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The Kabocha Wine (Theかぼちゃワイン The Kabocha Wain, trans. The Pumpkin Wine) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Miura. It was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1981 to 1984, and had 18 volumes. It also received the 1983 Kodansha Manga Award for the shōnen category. There were two sequels: a 2006 oneshot known as The Kabocha Wine - Sequel (The かぼちゃワイン sequel, lit. "The Pumpkin Wine - Sequel"), and a six-tome seinen manga named The Kabocha Wine - Another (The かぼちゃワインAnother, lit. "The Pumpkin Wine - Another") that ran from 2007 to 2009.
There was a 95-episode anime by Toei, aired from 1982 to 1984 on TV Asahi, and later aired in France (as Mes tendres années) and Italy (as Sun College). It even had its own sequel in 1984: the movie The Kabocha Wine: Nita no Aijou Monogatari (Ｔｈｅかぼちゃワイン ニタの愛情物語 The Pumpkin Wine: Nita's Love Story). And last but not least, there was a live-action movie in 2007 based on the Another sequel.
The premise is more or less like this: A very short and snarky young man named Shunsuke Aoba transfers to Sunshine High School, and in what he thinks it'll be his first day there (it's a holiday, he got the dates wrong), he meets a very pretty new girl named Natsumi Asaoka. When he sees her standing up for the first time, he realizes another detail... she. is. HUGE. As in, much taller (and boobielicious!) than the average Japanese girl. She, a SL (Super Large) girl, is used to people looking at her like a weirdo... but Shunsuke breaks these rules, and treats her like a normal gal. Natsumi appreciates this very much and soon she becomes fond of Shunsuke, who finds himself being kind to her even when he doesn't always intend to...
See also Lovely Complex, about another couple with a short dude and a tall lady.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Shunsuke may be prickly and Tsundere, but he's honest to Natsumi and treats her without distinctions.
- Boarding School: Sunshie High seems to be dorm-optional, and Natsumi lives in the dorm itself.
- Denied Food as Punishment: At the beginning, Shunsuke is caught in his school's girls' dormitory; Natsumi, who got him there to patch up his sprained foot, is punished with no dinner for that night as a result. Shunsuke still sneaks back into the dorm to secretly sneak her some red-bean paste bread.
- Dub Name Change: In the French dub, Natsumi's name is changed to Lydia and Shunsuke is Sonny. Times two in Italian, as two different dubbing studios handled different parts of the series; thus, in episodes 1-40, Shunsuke is Sanyo and Natsumi is Lory, and in episodes 41-95, Natsumi is Lisa and Shunsuke is Alex.
- Gentle Giant: Natsumi is as sweet as she's tall and pretty.
- Hey, It's That Voice: Ataru from Urusei Yatsura meets Benio from Haikara-san ga Toru.
- Huge Schoolgirl: Natsumi, oh yes.
- Meaningful Name: Sorta. Natsumi is called "L" because she's very, well, Large. Perhaps the reason why her Dub Name Changes also all begin with L.
- Miss Fanservice: Oh, Natsumi.
- New Transfer Student: Both Natsumi and Shunsuke are this.
- No Social Skills: Shunsuke can barely talk to girls.
- The Napoleon: Shunsuke isn't too happy about his lack of height.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Shunsuke and Natsumi downplay this, he fits in well but Natsumi is a bit more relaxed than the usual Energetic Girl.
- Statuesque Stunner: Natsumi, yup.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Shunsuke and Natsumi, oh my. They even provide the page's image!
- Tsundere: Shunsuke is a textbook male example.