Kirarin☆Revolution

Kirarin☆Revolution (きらりん☆レボリューション; Sparkling☆Revolution) was originally a romantic comedy shoujo manga by Nakahara An. The series was first published in March 2004 on Ciao Magazine. It won the 2007 Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga.

The manga was adapted into an anime in 2006. The first episode of the Kirarin Revolution anime was aired on April 6, 2006 in Japan on TV Tokyo. In July 2009, the last volume of Kirarin Revolution was published and the series went to an end.

During the run of the anime, Morning Musume's Kusumi Koharu played the lead character, Tsukishima Kirari.

Plot[]

Tsukishima Kirari, a 14-year-old beauty, does not care about idols and the entertainment world because her mind is occupied by food. Her obsession with food only causes her to be clueless about love. One day, after saving a turtle that is stranded in a tree, Kirari meets a handsome and gentle boy named Seiji, who gives her a ticket to a SHIPS (a popular idol group) concert to show his gratitude for her saving his pet. However, when Kirari shows up at the concert, another boy named Hiroto, tears up her ticket and warns her to stay away from Seiji, because they both live in different worlds. The outraged Kirari sneaks into the concert, only to discover that Seiji and Hiroto, are actually members of SHIPS. Finally understanding the meaning of "different worlds", Kirari refuses to give up pursuing Seiji and declares that she will also become an idol. However, being an idol requires tons of training and talent. Faced with rivals and scandals, Kirari is determined to come out as a top idol...

Notable Characters[]

Tsukishima Kirari[]

Tsukishima Kirari (月島きらり) is a cute 14-year-old girl who strives to be an idol, and the main reason to become one was because she fell in love at first sight with Seiji from SHIPS and wants to get closer to him. She has a huge appetite for food, and she is clumsy, dense, overly trusting of others, and lacks common sense. Despite her shortcomings and lack of talents, she manages to persevere as a result of the help she receives from her friends and her unwavering resilience. As an idol, she gains countless friends and supporters, but her strongest bond is with Hiroto and Seiji, who act as her protectors. She has a unique characteristic of turning all artistic designs into mushroom shapes.

Throughout the series, she is caught in a love triangle with Hiroto and Seiji. In the beginning, she liked Seiji and thought of him as her prince. She tries to do what she can to impress him and make him fall in love with her. As time passes and she spends time with Hiroto, she begins to fall in love with Hiroto instead. In the manga, she eventually confessed her love to him during their first date.

In the anime only, she is also a member of the idol unit Kira Pika which consists of her and Hikaru Mizuki, who is talented but has stage fright. Later, she starts another group known as Milky Way with two other girls: Noel and Kobeni.

In the anime, Tsukishima Kirari was voiced by Kusumi Koharu.

Kazama Hiroto[]

Kazama Hiroto (風真宙人) is a member of popular idol boy band, SHIPS. He became an idol when he teamed up with Seiji at age 12. He is the oldest of five brothers, whom he takes care of while his parents are away. For some reason, he gets cold coincidentally when Kirari's grandmother is being starstruck about him or when she is mentioned.

In contrast to Seiji, who is kind and gentle, Hiroto is honest and strict and is sometimes acerbic with Kirari. Despite how he treats her, he truly cares about her and likes to see her smile happily. Although he supports Kirari's feelings for Seiji throughout the series, he often worries about her when she faces difficult situations, and he is usually the one who helps her out. He is very intelligent and talented in household chores, which he teaches to Kirari to help her on jobs.

Hiroto has a hidden soft side; he gradually shows more affection to Kirari, and he also gets jealous of other guys like Cloudy, who tries to get close to her, and on rare occasions, Seiji. By the end of the manga, he realizes his true feelings for Kirari and returns her feelings when she confesses to him. In the manga, he also kisses Kirari after he came back from New York.

Beginning with episode 103 of the anime, Kazama Hiroto was voiced by Ide Takuya.

Hiwatari Seiji[]

Hiwatari Seiji (日渡星司) is a member of popular idol boy band SHIPS, as well as Kirari's initial love interest. At age 12, Seiji became an idol when he teamed up with Hiroto. He is from a very rich family, and his parents disagree with him being an idol and want him to get married into another rich family. Throughout the beginning of the series, he seems oblivious to Kirari's feelings, and he treats her like a little sister, even though he gets jealous of her closeness with Hiroto by episode 12. Since Seiji is as dense as Kirari, he always has a calm and clueless expression.

He has a deep love for Kami-sama and has a murderous look when something is spilled onto it. When he is wandering around in the city, he disguises himself as an otaku.

Beginning with episode 103 of the anime, Hiwatari Seiji was voiced by Kanai Shikou.

Yukino Noel[]

Yukino Noel (雪野のえる) is an athletic girl who loves playing sports. She is a member of Milky Way. Due to her love for sports, she refuses Kirari's request to join her, but changes her mind. Long ago in grade school, she had loved Cloudy, who was once her best friend. When they met again, she hopes to make up with him.

In the anime, Yukino Noel was voiced by Kitahara Sayaka.

Hanasaki Cobeni[]

Hanasaki Cobeni (花咲こべに) is usually seen with a crystal ball and wears glasses. She is a member of Milky Way. However, she takes off her glasses when she is performing on stage with the other members of Milky Way, Kirari and Noel. Like Noel, she refused to join Kirari as an idol because she felt she wasn't good enough, but changes her mind.

In the anime, Hanasaki Cobeni was voiced by Kikkawa You.

Mizuki Hikaru[]

Mizuki Hikaru (観月ひかる) was a 13-year-old idol-in-training that was assigned to learn under Kirari. Kirari and Hikaru later team up to form the idol unit Kira Pika, but the pair was shortly disbanded. After that she sees Kirari as her sensei. Hikaru continues her career as a soloist. Her childhood friend is Wataru.

In the anime, Mizuki Hikaru was voiced by Hagiwara Mai.

Yoshizawa Hitomi[]

Yoshizawa Hitomi (吉澤ひとみ) is a graduated member of Morning Musume that appeared in episode 16 of Kirarin Revolution. She was voiced by Yoshizawa herself.

Related Acts[]

The following are a list of Hello! Project and Up-Front acts that were inspired by the anime:

Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume)
Kira☆Pika
- Kira
- Pika
MilkyWay
- Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume)
- Yukino Noel starring Kitahara Sayaka
- Hanasaki Cobeni starring Kikkawa You
SHIPS
- Kazama Hiroto (Ide Takuya)
- Hiwatari Seiji (Kanai Shikou)

Related Discography[]

Singles[]

[2006.07.09] ℃-ute - Ooki na Ai de Motenashite (大きな愛でもてなして)
[2006.07.12] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Koi☆Kana (恋☆カナ)
[2006.10.25] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Balalaika (バラライカ)
[2007.05.02] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Happy☆彡 (ハッピー☆彡)
[2007.08.01] Kira☆Pika - Hana wo Pu-n / Futari wa NS (はなをぷーん/ふたりはNS)
[2007.11.07] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Chance! (チャンス!)
[2008.04.30] MilkyWay - Anataboshi (アナタボシ)
[2008.06.25] SHIPS - TOKYO FRIEND☆SHIPS
[2008.07.16] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Papancake (パパンケーキ)
[2008.10.29] MilkyWay - Tan Tan Taan! (タンタンターン！)
[2008.11.16] SHIPS - Kimi ga Iru (きみがいる)
[2009.02.04] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Hapi☆Hapi Sunday! (はぴ☆はぴサンデー!)

Albums[]

[2007.02.28] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Mitsuboshi (☆☆☆)
[2007.12.19] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Kirarin☆Land (きらりん☆ランド)
[2008.12.17] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Kirari to Fuyu (きらりと冬)

Mini Albums[]

[2006.10.18] Various - Kirarin☆Revolution Song Selection (きらりん☆レボリューション・ソング・セレクション)
[2007.09.12] Various - Kirarin☆Revolution Song Selection 2
[2008.07.23] Various - Kirarin☆Revolution Song Selection 3
[2008.08.27] Various - Kirarin☆Revolution Song Selection 4
[2009.03.18] Various - Kirarin☆Revolution Song Selection 5

Best Albums[]

[2009.03.11] Tsukishima Kirari (Kusumi Koharu) - Best☆Kirari (ベスト☆きらり)
[2010.12.22] Various - Minna no Idol☆Collection ~TV Anime Hit Song Shuu~

Original Soundtracks[]

[2006.11.22] Various - Kirarin☆Revolution Original Soundtrack Vol.1

DVDs[]

[2009.07.07] Kirarin☆Revolution Final Stage