Pintokona

Pintokona (ぴんとこな) is a Japanese romance manga series written and illustrated by Ako Shimaki. It was serialized from the November 2009 issue to the November 2015 issue by Shogakukan in Cheese!. The manga books published 16 volumes (complete) by Shogakukan. It was adapted into a Japanese television drama series in 2013.

Synopsis
In the Kabuki world, where family is highly valued, Kyonosuke lacks ability despite being born the heir to a prestigious family. Kazuya was born into a family with no connection to kabuki, but he tries to rise from the bottom with only his abilities. The story begins when these two opposites fall in love with the same girl, Ayame. Kyonosuke, who wants to be liked by Ayame for his love of kabuki, cries in frustration, saying that he wants her ability more than the title of heir. Kazuya, who wants to play the leading role in front of Ayame, plans to be adopted by a prestigious family.

Characters

 * Kyōnosuke Kawamura - Protagonist and sergeant of the prestigious Kijimaya kabuki house.
 * Ichiya Sawayama - Disciple of the Kabuki house Todorokiya. Ayame was a classmate of his in primary school.
 * Ayame Chiba - Heroine of this story. Influenced by her mother, who died of illness, she loves Kabuki.

Reception
It won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo manga in 2011 and it was number eight on the 2012 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Female Readers survey.

Volume 7 reached the 29th place on the Japanese weekly manga chart and, as of 1 July 2012, has sold 35,767 copies. Volume 9 reached the 50th place and, as of 27 April 2013, has sold 24,319 copies. Volume 10 reached the 21st place and, as of 4 August 2013, has sold 67,825 copies. Volume 11 reached the 18th place and, as of 2 February 2014, has sold 62,372 copies. Volume 12 reached the 24th place, and, as of 6 July 2014, has sold 55,031 copies.

Bibliographic Information

 * Ako Shimaki Pintokona Shogakukan (Cheese! Flower Comics), 16 volumes
 * volume 1 February 26, 2010, ISBN 978-4-09-133049-9
 * Volume 2 August 26, 2010, ISBN 978-4-09-133357-5
 * Volume 3 January 26, 2011, ISBN 978-4-09-133713-9
 * Volume 4 May 26, 2011, ISBN 978-4-09-133860-0
 * Volume 5 July 26, 2011, ISBN 978-4-09-133632-3
 * Volume 6 December 26, 2011, ISBN 978-4-09-134197-6
 * Volume 7 June 26, 2012, ISBN 978-4-09-134447-2
 * Volume 8 November 26, 2012, ISBN 978-4-09-134810-4
 * Volume 9 April 26, 2013, ISBN 978-4-09-135024-4
 * Volume 10 July 26, 2013, ISBN 978-4-09-135509-6
 * Volume 11 January 24, 2014, ISBN 978-4-09-135816-5
 * Volume 12 June 26, 2014, ISBN 978-4-09-135870-7
 * Volume 13 October 24, 2014, ISBN 978-4-09-136457-9
 * Volume 14 February 26, 2015, ISBN 978-4-09-136897-3
 * Volume 15 June 26, 2015, ISBN 978-4-09-137348-9
 * Volume 16 November 26, 2015, ISBN 978-4-09-138040-1

Television Drama
It was adapted into a Television drama under the title Pintokona, which was broadcast in the TBS Television (Japan) Thursday Drama 9 slot (21:00 - 21:54, JST) from 18 July to 19 September 2013.

It starred Yuta Tamamori of Kis-My-Ft2. It was Tamamori's first starring role in a prime-time drama series. The heroine is Umika Kawashima. Yuma Nakayama and Jessie (a member of SixTONES) are also making their first appearances in a TBS Television (Japan) drama series. The drama also included acting and gesture coaching by current Kabuki actors.

The catchphrase is "Midsummer's heart-throb love from the handsome son of a distinguished family of the Kabuki world".

For Dramatization
Yuta Tamamori, the lead actor of the drama, explained the role of Kyonosuke, saying, "He is a no-good heir who is unmotivated about Kabuki and skips his training, but in fact he is a very pure and passionate man with a single-minded core." He also commented that this is the first drama series in history to use kabuki as its subject matter, “I am anxious and nervous, but I will do my best so as not to tarnish the 400-year history of kabuki,” he declared emphatically. Nakayama, on the other hand, was enthusiastic about his rival Ichiya, saying, “Ichiya was not born into a prestigious family, but he loves Kabuki and works harder than anyone else.

When asked by a reporter about a story that made her heart flutter recently, Umika Kawashima shared an episode in which she made Tamamori eat wasabi chocolate as part of a TV show project. With a smile, Kawashima replied, “He ate the spicy wasabi chocolate right away, even though he doesn't like spicy food.” Tamamori, on the other hand, smiled and replied, “I ate it because Umika said she made it herself,” much to Kawashima's delight.

Synopsis

 * Kyonosuke Kawamura (Yuta Tamamori) is a heir of the prestigious Kijimaya Kabuki theater. With his good looks and voice, he is called the prince of the Kabuki world and is very popular, but his “lack of motivation” is a drawback. This is because in the world of Kabuki, blood is considered more important than anything else, as the heir to a prominent family, he has carried high expectations for himself since he was a child, but no matter how hard he tries, his father and master, Kawamura Sezaemon (Goro Kishitani), does not approve of him.
 * One day, Kyonosuke played the leading role of a lion in a kabuki play, The Mirror Lion(春興鏡獅子). When he leaves the theater after the performance, Ayame Chiba (Umika Kawashima), who goes to the same high school as Kyonosuke, tells him, “That's no The Mirror Lion! I want my money back!". Ayame was a big Kabuki fan, influenced by her mother who had passed away. She could not tolerate an uninspiring performance. Surprised, Kyonosuke gets desperate and goes out with his friends, but then gets into an argument with his father. Kyonosuke said, “I wasn't born into this family because I wanted to. I'm fed up with a father who only cares about protecting the house and his own reputation,” Kyonosuke says, his face filled with sadness.

Main characters (TV drama)

 * Kawamura Kyonosuke - Yuta Tamamori (Kis-My-Ft2)
 * Heir of Kijimaya. Real name: Takeshi Kawamura. Class A, 3rd year at Kyosei Gakuen High School.


 * Ichiya Sawayama - Yuma Nakayama
 * Apprentice of Todoroya. Real name: Hongo Hiroki. Ayame was a classmate of his in primary school.


 * Chiba Ayame - Umika Kawashima
 * A third-year Class C student at Kyosei Gakuen High School. Influenced by her mother, who passed away due to illness, she fell in love with Kabuki.


 * Sakamoto, Haruhiko (Sakamoto Haruhiko) - Jesse (Johnny's Jr.))
 * Kyonosuke's best friend and classmate.


 * Chiaki Mishima - Mayu Kusakari
 * Ayame's best friend and a good friend. She works part-time with Ayame at the omusubi shop Inakaya.


 * Shohei Sawayama - Hokuto Matsumura - (Johnny's Jr.)
 * A disciple of Todoroya. Like Kazuya, he is also a graduate of the training school.


 * Yuna Sawayama - Aoi Yoshikura
 * Daughter of Todoroya. A second-year student at Kyosei Gakuen High School. She has a crush on her father's apprentice, Kazuya. She is bullied at school and is rescued by Ayame. She soon realises that Kazuya has feelings for Ayame and begins to feel intensely jealous.


 * Sezaemon Kawamura - Goro Kishitani
 * Kyonosuke's father. Lost his wife early. Believed in Kyonosuke's talent more than anyone else, but never praised him. This led to a deepening rift between him and Kyonosuke, but he praised him for the first time in the final episode when he saw Kyonosuke's Kabuki performance on the roof of the hospital.

Staff

 * Original story - Ako Shimaki's Pintokona (serialised in Cheese! / Shogakukan)
 * Screenplay - Maki Takahashi
 * Music - Yoshihisa Hirano
 * Director - Hayato Kawai, Shingo Okamoto, Daisuke Yamamuro
 * Theme song - Kis-My-Ft2 "A Miracle with You" (Avex Trax)
 * Producers - Masanao Takahashi, Jingo Ito (Shochiku)
 * Production cooperation - Shochiku
 * Production credits - TBS Television (Japan)