Manga / Fly Me to the Moon

♫ ...Let me play among the stars... ♫

"You don't get married because you've proven you're in love. You get married so that you can prove it."

— Nasa Yuzaki

Of all the names his parents could have given him, Nasa Yuzaki despises his own since it's the same as the acronym for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Wishing to get rid of the mockery he's been subjected to since he was a child by teachers and peers, Nasa studies hard to get to the best high school in the country. The night before his entrance exams, he becomes entranced by the sight of a girl across the street while walking home, not knowing there's a truck at an intersection. Thanks to the girl's intervention, Nasa survives the collision, but is heavily injured. However, he can't help but confess this is Love at First Sight for him, as Nasa believes he may never see her again, and asks her if she will be his girlfriend. After a brief moment, the girl agrees, on the condition he marries her first. Nasa agrees to her conditions, then falls unconscious and awakes in the hospital, but the girl is long gone.

Following his recovery, Nasa decides to forgo high school and works for the next few years, acquiring enough money to move out of his parents' home and into his own apartment, continuing to believe he will have a chance at seeing the girl again. Just as Nasa turns 18 years old, the girl, 16-year-old Tsukasa Tsukuyomi, appears on his doorstep with a marriage registration form. Their new life as husband and wife is just getting started.

Fly Me To The Moon (also known as Tonikaku Kawaii/トニカクカワイイ or TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You) is a Romantic Comedy Shounen Manga written and illustrated by Kenjiro Hata (creator of Hayate the Combat Butler). The manga began serialization in Weekly Shonen Sunday in 2018, and it is licensed by VIZ Media in western countries. The manga received a 12-Episode Anime adaptation on October 2, 2020, with Crunchyroll streaming it on their website. A second season aired on April 8, 2023.

DEFINETLY not to be confused with the animated movie of the same name, nor with the song of the same name.

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This work contains examples of:

• Bait-and-Switch Credits: The opening credits show Nasa and Tsukasa having a Western style wedding. No such event happens in the actual story, since they get married by submitting their documents at the ward office at night, dressed in casual clothes.
• Been There, Shaped History: Tsukasa taught and influenced major figures of Japanese and Chinese history. While she wasn't directly involved, her adopted younger sister had a major impact on the Apollo missions for Tsukasa's sake.
• Big Fancy House: Tsukasa and Chitose's childhood home is an extremely large multi-story mansion with at least two maids and a hidden passage to a nearby church that was buillt in the Meiji era.
• Blanket Tug O' War: Exaggerated, humorously. Nasa is sleeping on the bed, Tsukasa on a futon next to it...and Tsukasa still steals his comforter to put on top of hers.
• Boring, but Practical: Tsukasa convinces Nasa to buy a pair of cheap engagement rings for 32,000 yen, (roughly $160 US each), rather than waste money on a ring that costs 100 times as much.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: In Chapter 15, Tsukasa mentions several Western movies she's a fan of, and even makes some makeshift cosplay of characters from them: Star Wars, Terminator, and... The Human Centipede, of all things.
• Censor Steam: Lampshaded by narration text in the manga.
• Cliffhanger: Episode 6 of the anime ends on one, with Nasa taking Tsukasa to meet his parents. Unbeknownst to them, Chitose, Charlotte, and Aurora are chasing after them, with Chitose still determined to split them up.
• Close on Title: Chapter 99 ends with Nasa and Tsukasa discussing Nasa's offer to marry Tsukasa, a discussion that concludes with Tsukasa thanking Nasa for believing her. It ends with the title, "Thank You."
• Comically Missing the Point: After Charlotte gives Nasa a Marshmallow Hell embrace, Aurora snaps pictures of them, then immediately photoshops the images to make it look like he was the one embracing her. While the intention was to make it look like he was cheating on Tsukasa, he immediately says someone with those sorts of skills should be working in Hollywood. Tsukasa also says the same thing after she takes a look at the picture.
• Continuity Cameo: Several characters from Hata-sensei's previous works such as Hayate the Combat Butler and Seiyu's Life! appear as cameos.
  • Apparently Wataru (alongside Saki) is the landlord of Nasa's first apartment room, which is implied to be located above their rental shop.
  • Sakuya helped the couple took a couple photo at Horyuji in Nara, although her appearance is Adapted Out from the anime. The company building a new apartment in the burned lot was also named Aizawa Company, which is presumably Sakuya's family business.
  • The buses next to the main couple's bus in the service area is named Hayate Bus and Saginomiya Transport, referencing Ayasaki Hayate and Saginomiya Isumi, respectively.
  • The illustration of kissing places and their meaning (e.g. kissing on the palm of one's hand means "supplication") shows Nagi and Hayate kissing in various places.
  • It seems that Chiharu is working in a karaoke that served honey toasts, and her Mood Killer tendency is still alive.
• Cross Cultural Reference: Occasional references to Western media show up, such as Spider-Man or Fallout—see Shout-Out below. It helps that Tsukasa is a fan of Western media and often namedrops Western films.
• Cute Kitten: Toast, an adorable orange kitten, whom Nasa and Tsukasa take in.
• Date Peepers: Charlotte and Aurora end up spying on Nasa and Tsukasa at the park, and later sees them kiss.
• Darker and Edgier: Events from chapter 142 and several onwards are a sudden and sharp departure from the series' usual adorable and heartwarming tone. Especially Tsukasa's backstory is nothing short of an actual horror.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Tsukasa hums the anime's theme, "Koi no Uta", when she enters the bath in Episode 3.
• Distressed Dude: Played for Laughs when Nasa first meets Chitose, Tsukasa's sister. She refuses to accept him initially, and when he suggests they go inside his apartment to talk about the marriage, she takes him up on the offer. However, she has one of her servants tie him up and toss him into her car, and then drives away from Tsukasa, who follows them to their mansion to retrieve Nasa.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The opening song of the anime is sung by Akari Kitou, the voice actress for Tsukasa Yuzaki (nee Tsukoyomi).
• Evolving Credits: Nasa's parents are added to the opening credits in Episode 8.
• First-Name Basis: At the end of the second episode, the couple decides to start calling each other by name, although they struggle to get used to it.
• Foreshadowing: Two for the fire that burns down the apartment. The first is in Chapter 10 when Nasa calls Public Bath episode shenanigans abrupt and weird, like his apartment burning down. The second is when he's visiting his parents and explains to Tsukasa that he has everything important either on him or in the cloud, meaning that he'd be fine if anything happened like their apartment burned down.
• Ham-to-Ham Combat: Aya and her mother engage in this when the former finds out that Nasa and Tsukasa are married. They verbally spar for a few moments, with Aya's mom saying her Unrequited Love is nothing compared to her husband leaving them for a younger woman. Kaname meanwhile apologizes for her family having such idiots.
• Happily Married: The premise of the show is Nasa and Tsukasa building a married life together, and being a slice-of-life comedy, the shenanigans that inevitably ensue turn into cute moments and fond memories that strengthen their bond.
• Hard Truth Aesop: As Kaname tells Aya, if you don't have the courage to tell your crush about your feelings, you deserve the heartbreak that will ensue when that crush inevitably chooses someone else.
• Harsh Word Impact:
  • After Tsukasa says "I'm your wife, okay?" to Nasa, Nasa gets impaled by an arrow with "I'm your wife (heart)" on it.
  • In Episode 9, after Aya finally realizes that Nasa is married, her mother interrupts her flashback and says that basically, Aya had her heart broken. Aya then gets hit with an arrow saying "Heartbreak," causing her to spew Blood from the Mouth.
• Hot Springs Episode: Nasa and Tsukasa take a trip to a hot springs in Chapter 69.
• Imagine Spot: Used lightly to show how the characters are feeling internally. While staying at a private bathhouse, Nasa wonders if Tsukasa is feeling nervous about sharing one. While we see her in her usual stoic demeanour from Nasa's perspective, the very next panel shows her blushing and extremely nervous, reflecting how she's feeling.
• I'm a Humanitarian: At the end of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, princess Kaguya gives the emperor an elixir which would give immortality to whoever drank it. The version of the legend in Fly Me To The Moon's universe also adds a detail that consuming the body or blood of such immortal being would cure any ailment. Naturally, when the word gets out in Tsukasa's village that she's immortal, the peasants and soldiers immediately hunt her down for this exact purpose.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The chapter titles are often whimsical or only tangentially relevant to the plot.
• Lemony Narrator: The narration often falls into this but special mention goes to some of the chapter titles, where the author is incredibly self-deprecating or often expounds sayings and notes that don't really have much to do with the chapter's plot. There's even a chapter whose title is just telling the reader about how them reading the manga is nice but they should also check out the anime.
• Letting the Air out of the Band: When Nasa and Tsukasa go to Heijo Palace in Episode 8, this happens when he's shocked to see an empty field in its place.
• Living in a Furniture Store: Nasa's house, seeing as he wanted to make a good impression when he found Tsukasa again. Tsukasa is impressed, but also a bit disappointed that she can't keep herself busy cleaning up while she waits for him to get home.
• Look Both Ways: At the start of the series, Nasa gets hit by a truck because he ran out into the street without checking for traffic.
• Love at First Sight: What kickstarts the story. Nasa became instantly enamored with a girl standing across the street, tried to reach her without noticing an incoming truck. After learning that the girl just saved his life, Nasa desperately asked her to go out with him, fearing that she might disappear forever, and agreed to marry her without a second thought.
• Luminescent Blush: Nasa frequently turns beet red whenever he's smitten with Tsukasa. Tsukasa reacts in much the same way to signs of affection from Nasa.
• Made of Indestructium: Since her immortality does not protect her clothes from damage, it is truly impressive how centuries of wear and tear, and the abuse Tsukasa went through over that time (including getting directly hit by World War 2 firebombing in Japan which left her a mangled pile of gore until she had regenerated) appear to have not put a single scratch on her trademark barette she wears all the time for 1400 years.
• Magical Realism: Throughout the story, there appears to be evidence that Tsukasa isn't an ordinary girl, such as her admittance she cannot fall ill or get wounded and being able to use a katana properly. As more evidence piles up, everything points towards a fact that she could very well be Princess Kaguya from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, but nothing explicit is ever confirmed. This is finally answered in chapter 147 where we learn Tsukasa is, in fact, an immortal. Rather than being Princess Kaguya, however, she is the daughter of Iwakasa, the subordinate of the emperor who supposedly burned the elixir but instead gave it to his then 16 year old daughter.
• Marriage Before Romance: Played with. Nasa and Tsukasa are in Love at First Sight, but they still get married without dating beforehand, which leads to their relationship beginning at the Holding Hands stage and them not yet being willing to change clothes in front of each other. Nasa is even scared of the thought that one thing might lead to another since they're living together. This subject is mentioned by Nasa when he's questioned about why he married her: essentially he intends to prove his love for her to justify the marriage rather than the other way around. Much of the focus is them building their relationship up.
• Meaningful Background Event: When Nasa is alone with his wife's laundry, you can see Kaname's hair poking out from around the doorframe, showing that she's listening in on him.
• Meet the In-Laws: Nasa and Tsukasa take a trip to meet Nasa's parents. They get along rather well with Tsukasa, since they're grateful to her for saving their son's life.
• Mood Whiplash: While Nasa and Tsukasa visiting Nasa's parents is mostly comedic and lighthearted, there's a surprisingly serious moment when Nasa's father thanks Tsukasa for saving Nasa's life.
• Mr. Smith: Tsukasa lists her parents' names as Tarou and Hanako on the marriage license form, the given names for the "generic name" for men and women, respectively. At least her father's name is fake, as chapter 147 reveals it is Iwakasa.
• Mythology Gag: When Nasa is looking for a song to sing in karaoke, Tsukasa recommends A Cruel Angel's Thesis if you don't know what to sing. That song was also sang by Hinagiku without her getting any notice beforehand.
• Official Couple: The story revolves around the life of newlyweds Nasa Yuzaki and Tsukasa Tsukoyomi.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: At the end of Episode 3, Tsukasa asks if Aya is pretty, and gets jealous when Nasa says yes. After spotting a wedding, Nasa thinks Tsukasa is upset that they haven't had a proper ceremony yet, then says that while he isn't ready just yet, he has some preparations to do. Tsukasa then wonders why it's so hard for him to say that she's pretty.
• One-Gender School: Nasa eventually gets a job teaching classes at an all-girls school. His wife is less than comfortable with the idea of him spending all day surrounded by girls slightly younger than him.
• Product Placement: Episode 11 extensively features Street Fighter V and uses actual gameplay footage.
• Public Bathhouse Scene: Episode 3 takes place in the Arisugawa bathhouse, since Nasa shows Tsukasa where he goes to bathe.
• Recurring Element: Japanese folk tale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is repeatedly referenced throughout the series and is what contributes to the Magical Realism of the setting.
• Secret Underground Passage: Tsukasa leads Nasa into a hidden passage inside the mansion to escape from Chitose, who doesn't know about the passage's existence.
• Shout-Out: Has its own page
• Spit Take: Tsukasa does one after Charlotte asks her if Nasa being a Nice Guy is why she likes him.
• Spoiler Opening: The opening of Season 2 of the anime isn't shy about spoiling elements of Tsukasa's immortal past, despite the fact her immortality isn't revealed in Season 1 or even much of season 2.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • Nasa shrugs off his severe injuries from the accident and searches for Tsukasa, but only manages this due to adrenaline. Once that wears off, he collapses.
  • Despite surviving the accident due to Tsukasa's help, Nasa still needs to go to the hospital and spend a long time in rehab, resulting in him being unable to take the entrance exams.
  • Nasa, having lived alone for years, realizes that his apartment is lacking several things that his new wife would need, from a futon to bathroom supplies, necessitating some late-night shopping trips.
  • There are limits to what photo editing software can do. When Chitose and her maids take a few photos of Nasa with Charlotte and edit them together into a compromising picture, Nasa notices that the combined picture doesn't match the assets. He also notices that the photo editing job is too good to have been done in a few minutes, and suggests that the maids should work for Hollywood instead.
• That Came Out Wrong: After taking Tsukasa's hand, Nasa quickly realizes his description of marriage as "all-you-can-grab" when it comes to body parts could have been worded better.
• There Is Only One Bed: Early on in Episode 2, Nasa realizes that his bed is too narrow for him and Tsukasa to comfortably sleep, and thinks over several possible ways they could fit on one bed. The problem is ultimately resolved when he and Tsukasa buy a futon together.
• Title Drop:
  • Nasa drops the Japanese title, "Tonikaku Kawaii", in Episode 1. After Tsukasa wraps her coat around him so he won't get too cold, he exclaims in his mind "She's just so cute!"
  • Tsukasa does the same in Episode 7. After Charlotte asks what Tsukasa likes about Nasa, Tsukasa says, "H-He's just... really cute."
• Toast of Tardiness: In Chapter 54, Aya talks Tsukasa into wearing a cute high school uniform. Aya then convinces her to say the "cliche lines" to become even cuter. Tsukasa does so, saying "I'm late, I'm late!" while holding a piece of toast in her mouth.
• Trailers Always Spoil: The trailer to Episode 2 shows the resolution to the There Is Only One Bed problem above: Nasa and Tsukasa buy a futon.
• Twice Shy: A lot of the humor and sweetness of the series comes from Nasa and Tsukasa's inability to be more openly intimate towards each other without being bashful even though they're married.
• We Will Not Use Photoshop in the Future: Chitose, Charlotte and Aurora use a digital camera and photo editing software to put together a photo of Nasa getting intimate with Charlotte. There's only one problem - none of the photos they took could have been used as material for the picture, since neither one of them were in a similar pose in any of them. Fortunately for Nasa, Tsukasa's intelligent and understanding enough not to fall for it.
• Webcomic Time: After over two years' worth of manga chapters in real time, the story has only covered a little over two and a half months since Nasa and Tsukasa's wedding in-universe.
• Wham Episode:
  • In Chapter 30, Nasa and Tsukasa's apartment building burns down while they were away, forcing them to move in with the Arisugawas.
  • In Chapter 142, Tsukasa realizes that Nasa has forgotten half of their first meeting. Troubled by this realization, she leaves their home in the middle of the night.
  • In Chapter 145, Chitose reveals that Tokiko passed away since Nasa saw her a week ago, and that Tsukasa disappeared from Chitose's home, having lost the one person who'd cause her to stay around.
  • Chapter 146-147 reveals Tsukasa's greatest secret and hellish backstory. She is immortal, made so by her father giving her Kaguya's elixir to drink. And when the townsfolk found out, they chased her down to eat her flesh and drink her blood, as they (correctly) believe that it would cure their illnesses. She was forced to massacre the entire army chasing her, and has been walking the earth ever since, trying to find a way to undo her immortality.
  • Chapter 268 has Nasa concoct a hypothesis on how Tsukasa's immortality works. Since she can suppress her immortality for 27 days or 23rd death in case of a Cycle of Hurting situation, he theorizes that her immortality is linked to the lunar cycle. But what's baffling is how her memory and personality remains intact after every revivification, unlike say, The Nameless One. He then submits his conclusion that her state of being is saved and backed up in the advanced civilization's 'server', that every resurrection simply restores this backup. And the moon is a relay node to this server, so destroying or interfering with this relay system would disrupt her backup and restore system, i.e. her immortality.
• Wham Line:
  • In Chapter 70, Nasa meets and ends up helping an old lady. When Tsukasa shows up, she recognizes the woman.
    Tsukasa: Ugh. What the hell are you doing here... Tokiko?^note Tsukasa's grandmother.
  • Chapter 142 ends on a rather surprising note.
    Nasa: (narrating): On that day, the two of us ate normally, and went to bed normally. For me, it was a perfectly normal day. However, when I opened my eyes, Tsukasa-chan wasn't next to me.
• Wham Shot:
  • In Chapter 30/Episode 8, Nasa and Tsukasa get home from visiting Nasa's parents to find that their apartment building has burned down.
  • In Chapter 142, Nasa wakes up and sees that Tsukasa's bedding is neatly folded, showing that she left some time in the night.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Not Tsukasa. The reason she married Nasa is because he promised to take her to the moon, in the hopes Kaguya-hime is still there and can reverse her immortality. And when she finds out he doesn't remember his promise or the truth about her, she leaves in fear he will reject her.
• Writing Around Trademarks: Every time the manga drops the name of a familiar character, they put an apostrophe through one of the letters, no matter how obviously recognizable the name is in spite of that.
• Violation of Common Sense: By any reasonable logic, it should be baffling and surreal that Tsukasa just casually offered a random stranger to marry her, and commited to it just because he said yes with no hesitation. Except she didn't. The true version of their first meeting which is eventually revealed shows that Tsukasa was not actually serious, and was just testing him on a whim, before revealing her true nature and secret. It isn't until Nasa insists that he doesn't mind it, and promises to fulfill her dream, when she actually falls in love with him and acts on her offer. Nasa doesn't remember any of this for the majority of the story.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: One chapter has a - supposedly - yakuza thug visiting the bath house and asking for Nasa. Tsukasa's reaction? Stare him down and threaten him.
  Tsukasa: Who are you? Hurt my husband and you'll regret it.
• World of Technicolor Hair: A significant portion of the characters - including almost all of the main cast - have unrealistic colorful hair. Nasa's hair is portrayed as dark purple (so is his mom's), Tsukasa's pink, Aya and Kaname have bright blue, Charlotte's teal, and so on.

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