Clockwise from bottom right: Yuki Kurihara, Shinya Momotsuki, Norika Mizuyama, Rihito Sawaguchi, Shota Shizuka, Ikue Usami, Yuziki Shimada, Rio Sakaki.
Is my love... weird?
Yuki Kurihara is an energetic, friendly highschool student who also happens to be a Stalker with a Crush for her classmate Shinya "Momo" Momotsuki. He's a shorter-than-average boy who's embarassed by the way his friends treat him as "cute", wishing he could be cool instead. After taking 100 surreptitious cell phone pictures of Momo, Kurihara works up the courage to confess to him, and he agrees to go out with her! But unbeknownst to him, Kurihara continues to take secret pictures of Momo and collect any objects he's touched or used, despite the fact that whenever they're together she gets embarassed just as easily as he does.
Momokuri (ももくり) is a full-color Romantic Comedy web manga written and illustrated by Kurose, and published by NHN. Its original run was January 10, 2014 – December 29, 2016. An original net anime adaptation by Satelight was released on the Comico app from December 2015 to February 2016, and a television broadcast of the anime began on July 1, 2016 on Tokyo MX. Both the manga
and the anime are available on Crunchyroll.
This work contains examples of the following tropes:
- Animal Motifs:
- Kurihara is frequently represented as an affectionate, friendly dog; she tends to Art Shift into having dog ears and a wagging tail when she's happy. Momotsuki and Kurihara seem to be a match made in heaven: a flashback to junior high reveals that Momo likes dogs, and wished for a girlfriend who was similarly loving and honest.
- Momotsuki is characterized as an adorable cat who gets embarassed when others fawn over him. He also frequently gets art-shifted into having a cat's ears and tail.
- Book Dumb: Momo is a downplayed example. His character bio states that his grades could be better.
- Covert Pervert: Momo has no idea because she seems so cute and innocent, but Kurihara gets really hot under the collar whenever she thinks of him.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Surprisingly averted with Kurihara, despite her obsession. Whenever Momo is surrounded by other girls, not only she doesn't get jealous at all, instead she takes those opportunities to take some more pictures of his expressions in such situations. Momo is rather bothered by her lack of jealousy.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Mizuyama is Kurihara's friend, as well as the only person who knows about her stalking habit, so she feels a sense of responsibility to curb Kurihara's impulses and try to keep her out of trouble.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The voice actors of Kurihara and Momotsuki perform the opening theme, "I love you! I love you! Thank you for being born!", as a duet between the characters.
- Genki Girl: Kurihara is always energetic and lively, especially when hatching her Momo-related plans.
- Height Angst: Momo is unhappy about being shorter than the other boys his age, and drinks strawberry milk in the hope of becoming taller.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Sakaki is unusually tall, while other girls admire her as "cool" she feels somewhat insecure about it.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
- Sakaki doesn’t immediately accept Kurihara being Momo's girlfriend, since she secretly wanted Momo for herself and notices that Kurihara is hiding something from Momo. However, she eventually realizes that Kurihara is a good girlfriend for Momo despite her eccentricity, and sets aside her feelings for Momo because she wants them both to be happy.
- Shouta. He's been in love with Yuzuki for most of his life, but has always kept low-key and supportive, fully aware that she's got a crush on his best friend Rihito. Even when she finally confronts him, he keeps his confession very short and simple and easy, and when she casually turns him down he simply smiles and wishes her luck. she then goes to see Rihito, who only asks her to go to the same college as him; Shouta is not happy when he finds out the guy still won't seal the deal.
- Luminescent Blush: Both Kurihara and Momotsuki are prone to blushing red as a lobster out of embarassment.
- Portmanteau Couple Name: The title Momokuri combines the first part of Official Couple Momotsuki and Kurihara's last names.
- Oblivious to Love: Yuzuki in a nutshell. Throughout the series everyone's known how much Shouta loves her, with many either thinking that they're going out or thinking it bizarre that they aren't going out. Still, she remains completely oblivious to his feelings. Actually, throughout much of the series it's repeatedly stated and walked through that her love for him is also far stronger than she's even remotely aware, part of the cause of the trouble with her crush.
- Official Couple: The titular couple get together in the very first episode, and the whole manga focuses on their relationship.
- Pretty Boy: Momo is delicately built and quite pretty for a boy, which he's insecure about but which Kurihara adores about him.
- Red String of Fate: In the chapter 36/37 illustration, Kurihara and Momotsuki are connected by a red string tied to their pinky fingers, representing that they're meant to be together.
- Romantic Runner-Up: Shouta. He's an awesome character, and is noted several times to be incredibly caring and attentive, always looking out for everyone, especially his love. Despite all this, he's not quite as good-looking, as cool, or as popular as his best friend Rihito, and ultimately his love Yuzuki chooses Rihito over him.
- Secret-Keeper: As Kurihara's best friend, Mizuyama is the only one who knows about her stalking habit, and keeps her secret even though she tries to make her rein it in.
- Stalker Shrine: Played for laughs. Kurihara tries to collect anything that Momo has used and discarded so that she can preserve it for her collection.
- Stalker with a Crush: Before they get together, Kurihara follows Momo wherever he goes, gathers information about his schedule to contrive "chance" meetings, and takes secret photos all the time. Even after she starts going out with him, her habit doesn't go away. Instead, she finds it easier to get information, arrange "coincidental" meetings, and to collect his used straws, leftovers, bits of sand from his shoes, and just about anything else that has touched him that she can fit in a vacuum-sealed bag. All of this is Played for Laughs because she honestly doesn't mean Momo any harm; it's just that she really, really loves Momo, but is too shy to be more forward with him when they're actually together. Still, the author considered it prudent to follow every chapter in the web manga with a warning not to copy this behavior in real life.
- Team Mom: Shouta. Yuki and Momo both note that he's extremely responsible and attentive, always watching out for everyone and keeping himself prepared for any eventualities.
