Himouto! Umaru-chan

'Himouto! Umaru-chan' (干物妹!うまるちゃん Himōto! Umaru-chan?)[b] 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 15, 2015 to September 23, 2015.[a] A video game has been 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[6]
 * 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[7][8] where she wears an animal hoodie, acts lazy, eats junk food,[9] and is obsessed with playing video games, reading manga, and watching anime.[2] While she is in this "indoor" mode, she is drawn in a chibi manner.[10] later calling herself Komaru (Umaru's little sister) when Kirie Motoba catches her in that persona.[11] 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.[12] She later dons a mask to hide her identity from Sylphynford.[13][14]


 * Taihei Doma (土間 大平 Doma Taihei?)
 * Voiced by: Kenji Nojima[15], Miyu Tomita (young)
 * Taihei is Umaru's older brother who works at a company in systems support.[16][17] He lives in a 1DK apartment.[18] His younger sister Umaru moved in with him about a year before the start of the series.[10] He is described as having a kind and methodical personality, but scolds Umaru when she acts lazy.[2][10]


 * Nana Ebina (海老名 菜々 Ebina Nana?)
 * Voiced by: Akari Kageyama[6]
 * Nana is Umaru's buxom classmate and friend who lives by herself in the ground floor apartment below the Domas.[8][19] She is very shy,[2][8][19] and is originally from Akita,[20]

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 gained crush on[18] and gets flustered whenever he gives her compliments.[21] 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.[22] 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.[23]


 * Sylphynford Tachibana (橘・シルフィンフォード Tachibana Shirufinfōdo?)
 * Voiced by: Yurina Furukawa[6]
 * Sylphynford is a classmate of Umaru and Ebina. She is very openly

competitive and considers Umaru a rival in academics and sports.[2][8][24] She becomes friends with Umaru's video game persona UMR with hopes of beating Umaru at school,[14][25] and later begins to get along with Umaru's friends as well as Umaru herself.[26]


 * Kirie Motoba (本場 切絵 Motoba Kirie?)
 * Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi[6]
 * Kirie is a classmate who is introduced as a petite girl with

frightening eyes that scare others and that watches Umaru intensely.[27] It turns out she is very shy and has a great admiration for her.[2] She becomes friends with Komaru, thinking she is Umaru's little sister. She calls her Master and serves her.[11] She considers Ebina a rival for Umaru's affections.[28] She is a member of the swim club[29][30] and is good at other sports like tennis.[31] She aspires to be a picture book author.[32]


 * Takeshi Motoba (本場 猛 Motoba Takeshi?)
 * Voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto[2]
 * Takeshi is Kirie's older brother.[33] His hair is styled in an afro and he works in the same group as Taihei. His nickname is Bomber (ぼんば Bonba?).[16] He likes to slack off at work.[17][34][35] He and Taihei have been friends since high school, but he was not as studious as Taihei.[36]

He gets jealous when he hears Taihei has been hanging out with pretty girls, but when he meets Komaru, he feels she is cute too. He tries to interact with his own little sister Kirie, but the latter gets annoyed from him.[33] Later when he meets Umaru in her outdoor persona and Ebina, he becomes very nervous and shy.[37]


 * Alex Tachibana (橘・アレックス Tachibana Arekkusu?)
 * Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara[2]
 * Alex works in Taihei's department.[16] He is part German, and has relatives from Europe.[38] He enjoys playing video games, and it is revealed that Sylphynford is his younger sister.[13] He knows of Umaru's dual personalities.[39]

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.[40]


 * Manager Kanau (叶課長 Kanau kachō?)
 * Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu[41]
 * 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.[41] She has known Taihei and Bomber since high school ten years ago.[34][42] She is very fond of Taihei, and tries to flirt with him,[43]

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.[17] 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.[42] She has a younger sister named Hikari.[44]


 * Hikari Kongou (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,[c]and is later revealed to be Kanau's little sister.[44] It is hinted that she has interacted with Taihei before as she knows the set of constellations that he tried to show Umaru.[45] She refers to Taihei as a big brother.[44]

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.[46][47] It was then serialized in Weekly Young Jump[6] from March 14, 2013.[48] 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.[23]

Anime
An anime television series adaptation by Doga Kobo aired in Japan on the broadcast nights from July 8, 2015 to September 23, 2015[a] and was simulcast by Crunchyroll.[2][56][57][58] The series is directed by Masahiko Ohta and written by Takashi Aoshima, with character design by Aya Takano and sound direction by Yasunori Ebina.[2] 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. The series is licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks.[59]

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"), has been announced for a December 3, 2015 release.[63]