Koizora

, or for short, is a 2005 best-selling Japanese coming of age and romance novel written by Mika. Originally posted on the cell phone website "Mahō no iLand", where chapters would be released exclusively for mobile reading, Koizora received a hard print publication from Starts Publications in October 2006, with the story being separated into two volumes. Koizora is claimed to be a biographical account of Mika, or at least, based on first-hand accounts. It boomed in popularity and became a mass cultural phenomenon, spawning a theatrical film, a television drama adaptation, and a manga adaptation. Plot Mika Tahara has just started high school and yearns to fall in love. However, to her dismay, a gal-like boy in her grade, Nozomu, acquires her cell phone number and begins to call her frequently. When summer vacation starts, one day, Nozomu drunkenly phones her, but his friend Hiro confiscates the phone and converses with her instead. Although Mika does not know who Hiro is, she feels at ease at the sound of his voice and the two befriend each other. Mika and Hiro agree to meet each other when school starts, and to Mika's shock, Hiro turns out to be the delinquent boy she is afraid of, who proves his identity as the caller with a photo of the sky on his cellular phone. However, as she understands how gentle he is, they begin to fall in love with each other and face a multitude of challenges threatening their relationship, such as Hiro's ex-girlfriend Saki, who is still in love with Hiro. Although Hiro assures Mika that he broke up with her, Saki holds a vendetta against Mika and hires a group of men to rape Mika. The horrific encounter ends with Hiro and his older sister punishing Saki and the rapists, but not long after, someone writes a provocative message on all the school chalkboards, resulting in Mika being harassed over the phone. Despite these events, Hiro vows to protect Mika, and she begins to compare him to the sky.