"First Impressions Are the Most Lasting" is the first episode of the Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi anime series. The episode revolves around the couple Ritsu Onodera and Masamune Takano.
Plot[]
The episode begins with a flashback to ten years earlier. Ritsu Onodera, the main character and protagonist, is in high school and he has a crush an upperclassman named Saga. When Ritsu runs into Saga in the library, he blurts out that he loves him. The flashback ends, moving to the present day.
Ritsu is a new hire at Marukawa Publishing, but he's disappointed to learn that he has been assigned to the shoujo manga department when he had requested to be in the literature department. He asks to be switched over into literature, but the assignment is already official.
When he is taken to his department, known as Emerald, he finds the team extremely exhausted and over-stressed due to their "cycle" ending (a manuscript coming up). Ritsu wants to meet the "amazing" Editor-in-Chief he hears about, so he decides to stay with the job for two weeks, then quit. Takano, the Editor-in-Chief, gives Ritsu a cold greeting and tells him that he is "useless" because he has no experience with editing manga. Takano then heads off to meet a manga artist to help with work, and he tells Ritsu to come along so he can learn.
As Takano is editing the work, he doesn't like a kissing scene. He tells the artist to make the kiss more dramatic, but she is having a hard time. Takano then says he'll show her, and Ritsu thinks he's referring to references which Ritsu offers to get, but instead Takano pulls Ritsu over for a pose and kisses him. The tactic works and the mangaka furiously redraws the kiss, but Ritsu is startled and thinks Takano is a jerk.
Ritsu isn't sure he'll make it two weeks. As he later reflects on the kiss during a break, he's upset he was sexually harassed and his stomach hurts. His goal is also to work in literature, which he loves, not manga. Takano comes over and asks him about his last job at Onodera Publishing, Ritsu's family's publishing house, and if he's disappointed at being assigned to manga. When Ritsu reveals that's true, Takano tells him to quit if that's how he feels. Takano asks if they've met before, but Ritsu doesn't remember.
Ritsu becomes determined and begins reading shoujo manga to prepare for his job. He comes to work the following day exhausted after reading 100 manga volumes the night before, looking rather like the Emerald team did the day before. When he gets to his department, he is shocked that everyone is energetic and bright, and the place is cleaned up and sparkling and pink. Ritsu asks another coworker, who explains the 20-day manuscript cycle. This is how the team looks at the beginning of the cycle after the manuscript has been submitted.
Ritsu continues his training, and Takano mentions again that he thinks they've met before. Ritsu doesn't think much of it since they're both in publishing and might have crossed paths before. As he's working with another editor, Ritsu mentions that he used to read all the books in the library in high school, which catches Takano's attention. When asked if something's wrong, Takano says it's nothing, and Ritsu thinks Takano just thinks he's being weird for looking into manga so much. Ritsu continues reading manga, determined to not be "useless."
BGM Listing[]
# | Song Title | Romaji | Translation | OST |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 初恋の想い出 | Hatsukoi no Omoide | Memories of First Love | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
2 | 世界で一番恋してる (TV Size) | Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru | Falling in the Greatest Love in the World | Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru (Single) |
3 | 予想外な展開 | Yosougai na Tenkai | Unexpected Deployment | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
4 | 不吉な予感 | Fukitsu na Yokan | Complex Premonition | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
5 | きらめく日々 | Kirameku Hibi | Sparkling Cracks | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
6 | 予想外な展開 | Yosougai na Tenkai | Unexpected Deployment | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
7 | 一抹の不安 | Ichimatsu no Fuan | A Shade of Anxiety | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
8 | 秘めた想い | Himeta Omoi | Secrets that We Thought | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
9 | 突然の出来事 | Totsuzen no Dekigoto | Sudden Events | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
10 | 迷走する想い | Meisou suru Omoi | I Think To Understand | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
11 | ようこそ!エメラルド編集部 | Youkoso! Emerald Henshuubu | Welcome! To Emerald Editing Group | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
12 | マンガ編集のお仕事 | Manga Henshuu no Oshigoto | Your Work of Manga Editing | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
13 | ようこそ!エメラルド編集部 | Youkoso! Emerald Henshuubu | Welcome! To Emerald Editing Group | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
14 | 恋におちて | Koi ni Ochite | Fall in Love | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
15 | 忍び寄る影 | Shinobiyoru Kage | Extraordinary Shadow | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
16 | 危険信号 | Kiken Shingou | Danger’s Signal | Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi Original Soundtrack |
17 | 明日、僕は君に会いに行く。 (TV Size) | Ashita, Boku wa Kimi ni Ai ni Iku (TV Size) | Tomorrow, I Will Go to Meet You. (TV Size) | Ashita, Boku wa Kimi ni Ai ni Iku (Single) |
18 | 世界で一番恋してる (Off Vocal) | Sekai de Ichiban Koishiteru (Off Vocal) | Falling in the Greatest Love in the World (Off Vocal) | Unreleased |
Voice Cast[]
Japanese[]
Character | Voice Actor |
---|---|
Ritsu Onodera | Takashi Kondō |
Masamune Takano | Katsuyuki Konishi |
Yoshiyuki Hatori | Yūichi Nakamura |
Shouta Kisa | Nobuhiko Okamoto |
Kanade Mino | Hikaru Midorikawa |
Iori Sato | Mutsumi Tamura (田村睦心) |
Female Employees | Ikumi Hayama (葉山いくみ) |
Mina (美名) | |
Yuko Mori (森優子) | |
Editors | Sho Sakagami (鷹野晶) |
Shota Yamamoto (山本祥太) | |
Nobunaga Shimazaki (島崎信長) |
German[]
Character | Voice Actor |
---|---|
Ritsu Onodera | Konrad Bösherz |
Masamune Takano | Michael Baral |
Yoshiyuki Hatori | Vincent Fallow |
Shouta Kisa | Ferdi Özten |
Kanade Mino | Louis Friedemann Thiele |
Iori Sato | Signe Zurmühlen |
Characters debuts[]
In order of appearance:
- Ritsu Onodera
- Masamune Takano, aka Masamune Saga
- Unnamed female employee from the General Affairs Department
- Shouta Kisa, an editor in the Emerald department
- Kanade Mino, an editor in the Emerald department
- Yoshiyuki Hatori, an editor in the Emerald department
- Iori Satou, a mangaka with Emerald who creates a last-minute manuscript
- Akihiko Usami (flashback only)
- Unnamed male coworker who explains Emerald's 20-day cycle