Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends

Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends
Cover of the first Japanese novel published by MF Bunko J showing main characters Kodaka Hasegawa, left, and Yozora Mikazuki, right
僕は友達が少ない (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)
Genre	Romantic comedy, ecchi
Light novel
Written by	Yomi Hirasaka
Illustrated by	Buriki
Published by	Media Factory
Demographic	Male
Imprint	MF Bunko J
Original run	August 31, 2009 – ongoing
Volumes	8
Manga
Haganai: I Have No Friends
Written by	Yomi Hirasaka
Illustrated by	Itachi
Published by	Media Factory
English publisher	NA Seven Seas Entertainment
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Monthly Comic Alive
Original run	2010 – ongoing
Volumes	8
Manga
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai+
Written by	Misaki Harukawa
Illustrated by	Shōichi Taguchi
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Jump Square
Original run	2010 – 2012
Volumes	2
Anime television series
Directed by	Hisashi Saitō
Written by	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by	Tom-H@ck
Studio	AIC Build
Licensed by	NA Funimation Entertainment
Network	TBS, MBS
Original run	October 7, 2011 – December 23, 2011
Episodes	13
Light novel
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Universe
Written by	Yomi Hirasaka, Yūji Yūji, Wataru Watari, Yū Shimizu, Sou Sagara, Asaura, Hajime Asano, Ryō Iwanami, Shirō Shiratori, Takaya Kagami
Illustrated by	Buriki, Kantoku, Ruroo, Peco, QP:flapper, Miyama-Zero, Shunsaku Tomose, Yuu Kamiya, Koin, Ponkan8, Hanpen Sakura
Published by	Media Factory
Demographic	Male
Imprint	MF Bunko J
Original run	November 11, 2011 – ongoing
Volumes	2
Game
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Portable
Publisher	Namco Bandai
Genre	Visual novel
Rating	CERO: C (15+)
Platform	PlayStation Portable
Released	February 23, 2012
Original video animation
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Add On Disc
Directed by	Hisashi Saitō
Written by	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by	Tom-H@ck
Studio	AIC Build
Released	September 26, 2012
Episodes	1
Light novel
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai CONNECT
Written by	Yomi Hirasaka
Illustrated by	Buriki
Published by	Media Factory
Demographic	Male
Imprint	MF Bunko J
Published	December 25, 2012
Volumes	1
Anime television series
Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT
Directed by	Toru Kitahata
Written by	Yomi Hirasaka
Music by	Tom-H@ck
Studio	AIC Build
Licensed by	NA Funimation Entertainment
Network	TBS, MBS
Original run	January 11, 2013 – March 29, 2013
Episodes	12

Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends, originally titled Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (僕は友達が少ない, lit. I Have Few Friends) in Japan and known as Haganai (はがない) for short, is a Japanese light novel series written by Yomi Hirasaka, illustrated by Buriki, and published by Media Factory. It has twice been given manga adaptations; the first incarnation, its title and basic plot unchanged, began serialization in 2010; it was written and illustrated by Itachi and published in Monthly Comic Alive. A second adaptation with a different story, written by Misaki Harukawa and illustrated by Shōichi Taguchi, was called Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai + and published in Jump Square. A 12-episode anime adaptation by AIC Build aired in Japan between October and December 2011. An original video animation episode was released on September 26, 2012. A second anime season, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT, aired between January and March 2013. A live-action film adaptation is currently in production.

Plot

Kodaka Hasegawa is a recent transfer student to St. Chronica's Academy, a Catholic high school. As with every other school he has ever attended, he finds it difficult to make friends there because of his naturally-blond hair (inherited from his deceased English mother) and fierce-looking eyes, which make him look threatening to his prejudiced schoolmates.

One day, Kodaka accidentally comes across the equally solitary and very abrasive Yozora Mikazuki while she converses with her imaginary friend, Tomo. Realizing that neither of them have any social lives, they decide that the best way to improve their situation is to form a club–the Neighbor's Club (隣人部, Rinjin-bu)–precisely intended to make friends and learn social skills.

Five other members soon join the club, starting with the school's well-connected but arrogant idol Sena Kashiwazaki, who has no female friends of her own because of their jealousy over her many male admirers. The next to join is Yukimura Kusunoki, a feminine underclassman of Kodaka's who rather idolizes him and follows him in the hope that it will teach him to become manlier. Maria Takayama is a 10-year-old "genius" teacher and nun at the academy whom Yozora recruits to become the club adviser. Rika Shiguma is an underclassman and well-known scientific genius with fujoshi tendencies who joins the club after Kodaka rescues her from a laboratory accident. Finally, Kodaka's younger sister Kobato is in St. Chronica's middle school division and is a fan of Gothic anime.

Characters

Neighbor's Club

Kodaka Hasegawa (羽瀬川 小鷹, Hasegawa Kodaka)

Voiced by: Ryohei Kimura

The protagonist, a transfer student who has not been able to make friends in his first month at St. Chronica's. Of all of the members of the club, he is the most gentle, balanced and socially competent in personality; but his unusual hair color, inherited from his late English mother, leads classmates to assume he is a violent and abusive delinquent and spread defamatory rumors about him. Because of his long experience of antagonism, Kodaka has become accustomed to fighting and can defend himself quite well.

His father, an archeologist, is working in the United States, and so he takes care of his younger sister alone at home, which has also made him a good cook. His childhood was characterized by frequent movement, and as a result he has few memories related to home life and close friendships; however, though he does not realize it at first, he and Yozora were childhood friends before his family moved.

In Volume 8, Kodaka asks Rika to be his friend. This is the first time Kodaka has made a true friend in a decade since Yozora.

Yozora Mikazuki (三日月 夜空, Mikazuki Yozora)

Voiced by: Marina Inoue

A cruel and selfish black-haired girl who says she understands and respects bullying but resents being called a bully herself, her difficult personality drives away anyone who might wish to make friends with her before she meets Kodaka. She is physically abusive towards, and often argues with, Sena and manipulative towards Maria, who she cons into giving up an empty room for the use of the Neighbor's Club, and Yukimura, who she fools into working for the club as a crossdressing cosplay maid. The only person she can't insult is Rika, as Rika takes whatever insult she gives her and deflects it back with a dirty joke that leaves her tired – to the point where she just does what Rika says (like crossdress for example) rather than argue.

She is Kodaka's childhood friend, though at the time, he believed that she was a boy, calling her "Sora"; her nickname for him was "Taka." On the pre-arranged day before Kodaka moved, she intended to wear a skirt and reveal her gender to him but was too embarrassed to do so. Kodaka eventually recognised her after she had to cut her hair short due to it catching on fire. She seems to have feelings for Kodaka as she originally created the Neighbor's Club in order to get closer to him again.

Sena Kashiwazaki (柏崎 星奈, Kashiwazaki Sena)

Voiced by: Kanae Itō

The wealthy blonde daughter of the school's headteacher, Sena shows a dislike of all things "ordinary." She is both attractive and academically successful, but her resulting arrogance leads her to be disliked by her female peers. Their admiration eludes her, much as she desires it; she treats her male classmates only as servants to be used, although many of them would like to be her boyfriend. Nonetheless, she holds Kodaka to a higher standard. Kodaka concludes that she is the weirdest member of the club, as she is able to warrant weird and disgusted looks not only from Yozora and Kobato, but also from Yukimura and Rika.

She enjoys playing video games, including dating sims and eroge, partially because they allow her to make female (if virtual) friends. She is generally fascinated by the girls in these games and has also taken an obsessive liking to Kobato. Yozora calls her "Meat" (肉, Niku, due to her large breasts), an insulting nickname which she secretly likes because it was the first she had ever received. It also seems that she also developed some feelings for Kodaka after several events. In Volume 7 of the Light Novel, it was revealed that Kodaka and Sena are fiancés betrothed by their fathers, which she fully accepts.

In Volume 8, Sena proposes to Kodaka, asking him to marry her out of her love for him.

Kobato Hasegawa (羽瀬川 小鳩, Hasegawa Kobato)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa

Kodaka's younger sister; she is a student in middle school, but nonetheless joins the club. She is very close to her brother, who she calls "An-Chan", and behaves in a jealous and clingy way whenever she feels that he is not giving her the attention she deserves, to the point where it is obvious that she has a brother complex. She sees Maria as a rival for Kodaka's brotherly affections and so often gets into fights with the latter. Despite being older than Maria she has smaller breasts than her, which Maria is always eager to point out.

She has had a penchant for darkness, vampires and the macabre ever since she started watching an anime called Iron Necromancer. As a result she often speaks in an affected fashion, claims to be known as the ancient vampire "Reisys V. Felicity Sumeragi", and wears a gothic dress and red contacts, but this façade quickly breaks down when she gets emotionally worked up and she speaks in a strong Kyūshū accent. Indeed, her behavior does not for the most part differ from that of a regular girl (procrastinating with her homework, staying inside when it is hot, etc.) which Kodaka points out, causing her to be embarrassed and slightly lose character. Moreover, she is not very good at mathematics, taking a long time to solve a question Kodaka posed to her, and displays a rather limited vocabulary, frequently getting words wrong.

Later on, when the Neighbor's Club visit her school to watch the film made by her class for the school festival (in which she was the lead actress), it was revealed that she was quite popular in school, but she has so far refused to befriend any of her schoolmates no matter how hard they try to befriend her.

Rika Shiguma (志熊 理科, Shiguma Rika)

Voiced by: Misato Fukuen

A freshman and highly capable mad scientist. She was saved by Kodaka when she fell unconscious during a disastrous lab experiment, and begs to repay his kindness with sex; she joined the Neighbor's Club just to get closer to him.

Although there are many adult themes in the series, she is the most sexually forward member. This was clearly highlighted in her first speaking appearance, when she described the attractions of rape to Kodaka in the middle of a stunned class. She has a habit of inserting any sexual innuendo possible in her sentences, to the point where she finds it normal to convert any innocent thought into something perverted. As a fujoshi, she is a passionate consumer of BL dōjinshi and magazines, is comically aroused by intercourse between mecha, and is delighted when Yukimura offers to have sex with Kodaka. Rika is proud of her pervertedness, as she says that she would be a boring person if people only thought of her as a genius girl. To compound her eccentricity, she speaks in the third person. In the light novel and the second season of the anime, it was shown that she frequently changes her hairstyle.

In Volume 7, it was cleared that she's surprisingly the one who knows the most about Kodaka's feelings.

In Volume 8, Rika agrees to be Kodaka's friend, making him the first friend she's ever got in her entire life.

Yukimura Kusunoki (楠 幸村, Kusunoki Yukimura)

Voiced by: Nozomi Yamamoto

First introduced as a stalker of Kodaka. "His" first meeting with the Neighbor's Club resulted in gender confusion, as "his" appearance is decidedly feminine despite "his" assertions of malehood, which are revealed to be false in the light novel. A gullible student with low self-esteem, she admiringly believes Kodaka to be a romantic and masculine outlaw who lives life the way he wants to, and eagerly pledges to become his "underling" on the basis that she can learn to become less effeminate through him; however, she also appears to harbor a crush on him.

In season two, Kusunoki's actual gender is revealed, even to her surprise.

She fittingly refers to Kodaka as "aniki". She tends to obey Kodaka's "orders" to the extreme; when Kodaka asked her to bring Maria something healthy to eat, she brought a protein shake and tried to force it down Maria's throat until she finished it all. Maria threatens to "Cut the cigar off that transsexual" for that forced feeding.

Maria Takayama (高山 マリア, Takayama Maria)

Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi

Maria is the supervising teacher of the Neighbors Club; she is a ten-year old nun. While a child genius, she is also very rude and immature, and often uses a variety of expletives when annoyed. She develops a sibling-like relationship with Kodaka, who regularly makes her packed lunches, and is affectionate with him, much to Kobato's annoyance. She is also gullible, which Yozora uses to her advantage, and at some point, Kobato uses it to win an argument.

Others

Pegasus Kashiwazaki (柏崎 天馬, Kashiwazaki Pegasasu)

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu

Sena's father and the chairman of St. Chronica's. He is a friend of Kodaka's father, and pulled strings so that Kodaka could attend the school. He is embarrassed by the unusual pronunciation of his first name (which normally would be pronounced "Tenma"), a fact compounded that his name uses the characters for horse and sky. He constantly badmouths Kodaka's father, but only because he truly values him as his best (and more or less only) friend. He seems intent to betroth Sena to Kodaka, often saying that he considers Kodaka to be "a man I can entrust Sena to", after misunderstanding Sena's intentions to make Kobato her younger sister. He is a wealthy man always seen wearing traditional clothing, and is quite weak to alcohol (drinking two glasses and becoming drunk within seconds).

Stella Redfield (ステラ・レッドフィールド, Sutera Reddofīrudo)

Voiced by: Ryōka Yuzuki

The Kashiwazaki family butler and Sena's half sister. A blonde 22 year old woman, she is a capable servant, though often surprisingly outspoken to her employer. She has a habit of making straight-faced jokes.

Kate Takayama (高山 ケイト, Takayama Keito)

Voiced by: Emiri Katō

Maria's big sister, a 15-year old nun who looks a bit older than her actual age. Like her sister she has extremely bad manners, demonstrable via a variety of public burping, farting and butt-scratching. Despite her largely nonchalant attitude she is concerned for and protective of Maria, and is described as having something of a sister complex. In the anime's first season, she is seen only briefly in episode 8 and is not introduced until season 2 episode 2. She is 15 when officially introduced but later turns 16, as explained in season 2 episode 7.

Aoi Yusa (遊佐 葵, Yusa Aoi)

Voiced by: Mariya Ise

The accountant of the Student Council of St. Chronica's. She is Sena's classmate and ranks second in the final year exam. She competes with Sena in her studies and is also envious of her popularity and other excellent attributes. She is first introduced in season 2 episode 9.

Hinata Hidaka (日高 日向, Hidaka Hinata)

Voiced by: Yōko Hikasa

The current third-year Student Council President of St. Chronica's. She is very popular in school and is a great athlete. She is first introduced in season 2 episode 10.

Media

Light novels

The original Light Novel series is written by Yomi Hirasaka, it began serialization in 2009 by the Japanese publisher Media Factory and was printed by MF Bunko J. Currently, 8 volumes in the series have been published as of June 25, 2012.

Manga

There are currently two manga series being serialized. Both started serialization on 2010, the first one is written and illustrated by Japanese author Itachi, which was published in Monthly Comic Alive, titled Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai; the second which was written by Misaki Harukawa and illustrated by Shōichi Taguchi, published in Jump Square, titled Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai+. Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the first manga series in North America under the title Haganai: I Have No Friends. The first volume was published on November 13, 2012 while the second volume was releases in February 2013. In addition, two spinoff oneshot collections have been released, titled Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Hiyori and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Shobon!.

Anime

Main article: List of Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends episodes

In May 2011, an anime television series based on the light novels was announced on the wraparound jacket of the sixth light novel, with an original video animation bundled with the seventh light novel. Produced by AIC Build under the direction of Hisashi Saitō, the series aired in Japan between October 7, 2011 and December 23, 2011. The opening theme is "Zannenkei Rinjinbu Hoshi Futatsuhan" (残念系隣人部★★☆, "The Regrettable Neighbours Club Two and a Half Stars") by Marina Inoue, Kanae Itō, Nozomi Yamamoto, Misato Fukuen, Kana Hanazawa, and Yuka Iguchi, while the ending theme is "Watashi no Ki-mo-chi" (私のキ・モ・チ, "My Feelings") by Marina Inoue. The anime is based on the first three volumes and the beginning of volume four. The anime was licensed for streaming by Funimation Entertainment, who hosted the stream on the website and Nico Nico, before licensing the series for home video release.

An original video animation episode was released on September 26, 2012. The ending theme is "Kimi wa Tomodachi" (君は友達, "You Are My Friend") by Inoue, Itō, Yamamoto, Fukuen, Hanazawa, Iguchi and Ryohei Kimura.

A second season, titled Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT, aired between January 11, 2013 and March 29, 2013. The series is directed by Toru Kitahata whilst Hirasaka is in charge of the scripts. The opening and ending themes respectively are "Be My Friend" and "Bokura no Tsubasa" (僕らの翼, "Our Wings"), both performed by Inoue, Itō, Yamamoto, Fukuen, Hanazawa and Iguchi.

Game

A visual novel, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Portable, was developed by Namco Bandai Games for the PlayStation Portable and released on February 23, 2012.

Live-action film

On April 24, 2013, Ryukoku University posted a casting call for extras for a 2014 film adaptation of Haganai, to be distributed by Toei and produced by Times-In. Hirasaka later confirmed the film's existence on May 2, 2013, stating that, whilst he initially didn't approve of the project, as he didn't feel the story was intended for live-action, he decided to approve it in light of a crisis in the light novel industry. Hirasaka will have a completely hands-off role in the film's production.

Reception

The second volume of the manga adaptation landed 7th place on the top 30 of Japanese Comic Ranking, in the days between May 23 and 29.

External links

• Official manga website
• Official anime website
• PSP game official site
• Haganai: I Don't Have Many Friends (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia