Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi season 1

Sekai'ichi Hatsukoi: Onodera Ritsu no Ba'ai (世界一初恋 〜小野寺律の場合〜, lit. "The World's Greatest First Love: Onodera Ritsu's Affair") is a Japanese boys-love manga series written and illustrated by Shungiku Nakamura. In 2011, the manga was adapted into an anime television series under the title Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi. Produced by Studio DEEN under the direction of Chiaki Kon, the anime series began its broadcast run on April 9, 2011.An original animation DVD was bundled with the fifth and sixth volumes of the manga series, released in March and September 2011.

Plot

Onodera Ritsu, a literary editor, resigns from his father's publishing company, due to his coworkers' jealousy of his success, claiming that he is simply riding his father's coattails. He applies for a position at Marukawa Publishing, but instead of his preferred department of literature he is placed in the infamous shōjo manga department, Emerald. He initially considers resigning, especially because he finds his new boss, Masamune Takano, intolerable and unnerving fr

om the very beginning; however, Takano inadvertently convinces Onodera to stick with the job by calling him "useless," his pride forcing him to stay in order to prove his worth. Later, Onodera learns that Takano's old family name was Saga, an older schoolmate from high school that Ritsu fell in love with and confessed to.

Characters

Ritsu Onodera (小野寺 律 Onodera Ritsu)

Voiced by: Takashi Kondo

Ritsu is a 25-year-old jaded literary editor. He is the only son of the head of Onodera Publication and previously worked at his father's company in the literature department. Hearing his fellow co-workers accusing him of only getting ahead because of his father's influence, he decides to show that he can be successful on his own by going to work at Marukawa Publishing. After being hurt by his first love in high school when he was 15, Ritsu vowed to never fall in love again. His resolve is tested, however, when he is reunited with the boy he once loved. Now very much a man and his new boss, things get very complicated for Ritsu. And now he must figure out his feelings while also jugg ling his career and seduction from his former first love and new boss. At his previous job, he was an editor in charge of Akihiko Usami as well as Ryouichi Sumi, father of Misaki's friend Keiichi Sumi (all from Junjo Romantica).

Masamune Takano (高野 政宗 Takano Masamune)

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi

Formerly known as Masamune Saga, before his parents divorced in high school and his mother remarried. He is the editor-in-chief of the Emerald department at Marukawa, and is sometimes referred to as "the capable". He and Ritsu were once in a brief relationship in high school but split up over a misunderstanding, where they both thought each other was wrong. It is revealed that he later had a breakdown from the break-up, family problems, and other personal issues, which in turn left him with unresolved feelings for Ritsu. When both he and Ritsu realize who each other are, he promises Ritsu he will make him fall in love with him again, much to R itsu's contempt. In Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi: Takano Masamune no Baai (lit. Masamune Takano's Case), the reader sees Takano's perspective on his and Ritsu's first meeting and romantic development.

An Kohinata (小日向 杏 Kohinata An)

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura

Ritsu's childhood friend and his fiancée, due to an agreement their parents made when the two were kids. However, Ritsu does not view her as his fiancée. Sweet, polite and sensitive, An has deep feelings towards him, despite being rejected by Ritsu (whom she calls 'Ricchan') when she confessed her love. She discovered the bond between Masamune and Ritsu and encouraged Ritsu to do his best, while telling Masamune she will not forgive him if he hurts Ritsu.

Chiaki Yoshino (吉野 千秋 Yoshino Chiaki)

Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana

Chiaki Yoshino is a 28 year old shōjo manga artist known as Chiharu Yoshikawa (a female name). His editor in-charge is Yoshiyuki Hatori, who is also his childhood friend. His two best friends are Hatori and Yanase, but the lines between friendship and love begin to blur after a number of confusing inci dents. Chiaki begins to question his feelings for Hatori after not only witnessing him and Yanase together in what he thinks is a kiss; then Hatori kisses him one night. Chiaki begins to realize he has to confront his true feelings or risk losing them both.

Yoshiyuki Hatori (羽鳥 芳雪 Hatori Yoshiyuki)

Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura (voice actor)

Hatori, also known as Tori, is 28 years old and an editor in the Emerald department. Although in the beginning he is serious and reserved, we later learn that he has harbored both deep and secret feelings for his childhood friend Chiaki. After kissing him and confessing his love, Hatori pulls away fearing that Chiaki doesn't feel the same, but instead loves his rival, Yanase. Although Chiaki does somewhat have the same feelings, unbeknownst to Tori.

Yuu Yanase (柳瀬 優 Yanase Yuu)

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya

Chief assistant for mangaka Yoshino Chiaki. Hatori and Chiaki both came to know Yuu when they were in junior high. An immediate tension is visible between Hatori and Yanase. It isn't until later that it is di scovered that both are vying for the love of Chiaki.

Shōta Kisa (木佐 翔太 Kisa Shōta)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto

Kisa is a fellow editor in the Emerald department, and because of his looks he is mistaken for being much younger than his true age of 30. He considers himself gay and has never been in a serious relationship; he doesn't think himself capable of being in one because of his tendency to fall in love for only good looks without knowing a guy's personality. Because of this, he immediately questions his feelings for Kou and doesn't hold out much hope for a relationship with him. His mentality can be described by his line: "love at first sight works well enough in manga, but this is reality."

Kō Yukina (雪名 皇 Yukina Kō)

Voiced by: Tomoaki M aeno

Yukina is a 21-year-old clerk in charge of the shōjo manga section at the bookstore Marimo Books. He's been aware of Kisa coming in to watch him, but when he finds out Kisa is the editor behind all of his favorite works he begins to develop feelings for him, though he considered himself straight prior to then. He's willing to fight to make Kisa understand that what they feel for each other is real and that Kisa is able to actually fall in love.

Takafumi Yokozawa (横澤

隆史 Yokozawa Takafumi)

Voiced by: Kenyu Horiuchi

Yokozawa works in the sales department at Marukawa. He is friends with and had a physical relationship with Takano when they were both in college. It's also common knowledge in the publishing world that he helped Takano get into publishing and get his position at Marukawa. He is seriously jealous of and resents Ritsu, blaming him for "screwing up" Takano. He often warns Ritsu away from Takano, even going as far as proclaiming Takano is his. He has his own side story called Takafumi Yokozawa No Baii(Takafumi Yokozawa Case) about his new love interest, Kirishima, and him handling his rejection by Takano.

Zen Kirishima (桐嶋禅 Kirishim

a Zen)

He was first introduced in Junjo Romantica as the editor in chief of Japun, the shonen manga magazine, and is now Yokozawa's new love interest. He is raising his daughter, Hiyori, on his own due to his wife passing away a few years ago. After blackmailing Yokozawa, the two sta rt dating once they realizing their feelings for each other. He has a habit of teasing Yokozawa, calling him the mother of his daughter Hiyori.

Hiyori Kirishima (桐嶋日和 Kirishima Hiyori)

Hiyori is the only chi ld of Zen; 10 years old and lost her mother some time ago. She bonds quickly with Yokozawa, to whom she refers as 'Onii-san' (big brother/older male figure). She's responsible for cooking her father's meals and is very fond of kittens and green tea sweets.

Kanade Mino (美濃奏 Mino Kanade)

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa

Mino is a fellow editor in the Emerald department, who is constantly smiling through all the stress and exhaustion. It has been hinted that he has a dark side, with Takano saying "Make sure you don't make Mino upset".

Ryūichirō Isaka (井坂 龍一郎 Isaka Ryūichirō)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa

Isaka is the senior managing director of Marukawa Publishing, and is acquainted with Ritsu's parents. He is quite the mysterious man. He is also a character of Junjo Romantica. In "Junjo Mistake" the reader learns he has been in a relationship with his secretary/former childh ood playmate/caretaker Asahina since 10 years ago when both realized their mutual feelings. He once aspired to be a novelist, but realized his real talents lay in finding future best-sellers. Like Ritsu, others once implied that Isaka's success only came from his family's influence (when in reality it was his talent in nurturing authors to greatness), so he feels a kinship with Ritsu, which annoys Ritsu who wants to get away from that image.

Kaoru Asahina (朝比奈 薫 Asahina Kaoru)

Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu

Asahina is Ryūichiro's assistant, and came to work for the Isaka family when they helped the Asahina family out of a bad situation. Originally intended to be Isaka's playmate, he ended up becoming something more of a caretaker and developed feelings for Isaka at a young age.

Anime

The first season opening for the anime is "Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru" by Shuhei Kita and the ending is "Ashita Boku wa Kimi ni Ai ni Iku" by Wakaba. The second season opening is "Sekai no Hate ni Kimi ga Itemo" by Shuhei Kita and the ending is "Aikotoba" by Sakura Merry-Men. The second season will feature Junjou Mistake in episode 6. An OVA, bundled with the limited edition manga vol. 6, was released in September.

Season 1

No.	Title	Original airdate
OVA	"No love's like to the first."	March 22, 2011
Ritsu Onodera meets and immediately falls for upperclassman Masamune Saga. Keeping his distance for the next three years, he unexpectedly runs into Saga at the school library and finds himself confessing, and is even more shocked when Saga says he has no problem hanging out with him. At Saga's house events take an unexpected turn, and Ritsu finds himself in a relationship with the boy of his dreams. In the end Ritsu wakes up at work, now 25 years old and dreaming about a flame from his past who jaded his view on love, and is antagonized by his boss Masamune Takano for falling asleep during a busy time of the publishing cycle.
01	"First impressions are the most lasting."	April 9, 2011
Onodera begins work at his new position at Emerald, and is harshly introduced to their production "cycle" by being thrown into the mess of their burned-out phase, in which everyone appears brutally overworked and exhausted. He is shocked to find them transformed the next day into composed and energetic people who spiritedly show him the basics of manga editing.
02	"A man has free choice to begin love but not end it."	April 16, 2011
As Onodera continues learning the ropes of manga editing and publishing, his interactions with Takano become more tense and uncomfortable. Takano eventually realizes who Onodera is, later revealing his identity to Onodera as his first love from high school, bringing back memories of being used and tossed aside, even though, as Takano explains, they were fuelled by a gross misunderstanding. He is left conflicted in regards to his true feelings toward Takano.
03	"In love there is both dotage and discretion."	April 23, 2011
After Takano and another staff member have a heated argument in the Emerald office about an underprinted publication, Onodera sees the two of them later having a seemingly friendly conversation in the lobby, stirring a sense of jealousy within him. Perturbed by the fact that this bothered him, he begins avoiding Takano even more, prompting Takano to confront him about the situation before it begins affecting their capacity to work together.
04	"Adversity makes a man wise."	April 30, 2011
The author that Onodera has been overseeing suddenly falls ill along with all of her helpers near the publication deadline. He rushes to the distant Hokkaido to assist her personally, despite protests from his superiors. As the entire editing staff stands on the end of their nerves, Onodera barely makes the deadline with the finished manuscript. He later falls asleep on the train with Takano, and finds himself sleeping in the same bed as Takano the following morning, flustering his emotions and pushing him further into refusal to open himself to Takano.
05	"Love is lawless."	May 7, 2011
This episode introduces a new set of characters - Chiaki Yoshino, a male author who releases shōjo manga under the female pseudonym Chiharu Yoshikawa; Yoshiyuki Hatori, his manager and childhood friend; and Yuu Yanase, his chief assistant, who is on rough but unclear terms with his manager. Hatori's increasing coldness toward Chiaki begins to take its toll on their friendship, and when pressed on personal matters, Hatori becomes distant. Chiaki later sees Hatori and Yuu in an alley having what he interprets as an argument between lovers. Growing distraught with confusion that begins to affect his ability to write, Chiaki slowly realizes his feelings for Hatori. However, Hatori later confesses his love for Chiaki, much to his surprise, along with admitting that he had changed Chiaki's management behind Chiaki's back, fearing that his confession would put their relationship on bad terms. This forces Chiaki to admit his own budding feelings.
06	"Go to the sea, if you would fish well."
After an onsen trip, Chiaki is burned out and can hardly concentrate on work. The emerging love triangle between him, Hatori and Yuu compounds his inability to focus as well. Later on in Chiaki's apartment, Hatori informs him that he must attend an upcoming party because his manga will be made into an anime and he must meet the people in charge. Hatori offers to pick a suit for Chiaki, but Chiaki prefers to go shopping with Yuu instead, sparking jealousy in Hatori. After Yuu leaves, Hatori makes tries to kiss Chiaki, upon which Chiaki pushes Hatori away because he feels that Hatori is moving too fast. This upsets Hatori and he leaves. During the party, after meeting the anime staff, Chiaki sees Hatori surrounded by many women, including Ichinose Erika; a top writer who is known to have taken a liking to Hatori. Chiaki, feeling that Hatori is comfortable with the writer, becomes jealous and promptly leaves the party with Yuu. Hatori eventually arrives at Chiaki's place because he still needs to discuss some corrections with Chiaki's manga. Chiaki smells perfume on Hatori; feeling that the writer at the party may have gotten too close him, he becomes angry. Hatori reassures Chiaki otherwise and also confesses his jealousy about Chiaki and Yuu, feeling that Chiaki favors Yuu over him. Chiaki also reassures him and Hatori tells him that he loves him, and will continue to tell him until he can never forget. The morning after, Yuu admits to Chiaki that he is in love with someone, but when Chiaki asks who the person is, he simply says that Hatori knows the person well, leaving Chiaki puzzled and confused.
07	"Coming events cast their shadows before them."	May 21, 2011
The episode begins with Ritsu having another flashback dream, in which he sees Saga sleeping in the library and tries to find out what book he was reading, but runs away when he thinks Saga is about to wake up. Afterwards, Ritsu wakes up and goes to work. At Marukawa, Ritsu's assignment is to make his first proposal as a manga editor to publish the manga he's supervising as a book. It is initially rejected by Takano, so he stays late at night working on it. Later that night, Takano helps Ritsu with his proposal, even though Ritsu didn't want his help. After a while, Takano suddenly kisses him to break the tension, and consequently gets hit by Ritsu. Yokozawa then arrives and sends Takano to meet someone. When he's alone with Ritsu, Yokozawa proclaims Takano as his property, and doesn't believe Ritsu's words about not having any relation with Masamune other than that of boss-subordinate. At a bookstore the next day, Ritsu meets an old female friend from his previous job, and they go for drinks. She gets drunk, stumbles, and falls into Ritsu's arms. This is seen by Takano, who had just arrived with Ichinose Erika, a female writer, to discuss work (Ritsu misunderstands this and feels jealous). When he arrives home, he Takano accuses him of not working hard enough. Takano makes another pass and admits to being in love with him, but Ritsu (whom is still wary of admitting his love for Takano) runs away and leaves Takano alone in his apartment. The proposal meeting day arrives and Ritsu is quite nervous, but Takano tries to cheer him up on the way to the meeting. In this episode another Junjou Romantica character appears; Isaka Ryuichiro.
08	"Looks breed love."	May 28, 2011
Kisa sees Yukina, the Marimo Books employee he has been attracted to for a long time, selling the latest book he has edited. Tall, handsome and charming; Yukina is extremely popular among girls, who are easily convinced to buy the books he is selling. Kisa does not believe they could ever be together. Checking the sales of his book, Kisa notices that the sales are very high at Marimo Books, as they have been for his previous books too. They are finally introduced to each other by Yokozawa in the bookstore. Just as Kisa is leaving the store, he runs into a persistent ex-lover. After being rejected yet again, the man is about to hit Kisa when he is stopped by Yukina, giving Kisa an opportunity to flee. Later on, Yukina happens to find Kisa in the little-known cafe he had run away to. They talk, and Yukina correctly guesses the authors Kisa has been in charge of, saying they had a similar atmosphere despite being very different books. He is also astounded by Kisa's youthful looks after learning he is actually 30 years old. Yukina reveals he himself is a 21-year-old art student. As he plans a fair to promote Kisa's latest book, it begins to rain. Kisa, however, is lost in thought and doesn't hear Yukina asking him if he has an umbrella. Noticing this, Yukina leans in and kisses Kisa.
09	"The die is cast."	June 4, 2011
Kisa freaks out and cannot concentrate on his work because of his constant flashback to the scene with Yukina at the cafe. He soon receives an e-mail from Yukina inviting him to the bookstore to see the book promotion display stand that they planned earlier. This reminds Kisa of the kiss and he throws himself into a brief depression after convincing himself that Yukina cannot be serious about the kiss. He gets even more down after belittling himself career-wise by comparing his achievements to Takano's. After work, Kisa subconciously arrives at the bookstore, where Yukina shows him the display stand and tells him that the reason he worked so hard on the display was because of Kisa. Noticng that Kisa has been trying to avoid him, Yukina invites him to talk after he finishes work. As Kisa waits for Yukina outside the store, he encounters the persistent ex-lover yet again. The ex-lover finds out about Kisa's feelings for Yukina and threatens to expose him but was defeated by Yukina, who appeared suddenly and claimed himself to be Kisa's boyfriend. Kisa and Yukina end up in Yukina's house, where Yukina finds out that Kisa was in charge of editing all his favorite manga. He then surprises Kisa by telling him how he knows about Kisa's feelings for him from the start, but when he begins to talk about the kiss Kisa immediately interrupts him by saying that he does not care, which triggers an unexpected response from Yukina, who confessed his love for Kisa. Afterwards, Kisa receives notice that his book is getting a second printing, and when Yukina tells him that he loves him after Kisa notified Yukina of the news, Kisa decides that he has fallen in love despite the fact that he claims he can only like men's faces.
10	"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."	June 11, 2011
After working through the night to finish work, Yoshino and Yuu stays behind together. Yuu saves Yoshino from falling over the trash can, and starts to tease him by tickling him. Hatori walks in on the scene and misunderstands. Later, Yoshino arrives at Hatori's house and attempts to apologize, but gets mad at Hatori when Hatori says he doesn't want Yoshino to have physical contact with Yuu. They make up temorarily in the morning after Yoshino sleeps over, but gets into a dispute again when Yoshino reveals that he is going to a hot spring with Yuu. On the night of the hot spring trip, Yoshino is surprised to find out that it is his own birthday on that day and realizes why Hatori is upset about his going away. Briefly after his realization, he receives an unexpected love confession from Yuu, but is interrupted by a phone call from Hatori. After hearing a "Happy birthday" from Hatori through the phone, Yoshino suddenly decides to terminate the vacation and go back to Hatori's house, where Hatori gave himself to Yoshino as a birthday present.
11	"It never rains but it pours."	June 18, 2011
Onodera wakes up in the doorway, still holding on to a convenience store-bought dinner, and suddenly remembers a meeting that he was to sit in in the morning. On the subway, he complains about his lifestyle after joining the shōjo manga department. Onodera is surprised by the hostility shown in the proposal meeting and dreads future meetings. After the conference, Onodera meets Sumi Ryouichi (father of Sumi Keiichi from Junjo Romantica), whom he was in charge of before in the literature department at his father's company. Through Sumi sensei, Onodera also meets Hasegawa of the literature department, who later dropped in on Onodera during work and invited him out for a drink. Takano, who happened to hear the invitation, rejected it for Onodera. After commenting on Takano's strictness, Hasegawa reminds Onodera that he can always transfer to the literature department if he no longer wants to work on manga. Later, Onodera encounters Takano at the library and tries to run away. Takano saves him from falling down the stairs as Onodera trips on fallen leaves; as they embrace on the stairs, Takano tries to evoke past memories from the time when they were dating in high school, but Onodera escapes again. At the apartment, Onodera encounters Yokozawa, who apparently was coming out from Takano's room with Takano's cat, Sorata. Yokozawa confronts Onodera and claims Takano as his, and further throws Onodera into confusion by recounting how Onodera had only hurt Takano since they have known each other.
12	"After a storm comes a calm."	June 25, 2011
Meeting Ryouichi Sumi and the advice from Hasegawa have put doubt into Ritsu Onodera's heart. He remembers the reason he transferred to Marukawa and wonders if he can continue to work as a manga editor. While he is struggling, Takano asks him if he wants transfer to the literature department. A call from an author interrupts Onodoera's thoughts, and the author expresses her gratitude for his work and gives him encouragement. Onodera relays her praise to Takano, who further shows his approval of Onodera's work. While at Onodera's place, Takano tells Onodera of the history between him and Yokozawa. As Onodera is immersed in his own thoughts about the two, Takano once again confesses his love for Onodera.

WATCH SEKAI ICHI HATSUKOI SEASON 1

EPISODE 1

EPISODE 2

EPISODE 3

EPISODE 4

EPISODE 5

EPISODE 6

EPISODE 7

EPISODE 8

EPISODE 9

EPISODE 10

EPISODE 11

EPISODE 12

credits : wikipedia, animehere