverted, some girls immediately comment on how mean that was.
40	** Inverted with Kai chopping Megumi on her head after she gives him a gift basket from the Land amusement park. He was excited to receive it at first, but then immediately questions why she didn't think about what those girls felt when they gave her the gift, and how giving it to him would be cheapening the feelings, even if she had no use for such a thing.
41	* DivideAndConquer: Megumi attempts to steal away Mei's friends in order to isolate her in episode 10, then spreads rumors around to make it look like she's cheating on Yamato with Kai.
42	* FakeOutMakeOut: Yamato does this to Mei to get rid of a regular at her bakery who has been stalking her, unwittingly taking her FirstKiss.
43	* FirstLove: Yamato's first crush, Arai.
44	* FirstNameBasis: Upon meeting each other, Yamato quickly refers to Mei by her first name while Mei formally refers to Yamato by his last name. It is only a while after they start dating that she begins calling him by his first name.
45	* ForeShadowing: In episode 3, Yamato tells Mei about his friend in middle school who was bullied and ended up transferring. Although he's seen at the very end of episode 7, and as a weird customer in episode 8 in the bakery Mei works at, he isn't formally introduced until episode 9, as Kai Takemura. Yamato then reveals to Mei that Kai was the friend who was bullied.
46	* FriendlessBackground: Mei
47	** [[spoiler: Megumi as well, as evidenced by the FlashBack she has in episode 11.]]
48	* GenkiGirl: Asami and Chiharu. Megumi appears to be this.
49	* GirlishPigtails: Asami.
50	* TheGlomp: Asami.
51	** Nagi does one to Mei in episode 11 at the Land fairgrounds.
52	** Mei does it to Yamato in episode 13.
53	* GoofyPrintUnderwear: In the manga, Mei. Yamato makes a note to discuss her zebra-print underwear in the school hall after Nakanishi flips Mei's skirt. She's also shown wearing a cheetah-print bra in the opening of the second chapter.
54	* GreenEyedMonster:
55	** Mei's first signs of having feelings for Yamato are through her jealousy of his first crush Arai. After learning from Asami that Yamato seems to be able to kiss any girl (including Mei) instead of his crush, Mei feels insulted. Her jealousy only deepens when she learns that Yamato and Aiko had sex in middle school, but she gets over it.
56	** Hayakawa envied Yamato because all the girls love him while he has to sleep around to get their interest.
57	** Aiko was jealous of Mei because, in her perspective, Mei effortlessly hooked up with Yamato while Aiko pushed herself to lose weight and make herself look pretty in hopes that she would be noticed.
58	** Yamato is jealous of Mei's friendliness with Kai and how [[BirdsOfAFeather natural]] it is for them to talk and understand each other. Kai's implied feelings for Mei, as well as Megumi's attempt to sabotage Mei's and Yamato's relationship by constantly telling Yamato how close Kai and Mei are, also doesn't help their situation.
59	** Megumi cannot see why Yamato [[WhatDoesHeSeeInHer would choose such a "plain" girl]] like Mei for a girlfriend when he could have her and is determined to [[RelationshipSabotage sabotage]] Mei's relationship with Yamato, as well as distance Mei from her friends Asami and Aiko, so she can get rid of Mei and have Yamato for herself.
60	%%* HeelFaceTurn: Aiko.
61	* HeelRealization: Megumi seems to realize this in episode 11 after some students who followed her around are disgusted by her treatment of one of the girls, and leaves while at a karaoke bar.
62	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Mei and Asami. Yamato with Nakanishi and Kai.
63	* HopelessSuitor: Megumi to Yamato, who only has eyes for Mei. Also Kai and then Ren for Mei, who has to have it spelt it out for her.
64	%%* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Aiko and Megumi.
65	%%* ImportantHairCut: Megumi in episode 12.
66	* InsecureLoveInterest: Despite Yamato's reassurances, Mei usually feels like she's not good enough for him.
67	** Interestingly, Yamato feels this way towards Mei, at least in the latter half of the series.
68	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Kai admits to liking Mei due to their similar backgrounds, but unlike Megumi, he doesn't necessarily want to break her relationship with Yamato up.
69	** [[spoiler:Megumi]] later pulls this after seeing how Yamato was always thinking of Mei.
70	%%* {{Jerkass}}: Hayakawa.
71	* LimitedAnimation: During the previews for the next episodes, it shows Mei and her cat talking about it in this fashion.
72	* LonersAreFreaks:
73	** Mei is rumored to be this due to her extreme isolation and non-interaction with other students.
74	** Ren is also branded a freak for preferring his own company to that of other people.
75	* [[LoveAtFirstPunch Love At First Kick]]: Yamato tells Mei he fell in love with her when she tried to do a roundhouse kick to him after Nakanishi tries to peek up her skirt.
76	* LoveAtFirstSight: Megumi is instantly enamored with Yamato upon seeing him for the first time in episode 6. At the end of the school day, she waits for him at the entrance, then bluntly asks him if he has a girlfriend. Then she immediately starts trying to hook up with him, but he immediately rejects her, stating that he has no interest in girls who are only interested in his looks. She then takes it down a notch and tries to get to know him first, with the intention of breaking him up with Mei so she can snag him.
77	* LoveDodecahedron: Both Asami and Aiko had feelings for Yamato before ending up with their love interests Nakanishi and Masashi respectively; Megumi also has unrequited feelings for Yamato, who ends up dating Mei, who is the object of Yamato's best friend Kai's affections.
78	* LoveHurts: Mei starts to feel this when she sees Megumi spending a lot of time with Yamato when he first starts modeling. Her friends tell her she's not alone in this, and that they've felt this way as well.
79	* MaliciousSlander: Asami suffers from this due to her breasts, causing people to think that she ReallyGetsAround or is involved with CompensatedDating. Yamato's younger sister Nagi ends up in this situation when classmates at school tease her about having a brother complex to the extent where she refuses to return to school.
80	* ManipulativeBitch: Megumi does a lot of things to try and break Mei and Yamato apart. While she does cause strife, she ultimately fails.
81	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
82	** Yamato starts to realize this when Aiko [[WhatTheHellHero calls him out]] on the rumor that he was seen leaving Megumi's apartment. He initially doesn't think there's anything wrong with it, since he states there's nothing going on between them, and he's simply going there for dinner. Aiko then asks him that if the situation were reversed, where Mei was going to another guy's house without his knowledge, if Yamato would be okay with that. He runs off and begins searching for Mei, canceling his photo shoot with Megumi in the process.
83	** Rin gets a case of this during her disastrous pool date with Kai, after she winds up catching a glimpse of just [[ScarsAreForever why he didn't want to take his shirt off in front of her]]. Kai expects her to be disgusted, but she's mainly shocked at what was done to him, saddened that she hurt him and guilty that she invaded his privacy.
84	* NecktieLeash: In episode 7, while internally working out her growing insecurities about their relationship, Mei wordlessly walks up to Yamato in the school halls, grabs his tie, pulls him towards her, and kisses him.
85	* NewTransferStudent: Megumi transfers to the gang's high school in hopes of becoming closer to Yamato.
86	* NiceGuy: Yamato utilizing this trope is one reason many girls fell for him, in addition to his [[{{Bishonen}} good looks.]]
87	* NotSoDifferentRemark: After Yamato tells Mei more about his little sister Nagi in episode 5, she begins to realize that Mei was treated by her "friends" much in the same way she was. Mei's "friends" went over to her house often, and she often provided snacks for them, but they always left her out of anything they were doing, such as playing games. Eventually she started making up excuses for them to not be able to use her house, and then started skipping school altogether because of how they used her.
88	* ObliviousToLove: Yamato towards Megumi, and Mei towards Kai.
89	* OfficialCouple: Yamato and Mei, Nakanishi and Asami, Hayakawa and Chiharu, and Aiko and Masashi.
90	* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Yamato has known Asami and Aiko since middle school. Hayakawa and Aiko are FriendsWithBenefits. Mei's co-worker Chiharu is the childhood friend of Hayakawa, who is also Yamato's friend. A regular customer at the bakery is Kai, who turns out to be Yamato's middle school friend who was bullied.
91	* OppositesAttract: [[BigManOnCampus Yamato]] and [[LonersAreFreaks Mei]].
92	* PoorCommunicationKills: In a world where it's basically a rule for all romance anime to have overblown and convoluted misunderstandings without people ever resolving them, this anime awesomely averts this trope.
93	* TheQuietOne: Mei.
94	* ReallyGetsAround: Aiko and Hayakawa. Naturally, they are FriendsWithBenefits until Hayakawa starts dating Chiharu, followed by Aiko and Masashi going steady.
95	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
96	** Kai gives one to Yamato in episode 10, telling him about how the latter seemed to be ignoring Mei's feelings, and how he always secretly hated him for doing that when they were younger.
97	** Kai, once again, gives one, this time to Megumi in episode 11. When they're discussing their love interests, Megumi tries to call him out on telling Yamato he liked Mei, but Kai tells her that her BitchInSheepsClothing attitude she has is going to end up backfiring on her. [[spoiler: Which it does when Megumi starts lashing out at the people she thought were her friends.]]
98	* RelationshipSabotage: Megumi tries to pull this on Mei and her relationship with Yamato by trying to get closer to Mei's friends and twisting Mei's moments with Kai to seem as though she's closer to Kai than Yamato. Eventually, Yamato, as well as Asami and Aiko, see through what Megumi is scheming.
99	* RelationshipUpgrade: Several characters go through one.
100	* TheRival:
101	** Aiko is this to Mei until Mei stands up for her when an older boy insults her. Then she pulls a HeelFaceTurn and decides to let Yamato and Mei be together.
102	** Megumi, a model who develops a crush on Yamato, later fills in as a rival to Mei. Kai becomes this to Yamato once the former begins developing feelings for Mei.
103	* SatelliteLoveInterest:
104	** Yamato's first love Arai, who rejected him in middle school because she wasn't his type. She only starts expressing interest in him once he becomes "taller and cooler".
105	** Megumi, who is pretty much introduced as a self-absorbed model, obsessed with good looks, and is only after Yamato because he resembles a prince. Her whole motivation revolves around having Yamato as a boyfriend and her EstablishingCharacterMoment is bluntly telling Yamato, who she only just met at a karaoke hangout, that she wants to date him for his looks and couldn't care less whether or not he has a girlfriend.
106	* SchoolIdol: Yamato and Hayakawa.
107	* SelectiveObliviousness: Yamato takes a long time to realize that he has an unfortunate tendency of leading girls on. While that may not be his intention, that is irrelevent since the result is always the same. Just ask Aiko, Megumi, and Natsuki.
108	* ShoujoDemographic
109	* SickeninglySweethearts: Nakanishi and Asami become this once they start dating.
110	* SickEpisode: Yamato gets sick in episode 13. Despite everything they've gone through, it still takes Mei a lot of courage to visit him.
111	* SingleGirlSeeksMostPopularGuy:
112	** Inverted. It is Yamato who first develops feelings for Mei, but she quickly reciprocates [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove without initially]] realizing it.
113	** Played straight with Megumi's crush on Yamato.
114	* SitcomArchnemesis: Megumi and Kai.
115	** [[spoiler: And headed straight into BelligerentSexualTension territory by the end. Megumi at least has admitted that she has feelings for Kai.]]
116	* SliceOfLife
117	* SlutShaming: Asami is routinely accused of sleeping around [[InsaneTrollLogic because she happens to have large breasts]].
118	* StalkerWithACrush: Chapter 2 has this PlayedForLaughs with Mei stalking Yamato and his interactions with Arai.
119	** Later played more seriously in Megumi's introductory chapter, when she follows Yamato home and later transfers to his school to get closer to him.
120	* SugarAndIcePersonality: Mei.
121	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Mei claims she was merely taking a walk in episode 2, despite being right outside the karaoke bar Yamato just walked out of, wearing a disguise, and hiding behind a corner.
122	* SustainedMisunderstanding: When Yamato gets sick and misses school in episode 13, Mei tries to visit him, but Nagi tells him over the phone that he doesn't want to see her. Some other misunderstandings occur, and both characters assume that the other must be mad at them for one reason or another, and the various misunderstandings that occur only add to their fears.
123	* TitleDrop: [[spoiler: This happens in voiceover during Mei and Yamato's wedding.]]
124	-->'''Mei:''' If you want to be happy, you have to treasure the people you meet. And when you fall in love, you have to say "I love you".
125	* ThroughHisStomach: Megumi employed this tactic as a means to try and gradually win Yamato over.
126	* TrueCompanions: Surprisingly enough, not for Mei, but Asami in episode 12 [[spoiler: is one for Megumi after her breakdown, and Momoko continues to stick by her despite everything Megumi did to shun her in the previous episode.]]
127	* TruthInTelevision: The bullying that several of the characters are shown to have gone through, namely Mei and Kai, is shown to have been based on unclear or arbitrary reasons. This is pretty true to reality, since contrary to popular belief, bullying is not always a response to that which is different or unknown and can in fact happen to anyone, regardless of how they look, what they wear or how they live.
128	* {{Tsundere}}: Yamato and Aiko.
129	* VillainousBreakdown: Megumi suffers one in episode 11 [[spoiler: when she starts to lash out at everyone because they either have other plans, or resent the way she treats people behind their back. She simply leaves one photo shoot, then goes to a convenience store and buys lots of junk food and locks herself in her apartment.]]
130	* WhamLine:
131	** Aiko delivers one to Mei in episode 3.
132	-->'''Aiko:''' [[spoiler: Why would he choose you over someone he's slept with?]]
133	** Yamato's middle school friend Kai delivers one in episode 9, to Yamato, no less:
134	-->'''Kai:''' [[spoiler: Tachibana Mei. I think...I like her...]]
135	** In episode 11, after Yamato receives a call from Megumi's talent agency:
136	-->'''Yamato:''' [[spoiler: Kitagawa, they can't get in touch with her!]]
137	* WhatDoesHeSeeInHer: Megumi's main reaction after Yamato tells her he's quitting his modeling job so as not to upset Mei anymore in episode 9.
138	* WhatTheHellHero: Aiko, of all people, tells Yamato in episode 8 that him going to Megumi's apartment for dinner and not telling Mei about it is really [[LoveHurts hurting her]] a lot. Then Aiko shows him the magazine interview of Megumi, who states that she still has a crush on a guy, and despite being turned down once, hasn't given up on him yet. He begins to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realize what's going on]]
139	* WrongGuyFirst: Gender-flipped with Yamato and Arai. Yamato used to have a crush on Arai until she overheard her talking to her friends about how he wasn't her type. It is only once he's become "taller and cooler" that she shows interest, but by then, Yamato's already interested in Mei.
140	----
141	->''"[[TheStinger I love you.]]"''

Context Manga / SayILoveYou