Itazura na Kiss

Plot

Characters

Main

• Kotoko Aihara - Kotoko Aihara is a ditzy and poor achieving high school student. She has been in love with the handsome and intelligent Naoki Irie since their first year in high school after hearing his speech at the opening ceremony. She eventually writes a love letter to Naoki, but is rejected right away. On the same day as her confession, Kotoko's poorly constructed house is destroyed in a mild earthquake, and she and her father Shigeo are invited to stay at a house owned by her father's close friend Shigeki. Arriving to the house, she is shocked to find out that Shigeo's friend is the dad of Naoki, and that she will be living in the same house as him. In the beginning of their new life together, Naoki often teased Kotoko, but the two eventually warm up to each other. Naoki later realizes that he is in love with Kotoko and confesses to her, and the couple marry in their second year of college. Kotoko is known as Kotoko Irie onwards. After coming back from her honeymoon with Naoki, Kotoko decides to become a nurse, so that she could be a wife fit for Naoki. After several years of marriage, Kotoko has a daughter with Naoki named Kotomi.

• Naoki Irie - Naoki Irie is the smartest and most handsome guy in his high school. He is rumored to have an IQ of 200, and is praised by his peers as being perfect all around. He receives a love letter from Kotoko, but rejects her before she finishes confessing, explaining that he despises "dumb girls." When Kotoko and her father move in with Naoki and his father, he gives Kotoko many hardships and maintains a rather cold attitude towards her, although he secretly began to fall in love with her, because he believed that the trouble she caused made his mundane life more interesting. Though Naoki's grades allow for him to attend any university of his choosing, he eventually decides to attend the same college as Kotoko. After his wedding to Kotoko, Naoki becomes a doctor.

  Female

• Noriko Irie is Naoki and Yuuki's mother, and eventually Kotoko's mother-in-law. She loves Kotoko very much, and was the first person to suggest that Naoki and Kotoko date.
• Kotomi Irie is Naoki and Kotoko's daughter. She constantly fights for Naoki's affection with Kotoko much to her mother's dismay, in which Naoki favors Kotomi over his wife. Kotomi has a father complex and tells Naoki that she wants to marry him when she grows up. However, Naoki replies that he can't because he already belongs to her mother.
• Reiko Matsumoto, Portrayed by: Maju Ozawa and Kanna Mori ) is one of Naoki's many love trials. She has been interested in him since before college, but decides to give up after Kotoko and Naoki get married. After graduation, she starts to work for a computer company.
• Christine "Chris" Robbins is a foreign exchange student from the United Kingdom who has gone to Japan to find a Japanese boyfriend. She falls for Kinnosuke, and manages wins his heart and marries him. She is then known as Christine Ikezawa and has several children with Kinnosuke after their marriage. In the anime adaptation, she is the daughter of the bank involved with Naoki's father's company. Sahoko does not appear and Chris is the one Naoki casually dates. She is voiced by Yūko Gotō
• Jinko Komori is one of Kotoko's best friends, who belonged in the F-class with Kotoko. She eventually attends the same university as Kotoko as well.
• Satomi Ishikawa is one of Kotoko's best friends. She gets married after she gets pregnant and has a daughter named Kiseki, who seems to be very attached to Yuuki.
• Ayako Matsumoto is the little sister of Reiko. She liked Naoki at first, but eventually fell for Kotoko's admirer; Takendo.
• Konomi shares the same personality as Kotoko; both are as naïve and caring. She has liked Yuuki since junior high, but he refused to be her friend. After a while, Yuuki has a change of heart.
• Sahoko is the granddaughter of an old CEO of a successful company. She was arranged to marry Naoki to help fix his father's company's problems. But when she understood that he was in love with Kotoko, she gave up. In the anime adaptation, she does not appear at all and Chris is the one who dates Naoki.
• Tomoko Ogura is Kotoko's classmate in nursing school. She is sweet and kind and gentle like an angel, but is also crazy about seeing blood, which makes her somewhat scary.
• Marina Shinagawa is Kotoko's classmate in nursing school. She went to study nursing to marry a doctor. Eventually, she becomes involved with Funetsu, although she keeps trying to get close to other guys.
• Rika is Naoki's and Yuuki's cousin. She moved to America five years ago. When she comes back, she tries to break Naoki and Kotoko apart but eventually fails. She also turns out to be Naoki's first kiss, but it was against his wishes. She appeared in the Korean adaptation's special in YouTube.
• Akiko is a handicapped patient that Keita was assigned to take care of when he went on an internship. During that time, the two of them fell for each other. Because she lost faith in herself, she stopped trying to walk. However, after an unexpected fright from Kotoko, she walks again.
• Grandma Yoshida is an 80-year-old lady which is picky and gives nurses problems especially towards Kotoko. She was looked after by Kotoko, and eventually realises that Kotoko is a hard worker and gives her less of a hard time.

  Male

• Shigeo Aihara is Kotoko's widowed father. He is the chef and owner of a restaurant. When Shigeo and Kotoko's house collapses from an earthquake, his close friend Shigeki immediately invites them to live at his home. Shigeo later makes Kinosuke his apprentice.
• Shigeki Irie is the father of Naoki and Yuuki, and the close friend of Shigeo. He is the president of a gaming company, thus enabling his family to have a wealthy lifestyle. Shigeki originally pressured Naoki to become his successor, but relents after seeing Naoki's passion for medicine. Yuuki later offers to become his successor.
• Yuuki Irie is the brother of Naoki. He really looks up to his older especially because of his strong composure during situations and the fact that he can do anything. In the beginning he openly hated Kotoko, but as she spent more time with his family he grew used to her but openly insults. At first he never believed his brother would ever fall for Kotoko until he saw his brother kiss Kotoko secretly while she was sleeping and promised not to tell anyone. But when Naoki almost married Sahoko, he questioned him about whether he really wants to marry her and let Kotoko go.
• Kinnosuke Ikezawa is the guy who has liked Kotoko ever since high school and didn't give up until Naoki confessed that he was emotionally involved with her as well. After a year, he meets Christine and marries her, thus ending his devotion to Kotoko. However, he and Kotoko retain their friendship.
• Sudou is Kotoko and Naoki's senpai in college and the school's tennis captain. He has liked Reiko since meeting her, but hasn't been successful in winning her heart. In the anime, however, he is shown to have married her in Episode 24. Kotoko describes him as someone who has a dual personality. He is very kind when he's not holding the tennis racquet, but once he holds it, he becomes vicious and competitive.
• Takendo Nakagawa is one of Kotoko's few admirers. He met her in college and tried to date her, but eventually fell for Ayako, Reiko's little sister.
• Ryo Takamiya is Satomi's rich boyfriend and later husband. Because he is a very obedient boy, he had a hard time defying his mother who was against his marriage with Satomi, but after a little support from Kotoko, decides to follow his heart.
• Keita Kamogari is one of Kotoko's classmates in nursing school. He is very passionate about nursing and can therefore be very fierce if things don't go right. Naoki was jealous because of Keita's and Kotoko's relationship. Keita liked Kotoko once, but after he realized how much Kotoko and Naoki loved each other, he gave up. Finally, he met the handicapped Akiko during training and fell for her.
• Kikyou Motoki is Kotoko's classmate in nursing school. He is born a boy, but prefers to be a girl. Of all the guys that Kotoko knows, he is the most girly one. He is the president of Naoki's fan club.
• Funatsu is Naoki's rival in medical school. He always tried to beat him, but never succeeded once as Naoki was always the smarter one. He claimed that he didn't like to date, but eventually fell in love with Kotoko's classmate, Marina.
• Nobuhiro Kimura became Yuuki's friend when he went to the hospital. This boy has a kidney problem and was unable to live with his parents. Years later, he reappears as a young and famous actor. His parents have divorced, both remarried. He moved out after his father had a baby with his new wife. He appears to have given up on life, until Kotoko and Naoki give him hope again. Kotoko offers him hope and he turns into a kinder person.

  Adaptations

TV dramas

Anime

Films

• Itazura na Kiss: The Movie - High School
• Itazura na Kiss: The Movie - Campus
• Itazura na Kiss: The Movie - Proposal
• Fall in Love at First Kiss（一吻定情）(2019）A Taiwanese film adaptation starring Jelly Lin as Yuan Xiang-qin and Darren Wang as Jiang Zhi-shu. The OST features Liu Renyu's 'Proof of Heartbeat'.