ChocoMimi

ChocoMimi (チョコミミ, Chokomimi') is a shōjo 4-panel manga series written and illustrated by Konami Sonoda. It was first serialized in the magazine Ribon Original until it went defunct. Starting March 2004, the serialization was transferred to the main Ribon magazine. The chapters are collected and bound in tankōbon format by Shueisha under the Ribon Mascot Comics label. Viz Media has licensed the manga in the United States under the Viz Kids label. So far, Viz has released up to five volumes, but they are not planning to release the rest.

Plot

ChocoMimi follows the daily lives of best friends Choco and Mimi, two fashionable eighth grade girls, as well as their own social circle and family. While Choco is serious and diligent, spoiled sweet Mimi is imaginative and spacey. Together, they experience and explore everyday problems at home, with their friends, and at school. Each chapter finishes off with a fashion tip from both Choco and Mimi.

Characters

Main characters

• Chiyoko Sakurai (桜井 ちよこ, Sakurai Chiyoko), nicknamed Choco (チョコ, Choko), is a gentle and reliable teenager who does well in school and has a liking to fashion. Her best friend is her childhood friend Mimi. She has a crush on Andrew (Ando) and hopes to find a future of opening her own cafe some day. She has a pet cat named Huckleberry. Her family runs a cafe, which is called the March Rabbit. She is a good cook, but she is very bad at singing and drawing. Ami Koshimizu provides her voice in the drama CD. Yukika Teramoto portrays her in the live-action series.
• Mimi Nekota (猫田 ミミ, Nekota Mimi) is a carefree, optimistic girl. She is horrible at studying and often tries slide out from doing her schoolwork, but has a wild, amusing imagination. Most of her daydreams (instead of listening in class) consist of finding true loves and secret worlds. She claims Mikami is her "dream prince", though she is shown to have some feelings towards Mumu. She has a pet dog named Chiffon. She owns a plush bear toy named Pirate Bear (カイゾクグマ, Kaizoku Kuma), a recurring mascot in the manga. Ai Nonaka provides her voice in the drama CD. Kayano Masuyama portrays her in the live-action series.
• Ryūnosuke Andō (安藤 竜之介, Andō Ryūnosuke), nicknamed Andrew (アンドリュー, Andoryū), is a transfer student from Osaka with a seemingly grumpy, cold attitude. He is very quiet, but he loves animals (like his pet chick, Picho), and he plays the guitar in a band. He is good friends with Choco, though he is sometimes awkward around her as they both like each other. Takayuki Sasada provides his voice in the drama CD. Yūya Kido portrays him in the live-action series.
• Mumu Momoyama (桃山 ムム, Momoyama Mumu) is a narcissistic transfer student with a self-centered attitude that causes him to constantly clash with Mimi. He has a very feminine appearance, which he takes pride of. Though he constantly denies it, he has feelings for Mimi, as he gets easily jealous of Mikami of how Mimi adores him instead of himself. He also loves Chiffon, Mimi's dog. Like Mimi, he hates school and homework. He owns a plush bear toy named Death Bear (デスベアー, Desu Bea), a recurring mascot in the manga. Motoki Takagi provides his voice in the drama CD. Tōko Miura portrays him in the live-action series.
• Kōmei Mikami (三上 功明, Mikami Kōmei), nicknamed Mikachin (ミカちん, Mikachin), is Ando's classmate whom Mimi compares to as a prince. He is very smart, but he is a bit strange at times. His uncle is Masato Takeda. Masahiro Usui portrays him in the live-action series.
• Kojika Mori (森 小鹿, Mori Kojika), nicknamed Bambi (バンビ, Bambi), is Ando's level-headed, tomboyish band friend. She loves singing and playing sports. Although she herself likes Ando, she knows that Ando and Choco being together is what would make the two happiest. She has an older brother. Ayame Gouriki portrays her in the live-action series.

Other Characters

• Masato Takeda (竹田 正人, Takeda Masato), nicknamed Mr. Take or Take-chan (タケちゃん, Take-chan), is Choco, Mimi, and Mumu's homeroom teacher. He is always exasperated by Mimi's shortcomings and frustrated with her inability to concentrate on her studies. He is also Mikami's and Aoi's uncle. Taro Suwa portrays him in the live-action series.
• Misaki Tsubakiyama (椿山 美咲, Tsubakiyama Misaki) is the gang's senior. She was introduced in the fourth volume. Although she is very pretty, she has an extreme crush on Mr. Take (to the point that she stalks him), which the others find is very strange.
• Kawai Maho (河合 真帆, Kawai Maho), nicknamed Maho Maho (マホマホ, Maho Maho), is Mimi's old friend from her childhood. They knew each other when they were young and made a promise to get married to each other, though Mimi has forgotten about it. Mumu is jealous of him. Maho Maho is in the seventh grade. He was introduced in the sixth volume.
• Sae Kiguchi (木口サエ, Kiguchi Sae) is a shy and negative seventh grader who has a crush on Mumu. She was introduced in the seventh volume.
• Remi Kinosaki (城崎レミ, Kinosaki Remi), nicknamed Remi-sama (レミ様), is a beautiful but narcissist seventh grader. She was introduced in the seventh volume.

Family members

• Mimi's father (ミミの父, Mimi no chichi) loves Mimi and honors her every request. He gets very upset when she is disappointed in his actions. Kousei Amano portrays him in the live-action series.
• Jin Sakurai (桜井 仁, Sakurai Jin) is Choco's energetic, youngest brother. He is in the fifth grade. He has a crush on Aoi. Reo Sawada portrays him in the live-action series.
• Rai Sakurai (桜井 礼, Sakurai Rai) is Choco's second younger brother. He is usually poker-faced and very serious; the others often comment on how he does not look related to his siblings. He is a year younger than Choco. Mimi and Mumu tease him by calling him "Rachel", which he hates, or comparing him to Ando on how alike they are. He was introduced in the fourth volume.
• Aoi Mikami (三上 葵, Mikami Aoi) is Mikachin's sweet younger sister, whom Jin has a crush on. She is a year older than Jin and likes to read. Kana Okunoyama portrays her in the live-action series.

Animals

• Chiffon (シフォン, Shifon) is Mimi's pet dog who communicates in an archaic dialect. He dislikes it when Mimi dresses him up, as he claims to be a samurai. Aya Ozaki provides his voice in the live-action series.
• Huckleberry (ハックルベリー, Hakkuruberī) is Choco's sassy, female pet cat. Sachi Kumada provides her voice in the live-action series.
• Picho (ピッチョ, Picho) is Ando's female pet chick, whom he constantly dotes on.
• Anko (アンコ, Anko) is a kitten that was found by Choco and Mimi at school, whom Mumu takes in.

TV Drama

The manga was adapted into a live-action drama series, which ran for 26 episodes on TV Tokyo from 2007 to 2008. It aired on Mondays from 17:30 (equivalent to 5:30) to 18:00 (equivalent to 6:00). It was directed by Yoka Kusano. The opening song was "Happy Happy!" (ハピハピ！), sung by Choco and Mimi. The ending for episodes 1-13 was "I can't!" by MYSTIC. The ending for episodes 14-26 was "Rocket" (ロケット), also originally by MYSTIC. It was sung by Choco, Mimi, Ando, Mumu, and Mikami. Each episode was divided into an A-story and a B-story.

Further Reading

• Chocomini volume 1 (ISBN 978-1-4215-2758-1)

External links

• TV Tokyo's official site for ChocoMimi (Japanese)
• Viz Media's page
• ChocoMimi (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia