is a shōnen

Shonen

The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 by Toshihiko Kobayashi

Toshihiko Kobayashi

is a male Japanese manga creator from Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 1995, Half Coat was serialized in Magazine Special from No. 1 to No. 11. After the serial publication of Parallel in Magazine Special from No. 8 in 2000 to No. 1 in 2002, Pastel was serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine from the...

 and published in the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by Del Rey Manga

Del Rey Manga

was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. It was formed as part of a cross-publishing relationship with Japanese publisher Kodansha. Some of the Del Rey titles, such as Tsubasa...

. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine

Weekly Shonen Magazine

, also known as Shōnen Magazine, is a shōnen manga magazine published by Kodansha, first published on 17 March 1959. Despite some unusual censorship policies , it's mainly read by an older audience, with a large portion of its readership falling under the male high school or college...

, then moved to Magazine Special

Magazine Special

is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by Kodansha and first launched in 1983. Its audience demographic is geared toward younger teenage boys, and contents tend to be predominantly sports stories and high school romantic comedy...

 in 2003. From chapter 50 and onwards, it is in monthly magazine format. The story follows a similar plot to Kobayashi's earlier work Parallel

Parallel (manga)

is a Japanese shōnen manga by Toshihiko Kobayashi. It tells the story of two high school students, Shinnosuke Nekota and Sakura Hoshino, who are forced to live together in the same house when their parents become unofficially engaged and leave the country for their work...

.

Synopsis

Mugi Tadano is a 16-year-old boy who lives alone; his mother died years ago and his father is always on frequent trips as a photographer. When his first girlfriend, Hinako, leaves him for Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, he is understandably heartbroken. Kazuki, Mugi's best friend, invites him to work with him at his aunt's beach-side inn, in the hope of helping him shake off his depression. But things take a fateful turn one day when, while at work, he spies on a beautiful girl, Yuu Tsukisaki, changing clothes in an alley behind the inn. Yuu, instead of getting angry, charges him ¥120 (approx. $1.05 USD) for watching her. This isn't the last that he would hear from her, though, as the next day Kazuki sets him up on a blind date with none other than Yuu. They proceed to have a great time, but a great misunderstanding (and a sign of things to come) rears its ugly head when Mugi walks in again on Yuu, this time who is currently having a bath. Later, Kazuki tells him that she's taking the earliest ferry back home, seemingly agitated, Mugi runs to the harbor with the intent of trying to prevent another relationship from being nipped in the bud, she is long gone. Dejected, unsure he would ever see her again, he arrives home to get ready to search for her, only to discover that Mugi's father had allowed Yuu and her younger sister to live with them, because their father, who was a friend of Mugi's father, had died.

Major characters

The male protagonist of the series. He spent most of his childhood living in Onomichi by himself because of his mother’s death and his father’s work. He is very self-sufficient and able to do house work, make various repairs, budget money, and especially cook. Even though he is described as plain-looking—his name is routinely punned Tada-no-Mugi "common Mugi" (or "common wheat")—he has a few girls that are attracted to him. Most of the time he is unaware of their feelings. He has become very devoted to Yuu, who he fell in love with at first sight, but he does not tell her out of fear of their relationship crumbling and her not having anywhere to live. Once Yuu’s circumstances changed, he has been trying to confess to her, but is often hindered by his own indecisiveness or being interrupted. He is prone to be in compromising situations with the female characters or having sexual fantasies about Yuu and also seems to have a tendency to blurt out almost anything about his feelings or opinions, much to his embarrassment. As of the end of volume 14, he confessed to Yuu and found his feelings reciprocated. During volume 16, Mugi's long-anticipated kiss with Yuu had finally been realized.

The female protagonist of the series. She chose to take up Mr. Tadano’s offer to live with Mugi after her father died, because she did not want to trouble her mother’s new marriage. She is a good-natured girl who is smart and responsible. She is described as being very cute with a developed body. She is popular in school and has an easy time making friends. Unlike her sister, she chooses to come back to Onomichi to live with Mugi instead of moving to America with her mother. Although at times she has denied having any romantic interest in Mugi, she often gets jealous when Mugi is with other girls. As of the end of volume 14, she stops denying her own feelings, declares her love to Mugi, and agrees to date him, although in secret to all but their closest friends since everyone believes them to be related. In volume 16, Yuu finally shares a long-anticipated kiss with Mugi. Throughout the remainder of later volumes, Yuu's inner thoughts (on occasion) mirror that of Mugi's inner thoughts and in volume 19 she turn 18.

Yuu’s younger sister by one year. She is a vibrant, mayhem-causing character that loves attention. She is more sexually mature then her older sister and often embarrasses Mugi by correctly guessing his perverted thoughts. She has a propensity with coming up with complex plans and changing games to have a sexual variation. She chose to move to America with her mother, but often comes back to visit. During her last visit, her body has matured to the point that if she wears a wig she can impersonate her older sister almost perfectly.

Mugi’s best friend since childhood. He looks about four years older than his actual age because of his dark complexion. He is often be seen as a delinquent by people who do not know him because he drinks, smokes, get into fights, and rides a motorcycle. Because of this image, he is both popular among younger girls and also feared by others, like Manami’s friend Fumiko. Most girls that he flirts with flatly reject him, those that do not usually slap him because he is too forward. Strangely, after he begins dating Manami, he has started to clean up his act in order to feel that he is deserving of her.

She is one of Mugi’s childhood friends. For six long years she has harbored a secret crush on Mugi, but would not do anything about it because Mugi at the time was dating her friend Hinako. She confessed to Mugi twice, both times being rejected because he already fell in love with Yuu. She was shocked when Sanmiya confessed to her on his 18th birthday telling her that he has liked her for the past ten years. After Sanmiya got into a motorcycle accident, she realizes that she has feelings for him and they begin to date.

Mugi’s childhood crush who became like a mother to him when his real mother died. She taught Mugi how to cook, and remains one of his harshest critics. She has since moved to Tokyo where she attends Tokyo University and models part-time. She often comes to visit in order to binge on beer and play Tekken

Tekken (video game)

Tekken is a fighting game and is the first of the series. It was released at arcades in late 1994 and on the PlayStation in 1995. A simplified "arcade" version of the game was later released in Tekken 5s Arcade History mode. It was developed and published by Namco...

with Tsukasa. She values her relationship with Mugi to the extent that Takumi was introduced to him before her own parents. In Chapter 94, she and Takumi finally get married.

Mugi’s father, who is a scenic and wildlife photographer. Because of his profession, he often is away from home for long periods of time and Mugi is never sure when he is returning. He made a promise with Yuu and Tsukasa's father that he would take care of his daughters, which he has kept. He has a habit of forgetting to tell his son important decisions that he has made, yet evidently strives to be good father to Mugi. Ken briefly returns in Chapter 98, to check up on Mugi, Yuu and Mako, where the latter tells him that she has fallen in love again, reminding him of a promise he had made to her when they first met that when she ever does, he would give her a reward. When she hints that it is him, he simply smiles and signs the marriage certificates that Mako faked earlier and officially becomes his wife, indicating that the feelings between them are mutual. He is 43.

Tetsu is owner a small Japanese-style restaurant that offers Mugi and Yuu refuge when they get caught in the rain. After tasting Mugi’s cooking, he offers Mugi a part-time job and becomes his cooking mentor. He is a big believer in overall food presentation, which is shown in his prized plate collection. Much to Aoi's annoyance, he seems to have a fondness for older women. In the end however, Tetsu eventually comes to realize his feelings for Aoi and accepts her, and the two become a couple. He is 43.

Aoi is a young talented traveling artist that usually shows up at Tetsu’s restaurant on rainy days. She claims that she no longer has any family or home, but when Mugi offers her to stay at his home she claims that she is happy with her current life style. She is very much in love with Tetsu, but he does not return her affections because he believes it would only hold her back. She has a tendency of hugging and kissing people. In the end, when Aoi finally gets tired of Tetsu after hearing from him that he was getting an omiai

Omiai

or is a Japanese traditional custom in which unattached individuals are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. Since this "Miai" or "Omiai" was sometimes translated as "arranged marriage" in English and other foreign languages, which is a total misnomer, some foreigners...

, she resolves to leave but before she does completely, Tetsu catches up to her and asks her to come back to him, promising her that he would give her happiness, thus becoming an official couple. She is 21.

Mako is the newest resident of the Tadano household. Ken met her in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 when he was taking pictures during the Aurora Borealis, where she was mourning the third anniversary of her high school sweetheart’s death. She was first introduced to Mugi as his new mother, but it is later learned it was a lie and that there were no plans for a wedding. Only being five years older than Mugi, she enjoys suggesting activities with Mugi that Yuu deems inappropriate. Much like Tsukasa, she likes to play games with a sexual twist, like strip Janken, of which so far she has not lost one game. As of Chapter 98, she reveals that she has in actuality come to love Ken and became Mugi's genuine step-mother by the end of that chapter. A running joke is that she dazzles men with her large breasts, which causes various results. In later volumes of the manga, it would seem that she has devised several schemes to try and "consummate" Mugi and Yuu's relationship further, albeit, schemes involving intimate and perverted antics much to her amusement (but to everyone else's annoyance).

Kiku is a popular girl from another class that the main characters meet on a group date. She likes to tease guys and use them for her own entertainment. After seeing how popular and innocent Yuu is, she makes her goal to sully Yuu’s reputation and make her life miserable. While she pretends to be Yuu’s friend, she takes scandalous pictures of herself dressed up like Yuu and sends them to their classmates. After hoax was revealed, she then tries to seduce Mugi because she viewed him as Yuu’s strength. She returns later on through a chance encounter with Mugi. She no longer acts innocent, but is still popular with guys. It is insinuated that she now has genuine feelings for Mugi even though she knows that he likes Yuu. She believes that a relationship between Mugi and Yuu will not last over three years because they are too similar and it would not be equal partnership.

Minor characters

Mugi’s childhood friend and ex-girlfriend. She broke up with Mugi when she left for Tokyo for school. Many characters view Mugi and her as being very compatible. She is very accident prone, but seldom gets hurt. During Mugi's trip to Tokyo, it is revealed that she still has feelings for him. Later, she travels to Onomichi hoping to get back together with Mugi but he turns her down, explaining that he likes Yuu. It should be noted that she and Mugi used to progress so slowly, that Kazuki and Manami had to forge love letter for each of them, to get them together.

She divorced her husband when her daughters were still in elementary school because she could not handle the long period of time in which he was away. She has since been remarried. After her ex-husband's death, she wished for her daughters to live with her, but her new husband was against it because his son was still living at home. Eventually she missed her daughters so much that she was willing to divorce her second husband in order to live with them, but since her stepson already moved out her husband was willing to accept Yuu and Tsukasa. She has since relocated to the United States because of her husband’s work. She eventually finds out when Mugi suddenly blurts out that he and Yuu are officially a couple (even though she knew all along since Tsukasa informed her before Mugi could say anything).

Yuu and Tsukasa’s father

A former rival photographer and friend of Ken Tadano. Both were in the same University's Photography Club. His wife divorced him because of the long periods of time he would be away, because he partially put his rivalry with Ken above his family, after the divorce he retired in order to take care of his daughters. He has since passed away because of an undisclosed medical condition.

He is popular boy from Onomichi School that took a liking to Yuu. Even though he is good looking with a positive personality, he also is known to be carefree and take aggressive approach to girls he likes. Much to his disappointment, Yuu only thinks of him as a friend. In Chapter 102, he already has a girlfriend, much to Mugi's relief and ego, however, his girlfriend somewhat resembles Yuu, albeit, in a more homely way.

She is described as the prettiest girl in the grade above Mugi. She is a serious student that was the Student Council President, member of the Photography Club, and won many awards. Because of this reputation, many guys deemed her unapproachable. Much to Mugi surprise, she asked if Mugi would go on a date with her during her farewell speech. At first she claimed the date was only to make some memories before she left for Tokyo. It was later discovered that she has secretly liked Mugi for the past 6 years, but could never find the courage or proper circumstances to tell him.

He is introduced as Sayuri’s fiancé. He works at a small second-hand furniture shop, which Sayuri happen to visit. After first time he saw her, he produced his name stamp and bank booklet, and proposed marriage. After dating for a while he proposed again, which she finally agreed. He has a habit of repairing other people's stuff when he is not asked. Unlike Sayuri, he does not drink alcohol, but instead enjoys tomato juice.

One of Yuu’s Tokyo friends who has since moved to Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. He is mistaken by Mugi as Yuu’s ex-boyfriend. He later revealed to Mugi that he does in fact like Yuu and tried to take an aggressive approach with her, but has had little success.

A daughter of one of Tetsu’s friends who also owns a restaurant. For a week Mugi works for her because her father is in the hospital for a broken bone and Mugi needs extra money. At first Mugi believes that she is older than he is, but later he learns that she is actually a grade below him. After working together, she falls in love with him. She frequently walks with Mugi to school and bring him food for lunch. Yuu is not be very fond of her because she resembles Hinako.

A girl that took extra lessons with Mugi. She is in the school volleyball team. People describes her as ero-kawa (a combination between ero and kawaii, which is erotic and cute). At one point, Yuu grew jealous of her when she saw her hanging around with Mugi. She speculated that Urara may have a crush on Mugi, but Urara revealed to Yuu that she really had a crush on a childhood friend who is into sports as much as her, due to the fact he somewhat resembles Mugi by appearance.

Manga volumes

Note: This list uses official English-translated titles through volume 14, unofficial Japanese translations thereafter.

External links

• Pastel at Shōnen Magazine/Kodansha website