Himouto! Umaru-chan

Himouto! Umaru-chan
Cover of Himōto! Umaru-chan volume 1 by Shueisha
干物妹!うまるちゃん (Himōto! Umaru-chan)
Genre	Comedy
Manga
Written by	Sankaku Head
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Weekly Young Jump
Original run	March 14, 2013 – present
Volumes	7
Manga
Written by	Sankaku Head
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Tonari no Young Jump
Original run	March 20, 2014 – present
Volumes	1
Anime television series
Directed by	Masahiko Ohta
Written by	Takashi Aoshima
Music by	Yasuhiro Misawa
Studio	Doga Kobo
Licensed by	NA Sentai Filmworks
Network	ABC, Tokyo MX, BS11, AT-X
Original run	July 9, 2015 – September 24, 2015
Episodes	12
Anime television series
Himouto! Umaru-chan'S
Original run	July 13, 2015 – September 28, 2015
Episodes	12
Game
Himōto! Umaru-chan: Himōto! Ikusei Keikaku
Developer	Connect Wizard
Publisher	FuRyu
Genre	Life simulation game
Platform	PlayStation Vita
Released	December 3, 2015

Himouto! Umaru-chan (干物妹!うまるちゃん, Himōto! Umaru-chan) is a Japanese manga series by Sankaku Head. It began serialization in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from March 14, 2013. It has been collected in six tankōbon volumes. An alternative version was serialized for two chapters in Shueisha's monthly magazine Miracle Jump in 2012. An anime television series adaptation by Doga Kobo aired in Japan from July 9, 2015 to September 24, 2015. A video game was announced for the PlayStation Vita.

Plot

The series follows Umaru Doma, a high school girl who lives with her older brother Taihei. At school, Umaru appears to be the ideal student with good looks, top grades, and a lot of talent. Once she gets home, however, she reverts into a layabout who spends her time lying around, playing video games, and constantly depending on her older brother, much to his dismay. Over the course of the series, Umaru's alternative personalities help her become friends with her female classmates Kirie Motoba, who has a reputation of glaring at people; and Sylphynford Tachibana, her competitive school rival; both of whom turn out to be little sisters of Taihei's coworkers.

Characters

Umaru Doma (土間 埋, Doma Umaru)

Voiced by: Aimi Tanaka

The title character, Umaru, is a high school girl who on the surface appears to be perfect with beautiful looks, top grades, and excellence in everything she does. However, at home, she reverts to a secret lifestyle where she wears an animal hoodie, acts lazy, eats junk food, and is obsessed with playing video games, reading manga, and watching anime. While she is in this "indoor" mode, she is drawn in a chibi manner. later calling herself Komaru (Umaru's little sister) when Kirie Motoba catches her in that persona. She lives with her older brother Taihei. She wears a cap when she goes to the video arcade where she is a well-known gamer who goes by the initials UMR. She later dons a mask to hide her identity from Sylphynford.

Taihei Doma (土間 大平, Doma Taihei)

Voiced by: Kenji Nojima, Miyu Tomita (young)

Taihei is Umaru's older brother who works at a company in systems support. He lives in a 1DK apartment. His younger sister Umaru moved in with him about a year before the start of the series. He is described as having a kind and methodical personality, but scolds Umaru when she acts lazy.

Nana Ebina (海老名 菜々, Ebina Nana)

Voiced by: Akari Kageyama

Nana is Umaru's buxom classmate and friend who lives by herself in the ground floor apartment below the Domas. She is very shy, and is originally from Akita, occasionally reverting to its dialect when nervous. Because of her big breasts, Nana has lack of confidence because most people look at her breasts before her eyes. The first person to look her in the eyes is Taihei, whom she later has a crush on and gets flustered whenever he gives her compliments.She later reveals to Taihei that she has an older brother who is working at a restaurant in Tokyo; Taihei suspects he might have met him on his business trip. In October 2015, it was announced that she would be the subject of a spin-off manga titled "Akita Imokko! Ebina-chan" (秋田妹！えびなちゃん, lit. Akita Native Little Sister Ebina) after having placed first in a Niconico Seiga poll among the Umaru-chan characters.

Sylphynford Tachibana (橘・シルフィンフォード, Tachibana Shirufinfōdo)

Voiced by: Yurina Furukawa

Sylphynford is a classmate of Umaru and Ebina. She is very openly competitive and considers Umaru a rival in academics and sports. She becomes friends with Umaru's video game persona UMR with hopes of beating Umaru at school, and later begins to get along with Umaru's friends as well as Umaru herself.

Kirie Motoba (本場 切絵, Motoba Kirie)

Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi

Kirie is a classmate who is introduced as a petite girl with frightening eyes that scare others and that watches Umaru intensely. It turns out she is very shy and has a great admiration for her. She becomes friends with Komaru, thinking she is Umaru's little sister. She calls her Master and serves her. She considers Ebina a rival for Umaru's affections. She is a member of the swim club and is good at other sports like tennis. She aspires to be a picture book author.

Takeshi Motoba (本場 猛, Motoba Takeshi)

Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto

Takeshi is Kirie's older brother. His hair is styled in an afro and he works in the same group as Taihei. His nickname is Bomber (ぼんば, Bonba). He likes to slack off at work. He and Taihei have been friends since high school, but he was not as studious as Taihei. He gets jealous when he hears Taihei has been hanging out with pretty girls, but when he meets Taihei's sister as Komaru, he feels she is cute too. He tries to interact with his own little sister Kirie, but the latter gets annoyed from him. Later when he meets Umaru in her outdoor persona and Ebina, he becomes very nervous and shy. He thinks Komaru and Umaru are two different people, and is unable to recognize his own sister during their trip to the aquarium.

Alex Tachibana (橘・アレックス, Tachibana Arekkusu)

Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara

Alex works in Taihei's department. He is part German, and has relatives from Europe. He enjoys playing video games, and it is revealed that Sylphynford is his younger sister. He knows of Umaru's dual personalities. He later reveals that when he was in middle school, he was a shut-in but was inspired by a long-haired girl (hinted to be Kanau) to move to Japan and attend a Japanese high school.

Manager Kanau (叶課長, Kanau kachō)

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu

Kanau Kongou (金剛 叶, Kongō Kanau) is the female boss of Taihei, Bomber, and Alex, described in Young Jump magazine as beautiful and excellent. She has known Taihei and Bomber since high school ten years ago. She is very fond of Taihei, and tries to flirt with him, but gets annoyed by Bomber, whom she physically scolds. During Christmas time, it is revealed that she is still single and living on her own. Umaru is a bit jealous of her flirtations. Taihei reveals that she is the daughter of the president of the company, a year younger than Taihei, and that they attended different schools. She has a younger sister named Hikari.

Hikari Kongō (金剛 ヒカリ, Kongō Hikari)

A top student from the Gifted Youth Program at Umaru's high school. She wears a diamond logo hairpin from the company where Taihei works, and is later revealed to be Kanau's little sister. It is hinted that she has interacted with Taihei before as she knows the set of constellations that he tried to show Umaru. She refers to Taihei as a big brother.

Media

Manga

The manga first appeared in Shueisha's monthly magazine Miracle Jump in 2012 for two chapters: first in the 10th issue on August 16 and again in the 11th issue on October 16. It was then serialized in Weekly Young Jump from March 14, 2013. Six tankōbon volumes have since been published. A spin-off focused on Nana Ebina, tentatively titled "Akita Imokko! Ebina-chan" (秋田妹！えびなちゃん, lit. Akita Native Little Sister Ebina) that will run on Niconico Seiga website and other platforms after ranked first on the website's popularity poll.

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	September 19, 2013	ISBN 978-4-08-879706-9
2	December 19, 2013	ISBN 978-4-08-879722-9
3	June 19, 2014	ISBN 978-4-08-879861-5
4	December 19, 2014	ISBN 978-4-08-890083-4
5	March 19, 2015	ISBN 978-4-08-890175-6
6	June 19, 2015	ISBN 978-4-08-890207-4
7	October 19, 2015	ISBN 978-4-08-890268-5
8	March 18, 2016	ISBN 978-4-08-890370-5

Anime

An anime television series adaptation by Doga Kobo was produced, starring Aimi Tanaka as Umaru and Kenji Nojima as Taihei. The series is directed by Masahiko Ohta and written by Takashi Aoshima, with character design by Aya Takano and sound direction by Yasunori Ebina. It aired in Japan from July 9, 2015 to September 24, 2015, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Kakushin-teki Metamarufōze!" (かくしん的☆めたまるふぉ〜ぜっ！, lit. Core Basis: Metamorphosis!) by Aimi Tanaka, while the ending theme is "Hidamari Days" (ひだまりデイズ, Sunshine Days) by Aimi Tanaka, Akari Kageyama, Haruka Shiraishi, and Yurina Furukawa, who voiced the four main girls. The series is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks.

Episode list

No.	Title	Original airdate
1	"Umaru and Onii-chan" "Umaru to Onii-chan" (うまるとお兄ちゃん)	July 9, 2015
Umaru Doma is a high school girl who, despite having a refined appearance in public, acts like a total slob at home, much to the dismay of her older brother, Taihei, who she constantly barks orders at. Wanting to win an online contest, Umaru tries to teach some tricks to her pet hamsters. Later, after spending the day with her worriesome classmate, Nana Ebina, Umaru has an intense snacking session, only to wind up becoming too full to eat her favorite meal. Afterwards, Umaru gets angry at Taihei from pulling away from a gaming session with her in order to buy the weekly groceries.
2	"Umaru and Ebina-chan" "Umaru to Ebina-chan" (うまると海老名ちゃん)	July 16, 2015
Umaru invites Ebina-chan over for a study session, surprising Taihei as it involves Umaru actually keeping the room tidy in order to keep up her slob life a secret from her. Later, Umaru tries to awaken Taihei on his day off in order to pass the time. Another day, Umaru has Taihei enter a contest to win a giant plushie, which he ends up giving to Ebina-chan. A few days later, Taihei takes advantage of another encounter with Ebina-chan to prevent Umaru from forcing him to buy a new game for her. Later, Ebina-chan recalls when she moved to Tokyo a year ago from Akita and gained a crush on Taihei, the first person to look her in the eyes.
3	"Umaru and Her Student" "Umaru to Deshi" (うまると弟子)	July 23, 2015
Umaru procrastinates in studying for an exam. Kirie Motoba, Umaru's classmate who often shoots eerie glares at her classmates, comes over to Umaru's house to deliver her lost student ID, coming across Umaru in her "himouto" form. Passing herself off as the little sister "Komaru", Umaru learns that Kirie isn't so much scary as she is too shy talking to others besides children. Later, Umaru gets spooked during a power outage after watching a scary movie.
4	"Umaru and Her Rival" "Umaru to Raibaru" (うまるとライバル)	August 5, 2015
Umaru uses her fearsome crane game prowess to win multiple prizes in a single try, much to the dismay of the arcade staff. The next day, Umaru and her classmates participate in a tennis match, which her self-proclaimed rival Sylphynford Tachibana takes very seriously. Later, Umaru accidentally breaks a porcelain akabeko given to Taihei by his co-worker, Alex, and attempts to fix it before he comes home. Umaru later participates in a fighting game tournament under her alias UMR, becoming surprised to be facing off against Sylphynford, who proves to be a tough opponent in the finals. However, Sylphynford suddenly becomes embarrassed when she notices Alex, her brother, has been watching her and runs off, resulting in Umaru winning by default.
5	"Umaru and Summer Vacation" "Umaru to Natsuyasumi" (うまると夏休み)	August 6, 2015
Sylphynford encounters Umaru at the arcade and challenges her to various games, becoming friends with her UMR persona. Later, Umaru spends her summer lazing around with Kirie, taking fizzy baths, and going clothes shopping with her friends, while Taihei works hard at his workplace.
6	"Umaru's Birthday" "Umaru no Tanjōbi" (うまるの誕生日)	August 13, 2015
Umaru goes out late at night to buy some cola, finding the streets she normally crosses to be very different compared to the daytime. Meanwhile, Taihei tries to find some way to pass the time during his day off. Later, Taihei decides to split up the rooms with a curtain so he can have his own private space from Umaru, but the two siblings soon find it lonely divided off from each other. Afterwards, Umaru, Taihei, and Kirie play a Game of Life video game together, where Taihei helps out Kirie during her struggling career. Later, Umaru becomes concerned when Taihei doesn't seem to remember her birthday, only to find he was preparing a surprise party for her.
7	"Umaru's Onii-chan" "Umaru no Onii-chan" (うまるのお兄ちゃん)	August 20, 2015
When Taihei inadvertently throws away the box for one of Umaru's figures, Umaru goes a little too far in teasing him about it, becoming panicked when he goes off during the night to buy a replacement. Nana invites Umaru and Taihei to a ramen shop. Takeshi, who is Taihei's co-worker and Kirie's older brother, visits Taihei to check whether he really just has a little sister instead of a girlfriend he ends up meeting Komaru. Sylphynford asks Umaru (as UMR) to take her to an old-fashioned candy store. Taihei gets lost in a residential area, but the presence of a cat triggers some nostalgia of when he and Umaru used to walk through there.
8	"Umaru and Christmas and New Year's" "Umaru to Kurisumasu to Shin'nen" (うまるとクリスマスと新年)	August 27, 2015
Taihei ends up having to work overtime on Christmas Eve, leaving Umaru feeling lonely until he returns along with a visit from Kirie. Takeshi visits for New Year's Eve; Takeshi's cooking and Umaru's snacks end up complementing each other. The beautiful but single section chief Kanau checks in on Taihei and Takeshi, but her plans for some private time with Taihei are foiled as she dismisses them for Christmas Eve.
9	"Umaru and Valentine's" "Umaru to Barentain" (うまるとバレンタイン)	September 3, 2015
Kirie makes some cookies to give to Umaru, while Umaru and Taihei help Nana make some Valentine's chocolates, oblivious of who she wants to give them to. Later, Umaru and Sylphynford go to an anime shop together, bonding over their roles as little sisters who love anime. Afterwards, Taihei has to try and converse with Kirie while waiting for Umaru to come home, before trying to solve the mystery of who ate Umaru's pudding overnight.
10	"Umaru and Now and Once Upon a Time" "Umaru to Ima to Mukashi Mukashi" (うまると今と昔々)	September 10, 2015
After being left alone with a fever she brought upon herself, Umaru plans to exact revenge on Taihei when he gets a cold himself. However, upon finding Taihei's fever has worsened while she was out shopping, Umaru helps him to fight off the virus. Later, Umaru becomes irritated when Taihei tries to feed her peppers, though she soon comes to appreciate the effort he puts into making her eat right. Afterwards, Umaru inadvertently breaks the house's internet modem, leaving her with no internet access, so she spends the day at a manga café, purchasing more time than she knows what to do with. In a flashback, Taihei, who is still in high school, goes to an arcade with Takeshi and Kanau, where he wins a prize for Umaru.
11	"Umaru's Days" "Umaru no Hibi" (うまるの日々)	September 17, 2015
Ebina is invited to have lunch with Umaru and Taihei after bringing over some rice, before Umaru has a serious internal discussion over what snacks to buy. Afterwards, Ebina becomes conscious about how much she eats while eating out with Umaru and Taihei, but soon indulges in a parfait alongside Umaru. Later, the rainy season has some adverse effects on both Umaru and Kirie, prompting Taihei to try and take their minds off ot it with the enticement of the summer that comes afterwards. When summer arrives, Umaru spends her time eating ice cream with each of her friends.
12	"Umaru and Everyone" "Umaru to Minna" (うまるとみんな)	September 24, 2015
Wanted to expand her opportunities to laze around, Umaru tries to encourage Taihei to buy an expensive car, only to discover he is absolutely terrified of driving. As everyone sets off for a trip to Enoshima, Kirie becomes worried by both the absence of "Komaru" and the presence of Takeshi, who believes both the Umaru and Kirie riding with everyone are different people from the ones he knows. While at the beach, Kirie explains how her isolation in class is somewhat related to her feud with Takeshi, becoming grateful to both Umaru and "Komaru" for helping her speak with people better. Joined by Sylphynford, who is also on holiday, the girls spend the rest of the day playing in the ocean together before everyone goes back home, with Umaru quickly reverting back to her himouto lifestyle.

Video game

A PlayStation Vita sister-raising simulation game developed by FuRyu, titled Himōto! Umaru-chan: Himōto! Ikusei Keikaku (干物妹！うまるちゃん ～干物妹！育成計画～, lit. "Himōto! Umaru-chan: Himōto! Training Plan"), was released on December 3, 2015.

Works cited

• ^ "Ch." is shortened form for chapter and refers to a chapter number of the Himouto! Umaru-chan manga by Sankaku Head.
• ^ "Ep." is shortened form for episode and refers to an episode number of the Himouto! Umaru-chan anime.

External links

• Manga official website (Japanese)
• Anime official website (Japanese)
• Himouto! Umaru-chan (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia