Kanojo wa Rokurokubi is a short, supernatural Slice of Life and Romantic Comedy manga by Nieki Zui which concluded in 22 chapters. It stars Natsuki Kinoi, a schoolgirl, as she goes through her daily life with her Childhood Friend Itsuki Miyama, who she definitely feels something for, and how they grow closer together. The catch- while Itsuki is human, Natsuki is a Rokurokubi
, a type of youkai notable for their supernaturally long necks that can stretch. And she's not the only one, for the entire neighborhood is full of youkai going about their daily lives. Can she and Itsuki overcome their differences and become something more?
This manga contains examples of:
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Gender-inverted with Itsuki's mother, who in the last couple of chapters demands he stop seeing his titular Rokurokubi girlfriend, Natsuki, because she doesn't approve of their Interspecies Romance or like youkai in general.
- Cute Monster Girl: Basically everyone except Itsuki is a cute youkai girl of some sort.
- Natsuki Kinoi, the schoolgirl protagonist, is a Rokurokubi, a youkai with a Long Neck.
- Nonoka Ichijou, her best friend, is a Noppera-bō, or "faceless ghost". She can imitate the faces of others and normally takes on the face of a Bespectacled Cutie.
- Yocchii is heavily implied, though never outright stated, to be the Kuchisake-onna. Just like the legend, she wears a face mask to cover her Glasgow Grin, and at one point makes a Twitter poll asking if she is pretty or disgusting (referencing the question the spirit asks before either killing the victim or slitting their face like hers). However, she lacks any malice and is instead adorable and socially-awkward.
- Yomimi Hirasaka, Natsuki's rival in the athletic competition, is a Kubikajiri, or head/neck-eating youkai, who looks like a normal schoolgirl just like her. Her neck-biting is depicted as a compulsion that takes over in the athletic competition, but Natsuki letting her nibble on her Long Neck satisfies the urge.
- Defeat Equals Friendship: A double version. Natsuki's team defeat Yomimi in one of the last games in the athletic competition, only to horribly lose the jump-rope event and the competition as a whole. Despite this, Yomimi befriends Natsuki a couple of chapters later when the latter (the titular Rokurokubi) offers to let the former (a Kubikajiri who feels a compulsion to bite necks) nibble on her neck.
- Long Neck: The manga stars a Rokurokubi schoolgirl named Kinoi Natsuki. Her neck normally looks just like a human's, but it can stretch if she wants it to, or as a reflex to express surprise, embarrassment, or other things. She uses it for all kinds of mundane things like standing outside her balcony and talking to her next-door Love Interest in the face.
- I Choose to Stay: In the Epilogue chapter, it is clarified that Itsuki ultimately chose to ignore his mother's demands that he return to the human world and is choosing to stay with Natsuki and the other youkai.
- Interspecies Romance: Natsuki, the titular Rokurokubi, eventually gets into a Childhood Friend Romance with the human Itsuki.
- Masking the Deformity: Yocchii, heavily implied to be the Kuchisake-onna, is a kind woman who nevertheless really doesn't want people making fun of her stitched, scarred Glasgow Grin, and so always wears a face mask to cover it. She is really sensitive about it and initially refuses to help in the athletic competition for fear that it might fall off.
