Real Girl (3D 彼女 リアルガール, 3D Kanojo) is a manga series written and illustrated by Mao Nanami. It was published by Dessert from July 2011 to May 2016 and features 12 volumes.
High school student Hikari Tsutsui is a Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold who has no interest in dating and is content with only encountering girls from anime and video games. His life unexpectedly changes when he arrives late at school and is forced to clean the pool as punishment, alongside the beautiful Iroha Igarashi, who is also considered an outsider by other students. At first reluctant to even talk to Iroha, Hikari is able to overcome his insecurity and defend her from bullies. In yet another pool-cleaning task, they decide to start a relationship. The catch? Iroha is due to change schools at the end of the year.
An Animated Adaptation by Hoods Entertainment premiered on April 4, 2018, with a second season premiering in January 2019. In addition, a Live-Action Adaptation, directed by Tsutomu Hanabusa and starring Ayami Nakajo as Iroha and Hayato Sano as Hikari, was released on September 14, 2018. trailer here
Real Girl provides examples of:
- Adaptation Dye-Job: The live-action adaptation dyes Iroha and Tsutsui's hair black, while Mitsuya and Arisa both have darker red hair.
- Adaptation Expansion: Several times towards the end of the anime series:
- Unlike the manga, Kaoru is still seen with Anzu, their relationship still going on strong.
- Ito manages to ask Ayado on a dinner date successfully, whereas in the manga, his words are cutoff.
- Adapted Out: Anzu and Chika, who appear in the anime and manga, are removed for the film.
- Alliterative Name: Iroha Igarashi
- All of the Other Reindeer: Iroha is often mocked at by the other girls, who view her as if she has an easy woman.
- Animal-Eared Headband: Itou, Hikari's friend always wears cat ears while at school.
- Babies Ever After: At the end of the series, Mitsuya and Arisa have a child together. Then, after Iroha and Hikari get married, they have a child of their own.
- Beta Couple: Ito and Ayado. After the timeskip, they break up, with Ayado even getting married with someone else before she returns in time for Iroha and Tsutsui's wedding, revealing to Ito that she divorced her husband. Not wasting anytime, Ito offers her a night of dinner, restarting their relationship.
- Blind Without Them: Hikari and Sumie are almost blind without their glasses.
- Brutal Honesty: Arisa is praised for her honesty, even when it hurts.
- But Now I Must Go: Towards the end of the series, Iroha has to leave Hikari to go to Los Angeles and have her surgery for brain cancer. She manages to get better and return to Hikari after the timeskip, eventually gaining back her lost memories and marrying Hikari.
- Casting Gag: It's not the first time Christina Kelly (Iroha's English VA) has played a love interest with pink hair, except the last time she was one of the resistance fighters who tried to help liberate the Empire.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Kaoru and Anzu, full stop. Adults around them are surprised that their romance started off so early despite their ages and even more surprised by the genuineness of it. Both Kaoru and Anzu are willing to do anything for each other and provide comfort whenever one or the other is upset; at one point, they were even willing to run away from their respective families when the family drama got to be too much for them, content as long as they had each other. Towards the end of the anime series, the two are still seeing each other in their college years.
- Crash-Into Hello: This is how Hikari meets Sumie. While walking to their school, they bump into each other and drop their glasses as a result.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Iroha gets very jealous whenever a girl is around Hikari.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Yuuto Itou has blonde hair and golden eyes.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Sumie is a klutz who often trips over herself and bumps into people by accident.
- Dating Sim: Hikari plays them, and references them out in the real world when he tells Arisa that he doesn't want to see her get the 'bad end' with her current boyfriend.
- Delicate and Sickly: Iroha suffers from asthma when we first see her. It later turns out that she has brain cancer. Thankfully, she manages to survive and recover 100%, though at the cost of her high school memories with her friends and love interest.
- Disappeared Dad: There hasn't been a mention of Hikari's father, Mitsuru, at least until the second half of the series.
- Distant Finale: The finale takes place seven years after Iroha moves to Los Angeles and has her successful surgery for her brain cancer. In the interim, Hikari becomes a successful businessman, Ito is head of a popular anime, Arisa is pregnant with Mitsuya's child, and Ayado gets married to another man. When Iroha returns, Arisa and Mitsuya get married and have their baby, Ayado return from a divorce and restarts her romance with Ito and Hikari and Iroha finally get married.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: While not mentioned outright, Itou has certainly a feminine appearance.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: By the end of the series, Iroha returns from Los Angeles after seven years and gets back together with Hikari for good. Meanwhile, Arisa and Mitsuya, after years of trying to get together, finally marry and have a child shortly afterwards.
- First-Episode Twist: Iroha is moving away at the end of the year.
- First Girl Wins: Iroha is the first girlfriend Hikari makes at the beginning of the series and they eventually get married.
- For Want Of A Nail: If Iroha and Hikari weren't late for school, they wouldn't have cleaned the pool as a punishment and befriended each other. Thanks also to that, Hikari's fate changes from an unpopular and shy otaku into a man who becomes Iroha's boyfriend and eventual husband.
- Friendless Background:
- Hikari had trouble fitting in with the other kids in junior high because of his otaku lifestyle, with Ito as the sole exception.
- Iroha didn't quite fit in with the other girls due to her seemingly promiscuous nature and ill temper.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Itou is blonde and is Hikari's only friend at the start of the series.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Hikari absolutely despises girls ever since junior high, at least until he falls in love with Iroha.
- Heroic BSoD:
- Hikari underwent one in the backstory when his junior high classmates mock him for his otaku lifestyle.
- Arisa goes through a brief one when she breaks up with Shun.
- Hikari has a major one when Iroha moves to Los Angeles and asks him to forget about her.
- Iroha falls into a brief one when her brain cancer surgery makes her unable to remember some of her old memories.
- Hero with Bad Publicity:
- At the beginning of the series, Hikari Tsutsui is unpopular at school because of his otaku behavior.
- Iroha Igarashi was viewed by other girls as a promiscuous woman in her backstory and is rumored to have an ill temper.
- Hopeless Suitor: Mitsuya doesn't even get a chance to ask Iroha out, as she rejects him before any words leave his mouth.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Arisa Ishino even recognizes she's a crappy judge of character, immediately trusting every hot guy she comes across.
- In-Series Nickname: "Tsuttsun" for Hikari.
- I Warned You: Arisa says this trope verbatim after Tsutsui brushes off her advice not to make sweets for Ayado.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- Arisa Ishino at first treated Tsutsui with contempt for being an otaku, but later she shows a nicer side.
- Although Mitsuya Takanashi can be a complete jerk to Hikari and Iroha, he deeply loves his sister Anzu and he's not incapable of realizing he's in the wrong as shown when Hikari helps clear up the misunderstanding between them.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: In the Distant Finale, Iroha's surgery for brain cancer results in her memories with Hikari and her friends being erased. She gains most of them back by the time she meets them again.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After Mitsuya humiliates Hikari so that he can have Iroha, the latter quickly rejects him. What's even better is that Mitsuya falls in love with Arisa and reconciles with Hikari.
- Late for School: Iroha frequently comes in late for school.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: A Downplayed example with Iroha. She fulfills this trope for Tsutsui, but is herself insecure and uncertain about herself. Its not a full Deconstruction, but her own issues complicate the situation.
- Meaningful Name:
- Hikari means "light" in Japanese.
- Iroha's name (色葉) literally means "color of leaves".
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Because of a misunderstanding involving Mitsuya's sister, Anzu, Hikari is branded as one and while there's no proof of wrongdoing, his (already low reputation) takes a nosedive. Fortunately, the misunderstanding is cleared up.
- Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Hikari and Iroha are loners at the start of the series. Hikari estranged himself from the social world after his fellow classmates labelled him for his otaku behavior. As for Iroha, she was unpopular with other girls because of her ill temper and being labelled as promiscuous.
- My Girl Is a Slut: Downplayed. Iroha is quite faithful to Hikari, but her reputation as a heartbreaker implies she's not a virgin. This doesn't bother him, but it turns out she maintained her virginity throughout her exploits.
- Named by the Adaptation:
- Hikari's high school is named Kodan High in the anime, which takes its name from the original manga's publisher, Kodansha.
- Iroha's doctor is unnamed in the manga and anime. The film version names him Shingo Mabuchi.
- No Social Skills: Hikari admits to himself his otaku lifestyle has made him very bad at interacting with other people (Itou being the only exception).
- Official Couple: By the end of the series, Mitsuya hooks up with Arisa, and Hikari and Iroha get married. It's hinted that Ito and Ayado will get back together and Kaoru and Anzu have been together since childhood.
- Older Than They Look: Despite being much older than Hikari, Mitsuru and Kie still got their handsome looks.
- Only Friend: Itou seems to be Hikari's only friend at the start of the series.
- Puppy Love: Mitsuya's younger sister, Anzu, is friends with Hikari's younger brother, Kaoru, so after finding out the cause of his depression (his brother being mistaken for a lolicon), she goes and asks her brother how to fix it. Throughout the series, the relationship between the two has grown stronger, to the point that the two are never seen without one another for long, even after the seven year timeskip and both have entered college.
- Red String of Fate: Depicted as a red USB cable in the key art as seen on this page.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Iroha has bright pink hair and she ultimately turns out to be a nice girl after meeting Hikari.
- Second Love: Iroha leaves Mitsuya in favor of Hikari. Fortunately for Mitsuya, his relationship with Arisa turns out to be more successful to the point that they get married and have a child.
- Shout-Out:
- Sumie mentions Super Sentai as one of her favorite series.
- Magical Girl Ezomichi is a homage to the Magical Girl anime series of The '80s and The '90s.
- Show Within a Show: Hikari frequently watches the fictional show Magical Girl Ezomichi.
- Shrinking Violet:
- Given his unpopularity as an otaku, Hikari was hesitant to speak to other girls before meeting Iroha.
- Likewise with Sumie, who often watches anime and Super Sentai. She was shy around others until she met Hikari.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Iroha feels attracted to Hikari for his willingness to stand up for her.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Kaoru looks like a younger non-wearing glasses version of his brother Hikari.
- Tranquil Fury: Iroha never raises her voice whenever she loses her temper.
- What Is This Feeling?: Tsutsui doesn't know what to do with his newfound attraction towards Iroha.
