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Say I Love You (Japanese: 好きっていいなよ。, Hepburn: Suki-tte ii na yo) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kanae Hazuki. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōjo manga magazine Dessert from February 2008 to July 2017, with its chapters collected in 18 tankōbon volumes. An anime adaptation by Zexcs aired from October to December 2012. A live action film adaptation premiered in July 2014.
Quiet and unassuming Mei Tachibana has spent her high school years without friends or boyfriend. A childhood incident in which her so called friends turned out to be toxic and shallow left her scared of disappointment, leading her to be cautious around people - too cautious. She encounters a popular boy named Yamato Kurosawa, who took an interest in her. Through their friendship and blossoming relationship, Mei ultimately begins to branch out and befriend others.
Since Mei used to be constantly bullied as a child and her classmates blamed her for an accident she never did, she decides to never befriend anyone again and all she needed to survive was herself. At first, she is viewed by others as "freakishly gloomy" and someone who "doesn't speak" but in addition to being anti-social and clumsy, she is observant, kind, honest, supportive, and funny. As she eventually falls in love with Yamato, she starts believing not everyone is selfish and finally begins to have true friends. When it comes to her career choice, she decides to become a preschool caretaker/ teacher.
One of the most popular boys in school. He was known for having kissed almost every girl at school. When he first meets Mei, she kicks him down the stairs under the false belief he was trying to lift her skirt when in reality it was his friend Takeshi who did it. Instantly attracted to her due to her different personality from all the other girls he has met, he gives her his cellphone number and tries to befriend her. When a stalker follows Mei to a store, she calls Yamato for help. When he arrives, he kisses Mei to get the stalker to go away. Over time, Yamato falls in love with Mei and they start dating. He cares for Mei more than anything and her feelings matter the most to him. Asami describes Yamato as someone who thinks of others more than anyone else, protects what should be protected, and cares for others despite having his own problems to deal with. In his past, he had even slept with Aiko because she was depressed and she insisted it would make her happy. When it comes to his career choice, after encouragement from Mei and with help from Megumi, he decides to become a photographer.
Mei's classmate and friend who has complex feelings about her large chest. She hates it when people always stare at her chest and no one seems to like her for she who she really is. She idolizes Yamato because he defended her from boys teasing her about her chest in middle school, and wishes for a prince of her own to protect her. She starts to date Takeshi after he confesses he likes her for who she is, not just her chest size. When it comes to her career choice, she decides to become a preschool caretaker/ teacher.
One of Mei's classmates, and a good friend of Yamato's. He is perverted and has a big crush on Asami. Using Mei's help, he eventually confesses to Asami and the two become a couple.
A classmate of Yamato and Mei's. She's brazen and bad-mouthed, but she has a nice and friendly side. She's liked Yamato ever since he told her her natural self was the prettiest, but he doesn't reciprocate her feelings. She strongly believes love requires self-sacrifice and effort, which prompts her to go to extreme lengths for her boyfriends, for example she used multiple cosmetics to look pretty for her old boyfriend despite breaking out. She lost 20kg to try to get Yamato to become her boyfriend, but this caused her to have scars due to sudden weight loss. After Mei stands up for her, she learns to accept Mei as a friend and supports her through tough times. She ends up dating Masashi.
A classmate of Yamato and Mei's. He has slept with many girls just to feel as "popular" as Yamato. His childhood friend, Chiharu, is one of the few people who treats him as a friend and respects him for who he is. After he fails to seduce Mei and is beaten up by some thugs, he realizes Chiharu is the only one who actually cares for him. He eventually reciprocates her feelings and they start dating.
She is Kakeru's childhood friend and knows his true self. She has a crush on Kakeru and they eventually start to go out after he recognizes his feelings for her. She works alongside Mei at Bakery Farm.
An amateur model and transfer student who is placed in Yamato's class. She acts sweet, but in reality is trying to cut Mei off from the rest of their friends and steal Yamato. During her childhood, she was called 'ugly' and 'plain'. After realizing few people actually think of her as a friend even though she tries to please them by paying for meals and giving gifts, she finds true friendship in her childhood friends, Momo and Asami. In addition, she begins to ignore what others say about her and cuts her hair as a sign she is going to make her future decisions without worrying about others' opinions of her. Later on, she accepted that Yamato will only love Mei and moves to Paris temporarily to try modeling while dating a Parisian photographer Angelo Garcia.
Kai Takemura (竹村 海, Takemura Kai)
Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno (Japanese); Andrew Love (English)
Live-action Actor: Tomohiro Ichikawa
Yamato's junior high friend who was bullied. Because he hid himself and neglected his studies while being bullied, he decided to return to his hometown and repeat his first year of high school. He is currently a grade behind Yamato and Mei, despite being the same age. Since being bullied, he has grown significantly in stature as well as exercised so he is also much stronger than before. He feels a connection with Mei because they were both bullied at some point in their life. He is a regular patron of the Bakery where Mei works and loves the theme park "Land". He is in love with Mei, but accepts she is in love with Yamato and tries to protect her. Later he begins to accept Rin's feelings and went on a relationship with her.
Yamato's younger sister. She is good at baking and making stuffed animals. When Yamato first introduces Mei to her, Nagi disliked Mei because she felt Mei was stealing her brother. After spending time with Mei, she realizes they have a lot in common that they both had many friends who were using them. Afterwards, Nagi accepts Mei as well as wanting to hang out with her more and managed to befriend with a classmate in school.
Yamato's older brother and is said to be just as handsome as him. He runs a barber shop and rejects styling people if they want to imitate others but instead styles their hair according to what they want to be. Due to the death of his ex-girlfriend in the past, Daichi had a hard time confess his feeling to his barber's assistant Kyouko, who is also has feeling to him.
She is rumored to be Yamato's first love, since she is the only girl in their high school whom he has not kissed. She has a deep interest in Yamato and flirts with him when they go to a restaurant. Yamato, however, rejects her advances.
Ren Aoi
A quiet and kind boy who is the same grade as Takemura. Despite growing up in the same environment as his twin sister Rin, he is quiet, antisocial and often plays video games. He has a crush on Mei and helping her to lose weight when he assists in the gym. Despite heartbroken to know Mei is in love with Yamato, he helps her and Asami's career path toward being a preschool caretaker/ teacher.
Rin Aoi
A model who replaces Megumi after she leaves for Paris. Very tall and loud, compared to her small and quiet brother Ren. She has a big crush on Kai and has no problem confessing her love for him, who also slowly begins to accept her as his love. But her and Kai later broke up due to some conflict, she soon focus on modeling and become an international model.
She was always worried about her daughter not being able to find happiness. She wants everyone to see Mei for who she really is. However, after meeting Yamato, she is convinced he will take care of her. She keeps a photo of her husband in her room, who died from cancer.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Kanae Hazuki, Say I Love You was serialized in Kodansha's shōjo manga magazine Dessert from February 23, 2008, to July 24, 2017. Kodansha collected its chapters in 18 tankōbon volumes, released from August 11, 2008, to September 13, 2017. An additional 19th volume was released digitally on August 25, 2022.
The manga has been licensed for English release in North America by Kodansha USA.
An anime adaptation by Zexcs began premiered on Tokyo MX October 6, 2012. The series later aired on tvk, BS11 and AT-X. It was later licensed by Sentai Filmworks for release in North America. The opening song is "Friendship" by Ritsuko Okazaki and the ending theme is "Slow Dance" by Suneohair. The limited edition of the eleventh manga volume, released on July 24, 2013, was bundled with an original animation DVD (OAD).
Film
The wraparound jacket band of the 11th volume of the manga announced in 2013 that a live action film was greenlit for release in 2014. The film was both directed and written by Asako Hyuga. Haruna Kawaguchi and Sota Fukushi were cast as Mei Tachibana and Yamato Kurosawa respectively. Additional cast members include Tomohiro Ichikawa as Kai Takemura, Rika Adachi as Aiko Mutō, Tasuku Nagase as Takeshi Nakanishi, Rima Nishizaki as Asami Oikawa, Ryōsuke Yamamoto as Masashi Tachikawa, and Arisa Yagi as Megumi Kitagawa. Asako Hyuga is directing and writing the film. The film was released in Japan on July 12, 2014. Its main theme song is "Happily" by One Direction.
Reception
The manga has sold over 5.3 million copies by July 2014. The film earned ¥1.1 billion (US$10 million) at the Japanese box office.
"２０１４年 （平成２６年） 全国映画概況" (PDF). eiren.org (in Japanese). Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, Inc. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Yamato Kurosawa (left) and Mei Tachibana (right)