Yuu Haruna is a cell phone and Twitter addict who just moved into town. Out on his way to buy dinner while engrossed in his phone, Yuu bumps into a mysterious girl, Fuuka Akitsuki (the daughter of Yamato Akitsuki and Suzuka Asahina from Suzuka), who breaks his phone thinking he was trying to take a picture of her panties. What follows is Yuu's adventures in making friends and starting a rock band.
Created by Kouji Seo, Fuuka is set in the same universe as his previous works Suzuka and A Town Where You Live but is ultimately a standalone piece. The manga was serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine from 2014 to 2018.
The manga is available in English digital-only editions
, new chapters were streamed on Crunchyroll. It also has a 12 episode anime adaptation that began airing on January 6, 2017.
This series provides examples of:
- Accidental Pervert: Yuu regularly faces this problem whenever he does basically anything. Depending on the target, they may or may not be offended, turned on, or impressed. As per a typical shonen lead, it's usually due to bad luck or just plain clumsiness on his part.
- Acquainted in Real Life: Yuu's band has just recruited a new member, the cold, stoic Sara. After the other band members leave he's stuck alone with her in a family restaurant when she starts texting. He receives a tweet from a good online friend called "The Admiral" about eating with friends and begins a conversation. Then The Admiral sends a picture of a sundae identical to Sara's and asks "could you perhaps be sitting across from me right now?" Once she realizes it's him, Sara's personality does a total 180, becoming incredibly friendly and chatty, to Yuu's astonishment.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Possibly with Fuuka's sister, Haruka. The manga implies she resembles their father with brown hair, while the anime shows her as having blue hair and eyes like their mother.
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: The anime diverges from the manga in one important plot point. The truck that killed Akitsuki in the manga stops in time in the anime, thus averting her death. She instead quits the band after their performance due to the Love Hurts pain of being near Yuu while he was dating Koyuki.
- Always Second Best: Koyuki and Sara. Both of them have crushes on Yuu, but both come up short and lose Yuu to Akitsuki. After Akitsuki dies, they end up losing to Fuuka Aoi. This tends to happen with the band itself as well; they're often inconsistent in live performances, but when they put it together and put on a great show, they almost always get shown up by another band, whether its Le Bard, the Rabbitz, or the Hedgehogs.
- Ambiguously Gay: Averted with Mikasa Makoto. He's quite straightforward about himself "not being interested in girls" and mercilessly teases Yuu. Several characters make remarks about this during the (normal) interactions of the male cast.
- And the Adventure Continues:
- The anime, having averted Fuuka's infamous death by truck, ends with Yuu and Fuuka officially beginning a relationship and the group preparing for more concerts. Meanwhile, Koyuki forms the band Rabbitz and the Hedgehogs plan their comeback. In the epilogue, Yuu and Fuuka return to the shrine where Fuuka first declared her desire to be a singer to reaffirm their hopes for the future.
- The Manga also took this route insofar as the Blue Wells is concerned, with the said band last seen en route to Las Vegas via Route 66 for their World Tour; the same was apparently funded by their recording firm's rival as a form of compensation for the issues caused to the band.
- Arc Symbol: The Usamune cellphone strap. Akitsuki giving one to Yuu was the start of an unbreakable relationship between the two. That is until Akitsuki's untimely death. After her death, her Usamune was given to Aoi as a sign of Yuu not trying not to get hung up by Akitsuki's passing. Later on, that same cellphone strap was destroyed by a truck when Yuu saved Aoi from being hit which probably symbolized him finally moving on from Akitsuki. A few chapters later, it was confirmed that Yuu is indeed in love with Aoi.
- In the anime, while Akitsuki doesn't die, the strap gets destroyed by the truck that kills her in the manga. This is preceeding Akitsuki breaking off from the band and trying to pursue a solo career.
- Black Bra and Panties: From the Manga, Producer Saori Amaya tends to show them off while alone in her office. Fuuka Aoi wears one as well, if Chapter 151 is to be believed.
- Call-Back: Akitsuki does the standard Unprovoked Pervert Payback scene when Yuu tries to get a spider off of her. A similar scene is presented with Yuu and Fuuka Aoi, but instead of hitting him, she doesn't get mad at all. Yuu even asks if she'd hit him like with what happened the last time.
- The Cameo: There are tons of cameos from A Town Where You Live, including Rin, Daiki, Nanami, Akari, Yuzuki, and Haruto. Also, Shinichi and Yuuki of Half & Half (which is an in-universe movie) make a cameo, with additional appearances from, of course, Fuuka's parents Yamato and Suzuka from Suzuka.
- Casting Gag: One for the English Dub in Elizabeth Maxwell as Sara Iwami (known via her fictional Twitter account "Yamato Admiral"); she would later on be casted as Nagato. Would also end up funny in hindsight as both this anime and KanColle were produced by the same studio.
- Character Title: Played with in the manga, as there are 2 different central characters with the given name "Fuuka". Initially, it's assumed the title refers to Fuuka Akitsuki; however, she dies in a car accident early in the series, which makes it appear as though it's become an Artifact Title. However, the band continues to bear her name and soon afterwards another "Fuuka" appears and joins the remaining members of The Fallen Moon... Who then rebrand as The Blue Wells, this time in reference to the second Fuuka.
- Thanks to the Adaptational Alternate Ending, this gets Played Straight in the Anime.
- Childhood Friends: Yuu and Koyuki were best friends based around their mutual love of the band The Hedgehogs until Koyuki had to move away. The relationship between the two is initially a secret due to how absurdly rabid Koyuki's fanbase is.
- Childhood Friend Romance: When they were young, Yuu and Koyuki both had a crush on the other.
- Contrived Coincidence: Several cases, all revolving around Fuuka.
- Yuu and Akitsuki Fuuka just happen to share the same birthday.
- After Akitsuki Fuuka dies, Yuu happens to meet another amazing singer named Aoi Fuuka.
- Aoi Fuuka is the daughter of the man driving the truck that killed Akitsuki Fuuka.
- Both Fuuka just happen to be huge fans of The HEDGEHOGS.
- Cursed with Awesome: A very meta example. Ever since he met Fuuka, Yuu can't seem to stay on Twitter for more than five minutes without something going pulling him into a loony scenario. But he does get to date a Manic Pixie Dream Girl for his trouble, so it's not exactly the worst suffering I've ever heard of. See what happens when you put down your phone for five seconds.
- Decoy Protagonist: Decoy Main Heroine and Protagonist. We spend around 36 chapters with Fuuka Akitsuki, delving into her hopes and dreams alongside her developing relationship with Supporting Protagonist Yuu. Then she is killed in a truck accident, prompting Yuu to get a greater share of the focus. For a long time, the main heroine role was unfilled until the arrival of Aoi.
- Demoted to Extra: Because of the story's main focus on Fuuka Akitsuki as well as Fuuka Aoi, the main characters from Suzuka get considerably less screentime.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her: The most famous twist in the series is the fact that the titular character Fuuka Akitsuki gets run over by a truck in Chapter 36 without warning. Toyed with again when Aoi almost gets hit by a truck 80 chapters later.
- Egocentric Team Naming: By accident; when Shelly Hornet asks Akitsuki in English what her band's name is, Fuuka is only able to understand the word "name" and ends up giving Shelly the English translation of "Akitsuki", "Fall(en) Moon", which ends up sticking. Later done deliberately when the band reforms into the Blue Wells, which is taken from the characters of their new lead singer Fuuka Aoi's surname.
- Fanservice: As guaranteed with most of Seo's works, there are scenes aplenty with this trope, for both Male and Female audiences.
- Taken into full-on Ecchi with one-shot comics packaged with the Blu-Ray volume releases, featuring Yuu getting into certain Accidental Pervert moments with some of the female memebers of the cast, as exemplified with this anime-exclusive comic involving Fuuka.
- Taken into full-on Ecchi with one-shot comics packaged with the Blu-Ray volume releases, featuring Yuu getting into certain Accidental Pervert moments with some of the female memebers of the cast, as exemplified with this anime-exclusive comic involving Fuuka
- Gay Moment: Invoked by Mikasa to tease Yuu anytime Yuu expresses admiration for him and how comfortable he is with himself. Mikasa switches targets to Nachi after he joins the band, presumably because Nachi is far easier to work up. Turned up to 11 when Aoba decides that the band needs to spice it up with some sexy photos and pairs Mikasa and Nachi for the shoot.
- Generation Xerox: For those who have watched/read Suzuka, there are some similarities between Suzuka and Fuuka's stories. Suzuka had a crush on her track teammate who was killed in a traffic accident. Said teammate resembled Suzuka's eventual Love Interest and series protagonist Yamato Akitsuki. In Fuuka, the protagonist Yuu and Suzuka's daughter Fuuka become a couple shortly before Fuuka herself is killed in a truck accident. Later, Yuu meets another girl named Fuuka Aoi who reminds Yuu of Fuuka Akitsuki.
- Idol Singer: Koyuki Hinashi and Shelley Hornet. Shelley is foreign, so the peculiar culture surrounding idol singers doesn't come up, but it comes up in spades with Koyuki any time she's around. Aoi isn't really one, but she does operate as a solo act after her band goes back home.
- I "Uh" You, Too: Chapter 161 has Yuu say "I love you" to Fuuka. Her response, also in english: "I know."
- Junior Counterpart: Due to varying degrees of mentorship by the Hedgehogs, the Fallen Moon and later the Blue Wells is shaping up to be this to them.
- Notably, Yuu to Nico. Both are the quieter bassists and co-leaders of the band who have a close relationship with the vocalist. The difference is that Nico tends to be blunt and brutally honest while Yuu is shown as shy and lacking presence.
- Lead Bassist: Yuu is arguably all four types.
- Loser Protagonist: Yuu is portrayed as a socially inept guy who spends far too much time on Twitter (going as far as getting a replacement smartphone when his phone gets broken, for no other purpose than simply to have Twitter access). He easily caves in under other people's pressure and even his sisters treat him as an absolute loser. It starts to become funny when people still treat him like this when he's the lead singer of a popular rock band with a healthy harem of famous, beautiful women.
- This Loser Is Yuu: Yuu's inability to function outside Twitter mirrors that of many teenagers nowadays, making it easy for them to identify with him.
- On the other hand, Yuu starts to grow out of this after meeting Akitsuki. She just won't let him stick his nose in his smartphone and completely ignore the real world, even if he still has to fight the temptation to constantly post things on Twitter from time to time.
- Mean Boss: The band's label boss, Saori Amaya. She provides her artists with conditions that are near-impossible to fulfill, and demands that they repay large sums of money if they cannot meet the conditions. She apparently believes this kind of behavior will somehow motivate them to do their best and become better than the Hedgehogs.
- Meaningful Rename: The Fallen Moon eventually reform themselves as the Blue Wells, to symbolize them moving on from Fuuka Akitsuki to Fuuka Aoinote .
- Mistaken for Gay: Happens to Yuu twice, first in Chapter 7, when his female classmates mistake an argument between Nachi and Mikasa as them fighting over him, and again in Chapter 30, when one of said classmates yells out to everyone in the hall that Yuu likes Mikasa and Nachi, after everyone called on him to "confess his feelings" to Koyuki.
- Moment Killer: Aoba to Yuu and Aoi, ever since they started going out as a couple. Made very blatant in Chapter 151 where she pops up during a very intimate moment (while Yuu was about to have a handful of Fuuka's ample bosom.).
- Multiple Endings: Much like the A Town Where You Live bonus chapters, the Fuuka Special Edition volume contained several alternative endings for much of the heroines of the manga, sans the producer Saori Amaya. Considering the latter events of the manga, it is fair to assume that the special chapter involving Fuuka Aoi is canon.
- Official Couple:
- Yuu and Fukka Akitsuki became an item from the first chapter and start dating pretty early into the manga... Right until the accident.
- About more than a hundred chapters later, Yuu and Fuuka Aoi do become this (with prodding from their bandmates), to the point where the latter gave her First Kiss to him.
- Counting the ending of the Manga, Nico and Tama of the Hedgehogs eventually got married.
- One Degree of Separation: It turns out that the Hedgehog members are people quite familiar to the main characters; the drummer Yassan is the restaurant owner of the place where Yuu and his friends worked for the summer. The keyboardist is Yuu's homeroom teacher, while the guitarist is Iwami's older brother.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted manga-wise, as there are two important characters with the given name "Fuuka".
- Plucky Girl: Akitsuki is an optimistic, energetic girl - and once she gets inspired, it would probably take
a 18-wheeler truck to dislodge the idea from her head. Makoto even comments how she seems to grow wings whenever she gets inspired or simply enjoys herself. - Pragmatic Adaptation:
Word of God has given three reasons for averting Fuuka's death in the anime: they didn't want the anime to have a Downer Ending; they didn't think they could adequately portray the effects of Fuuka's death within the remaining two episodes; and apparently the entire Production and Animation staff really wanted to see her survive. - The Reveal: Before the Budoukan concert, the Fallen Moon meet their "senior" band, which is a rock band in which everyone is dressed like a rabbit complete with masks. All the other Rabbitz turn out to be older guys, which shocks the gang, but then the vocalist takes off her mask, revealing herself to be the retired idol and Yuu's childhood friend Koyuki Hinashi.
- Romantic False Lead: Akitsuki, who gets together with Yuu and dies a couple of chapters later.
- Secondary Character Title: An ambiguous example; technically, the main character is neither Fuuka Akitsuki nor Fuuka Aoi. Even more so after Akitsuki dies.
- She Is All Grown Up:
- Fuuka Akitsuki. Her birth was an important event in Suzuka, and the last time we saw her in the extra Return Home chapter she was just a little girl.
- Chisa from A Town Where You Live. She accidentally bumps into Yuu in chapter 115, where we see that she's still continuing her dream of being a musician.
- Ship Sinking: Done twice with Fuuka Akitsuki. Shortly after becoming a couple, Fuuka is killed in a car crash. However, a girl who very much resembles Akitsuki appears and it appears that Yuu might rekindle their relationship. Although done more for symbolic reasons, it's emphasized that Aoi is the person who currently matters to Yuu.
- Shout-Out:
- In the anime, there's a couple in a restaurant◊ that look suspiciously like Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos.
- The English dialogue between Yuu and Fuuka in the last few pages of Chapter 161 is a good nod to Han and Leia's iconic lines to each other.
- During the Blue Wells Japan Tour arc, on one of the days, Aoi can be seen wearing a My Chemical Romance T-shirt.
- In the anime, there's a couple in a restaurant
- Significant Name Overlap: There are two girls named Fuuka in the series, and both have significant ties with the protagonist.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Fuuka's infamous death by truck is completely averted in the anime, as the truck driver stops just short of her before the plot changes. You can read this article if you need details.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Took a while to get to that point, but Akitsuki dies in chapter 36.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Several characters have these, notably Iwami, the band's label boss Amaya and the entire Hedgehogs band.
- Spiritual Successor: It's heavily implied that the main characters are the band that will eventually surpass the Hedgehogs. Although they state that their successors could be anyone, the fact that they go to the lengths of mentoring the main characters and giving them advice makes their parallels more close.
- Theme Naming: Not exactly apparent at first glance, but the members of Kanaria have their names based on the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mogami-Class Heavy Cruisers (including Le Bard's Manager, Akira Mogami, who played bass with them during their heyday). This also extends to their sound engineer, who bears the name of the youngest ship of the said class Kumano.
- Tsundere: Several of the girls have some of the personality quirks, but the most straight-forward example of the trope is the band's label boss, Ms. Amaya, who is like this to the band itself. Amaya constantly puts the band and its members down, threatens them with large financial punishments if they don't meet various (absurd) goals and acts like they're generally terrible, yet its shown that she really does care about the band and believes in their worth. Not that she would ever tell them that directly.
- Unwanted Harem: Despite being tagged as a "visually unappealing" Loser Protagonist, Yuu has at least 5 attractive women who have all expressed interest in him.
- Wham Episode: It's a Seo Kouji series, so they happen a lot.
- Willing Suspension of Disbelief:
- There are so many coincidences and outright unlikely events taking place, that this is practically a requirement in order to truly enjoy the story.
- Fuuka supposedly takes place around 15 years after Suzuka, but the technology isn't more than 2-3 years more advanced than at the beginning of Suzuka.
