is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by Koi Ikeno. It was serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

manga magazine are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...

Ribon is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha on the third of each month. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are '' Nakayoshi'' and '' Ciao''. It is one of the best-selling manga magazines, having sold over 590million c ...

'' from July 1982 to October 1994 and became a huge commercial success. The manga series had a circulation of 30 million copies in total, making it one of the best-selling manga series. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series directed by

Hiroshi Sasagawa is a Japanese creator of several anime and manga series. His name is romanized in some sources as ''Hiroshi Sasakawa''. Sasagawa is better known for directing several anime series including Time Bokan, Speed Racer, The Genie Family, Ninja Hatto ...

was adapted from the manga and was broadcast on

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

from October 7, 1982, to September 22, 1983.

Plot

15-year-old Ranze Eto lives in an isolated castle in Japan with her

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

mother,

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

father, and younger brother, Rinze. Despite her lineage, she has yet to demonstrate any special powers of her own, and her parents are worried she might be a normal girl. One day, Ranze's innate power finally manifests itself when she, quite by accident, discovers that she can change herself into a

carbon copy Before the development of photographic copiers, a carbon copy was the under-copy of a typed or written document placed over carbon paper and the under-copy sheet itself (not to be confused with the carbon print family of photographic reproduc ...

of any object she bites, whether it be a person or an inanimate object like a piece of bread, and can return to her normal self only by

sneezing A sneeze (also known as sternutation) is a semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth, usually caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal mucosa. A sneeze expels air forcibly from the mouth a ...

. Her parents are overjoyed, but Ranze's new powers make it difficult to continue living life as a normal teenage girl. On Ranze's first day at her new school in junior high, she meets and falls in love with the brash yet handsome young athlete, Shun Makabe. The chief problem with this is that Ranze's parents will not allow her to date a human - although there may be much more to Shun than meets the eye. On top of this, she also has a bitter rival in the pretty but spiteful Yoko Kamiya (the daughter of a

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

boss) who also likes Shun and doesn't take kindly to Ranze's intruding on her turf.

Characters

Eto Family

() :The lead character, a 15-year-old girl (born July 27, 1968), Ranze originally manifests no supernatural powers until she bites Yoko Kamiya and discovers she has vampiric powers that let her "

metamorph In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existen ...

" into whatever she bites a certain way. () :Ranze's 5-year-old (born December 24, 1976) younger brother, appears to not have any supernatural powers but seems to be the only one that can tell who Ranze is when she is transformed. () :Ranze's father, a vampire. He was born on March 3, 1863 () :Ranze's mother, a werewolf. She forbids Ranze from liking human boys. She was born on June 26, 1799. () :A talking parrot born in the Spirit World. The Eto Family's pet.

Makabe Family

() :The boy Ranze and Yoko fight over. He is training to be a professional boxer. Born April 13, 1968 () :Shun's mother.

Kamiya Family

() :Ranze's romantic rival, the spoiled daughter of a yakuza boss. () :Yoko's father. An enormous, bulky man who develops a crush on Shun's mother.

Others

The main character of the third part of the manga. Daughter of Ranze and Shun. Born on September 9, 1994. Virgo. B. It is said that she will become the Great Witch of the Demon World. A bright girl who is not good at studying, but is versatile in sports. He has the ability to change the weather locally depending on his emotions (mainly to rain, to generate lightning, and to turn back time when he is in a good mood). () :A bookworm who has a crush on Ranze. () :Prince of Demon World. He is in love with Ranze. () :The infamous "womanizer" who typically accompanies Aron. :Ranze's homeroom teacher.

Media

Manga

There are 30 volumes in the original release of the manga series in Japan. By 2006, they sold 26 million copies, making ''Tokimeki Tonight'' the sixth best-selling shōjo manga. The manga was released in Italian by

Star Comics Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...

under the title Tokimeki Tonight – Ransie The Witch (Tokimeki Tonight – Ransie La Strega)

''Tokimeki Midnight''

In 2002, a scond manga series called , also by Koi Ikeno, began serialization in

's magazine ''

Cookie A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

''. The manga is an alternate retelling where the roles are reversed. The series was completed in 2009 with nine volumes.

''Tokimeki Tonight: Sore kara''

On May 26, 2021, a sequel, , which takes place after the third arc where Ranze and Makabe's daughter Aira saves the world from crisis and centers on the lead protagonist Ranze as her 40s, began serialization in ''Cookie'' magazine starting from July 2021 issue.

Other books

There are several additional stories set in the ''Tokimeki Tonight'' universe that have been collected in the following volumes: * (2000, 1 volume, Ribon Mascot Comics, Shueisha, ). Contains: **''Tokimeki Tonight: Hoshi no Yukue'' ** ** ** ** * (August 2013, Ribon Mascot Comics, Shueisha, ) * (April 2015, Ribon Mascot Comics, Shueisha, ) * (July 2019, Ribon Mascot Comics, Shueisha, ) Additional books released about the series include: * (July 2019, 2 volumes, Shueisha) **Volume 1 () **Volume 2 ()

Anime

A 34-episode anime television series adaptation, directed by

and produced by

Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968 from former Mushi Pro staff. They worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and contributed to all stages of the process, including ...

and

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

, aired in Japan between October 7, 1982, and September 22, 1983, on

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

. Its opening theme is "Tokimeki Tonight" and its ending theme is "Super Love Lotion". Since Group TAC closed its doors as a studio, Toho has been the sole rights-holder of the series. Since the anime series ended years before the manga, the staff had to craft their own conclusion. In the final episode it's revealed Shun has a star-shaped birthmark that proves he is the long lost prince of the Demon World. However, Shun denies this, saying it's actually a bruise and not a birthmark. The door to the Demon World is sealed, with the Eto family banished until they are able to locate the lost prince. Sometime later, Shun's mother reveals the star-shaped mark ''is'' in fact a birthmark. The following morning Shun tries to tell Ranze the truth but is interrupted by Yoko. The series closes with a special version of "Super Love Lotion" featuring the main cast.

Episode list

# ''Secret of étranger'' (October 7, 1982) # ''Door to The Demon World'' (October 14, 1982) # ''Bathroom Crisis'' (October 21, 1982) # ''A Small Friendship'' (October 28, 1982) # ''Ranze goes to the Demon World'' (November 4, 1982) # ''Romance in the Foggy Night'' (November 11, 1982) # ''The Terrifying Culture Festival'' (November 18, 1982) # ''Action Camera of Love'' (November 25, 1982) # ''Tamasaburo's Love'' (December 2, 1982) # ''The Invisible Girl, Miel'' (December 9, 1982) # ''Full Moon Birthday'' (December 16, 1982) # ''Teehee. Ranze's Wish'' (December 23, 1982) # ''White Sweethearts'' (January 6, 1983) # ''I saw her! Ranze is a Tanuki!'' (January 13, 1983) # ''Sorry I'm naked'' (January 20, 1983) # ''The Youthful Runner of Love'' (January 27, 1983) # ''The Flirtatious Magician'' (February 3, 1983) # ''Title Match of Love'' (February 10, 1983) # ''The Great Sentimental Giant'' (February 17, 1983) # ''Chaos! Lots of Ranzes!'' (February 24, 1983) # ''Love Letter from E.T.'' (March 3, 1983) # ''Panic! Pajama Game'' (March 10, 1983) # ''Sand's Love Story'' (March 17, 1983) # ''Ardent Love! Great War in the Demon World'' (March 24, 1983) # ''Transformation Revealed: Kill Shun'' (March 31, 1983) # ''Execution Fleet! Space Wars'' (April 28, 1983) # ''Clash! Rocky VS Shun'' (May 5, 1983) # ''Delinquent Angel: Love Hunter'' (May 19, 1983) # ''Shock! A Future Encounter'' (June 9, 1983) # ''The Prince's Order of Assassination '' (June 16, 1983) # ''The Migratory Bird Returns'' (June 23, 1983) # ''Venture! Island of Sweethearts'' (July 7, 1983) # ''Tokimeki Folktales'' (July 28, 1983) # ''Fall in Love! Be in Love! The Love Triangle!'' (September 22, 1983)

Reception

The manga had a circulation of 30 million copies in 2021. On ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

'', Justin Sevakis said the anime was "a thirty year-old comedy that's still funny, with a setup that's still plausible and interesting, and animation that's still serviceable".

References

External links

* {{Hiroshi Sasagawa Anime and manga about werewolves Anime series based on manga Fiction about shapeshifting Group TAC Nippon Television original programming Romantic comedy anime and manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Shōjo manga Television series about werewolves Vampires in anime and manga