Age 12


Age 12 is a Japanese slice of life romance shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Nao Maita. It began serialization in August 2012 in Shogakukan's Ciao manga magazine and ended in October 2019. It was published in twenty volumes. The manga was adapted into an original video animation that was released in April 2014 and it was also adapted into a video game and a TV anime series released in 2016.

Plot

Hanabi Ayase and her best friend, Yui Aoi, are 6th graders in school. When Hanabi is chosen to work with Yuuto Takao for an upcoming test, she begins to fall in love with him and they both start dating. Yui also falls in love with Kazuma Hiyama, after he protects her from a classmate who talked about Yui behind her back, and they start dating as well. But with physiological changes and more and more obstacles in their love lives, will Hanabi and Yui overcome everything and find true love at the age of 12?

Characters

Main characters

;Hanabi Ayase
;Yui Aoi
;Yuuto Takao
;Kazuma Hiyama

Supporting characters

;Marin Ogura
;Cocoa Hamana
;Ayumu Tsutsumi
;Eikou
;Tomoya
;Inaba Mikami

Media

Manga

;Volumes

OVAs

The ending theme is "12-Year-Old's Love" by "Singing Cat's Song Company".
;First season
;Second season

TV series

The TV anime is split into two seasons, the first half aired in April 2016, while the second half aired in October. The opening theme in episodes 1-12 is "Sweet Sensation" by Rie Murakawa, while the ending theme is "Cotona MODE" by AŌP and the opening theme in episodes 13-24 is "Ano ne, Kimi dake ni" by AŌP, while the ending theme is "Yuuki no Tsubasa" by Machico.

Reception

Volume 3 reached the 47th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and, as of December 8, 2013, has sold 36,632 copies; volume 4 reached the 20th place and, as of July 13, 2014, has sold 53,162 copies; volume 5 reached the 38th place and, as of November 9, 2014, has sold 50,161 copies.
It was nominated for Best Children's Manga at the 38th Kodansha Manga Awards. In 2019, Age 12 won the 64th Shogakukan Manga Award for the children category.