Tramps Like Us
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese josei
manga
series by Yayoi Ogawa. It is about Sumire, a young professional woman who takes in a younger man as a pet, and her attempts to keep her coworkers and conventionally-perfect boyfriend from finding out about her pet. It also deals with the romantic attraction between Sumire and her pet.
It was serialised by Kodansha
and was released in 14 volumes between 2000 and 2005, with an additional side-story volume being released in 2002. The volumes, barring the side-story volume, were published in English and German by Tokyopop, French by Kurokawa and Italian by Star Comics. The manga was adapted to a TV drama
series that aired in Japan on TBS
in 2003, and a South Korean film due out in 2011.
at a major newspaper, is a career woman in a society that does not handle successful women well, Sumire suffers from depression
and anxiety
. She also has hobbies that are very un-feminine, such as smoking
, being a fan of pro wrestling, K-1
, and shōnen
anime
.
After her fiancé leaves her for his mistress
and Sumire is demoted at work, she stumbles across a young injured homeless man in a box outside her condominium
. She takes him in and becomes attached to him. As a joke, she says she wants to keep him as a pet. To her surprise, the young man agrees. She names him , after her beloved dog from childhood. Sumire provides room and board, and Momo provides unconditional love and loyalty. Sumire says there is no sex in their relationship, and she will only sleep with men who have the "three highs": higher pay, higher education and higher height (i.e. taller than her 170 cm.) Despite this, there is definite sexual tension
in their relationship.
Sumire later learns that Momo's real name is , and that he is a dance prodigy
who studied classical ballet
but was too short to take the lead roles. He switched to modern dance
, and lived a semi-homeless life before meeting Sumire. When it is revealed that he and Sumire know one another, Momo passes himself off as Sumire's second cousin.
Complications arise when Sumire is reunited with the man with whom she was infatuated during her time at Tokyo University, . Hasumi meets all of Sumire's requirements. However, Sumire cannot quite open up to Hasumi-senpai
, or give up her attachment to Momo. For example, Sumire lets Momo call her by her personal name, while she struggles to let Hasumi call her "Iwaya" instead of "Iwaya-san." Takeshi (a.k.a. Momo) starts to have feelings for Sumire-chan (Iwaya), as well and they began to have feelings that go way beyond those of a pet and its Master.
When Hasumi meets Momo, he recognizes Momo's face but cannot put a name to him. When Hasumi does some research on Iwaya-san's so-called cousin, he discovers that Takeshi was a child ballet prodigy and becomes friends with him. Takeshi, of course, has to keep the fact that he is also "Momo" to himself, even when Hasumi repeatedly brings up the topic of Sumire's pet in their conversations. Although, at times he changes personalities; something is up with Momo!
later in 2000 where it ran until 2005. It was renamed to Kimi wa Pet after the fifth chapter.
The 82 chapters, called "Rules", were collected and published in 14 bound volumes
by Kodansha
between December 2000 and December 2005. An additional volume called was released in October 2002. In early 2004, "Supplement: Kimiwa Pet" was included as a free extra
with Kiss. A special edition of the eleventh volume was offered which included a toy shaped like Momo. Tokyopop
licensed the series for English-language release in North America and gave the series its English name of Tramps Like Us. It released the first volume in August 2004 and the final volume in February 2008. As of August 31, 2009, the English editions are out of print
. The series was published as Tramps Like Us - Kimi Wa Pet by Tokyopop Germany between November 2004 and February 2007. It was published as Kimi Wa Pet - Au pied, chéri! in French by Kurokawa between September 2005 and November 2007. It was published in Italian by Star Comics
between July 2004 and September 2006 as Sei Il Mio Cucciolo!.
. Sumire was played by Koyuki
and Momo was played by Jun Matsumoto
.
) which was to be released in South Korea in late 2011, starring Jang Geun-suk
as the pet character.
for shōjo
. Tramps Like Us has been described by Sequential Tart as "one of the best of these josei manga titles currently available in English translation". Johanna Draper Carlson says that the theme of the series is "understanding what's really important about relationships". Sumire enjoys both her job and her romance with Hasumi, unlike depictions of female characters in the 1980s and 1990s. Women, and therefore, female characters, have begun to change their ideal of a husband, from the "three highs" (tall, high income, well-educated) to seeking a more "comfortable, cooperative, and compatible" sort of a man. Hasumi is said to represent the former, and Momo the latter kind of a man, making it significant that eventually, Sumire chooses Momo. Ed Chavez, reviewing the first volume, described Sumire's 'needy nature' as being easy to relate to, but found her frustratingly "emotionally weak and self-destructive" by the sixth volume, much preferring to see her 'kicking ass'. George Galuschak, writing for Kliatt found that 'certain aspects of Sumire and Momo's relationship creeped [Galuchack] out', although he described the first volume overall as being a 'funny, entertaining read'. Jason Thompson
has described Tramps Like Us as a classic of josei, noting its presentation of "a fairytale romance" makes it unlike Suppli
, which is more realistic in its depiction of work.
Drama TV series
Josei
also known as or , is a term that refers to the target demographic of manga created mostly by women for late teenage and adult female audiences. Readers range from 15-44. In Japanese, the word josei means simply "woman", "female", "feminine", "womanhood" and has no manga-related connotations at...
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...
series by Yayoi Ogawa. It is about Sumire, a young professional woman who takes in a younger man as a pet, and her attempts to keep her coworkers and conventionally-perfect boyfriend from finding out about her pet. It also deals with the romantic attraction between Sumire and her pet.
It was serialised by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
and was released in 14 volumes between 2000 and 2005, with an additional side-story volume being released in 2002. The volumes, barring the side-story volume, were published in English and German by Tokyopop, French by Kurokawa and Italian by Star Comics. The manga was adapted to a TV drama
Japanese television drama
, also called , are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including murder romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, and many others...
series that aired in Japan on TBS
Tokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....
in 2003, and a South Korean film due out in 2011.
Plot
, a journalistJournalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
at a major newspaper, is a career woman in a society that does not handle successful women well, Sumire suffers from depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
and anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
. She also has hobbies that are very un-feminine, such as smoking
Smoking in Japan
Smoking in Japan is much less restricted than in many other nations, and Japan accounts for much of the tobacco consumption in Asia. Nearly 30 million people smoke in Japan, making the country one of the world's largest tobacco markets...
, being a fan of pro wrestling, K-1
K-1
K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...
, and 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"...
anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
.
After her fiancé leaves her for his mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
and Sumire is demoted at work, she stumbles across a young injured homeless man in a box outside her condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
. She takes him in and becomes attached to him. As a joke, she says she wants to keep him as a pet. To her surprise, the young man agrees. She names him , after her beloved dog from childhood. Sumire provides room and board, and Momo provides unconditional love and loyalty. Sumire says there is no sex in their relationship, and she will only sleep with men who have the "three highs": higher pay, higher education and higher height (i.e. taller than her 170 cm.) Despite this, there is definite sexual tension
Sexual tension
Sexual tension is a social phenomenon that occurs when two people interact and one or both feel sexual desire, but the consummation is postponed or never happens....
in their relationship.
Sumire later learns that Momo's real name is , and that he is a dance prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
who studied classical ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
but was too short to take the lead roles. He switched to modern dance
Modern dance
Modern dance is a dance form developed in the early 20th century. Although the term Modern dance has also been applied to a category of 20th Century ballroom dances, Modern dance as a term usually refers to 20th century concert dance.-Intro:...
, and lived a semi-homeless life before meeting Sumire. When it is revealed that he and Sumire know one another, Momo passes himself off as Sumire's second cousin.
Complications arise when Sumire is reunited with the man with whom she was infatuated during her time at Tokyo University, . Hasumi meets all of Sumire's requirements. However, Sumire cannot quite open up to Hasumi-senpai
Senpai
and are an essential element of Japanese seniority-based status relationships, similar to the way that family and other relationships are decided based on age, with even twins being divided into elder and younger sibling...
, or give up her attachment to Momo. For example, Sumire lets Momo call her by her personal name, while she struggles to let Hasumi call her "Iwaya" instead of "Iwaya-san." Takeshi (a.k.a. Momo) starts to have feelings for Sumire-chan (Iwaya), as well and they began to have feelings that go way beyond those of a pet and its Master.
When Hasumi meets Momo, he recognizes Momo's face but cannot put a name to him. When Hasumi does some research on Iwaya-san's so-called cousin, he discovers that Takeshi was a child ballet prodigy and becomes friends with him. Takeshi, of course, has to keep the fact that he is also "Momo" to himself, even when Hasumi repeatedly brings up the topic of Sumire's pet in their conversations. Although, at times he changes personalities; something is up with Momo!
Development
Originally, Momo was meant to have a much more animal-like personality, and Ogawa considers him one of her easiest characters to draw, describing his character type as being one of her 'stock characters'.Manga
The chapters of Tramps Like Us were written and illustrated by Yayoi Ogawa. The series first appeared as a single chapter work, named Pet, that appeared in the June 2000 issue of Kiss Carnival, where it ran for four chapters. It was then transferred to KissKiss (magazine)
is a Japanese josei manga magazine published by Kodansha, with a circulation of over 140,000. It was first published in 1992 as a monthly magazine Monthly Kiss....
later in 2000 where it ran until 2005. It was renamed to Kimi wa Pet after the fifth chapter.
The 82 chapters, called "Rules", were collected and published in 14 bound volumes
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
between December 2000 and December 2005. An additional volume called was released in October 2002. In early 2004, "Supplement: Kimiwa Pet" was included as a free extra
Omake
means extra in Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga fandom term to mean "extra or bonus". In USA, the term is most often used in a narrow sense by anime fans to describe special features on DVD releases: deleted scenes, interviews with the...
with Kiss. A special edition of the eleventh volume was offered which included a toy shaped like Momo. Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
licensed the series for English-language release in North America and gave the series its English name of Tramps Like Us. It released the first volume in August 2004 and the final volume in February 2008. As of August 31, 2009, the English editions are out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
. The series was published as Tramps Like Us - Kimi Wa Pet by Tokyopop Germany between November 2004 and February 2007. It was published as Kimi Wa Pet - Au pied, chéri! in French by Kurokawa between September 2005 and November 2007. It was published in Italian by Star Comics
Star Comics (Italy)
Star Comics is an Italian comic book publisher born in December 1985 that publishes Italian edition of manga and Italian comics in Italy. Until the birth of Marvel Italia in 1994 it also published Italian editions of many Marvel Comics's comic books...
between July 2004 and September 2006 as Sei Il Mio Cucciolo!.
Live-action drama
A live-action Japanese drama series of ten episodes aired on TBS between April and June 2003. The opening and closing theme was "Darling" by V6V6 (band)
V6 is a six-member Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. The group debuted on November 1, 1995 with the single "Music for the People", which was used as the image song for the World Cup of Volleyball in 1995...
. Sumire was played by Koyuki
Koyuki
, better known as , is a Japanese model and actress.Koyuki was born in Zama. She started her modeling career in 1995 and has since starred in various Japanese dramas, TV and magazine ad campaigns and films. She frequently appears in Japanese print and television campaigns for the electronics...
and Momo was played by Jun Matsumoto
Jun Matsumoto
, often called by the portmanteau nickname , is a Japanese idol, singer, actor and radio host. He is a member of Japanese boy band Arashi and is best known to Japanese television drama audiences for his portrayal as Tsukasa Dōmyōji in the Hana Yori Dango series, in which he won GQ Japan's Man Of...
.
| # | Title | Rating | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
Film
The manga is being adapted into a live-action Korean film (너는팻You're My Pet (film)
You're My Pet is a 2011 South Korean romantic comedy film based on the manga Tramps Like Us by Yayoi Ogawa.-Cast:*Kim Ha-neul - Ji-eun*Jang Geun-suk - In-ho*Kang Ha-neul - Young-soo*Jung Yoo-mi - Lee Young-eun*Kang Hae-in - Kim Mi-sung-Plot:...
) which was to be released in South Korea in late 2011, starring Jang Geun-suk
Jang Geun-suk
Jang Keun-Suk is a South Korean actor, singer and model. He is best known for playing the role of band leader Hwang Tae Kyung in the hit 2009 drama You're Beautiful, with Lee Hong Ki, Jung Yong Hwa, Park Shin Hye and Kim Yoo Jin also known as UEE...
as the pet character.
Reception
The manga won the 2003 Kodansha Manga AwardKodansha Manga Award
is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...
for shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
. Tramps Like Us has been described by Sequential Tart as "one of the best of these josei manga titles currently available in English translation". Johanna Draper Carlson says that the theme of the series is "understanding what's really important about relationships". Sumire enjoys both her job and her romance with Hasumi, unlike depictions of female characters in the 1980s and 1990s. Women, and therefore, female characters, have begun to change their ideal of a husband, from the "three highs" (tall, high income, well-educated) to seeking a more "comfortable, cooperative, and compatible" sort of a man. Hasumi is said to represent the former, and Momo the latter kind of a man, making it significant that eventually, Sumire chooses Momo. Ed Chavez, reviewing the first volume, described Sumire's 'needy nature' as being easy to relate to, but found her frustratingly "emotionally weak and self-destructive" by the sixth volume, much preferring to see her 'kicking ass'. George Galuschak, writing for Kliatt found that 'certain aspects of Sumire and Momo's relationship creeped [Galuchack] out', although he described the first volume overall as being a 'funny, entertaining read'. Jason Thompson
Jason Thompson (writer)
Jason Thompson is a manga critic, journalist, writer and comics artist.-Life and career:...
has described Tramps Like Us as a classic of josei, noting its presentation of "a fairytale romance" makes it unlike Suppli
Suppli
is a manga series by Mari Okazaki. It is published by Shodensha, and has been running in the magazine Feel Young since 2004. It ended its serialisation in the December 2009 issue, and a sidestory to Suppli also ran in the magazine. It has been collected in seven volumes so far, and is published in...
, which is more realistic in its depiction of work.
External links
Manga- EXTRA HEAVY SYRUP (Yayoi Ogawa's official website)
Drama TV series