Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki (Japanese: 弱キャラ友崎くん, Hepburn: Jaku-kyara Tomozaki-kun) is a Japanese light novel series written by Yūki Yaku and illustrated by Fly. Shogakukan has published seven volumes since May 2016 under their Gagaga Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Eight Chida has been serialized via Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Gangan Joker since December 2017. It has been collected in three tankōbon volumes. The light novel is licensed in North America by Yen Press and the English translation is by Winifred Bird.[2] An anime television series adaptation produced by Project No.9 premiered in January 2021.

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki
First light novel volume cover
弱キャラ友崎くん
(Jaku-kyara Tomozaki-kun)
GenreRomantic comedy[1]
Light novel
Written byYūki Yaku
Illustrated byFly
Published byShogakukan
English publisher
ImprintGagaga Bunko
DemographicMale
Original runMay 18, 2016 – present
Volumes9
Manga
Written byYūki Yaku
Illustrated byEight Chida
Published bySquare Enix
MagazineMonthly Gangan Joker
DemographicShōnen
Original runDecember 22, 2017 – present
Volumes3
Manga
Nanami Minami wa Kagayakitai
Written byYūki Yaku
Illustrated byBana Yoshida
Published byShogakukan
Magazine
DemographicSeinen
Original runJuly 18, 2020 – present
Volumes1
Anime television series
Directed byShinsuke Yanagi
Written byFumihiko Shimo
Music byHiromi Mizutani
StudioProject No.9
Licensed byFunimation
Children's Playground Entertainment
Original networkAT-X, Tokyo MX, BS11
English network
Original run January 8, 2021 – present
Episodes5

Characters
Fumiya Tomozaki (友崎 文也, Tomozaki Fumiya)
Voiced by: Gen Satō[3]
Fumiya is a high school student who has been living as a social outcast at school and he is the main protagonist in the anime. In a popular Japanese online game "Attack Families", he has been topping leaderboard charts with the in-game handle "nanashi". As he often compares both his real life and gaming life, he regards Attack Families as a "godly game" where there is perfect balance as equal amounts of effort would be rewarded with equal amounts of success; where in contrast, real life which he dubs a "trash game" doesn't have a walkthrough, has character strength predetermined when you're born and unexplainable imbalances. His perspectives begins to change as it is revealed to him that his perfect classmate Aoi, who all along has been trailing behind him at 2nd place on Attack Families' leaderboards, regards real life as a winnable game and offers to be his walkthrough guide. Aoi offered to challenge him to meet the long-term goal of "becoming an existence on the level of Aoi Hinami", broken down to multiple medium-term goals such as "getting a girlfriend" and "becoming a central figure in class through leading a clique", with more short-term goals to slowly build his strength and confidence. With Aoi's guidance, Fumiya eventually took steps such as altering his appearance, establishing friendships with popular boys and girls in class, working part-time at a karaoke box and becoming part of the popular Nakamura clique. He achieved his first medium-term goal through beginning a relationship with classmate Fūka Kikuchi.
Aoi Hinami (日南 葵, Hinami Aoi)
Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto[3]
Aoi is Fumiya's classmate who has been regarded as a perfect existence. She essentially excels at everything she does, whether socially, academically or in sports by leading her own class clique, topping the school in grades and excelling at track and field competitions, all while maintaining a likable personality. Behind the scenes, she puts in a terrifying amount of hard work, and is a strong believer of concrete, dedicated effort in order to succeed at everything. This involves memorizing conversation starters and fine-tuning her voice and appearance which took Fumiya aback when he first knew about it. Aoi is also an avid fan of Attack Families, where she goes by "NO NAME", and hugely respects "nanashi" who she couldn't surpass despite her efforts in analyzing his playstyle and perfecting her defence techniques. However, she was highly disappointed when it was revealed to her that "nanashi" is in fact her classmate Fumiya, who spends no effort in real life and escapes from reality with what she regards as an excuse. Frustrated, she decides to prove a point by offering herself to guide Fumiya in real life, and make him accept that life is an amazing game on par with Attack Families. She constantly rejects and ridicules Fumiya's suggestions that she needs to find a true purpose in life, while reacting negatively to Fūka's observation that she is "empty inside". It is revealed that her dedication to perfection only started in middle school, where she lost a little sister due to unrevealed reasons.
Minami Nanami (七海 みなみ, Nanami Minami)
Voiced by: Ikumi Hasegawa[3]
Nicknamed "Mimimi" by her friends, Minami is an energetic, mischievous and popular classmate of Fumiya who's in the track and field club with Aoi. While maintaining a cheerful demeanor, she has insecurities about herself and her personality that gives in easily to not ruin the mood. Minami has been persistent in pestering the lonely Hanabi into being her friend, and thus eventually established a close friendship with her. Despite her goofy appearance, she also excels at both studies and sports, yet is unable to dethrone Aoi who perpetually holds first place. In a challenge to Aoi, she decided to contest against her in the student council president election. As Fumiya was tasked per Aoi's instructions to assist Minami for the election, Minami enlisted him as her strategic advisor. Despite Fumiya's efforts, the stark difference between her popularity and Aoi's still eventually lost her the election. Dejected, she decided to follow Aoi's harsh training regime in track and field in order to keep up with her pace, and yet was overwhelmed with the sheer physical requirement needed to follow it. She eventually came to terms with not needing to be the best, and restored her friendship with Aoi. As her friendship with Fumiya develops, she realized her feelings for him and confessed, but was rejected in favour of Fūka.
Fūka Kikuchi (菊池 風香, Kikuchi Fūka)
Voiced by: Ai Kayano[3]
Fūka is a reserved and book-loving classmate of Fumiya who often spends time at the library. She initially took interest in Fumiya under the misunderstanding that they both share an interest in the same author, whereas Fumiya only used those books as a cover while doing strategic reviews on Attack Families in the library. Fumiya came forward and admitted the misunderstanding, and despite that still resolves to try to read and understand the books Fūka loves, as they developed a friendship on it. Aoi initially identified Fūka as the best prospect for Fumiya to capture as a girlfriend, and has created multiple situations in order for Fumiya to confess to clear his goal. However, due to Fumiya's insistence that he won't date somebody when he can't confirm his feelings, he decided against it, a move which angered Aoi. Fūka is an aspiring novelist, who loves to investigate and study each person's motives for their actions and experiences that shaped them to who they are today. Under Fumiya's suggestion, she allowed her favorite work to be used in their classes performance at the cultural festival. Unbeknownst to many, the characters in the fantasy story was loosely based on Aoi, Fumiya and herself. During the performance, she decided to let the characters representing Aoi and Fumiya end up with each other while her character went away to start a new life, in an apparent show of her views that it is "the desire of the world" for Aoi and Fumiya to end up together. Sensing the rejection, Fumiya chased after Fūka to explain that she could be more selfish and express her feelings more, whereafter Fumiya confessed his feelings for her as they started a relationship.
Hanabi Natsubayashi (夏林 花火, Natsubayashi Hanabi)
Voiced by: Ryōko Maekawa[3]
Nicknamed "Tama" by her friends, Hanabi is a blunt and unsociable classmate of Fumiya. Hanabi is especially close to Minami as Minami was the first to try and break through her barriers and befriend her, and they hold each other dear. Her blunt nature often leaves her disliked and, once, got her into trouble as she openly condemned Erika's actions of harassment and bullying, thus making her the target of bullying herself. As she suffers from bullying, Fumiya, Takahiro, Takei and Fūka, among others, decided to step in to help her develop social skills. While she was ultimately freed of the harassment due to Aoi's schemes to bring down Erika's position in class, her efforts paid off as a changed Hanabi was eventually accepted by other members in class. Her family runs a pâtisserie and she hopes to one day inherit it.
Yuzu Izumi (泉 優鈴, Izumi Yuzu)
Voiced by: Nene Hieda[3]
Yuzu is a social and empathetic classmate of Fumiya who's part of Erika Konno's clique. As someone who dislikes conflict, she is often unwilling to stand up to Erika's unreasonable actions. Yuzu was Fumiya's first target to befriend to grow his interpersonal skills as she sits beside him in class. Yuzu is in love with Shūji, and has enlisted Fumiya's help to teach her how to play Attack Families, in order to become Shūji's practice partner. Aoi, Takahiro, Minami and Fumiya planned an camping trip in order for Yuzu to get closer with Shūji, as it becomes apparent to others that they share mutual love for each other. During the sports festival, she was especially concerned with Shūji skipping classes due to arguments with his parents, and thus put in effort to resolve tensions between them. After the sports festival, she started going out with Shūji.
Takahiro Mizusawa (水沢 孝弘, Mizusawa Takahiro)
Voiced by: Nobunaga Shimazaki[3]
Takahiro is a popular, gregarious and good-looking classmate of Fumiya who's part of Shūji Nakamura's clique, as is often considered as the smartest and most level-headed member of the group. He often attracts the attention of girls and is an extremely smooth talker, as he is Fumiya's role model on the way he speaks. He developed a friendship with Fumiya through being his co-worker at a karaoke box, and is perceptive enough to notice the changes surrounding Fumiya, including the fact that Fumiya is deliberately changing his demeanor. As he naturally puts up a front in the face of others, he noticed similarities between himself and Aoi, and realized that Aoi is the one girl he can't deceive with his speech. Thus, he developed a romantic attraction to Aoi, to which his confession was rejected. He strives to gain a greater status and presence in order to attract Aoi's attention. Despite neither Aoi nor Fumiya showing any romantic interest with each other, he considers Fumiya as his romantic rival.
Shūji Nakamura (中村 修二, Nakamura Shūji)
Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto[3]
Shūji is a domineering classmate of Fumiya, who is the de facto leader of his own clique. He is overly competitive and petty when he loses, as shown when he loses to Fumiya on Attack Families, dismissing his loss as a stroke of bad luck while practicing hard in order to win in a revenge match. He eventually accepts Fumiya as part of his clique after acknowledging his strengths. He often argues with his parents, and skips classes while he sulks against his parents for disagreeing with him. However, he is generally considered dependable as his clique often follows his lead. He has rejected Erika's confession and developed feelings for Yuzu, to which he was oblivious that their feelings were mutual at first. He eventually confessed to Yuzu after the sports festival as they began dating.
Takei (竹井, Takei)
Voiced by: Shuntarō Mizuno[3]
Takei is a cheerful and airheaded classmate of Fumiya, who's often the mood maker of Shūji Nakamura's clique. Considered as the densest member of the clique, he is often excluded from strategic meetings such as when they were planning a camping trip to get Shūji and Yuzu together. He loves to take the center of attention as he often volunteers to take class positions, and often entertains others with his spontaneous acts. He admitted that he has taken an interest in Hanabi.
Erika Konno (紺野 エリカ, Konno Erika)
Tsugumi Narita (成田 つぐみ, Narita Tsugumi)

Media

Light novels
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 May 18, 2016[4]978-4-09-451610-4June 30, 2019[5]978-1-97-535825-9
2 September 16, 2016[6]978-4-09-451631-9November 26, 2019[7]978-1-97-538458-6
3 January 18, 2017[8]978-4-09-451655-5April 21, 2020[9]978-1-97-538459-3
4 June 20, 2017[10]978-4-09-451683-8August 18, 2020[11]978-1-97-535825-9
5 November 17, 2017[12]978-4-09-451709-5November 17 2020[13]978-1-97-538461-6
6 May 18, 2018[14]978-4-09-451733-0March 23, 2021[15]978-1-97-538462-3
6.5 October 18, 2018[16]978-4-09-451757-6——
7 April 18, 2019[17][18]978-4-09-451785-9 (regular edition)
978-4-09-451789-7 (special edition)		——
8 October 18, 2019[19]978-4-09-451815-3——
8.5 April 17, 2020[20][21]978-4-09-451840-5 (regular edition)
978-4-09-451850-4 (special edition)		——
9 January 19, 2021[22]978-4-09-451878-8——

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Eight Chida began in Square Enix's Monthly Gangan Joker on December 22, 2017.[23]

A spin-off manga series illustrated by Bana Yoshida, titled Nanami Minami wa Kagayakitai (七海みなみは輝きたい), began in Shogakukan's Manga One app and Monthly Sunday Gene-X magazine on July 18, 2020. The series focuses on the character, Minami Nanami.[24][25][26]

Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki
No. Japanese release date Japanese ISBN
1 May 18, 2018[27]978-4-7575-5713-0
2 October 18, 2018[28]978-4-7575-5871-7
3 April 17, 2020[29]978-4-7575-6619-4
Nanami Minami wa Kagayakitai
No. Japanese release date Japanese ISBN
1 December 18, 2021[30]978-4-09-157618-7

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced by Yūki Yaku and Gagaga Bunko on October 11, 2019,[31] which was later confirmed to be a television series on March 21, 2020. The series is animated by Project No.9 and directed by Shinsuke Yanagi, with Fumihiko Shimo handling series composition, and Akane Yano designing the characters.[3] Hiromi Mizutani is composing the series' music. The series premiered on January 8, 2021 on Tokyo MX, AT-X, and BS11.[32][33] The opening theme song is "Life easy?" (人生イージー？, "Jinsei Ījī?"), and the ending theme song is "Ayafuwa Asterisk" (あやふわアスタリスク, "Ayafuwa Asutarisuku"), both performed by Dialogue+.[34] Funimation licensed the series outside of Asia and is streaming it on its website in North America and the British Isles, in Europe through Wakanim, and in Australia and New Zealand through AnimeLab.[35] Children's Playground Entertainment has licensed the series in Southeast Asia, and is releasing it on Aniplus Asia and Bilibili.[36][37] The series will run for 12 episodes.[38]

No.Title [39][40]Directed by [39]Written by [39]Original air date [41]
1"Say what you want; famous games are usually fun"
Transcription: "Nandakanda Itte Yūmei na Gēmu wa Daitai Omoshiroi" (Japanese: なんだかんだ言って 有名なゲームは大体おもしろい)		Haruo ŌgawaraFumihiko ShimoJanuary 8, 2021 (2021-01-08)
2"It feels awesome to gain a bunch of levels after a battle"
Transcription: "Ikkai no Sentō de Reberu ga Renzoku de Agaru to Metcha Kimochi ii" (Japanese: 一回の戦闘でレベルが連続で上がるとめっちゃ気持ちいい)		Kana KawanaFumihiko ShimoJanuary 15, 2021 (2021-01-15)
3"When a girl's your first friend, life feels like a date for a while"
Transcription: "Hitorime no Nakama ga On'na no Ko da to Shibaraku Dēto Kibun de Bōken Dekiru" (Japanese: 一人目の仲間が女の子だとしばらくデート気分で冒険できる)		Masahiro OkamuraSatoru SugisawaJanuary 22, 2021 (2021-01-22)
4"Sometimes you conquer a dungeon only to find a strong boss back in your village"
Transcription: "Danjon Kōryaku-go ni Mura ni Kaeru to Tsuyoi Bosu ga Itari Suru" (Japanese: ダンジョン攻略後に村に帰ると強いボスがいたりする)		Haruo ŌgawaraFumihiko ShimoJanuary 29, 2021 (2021-01-29)
5"The characters who become your friends after you clear a hard event usually have high stats"
Transcription: "Nankan Ibento Kōryaku-go ni Nakama ni Naru Kyara wa Daitai Nōryoku-chi Takai" (Japanese: 難関イベント攻略後に仲間になるキャラはだいたい能力値高い)		Toshiaki KanbaraShingo NagaiFebruary 5, 2021 (2021-02-05)
6"When I start a game inside a game, it doesn't really stop"
Transcription: "Gēmu-nai Gēmu o Yari Dasu to Maji de Tomaranai" (Japanese: ゲーム内ゲームをやり出すとマジで止まらない)		Kazuto FujiwaraShingo NagaiFebruary 12, 2021 (2021-02-12)

Reception

The light novel series ranked eighth in 2017, seventh in 2018 and third in 2019 and 2020 in Takarajimasha's annual light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, in the bunkobon category.[31][42]

References
  1. "Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki". Yen Press. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  2. "Library of Congress Catalog". Library of Congress Catalog. Library of Congress. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  3. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (March 21, 2020). "Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki Anime Reveals Staff, Cast, TV Format". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  4. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.1" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  5. "Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 1 (light novel)". Yen Press. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  6. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.2" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  7. "Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2 (light novel)". Yen Press. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  8. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.3" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  9. "Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 1 (light novel)". Yen Press. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  10. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.4" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  11. "Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 1 (light novel)". Yen Press. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  12. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.5" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  13. "Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 5 (light novel)". Yen Press. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  14. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.6" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  15. "Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 6 (light novel)". Yen Press. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  16. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.6.5" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  17. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.7" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  18. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.7 イラスト集付き特装版" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  19. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.8" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  20. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.8.5" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  21. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.8.5 ドラマCD付き特装版" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  22. "弱キャラ友崎くん Lv.9" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  23. 「弱キャラ友崎くん」マンガ版がJOKERで、「賭ケグルイ」ポチミケ札風の付録も. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. December 22, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  24. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (July 20, 2020). "Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Novels Get Spinoff Manga About Minami". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  25. サンデーGX創刊20周年！ブラック・ラグーン4号連続アクスタ付属、4大新連載も. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. July 18, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  26. 月刊　サンデーＧＸ　８月号 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  27. 弱キャラ友崎くん-COMIC- 1 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  28. 弱キャラ友崎くん-COMIC- 2 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  29. 弱キャラ友崎くん-COMIC- 3 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  30. 七海みなみは輝きたい　弱キャラ友崎くん外伝　１ (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  31. Sherman, Jennifer (October 11, 2019). "Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki Novels Get Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  32. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (September 15, 2020). "Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki Anime Reveals More Staff, January Debut". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  33. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (November 5, 2020). "Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki Anime Reveals January 8 Debut, New Visual of Female Characters". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  34. "Terebi Anime "Jaku-kyara Tomozaki-kun" Kōshiki Saito" TVアニメ「弱キャラ友崎くん」公式サイト [TV Anime "Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki" Official Website]. tomozaki-koushiki.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 16, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  35. "It's Game On in Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki This January on Funimation". Funimation. December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  36. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 23, 2020). "Aniplus Asia Airs Simulcast of Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  37. @bilibilith (January 7, 2021). "อัพเดตตารางอนิเมะมาใหม่ เริ่ม: 8 ม.ค. 2021" (Tweet) (in Thai). Retrieved February 2, 2021 – via Twitter.
  38. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (January 3, 2021). "3 More Winter Season Anime Reveal Episode Counts". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  39. "Terebi Anime "Jaku-kyara Tomozaki-kun" Kōshiki Saito" TVアニメ「弱キャラ友崎くん」公式サイト [TV Anime "Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki" Official Website]. tomozaki-koushiki.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  40. "Watch Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki Sub | Comedy, Drama Anime | Funimation". Funimation. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  41. "Terebi Anime "Jaku-kyara Tomozaki-kun" Kōshiki Saito" TVアニメ「弱キャラ友崎くん」公式サイト [TV Anime "Bottom-tier Character Tomozaki" Official Website]. tomozaki-koushiki.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  42. "Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! Reveals 2019 Series Ranking". Anime News Network. November 23, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
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