Tona-Gura! (となグラ!?) is the title of a fictional Japanese comedy/romance story created by Hidetaka Kakei centering around four childhood friends and the romantic relationship between two of them.
Tona-Gura! originally began as a manga series and was released on December 7, 2004. The anime is based on this manga and was released July 8, 2006.
Plot[]
Kazuki has been awaiting 10 years for the day when her neighbours moved back to their old house. She has a crush on Yuuji, whom she considers as her first love but to whom she never managed to express her feelings for him before they moved out. Yuuji often comes over to play with Kazuki, Kazuki's older sister Hatsune and Yuuji's sister Marie when they were kids. Her ideal depiction of Yuuji was soon shattered when he turned out more than she had expected, him acting all perverted during their reunion. With their parents off in South America, both families must learn to live with each other and rekindle the childhood feelings they shared together. Things get even more crazy as they attend the same school.
Characters[]
Main[]
- Kazuki Arisaka (有坂香月 Arisaka Kazuki?) Voiced by: Akemi Kanda
- She is the first main protagonist of the story. Basically, she had an unrequited love for Yuuji Kagura when they were young. She's always dreamed that Yuuji would one day grow up to be a handsome, suave young man. When she finally meets him again ten years later she is disappointed to find that's he has become obnoxiously lewd and perverted, but over time realizes that even with all these faults she still has the same feelings for him as she did when she was younger. Kazuki is a skilled member of her school's swimming club. Her cooking skills leave much to be desired, however; although she can make her dishes look very good, she tends to add ingredients that end up turning innocuous food into culinary disasters capable of dropping the person eating it where they stand.
- Yūji Kagura (神楽勇治 Kagura Yūji?) Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino
- The second main protagonist of the story. Yūji was once a sweet innocent little boy who Kazuki Arisaka was in love with. He was somewhat lecherous when he was little, but Kazuki doesn't remember. That is until he left for 10 years only to come back as a naughty girl-chaser. He is constantly finding himself in situations where Kazuki is half-dressed, constantly has lewd fantasies, and sometimes ends up touching girls where he shouldn't be touching them. Despite this, it seems that he does have a nice, kind side, and actually values Kazuki's friendship; this being shown when he was helping her pick out a swimsuit, even though they might have been more revealing with each choice he was picking them as they were her favorite color. Throughout the story it is suggested that he is in love with Kazuki (though he might be unaware of it) as he appears to direct all of his perverted actions to her. Later in the story he chooses to become a professional Photographer and is working as an intern.
Arisaka Family[]
- Hatsune Arisaka (有坂初音 Arisaka Hatsune?) Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara
- Kazuki's older sister, who is constantly trying to get Kazuki and Yūji together and inadvertently (and intentionally) puts them both into embarrassing and lascivious situations. There are some indications that she considers the mishaps (and the arguments following them) funny. Hatsune is good at everything she does, from cooking to sports, and is extremely well-endowed. She likes to tease her sister by showing her how infatuated Yuuji is with her breasts. Hatsune frequently engages in cosplay around the house and can, from time to time, be quite frightening to the people around her. Unlike her younger sister and Marie, Hatsune is perfectly unafraid of insects - or anything else. Although it's implied that Hatsune's true weakness is worrying about her sister's health. When Kazuki fell ill with a cold, Hatsune became comically uncoordinated and unskillful every time she heard Kazuki sneeze. She occasionally (and sarcastically) appears to have an attraction to her younger sister.
- Kazuki's Mother (香月のお母さん Kazuki no okāsan?) Voiced by: Eri Nakao
- Kazuki's and Hatsune's mother.
- Arisaka-san (有坂さん?) Voiced by: Kenta Miyake
- Kazuki's and Hatsune's father, a professor of cultural anthropology.
Kagura Family[]
- Marie Kagura (神楽まりえ Kagura Marie?) Voiced by: Erino Hazuki
- Yuuji's younger sister. Kazuki described her as being a crybaby when she was younger. Now that she has grown up she isn't quite the crybaby she used to be. Now she can be found pelting her older brother with air guns hidden in her teddy bear Seiyū and her other puppets when her brother is acting vulgar. Though she shoots him without a moments hesitation, she does greatly care for her older brother and gets lonely without him suggesting she might have a brother complex, with stronger hints later as she becomes jealous of Yuuju's and Kazuki's growing relationship. Marie is mortally afraid of cats and insects. She is able to flee bugs yet is nearly paralyzed by the presence of cats, though they are drawn to her.
- Kagura-san (神楽さん?) Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara
- Marie's and Yūji's father. Told Marie to shoot her brother with paint balls every time he does something indecent. Apparently he is a hunter, although this is questionable. It has been stated in the anime that he is a press photographer as his day job, with a side job as treasure hunter. Marie and Yuuji note his treasure hunting job always felt more like his main occupation, as it caused the family to relocate time and again, whenever Kagura-san got bored with one site and started looking for the next.
School[]
- Chihaya Suzuhara (鈴原ちはや Suzuhara Chihaya?) Voiced by: Misaki Sekiyama
- Kazuki's friend who apparently likes to spy on people. She speaks with a Kansai dialect and is much more receptive to Yuuji's bawdy nature than Kazuki, claiming 'all boys are like that'. She also doesn't object to being the object of his attention and even goes so far as to give minor underwear displays. At one point she tells Kazuki if she didn't want Yūji, she would take him instead. She is just joking but it causes Kazuki to get depressed, especially seeing how well the two got along. Chihaya tells Kazuki that she was going to tell her that she wasn't interested in Yūji but that it would be a lie and encourages her to make up with Yūji before he was stolen away.
- Nīna Isokawa (磯川ニーナ Isokawa Nīna?) Voiced by: Ayumi Tsuji
- Nīna is a blond-haired girl who goes to the same class as Marie. She has an American mother, a Japanese father, and a great deal of energy. She's very busty for her young age and is physically very active and extremely friendly, quickly attaching herself to Marie to the latter's initial displeasure. In the manga she has a crush on Yuji (who is torn between her being underage and her ample bust) and often refers to him as onii-chan.
- Kōsuke Machida (町田洸介 Machida Kōsuke?) Voiced by: Shinji Kawada
- President of Yūji's class.
- Miu Serizawa (芹沢美宇 Serizawa Miu?) Voiced by: Shizuka Itō
- Vice-president of Yūji's class. She uses any and all excuses to hit the class president. Even go so low as to hit him between the legs.
Manga[]
- December 7, 2004 -- ISBN 978-4861760549
- June 7, 2005 -- ISBN 978-4861761591
- January 7, 2006 -- ISBN 978-4861762666
- July 7, 2006 -- ISBN 978-4861763113
- January 7, 2007 -- ISBN 978-4861763649
- September 7, 2007 -- ISBN 978-4861764295
- March 15, 2008 -- ISBN 978-4861764981
Anime[]
Episodes[]
| # | Title | Original airdate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A 30 cm Unrequited Love "30senchi no kataomoi" (30センチの片思い) |
July 8, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Kazuki is looking forward to the return of her old friends and neighbours, only to be shocked and dismayed when she sees what they've become in the years since they were last together. | |||||
| 2 | Aloof Kazuki And The Apron Of Temptation "Tsuntsun Kazuki to Yūwaku epuron" (ツンツン香月と誘惑エプロン) |
July 15, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| With the parents of both households stuck on a South American island for an indeterminate time, they ask their children to take care of each other. Kazuki refuses to admit the dirty-minded Yuuji into the home, unless he manages to spend the whole day without doing anything indecent, so they have a competition. | |||||
| 3 | Smart Yuuji And Startled Kazuki "Kiritto Yūji ni dokkiri Kazuki" (キリッと勇治にドッキリ香月) |
July 22, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| It's the first day at Kazuki's school for both Yuuji and Marie. While Marie is stuck in the same class with the hyperactive and overly friendly Niina, Yuuji manages to gain quite a crowd of girls by putting on his handsome face. Kazuki becomes jealous and sad when she sees Yuuji's popularity, leaving him at school when she goes home. To her surprise, this nets her a complaint from Yuuji, who wanted to walk home with her, not his adoring new classmates. | |||||
| 4 | Nya~ "Nya~" (にゃあ〜) |
July 29, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Niina, who considers Marie a good friend, pursues her relentlessly without realizing that this is causing the introverted Marie considerable distress. Only when Niina saves Marie from her worst fear and is set straight by Yuuji does she begin to understand Marie and lay the basis for a relationship that is not as one-sided. | |||||
| 5 | Let's Break Up!! "Zekko surukara!!" (ゼッコーするからっ!!) |
August 5, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Kazuki experiences jealousy and insecurity when it turns out Chihaya and Yuuji share common interests and are becoming close friends. A visit by Chihaya to Kazuki's home turns sour when Yuuji holds a photo shoot and Kazuki feels like a fifth wheel, causing her to lash out in anger at both him and Chihaya, causing Yuuji to respond in kind and leaving their friendship apparently in shambles, to Chihaya's dismay. | |||||
| 6 | Hugging Princess? "Ohimesama dakko?" (お姫様だっこ?) |
August 12, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| After Kazuki's and Yuuji's break up they both feel depressed and Chihaya takes it upon herself get them back together. | |||||
| 7 | Strongest☆Invincible My Sister "Saikyō☆Muteki mai sisutā" (最強☆無敵マイシスター) |
August 19, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| After yet another pervert attack by Yuuji in the morning with some help by Hatsune, Marie decides she will find out Hatsune's weakness so that she will not be able to stop her from punishing her brother. But it seems that Hatsune doesn't have a weakness. Later Kazuki finds out that Hatsune has a fever and collapsed. Kazuki thinks it is because she overworked herself in taking care of her and the household, so she decides to take care of Hatsune and the household so that her sister can get well and do what ever would make her happy. | |||||
| 8 | Kazuki x Hatsune Swimming Showdown "Kazuki x Hatsune suiei taiketsu" (香月×初音水泳対決!) |
August 26, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Kazuki breaks her sister's record in swimming, which gets her a challenge from her sister for the upcoming swimming competition. Throughout the episode Hatsune attempts to discourage Kazuki by mentally inflicting damage to Kazuki, although Hatsune's reason for this is because she wants Kazuki to take this seriously. As the episode comes to close the question still remains, 'Who will win the serious race between the loving sisters?'. | |||||
| 9 | Maybe, Jealousy? "Moshikashite, yakimochi?" (もしかして、ヤキモチ?) |
September 2, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Yuuji gets told that Kazuki was popular among guys in middle school and was proposed to by many, but refused all for an unknown love of hers. Yuuji thinks it's the new teacher, who she and Chihaya know, which causes him to start feeling jealous. | |||||
| 10 | It's A Bikini? Let's gather! "BIKINI dayo? Zenin shugo" (ビキニだよ?全員集合) |
September 9, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| The Teacher decides to take the group to the beach, where Kazuki uses a double standard to blame Yuuji for mistakes, when they could have easily been blamed on the teacher. Things between Yuuji and Kazuki worsen, as Kazuki keep putting Yuuji down and keeps comparing him with the teacher. | |||||
| 11 | Yukata, Fireworks and A Broken Sandal Strap "Yukata to hanabi to kireta hanao" (浴衣と花火と切れた鼻緒) |
September 16, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| The group goes to a festival, where another occurrence happens between Yuuji, Kazuki and the teacher. Is the calm after the storm coming soon or not? | |||||
| 12 | A Letter To Yuuji And Memories From Ten Years Ago "Yūji e no tegami to jūnen mae no kioku" (勇治への手紙と十年前の記憶) |
September 23, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Yuuji stops his raunchy and perverted action towards all women. But doing this caused him to act depressed and tired, while Yuuji's friends try to figure out why he's doing this, Kazuki figures that it may be because of her that Yuuji became like this. Although originally Kazuki liked the 'old' Yuuji back, she remembers that the 'old' Yuuji is more similar to the present Yuuji. So Kazuki tries to remember what she wrote to Yuuji in the letter 10 years ago and finally comes to a conclusion. | |||||
| 13 | The Veranda and a Paper Plane "VERANDA to kami hikōki" (ベランダと紙ひこーき) |
September 30, 2006 | {{{FirstEngAirDate}}} | ||
| Yuuji has to move again. After finding out what Yuuji was really like in the past - and what she herself was like back then - what will Kazuki do? | |||||
Theme songs[]
- Opening Theme: "DRAMATIC☆GIRLY" by Akemi Kanda, Sayaka Ohara, Erino Hazuki, Misaki Sekiyama & Ayumi Tsuji
- Ending Theme: "Aitai Kimochi Kara~Placid Time~" by Akemi Kanda and Sayaka Ohara (episode 1-12)
- "Oh My Darling" by Akemi Kanda (episode 13)
External links[]
- (Japanese) Tonagura! Official Anime Website
- Tona-Gura! (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Tona-Gura! (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia