Only the Ring Finger Knows

Only the Ring Finger Knows (その指だけが知っている) is the title of a shōnen-ai light novel series written by Satoru Kannagi. It was made into a manga illustrated by Hotaru Odagiri, which has been licensed in the United States by Digital Manga Publishing.

Plot
In the school that Wataru Fujii goes to, when one wears matching rings on their right ring finger it is a sign of friendship, a ring on the right middle finger means single, and to wear matching rings on the left ring finger means a couple. One day Wataru accidentally switches rings with the very kind, handsome, popular senior, Yuichi Kazuki, because for some strange twist, their rings match. After the strange encounter, Yuichi is uncharacteristically mean to Wataru. Is it because he just can't stand him or is it because he actually loves him?

In Manga and Novel

 * Wataru Fujii: The typical impulsive, brash high school student, with normal teenage problems. His life is turned upsidedown, however, after a fateful encounter with senior, Yuichi Kazuki who he finds wears a ring identical to his.


 * Yuichi Kazuki: A popular upperclassman, with a reputation of being a gentleman. He always gives a girl a proper let down. Generally seen as a kind person, his cutting remarks bewilder Wataru, whom he treats with contempt.


 * Karin Fujii: Wataru's younger sister. They look so much alike that people often mistake them as twins. She goes to an all girls school and through strange circumstances, people think she and Yuichi have a relationship.


 * Kawamura: Wataru's classmate and class friend. He has a crush on Mai Tachibana, the hottest girl in their class and is slightly resentful of Yuichi for "stealing" her away.


 * Toko: Yuichi's older cousin. Toko runs a jewelry shop, Parfait, and was the person who made Yuichi's ring. She enjoys going places with Yuichi to "show him off".


 * Mai Tachibana: The hottest girl in the class. She has a big crush on Yuichi and rejected Kawamura because of it.


 * Takako Kazuki: Yuichi's little niece who comes to visit him on his birthday. She has a dog. She gets "engaged" to Wataru accidentally.

Only In Novel

 * Miho Ookusa: Pretty, popular first-year student who finds Wataru's ring and seems to show an interest in him. She is used to having guys notice her good looks and attempts to use her charm on Wataru, however he remains unaffected. To get his ring back, she tells Wataru that he must become friends with her, so they spend a large amount of time together and rumors about the two spread. It is later revealed that she stole Wataru's ring in the first place to cause him trouble because she had secretly been in love with Kazuki and had found out about their relationship. Kazuki later says, however, that although she might have once loved him she now liked Wataru.


 * Masanobu Asaka: He is Kazuki's rival and senior in college. He is very similar to Kazuki, in that both stand out for their looks and have similar mannerisms. Kazuki becomes jealous whenever he sees Asaka talking to Wataru and does not like Asaka. Wataru is oblivious to Asaka's feelings.


 * Shohei: Kazuki's older brother who doesn't approve of Wataru and Kazuki's relationship.

Media
Only the Ring Finger Knows first began as a series of novels, and was later adapted into a manga.

Novels
In conjunction with Digital Manga Publishing, five paperback novels are planned to be released based on the series: The Japanese version of volume 5 was published on September 27, 2008, which is the final volume. Currently, no release date has been set for the English version, according to the DMP forums.
 * 1) Only the Ring Finger Knows: The Lonely Ring Finger: Released March 2006
 * 2) Only the Ring Finger Knows: The Left Hand Dreams of Him: Released July 2006
 * 3) Only the Ring Finger Knows: The Ring Finger Falls Silent: Released October 2006
 * 4) Only the Ring Finger Knows: The Ring Will Confess His Love: Released June 10, 2009
 * 5) Only the Ring Finger Knows: Only That Ring Finger Will Sleep: TBA

Manga
The manga version written by Satoru Kannagi and illustrated by Hotaru Odagiri only contains one volume and was published by Tokuma Shoten in Japan. The manga is now licensed by Digital Manga Publishing.

Drama CD
Only the Ring Finger Knows also has 4 volumes of Drama CDs to date, the first 3 based on the first part of each of the three novels, while the fourth drama is based on the second half of the third novel.

Cast:
 * Suzumura Kenichi as Fujii Wataru
 * Sakurai Takahiro as Kazuki Yuichi
 * Kamiya Hiroshi as Asaka Masanobu
 * Konishi Katsuyuki as Kazuki Shohei—Some drama cd trivia:


 * In the Afterword of volume 2, Kannagi-sensei introduced the cast as "... the awesome golden combination of Sakurai Takahiro as Yuichi and Suzumura Kenichi as Wataru...". It's easy to tell that she is a big fan of both voice actors, much more so of them together.


 * Sakurai and Suzumura are very close friends, and have worked together in a lot of projects, BL or not. They have a radio show called Cherry Bell, and form a duo called R-16.


 * Apparently, in the second drama cd, when they were doing the kissing scene, Suzumura failed. Sakurai told him "It's not like that", to which he asked "Then how should that be?" And the kiss scene took much longer than usual.


 * In the booklet for the third drama cd, Kannagi-sensei wrote that when Suzumura comes in, Sakurai and Kamiya give off a "competitive aura".

Reception
As of mid-2005, the English-language edition of the manga was in its third printing, with sales of over 12,000 copies. The manga is one of the best known shōnen ai manga in the United States, with reported sales of over 30,000 copies sold.