is a Japanese television drama produced and aired in 2005 by NTV. The television show is based on the book of the same name by Gen Shiraiwa (). The story follows the high school lives of Kiritani and Kusano as they attempt to make a shy Kotani into the most popular girl in school. Plot overview Introducing Nobuta Shuji Kiritani (Kazuya Kamenashi) is a very popular high school boy who is close to Mariko Uehara (Erika Toda), the most popular girl in school, but whom he does not actually love. Akira Kusano (Tomohisa Yamashita), his classmate, does not really have any friends - something that is attributed to the fact that he cannot read the atmosphere well, or rather, he chooses to ignore the atmosphere. One day, a very shy girl, Nobuko Kotani (Maki Horikita) transfers to their school and is instantly picked on by a group of girls for her shyness. As a testimony to their youth, Shuji and Akira team up and decide to "produce" her, to make her popular. They nickname her "Nobuta". Production of Nobuta The various episodes deal with the pair's attempts at making Nobuko popular by making her more appealing. Amidst this, a mysterious person insidiously attempts to waylay all of Shuji and Akira's efforts. Fortunately, the trio always manages to pull through with ingenuity. Finale Shuji has to cope with his loss of popularity after he is caught out lying about Mariko and does not assist when a classmate is beaten up. Despite this, with the knowledge that his two true friends, Akira and Nobuko, will always be there for him, Shuji gets over it. There is also the revelation of Aoi, Kotani's first friend besides Shuji and Akira, as the mysterious antagonist of the story. In the final episode, Shuji discovers that he and his family must move out of Tokyo because of his father's job. Akira follows Shuji to his new hometown and surprises him by showing up at his new school. Nobuko is left alone in Tokyo, but she has overcome her shyness, and is finally able to smile. She also becomes popular among the other students, and is no longer bullied. The end of the drama sees all three characters being able to "live wherever [they] are", having learned the meaning of friendship and love. Main characters The drama centers around three main characters: Shuji Kiritani, Akira Kusano, and