YanOta: The Delinquent and the Otaku

Saeki Kazuko leads a contentedly unremarkable life as an otaku, her affections devoted entirely to the adorable young boy characters that populate her favorite anime and manga. Fictional boys, after all, are safe and reliable: they never talk back, never make demands, and always behave exactly as intended. Her carefully curated, two-dimensional world leaves little room for the unpredictability of real people. That comfortable arrangement is thrown into disarray by Aikawa Ryuou, the elementary schooler who lives next door. With his tough, thuggish appearance, Ryuou looks every bit the neighborhood delinquent, yet beneath the rough exterior lies a remarkably pure and honest heart. For reasons Kazuko can barely fathom, this pint-sized troublemaker has taken a keen interest in her and refuses to leave her in peace. Ryuou's earnestness is impossible to ignore. He approaches Kazuko with a child's unfiltered honesty, laying his feelings bare without hesitation—though his heartfelt declarations tend to come packaged with more than a little rough handling. Caught between her devotion to flawless fictional boys and this very real, very persistent kid who keeps barging into her life, Kazuko finds her quiet otaku routine turned thoroughly upside down.