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Take one young actress used to getting her way, add a handful of ruthless bullies, some humorous twists, and a plastic toy hammer, and you've got the recipe for one crazy story Kodocha follows the antics of Sana, a spoiled 11-year-old TV star, and Hayama, a 6th grade Machiavelli who terrorizes both his teachers and his classmates. In their classroom war of wills, Sana and Hayama find there is more to both of them than meets the eye.

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 1996

3 people are currently reading
170 people want to read

About the author

Miho Obana

45 books114 followers
Miho Obana ( 小花美穂, born April 26, 1970) is a shōjo manga artist born in Tokyo, Japan.
She began her manga career as an assistant to Momoko Sakura, creator of Chibi Maruko-chan. She debuted in 1990 with the (one-shot manga) Mado no Mukō, which was published in the autumn 1990 issue of Ribon Bikkuri. Soon, stories from her started appearing in Ribon Original and in the regular Ribon magazine too.
Other notable manga by Miho Obana include Kodomo no Omocha (10 volumes, for which she won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo in 1998; the official English title is Kodocha), Partner, (3 volumes) and Andante (3 volumes). Partner is especially noted for its dark, mature, and almost disturbing tone, which is very rare in a Ribon series.
Her most recent manga is Honey Bitter, which has run in Cookie since February 2004. Also in 2004, she made a foray into the world of josei manga, writing several manga for the josei magazine Chorus. She has been on maternity leave for the past year, but will be returning soon, as Honey Bitter is expected to start up again in the Dec. 26 issue of Cookie.
Other works include Mizu no Yakata; a spin-off of Kodocha, Neko no Shima, Pochi, Setsunai ne, and Shiranami no Gensō.

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5 stars
720 (56%)
4 stars
366 (28%)
3 stars
151 (11%)
2 stars
24 (1%)
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8 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Veronica.
246 reviews77 followers
February 22, 2016
Questo è il volume della svolta, in cui succede praticamente di tutto.
I love it! ♥
Profile Image for Azet.
1,095 reviews284 followers
May 22, 2022
Amazing volume! Sana is starting middle school together with her friends and also finds a new friend in Fuuka whose first kiss also was stolen by Akito Hayama. This is getting so much fun! The scene where Akito Hayama tries to confess to Sana but instead ends up kissing her again,ahhhh so romantic!
Profile Image for Coke Fernández.
360 reviews6 followers
July 9, 2021
Qué bien me lo paso leyendo El juguete de los niños :)
Profile Image for Ana Maria.
296 reviews1 follower
September 4, 2024
Veo como la serie podría haber acabado en este tomo la verdad, aunque me interesa ver qué ocurre ahora que empieza la secundaria y la llegada de nuevos personajes porque son los ingredientes perfectos para el drama (lo de amistad envenenada mencionada x la autora me tiene en ascuas).
Profile Image for Nazish Ahmed (Nazish Reads).
952 reviews38 followers
June 28, 2012
I just reviewed this on my blog on Monday, but forgot to post it here.
To view the full review and other reviews, click here Kodocha Volume 4 by Miho Obana





I love this anime so much, so I decided to read the manga and see what the differences were and what I like better: the manga or the anime. It's weird since it's not paranormal or fantasy, which is what I usually read and like, although so far I like the anime better because of the extra scenes they put in, they're so funny, and as I said in some of my Kekkaishi manga reviews, that it's some of the comical scenes that are in mangas are more funny when they're animated.



Gore: No
Magic: No (This is a story set in a world that is like ours, I normally don't read these kind of books, I mostly read paranormal books, I'll explain why this one is different and why I love it so much).

Romance: Yes (You can see that Akito and Sana love each other, more will be explained below).
Action: (This one's hard to rate since it depends on what kind of action, Sana and Akito do fight a lot, like when Sana gets mad, she pulls out a rubber hammer or whatever it is and hits him)
Pacing: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Drawings/Art: 4.5 stars


Warning, Spoilers

This volume starts off where the last one ended, Akito wanted to help Sana, so he brought her to his house so that she can get away from the reporters for a while, and then they're hugging and Akito ruins the moment by saying something perverted. Then Akito tells her that the reporters were also at school and that she can stay at his house and lay low for a few days (aw, they're such good friends). They're not just cute (like other anime children couples), they're also mature for their age, in some cases, and... just different.

The first story of this volume is the continuation of the one from the last volume and it mostly centers around Sana, her adoptive mom, and her biological mom. Sana stays at Akito's house for a few days, to get a break from the reporters and until it calms down a bit. Meaning that she also doesn't go to school for a few days either, since they're showing up there as well. That first night, both Sana and Akito can't sleep, so they talk for a while, and Sana explains the real reason why the book was published to Akito. They also talk about if she wants to meet her biological mom and Akito finds out why she was so worried.

The next day, Naozumi helps Sana in his own way, and later, Miss. Kurata gets a phone call from a women who says she's Sana's mother. That women arrives at their house. Rei calls Sana and tells her that they found her mother and that he's coming to pick her up. Akito comes home from school and Sana tells him that they found her mom and she asks Akito if he could go with her. I won't go into detail about their meeting (Sana's biological mom, her name is Keiko Saki). Sana acts weird again (I'm guessing it's mostly because she's nervous), she makes Akito laugh, which she says is the first she's ever seen him laugh.
The really short flash back of Sana, when she was little is so cute, and so is her little half-sister. Plus, Sana makes a good speech about, that she's thankful that she was born. I like the ending of this part, the mom drives around the house in her toy car and she and Sana drive out of the house by breaking a while instead of walking through the door, lol. That seen was so funny, especially in the anime.

A few days later, Sana and Naozumi go visit Kamura Institution (the orphanage where he was raised and where Sana stayed for a little while too, before Miss. Kurata adopted her). Sana learns a little about when Naozumi was little. Then they go home.

Then at school Sana asks Akito when his birthday is (which he tells her) and that they should have a birthday party, he says no because on that day he visits his mother's grave (remember that Akito's mom died giving birth to him, he still feels that it's his fault that his mom died, even though it was her decision to giver birth to him in the first place). Then Sana decides that they should have a middle birthday, meaning a day to have a birthday party and exchange presents in between her and Akito's birthday.
It's so cute what happens after the half birthday party,
Bigger SPOILER! Akito builds her a small snow man and then he kisses her, it's so cute! End of Spoiler.

Then he runs away, and when she tells her mom what happened, her mom just says, "I was watching," like it's no big deal and she obviously doesn't mind and thinks that Sana and Akito are good together, which is good for the kids, since Akito's dad likes Sana too and thinks that those two are good together too, but they're not even teenagers yet and they already kissed twice, Sana's mom should be a little worried at least, the again, it is a manga and many things in mangas aren't realistic, mostly to make it more funny. I like that in this manga, it's not like how it is in other mangas and stories, where the rich person falls in love with the poor and vice versa and either the parents or someone else opposes them trying get them to break up (I'm getting really tired of these kind of stories, too many of them), this one is different, because both of the parents (Sana's mom and Akito's dad) want their children to marry each other, plus even though Sana's really rich, Akito's not poor, he has a normal family. I love that it's different. That Sana, being the dense idiot that she is about love, she still doesn't realize that he's in love with her, she won't understand until he tells her, and who knows when that will happened, since it never happened in the anime...or did it? (I don't remember exactly, since it's been a long time since I watched the anime).

Then after a few weeks, Sana finally accepts a role in a movie after turning down so many before, all thanks to Akito that she accepted one, otherwise she would have rejected that one too. Then they graduate elementary school and are in middle school, and in this school they have uniforms, like in many other animes that involve school (they didn't have uniforms in elementary school).

The last chapter is about the kids' first day in middle school. Sana meets a girl who becomes her first new friend in middle school, she meets her while their trying to fix their hair in the washroom. Her name is Fuuka Matsui. They become friends immediately. I wish it was that easy to make friends in real life.

Akito takes a nap in the nurse's office, since I never had a nurse's office in any of the schools I went to, I'm wondering, are students allowed to do that?

Sana introduces her new friend Fuka to Akito. Their such good friends that even though he had the same expressionless face, Sana could still tell that he's hungry.

The volume ends with Fuka remembering something about Akito, she says, "it is you!" and then slaps him, then she says,
"I just knew that if I ever met Akki again, I'd slap him!"
"He stole my first kiss from me"


Hmmm, I wonder exactly what happened... just kidding, I already know exactly what happened, but they probably changed some things in the anime from the manga, like they do in many other animes as well, and since some scenes in the last few volumes were a bit different than the anime too.

Those are the major incidents of this volume, of course more happened, I tried to condense it but I got carried away and now I'm not sure what to get rid of.

Overall, I'm still not sure if I like the manga as much as I love the anime yet, since some of the scenes are more fun animated (as I explained above), I found myself constantly laughing in certain episodes and scenes. I wish I started watching this anime when I was little, that way I would know how it is when a kid watches this. One of my little sisters is 11 years old and she loves this show, which is weird for her since she hates animes.

I rated this book: 4.5 stars.
Profile Image for Valentina.
231 reviews
April 17, 2019
Ho acquistato l'intera serie molto anni fa in quanto, da bambina, seguivo il cartone animato in TV.
Di fatto li sto leggendo con fatica per diverse ragioni: - sono diseducativi (in particolare in questo volume si parla di aborto e incesto in maniera assolutamente contorta);
- vi sono spesso allusioni sessuali;
- non mi piace leggere dalla fine verso l'inizio è da destra verso sinistra.
Tutto ciò rimanda alla cultura giapponese che è molto distante da quella occidentale e che, personalmente, non mi piace.
Attribuisco 2 stelline e non 1, perché mi piacciono i disegni dei personaggi.

Profile Image for -moonprismpower-.
2,970 reviews15 followers
April 23, 2024
Oh Sana and her mother… not the biological one but the one who raised her.. such a sweet moment. Made me tear up!!!

And when will Hayama just use his words?!? But they are so young… just now in middle school (7th grade) at the end of this volume..
Profile Image for Tiffany ✨.
207 reviews13 followers
August 17, 2024
I can't believe how mature the 11 year olds are in this manga compared to the typical teenage shojo mangas I read.
Profile Image for Judyth.
1,722 reviews41 followers
December 23, 2012
~3.5/5
[Also available on my blog.]


So, I’d just about given up on finding this series at my somewhat-local bookstore, and had been somewhat wavering on buying it volume by volume on online, when I found several of them at the bookstore again. I, of course, do not have the next volume, or the last one, but hope to get them soon.

I really like this series. It’s just… a really sweet series. It isn’t mature, at all, and even though it says for 13+, I would think that it’s fine for kids a bit younger than that. I mean, it’s true that some serious stuff is happening, but it’s not graphic, the humor is much more for younger teens, and there’s the fact that the main characters are in, I would think?, late elementary school (and if they're not, they really act like it most of the time).

Anyway, this volume contained the, pretty much, end to the search for Sana’s real mother plot line, including meeting her, Sana talking with Akito about it and him trying to cheer her up, and Sana and her not-biological-mother talking about it. This was a rather serious plot, and my favorite part of it, was getting to see Sana act serious, and it showing us how she hides behind humor so much. Usually it just shows us the humor, and a lot of it, and it was interesting to see her trying to joke when the reader, and her close friends and family know that she’s faking it. It was sad, but also a little sweet.

Sana also went to visit the orphanage that took her in, and we got some more backstory on Naozumi (the other actor, who likes her). Then the story moves on to something more lighthearted: Christmas, and Sana and Akito’s mid-year birthday part, since Akito doesn’t like celebrating on his birthday. Akito has a hard time picking something out for Sana, and so doesn’t get her anything, but at the last minute decides to show her his true feelings by kissing her, even though he’s already been told that he has to outright tell her, as she won’t get it through being shown. And, of course, she doesn’t. She’s confused, and frustrated, by the kiss, but when she asks him if he likes her, he’s so dumbfounded that she didn’t get it, that he tells her no.

During all of this, Sana is turning down all of her movie/tv offers, which is frustrating Rei (her manager), and finally she agrees to do this one movie, since the part is a bit close to her heart and the director wants her specifically to play it, and Naozumi is also in the movie. She’s worried about not getting to be around all her friends, but Akito reassures her that nothing will really change.

Then, in the last chapter, they all move up into the next grade (they’re in middle school now), in which Sana is in a different class from all her friends, but she meets a new girl, Fuka, who she gets quickly close with. But the other kids are all freaked out about going to school with Sana, and there’s this boy who I think likes her and fights with Akito, plus Fuka knows Akito from elementary school, and she is not happy to see him.

This volume, much like the other volumes, was very good, and I’m really hoping to get the next one soon. I’m guessing that the movie is going to cause us to see more of Naozumi, who is a nice character, but I’d much rather see more of Akito. I want to see Sana get closer to Akito, have them talk more and have him outright tell her how he feels, and I hope that happens soon.
467 reviews
January 7, 2016
Hmmm... still 3,5 bintang...


Ya aku senang sih dgn twistnya dan aku suka cara pengarang membuat alur ceritanya. Tapi aku sebel karena ada tokoh cowok tambahan saingan Hayama itu, sekarang ditambah lagi satu tokoh cewek yg sifatnya mirip Sana -_- Udah deh feeling saya gak enak. Kalau sampai nih cewek jatuh cinta sama Hayama, udah deh.. aku cuma bakal bilang 'udah ketebak bakal gini' sambil melengos. Tapi kalau nggak, atau adanya tokoh ini tidak akan membuat jadi cinta segitiga, maka aku aku akan tepuk tangan lagi buat pengarangnya. ^^;
Profile Image for Stefanie Sugia.
731 reviews178 followers
June 26, 2010
LOL.. the cutest thing happened in this book (besides the kiss confession of course). Hayama made Sana a snowman as a birthday present. and Sana kept the snowman in the refrigerator! xD what's cuter than that ? haha :D
And Sana said "Pre-piri-peri card" instead of "Pre-paid card".. LOL. this comic is hilarious.

the story's building up really nicely, and it's very exciting! on to the next volume ;)
Profile Image for Marika Florio.
33 reviews1 follower
July 10, 2023
La mia recensione sarà identica per tutti i volumi di questa serie manga.
Sono veramente stupendi, l'anime è identico per moltissimi aspetti, cambia solo verso la fine, dato che almeno in Italia il finale è stato censurato.
Tornando ai volumi devo ammettere che li ho divorati.
Sono molto scorrevoli e pertanto li consiglio veramente tanto!!
L'intreccio che si crea tra Sana, Heric, Charles e Alyssa è un qualcosa di stupendo essendo dedicato principalmente verso un pubblico giovane.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Elaine.
182 reviews37 followers
June 16, 2013
I soo loved this manga. I loved the art though it looked pretty much old for today’s generation. I loved the story. I laughed, became sad and even shed one to four drops of tears haha. I really enjoyed it!!
Profile Image for Jessica Lower.
312 reviews6 followers
August 27, 2014
Another good volume, and thank goodness they have finally left elementary school.
I see a love triangle forming and I don't like it :P

As far as the story is going it is funny how completely oblivious Sana is, and I'm interested to see how long it will last.
Profile Image for Shigaya.
56 reviews24 followers
April 15, 2011
this wasn't as emotionant... but it doesn't mean it went worse! it's just that it isn't improving ^^
Profile Image for Sara.
531 reviews36 followers
Read
August 5, 2011
What a cute and funny little series! :D I enjoyed reading this, though I was out of the target age group by the time I got to it.
Profile Image for Alexis.
1,217 reviews17 followers
July 6, 2021
Naozumi che suona la tromba quando è arrabbiato mi fa troppo ridere!XD
Però Fuka mi è stata antipatica fin dal primo momento, mi spiace.
Profile Image for Bender.
467 reviews
February 5, 2015
Vel pariatur cupiditate sit occaecati facilis ullam. Ab ad ea minus a. Odio iure commodi nemo et quibusdam rerum aut. Maxime aliquam dolores. Accusamus soluta dolor labore.
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