Web Manga 'Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta' Gets Anime

by Vindstot
Feb 19, 7:05 PM | 25 Comments

The wraparound band on the third volume of Sumiko Arai's Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta (The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All) manga announced an anime adaptation on Thursday (pictured right).

Arai originally began posting the music-themed girls love manga, also known by its short title Kinioto, on their X (formerly Twitter) account in April 2022. Kadokawa began printing the manga in April 2023 and published the second volume last February. Kinioto has a cumulative 950,000 copies of its volumes in print.

Yen Press licensed the manga in English in April 2024 and released the first volume in October that year. The second volume went on sale on Tuesday. The manga is also published in multiple foreign languages, including Spanish, Italian, Polish, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Frontier Works released a drama CD last April, featuring voice actresses Mariya Ise (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Stone Ocean) and Akari Kitou (Tonikaku Kawaii) as the main characters Mitsuki Koga and Aya Oosawa, respectively.

Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta placed first in the Web Manga category in the 2023 Tsugi no Kuru Manga Awards and second in the female readers division in the 2024 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! rankings.

Synopsis
The black-clad boy that Aya Oosawa likes is perfect: he is effortlessly nonchalant, has a sharp sense of style, and listens to the best music. Ever since the trendy Aya stumbled upon a small CD store to enjoy the rock classics her friends are not familiar with, the mysterious employee behind the counter has been on her mind. Meanwhile, the quiet and aloof Mitsuki Koga listens to her popular classmate Aya rave about her crush, tormented by a nagging thought: how to tell Aya that the guy she is interested in is not a guy at all!

In reality, when Mitsuki sheds her plain high school uniform, she is the one manning the counter at her uncle Joe's CD shop. She wrestles with how to reveal her identity, but flirting with the stunning and clueless Aya is just too tempting. As music becomes their shared passion, it seems that Aya's feelings will remain unchanged—even when Mitsuki's secret comes to light. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Announcement

Manga special site: https://kadobun.jp/special/arai-sumiko/kinioto/
Manga official X: @kinioto_PR

Source: PR Times

Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta on MAL

Adapts Manga New Anime

20 of 25 Comments Recent Comments

They better keep the Green, in some form at least.

Yesterday, 11:46 AM by Chimerared

yuri is here to save the day once again

Yesterday, 2:26 AM by M1KAS

Nicee. We need more yuri and less straight shit

Feb 21, 4:08 PM by loolz

the synopsis was interesting until it dropped the yuri, hell if I watch this yuri crap

Feb 21, 8:17 AM by Catalano

So it means main girl fell for a trap?

Feb 21, 7:36 AM by Piromysl

No clue how they are going to do the music given there will be copyright

Feb 21, 2:42 AM by Mattinator95

This series has 4 page chapters so the anime staff will need to do a lot to make it work. A lot of scenes will just end, something happens off screen, and now it's another day, making it pretty awkward to present.

Feb 20, 10:36 PM by Retolee

I can't wait to see how they adapt this beautiful piece of media!!!

Feb 20, 6:48 PM by giraffenanime

Good to know it’s getting an anime, such a decent GL!

Feb 20, 4:37 PM by Curiouswanderer

@bucciest Just because you personaly prefer yuri and All-Female cast more than a standard romcom does not mean that this is a "better version." Everyone has different tastes and this is normal.

@KM_31 I just remind you that they created a full-fledged finished anime from Tomo-chan, where the chapters generally consisted of one page. This is not a problem if you find the right people and the studio for which this can become a project of passion.

Feb 20, 4:07 PM by RobertBobert

Get ready, folks. The better version of Horimiya is coming! I knew this series would get an official English translation at some point and an anime adaptation didn't occur to me only because I don't care much about it, but an anime was also inevitable. Although where the story is currently at, it's at what could be the climax of a possible first season, so it feels a bit too early for an anime to be happening, but if the studio is still in the early stages of production, then the manga will be in a good place by then for a full season's worth of story to be adapted.

Feb 20, 2:40 PM by bucciest

Sounds fun, and for some reason the rhyming title really got me. =D

Feb 20, 11:05 AM by cyruz

This better be a proper anime with proper times.
I'm happy this is getting more attention! What a great manga.

Feb 20, 7:38 AM by Lizymarie

Maybe they’ll adapt it with 15-minute episodes? That would free -up some money for a couple songs. I do think it would be wise to let the manga run a little longer so that the anime can have more material for at least 11 episodes.

Feb 20, 5:27 AM by KM_31

I knew this was just a matter of time, I hope they turn the adaptation into something coherent, seeing that this is a 4 pages twitter webcomic. I wonder how much original music they will add, since acquiring the licenses of every single song will blow the budget out of the window, unless a prestigious production company tackles this one. Though I can't imagine that being the case, seeing yuri adaptations get repeatedly butchered.

Feb 20, 4:58 AM by YourAverageHater

While the premise is interesting at first, I somehow lost interest around chap50-ish. Forgot why but will re-read again and watch this ofc.

Feb 20, 4:29 AM by kyou_on

Fascinating news.

Feb 20, 3:50 AM by Absurdo_N

@CottonModem Perhaps the manga will end relatively soon and they want to make a complete adaptation. Or it just became so Hyped that they want to begin to support manga with the release of stable seasons. It all depends on the plans of the producers and the narrative of the work itself.

Feb 20, 3:36 AM by RobertBobert

Seems kinda early for this to be getting an adaptation, but I guess a lot more will be out by the time this gets made. I was going to read it at some point so I'm in.

This may be an incredibly mainstream opinion, but I quite like Kitou Akari and have been enjoying her being cast in just about everything.

@deltahalo241 Thanks for the reminder; I'd already completely forgotten that was getting an adaptation.

Feb 20, 1:44 AM by CottonModem

This is one of the most popular highest rated Yuri manga out there,definitely going to watch it

We eating good with this one and This Monster Wants to Eat Me

Feb 20, 12:40 AM by tragedydesu

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