Character sheet for the series Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi.
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Marukawa Publishing
Emerald Editing Team a.k.a. "Maiden Department"
Onodera Ritsu
Voiced by: Takashi Kondo
"This is definitely not love! This is definitely not love!"
The protagonist. A former literature editor who was unceremoniously thrown in the crazy world of shoujo manga publishing only to discover that his boss was his ex-boyfriend in high school. Hilarity Ensues.
- Apologizes a Lot: In high school... but not so much in the present.
- Am I Just a Toy to You?: In high school, Onodera wasn't sure of how serious Takano was in their relationship. When Onodera directly asked him if they were really dating, Takano laughed and Onodera concluded Takano was only toying with him. Even though Takano tries to convince him that he was serious back then and is still now, Onodera doesn't believe him.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Takano. They fight most of the chapters and then end it on a rather good note before the process repeats next episode.
- Berserk Button: For all his sheltered and lovestruck behaviours, he did not respond calmly or civilly when he thought he was played with, as poor Takano found out first hand. Similarly, when first realized that Takano is his ex, he immediately dropped all politeness (the only time he does so in the series) and started an argument.
- Bilingual Bonus: Kind of glossed over, but since he studied abroad in England for high school, he's fluent or at least knowledgeable of English.
- Bookworm: He read the entire library of his school and can finish a hundred mangas in one night to get the hang of his new job.
- Break the Cutie: More in flashbacks than the present story. His first relationship with Takano crumbled which jaded his view of love. He is further broken in publishing fine literature, a job he loved, due to idle gossip about his familial connections being the reason why he worked with famous authors.
- Butt-Monkey: He gets no respect from the other members of Marukawa simply because he's the rookie. When he tries to get the job done, they insult him. They insult him even more when he slacks off temporarily. When he tries to warn everyone about the deadline, no one listens and when he tries to be optimistic, he's shot down by cynical responses. Only when he's as depressed as everyone else will they accept him into their group.
- The Cameo: He and Takano make a brief appearance in the third season of Junjou Romantica.
- Cannot Spit It Out: He utterly refuses to admit he is in love with Takano. When he finally admits his feelings for Takano to himself, he still has not worked up the nerve to admit it to the guy. It's explained Chapter 20 of his story that he knows he's in love with Takano, but the reason he can't admit this to Takano is because he feels their relationship can't go back to the way it was when they were initially dating, leaving him in a conflicted state, not knowing what to do.
- Can't Hold His Liquor: One drink and he's usually gone as shown in recent chapters when he tries to drink on the job.
- Childhood Friends: With his fiancée An, with whom he feels they have a Like Brother and Sister relationship.
- Closet Key: For Takano.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has quite snarky comments about the weirdness of his new job.
- Determinator: To prove that he does not need his family connections in order to succeed.
- Does Not Like Spam: He grew to hate potatoes after being served nothing but mashed potatoes while he was living overseas.
- Even the Guys Want Him:
- In Chapter 20 of his story, Haitani confesses to Ritsu and asks him to go out with him. Though in later chapters, Ritsu calls out Haitani about his feelings for him. Or rather, that he's pretending to have feelings for him so he can get closer to the one he actually likes, Takano.
- Played straight with his friend from high school, Nao; who confesses he's in love with Ritsu to Takano, and inadvertently Ritsu.
- The First Cut Is the Deepest: He was deeply traumatized when he thought his first love Takano rejected him in high school. After that Onodera vowed to never fall in love again and this is the primary issue that keeps him from admitting his feelings for Takano.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: He has horribly low self-confidence, in part because of how his highschool relationship with Takano ended, but more so because his family, owning a publishing company, has determined his career so far and as a result he has no confidence in his own skills — he's devastated when he finds out that the only reason he was hired at Marukawa was because his parents made some calls to Isaka. This is actually one of the bigger obstructions to his current relationship with Takano, as he honestly doesn't have enough confidence to believe that Takano actually loves him and isn't just playing with him, although it doesn't help that Yokozawa tells Ritsu straight out that he's dating Takano and tells him to back off. Yeah, that did wonders for his self-esteem.
- In Vino Veritas: He is a lot more open and honest about his feelings when he is drunk.
- Love Is a Weakness: One he's determined not to succumb to. He's not doing too well in that department.
- Lonely Rich Kid: He admits to Mino's child, Yamato, and to Takano that his parents were too busy with their work to pay attention to him a child, which is why he understood Yamato's distress.
- Master of the Mixed Message: Jebus, where to begin with this when it comes to Takano?
- Nepotism: His dad is the reason why he can't seem to get any respect from his co-workers given that his dad's position will land him any job.
- Naïve Newcomer: To shoujo manga and as part of the Maiden Department Editing Team.
- Oblivious to Love: He still doesn't believe that Takano is in love with him despite the latter telling him such repeatedly), and is in complete denial about the fact that he's in love with him, despite pretty much admitting that he does at the end of each chapter/episode... before swerving straight back to denial. Understandably, Masamune gets fairly pissed off about both this and the fact that he seems to forget very important details about their relationship. It's not difficult to see why Onodera continues to repetitively accept and deny his feelings for Takano however, since he has been actively trying to forget his feelings for him for ten years.
- Only Sane Man: During hell week, he's usually the only person that manages to keep his sanity while everyone else is freaking out
, giving demands and/or fainting. - Parent-Preferred Suitor: His mom keeps harassing him to get married to An despite the fact he only sees her as a sister.
- Perpetual Frowner: He is always seen frowning since he doesn't like to smile.
- Poor Communication Kills: Instead of actually confronting Takano when he thought he was playing with him, he simply retreated into himself, absolutely convinced that that was the case and making no effort to communicate properly. Rinse and repeat.
- Selective Obliviousness: He actively convinces himself that what he feels for Takano is not love and tries to ignore Takano's endless confessions.
- Self-Serving Memory: His memory of the past is notoriously hazy with details unfavourable to him getting conveniently forgotten, which Takano called him out on.
- Shrinking Violet: Used to be one when he was younger. Not so much in the present, though his fundamentally shy personality shows up at times.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: He pessimistically points out that growing up involves realizing that being idealistic does not always work out.
- Silly Rabbit, Romance Is for Kids!: His breakup with Takano also greatly soured his opinions on love. While he doesn't mock anyone else's relationships, he's cynical that he could ever properly fall in love ever again, and that the way romance works in manga doesn't go for real life.
- Single-Target Sexuality: As much as he tries to deny it, he's Takano-sexual. He has never been interested in any other person, male or female.
- Stalking is Love: In his high school years he was generally thinking this.
- Stalker with a Crush: He acknowledges himself that he is one in high school, but he is harmless compared to the average example of the trope.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: On the receiving end of this trope. Because of his father's name, he was able to get high ranking authors that he could edit. This has earned him disdain from other workers in his previous job, which forces him to switch companies (and ending up in the manga industry as a result).
- Took a Level in Cynic: His life wasn't easy on him when he grew into an adult, and as a result, he became a lot more grounded and jaded.
- Training from Hell: Takano made him go through five years worth of manga manuscripts from draft to final version in one week and comment on the changes. He was understandably freaked out at first but was then goaded to accept the task.
- Tsundere: Type B with the tsun side triggered very fast when Takano is concerned.
- Uke: He's definitely the receptive half of the relationship between him and Takano. In high school he was the shy and innocent type, but now he's more of the Tsundere type.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Thinks of himself this way but according to Takano, he hasn't changed much. He is much snarkier though.
Takano Masamune
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi
"Well, useless people are useless, no matter what they do."
Editor-in-chief of the shoujo manga department and Onodera's ex-boyfriend.
- Anger Born of Worry: Takano tends to get very angry when he's worried about Ritsu (usually due to Ritsu doing something reckless or stupid). See Chapter 16 as a perfect example.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Onodera. They fight most of the chapters and then end it on a rather good note before the process repeats next episode.
- Bookworm
- Brutal Honesty: Bluntly points out to Onodera that he should quit if he is half-hearted about the job. He does not even hesitate to make a mangaka redo her work from scratch.
- The Cameo: He and Ritsu make a brief appearance in the third season of Junjou Romantica.
- Closet Key: For Yokozawa.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Over Onodera, although it tends to be more subtle than the usual examples of this trope. But he can be incredibly forceful and possessive when pushed.
- When Haitani appears and starts liking Ritsu, Takano begins acting this way in a more traditional sense; telling Ritsu to not go near him and will remove Ritsu from any interactions he may with Haitani.
- It gets even worse when Nao enters the picture, to the point that he doesn't take it well — and we mean at all — when he finds out that Nao is staying with Ritsu (even if it's only temporary) in Chapter 28.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially when Onodera is concerned.
- Defrosting Ice King: He was initially aloof towards Onodera's crush him, and was even weirded out by it, but he eventually comes to reciprocate the other's feelings.
- Despair Event Horizon: Crossed it after Onodera left him during his high school years. Other things contributed to his breakdown such as having problems with his parents and then thinking that Onodera was playing with him when he found out that he had a fiance.
- Determinator: To make Onodera fall in love and/or admit his feelings for him, true to his declaration. To give a glimpse of his troubles, the infamous love countdown of the series starts with 354 days.
- Dogged Nice Guy: In a reverse of their situation in highschool, this time round it's Masamune pursuing Onodera — made more difficult by the fact that, although Onodera constantly pushes him away out of fear of getting hurt, he relents just enough to send some really mixed messages. He is a bit too aggressive for the usual Nice Guy, though.
- Forgotten First Meeting: It takes a while for him and Onodera to recognize each other.
- Hellish Pupils: The anime gives him these, combined with gold eyes, most likely to emphasize his famous intense gaze.
- If It's You, It's Okay: He was initially
Squicked by the idea of sex with a guy until he started dating Ritsu. - Insufferable Genius: Is usually right about what is best for work and is very direct about his opinions.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be too blunt and obtrusive at times, but deep down he is a nice guy.
- Love Hurts: He didn't take it well when Onodera suddenly broke up with him in high school and definitely does not like it when Onodera has forgotten him. Apparently, he also completely went off the rails in college when he found out that Onodera was engaged, and went the typical route of drinking and sleeping with anyone until Yokozawa snapped him out of it. He himself attributes part of the breakdown to his family problems.
- The Mentor: To Onodera at work.
- Nerd Glasses: Often wears them during work. He takes them off when "interacting" with Onodera.
- No Sense of Personal Space: He's not the worst offender here, but he tends to be very pushy and forceful no matter how Onodera really feels.
- Parental Neglect: Takano's parents were more interested with fighting each other that they tended to ignore Takano during his high school years refusing to attend conferences despite Takano needing a parent. His parent's divorce along with Ritsu leaving him contributed to him crossing the Despair Event Horizon.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Working as Shoujo manga editor and having ordered his department's office to be decorated with what can only be described as the most sparkly pink ever. On the other hand, he is assertive, blunt and no-nonsense.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite his his harsh manners and arrogant attitude, he treats his subordinates and the authors fairly and his criticisms are always on the mark. In addition, he too works his arse off during the hectic end of the cycle and suffers when bad things happen.
- Seme: He's the handsome and aloof Jerk with a Heart of Gold who aggressively pursues the male protagonist.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Reveals that he wants this kind of relationship with Ritsu when he is asked by the latter.
- "I have always longed to spoil you rotten."
- Single-Target Sexuality: Most definitely Ritsu-sexual.
- Smoking Is Cool: Takano is shown smoking several times.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Aloof and icy most of the time, only showing his "sugar" side to Onodera and Yokozawa. He off-handedly consoles Onodera about not getting the job he wants, and compliments him when he does something good. He has also said some of the sappiest lines in the series. On top of that, his cold exterior often melts around Yokozawa, in private moments with each other.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome/Tall, Dark, and Snarky: And extra points on the snarky bit.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- He subtly calls Yokozawa out on his treatment of Onodera a few times, even warning him with the final calling-out that if he keeps it up, then their friendship is through.
- He also gives Onodera a good yell for never telling him his real surname in high school, though this is completely Played for Laughs.
Kisa Shouta
Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto
"I know that a middle-aged homo midget who only likes good-looking faces like me won't be able to have a normal relationship."
The one who sits next to Onodera at work. Despite his youthful appearance and childish manners, he is actually a veteran of the team, having joined Emerald even before Takano.
- Beneath the Mask: Underneath the hyperactive persona he keeps at work, Kisa is a very depressed and cynical person that has no self esteem whatsoever.
- Big Brother Instinct: He's on the receiving end of this from his older brother. Kisa initially thought that his brother was against his relationship with Yukina because he hates him, but Yukina realizes that it's because he cares about him.
- Broken Bird: Right now he has self-esteem issues, is very cynical and rather depressed. When Yukina asks him about his life in high school, he glosses over it saying that he doesn't have any good memories at all. Given he slept around a lot during high school (as well as currently before meeting and dating Yukina), one can only imagine how his life was.
- Can't Catch Up: Is very conscious about his limits especially when compared to Takano.
- Character Development: Compared to the beginning of the series, Kisa has greatly matured. He's able to open up more about his past, is able to realize that he misread his older brother and intends to amend his relationship with him and being able to announce to Yukina's older brother with confidence that he will continue to support him even if his dream job ends with Yukina on the streets.
- Deadpan Snarker: When he's away from the Emerald team, he starts acting really sarcastic somewhat of a jerk to the people around him.
- The Eeyore: Surprisingly melancholic under his happy-go-lucky appearance.
- Extreme Libido: Unlike most of the other characters, Kisa is noticly more interested in the physical aspects of a relationship. With his reputation of always sleeping around in the past, it's not a surprise that sex is on his mind half the time. Even when in a relationship with Yukina, his thoughts often dwindle toward sex. As the pairing name Erotica implies, half the chapter involves sex scenes.
- First Love: At 30! He doesn't even know how to recognize it until Yukina spells it out for him.
- First-Person Smartass: His inner monologue is very snarky and cryptic in comparison to Ritsu or any of the other Junjou Romantica characters.
- The Generic Guy: Thinks of himself compared to other people in the industry this way.
- Headdesk: A memetic-level instance in the beginning of episode 9.
- Heroic BSoD: When he thinks that Yukina has cheated on him, he immediately reasons that all along he was just a plaything, and for days he is almost useless at work because he's so depressed and heartbroken. He's so convinced that Yukina is already tired of him, that he decides to take the hint and break up with him to make things easier for both of them. He's still so depressed and apathetic afterwards that when an ex-bedmate calls him up, he agrees to sleep with him because he just feels that none of it matters anymore.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Much, much worse than Ritsu, and although Ritsu's lack of self-esteem comes from his background and fear of nepotism, Kisa literally believes that there is nothing good about him, personally or at work. The biggest problem in his relationship with Yukina is that he has real issues trying to understand why Yukina is with someone like him when there are so many "better" people out there. Consequently, he is constantly afraid that Yukina is just playing with him or will leave him as soon as someone else comes along. Like Ritsu, he is terrified of being hurt.
- Hidden Depths: He thinks and broods in Seen It All fashion more than his childish appearance shows.
- Hypocritical Humor: He often jokes with the other members of the group of being players, that probably have multiple partners. However, this applies more to him than Hatori or Takano, as he's the one that sleeps around the most, before meeting Yukina. Then again, he could be taking a jab at himself and how pathetic he is.
- Insane Troll Logic: His self-deprecation and low opinion of himself is so bad that when he sees Yukina with a woman he immediately constructs an elaborate interpretation of his behaviour that concludes with Yukina actively giving him hints that he doesn't want him. Of course, Kisa then immediately tries to protect himself by breaking up with him first.
- Insecure Love Interest: See Heroic Self-Deprecation and Insane Troll Logic above.
- Keet: Subverted. Kisa pretends to be cheerful and energetic at work, but is cynical and depressed on the inside.
- Ladykiller in Love: He's left scores of sex partners and broken-hearted men in his wake. He's really, really afraid that Yukina will do to him what he did to others before he had experienced love.
- Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: He is not intentionally The Casanova, but he seldom looks beyond appearance before hooking up with guys.
- Love at First Sight: Which then turns to rescue romance when Yukina gets his stalker off his back.
- Older Than He Looks: He's thirty. He even managed to convince one guy he slept with that he was an 18-year old high school student.
- Precision F-Strike: To his stalker - "We only fucked once and that's all. Don't act like you're my boyfriend. Now fuck off."
- Pretty Boy: While he considers himself normal in comparison to Takano and the other members of editing team, the women at the party in episode 19 find him equally attractive as the rest of the guys. The sparkles help.
- Really Gets Around: Kisa has slept around for a long time, so when he finally falls in love, he can't bring himself to have sex with Yukina instantly like he had with all the other guys. Also, if he thinks Yukina is cheating on him, he'll go back to his old lifestyle as a way of trying to cope with the depression and heartbreak...
- Shipper on Deck: When he found out that Ritsu and Takano slept in a hotel together, he, along with the other female staff, got too excited.
- Stalker with a Crush: Similar to Ritsu stalking Takano in middle school, he just watched Yukina from a distance for a while. However, Yukina was very much aware of Kisa watching him and simply didn't mind it at all. Of course, Kisa has multiple stalkers on his watch to deal with.
- Stepford Smiler: A Type A; he's not at all chirpy outside of work, and the moments where he drops the happy go lucky act is when people around him start to worry.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Because he feels like he's the most generic member of the group, he tends to envy people like Takano who were blessed with talent.
- Truth in Television: A fair exponent of Kisa's internal monologue is actually about his worries about his job, the stresses of balancing work and his personal life, and his future now that he's already into his 30s. A lot of it is very realistic. Hits a little close to home...
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: Apparently, he had a hard time understanding the concept of love hence why he slept around without a second thought, never thinking he would fall in love.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Gets called out by Yukina when he breaks up without warning or without explaining what was on his mind and then proceeding to attempt to sleep with another man.
- And he gets to call Yukina out after embarrassing him in public about hanging out with an old classmate during work and being accused of cheating on him. While the impact wasn't as memorable as Yukina calling him out, he still had the balls to tell him what he can't do.
Hatori Yoshiyuki
Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura
Takano's second in command and the long suffering editor of the famous mangaka Yoshino Chiaki.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Chiaki is not the best when it comes to keeping with deadlines, and Hatori has to deal with the mess. In addition, Hatori essentially acts as Chiaki's caretaker, down to odd jobs such as cooking and doing laundry for him.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's relatively friendly to many people such as those he works with and when dealing with women and other authors. However, toward Chiaki and Yanase, he's kind of a dick. Justified in that Chiaki is rather bratty and Yanase is his rival but he goes to the extremes sometimes when it concerns them.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Chiaki.
- The Comically Serious: While other characters will react to a crises with shouting or hysterical screaming, Hatori remains stoically quiet…or he will quietly faint.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Whenever Yanase is mentioned, he instantly gets possessive and tells Chiaki never to see him again.
- Destructive Romance: With Chiaki. Given that their relationship is a deconstruction of a love triangle relationship and how the author tries to show the two are lovers but end up fighting for most of the episode/novel volume and barely making up at the end, it's not hard to see that their relationship is more harmful than not.
- Dude, He's Like, in a Coma!: He first kisses Chiaki when he was asleep on the couch.
- Friend Versus Lover: As the lover, he often competes with Yanase simply to make sure that Chiaki won't fall for him.
- Green-Eyed Monster: His ugly side shows up whenever he thinks that Chiaki is more interested in Yanase than him. Taken to the logical extreme in episode 16.
- Karma Houdini: He rapes his childhood friend and Chiaki still ends up forgiving him and the two end up hooking up. The incident isn't mentioned again.
- And in episode 16 he gets to cancel his date with Chiaki and expect him to be fine about it, goes to meet his ex girlfriend (of course he was meeting her due to work but Chiaki thought he was cheating on him behind his back), barge into Yanase's house and proceeding to beat the crap out of him and then forcing himself into Chiaki's house. And what does he get? He gets yelled at by Chiaki for simply skipping out on the date and he gets Chiaki to calm down easily.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Yanase was already in a state of despair when Hatori barged into his house. To push him against the wall and then proceeding to kick his ass is where this trope comes in.
- Living Emotional Crutch: For Chiaki. In fact, without Hatori, Chiaki is a mess as he is unable to take care of himself due to his personality and being used to Hatori always doing everything for him.
- Married to the Job: To the point where Chiaki thinks he stays at work just to avoid him at times.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Intended to resign as Chiaki's editor after basically raping the latter out of frustration.
- Patient Childhood Love Interest: Has all characteristics of the trope, except for being female.
- The Stoic: It takes a lot to vex Hatori.
- Not So Stoic: When he's really stressed, he'll let it all out.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality
- Supreme Chef: The episodes featuring him always have Food Porn.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He is indeed tall with dark hair and eyes, and is very handsome and stoic.
- Workaholic: Even when he's on break, he's always doing something work related.
- Yandere: When he mistook Chiaki's confusion regarding him and Yanase being lovers as the latter's rejection of him, he snapped and raped Chiaki. He regretted it afterwards though.
- And then there's episode 16 where he literally barges into Yanase's house when Yanase locked his door and proceeded to beat him up when he thought that Yanase was making his move on Chiaki. While Yanase did make his move, he was rejected in a very depressing manner.
- And then there's episode 16 where he literally barges into Yanase's house when Yanase locked his door and proceeded to beat him up when he thought that Yanase was making his move on Chiaki. While Yanase did make his move, he was rejected
Mino Kanade
Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa
"No matter what you do, never piss off Mino."
— Takano's description of him.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The ever smiling and soft-spoken Mino on dealing with mangakas who are uncooperative in meeting deadlines:Mino: "It's very simple. You barge into her house at around 3 am and while playing around with a box cutter right there at her bedside, you say It's going to be okay. You'll definitely get this done. There is no reason you shouldn't. You just slipped a bit in your schedule. I've got high hopes for you because you always come through. No reason you couldn't this time, right? You're one of my authors after all. After you have repeated this litany a few times, she'll definitely come around".
- Eyes Always Shut: Mino has yet to be seen with his eyes open.
- Perpetual Smiler: Not even a crisis at work will cause his smile to slip. The only time he’s seen without his smile however, is when he’s having disputes with his nephew.
- Parents as People: He really does try to be a good father to his nephew, but due to a lack of understanding he often misunderstands his nephew’s feelings.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: The full package including the stoicism.
Other Employees and Affiliates
Yokozawa Takafumi
Voiced by: Kenyū Horiuchi
"You have no right to love him!"
In charge of Sales Department of Marukawa Publishing and a good friend of Takano.
- Bookworm: Apparently instead of giving him love and attention when his parents were working all the time, they just gave him books. Considering he ran away once, this indicates it may not have been a good idea. Although his circumstances are implied to never have been as bad as Takano's parents (who were truly Jerk Asses).
- Crazy Jealous Guy: According to Yokozawa himself, his jealousy streak is so bad that he doesn't even want Zen to tell him about his past relationships!
- Defrosting Ice King: Thanks to the combined efforts of Zen and Hiyo.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Over being rejected by Takano, which kicks off the events of his own case.
- Friend to All Children: When Yokosawa visits Kirishima's place the first time and instantly befriends his daughter, Kirishima comments it with “Geez, you wouldn’t expect it, but you’re really good with kids. Don’t tell me — animals like you too, huh?”.
- Hopeless Suitor: He was this with Takano.
- If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Him: To Ritsu over Takano. Ritsu is very confused by this, considering he thought he was the one being played with.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Stated outright in the light novel, that he wants Takano to be happy, even if it's with Onodera.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Under the overbearing exterior, he is surprisingly gentle to animals and children.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Is taking care of Sorata for Takano.
- Oblivious to Love: Justified in that he was so focused on Takano, that he never noticed that anyone else was interested in him, and even after he gives up on Takano and dates Kirishima, he still doesn't seem to realize the number of women attracted to him.
- Post-Kiss Catatonia: Kirishima is a very good kisser. And then there's the sex.
- Smoking Is Cool: He smokes, and oftentimes takes his smoke breaks with Takano.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Tall, dark hair and eyes, handsome, stoic but gentle on the inside…Yokozawa may as well be the poster child for this trope.
- Tsundere: A major one when it comes to Kirishima. Ironically, the way he reacts to Kirishima is nearly identical to how Onodera reacts to Takano. With much less denial. He's even called one by Kirishima himself.
- Uke: Believe it or not, he is one to Kirishima in his own case.
- Younger Than He Looks: He's teased for looking in his early thirties when he's only 28.
Yoshino Chiaki
Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana
One of Marukawa's best-selling authors under nom de plume "Yoshikawa Chiharu".
- Berserk Button: Don't give him a crappy reason to why you want to break up. He'll call you out on it.
- He also gets pissed off when an apology isn't accepted if he feels like he didn't do anything wrong.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's very sweet and mellow compared to the other characters and it really takes a lot to piss him off. Hatori is always making him really mad.
- Big Eater: He always eats big meals and always expects Hatori to cook for him.
- Break the Cutie: Getting brutally raped by your childhood friend can ruin you physically, mentally and psychologically. However, it doesn't last long.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He may be lazy and unprofessional, but Chiaki is one of the most successful manga authors in Japan, which says something.
- Butt-Monkey: Despite being the one that get to order everyone around when it comes to helping him in his manga, he's still the one that gets mocked and criticized by those that work under him. Special mention goes to the time where he speaks of the love triangle (representing him, Hatori and Yanase) and the girls and Yanase making fun of him and Hatori getting pissed off that he even mentioned it.
- Childhood Friend Romance: With Hatori.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Gets jealous easily when he thinks Hatori is hitting on another chick or Yanase but never understands why he's so upset.
- Destructive Romance: With Hatori. Given that their relationship is a deconstruction of a love triangle relationship and how the author tries to show the two are lovers but end up fighting for most of the episode/novel volume and barely making up at the end, it's not hard to see that their relationship is more harmful than not.
- Generic Cuteness: Chiaki is supposed to be one of the few characters that are not deemed attractive. Chiaki himself even comments that he's not that nice to look at but given the series, he's just like everyone else.
- Genre Blind: Did not notice the romance happening to him, despite being a shoujo mangaka.
- Idiot Hero: Probably the only idiot uke Nakumura has ever written when you look at the tsundere/Sugar-and-Ice Personality ukes.
- Innocently Insensitive: Most of the plots starting him always kicks off by saying something that insults either Hatori (telling your boyfriend you're going to hang out with your best friend that is in love with you on your birthday instead of staying at home) or Yanase (telling your best friend to fall in love with someone else when it's obvious that he likes you)...and it usually goes down from there.
- Lazy Bum: Besides being a huge procrastinator, Chiaki has a hard time doing anything in general unless Hatori or Yanase pull him by the hair to do it. This is shown when Hatori tries to resign as his editor and Chiaki doesn't do anything around the house when he's not there.
- Lethal Chef: Implied to be one since he lets Hatori do all the cooking.
- Manchild: Not very good at taking care of himself, gets excited easily and likes manga.
- Moustache de Plume: Inverted version. He does not want his readers to know that he is a guy writing shoujo manga.
- My Beloved Smother: His mom is shown to be a little possessive of him to the point that Chiaki doesn't want to see her at all. It doesn't help that she's very much like her son and says rather insensitive things to him. This attitude might be the very reason he's a Manchild.
- Not What It Looks Like: Often with Yanase. To be fair, Yanase is deliberately going for this trope while Chiaki being Chiaki is oblivious to Yanase's passes.
- Oblivious to Love: Had no clue that both his close friends were in love with him, and assumed that those two were in love with each other. His denseness is cranked up in episode 6 and gets worse from there.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: Did not take it well when Hatori intended to resign as his editor.
- Ridiculous Procrastinator: Why Hatori has to be strict to him.
- Selective Obliviousness: Besides being Oblivious to Love, Chiaki seems to ignore certain things about certain people. This tends to backfire on him when it concerns Yanase though.
- This Loser Is You: Despite being one of the most popular manga writers out there, outside of that, he fits the typical description of being a huge idiot, very lazy and doesn't seem to be that intelligent according to his mother.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: It's harder to see, but in the beginning, Chiaki really was a nice guy who meant well in what he did (concerning Yanase and how he wanted to do all he could to make Yanase feel better when he thought that he stole Hatori from him even though that turned out not to be true). However, ever since he started dating Hatori, he's prone to snapping at either Hatori or Yanase, ignoring his family calls and simply being more immature about all the situations that befall him. And judging how he and Yanase were very close in the beginning and how it implies that the two rarely fight, the fact that episode 15, they're mad at each other for a long time implies that this type of fight isn't normal and that Chiaki normally wouldn't threat about.
Yukina Kou
Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno
"My name is Yukina Kou. I'm 21 years old and I'm from Sapporo, Hokkaido... And I'm in love with Kisa Shouta!"
In charge of the shoujo manga section of a bookstore, he is a fan of works edited by Kisa. He is still a student, majoring in art.
- Berserk Button: Don't hurt, hit on, or harass Kisa. You will regret it.
- Also, don't ask him if Kisa is just a plaything to him. Yukina nearly punched out Kisa's older brother when he asked that.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He's one of those characters you really don't want to piss off.
- Big Eater: Yokozawa complained at the party that Yukina was the major cause for the high bill because he helped himself to as much food as he could.
- Bishie Sparkle: Ep.8 is chock full of these, complete with floral background, most of the time he is onscreen.
- Chick Magnet: Which he puts to good use in selling manga.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Well, not exactly crazy but he became this in the second chapter of Yukina's case where he felt jealousy for the first time after witnessing Kisa reuniting with his first boyfriend.
- Curtains Match the Window
- Exact Words: In response to Kisa's claim that he doesn't know anything about him as an excuse for their breaking up, he gave a verbal resumé of himself on the spot as the quote shows.
- Hidden Depths: If he's not near Kisa, he's actually shown to be rather gloomy, but that's mainly due to critique artists putting him down and other students being jealous of him.
- Hyper-Awareness: Yukina is shown to be very observant with the people around him and probably the only one who noticed that Yokozawa was in love with Kirishima just by the mention of his name and body language.
- If It's You, It's Okay: He has only dated girls before, and Kisa is the first man he has ever been attracted to.
- Keet: A more subdued version. He is not really loud but still very cheerful and enthusiastic. Kisa complains that his sparkly aura hurts his eyes its so bright.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: You know that always smiling cheerful persona? Watch his personality do a complete 180 and him scare away every single guy that comes close to Kisa. It's legitimately scary.
- Nice Guy: The most unambiguously nice guy of the series. Except for that Berserk Button of his.
- Prince Charming: Kisa constantly calls Yukina a prince due to his looks, being nice to everyone and having girls constantly swarm him.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Likes shoujo manga and does not mind having emotional reactions to the stories.
- Say It with Hearts: "Kisa-saaan! ♥"
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: While Kisa constantly teases him about his looks, his looks seem to make the guys in the school jealous of him. Just asking to hang out with them at an art museum causes them to accuse of him of going there to pick up chicks, he also attracts so many girls that apparently they confess their love to him more often than not. He's very nice about it, of course, but his reaction everytime it happens is Here We Go Again!.
- Squee: His reaction when finding out that Kisa is in charge of his favourite series.
- Understanding Boyfriend: He understands the stress that work puts on Kisa and is always putting Kisa's needs over his. Of course, Kisa thinks that he's just doing this because he's losing interest in him.
Yanase Yuu
Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya
One of the workers who work in Marukawa department. He has been Chiaki's friend since middle school.
- All Love Is Unrequited: There are a lot of guys in both Junjou and Sekaiichi who suffer from unrequited love, but among them, Yuu really gets the shortest end of the stick. Although like some of the leads in Junjou, Yuu does eventually find a second chance with someone else, with that someone being Ijuuin.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Yuu has directly to spell it out to Chiaki that he likes him, to which Chiaki doesn't know how to answer. Then when Yuu tries again in a near-desperate attempt to get Chiaki to understand that he's not playing around, he gets punched as a result.
- Armour-Piercing Question: After getting rejected, Yuu despondently asks Chiaki what he sees in Hatori. Chiaki is actually silenced by his question and can't provide a proper response. Given the type the common interpretation of their relationship, it's not hard to see why Chiaki is speechless.
- Berserk Button: Episode 15 implies that he hates it when people lie to him. He didn't take it well at all when he found out that Chiaki abandoned him at the hot springs not because of a family emergency but because Hatori asked him to come back on Chiaki's birthday despite the fact the two could have seen each other and made up the next morning. It was apparently so bad that he didn't talk to Chiaki for a while hence Chiaki almost missed an important deadline; although Yuu does admit that he overreacted and was being immature about the situation.
- Big Fancy House: More like a big fancy temple.
- Break the Cutie: Fate wasn't kind to him in his pursuit of Chiaki, as he is not only turned down in a manner that one could not call gentle, he even ends up getting a hard punch in the face for it.
- Childhood Friend Romance: The unlucky sort to Chiaki, with a huge emphasis on the unlucky.
- The Chew Toy: By love rival standards in the Junjou-Sekaiichi universe, Yuu has it the roughest compared to the others, what with being given the most brutal rejection; although things start looking up for him after he becomes Ijuuin's assistant.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's very witty at work to the extent that one of the female workers finds that to be his endearing point.
- Friend Versus Lover: As the friend (trying to, albeit unsuccessfully, promote himself to the love interest), he fights with Hatori for Chiaki's affection. He eventually stops after getting rejected, and especially after he starts a relationship with Ijuuin.
- The Gadfly:
- He's one toward Hatori, who he loves messing with, especially when he gets Chiaki to say something that pisses the other man off. It's soon revealed that he does this completely on purpose.
- Chiaki is not safe from Yuu's antics either, as it's implied that he's at the end of Yuu's jokes more times than not even if Hatori is not involved. Of course, towards Chiaki, Yuu is a type I troll given that most of his teasing bounces off the other's head.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: Once you get past his snarkiness, he's not that bad of a guy.
- Hopeless Suitor: Yuu has feelings for Chiaki and doesn't see him as only a friend, although it's painfully made clear from the start that nothing will come out of Yuu's feelings for the man.
- Ineffectual Loner: If the female workers have anything to say about it. This is even more apparent in middle school, as he mentioned that Chiaki is the only one to have made an effort to approach him.
- In Vino Veritas: He's more open about his feelings toward Chiaki when he starts drinking.
- Love at First Sight: He fell for Chiaki in middle school and couldn't think of anyone but him since.
- Love Doodles: He has a fascination with drawing the people he's in love with, such as Chiaki and Ijuuin.
- Love Hurts: The fact that Yuu spent years pining for his friend, who ends up with somebody else (who Yuu just so happens to despise) makes it as clear as day that he doesn't have it easy; although he does gradually move on from the experience when he and Ijuuin start forming a connection.
- Nerves of Steel: Not on a personal level, but Yuu is definitely this on this on a professional level. When other assistants or even the author themselves go into panics over approaching deadlines, Yuu will remain cool and calm and push forward to get the work done on time.
- No Sense of Personal Space: He has no problem with invading Chiaki's personal bubble to either mess with him (or Hatori) or to honestly want to embrace him but finding another excuse to do so.
- Pretty Boy: He's good-looking enough to have his fair share of female admirers.
- Promoted Fanboy: An In-Universe example; Yuu is one of Ijuuin's many fans, and in time, he becomes the man's actual Secondlove.
- Ship Tease: There seems to be a bit of this between him and Ijuuin as shown in Junjou Romantica. Some time later, it eventually becomes official.
- Stepford Snarker: Behind his snarky and aloof attitude, there seems to be a rather depressed person if his outbursts have anything to say about it.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After suffering from a tragic case of unrequited love, he gets a second chance with Ijuuin. One day, they bond over drinks about their broken hearts, with some drunken Sex for Solace involved. Afterwards, the two officially become a a couple. Although Yuu is still confused about the exact kind of relationship they have, he does acknowledge that he's starting to have feelings for Ijuuin.
- Troll: He likes to poke fun at Chiaki often, and he also takes delight in brushing Hatori's nerves whenever he can.
- Tsundere: There are hints of him being this, at least when he's interacting with Ijuuin. Then again, he is talking to the author of his favorite manga and he's surprised that his image of said author pre and post-meeting are completely different, so even he can't stay completely professional.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His advances on his best friend is what causes Hatori to rape Chiaki and that eventually causes them to hook up.
Kirishima Zen
Voiced by: Tōru Furuya
"Blushing over something like this, you really are cute. I'll just have to keep saying them until you get used to it, I suppose."
Editor-in-chief of Japun, Marukawa's Shounen department. Encountered Yokozawa when the guy was getting drunk to cope with being rejected by Takano and took an interest in him.
- Chick Magnet: Described as such in the novels where he's always surrounded by women who are very interested in him.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Played for Laughs when he gets childishly jealous at almost every relationship Yokozawa has, even with his own daughter! When he's seriously jealous expect more than his mood to go sour. Yokozawa states his jealousy may be even worse than his.
- Doting Parent: "Not MY daughter."
- Genre Savvy: As opposed to Yokozawa's Oblivious to Love tendencies.
- Heroic BSoD: Not as bad as Kisa or Onodera have in other parts of the series, but he does have a bit of one when Yokozawa tells him to leave him the hell alone.
- Love Epiphany: Realized he was in love with Yokozawa when the latter was drowning his sorrows over being rejected by Takano.
- Manchild: Yokozawa mentions he acts even more immature than Hiyori!
- Manipulative Bastard: He reaches Isaka-levels of manipulation when he wants to. Unfortunately, ,Yokozawa isn't nearly devious enough to even make a decent stand against him when Kirishima really wants something. He's come straight from a love triangle involving two people who were honest and straightforward (Onodera's Selective Obliviousness and denial excluded); he is so not prepared for Kirishima.
- Nice Guy: He's much more lenient to his subordinates and authors compared to the likes of Takano.
- Parents as People: He tries his best to take care of his daughter but work sometimes gets in the way.
- Recurring Character: He appears once in a while in Junjou Romantica, what with being Misaki's new boss after the latter gets a job in the shonen manga department at Marukawa Publishing.
- Second Love: To Yokozawa. Sort of subverted in that while Yokozawa fell in love with Takano first, he properly fell in love with Kirishima which kind of makes him his first true love.
- The Gadfly/The Tease: He enjoys making Yokozawa uncomfortable, as the quote shows.
- You All Meet in an Inn: He first met Yokozawa in a bar when the latter was downing himself in alcohol.
Other Characters
Kohinata An
Voiced by: Yukari Tamura
"Ricchan, I love you, so do your best!"
Ritsu's childhood friend and the fiancée his family arrange for him. Sekaiichi being a BL series, it doesn't end well for her but she's still supportive of Ritsu's decision.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: She gives one to Ritsu.
- Arranged Marriage: With Ritsu. Unfortunately for her, he never takes it seriously and has tried to call it off. She officially dissolves it in Chapter 18 of Ritsu's case.
- Childhood Friends: With his Ritsu, who sees her as a sister.
- Childhood Friend Romance: The unlucky kind to Ritsu.
- If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Him: To Takano over Ritsu!
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She loves Ritsu but she realizes that Ritsu doesn’t love her and wouldn’t be happy with her, and so she’s happy to let him go so he can be happy with someone else (Takano).
- Nice Girl: She’s a genuinely sweet woman who sincerely loves Ritsu but also wants Ritsu to be happy. When she realizes Ritsu loves Takano, she wishes him the best and she takes the initiative to end their engagement.
Kirishima Hiyori
Voiced by: Yui Horie
"Onii-chan!"
Zen Kirishima's daughter.
- Cheerful Child
- Children Raise You: Before Yokozawa entered the picture, she did most of the house work and took care of her father, Zen.
- The Cutie
- Genki Girl
- Kindhearted Cat Lover
- Like Parent, Like Child: She and Zen both have flamboyant personalities and enjoy teasing Yokozawa when he's embarrassed.
- Missing Mom: Her mom died years ago.
- Morality Pet: Yokozawa is by no means immoral but he defrosts quickly thanks to her. In addition, Zen is very understanding with his authors' personal circumstances with the reasoning "What if it's Hiyo?"
- Oblivious to Love: Too open-minded to realize her classmate has a crush on her. Even Yokozawa and Zen feel sorry for him.
Haitani Arata
A shounen manga editor working at Shuudansha where Takano used to work. He appears to have some animosity towards Takano and has a bit of interest towards Onodera.
- Jerkass: It's explained that Takano stole his lover in the past and he decided to seek revenge against him ever since.
- Perpetual Smiler: Always seen smiling.
- The Rival: Takano's, for Ritsu's affection. Though turns out to just be a ploy, the one he actually likes is Takano.
Kiyomiya Nao
A professional photographer whom Onodera met when he was still living in England.
- Camera Fiend: He takes photos for a living after all.
- Childhood Friends: More or less, he and Ritsu met each other in England and were roommates on top of that.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: He admits that he can't help but get frustrated when he sees Ritsu with Takano, but he understands that their past relationship aside, they're now boss and subordinate. Even then, it doesn't stop him from repeatedly confessing to Ritsu and antagonizing Takano.
- Foil: To Yokozawa.
- Nao knew Ritsu since the latter's stay in England, and are still on friendly terms in the present — which is similar to how Yokozawa and Takano knew each other in college and still get along both professionally and personally. They're also in love with said friends, and thus are hostile to Ritsu (in Yokozawa's case) or Takano (in Nao's case) since they believe that the other is responsible for their crush's breakdown, even stating that they brought said respective crushes back to their senses and helped them get back on their feet.
- The few things that set them apart is that Yokozawa and Takano dated in the past while Nao and Ritsu solely remained friends; and while Yokozawa learned to move on and fell in love with someone else, Nao finally ended his pursuit of Ritsu and accepted that Ritsu was not going to reciprocate his feelings in chapter 31.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: In a flashback chapter, Nao persistently tried to get Ritsu to open up to him especially since Ritsu was closed off from everybody. It got to the point where it took a lot of yelling and even a brawl for Ritsu to snap out of his Heroic BSoD and vent his frustrations out to Nao.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Nao antagonizes Takano and is trying to get Ritsu to understand that Takano isn't for him, he lists many disadvantages that Ritsu would have if he stays with Takano. From the boss/subordinate relationship going to be looked down on to the emotional baggage Takano gave Ritsu and how Ritsu's family will react (especially since Takano is the reason why An dropped their engagement). Takano reacting poorly after Nao tells Ritsu of these disadvantages only adds to his point.
- Not Good with Rejection: Not that he gets violent when answered with "no", but Ritsu notes that Nao can be very forceful about certain things to the point that he won't take no for an answer. He finally subverts this trope in chapter 31, when he accepts that Ritsu won’t reciprocate his feelings.
- The Rival: He served as one to Takano since he also had feelings for Ritsu, but he stopped filling this role when Ritsu rejected him once and for all.
