is a shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Moe Yukimaru. Hiyokoi premiered in the December 2009 issue of Ribon

Ribon

is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are Nakayoshi and Ciao. Its target audience is young girls roughly 9–13 years old. In 2009, the magazine's circulation was 274,167, down from the previous year's circulation numbers of 330,000...

 and is still running. The name of the series is a pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

 between 'Hiyoko' (ひよこ, which means chick) and 'Koi' (恋, which means love).

A twenty-two-minute-long movie based on the manga and produced by Production I.G.

Production I.G.

is a Japanese anime studio and production enterprise, which was founded on December 15, 1987 by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa. It is headquartered in Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan....

 was released in the Ribon Summer festival in July 30, 2010. The movie was later released on a DVD along with the Yumeiro Patissiere

Yumeiro Patissiere

is a shōjo manga and anime series by Natsumi Matsumoto. It began serialization on September 3, 2008, in the October 2008 issue of Ribon. The individual chapters have been collected into nine tankōbon volumes by Shueisha as of May 2011. The series ended on June 3, 2011, and is expected to be 10...

 OVA.

Plot

Hiyori Nishiyama is a 15-years-old girl who is extremely shy and short. After being hospitalized for a year, due to a car accident, she starts going to high school as a freshman

Freshman

A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...

, along with her best friend Ritsuka. In her class there is a boy who is very tall and seems to have a lot of friends. His name is Yuushin Hirose and becomes Hiyori's friend (even if at the beginning Hiyori is not very happy with his habits). After an accident where her panties were shown to the class, she starts making friends and falls in love with Yuushin, but due to her shyness, she does not know how to confess to him.

Characters

A 15-year-old girl on first year of high school. She has a height of 140 centimeters and is very shy, because she doesn't want people to trick on her. She is referred as cute by her classmates, specially by Natsuki and Yuushin. Her best friend is Ritsuka, who she has met since kindergarten. Her nicknames are Hiyo (used by Ritsuka) and Hiyorin (used by Yuushin and other classmates). Hiyori admires Yuushin because he can make friends easily, while she can't. Later, she falls in love with him. Hiyori also has a cat named Pui-pui, which was found by Yuushin in the school grounds.

A 15-year-old boy on first year on high school and on the same class as Hiyori. He has a height of 190 centimeters, thus his relationship with Hiyori is referred as a "reverse Lovely Complex

Lovely Complex

, also known as Lovely Complex, is a romantic comedy shōjo manga by Aya Nakahara. It was published by Shueisha in Bessatsu Margaret from 2001 to 2006 and collected in 17 tankōbon volumes. The series is about the romance between a tall girl and a short boy who are treated as a comedy duo by their...

". He is very popular and has a lot of friends, and is normally seen smiling. Though he is very popular, Yuushin does not have a girlfriend. He does not accept any honmei chocolate and rejects confessions as politely as possible. Yuushin spends most of the classes sleeping or eating, annoying Hiyori. He seems to have feelings for Hiyori.

A 15-years-old girl and Hiyori's best friend. She is the first person who encouraged Hiyori to become more sociable and start going again to school. Hiyori calls her Ri-chan. Her most notable feature are her red twintails. She is also a part of the archery club, and prefers a guy who "will not die even if an arrow pierces his heart."

A 15-year-old girl who is Hiyori and Yuushin's classmate. She loves cute things and is one of the classmates that thinks Hiyori is cute. She has been classmates with Yuushin in all of her middle school years. It is revealed that Natsuki had a crush on her homerooom teacher back in her last year in middle school, but when she learned that he was married, she felt heart broken, and so cut her hair. Natuski decided that she will only grow her hair when she has found someone that she loves. It is revealed that her birthday is on July 18.

Kisaki is a former classmate of Yuushin's. She confessed to Yuushin when they were young, but it is unknown what he said to her. She asked Hiyori to deliver some Valentine's chocolate to Yuushin, but Hiyori broke down and couldn't do it. Kisaki attends a prestigious school. She is very beautiful, and has a 'short person' complex (she envies short people like Hiyori.)

Kou is one of Hiyori's classmates in her second year, and sits beside her in class. He has a similar personality and height with her, causing him to be constantly teased with Hiyori during his first year. When he first met Hiyori, he disliked her because he thought that she had a calculating personality, and believed that Hiyori was an attention-seeking girl. He eventually becomes one of Hiyori's good friends. He also does not enjoy school trips.

Reina is Hiyori's second year classmate, but is a year older because she is a returnee from the United States. She is a happy go lucky girl, and isn't afraid to speak her mind. She sits beside Yuushin in class, and has also confessed to him. She considers Hiyori as her rival and comrade, because they were both 'rejected' by Yuushin, although Hiyori has not yet given Yuushin a direct confession. She also told Yuushin that Hiyori and Kou looked good together, but that would be impossible because Hiyori has feelings for Yuushin.

is Yuushin and Hiyori's first and second year homeroom teacher. She is 28 years old when the manga starts, and has a hard time finding a boyfriend, although she frequently goes to "kouko"s. She is affectionately called Mi-tan by Yuushin and her first year class. She has about three cats, all from which have been saved by Yuushin.

Anime

An anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 adaptation of the manga was announced on April 23, 2010. It aired on three events of Ribon

Ribon

is a monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are Nakayoshi and Ciao. Its target audience is young girls roughly 9–13 years old. In 2009, the magazine's circulation was 274,167, down from the previous year's circulation numbers of 330,000...

 magazine: one in Tokyo (July 30, 2010), another in Osaka (August 6, 2010) and the last one in Nagoya (August 19, 2010). On October 2, 2010 a DVD containing the Hiyokoi OVA and a Yumeiro Patissiere

Yumeiro Patissiere

is a shōjo manga and anime series by Natsumi Matsumoto. It began serialization on September 3, 2008, in the October 2008 issue of Ribon. The individual chapters have been collected into nine tankōbon volumes by Shueisha as of May 2011. The series ended on June 3, 2011, and is expected to be 10...

 special was released along with the November issue of Ribon. The anime was directed by Naganuma Norihiko, using character designs of Shibata Yuka and produced by Production I.G.

Production I.G.

is a Japanese anime studio and production enterprise, which was founded on December 15, 1987 by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa. It is headquartered in Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan....

The OVA adapts the first two chapters of the manga.