Citrus

Genre

Drama, Romance, Yuri

Synopsis

Due to the remarriage of her mother, Yuzu Aihara, a fashionable gyaru and free-spirited city girl who’s more interested in shopping and keeping up with the latest trends than boys, transfers to a new town and high school. Being a conservative girls’ school, she struggles to fit in right away and finds herself frequently at odds with the student council president, Mei Aihara, a beautiful and hardworking girl with a cold shoulder. Things get worse when Yuzu finds out that Mei is her new step-sister and the two have to share a room together. But as their animosity toward each other begins to fade, the two find themselves confused by the sudden romantic feelings that begin to stir in their hearts toward each other.

Background

Citrus began as a yuri manga series written and illustrated by Saburouta that has been serialized in Ichijinsha’s Comic Yuri Hime since November 2012. As of February 2018, eight tankobon volumes have been published. The manga is licensed overseas in English by Seven Seas Entertainment, and is also licensed in Germany, Thailand, and Formosa.

An anime adaptation of the series premiered in Japan on Jan. 6, 2018. It is directed by Takeo Takahashi (Spice and Wolf, Hinako Note), with series composition by Naoki Hayashi (Flip Flappers, D.C.III), character designs by Izuro Ijuuin (Eromanga Sensei, Sword Art Online II) who is also credited as the chief animation director, music by Lantis, and animation production by Passione (Rail Wars!, Hinako Note). It features as its opening theme “Azalea” by nano.RIPE and as its ending theme “Dear Teardrop” by Mia Regina. The series is being simulcast by Crunchyroll with FUNimation streaming the English dub.

Characters

Main Characters
Yuzu Aihara (Japanese: Ayana Taketatsu / English: Megan Shipman)
A fashionable gyaru who loves the city life and has dyed blonde hair with green eyes, Yuzu is Mei’s older step-sister. She is a free spirit who enjoys modifying her school uniform to fit her style, which often leads to her clashing with the student council. She befriends Harumi Taniguchi upon transferring to her new school. Despite her initial frustration with Mei, over time she begins to have feelings for her and tries her best to be a good older sister.

Mei Aihara (Japanese: Minami Tsuda / English: Amber Lee Connors)
The student council president, honor student, and Chairman Aihara’s granddaughter, Mei is a beautiful and stern girl and Yuzu’s younger step-sister. She often makes sexual advances toward Yuzu in order to manipulate her, which frustrates Yuzu, and she can act or speak cruelly at times. Nevertheless, the more Yuzu gets to know her the more she is shown to be quite sensitive and lonely.

Harumi Taniguchi (Japanese: Yukiyo Fujii / English: Margaret McDonald)
Nicknamed Harumin, she befriends Yuzu on the first day of school and shows her around. Being a transfer student herself, Harumi is quite different than the conservative girls at the school and often breaks the school’s rules to get on Mei’s nerves.

Aihara Academy
Himeko Momokino (Japanese: Yurika Kubo / English: Bryn Apprill)
Mei’s childhood friend, Himeko is a member of the student council and acts as Mei’s right hand. She comes from an affluent family and has a small dog named Pucchi. She is in love with Mei and acts very possessive of her, becoming angry when Yuzu enters the picture.

Kayo Maruta (Japanese: Ikumi Hayama / English: Natalie Hoover)
The second student council vice-president, Kayo is very close to Harumi’s sister, Mitsuko, and is the only one bold enough to talk to her casually, even calling her by the nickname Micchan.

Nene Nomura
An energetic first-year student, Nene looks up to Yuzu and roots intensely for Yuzu and Harumi to become a couple.

Suzuran Shiraho
Suzuran is a third-year student with an immense crush on Mei who spends all her free time stalking and observing her from a distance. She comes from a rich family that doesn’t express emotion for fear of being taken advantage of.

Chairman Aihara (Japanese: Kinryu Arimoto / English: Charlie Campbell)
Sho’s father and Mei’s grandfather, Chairman Aihara dislikes Yuzu at first for breaking the school’s rules and expels her after wrongfully convicting her of sexually assaulting Mei.

Other Characters
**Matsuri Mizusawa (Japanese: Shiori Izawa)
Yuzu’s childhood friend who used to live close to her before she moved, Matsuri is a second-year student in middle school. She is mischievous and enjoys teasing Yuzu and Harumi. She eventually develops feelings for Harumi, even claiming to be her girlfriend.

Sara Tachibana (Japanese: Hisako Kanemoto)
A student from a different school, Sara falls for Mei at first sight but gives up on Mei after finding out about her relationship with Yuzu, acting instead to support their love. She is a very superstitious girl who believes strongly in luck and destiny. She has a younger twin sister named Nina.

Nina Tachibana (Japanese: Rei Matsuzaki)
Sara’s younger twin sister, who is actually much taller, Nina tries to help her sister win over Mei, even going so far as to try and prevent Yuzu from interfering. Unlike her sister, she is not superstitious in the least and doesn’t believe in destiny.

Mitsuko Taniguchi
Harumi’s older sister, Mitsuko is the former student council president of Aihara Academy. She is close with Maruta.

Ichika
Ichika is also the student council president and the complete opposite of Mei who is school friends with Nina and Sara.

Cafe Manager
The manager of the cafe where Yuzu works part-time.

Kana & Manami (Japanese: Haruka Yamazaki (Kana), Yuka Otsubo (Manami) / English: Michelle Rojas (Kana), Brittany Lauda (Manami))
Yuzu’s friends since middle school, one has black hair while the other has brown. They lose contact with Yuzu when she moves but reconnect while she is working part-time in her old city.

Sho Aihara (Japanese: Tomoaki Maeno / English: David Wald)
Mei’s father and Yuzu’s step-father.

Ume Aihara (Japanese: Kana Ueda / English: Terri Doty)
Yuzu’s mother and Mei’s step-mother.

Cast

Japanese
Ayana Taketatsu: Yuzu Aihara
Minami Tsuda: Mei Aihara
Yukiyo Fujii: Harumi Taniguchi
Yurika Kubo: Himeko Momokino
Ikumi Hayama: Kayo Maruta
Kinryu Arimoto: Chairman Aihara
Shiori Izawa: Matsuri Mizusawa
Hisako Kanemoto: Sara Tachibana
Rie Matsuzaki: Nina Tachibana
Haruka Yamazaki: Kana
Yuka Otsubo: Minami
Tomoaki Maeno: Sho Aihara
Kana Ueda: Ume Aihara

English
Megan Shipman: Yuzu Aihara
Amber Lee Connors: Mei Aihara
Margaret McDonald: Harumi Taniguchi
Bryn Apprill: Himeko Momokino
Natalie Hoover: Kayo Maruta
Charlie Campbell: Chairman Aihara
Michelle Rojas: Kana
Brittany Lauda: Manami
David Wald: Sho Aihara
Terri Doty: Ume Aihara

Staff

Original Work: Saburouta
Director: Takeo Takahashi
Assistant Director: Hijiri Sanpei
Chief Episode Director: Naoyuki Tatsuwa
Series Composition: Naoki Hayashi
Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Izuro Ijuuin
Prop Design: Yoshinori Iwanaga, Hiroyuki Kodama
Color Design: Aiko Matsuyama
Background Art: Nobuhito Sue, Shiori Shiwa, Midori Iwasawa
Art Director: Yuki Umino
Director of Photography: Jin Tamura
3D Director: Toshiro Hamamura
Editor: Ayako Tan
Music: Katsunori Shimizu
Music Producers: Terushige Yoshie, Yukie Iwashita
Music Production: Lantis
Producers: Fumihiro Ozawa, Hirohiko Kanbe, Hiroshi Akio, Hirotaka Kaneko, Hitoshi Kawamura, Kanako Umezawa, Noritomo Osogai, Shinji Omori, Takema Okamura
Production: Infinite
Animation Producers: Kazuhiro Saito, Eisuke Hayashi
Animation Production: Passione
Production: Citrus Production Committee

Theme Songs

Opening Theme: “Azalea” by nano.RIPE
Ending Theme: “Dear Teardrop” by Mia Regina

Broadcast Information

Tokyo MX: Every Sunday at 11:30 pm
AT-X: Every Saturday at 11:30 pm
Sun TV: Every Sunday at 1:00 am
BS Fuji: Every Tuesday at 12:30 am

Online Streaming

Crunchyroll
FUNimation

Official Links

Website (Japanese)