93 minSeason 1 • Episode 12
LatestJapanese-American track star Mizuki Ashiya transfers from a school in California to Japan, but not to just any old school. The school is Osaka High School—an all male high school! Mizuki Ashiya must disguise herself as a boy, all to get closer to her hero, Izumi Sano, a high-jump athlete who attends Osaka High. Now with short hair, flattened chest, and deeper voice, Mizuki becomes roommates with Izumi Sano, but trouble soon starts to brew. Izumi Sano discovers by accident that Mizuki is a girl and falls in love with her, but Mizuki is unaware of the fact. Complicating things, fellow classmate Shuichi Nakatsu starts to develop feelings for Mizuki, unaware that she is a girl!
Acting
Toma Ikuta's Nakatsu — the blueprint for chaotic bisexual panic.
Writing
Ridiculous premise played completely straight, and it works.
Creator
Hiroyuki Gotō
Maki Horikita
Mizuki Ashiya
Shun Oguri
Izumi Sano
Toma Ikuta
Shuichi Nakatsu
Mahiru Konno
Hara Akiha
Takaya Kamikawa
Umeda Hokuto
Seiko Matsuda
Tsubaki
Takashi Ukaji
Sawatari
Kobayashi Susumu
Yoshioka
Yoshinori Okada
Ashiya Shizuki
Shunsuke Daitoh
Sano Shin
Yu Shirota
Kagurazaka Makoto
Yōko Moriguchi
Nanba Io
Natsuki Harada
Tanabe Kanako
Hajime Yamazaki
Ashiya Takumi
Mariko Tsutsui
Ashiya Eiko
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hana-Kiki helped spark the 2000s live-action manga adaptation boom in Japan, proving shoujo could dominate primetime.
The dormitory's 'three princesses' — pretty boys who dress as girls for school festivals — became iconic, spawning endless parodies across Asian dramas.
JP
