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The stage is Sapporo, Hokkaido. One night, Minare Koda, fresh out of a breakup, drunkenly spills her woes to a random stranger while out drinking. The next day, she hears her ramble played on the radio for everyone to hear. Furious, she storms into the radio station, only to be duped into doing an impromptu talk show live on air by the station director, who turns out to be the random stranger she met last night. Thus, Minare enters the world of radio.

Wave, Listen to Me! (Nami yo Kiite Kure) is a manga by Hiroaki Samura, which began serialization in Monthly Afternoon in 2014. It received an anime adaptation by Sunrise in April 2020. Kodansha Comics is releasing the manga in English.

Funimation streamed the series in Japanese (with subtitles) and has done the English voice track. In Japan, it's available via Netflix and Hulu online and it aired on various terrestrial TV stations.

A live action drama version aired in Japan by TV Asahi with eight episodes from April to June 2023. A live action spin-off, starring Mizuho Nanba as the protagonist, was released as Nami yo Kiitekure - Spin-off - Aranami yo Mondekure ~Nanba Mizuho no AD Funtouki.


This manga series provides the examples of:

  • Age-Gap Romance: Mizuho has a crush on Kureko, who's at least thirty years older than her.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: There's a lot in the manga. Komoto for Mizuho, Mizuho for Kureko, Kureko for Madoka (possibly), Makie for Nakahara, Nakahara for Minare...
  • Big Damn Heroes: Komoto, Nakahara, and Oki break into the School of Wave Wisdom's headquarters to rescue the MRS crew.
  • Call-Back: In the first chapter, Mato very offhandedly mentions that his daughter would be much better behaved than Minare. It is so offhanded it makes you wonder if he actually has a daughter. Fifty chapters later, we finally get to see her.
  • Cerebus Rollercoaster: A seemingly normal outing to an abandoned mountain town becomes an action-packed thriller involving a cult that can control people's minds using waves. And then after this arc, what seems to be a lighthearted arc involving getting a shut-in to out of his room and back to society becomes derailed by an earthquake, with all the aftereffects shown in grim detail. Keep in mind that the story was pretty easygoing and episodic before all of this.
  • Cringe Comedy: A lot of the comedy of the manga comes from Minare being unable to think before she speaks/acts.
  • Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Part of the manga's story involves Minare trying to find a job that she can do best... aside from working in Sapporo in a curry restaurant.
  • Dying Town: Minare, Mizuho, and Kureko visit one in the cult arc for Kureko's book research. The town only has three families left.
  • Goal in Life: One of the main themes of the manga. Before working in radio, Minare didn't really have much of a goal in life, something lampshaded by Nakahara. Doing her own radio show may be the way for her to find it.
  • In Medias Res: The story begins with Minare's infamous drunken rant to Mato.
  • Market-Based Title: The series is marketed to French-speaking countries/territories as "Born to be on air!".
  • Metafictional Title: Minare's radio show is called "Wave, Listen to Me!".
  • Myth Arc: Calling it a myth arc is stretching it, but there's an overarching mystery of who is and what happened to the actress Sissel Komei, as well as what made Mato switch from working in TV to radio.
    • The Wassamu arc has Hanawa kidnapping Minare, Mizuho and Kureko initially to broadcast a program he wanted to do. Minare later overhears them using the local radio stations throughout Hokkaido as improvised LRADs.
  • New Media Are Evil: Trikumia Hanawa rants about streamers in his video message to the MRS group.
  • Pixellation: Mato apparently keeps a yokai medal in his pocket, which is pixellated in the manga. It's seen colored in the anime.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: The anime changes a lot of things, most notably by altering the arc in the manga where Minare fights off a bear into a metaphoric retelling of her night to Mato. The earthquake story arc was also never adapted for the anime.
  • Present-Day Past: The manga starts on June 2014. There's a manga panel in the first volume where Minare has sent a SMS message that's dated on June 2014.
  • Reference Overdosed: So much that there's at least one translator's note for contemporary Japanese culture in every chapter.
  • Real Event, Fictional Cause: Volume 6 has a brief snippet of the MRS crew talking about PM Abe's view on removing Article 4 of the Broadcasting Act, which was discussed in 2018, not in 2015 as shown in the manga since the events start in June 2014. Also double as Ripped from the Headlines as Hanawa's trying to take on the big TV networks with his plan for an alternate space via the internet.
  • Riddle for the Ages: What did Trikumia Hanawa do to get fired from his former TV station?
  • Ripped from the Headlines: The earthquake story arc is very likely based off the 2018 6.6 earthquake in Hokkaido that cut all power to the entire island.
  • Shown Their Work: Volume 6 talks about the reforms being enacted to remove Article 4 from the Broadcasting Act, which is supposed to make broadcasters from various media stations enforce political neutrality.
  • Shout-Out: In the opening chapter, we see that Minare's friend recommended her to watch Ghost. She ends up accidentally watching the horror film Death Ship which was renamed Ghost in it's Japanese release. She ultimately loved it yet kept wondering when Demi Moore was going to show up.
    • When Minare gets a flaky fan letter after the School of Wave Wisdom incident, she shouts Blood for the Blood God! since she's pissed at the guy who sent it.note 

The live-action drama provides examples of:

  • Next Sunday A.D.: The live-action version starts in April 2023, unlike the manga, where it started on June 2014.
  • Pragmatic Adaptation: The Wassamu arc was simplified from multiple chapters to just one episode.
    • The Earthquake arc was also tied in to Minare's mom visiting her.
  • Wham Episode: At the end of "Kimi to mukiaitai" (I want to face you), someone is seen taking photos of Madoka Chishiro from the bushes.

Alternative Title(s): Nami Yo Kiite Kure

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