L DK
L DK, stylized as L♥DK, is a shōjo manga by Ayu Watanabe, serialized in the Japanese manga magazine "Bessatsu Friend" since 2009; it has been adapted into a live-action film that was released in 2014. The story tells about the relationship between a high school girl, Aoi Nishimori, and the school prince, Shūsei Kugayama, when they come to share a small apartment. The series volumes have appeared on the "Oricon" comic charts a few times, and adapted into a Drama CD with the eighth volume of the manga. Premise. Shūsei Kugayama, the "Prince" of his  high school, has a reputation of turning down confessions from admiring girls; Aoi Nishimori takes offense after he turns down her best friend, Moe Shibuya. Later that day, Aoi is greeted by her new apartment neighbor which turns out to be Shūsei. After a kitchen fire accident ruins Shūsei's apartment, Shūsei decides to move into Aoi's flat, but becomes more casual and friendly towards her at school. After getting to know him better, Aoi falls in love with him, although he does not initially return that feeling. Meanwhile, they must keep their cohabitation a secret. Aoi tries to  divert the girls who are interested in Shūsei, the boys who are interested in her, and family members who reveal hints about Shūsei's past. The two eventually come to fall in love with one another. Media. Manga. The manga is written by manga artist Ayu Watanabe. The chapters have been appearing monthly in Kodansha's shojo manga magazine, "Bessatsu Friend", since 2009. A drama CD was bundled with the release of volume 8 of the manga. The series concluded in the September 2017 issue. A two-chapter bonus manga was released in the magazine's October–November 2017 issue . The manga series was packaged into 24 volumes. A sequel manga titled "LDK Pink" will begin serialization in "Bessatsu Friend" on February 12, 2022. Films. A live-action film adaptation was announced on May 9, 2013 and was released on April 12, 2014. The film starred Ayame Goriki as Aoi and Kento Yamazaki as Shusei. This is Goriki's first solo lead role in a romance film. The film was directed by Yasuhiro Kawamura and written by Yuuko Matsuda. Filming took place in July 2013 and at the Cosmo World amusement park in Kanagawa. Goriki, who has had short hair  for the past three years, wore a wig when she played Aoi. A film adaptation sequel was released on March 21, 2019 under the title . The film stars Mone Kamishiraishi as Aoi, Yosuke Sugino as Shusei, and Ryusei Yokohama as Shusei's cousin Reo, an original character. Reception. Rebecca Silverman from "Anime News Network" gave the first volume an overall B grade, citing its strengths in using standard romance tropes without using the "less charming" aspects. "LDK" has sold over 2.7 million copies in its first 12 volumes, and was listed as a top seller for January 2013 e-book  downloads for NTT DoCoMo. "LDK" ranked first in the Shojo Manga category for the 2013 E-Book Award in the magazine "Da Vinci". It was nominated for the 38th Kodansha Manga Award for Best Shojo Manga. For its opening weekend, the "L DK" live-action film ranked fourth in gross (second among Japanese-produced films). The film grossed US$3,758,081 in Japan. Legacy. "L DK" was known for popularizing the kabedon move where Shūsei pins Aoi to a wall using his arm