High schooler Yuu Usami runs into a tall girl named Hitomi Takano with a scary face and a mouth filled with Scary Teeth. Of course, beneath her appearance lies an adorable personality. Although she seems to be glaring at people, she's actually just nervous around others. They start getting along with each other, and obviously develop feelings for each other, although they're both too embarrassed to admit it. As such, their daily lives are full of adorable interactions together.
Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers (Hitomi-chan wa Hitomishiri) is a manga series by Natsumi Chorisuke. It has been serialized on Akita Shoten's Manga Cross website since September 2018. The series is licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment.
Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers provides examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: The punk who repeatedly hits on Himari. She wants absolutely nothing to do with him.
- Accidental Hero: In Chapter 23, Hitomi inadvertently saves Himari from being assaulted by hitting the thugs' leader in the head with a toy baseball and then walking over to retrieve it, scaring them off with her Face of a Thug and Death Glare. Afterwards, it's not clear she even knew what was happening.
- Accidental Public Confession: Yuu and Hitomi thought Kaoru had told Angelica about the hotel, and in their efforts to tell her it was Not What It Looks Like, Yuu lets slip that he and Hitomi slept in a hotel room where there was only one bed. Angelica had no idea before, but she sure has the wrong idea now.
- The Ace: Aside from math, dealing with scary things and not being good with people, Hitomi often comes out on top of whatever challenge she's put up against. She excels at sports, she's shown to be ridiculously strong, and even though she struggled when playing a mobile game, she became the number one player in the country shortly afterward.
- Amazonian Beauty: Hitomi. She's tall, muscular, has a solid set of abs, and is incredibly strong. And despite what she might think of herself, Yuu finds her very cute and pretty. Even the Girls Want Her too - Kaoru seems a tad fixated on her abs, the drama teacher Tachibana is a bit preoccupied with creating costumes because she finds her appearance inspiring, and Himari seems to be getting a crush on her.
- And Here He Comes Now: In Chapter 75, Angelica says she's going to report what she thinks happened at the hotel to Kaoru, only for Kaoru to pop up asking if they were talking about her.
- Animal Motifs: Not surprisingly, Hitomi and sharks. With her Scary Teeth, shark imagery follows her around, particularly when she goes to the aquarium with Yuu. Fittingly, though, the only shark they actually see there is a whale shark — the largest shark, but also a filter feeder that never harms people (and has even been observed being playful with humans). She even snagged herself a huge shark plushie.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Kaoru has shades of this, as she excels at more things than her brother Yuu, teases him often and makes him do her laundry. She's a little self-centered but she's far from cruel.
- Apologizes a Lot: Hitomi tends to apologize whenever she causes problems or nearly causes them, such as hurling Yuu airborne so he won't be late for school, or nearly hitting the girls in Himari's gang in a game of "Kick the Can".
- Art Shift: Characters being rendered into chibi forms is far from uncommon. As well, Hitomi's older brother is drawn to look a tad more realistic than other characters (shark teeth aside), such as a more detailed mouth and nose in addition to a chin that doesn't end into a geometric vertex.
- Ass Kicks You:
- When Yuu tries pulling Hitomi out of a window in Chapter 39, her butt comes flying at him and knocks him to the ground. A bonus drawing shows Hitomi bopping Yuu with her butt and sending him flying.
- It happens again when he tries to give her a massage in Chapter 77, but accidentally keeps hitting her ticklish spots.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Kaoru meets Hitomi in gym class, after pointing out her large chest, she asks if she can "touch them". Hitomi thinks she means her boobs, but Kaoru lifts up her shirt and gets a feel for her abs instead. She wanted to see if they were soft or rough but tells her that she has the perfect and ideal balance.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Yuu is the first person that Hitomi befriends and they become close because of it.
- Bespectacled Cutie: One of the girls in Himari's gang sports a pair of glasses.
- Big Eater: Hitomi eats a lot when she does during the day. Yuu internally rationalizes this being the reason to why she is as developed and physically matured as she is in the present.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Kaoru has these, especially in comparison with Yuu or Hitomi. Their size and inward-pointing angles give her a mischievous expression most of the time.
- Bland-Name Product: In Chapter 18, the energy drink Yuu gives Hitomi is "Bakemono", and the font and design of the can are an obvious riff on Monster Energy.
- But Not Too Foreign: Yuu and Hitomi's school gets an American transfer student named Angelica "Ange" Karasuma, who is part-Japanese based on her family name.
- Butt-Monkey: Yuu. Whenever he tries to impress Hitomi he often fails, he's often the victim of her massive strength, and when he decided to take part in the school's fantasy-themed culture festival, his teacher dresses him up as a fairy.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: One of the first things that Kaoru notices about Hitomi is that she has large boobs, and combined with the fact that Hitomi has what Kaoru considers "ideal abs", she thinks this makes her awesome.
- Call-Back: The process of Yuu procuring and delivering a White Day gift mirrors that of Hitomi making and delivering Valentine's Day chocolates, down to Kaoru and Angelica helping with the process, although the pattern is broken when Yuu tells Angelica that he doesn't need help building the nerve to deliver it.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Both protagonists have trouble admitting that they have a crush on the other.
- Cat Up a Tree: In Chapter 70, some kids ask Yuu and Hitomi to rescue a cat from a tree, but Hitomi frightens the cat. She tries holding Yuu on her shoulders, but he's not quite tall enough. Then Himari and her friends show up, and form a Human Ladder with Hitomi, but since she's the one on top, the cat gets scared even higher. Finally, they decide to do a Fastball Special and fling Yuu into the tree to grab the cat. He succeeds, but then falls down onto them (cushioned by a Funbag Airbag).
- Caught in the Rain: Yuu and Hitomi are caught downtown in a thunderstorm that stops all trains and cars in or out of the city, so they call her brother for help. He rents them a hotel to dry off and sleep in, but There Is Only One Bed...
- Censor Steam: In the Shower Scene in Chapter 72, steam covers Hitomi's nipples and pubic area, but not much else.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: In Chapter 13, while Yuu and Hitomi are running to school, Hitomi insists they stop to help an old woman climb some stairs and help another woman collect her dropped goods. They end up barely making it on time thanks to taking a shortcut.
- Cool Big Bro: Hitomi's older brother is all-around a cool guy who's friendly with her friends, and supportive of her and Yuu getting together. He does tease his sister quite a bit, though.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: They could have avoided all the Human Ladder and Fastball Special antics to rescue the Cat Up a Tree in Chapter 70 if they'd just waited for Angelica to arrive with a ladder, but that wouldn't have been as funny.
- Death Glare: Subverted. Hitomi looks like she does this, which scares people around her. However, she's just really shy and bad at expressing it. She has a different one when she's struggling to understand something. Finally, her "scared out of her wits" face is yet another distinct take on this, which scares multiple people when she loses her nerve in a school festival haunted house.
- Distracted by the Sexy: In Chapter 51, while they're playing ping-pong at the Ryokan Inn, Yuu is distracted by Hitomi's cleavage and exposed legs in her yukata.
- Does Not Know Her Own Strength:
- In Chapter 34, when Yuu and Hitomi do the cart curling game, Yuu tells Hitomi to use her full strength to push the cart because it seems heavy. She does...and sends the cart so fast that it rams into a wall and flips Yuu out of it.
- In Chapter 39, Hitomi broke a doorknob off, trapping her and Yuu inside a room.
- Drunk on Milk: In Chapter 18, Hitomi comes to school one day having gotten little sleep, so Yuu gives her a can of energy drink. Initially, it affects her like a caffeinated beverage would, making her wired and alert. As the day goes on, though, she starts interacting with Yuu in an uncharacteristically pushy and flirty manner, which more closely resembles drunkenness.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Kaoru enjoys horror movies, and once it's clear that Hitomi doesn't, she makes her and her brother watch one just to see how Hitomi will react. After they watch it, Yuu calls Kaoru out when she trolls a terrified Hitomi by pretending there's a ghost behind her.
- Effortless Amazonian Lift: Combined with Bridal Carry when Hitomi catches Himari from falling down some steps in Chapter 31.
- Endearingly Dorky: Hitomi is as socially awkward as they come but not any less endearing for it, and Yuu also counts considering that he tries his best to impress her but doesn't quite hit the mark.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Hitomi is subjected to this by a few female characters:
- Yuu's sister Kaoru seems a little too interested in Hitomi's abs for it to be purely platonic.
- After a series of misunderstandings, actual Delinquent Himari seems to be falling for Hitomi in classic Tsundere fashion.
- She gets quite a few blushing gazes from her female classmates when she wears a too-small gakuran unbuttoned with sarashi in Chapter 25.
- Everyone Can See It: Pretty much everyone, aside from Yuu and Hitomi, can see they like each other. Everyone they talk to seem to assume they are already dating with how much time they spend together.
- Face of a Thug: Hitomi eyes give off the feeling she is giving people a Death Glare and has a set of sharp, shark-like teeth.
- Fastball Special:
- In Chapter 13, when it looks like the two of them won't be able to get to school in time before the front gate gets closed, Hitomi picks Yuu up and hurls him over the fence. It turns out to be unnecessary, as the custodian is willing to hold the gate open for Hitomi too.
- In Chapter 70, Himari's gang and Hitomi throw Yuu up into the air to rescue a Cat Up a Tree.
- Ferris Wheel Date Moment: Invoked by Kaoru and Angelica at the amusement park in Chapter 57. They put Yuu and Hitomi in a car together and send them up, but Yuu is afraid of heights. Hitomi manages to calm him down, and it looks like they're about to kiss...then the wheel starts moving again, and Angelica and Kaoru appear in the next car.
- Festival Episode: Chapter 30 has Hitomi, Yuu, and Kaoru go to a matsuri, and Hitomi catches Yuu's eye in her yukata.
- Friendly Rival: Angelica wants to be this with Hitomi - she's roughly the same build as Hitomi, she likes sports, but she also wants a friend who appreciates competition. However, besides being in different grades, she's saddened to see that Hitomi is more focused on her feelings for Yuu to be interested in such a rivalry. Thankfully, Angelica's solution to Hitomi's focus on Yuu is to push the two together to resolve things.
- Friend to All Children: Although Hitomi often scares children, once she senses trouble, she tries her hardest to comfort them and help them out. Once she befriends some kids at the local park, she often goes out to play with them.
- Funbag Airbag:
- In Chapter 5, one of the kids trips and falls face-first into Hitomi's cleavage.
- In Chapter 12, Hitomi crashes into Yuu while pushing him away from some falling books, with similar results.
- In Chapter 70, Yuu falls into Hitomi after rescuing a Cat Up a Tree, with her boobs providing some cushioning.
- Futile Hand Reach: In Chapter 13, Yuu does this when Hitomi throws him over the school fence and it seems like she will be locked out. Turns out the custodian was going to leave the gate open for her anyway.
- The Gadfly: Kaoru is perfectly fine with Yuu and Hitomi being together, and will occasionally help set things up, but she seems mostly interested in taking pictures that will embarrass the two. She's also fond of Hitomi's flustered reaction, be it from marveling at Hitomi's abs or enjoying how scared Hitomi gets from horror movies.
- Gilligan Cut: Kaoru tends to push Hitomi into uncomfortable situations, who insists she can't go through with it. One panel later, Hitomi is right where she doesn't want to be, pointing out that she's actually going to go through with it.
- Gorgeous Gaijin: Angelica is a blonde American (though her surname indicates she's half-Japanese) who's the only one who can compare with Hitomi in height and bust size. Most of the fanservice is focused on Hitomi herself, though.
- Hands-On Approach: Played with in Chapter 36. Yuu tries to show Hitomi how to cut cabbage, but he can't see anything since she's so tall. They switch places and she watches, though they're still intimately close.
- Help Mistaken for Attack: In Chapter 31, after Hitomi saves Himari from falling down the steps (and scares away the guy who was harassing her), Himari's friends see her on her knees (actually getting up) in front of a standing Hitomi and assume Hitomi is forcing her into a dogeza
. - Holding Hands:
- In Chapter 12, Yuu absentmindedly does this with Hitomi while they hide from a teacher in the library.
- In Chapter 56, Yuu and Hitomi are studying in the library, squished into a too-small desk, when he accidentally grabs her hand instead of his eraser. She doesn't let go until another student startles them.
- Chapter 74 ends with Kaoru and Hitomi's brother finding the two of them blushing and holding hands on a bench by a shrine.
- The cover of tankōbon Volume 7 shows Hitomi and Yuu walking down a street while holding hands, nervously blushing and looking away from each other. Understandable, since they had both just confessed to each other in Chapters 84-85, with Yuu confessing first.
- Hot Springs Episode: Chapters 50-52 involve the characters enjoying family vacations at a local hot spring resort. Yuu even has a couple Meta Guy moments commenting on traditional anime and manga hot springs tropes.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Hitomi is much taller than other characters, despite being in high school at the same age as or younger than them.
- I Am Not Pretty: Hitomi doesn't consider herself to be pretty considering how often she scares people away, so when Yuu notices something different and calls her cute, she gets really embarrassed and tells him that no one's ever called her that before. When he calls her cute again when she dons a cheerleader uniform, she takes it better. And for more proof that Hitomi is pretty, well, Even the Girls Want Her!
- Infodump: In Chapter 41, when Hitomi gets some roasted sweet potatoes, she excitedly tells Yuu all about their nutritional qualities.
- Invisible Parents: Until Hitomi's brother makes an off-hand reference to them in Chapter 52, it'd be fair to wonder if Hitomi was in a house with her brother and assume just about anything about Yuu and Kaoru's living situation. Judging by the comment, both sets of parents are still together and neither travel; they're just not the focus of the series.
- Irony: In Chapter 21, when Yuu, Kaoru, and Hitomi go to a water park, Hitomi rises from the water in a way that reminds Kaoru of a Threatening Shark. But it turns out Hitomi is scared of sharks herself; the extra page for Chapter 28 has Hitomi and Yuu looking at a list of recommended movies, one of which is a shark-themed movie that Hitomi is not eager to see.
- Is That Cute Kid Yours?: The Tiny Guy, Huge Girl dynamic between Yuu and Hitomi is so noticeable that Hitomi is often mistaken for Yuu's mother (or at least his older sister). Ironically, Yuu is the older one. Some people also mistake her younger cousin Ai for her daughter, but Ai herself points out that she's only ten years younger than Hitomi.
- I Want to Be a Real Man: Yuu feels embarrassed every time Hitomi ends up protecting him or upstaging him, and tries unsuccessfully to be someone that she relies on for strength and not the other way around.
- Japanese Delinquents:
- Himari is one who's an Unknown Rival to Hitomi, who just tries to be friendly. She may be developing a crush on Hitomi as well, but is too Tsundere to realize or admit it.
- In Chapters 25 and 26, Hitomi wears a gakuran uniform with the shirt unbuttoned and sarashi covering her breasts, looking very much like a delinquent.
- Kimono Fanservice: Hitomi's mom has her wear a Yukata when she attends the town festival with Yuu and Kaoru. Yuu is speechless at the sight of it.
- Lap Pillow: Yuu is treated to one courtesy of Hitomi in Chapter 62.
- Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Since pretty much every other character is a Shipper on Deck for Yuu and Hitomi, they (usually Yuu's sister Kaoru and her friend Angelica) frequently set things up so that the two of them are alone together, like a Ferris Wheel Date Moment or an Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date. In Chapter 39, when they're Locked in a Room together, Tachibana-sensei opens the door just as Hitomi has fallen on top of Yuu after he pulled her back through the window. She smiles and says she'll act like she didn't see anything, though they protest that it's Not What It Looks Like.
- Love Confession: Yuu finally confesses to Hitomi in Chapter 84.
- Male Gaze: Hitomi has quite a developed bust that everyone notices. She scares some kids by accident only to win them over by inadvertently introducing them to Marshmallow Hell, and it's her large chest that helps her win a track tournament. Since Yuu's a full head shorter than her, his head is leveled at them.
- Marshmallow Hell: In one bonus chapter, Hitomi hugs a kid who's scared of her to try and show she's a nice person. She ends up becoming very popular with the kids, though not for the reason she thinks.
- Mega Meal Challenge: Chapter 27 has Kaoru and her classmates going out for sweets after the sports festival. She orders a "Monster size" parfait the size of a small child for the table. Unlike most examples, it's "only" 90% off if they manage to finish it (500 yen, instead of 5000), but Hitomi's bottomless appetite carries them through. She even wants some fried chicken after.
- Ms. Fanservice:
- Every few chapters depicts Hitomi in an outfit that is usually really tight around her rather voluptuous and muscular body, or sometimes has her show some skin and those chiseled abs. This is best seen when she visits the pool with Yuu and Kaoru, and when she wears a samurai costume for the school festival. A lot of additional art pieces at the end of most chapters also put her in a wide variety of outfits that expose her cleavage.
- Himari, the girls in her gang, and her sister are depicted as this as they're shown to have a noticeable bust or have distinct features.
- Nice Girl: Hitomi. Although she looks scary and intimidating, she's a genuine sweetheart who tries to be nice to everyone around her.
- Nice Guy: Yuu, naturally. He doesn't hesitate to put himself in harm's way to help Hitomi.
- No Name Given: Hitomi's older brother is always referred to as that. He makes regular appearances, too, at least a couple times without his sister around, and yet his name is never given.
- No Social Skills: Poor Hitomi tries, but either scares people away due to her intimidating aura, or she has no idea what to say around people she doesn't know. She eventually gets much better throughout the story.
- Nosebleed: In Chapter 42, when Kaoru sees Hitomi's abs, she gets a nosebleed and faints. They had just been playing some kind of video game in a very hot room, as part of a scheme by Kaoru to get Hitomi to take her shirt off, so that might have had something to do with it as well.
- Not What It Looks Like:
- Hitomi usually emits a hostile presence that she's completely unaware of, leading nearly everyone to think that she plans to kill them. When she saves Himari from falling down the stairs and stares off her stalker, which also startles Himari, the other girls think Hitomi is forcing her to submit to her on her knees.
- When Yuu walks in on Hitomi and her sister supposedly studying together, his sister is all over Hitomi and touching her abs. Kaoru just wanted to touch her abs that badly.
- The number of times people have walked in on Yuu and Hitomi in what appears to be a romantic situation (particularly Romantic Spoonfeeding) is a frequent end-of-chapter gag. For example, in Chapter 39, when they're Locked in a Room, Tachibana opens the door just as Hitomi has fallen on top of Yuu after he pulled her back through the window. She smiles and says she'll act like she didn't see anything.
- Chapter 77 has Kaoru and Angelica sneak up to a room Yuu is giving Hitomi a massage in. Kaoru and Angelica don't go inside and both assume our protagonists lost their virginity together from the noise they heard until Yuu physically proves to them that he can perform massages.
- Official Couple: Hitomi and Yuu both confess to liking each other in Chapter 85.
- Older Than They Look: Yuu is actually a year older than Hitomi.
- One Head Taller: Gender-inverted; Hitomi is this much taller than Yuu, made more egregious by him being her senior.
- Pilot: Before turning into a serial manga, the one-shot chapters were a little different in tone as it was just about how Mikoto Kiba, Hitomi's prototype, interacted with different characters, and how they initially mistook her as a scary delinquent; there was no budding romance as Yuu did not exist. Furthermore, the deuteragonist was an unnamed female delinquent who had a similar personality as Himari's.
- Ping Pong Naïveté: While Hitomi generally has a grasp of just how scary others find her, and even why, she'll sometimes be oblivious for the sake of a gag.
- Pom-Pom Girl: In Chapter 25, Hitomi tries on Kaoru's (too small) cheerleader outfit, right before Yuu walks in. He thinks it's cute.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni:
- Kaoru's red to Yuu's blue. While Kaoru is an outgoing, involved in sports and extracurricular activities, isn't afraid of anything and has incredible confidence in herself, this is in contrast to Yuu who doesn't have the same fire as she does. She points out that he's not good at a lot of the things that she excels in, but also has him pick up the slack where she doesn't succeed.
- Hitomi's blue to her brother's red. Like Kaoru, he can get on his sibling's nerves and isn't afraid of any challenge, while Hitomi is more reserved and uncertain of herself.
- Romantic Spoonfeeding: In Chapter 36, Kaoru and Hitomi's brother walk in just as Yuu and Hitomi are giving each other a taste of the food they just cooked.
- Romantic Wingman: Hitomi's brother is one for Yuu, seeing how much his sister likes him and thinks he's good for her. He's pitted them together to spend some time alone on numerous occasions. When Angelica is introduced, she immediately notices Hitomi's chemistry with Yuu and also tries to get them together, but with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
- Scare the Dog: Hitomi is scary enough to frighten animals; one scene in Chapter 2 shows a cat scurry away in terror when she shows up, and she tells Yuu that this happens often with this particular cat.
- Scary Teeth: Hitomi's teeth are all pointy and sharp, which can scare people who don't know her well. It seems to run in the family.
- Shipper on Deck: Hitomi's brother regularly thanks Yuu for supporting Hitomi, and the way he talks to Yuu is very reminiscent of traditional Japanese approval for a marriage, with a dose of encouragement for the relationship as well. Angelica, once she's introduced, is firmly convinced that Hitomi won't be a proper Friendly Rival if she's stuck unable to admit her feelings, so she's on board with pushing the two together almost immediately after seeing Yuu and Hitomi together. Kaoru also supports the two together, although she's more prone to just trying to embarrass the two for her own amusement.
- Shout-Out:
- The delinquent outfit that Hitomi wears in Chapter 25 (unbuttoned gakuran and sarashi) may be a shout out to the third sports festival in Azumanga Daioh, where Tomo, Kagura, and Sakaki wore similar outfits. She's even holding a flag like Sakaki.
- During the school festival, Yuu and Hitomi decide to take the cart curling challenge. When Yuu gets in the cart while Hitomi in a samurai outfit prepares to push it, the proprietor of the game says she feels she has seen something like that on TV before, no doubt a reference to one of the adaptations of Lone Wolf and Cub.
- The bonus art for Chapter 33 shows Hitomi cosplaying as Ryuko Matoi.
- Shrinking Violet: Exactly What It Says on the Tin - the title character is almost painfully shy, and it took her several chapters to even get comfortable with Yuu and his sister Kaoru. She was incredibly afraid of the prospect of being tutored by Kaoru's older brother until she saw that it was Yuu. When she won the track tournament, she wouldn't stop running because she couldn't handle the attention.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: In Chapter 22, when Yuu meets Hitomi's older brother for the first time, he can barely believe how different they seem. That said, he's focused entirely on how outgoing the elder Takano is compared to Hitomi's intense shyness. Focusing strictly on their appearance, it's very easy to see that they're related.
- Sleep Cute: In Chapter 21, after going to the water park, Yuu and Hitomi fall asleep next to each other on the train. Kaoru takes a photo to tease them with later.
- Slice of Life: Most of the story involves Yuu and Hitomi participating in school activities and doing everyday things together. Visiting restaurants and exploring food, watching movies, participating in school activities and festivals, playing with kids and even making snowmen.
- Spirited Competitor:
- When Hitomi's brother is invited to play a soccer game with some kids, he doesn't hold back, prompting Hitomi and Kaoru to challenge him instead and give it their all. When Hitomi challenges Yuu to a snowball fight, "no" isn't an option.
- Angelica, natch. The moment she steps into school, she finds the first person she can declare an athletic rival, which just so happens to be Hitomi because of how tall and strong she is. When she sees the girls in Himari's gang play Kick the Can, she immediately challenges them to a game.
- Statuesque Stunner: Next to being attractive, Hitomi is very tall for a girl her age and stands head and shoulder above most other characters.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Angelica loves popping up out of nowhere to startle Hitomi.
- There Is Only One Bed: A thunderstorm strands Hitomi and Yuu in the city with no way to get home, so Hitomi's brother reserves them a hotel room to spend the night in. Of course, there's only one bed. They wind up sharing the bed.
- Three-Point Landing: Angelica pulls this off when confronting Himari's gang.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Despite Yuu being a year above her, Hitomi stands over a head taller than him.
- Tiny Schoolboy: Yuu looks more like a middle schooler, despite being a year older than Hitomi and Kaoru.
- Troll: In Chapter 9, when Kaoru has Hitomi over for some math help, she suggests that they and Yuu watch a horror movie (that resembles The Ring) afterward. Hitomi is wary of watching a horror movie, but this only strengthens Kaoru's resolve to watch it to see how Hitomi reacts.
- Tsundere: Himari acts this way when she's around Hitomi:
- In Chapter 31, Himari wins Hitomi a prize in a crane game, but immediately clarifies that she "d-didn't do this for you or anything!"
- In Chapter 70, after helping Hitomi and Yuu rescue a Cat Up a Tree, which ended with all of them in a pile after Yuu fell on them, Himari looks away while blushing and angrily says it was "for the kitten's sake".
- The Un-Smile: Poor Hitomi tries to work on her smile, but she only makes it worse whenever she flashes her chompers. She gets better.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance:
- When Hitomi's older brother appears, he's similarly well-built, tall, and has both the eyes and the smile that clearly show that the features run in the family. While it's not as obvious, their genuine smiles are very similar, too. A later chapter reveals this comes from one of her grandmothers (though it doesn't confirm which side of the family).
- On New Year's Day, Yuu and Kaoru meet Ai, Hitomi's young cousin. She resembles Hitomi so much that Yuu is really thrown off when he first sees her, apparently thinking Hitomi somehow shrank. Himari and her friends briefly think that she might be Hitomi and Yuu's daughter, before Ai-chan points out that Hitomi is only 10 years older than her, and has only known Yuu for one year.
- Unknown Rival: Hitomi is completely unaware that she's seen as one by Himari and her gang, as well as Angelica.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: It's obvious to everyone that Yuu and Hitomi are clearly in love with each other, and they haven't exactly been subtle about it. It's just a matter of when they're willing to take that next step. They become an Official Couple in Chapter 85.
- Wham Episode: What starts as just getting Hitomi a birthday present in Chapter 84 takes a swerve when Yuu confesses.
- Wham Line: Yuu finally makes his feelings for Hitomi clear in Chapter 84:Yuu: I like you.
Hitomi: What?
Yuu: (struggling noticeably for a few seconds) I...really like you, Takano-san! - World of Buxom: Hitomi may be well-stacked, but so is nearly every other woman in the story. Even Kaoru who is small at first grows to become just as tall and stacked as Hitomi once she hits her growth spurt.
- Worthy Opponent: Angelica desperately seeks someone she can consider an athletic rival, and gladly declares Hitomi to be one when she sees how tall and strong she is. She doesn't see her as an enemy, however, and wants to get her together with Yuu before taking her on.
- Writing Around Trademarks: At one point in Chapter 42, Kaoru gets Hitomi and Yuu to play some kind of video game. While the controllers are mostly covered up by the characters' hands, what little we can see indicates that they're Nintendo Switch controllers.
- Youkai: In Chapter 19, an old man who sees Hitomi wearing a mask due to her allergies mistakes her for Kuchisake-onna.
- Younger Than They Look: From her tall height and ample chest you wouldn't guess that Hitomi is actually a year younger than Yuu and in the same grade as his younger sister Kaoru.
