Danica Davidson
January 19, 2023 
The manga My Clueless First Friend (or Jijou wo Shiranai Tenkousei ga Guigui Kuru. in Japanese) is receiving an anime adaptation! It will debut in April — with Crunchyroll streaming for Americans and more — and a trailer has dropped for it.
According to the trailer, Konomi Kohara plays Akane Nishimura, Shizuka Ishigami plays Taiyō Takada, Kengo Kawanishi plays Daichi Hino, Reina Kondo plays Umi Adachi, and Atsumi Tanezaki plays Yukiko Takada.
The anime is being made at St.Signpost, with Shigenori Kageyama of DYNAMIC CHORD helming the project as the director. Credit for character design goes to Chikashi Kadekaru, who has worked on Mieruko-chan. The series scripts are being written by Takafumi Hoshikawa, who has done storyboarding for Shaman King, and Shogo Yasukawa, known for working on Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma.
The music is being composed by Naruto and Kamisama Kiss composer Toshio Masuda.
These other members of the crew were also announced: Noboru Haraguchi is the sound director, Taiji Kawanishi is the assistant director, Jiafang Lu is the art director, Keisuke Yanagi is the editor, and Kōta Yanai is the color key artist.
The original manga by Taku Kawamura has been licensed by Square Enix Manga & Books, with the first volume scheduled to be released in March 2023, just in time for people to read it before the anime’s debut. Square Enix Manga & Books gave this description for the plot:
“One lonely, gloomy fifth-grade girl is the target of her classmates’ relentless bullying and teasing—that is, until a new kid arrives on the scene. Friendly Takada is as clueless as he is well-meaning, but somehow he possesses the magic ability to start drawing “Grim Reaper” Nishimura out of her shell. As the elementary schoolers experience all the fun of a childhood summer together—from going to the pool to picking sunflowers to watching fireworks—an unusual friendship blossoms!”
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
