Mitsudomoe (manga)

Mitsudomoe
Cover of Mitsudomoe first volume as published by Akita Shoten featuring Mitsuba, Futaba and Hitoha Marui
みつどもえ
Genre	Comedy, Slice of life
Manga
Written by	Norio Sakurai
Published by	Akita Shoten
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Champion
Original run	2006 – ongoing
Volumes	11
TV anime
Directed by	Masahiko Ohta
Studio	Bridge
Network	AT-X, BS11 Digital, Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting, MBS, Tokyo MX
Original run	July 2, 2010 – September 26, 2010
Episodes	13 (+ 1 DVD episode) (List of episodes)
TV anime
Mitsudomoe Zōryōchū!
Directed by	Masahiko Ohta
Studio	Bridge
Original run	January 9, 2011[1] – February 28, 2011
Episodes	8 (List of episodes)
Anime and Manga Portal

Mitsudomoe (みつどもえ^?, lit. Three Way Struggle) is a gag manga series by manga creator Norio Sakurai about the adventures of the Marui triplets in sixth grade and their newly hired teacher Satoshi Yabe as he falls in love with the school nurse. It's serialized in Akita Shoten Shōnen magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion since 2006 and the serial chapters collected into ten tankōbon. In July 2010, the manga was adapted into an anime series, running for 13 weeks. A second series, titled Mitsudomoe Zōryōchū! (みつどもえ 増量中！^?), aired between January 9, 2011 and February 28, 2011.

Plot

Satoshi Yabe is just starting his new life as an elementary school teacher. Little does he know that in his assigned 6th year class, the law is made by the troublesome Marui triplets, Mitsuba, Futaba and Hitoha. The series showcases the everyday life of these sisters, their classmates and their unfortunate teacher.

Characters

The Marui Family

Mitsuba Marui (丸井 みつば, Marui Mitsuba^?)

Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki^[2]

The eldest of the Marui triplets, enjoys causing mischief and is aptly described as a "precocious sadist". A textbook Tsundere character, Mitsuba is easily embarrassed and quick to deny her feelings toward someone, when she really does care. A running gag in the anime is that her desk always gets destroyed by Futaba as well as getting injured by her too. She is pretty conscious about her weight, though this doesn’t stop her stuffing her face to a ridiculous degree - in the anime a high-pitched sound effect of mushakora accompanies her shovelling down any food items. She appears to have a superiority complex, always wanting her classmates to address her as Mitsuba-sama and serve her; she even tries to change the name of the series to Mitsubasama during the opening titles, before Hitoha stops her. Mitsuba typically wears a skirt, striped thigh-high socks, a t-shirt and a jacket. Her name means "three-leaf." In season 2 she eats more food than ever before.

Futaba Marui (丸井 ふたば, Marui Futaba^?)

Voiced by: Satomi Akesaka^[2]

The middle of the Marui triplets, she's energetic and airheaded but also can speak and act lecherously. She is mostly seen barefoot, and wears a vest and lycra cycling shorts. It's explained that while Futaba is goofy, she does have dedication when the topic is about breasts; she has a strange boob obsession. She is also very artistic. Futaba always thinks of others before herself but her common sense is a bit twisted. She is also by far the strongest out of the sisters and often ends her sentences in "ssu", a contraction for "desu". Out of the Marui sisters, she seems to be the only one close to their father. She gets along with the boys mostly due to their shared interest in boobs; the class pet, Nipples the Hamster, was unsurprisingly named by Futaba. Out of the boys, she is close to Shinya whom she call affectionately as Shin-chan. Due to their close friendship, many girls glare daggers at her. Her name means "two-leaf." She is the only one of the triplets whose outfit doesn't change daily.

Hitoha Marui (丸井 ひとは, Marui Hitoha^?)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu^[2]

The youngest of the Marui triplets, she tends to be quiet and mysterious. She always seems to be reading a book in class which has shown to be very erotic. She also shows a death glare at anyone who tries to take it away from her. She may not intend this glare to be so vicious, as it also appears when she's particularly nervous, embarrassed or uncertain, such as when giving in to her teacher and asking a few of her classmates to walk home together. She has a soft spot for Nipples (the class hamster) and gets jealous when other people play with him. She shows to be crueler than Mitsuba when she is disturbed. Out of the two sisters, Hitoha is kinder to Futaba as the little sister and always pulls pranks on Mitsuba. She appears to be deathly afraid of heights and cannot swim well, going as far as saying swimming is pointless. She happens to be a fan of Gachi Rangers (a parody of Super Sentai/Power Rangers), yet she doesn't say it out loud, even though she wants to. Hihota typically wears a plain dress with a button up sweater. Her name means "one-leaf."

Soujirou Marui (丸井 草次郎, Marui Sōjirō^?)

Voiced by: Masuo Amada^[2]

The triplets father. In appearance, he looks very suspicious and is often mistaken as a pedophile or a thief resulting in being arrested as a running gag —in his younger years, he actually appeared to be pretty handsome, but changed a lot indeed. His daughters, Mitsuba is very embarrassed by him; Hitoha not so much; but Futaba is very fond of him. In the anime he is drawn sketchy and with darker lines.

Class 6-3

Satoshi Yabe (矢部 智, Yabe Satoshi^?)

Voiced by: Hiro Shimono^[2]

The new teacher at the triplets' school who has to endure all of the misadventures the girls and his classroom have. He tries his best to keep things under control but because of his good-natured and humble personality, he becomes a target for "bullying" of the girls. He bought a hamster, named Nipples by Futaba, for his classroom. He seems to have a crush on the school nurse. He is given the nickname "Yabecchi" by his classmates. Like Hitoha, he is a fan of Gachi Rangers, and misunderstands conversations with Hitoha about the matter (i.e. he was thinking that when she said "did you see them?" he thought she meant her panties due to a gust of wind blowing on her skirt.) He is known for often wearing a shirt that says "Cherry," which probably refers to the fact that he is a virgin (The Japanese slang term for a male virgin being "Cherry Boy"). In addition, he finds himself in situations to where he is noted to be disgusting or perverted.

Shinya Satou (佐藤 信也, Satō Shin'ya^?)

Voiced by: Yuko Sanpei^[2]

He is Futaba's childhood friend and best friends with Chiba. Similar to Yabe, he's very good-natured and smart but still has to deal with the weirdness of his classmates, especially numerous girls who have a crush on him. He tries to do the right thing most of the time. Unfortunately, like Yabe-Sensei, he is often put into misunderstood situations where he's thought to be a pervert by the entire school (but he may very well be one). He is often pranked by Chiba due to Satou's popularity with girls (i.e. telling Futaba that he like panties and Futaba ended up giving Satou panties). He is often embarrassed by Futaba, even though unintentional (i.e. Futaba telling everyone he likes panties after numerous incidents). Out of everyone in the class, he is seen as the most observant and mature. Despite being liked by many girls, he tends to feel freaked out by them. Futaba is the only girl out of Marui sisters that he is close to. Even though he is put into awkward situations by her, he understands that it was out of good will.

Yuudai Chiba (千葉 雄大, Chiba Yūdai^?)

Voiced by: Kazutomi Yamamoto^[2]

He's friends with Satou but is the opposite of him. He shows to be a slack when doing homework and is more of a pervert than Satou. During the title sequence of the first series, he is standing behind Hitoha during the dance, and when he catches a glimpse of the book she’s reading he suffers a spontaneous explosive nosebleed, suggesting the book is of a Not Safe For School variety. He brings and reads manga in school, and desperately wants to read Hitoha's erotic book; he even went as far as begging on his knees (Hitoha rejected him though). He has a habit of messing with Satou due to Satou's popularity with girls. He's known to always wear a hat that has the number "69" on it.

Miku Sugisaki (杉崎 みく, Sugisaki Miku^?)

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitou^[2]

A boisterous and preppy girl who loathes Mitsuba, although is known to secretly take hundreds of photos of her. The two are bitter rivals and are always competing with each other on various things. She's friends with Yuki and Miyashita. Miku is a bit of a egotist but none the less treats her friends with respect, such as giving them, including Mitsuba, some Valentine's Day chocolate as a symbol of friendship.

Yuki Yoshioka (吉岡 ゆき, Yoshioka Yuki^?)

Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki^[2]

A shy and calm girl who’s trademark is her short brown hair and thick eyebrows. She loves romance stories and it looks like she’s wishing for her knight in shining armor to come. She usually gets carried away very easily about romance and tends to see a romantic plot in about anything going on. It is shown that her parents are very lovey-dovey, which may be where her interest in love stems from.

Miyashita (宮下, Miyashita^?)

Voiced by: Momoko Oohara^[2]

A seemingly tall girl with a laid back but sporty personality. Its described that she is the only student in Class 6-3 who is well adjusted but yet has learned that "no good deed goes unpunished". She apparently looks different with her hair down, but the class still somehow recognizes her if she has her hairpins on. She tries to be friends with Hitoha, but usually fails. For some reason and much to her chagrin, other kids, and more particularly Hitoha, keep forgetting the end of her name, getting "Miya--" right without being able to remember the rest.

Sakiko Matsuoka (松岡 咲子, Matsuoka Sakiko^?)

Voiced by: Ikumi Hayama^[2]

A friendly and polite girl with an occult fetish who becomes overly excited whenever the possibility of ghosts or spirits arise. She's mistaken Hitoha as a novice exorcist and enjoys looking for ghosts or spirits with her much to Hitoha's chagrin. None the less, she may have formed a reluctant friendship with her. The twosome often misunderstand each other.

Airi Ogata (緒方 愛梨, Ogata Airi^?)

Voiced by: Minori Chihara^[2]

Along with Shiori Itou and Mayumi Katou, Airi is a hardcore love admirer of Shinya Satou, hopefully in love with him, often doing weird things such as breathing in his air. Out of the trio known as the Hopeless Squad, she is the leader. Airi in particular will become extremely jealous of anyone, or anything, that Shinya supposedly likes more than her. This usually leads to her and the rest of the squad getting into arguments with Futaba, who is simply Shinya's childhood friend. Surprisingly, Airi is shown to have some impressive athletic abilities. Her older brother is a police officer.

Shiori Itou (伊藤 詩織, Itō Shiori^?)

Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi^[2]

Another member of the Hopeless Squad, she is the one with the brown pigtails. She is actually very sly and selfish and will often look for ways to get Shinya's love all for herself, in spite of her friendship with Airi and Mayumi.

Mayumi Katou (加藤 真由美, Katō Mayumi^?)

Voiced by: Aya Uchida^[2]

Another member of the Hopeless Squad, she is the tallest one and the only one with a pony tail. She appears to be the only one out of the Hopeless Squad that notices Shiori's true intentions, despite their friendship.

Amikawa (虻川^?)

Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura

A girl with a forehead that constantly reflects light.

Inuguchi (犬口, Inuguchi^?)

A boy with a dog-like face and personality. Has no speaking role.

Other Characters

Aiko Kuriyama (栗山 愛子, Kuriyama Aiko^?)

Voiced by: Momoko Saitou^[2]

The school nurse who is very clumsy and can't see anything when she has no glasses on. She sometimes finds Class 6-3 in situations where she thinks the class is perverted. She is given the nickname "Kuriyamacchi" by the triplets.

Marina Sugisaki (杉崎 麻里奈, Sugisaki Marina^?)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue^[2]

Miku's mother who happens to be a masochist. Upon hearing stories from Miku about Mitsuba being like a dominatrix, she begs the latter to punish her. It soon appears that she's interested in any weird person, thus interested in any weird pupil she could find among her daughter's classmates.

Ryuuta Sugisaki (杉崎 龍太, Sugisaki Ryūta^?)

Voiced by: Yuko Takayama^[2]

Miku's younger brother. He is in 1st grade and is first introduced in a joint recess with everybody. He's shown to be bratty and selfish but looks up to his sister. He is a fan of the Gachi Rangers and owns some of the show's merchandise; a blue jersey with the team printed on it and a belt. He may have developed a crush on Hitoha.

Kaieda (海江田^?)

Voiced by: Haruhi Terada

The 29-year-old teacher of class 6-1. She despises the wild kids of class 6-3 and also has a complex concerning her nearly-thirty age.

Noda (野田, Noda^?)

Voiced by: Binbin Takaoka^[2]

The school principal.

Nipples (チクビ, Chikubi^?)

Voiced by: Momoko Saitou^[2]

A cute brown and white hamster who is the class's pet. It is good friends with Hitoha and likes it when its tail is petted. Discussions involving it are usually misinterpreted by everyone, including Kuriyama and the Principal. Futaba taught it to pull backflips when she clicks her fingers - something which caused Hitoha no end of distress when she found out it wouldn’t do this for her, because she couldn’t click her fingers. Nipples exact gender is debatable: It is referred to as "she" by Hitoha and others, but was attracted to the female hamster on Mitsuba's panties.

Media

Manga

The manga is written and illustrated by Norio Sakurai. It is serialized in Akita Shoten Shōnen magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion since 2006 and is still ongoing. As of September 2010 the serial chapters were collected into ten tankōbon with the first one released on January 9, 2006,^[3] and the tenth on September 8, 2010.^[4]

Outside Japan, the series is licensed by Doki Doki in France,^[5] and Tong Li Comics in Taiwan.^[6]

No.	Release date	ISBN
01	January 9, 2006[3]	ISBN 978-4-253-21241-0
02	June 8, 2007[7]	ISBN 978-4-253-21242-7
03	October 5, 2007[8]	ISBN 978-4-253-21243-4
04	March 7, 2008[9]	ISBN 978-4-253-21244-1
05	September 8, 2008[10]	ISBN 978-4-253-21245-8
06	December 8, 2008[11]	ISBN 978-4-253-21246-5
07	May 8, 2009[12]	ISBN 978-4-253-21247-2
08	December 8, 2009[13]	ISBN 978-4-253-21248-9
09	June 8, 2010[14]	ISBN 978-4-253-21249-6
10	September 8, 2010[4]	ISBN 978-4-253-21250-2
11	February 8, 2011	—

This incomplete list is frequently updated to include new information.

Anime

Main article: List of Mitsudomoe episodes

In November 2009 an anime adaptation of the manga by the studio Bridge was announced, to be directed by Masahiko Ohta^[15][16] The first season aired on Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting between July 2, 2010 and September 26, 2010.^[17] Others broadcast networks are BS11 Digital, AT-X, MBS and Tokyo MX.^[17] New episodes are currently being subtitled by MX International and simulcast on Crunchyroll.^[18] The series began release on Blu-Ray and DVD from August 25, 2010. An originally unaired episode was included with the seventh volume released on February 23, 2011 and also aired on March 6, 2011 following the second season.^[19] A second season of the anime, titled Mitsudomoe Zōryōchū! (みつどもえ 増量中！^?) was announced with the 10th volume of the manga and aired between January 9, 2011 and February 28, 2011.^[20] It is also being simulcast on Crunchyroll.^[21]

The first season use two pieces of theme music, one opening and one ending theme. The opening theme is "Mittsu Kazoete Daishuugou!" (みっつ数えて大集合!^?) by Ayahi Takagaki, Satomi Akesaka and Haruka Tomatsu while the ending theme is "Lovely Dream" (夢色の恋, Yume-iro no Koi^?) by Saori Atsumi. The second season uses four pieces of theme music, two opening themes and two ending themes. The main opening theme is "We are Elementary School Students" (わが名は小学生, Waga Na wa Shougakusei^?) by Takagaki, Akesaka and Tomatsu, while the main ending theme is "Backpacking☆" (ランドセリング☆, Randoseringu^?) by Nomiko. For the first episode, the respective opening and ending themes are "Serious Squadron Gachirangers" (本気戦隊ガチレンジャー, Honki Sentai Gachirenja^?) and "Another Morning" (またあした, Mata Ashita^?), both performed by Masaaki Endoh.

References

1. ^ "みつどもえ増量中" (in Japanese). mitsudomoe-anime.com. http://www.mitsudomoe-anime.com/?id=325_widget. Retrieved December 26, 2010.  Website lists date of first airing as January 8th; however, this is in accordance with Japanese scheduling standards. The time of airing is 2:58 which, in Japan, for a TV program, would be written as "26:58", with the previous day's date.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s} "みつどもえ staff" (in Japanese). mitsudomoe-anime.com. http://www.mitsudomoe-anime.com/staff/index.html. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "みつどもえ 第1巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212417. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "みつどもえ 第10巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212506. Retrieved September 26, 2010. 
5. ^ "LES TRIPLÉES Volume 1" (in French). Doki Doki. http://www.doki-doki.fr/catalogue/les-triplees-volume-1-doki-doki-158.html. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
6. ^ "超元氣3姊妹" (in Chinese). Tong Li Comics. http://www.tongli.com.tw/BooksList.aspx?B=AF0037. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
7. ^ "みつどもえ 第2巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212425. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
8. ^ "みつどもえ 第3巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212433. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
9. ^ "みつどもえ 第4巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212441. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
10. ^ "みつどもえ 第5巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=21245X. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
11. ^ "みつどもえ 第6巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212468. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
12. ^ "みつどもえ 第7巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212476. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
13. ^ "みつどもえ 第8巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212484. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
14. ^ "みつどもえ 第9巻" (in Japanese). Akita Shoten. http://www.akitashoten.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?key=search&isbn=212492. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
15. ^ "Mitsudomoe Manga Gets TV Anime Green-Lit". Anime News Network. November 29, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-11-29/mitsudomoe-manga-gets-tv-anime-green-lit. Retrieved June 12, 2010. 
16. ^ "Mitsudomoe Anime, Gundam UC #2 Dated". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-02-22/mitsudomoe-tv-anime-gundam-uc-episode-2-dated. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
17. ^ ^{a b} "みつどもえ onair" (in Japanese). mitsudomoe-anime.com. http://www.mitsudomoe-anime.com/onair/index.html. Retrieved July 13, 2010. 
18. ^ "Mitsudomoe Full Episodes on Crynchyroll". http://www.crunchyroll.com/mitsudomoe. 
19. ^ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-08-19/mitsudomoe-7th-bd/dvd-to-include-unaired-episode
20. ^ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-11-17/tofu-kozo-cg-film-mitsudomoe-2-promos-streamed
21. ^ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-01-05/crunchyroll-to-simulcast-mitsudomoe-2-comedy-anime

External links

• Mitsudomoe anime website (Japanese)
• Mitsudomoe (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia