SEKAI ICHI HATSUKOI

Plot
Onodera Ritsu, a literary editor, resigns from his father’s publishing company, due to his coworkers’ jealousy of his success, claiming that he is simply riding his father’s business. He applies for a position at Marukawa Publishing, but instead of his preferred department of literature he is placed in the infamous shoujo manga department, Emerald. He initially considers resigning, especially because he finds his new boss, Masamune Takano, intolerable and unnerving from the very beginning; however, Takano inadvertently convinces Onodera to stick with the job by calling him “useless,” his pride forcing him to stay in order to prove his worth. Later, Onodera learns that Takano’s old family name was Saga, an older schoolmate from high school that Ritsu fell in love with and confessed to.

Ritsu Onodera (小野寺 律, Onodera Ritsu^?)Voiced by: Takashi KondoRitsu is a 25-year-old literary editor. He is the only son of the head of Onodera Publication and previously worked at his father’s company in the literature department. After being hurt by his first love in high school, Onodera vowed to never fall in love again. It was also mentioned that he was one of Usami Akihiko’s (from Junjo Romantica) editors at his previous job.

Masamune Takano (高野 政宗, Takano Masamune^?)Voiced by: Katsuyuki KonishiFormerly known as Saga Masamune, before his parents divorced in high school. He is the editor-in-chief of the Emerald department, and is sometimes referred to as “the Capable”. He and Onodera were in a brief relationship in high school but split up over a misunderstanding. When both he and Onodera realize who each other are, he says that he will make Onodera fall in love with him again, constantly ignoring Ritsu’s denials. In Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi: Takano Masamune no Bai (lit. Takano Masamune’s Case), Takano’s perspective of his and Ritsu’s first meeting and romantic development is shown.

Chiaki Yoshino (吉野 千秋, Yoshino Chiaki^?)Voiced by: Shinnosuke TachibanaYoshino Chiaki, a 28 year old shoujo mangaka known as Yoshikawa Chiharu. His editor in-charge is Yoshiyuki Hatori, a editor in the Emerald department, who is also his childhood friend.

Yoshiyuki Hatori (羽鳥 芳雪, Hatori Yoshiyuki^?)Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura (voice actor)Hatori, 28 years old, is an editor in the Emerald department. Although he is really serious and not too expressive, he seems to have a secret crush on his childhood friend Yoshino Chiaki, the mangaka under the penname of Yoshikawa Chiharu, of whom Hatori is also in charge of.

Shōta Kisa (木佐 翔太, Kisa Shōta^?)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto

Kisa is a fellow editor in the Emerald department, and because of his “baby face” he is mistaken for being younger than his true age of 30. He’s never been in a serious relationship and doesn’t think himself capable of being in one because of his tendency to only like other men for having nice faces.

Kō Yukina (雪名 皇, Yukina Kō^?)

Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno

Yukina is a 21-year-old clerk in charge of the shōjo manga section at the bookstore Marimo books. He’s a fan of Kisa’s work (even though he didn’t know at the beginning).