The Itazura Na Kiss Franchise

OMG OMG OMG! I just found out that Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo will have its second season! My heart literally jumped from the excitement I’m feeling right now! I can’t believe I have just found out about it when I’m Itazura Na Kiss franchise’s [self-proclaimed] biggest fan! It so happened when I was searching online if a new episode of 2 Days and 1 Night and Running Man have been uploaded. Guess what? I happen to find “Itazura Na Kiss Love in Tokyo 2” in the recently added series section. The moment I saw that, I was like “What?! For real?!” I was so happy I have to write a blog about it! Haha

Itazura Na Kiss is a manga series written by the late Ms. Kaoru Tada. It is a romantic comedy story about a high school girl named Aihara Kotoko who is madly in love with genius Irie Naoki. Kotoko fell in love at first sight with Naoki and decided to confess her 2 year one-sided love for him. Naoki, who has a cold personality, ignored Kotoko’s love letter. Destiny has been really playful; Kotoko’s house is struck by a mild earth quake and collapsed.  While their house is being reconstructed, Kotoko and her father will temporarily stay at her father’s best friend’s house which is the Irie household! Kotoko finally had a chance to get closer with Naoki and cheers for him when he needed support. They had a rollercoaster ride-like relationship from then on. Naoki eventually falls for Kotoko, they got married and the story continues. Unfortunately, the story was never completed due to the tragic death of the author.

The Itazura Na Kiss Live-Action and Anime Franchise

The Itazura Na Kiss (INK) series already has four live action and one anime adaptation of the story. The first adaptation released in Japan was in 1996 with the same title starring Kashiwabara Takashi and Aiko Sato with only 9 episodes. The 1996 version did not cover Naoki and Kotoko’s married life. 

In 2005, INK was second adapted in Taiwan with It Started with a Kiss as its working title with 30 episodes. Joe Cheng and Ariel Lin portrayed the characters as Jiang Zhi Shu (Irie Naoki) and Yuan Xiang Qin (Aihara Kotoko) respectively. It Started with a Kiss was then followed by its sequel They Kiss Again in 2007 with 20 episodes.

An anime version of the manga was then produced in 2008 with the same title (INK). It contains 25 episodes and the plot strictly followed the storyline of the manga. In the anime adaptation, Naoki and Kotoko had a child named Kotomi which is not written in the manga. It was revealed that it was the intended ending of the late author for the manga according to her husband.

A South Korean remake titled Playful Kiss was then starred by Kim Hyun Joong as Baek Seung Jo and Jung So Min as Oh Ha Ni. Playful Kiss is the third live-action adaptation in 2010 with 16 episodes. A special edition covering the protagonists married life was then released the same year on YouTube with seven 10-minute long “webisodes”.

The most recent live-action version of INK was released on March of 2013. The working title, as I have said earlier is, Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo with Yuki Furukawa and Honoka Miki as the lead roles. Mischievous Kiss was the second live-action adaptation of INK in Japan with 16 episodes. The 1996 stars of INK made cameo appearances on the 10th (Aiko Sato) and 15th (Kashiwabara Takashi) episodes of Mischievous Kiss.

I have watched all four adaptations of the story including the anime. Take note: ALL Itazura Na Kiss franchise! I even read the manga itself! That’s how addicted I was in the story. In fact, I dreamed of producing a Filipino version of the story once I became successful in the business. [I’m a media student ‘ya know!] I even have a storyline and script for it already! [No kidding!] I like all 5 versions including the anime but my personal favorite among the 4 live-action adaptations are It Started with a Kiss (Taiwan) and Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo (Japan).

Anyway, a special episode titled Mischievous Kiss: Love in Okinawa was aired last Friday, September 12, 2014 featuring Naoki and Kotoko’s honeymoon. I was so “kinikilig” the whole time I was watching it! I especially love the scene when Naoki called Kotoko “honey” while she was fast asleep. Kotoko sleep talked saying “Irie-kun… I love you…” and Naoki smiled nonchalantly. Squee!! My heart just melted! :”> I wish I could continue watching it but it’s just a special episode. I still have to wait for at least 2 months before the second season airs.

Snapshots from my favorite scene (Love in Okinawa)

Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo 2 will officially air on November 24, 2014 in Japan.

Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo 2