Watching people fall in love often feels like recognizing the opening bars of your favorite rock song. You’ve heard the song so many times before, so jamming to it one more time wouldn’t hurt. But what if the cover version plays a hook that catches your ear? A case of lily-gilded mistaken identity strikes a different chord in The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All (Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta). A music-store crush bridging into a rock-fueled yuri love song comes to television on January 8, 2027.
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A CD-Shop Crush on the Wrong Label
The Guy She Was Interested in begins when fashionable rock fan Aya Osawa falls for a stylish, black-clad CD-shop employee she assumes is a guy. The employee is actually Mitsuki Koga, Aya’s quiet female classmate. Mitsuki wears a mask at work, and her clothes and confidence complete the disguise, making Aya’s mistake easy to understand.
Mitsuki knows about Aya’s crush but hesitates to reveal the truth. Music gives The Guy She Was Interested in its emotional rhythm as their shared taste keeps pulling them closer, even while the misunderstanding grows harder to sustain.
The Guy She Was Interested in Turns Up the Volume
The newly announced cast for The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All fills out the ensemble around Aya and Mitsuki’s school life and CD-shop duet:
- Mariya Ise — Mitsuki Koga, the quiet classmate behind the mysterious CD-shop persona.
- Akari Kitou — Aya Osawa, the outgoing rock fan whose mistaken crush starts the romance.
- Kenjirou Tsuda — Joe, Mitsuki’s uncle and the owner of the CD shop.
- Tasuku Hatanaka — Narita, a classmate drawn into the pair’s awkward school life.
- Supporting cast — Yurina Amami as Chizuru, Fairouz Ai as Mao, and Maiko Nomura as Kanna, friends surrounding the developing relationship.
Behind the microphones, CloverWorks has assembled the production band for The Guy She Was Interested in:
- Animation production — CloverWorks
- Director — Masashi Ishihama
- Series composition — Rino Yamasaki
- Character design — Kanna Hirayama
- Music — Kousuke Noma and Takayuki “Kojirou” Sasaki
- Opening theme — “Breed,” by Nirvana
The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All adapts Sumiko Arai’s manga, which she publishes online. Kadokawa collects the chapters into Japanese print volumes, while Yen Press publishes the English edition. The anime brings that manga track to television.
Yuri Romance Gets the Amplifier Treatment
The Guy She Was Interested in opens its yuri romance with a mistaken-identity riff: Aya falls for Mitsuki’s masked CD-shop persona before realizing her crush is the girl beside her at school. Like Yuri Is My Job!, a performed identity starts the song, then lets genuine feelings take the lead.
The comparison continues on to the visual track. Passione gave Yuri Is My Job! impressive character designs, and CloverWorks’ early footage gives Aya and Mitsuki the same high-grade treatment. Yuri-centered anime rarely receive animation this visually rich, so The Guy She Was Interested in looks ready to join both studios’ romances as a full-stage production instead of a background set.
Where to Watch The Guy She Was Interested in
The anime airs January 8, 2027, at 11:00 p.m. JST on Nippon TV’s FuraAni block. Crunchyroll will stream the series internationally as it airs.
Yuri Power Ballad: The Guy She Was Interested in opens on a false-note first impression, then lets shared musical taste shape the romantic refrain. Its rock foundation gives the girls’ connection enough volume to stand out in the Winter 2027 lineup.
Sources: Official anime website | Anime News Network | Crunchyroll | Yen Press
Does Aya and Mitsuki’s masked CD-shop mix-up put this yuri duet on your Winter 2027 playlist? Which rock song should score their first real date? And which girl do you expect to make the first move? Let us know in the comments!
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Great news: J-List has started a new sale giving you 18% off all DVDs, Blu-rays, and Nintendo Switch games. That means an instant 18% off all imported anime Blu-rays, sexy live-action JAV titles, hentai anime, and region-free anime games for your Nintendo Switch! Browse all sale products now!
