Since its release in early 2007, Yankee Kun to Megane Chan has been collected into 18 graphic novels in Japan, with three volumes translated into English and nine into Chinese.
Senior high school student Shinagawa Daichi is the class yankee (Japanese for delinquent). He skips class, smokes and generally has a sour disposition. All Shinagawa wants is to be left alone. Unfortunately, the perky class representative Hana Adachi is constantly dragging him to school social activities and forcing him to help her with class chores.
Although Hana looks the part of a gentle class rep, she actually used to be a yankee herself. The mere mention of her street punk name would make other delinquents tremble in fear. Trying to leave her past behind, Hana hides her old self by wearing glasses and pigtails. But a new look can't make you clever, and Hana's test scores are almost always lower than those of Shinagawa who is considered the class dunce.
The two of them get into all sorts of trouble, from bullies and love triangles to run-ins with the Yakuza.
The show stars Narimiya Hiroki (Gokusen, Nana) as 'Yankee-kun' Shinagawa, and Naka Riisa (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Kami no Shizuku) as 'Megane-chan' Hana.
The manga is hilarious and the TV show does a good job of capturing that spirit. Keep an eye out for the 10-episode series on DVD and local channels soon.
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