Chica Umino: 10 books

Love is never easy for our heroes. Takemoto is forced to confront his resentment of his stepfather and his own feelings of being cast adrift, while Mayama and Ayu flounder in their unrequited loves and Morita faces the prospect of being held back another year.

Professor Hanamoto is off in Mongolia on a research trip, and Hagu is having a hard time coping. The gang do their best to help her out, especially Takemoto. But as graduation threatens to alter their friendships forever, Hagu begins to turn toward Morita...

Takemoto, a sophomore art student in Tokyo, thinks his greatest worries in life are finding ways to eat more meat and getting to class on time. But with friends like his, life is never going to be that tame.

Morita has disappeared, leaving his friends bereft and confused. Hagu and Takemoto turn to their art, while Mayama and Ayu cling to their unrequited loves. When his coworker begins to romance Ayu, Mayama can’t help interfering. But what does he care, when he’s nursing a flame for a woman he hasn’t seen in a year?

Takemoto is nearing graduation, but he doesn’t have a job lined up—he doesn’t even know what he wants to do with his life. His friends try to be supportive, but they have their own dramas to act out. With his health failing and his heart in turmoil, how will Takemoto find the strength to carry on?

With graduation projects in full swing, Takemoto and Hagu are face-to-face with their future. Takemoto’s complete lack of job prospects are making a sad situation worse, and Hagu just wants to return to her home in the country to paint. With pressures mounting from the outside world, what life-altering choices will these two make?

Takemoto’s journey across Japan continues, and though he’s sleeping in empty lots and subsisting on convenience store food, he seems to be getting closer to understanding what made him ride away from school and his friends. But with his money running out and his bike on its last legs, will he have to give up his quest before his finds what he’s looking for?

Ayu still can’t give up on her love for Mayama, even though his relationship with Rika seems to be deepening. Nomiya’s growing interest in Ayu might be a balm to her broken heart, but he’s moving to Tottori for six months! Is Ayu cursed to suffer hopeless love affairs forever?

The mystery behind Morita’s obsession with money is finally revealed—he and his brother Kaoru need all the cash they can get their hands on to bankroll their revenge against the man who destroyed their father. Now they’re finally close to their goal, but what will they do once their purpose for living is gone?

Hagu and Takemoto are the last of the gang to graduate, and after his bike odyssey Takemoto has a future in temple restoration. But Hagu’s recent injury might steal her ability to paint forever. Can love make up for such a painful loss?