L DK, stylized as L♥DK,[a] is a shōjo manga by Ayu Watanabe, serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Bessatsu Friend since 2009; it has been adapted into a live-action film that was released in 2014.
The story tells about the relationship between a high school girl, Aoi Nishimori, and the school prince, Shūsei Kugayama, when they come to share a small apartment. The series volumes have appeared on the Oricon comic charts a few times, and adapted into a Drama CD with the eighth volume of the manga.[3]
Premise
Shūsei Kugayama, the "Prince" of his high school, has a reputation of turning down confessions from admiring girls; Aoi Nishimori takes offense after he turns down her best friend, Moe Shibuya. Later that day, Aoi is greeted by her new apartment neighbor which turns out to be Shūsei. After a kitchen fire accident ruins Shūsei's apartment, Shūsei decides to move into Aoi's flat, but becomes more casual and friendly towards her at school. After getting to know him better, Aoi falls in love with him, although he does not initially return that feeling. Meanwhile, they must keep their cohabitation a secret. Aoi tries to divert the girls who are interested in Shūsei, the boys who are interested in her, and family members who reveal hints about Shūsei's past. The two eventually come to fall in love with one another.
Characters
Main characters
Aoi Nishimori (西森 葵, Nishimori Aoi)
Aoi is a 16-year-old high school girl who lives in her own apartment after refusing to move away with her parents.[4] She is described as impulsive, but is inexperienced with love.[5] She has no reservations in confronting the school prince Shūsei Kugayama over her best friend Moe's confession rejection, but is surprised when Shūsei becomes her new next-door neighbor. She is a capable cook, however, because of Shūsei's presence, she becomes careless and a fire erupts in his kitchen. After Shūsei moves in with her,Ch. 1 Aoi is shocked that he is so casual and friendly towards her at home and at school,Ch. 2 but soon develops feelings for him,Ch. 3 and becomes sensitive to other girls who express interest in him.Ch. 4 In the live-action films, she is portrayed by Ayame Goriki, and by Mone Kamishiraishi in the sequel.[4]
Shusei Kugayama (久我山 柊聖, Kugayama Shūsei)
Shusei is regarded highly as the school prince, even though he has a habit of rudely turning down the girls' confessions.Ch. 1 He becomes Aoi's next-door neighbor in the apartments, but after a kitchen fire causes the sprinklers to drench his place, he moves into Aoi's apartment.Ch. 1 He likes to tease Aoi by acting very casual at home, by visiting her class,Ch. 2 by making randomly inappropriate remarks about Aoi's undergarmentsCh. 6 and by pulling practical jokes.Ch. 13 Despite that, he is protective of Aoi.Ch. 4 His past relationship with Satsuki Mizuno has affected how he behaves towards women, but he warms up to Aoi and eventually reciprocates her love.Ch. 30 Media articles from Animate.tv and Animeanime.jp describe him as being tsundere.[6][7] In the live-action films, Shūsei is portrayed by Kento Yamazaki, and by Yosuke Sugino in the sequel.[4][5]
Supporting characters
Moe Shibuya (渋谷 萌, Shibuya Moe)
Moe is Aoi's best friend.Ch. 1 A week prior to the start of the story, she confesses to Shūsei but is turned down.Ch. 1 She easily reads that Aoi has fallen in love with Shūsei, even though Aoi has denied it.Ch. 2-3 Moe is portrayed by Rei Okamoto in the first film and Sara Takatsuki in the sequel.[4]
The landlady
The landlady of Aoi and Shūsei's apartment is a widowed mother with her son Kouta.Ch. 4 She takes a liking to Wataru Sanjo. She is later revealed to be a former delinquent and had ridden a Harley with her husband.Ch. 19-20 Her name is not given in the manga, but in the live-action film she is named Kazumi Hoshino (星野カズミ, Hoshino Kazumi) and she is portrayed by Miho Shiraishi.,[4]
Eri Kugayama (久我山 絵里, Kugayama Eri)
Eri is Shūsei's older sister; she is suspicious of Shūsei and Aoi's living situation as they have not acted like a couple and insists that Shūsei stay with her, but later lets them be.Ch. 4-5
Shōta Komine (小嶺 翔太, Komine Shōta)
Shōta is a class-year younger than Aoi and Shūsei. Aoi describes him as a pretty boy.Ch. 7 He shows an interest in Aoi after having a friendly encounter with her in the cultural festival the previous year, and tries to woo her after seeing her again, which makes Aoi uncomfortable and Shūsei jealous.Ch. 7-8 He and Shūsei were on the basketball team together in middle school.Ch. 7
Sōju Kugayama (久我山 草樹, Kugayama Sōju)
Sōju is Shūsei's older brother who works as a photojournalist. He talks to Aoi about her relationship with Shūsei and gives her some advice. After Aoi fails to kiss Shūsei, Sōju demonstrates with his own kiss on her,Ch. 11 and then gets Aoi to act affectionate with him in order to make Shūsei jealous when he visits.Ch. 12 He is engaged to Satsuki,Ch. 8 but their marriage registration is later called off.Ch. 27-28 Sōju is portrayed by Seiji Fukushi and Keita Machida.[4]
Satsuki Mizuno (水野桜月, Mizuno Satsuki)
Satsuki is Shūsei's childhood friend in middle school and was part of the basketball club. She dated Shūsei, but they broke up.Ch. 5-8 She appears in the story as the fiancée to Shūsei's older brother, Sōju.Ch. 8 After the marriage registration is called off, she gets her own apartment and tries to cling onto Shūsei.Ch. 27-29 She is portrayed by Anna Ishibashi in the live-action film.[4]
Wataru Sanjo (三條亙, Sanjō Wataru)
Wataru enters the story as a new tenant in the apartments.Ch. 18 He is a senior student at Aoi's school. Both he and Aoi enjoy cooking. He likes Aoi because of her smile at the sports festival last year.Ch. 18 After Aoi gets upset that Shūsei revealed the cohabitation secret to him so casually, he comforts Aoi, and promises to keep it secret unless Shūsei makes her unhappy.Ch. 19 After Shusei leaves, he confesses to Aoi and offers to support her emotionally.Ch. 22-23 After realizing that Aoi is always going to put Shūsei first in her heart, he lets go.Ch. 29 He has three older sisters and his parents are overseas in China.Ch. 19, 28 In the live-action film, he works at a nearby food accessories store. He is portrayed by Renn Kiriyama.[4]
Ryōsuke Sato (佐藤亮介, Satō Ryōsuke)
Ryōsuke is Shūsei's close friend, a high school senior and a character exclusive to the live-action film. He ends up dating Moe. He is portrayed by Akiyoshi Nakao and Kazuki Horike. In an interview, Nakao said that he promises to do his best to play the character without any awkwardness.[4]
Aoi's father (葵の父, Aoi no chichi)
Aoi's father visits and learns of Aoi and Shusei's cohabitation. He tries to pull Aoi out of school.Ch. 32-33 He is a former bodybuilder that Aoi calls a "muscle narcissist".Ch. 32-34 When Aoi gets into trouble at the park, he tries to save her but has gotten too old to handle the delinquents.Ch. 35 After Aoi is rescued by Shūsei and she declares her desire to protect Shūsei as he protected her, he agrees to let them live together under the condition they stay together but not have sex.Ch. 35
Media
Manga
The manga is written by manga artist Ayu Watanabe. The chapters have been appearing monthly in Kodansha's shojo manga magazine, Bessatsu Friend, since 2009. A drama CD was bundled with the release of volume 8 of the manga.[citation needed] The series concluded in the September 2017 issue. A two-chapter bonus manga was released in the magazine's October–November 2017 issue, digitally published as volume 25. The manga series was packaged into 24 volumes.[8][9]
A sequel manga titled LDK Pink will begin serialization in Bessatsu Friend on February 12, 2022.[10]
High school student Aoi Nishimori scolds the school prince Shusei Kugayama for rudely turning down her friend Moe's confession. Later, she discovers her new next-door neighbor is Shusei! After she makes him a meal and later fends off some stalker girls, she starts to cook but then the stove catches on fire and sets off the apartment sprinklers. Shūsei decides he will move in with Aoi. He starts casually hanging out at home and visiting Aoi at school. Shūsei walks in on Aoi's bath when Moe visits, so Aoi scrambles to hide his presence. Aoi sets up a curtain in the room, but later that night she hears that Shūsei is making out with a girl, but it turns out to be a practical joke by Moe and Shūsei. Aoi and Shusei spend a day handcuffed together.
Shusei's sister Eri Kugayama visits, but is suspicious that Aoi and Shusei are lovers; she stays over to see if they are for real. Aoi prepares for a basketball game but on the day of the event, Aoi discovers she is wearing his highly coveted T-shirt. Aoi meets a pretty boy Shōta Komine who takes a liking to her, especially after seeing her at a dog park with Shūsei. When Shūsei moves back to his apartment, Shōta tries to move into Aoi's. When they grocery shop, they meet Shūsei's past love Satsuki Mizuno, who is engaged to Shūsei's brother. Aoi becomes worried that Shūsei is missing school, and takes drastic measures.
Shūsei's friends visit Aoi's apartment so Aoi has to hide. On their school field trip, busty language teacher Naomi Aota fawns all over Shūsei, which leaves Aoi with very little time with him. Shūsei's older brother Soju visits and gives Aoi some advice on improving her chances with Shūsei with a kiss, but when the kiss situations fail, Soju proceeds to give her a kiss first-hand and then plans to try to make Shūsei jealous by visiting him and being affectionate with Aoi. He later surprises Shūsei with a picture of his kiss with Aoi.
Soju shows Shūsei the photo where he kisses Aoi, but Shūsei is not bothered. Aoi apologizes to Shūsei for her behavior. She learns about the photo and decks Soju for manipulating her, after which Shūsei tells her to forget that kiss. Aoi's female friends talk about what about fetishes about men's bodies that turn them on, and it gets Aoi nervous when Shūsei tutors her and exhibits all of the above. Shūsei's little cousin Momo visits and wants Shūsei's affections at the water park. Aoi and Shūsei plan to go to the fireworks festival, but Aoi receives a visit from her brother Kento, and they all go together.
Aoi and Shūsei take Kouta to the amusement park. But when Kouta asks about their living situation, Shusei's response makes Kouta turn cold on him. Wataru Sanjo, a new neighbor, befriends Aoi. Although she tries to hide her cohabitation situation, Shūsei does the opposite and tells him. Wataru tries to comfort Aoi and promises to keep the cohabitation a secret, however he begins to show interest in Aoi. During Wataru's welcome party, Aoi unintentionally ingests alcohol and wants Shūsei to do whatever he wants with her, but Shūsei takes offense. Later, she ends up in the men's baths with Wataru, who tells Shūsei that if he is the cause of her sadness, he will take Aoi for himself.
Bonus chapter: Special Sexy Bonus Story (SPｾｸｼｰ番外編)
The landlady holds a cooking class gathering with Aoi and Wataru. After learning that they are together, Shūsei acts cold and then sexually aggressive to Aoi, but when Aoi starts to cry, he decides he will leave. Aoi chases him and confesses, but he does not reciprocate her feelings. Wataru comforts her and offers his own confession. Aoi tries to move on with her life but cannot. When she hears Shūsei has been staying at Eri's, she visits, but sees Shūsei with Satsuki. At the preparations for the school culture festival, Wataru practices his host club lines on Aoi, who breaks down and cries over Shūsei. Wataru confronts Shūsei again, but Shūsei gets angry and tells him he does not know anything. In the bonus chapter, Eri shows Aoi how to hypnotize Shūsei.
The day of the school festival, Eri chooses Wataru at the host club and asks about his background. Aoi takes a break but is brought to the host club as well. Afterwards, Wataru finds Aoi and wants to care for her more. Wataru's sisters find them and bring them over to their house. Wataru tries to kiss Aoi, but she deflects it and gets a hickey instead. She gets a call from Shusei, who is with Satsuki. Aoi collapses from a cold; Shusei rushes to her place, and cooks and cares for her. He reveals that Satsuki is not marrying Soju. Wataru and Aoi go stargazing, but when he makes another move on her, Aoi starts to tear up, so he backs out, knowing that Aoi still has feelings for Shusei.
Satsuki invites Aoi to her place and brags about living with Shusei. Afterwards, Aoi receives a call from Shusei but Wataru interrupts and says that time is up and that he is claiming Aoi for himself. Shusei rushes over and decks Wataru. He takes Aoi to his elementary school where he shares his past: his first girlfriend, Yuzuha, whom he helped a lot in basketball, died shortly afterwards; he dated Satsuki just to forget, and eventually she went to be with Soju. He does not think he could love again until he meets Aoi, and becomes jealous of Wataru. When he confesses, Aoi slaps him but replies that it is okay to remember Yuzuha; they become a couple. He later teases Aoi as usual but takes her to a pedestrian overpass where they kiss. When Aoi's father visits, Aoi has Shusei pretend to be her teacher when they meet, but Shusei eventually reveals that he is living with her.
Special Edition for the Drama CD: On-Site Recording Report
Furious about the cohabitation, Aoi's father plans to have her transfer schools. Shusei surprises him at the bathhouse; they talk until Shusei passes out at the sauna. At home, Aoi's father finds a stash of condoms. Shusei learns about Aoi's relationship with her father, that she had been lonely and her father used to bail her out of dangerous situations. He tells Aoi they should stop living together. Aoi steps out to a park when some delinquents harass her. When Aoi's father fails to stop them, Shusei gets involved. Aoi says that she has someone to protect like her father has protected her all these years. Aoi's father relents and lets them live together through graduation on the condition that they stay together and that they do not have sex. The landlady holds a party at the water park for Wataru's acceptance into university. Eri talks with Wataru about relationships. Aoi and Shusei spend the night, but they stick with just kissing, even though it is difficult to restrain themselves from wanting more.
Aoi and Shusei become classmates in the new school year and meet Haru and Kaede. The classmates go bowling and eat out; Aoi feels isolated, but Shusei sits next to her and holds her hand. Shusei invites Aoi to a uniform date[note 1] They go to another district but encounter Kaede, who asks if they are dating. When Aoi dodges the question, Kaede takes Shusei on a date, but Aoi follows and eventually pulls Shusei away, and the pair go to a photo booth. Aoi and Haru go grocery shopping and discover their similarities. After Shusei and Yuudai arrive, they have a party; Shusei plays one-on-one basketball with Haru.
Kaede finds Shusei and Aoi's purikura in the room and becomes suspicious; eventually, she discovers the truth about their relationship. She demands Aoi keep it a secret from Haru. During a study session at Yuudai's place, a misunderstanding between Shusei and Aoi is born. Shusei and Haru are chosen for the relay during the Sports Festival; after practicing together, Haru decides to confess to Shusei. During the festival, Aoi tells Haru about her relationship with Shusei. The two then make a bet.
The series has been adapted into two light novels, written from the perspective of Shusei. The novels were written by Ran Satomi.[55][56]
Films
A live-action film adaptation was announced on May 9, 2013 and was released on April 12, 2014.[57][1][58][59] The film starred Ayame Goriki as Aoi[59] and Kento Yamazaki as Shusei.[2] This is Goriki's first solo lead role in a romance film.[60] The film was directed by Yasuhiro Kawamura[59] and written by Yuuko Matsuda.[2] Filming took place in July 2013[59] and at the Cosmo World amusement park in Kanagawa. Goriki, who has had short hair for the past three years, wore a wig when she played Aoi.[61]
A film adaptation sequel was released on March 21, 2019 under the title LDK: Hitotsu no Yane no Shita, "Suki" ga Futatsu (L♥DK ひとつ屋根の下、『スキ』がふたつ。, LDK: Two Loves Under One Roof). The film stars Mone Kamishiraishi as Aoi, Yosuke Sugino as Shusei, and Ryusei Yokohama as Shusei's cousin Reo, an original character.[62]
Reception
Rebecca Silverman from Anime News Network gave the first volume an overall B grade, citing its strengths in using standard romance tropes without using the "less charming" aspects.[63]
LDK has sold over 2.7 million copies in its first 12 volumes,[61] and was listed as a top seller for January 2013 e-book downloads for NTT DoCoMo.[6]
LDK ranked first in the Shojo Manga category for the 2013 E-Book Award in the magazine Da Vinci.[7] It was nominated for the 38th Kodansha Manga Award for Best Shojo Manga.[64]
For its opening weekend, the L DK live-action film ranked fourth in gross (second among Japanese-produced films).[86] The film grossed US$3,758,081 in Japan.[87]
Legacy
L DK was known for popularizing the kabedon move where Shūsei pins Aoi to a wall using his arm[88][89][90][91]
Notes
^Pronunciation subtitle: Eru dī kē (エルディーケー) The title is a wordplay of the acronym "Living room, Dining room, Kitchen" and the phrase "love dōkyo" (cohabitance) (ラブ同居, rabu dōkyo).[2]
^A uniform date is a date where they are still wearing their school uniforms.
Works cited
^ "Ch." is shortened form for chapter and refers to a chapter number of the L DK manga
