The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria


The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, known in Japan as Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria and colloquially referred to as Hakomari, is a Japanese light novel series written by, with illustrations by Tetsuo. ASCII Media Works published seven novels from January 2009 to June 2015 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. The novels have been licensed for release in North America by Yen Press.

Plot

The story revolves around a carefree boy named Kazuki Hoshino, who is intensely attached to his normal daily life, and Aya Otonashi, who suddenly transfers into his class for the 13,118th time and declares her goal to "break" him forthwith. This starts an avalanche of events, involving a supernatural device known as the Boxes and a supernatural being, which pits the two characters against each other causing their friends to be caught under their crossfire.

Characters

Main characters

;Kazuki Hoshino
;Maria "Aya" Otonashi

Supporting characters

;O
;Kokone Kirino
;Daiya Oomine
;Kasumi Mogi
;Haruaki Usui

Other

;Ryu Miyazaki
;Riko Asami
;Iroha Shindou
;Yuuri Yanagi
;Koudai Kamiuchi
;Ruka Hoshino
;Nana Yanagi
;Touji Kijima
;Miyuki Karino

Media

Light novels

Music

The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria has two main theme songs: the opening theme "Zero ni Todoke" and the ending theme "Ryōkiteki na Eien". Both songs were written by, sung by En and composed by Kei Fujimiya. They were released on April 26, 2015 by Replicaletter.

Reception