Locodol

• Name — Locodol • Ja Kanji — 普通の女子校生が【ろこどる】やってみた • Ja Romaji — Futsū no Joshikōsei ga (Locodol) Yattemita • Genre — * Comedy • Slice of life

• Type — manga • Author — Kōtarō Kosugi • Publisher — Ichijinsha • Magazine — Manga 4-Koma Palette • First — October 2011 • Last — April 2022 • Volumes — 10

• Type — tv series • Director — Munenori Nawa • Producer — * Tomoko Kawasaki • Takeshi Tanaka • Masatoshi Ishizuka • Kazuhiro Kanemitsu • Atsushi Iwasaki • Hitoshi Yagi • Kenji Yamaguchi • Yoshiko Nakayama • Katsuhiro Ikuma • Shigeaki Arima • Writer — Yuniko Ayana • Music — Tomoki Hasegawa • Studio — Feel • Network — TBS, Sun TV, CBC, TBS Channel 1, TBS Channel 2, BS-TBS, AT-X • First — July 4, 2014 • Last — September 18, 2014 • Episodes — 12 + 3 OVA • Episode List — #Episode list Locodol, short for Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita, is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Kōtarō Kosugi. The manga was serialized in Ichijinsha's Manga 4-Koma Palette magazine from October 2011 to February 2022. An anime television series adaptation animated by Feel aired between July and September 2014, with three original video animation episodes released between September 2014 and June 2016.

In the town of Flowing River City, Nanako Usami, an ordinary high school girl, is approached by her uncle to become a local idol or "Locodol", partnering with upperclassman Yukari Kohinata to form the idol unit, Nagarekawa Gāruzu. As the girls use their talent to promote Nagarekawa and their businesses, they are joined by Yui Mikoze, who acts as the local mascot, and Mirai Nazukari, who serves as Yui's substitute.

• Nanako Usami • Miku Itō • Nanako is a first-year student at Nagarekawa High School who dreams of becoming a Locodol after being recruited by her uncle. She is generally the most level-headed member of the group, and worries about all sorts of things related to her job. Her nervousness on screen often results in her stuttering and mispronouncing her name as "Nanyako". • Yukari Kohinata • Sachika Misawa • Yukari is Nanako's blonde-haired partner of Nagarekawa Girls and a second-year student at Nagarekawa High. She is described as someone who "seems perfect, but ends up being airheaded". She comes from a wealthy family, and has lived by herself in an apartment since entering high school. She ponders studying abroad after high school. Her grandfather was the town's former mayor. She is very fond of Nanako, and was inspired by the latter's kindness to help others. • Yui Mikoze • Maya Yoshioka • Yui is a third-year student at Nagarekawa High School who works alongside them as the mascot character, Uogokoro-kun. Her brown hair is styled in a short ponytail. She is particularly athletic, able to perform various acrobatic feats in her costume despite its weight. She plans to use her savings from her locodol activity to enroll in a voice acting school. • Mirai Nazukari • Inori Minase • Mirai is a first-year student at Nanako and Yukari's school who is hired as a substitute Uogokoro-kun to reduce Yui's workload. She is a capable performer in the school's drama club, but generally shy otherwise. • Saori Nishifukai • Asami Shimoda • Saori is the Nagarekawa Girls' manager who secretly uses pictures she takes at events for her own fansite. • Shōko Noda • Shiori Izawa • Shōko is Nanako's classmate with short burgundy-colored hair and low pigtail braids. • Satsuki Kashiwaba • Mikako Izawa • Satsuki is Nanako's classmate with the blonde hair. • Misato Mizumoto • Minami Tsuda • Misato is Nanako's classmate with a ponytail. • Sumire Mihara • Eriko Matsui • Sumire is Yukari's cousin and classmate. • Mitsugu Ōta • Takehiro Murozono • Nanako's uncle (mother's brother) who is on the city council. He is the one responsible for recruiting the Locodols and was their previous manager before Saori was hired. He picks his niece to be a locodol because she is average in appearance and has a safe, non-scandalous character. At the end of the anime television series, he reschedules the girls' appearance at their local city festival so that they can attend after the Locodol festival goes long. • Tatsuya Usami and Tomoko Usami • Tatsuya voiced by: Toshinobu Iida • Tomoko voiced by Mao Ichimichi • Nanako's parents. Tomoko has a part-time job as a cashier. • Awa Awa Girls • Aoi Anan Tsubasa Tsurugi Miyako Mima • Asami Imai, Tomoyo Kurosawa, and Emi Nitta • The Awa Awa Girls (stylized as AWA 2 GiRLS), are a locodol group from Tokunami City. Having won the Locodol Festival the previous year, the group has made many national TV appearances. However, after meeting the Nagarekawa Girls, they realize the importance of representing their hometown.

Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita is a four-panel comic strip written and illustrated by Kōtarō Kosugi. It originally appeared in Ichijinsha's Manga 4-Koma Palette magazine between the October and December 2011 issues, and then later began serialization with the April 2012 issue. The first tankōbon was published by Ichijinsha on January 22, 2013, and ten volumes have been published as of April 21, 2022. A special edition of the fifth volume was released bundled with a drama CD.

A 12-episode anime television series produced by Feel aired on TBS between July 4, 2014, and September 18, 2014 and was simulcast outside of Asia by Crunchyroll. An original video animation episode was included on the first Blu-ray Disc/DVD volume released on September 24, 2014, and was streamed on Crunchyroll from December 3, 2014. The opening theme is "Mirai Fanfare" by Nagarekawa Girls (Miku Itō and Sachika Misawa) and the ending theme is "Mirai Shōjo-tachi" by Miku Itō, Sachika Misawa, Maya Yoshioka, and Inori Minase. The theme songs were released on July 30, 2014, with an appearance by Itō at Nagareyama which the fictional town of Nagarekawa is based on. A character single with insert songs was released on August 27, 2014. Additional OVA episodes were released on December 24, 2015, and June 22, 2016.

The series was released to DVD and Blu-ray format in seven volumes. The first volume contains a full-length OVA special and six illustrated cards. In North America, Sentai Filmworks released the 12-episode anime and an OVA as a boxset in Japanese with English subtitles. (Japan, Region 2) • Volume — Episodes — DVD/Blu-ray release date • Volume 1 — 1, OVA • Volume 2 — 2, 3 • Volume 3 — 4, 5 • Volume 4 — 6, 7 • Volume 5 — 8, 9 • Volume 6 — 10, 11 • Volume 7 — 12