# Real Girl (2018)

> A shy high school boy absorbed in anime and games finds his quiet world upended when a bold, real classmate aggressively pursues him.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/67183

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 24
- Episode runtime: 23 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, comedy, romance
- Network: Nippon TV
- Cast: Teppei Uenishi, Yu Serizawa, Reina Ueda, Sayaka Kanda, Minami Tsuda, Shouta Aoi, Takuma Terashima
- TMDB rating: 7.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7112156/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: awkward, sweet, wholesome, lighthearted, earnest

## What critics say

Audiences find the awkward, sweet romance between a shy otaku and a bold classmate charming, with the second season rated notably higher than the first.

## Synopsis

Real Girl (2018-2019) is a Japanese animated romantic comedy series produced by Hoods Entertainment for Nippon TV, running two seasons of twelve episodes each. Tsutsui Hikari, nicknamed Tsuttsun, is a high school student who has few friends and lives inside his anime and video game hobbies. His quiet routine collapses when Iroha Igarashi, a stylish and sassy classmate known for being easy with boys, aggressively approaches him after they are stuck cleaning the school pool together. Tsuttsun is also surrounded by a supporting cast whose presence keeps his social life shifting. The engine of each episode is the painfully small stuff of a first relationship: misread signals, flustered confessions, and the bewildering effort of stepping out of a virtual world. Its shape is a gentle, continuing school-year story rather than a case-of-the-week format. Set in contemporary Japanese high school life, it moves with a warm, awkward, lightly comic register that is tender rather than cynical. Fans of Horimiya, Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku and Kaguya-sama: Love Is War will find resonance in its blend of teen romance and otaku humor.

## Shows like Real Girl

- [GAMERS! (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/63152)
- [The Dangers in My Heart (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/129510)
- [Gals Can't Be Kind to Otaku!? (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105162)
- [Our Love Has Always Been 10 Centimeters Apart. (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/64429)
- [Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/125172)
- [Genshiken (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/31941)
- [The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/138238)
- [Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/41300)
- [My Little Monster (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/41748)
- [Sasaki and Miyano (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/105642)

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