Machida-kun no Sekai (町田くんの世界, literally "The World of Machida") is a Slice of Life and Drama manga, written and illustrated by Yuki Andō.
The manga follows Hajime Machida, a high school student and the oldest of 5 (later 6) siblings. Despite his nerdy appearance, he is not good in classes nor in sports; despite this he is beloved by all those around him, seeing the world as part of his family and bringing joy and understanding to those who cross his path.
The manga was serialized in Shueisha's Bessatsu Margaret from 2015 to 2018, and compiled into seven volumes. It received greatly positive reception from readers and critics, earning it a live action movie adaptation in 2019, which was translated as Almost A Miracle.
Tropes
- Ambiguously Gay: Himuro, a popular school idol with lots of girls that fawn for him, once he strikes up a friendship with Hajime, gets immensely close to him, doing things like hugging him impromptu, or smugly telling Inohara that he is Hajime's best friend and has spent time with him. Sakae, another friend of Hajime, explains to him that Himuro and Inohara both have strong feelings for him and are in love with him; although she says that Himuro might be a case of falling in love "as a friend", she thinks to herself that Himuro might genuinely just be in love with Hajime.
- Back for the Finale: Several character appear or are at least mentioned in the final chapter.
- Beautiful All Along: Ayumu, Hinata's cousin, is a guy that is very shy and seems distant, always with bangs hiding half of his face. When Niko meets him when he is washing his face, she is surprised to learn he is a extremely handsome man which she describes as being like a celebrity.
- The Four Loves: It's discussed that Hajime has difficulty understanding romantic love. That said, he is very knowledgeable about friendship, familial love, and unconditional love. He considers everyone as a possible addition to his family and treats everyone as he would to a family member; he also doesn't believe that there's anyone truly bad, and helps everyone he meets out of the belief that deep down they're good people.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Although it's hinted Himuro is in love with Hajime, he ultimately supports him in getting together with Inohara. Sake mentions she thought he'd hinder, but he names this trope on why he's willing to let go.
- It Runs in the Family: The Machida family all seem to be extremely sweet and kindhearted people with a natural understanding of others and drive to do good.
- Locker Mail: Nishino tries to confess his feelings to Inohara, only to accidentally put his letter in Machida's shoe locker. This results in Inohara and Machida mistakenly assuming Nishino is gay.
- Loved by All: Machida Hajime is beloved by everyone who meets him due to his kindness, selflessness, and willingness to help others no matter how big or small the task is, as well as always saying exactly what others need to hear. At a point where he is having trouble because one of his eyes has a sty, a lot of people immediately offer to help him around.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: The Machida family has 6 children.
- Mistaken for Gay: Nishino, another student, tries to confess to Inohara, only to accidentally put his confession letter on Machida's shoe locker. Inohara and Machida both assume Nishino is gay and confessing to Machida, for which he politely rejects him on the grounds of Incompatible Orientation.
- Nerd Glasses: Machida has a very nerdy look, with big square glasses that make people think that he is smart, but in actuality, his grades are piss poor and he often has to make up for them.
- Numerical Theme Naming: The children of the Machida family are named in the order of how they were born, with Hajime's name having the kanji for "1", Niko's name has the kanji for "2" and so on.
- This comes up on the final chapter, upon meeting Inohara, who is dating Hajime now, Hajime's mother mentions how her first name is "Nana" (a way to pronounce 7 in Japanese), this makes her the seventh child of the family.
- Parental Substitute: Downplayed. Machida's aunt, Kazumi, has been around since he was young helping her sister raise her many children, because of that, he feels that she is something of a mother to him. He confesses this to her when he notices she is upset about the fact her boyfriend doesn't seem to want children, saying that he wants to take care of her when she is of an older age.
- The Social Expert: Machida is capable of very quickly understanding people, their motivations, what makes them tick and what is bothering them, as well as offer advice and acceptance to them and listen or help with their problems, which makes him beloved by everyone he comes across.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Eiko, Machida's kindergarten teacher, was a beautiful woman since birth, but because of that, girls were jealous of her and boys either just wanted her because of her looks or were afraid to be with her because she might cheat. Now an adult, she is having a hard time finding a man to marry.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Despite being in high school, Machida is smart enough to give support and advice to people way older than him.
- Yaoi Fangirl: Niko and Hinata talk about how his cousin, Ayumu, has never dated anyone despite being extremely handsome. Niko gets wide eyed when thinking that it might be a sign of a forbidden Boys' Love he might have (it's heavily implied he is actually in love with his older brother's fiancee, who was their childhood friend).
- You Are Not Alone: Machida's main philosophy is this. No matter who they are, he always has space in his heart for more people, and he sees everyone as a possible part of his family, both inside and outside his house. He says this word for word to his teacher when he meets her for a photoshoot.
