SEIICHI

High schooler Souta Mizutani is confessed to by the "Frail Beauty" Shino Aizawa, but there is a catch—there are four of her! It turns out that after accidentally falling into a mysterious hole in the ground, Shino multiplied into three other people. They are all technically the same person as Shino, but apart from the original, each of them are manifestations of a different part of her personality: her courage, embarrassment, and lust! While dealing with one girlfriend proves challenging enough for most people, Souta, on the other hand, must now deal with four times the pressure. Although his attention is primarily focused on the original Shino, he will also need to cater to the needs of the duplicates in this series of cute, comedic, and heartwarming antics.

Furi Youko definitely looks like a delinquent: she's got a tough-girl image that wouldn't be out of place in a gang. When Taira Namito finds himself sitting next to her in his high school class, he's immediately afraid of her. But as it turns out, Furi’s rough-and-tumble exterior hides a wholesome, totally cute person underneath–and she's got the hots for Taira. (Although that part goes right over his head.) One misunderstanding leads to another in this romantic comedy about a clueless dude and the adorable, slightly terrifying affections of the tough girl by his side!

Chiyo Kuno, a high school student, has the power to see the future. One day, she learns through a vision that she will marry her fellow classmate, Kishida, who likes her and isn't shy at all about expressing his love for her. This is the story of the two lovebirds and the daily struggle for the easily embarrassed Chiyo to turn down Kishida's advances (both in reality and in her visions) while ignoring her developing feelings...

Seiichi Hayashi produced Red Colored Elegy between 1970 and 1971, in the aftermath of a politically turbulent and culturally vibrant decade that promised but failed to deliver new possibilities. With a combination of sparse line work and visual codes borrowed from animation and film, the quiet melancholy lives of a young couple struggling to make ends meet are beautifully captured in this poetic masterpiece. Marginally involved with the political movements of the time, Ichiro and Sachiko hope for something better but aren't revolutionaries; their spare time is spent drinking, smoking, daydreaming, and sleeping–together and at times with others. While Ichiro attempts to make a living from his comics, Sachiko's parents are eager to arrange a marriage for her, but Ichiro doesn't seem interested. Both in their relationship and at work, Ichiro and Sachiko are unable to say the things they need to say, and like any couple, at times say things to each other that they do not mean, ultimately communicating as much with their body language and what remains unsaid as with words. Red Colored Elegy is informed as much by underground Japanese comics of the time as it is by the French Nouvelle Vague, and its cultural referents range from James Dean to Ken Takakura. Its influence in Japan was so large that Morio Agata, a prominent Japanese folk musician and singer songwriter, debuted with a love song written and named after it. "I wanted to live like Sachiko and Ichiro; to have aspirations even while living stoically and humbly." –Morio Agata