Hai Step Jun is a Shōnen sci-fi romantic comedy manga written by Yasuichi ลshima for Kodansha's Magazine SPECIAL in 1985 note , later adapted into an anime of 45 episodes and produced by Toei Animation for broadcast on TV Asahi being the second show to air on the network's long running Sunday mornings at 8:30 AM timeslot, after Little Memole note .
The main character is a junior high student named Jun, a brilliant Teen Genius who can create her own inventions. She falls in love with a much taller and older bad boy named Rei Kano (nicknamed Zero) who is a bit Book Dumb and only cares about motorbikes. While a relationship between them appears to be impossible, the two find a connection due to their common interest in mechanics.
The series provides examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Jun's crush on rebellious biker Zero. Although Zero is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, he has a strong bad boy appeal and seems a very popular student in general. Even the stylish Alpha Bitch is in love with him.
- Alpha Bitch: Yoko, Jun's love rival, is a beautiful and stylish student with a Girl Posse who worships her. Despite being seemingly polite, she is often shown to be bitchy and selfish. She gets better near the end.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: The triplets who are Toko's younger siblings. They are insufferable and bratty, often causing problems to everyone around them. Although they are more often a nuisance for the robot Kichinosuke rather than their sister Toko.
- Betty and Veronica: Zero is the Archie between the short and nerdy Genki Girl Jun (Betty) and the pretty Alpha Bitch Yoko (Veronica).
- Bittersweet Ending: Jun and Zero are happy together, but Zero is going to live in England again. Jun leaves her Robot Buddy Kichinosuke to him.
- Book Dumb:
- Zero gets poor grades and frequently skips classes.
- Sursprisingly, even Gadgeteer Genius Jun tends to have below average grades in non-scientific subjects.
- Cool Old Lady: Zero's energetic grandmother, who is very fond of Jun.
- Distaff Counterpart: Jun later creates the female robot Yukinojou, a girl version to her Robot Buddy Kichinosuke.
- Dub Name Change :
- In the French version, Jun becomes Julie and Zero becomes Michel.
- In the Italian version, Jun becomes Juny and Zero becomes Nico (with Zero being his surname).
- In the Spanish version, Jun becomes Eva.
- Expy: Jun looks like a redheaded Arale. Other than that, they are both bubbly and innocent child prodigies who are Good with Numbers and have a strong association with robots and inventions (Jun is an inventor who creates robots, Arale is a robot created by an inventor).
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Toko is very mature (Responsible), while her three younger siblings are complete brats (Foolish).
- Gadgeteer Genius: Jun spends most of her time building robots and all kinds of gadgets, often just for fun.
- Height Angst: Jun has this due to being much shorter than her classmates.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Zero is considerably bigger than Jun.
- Innocent Prodigy: Despite Jun's great intelligence, she can be immature, childish, and even clumsy on occasion. She has some Kiddie Kid tendencies in both appearance and personality.
- Japanese Delinquents:
- Zero has this reputation for being a bad boy and rebellious biker.
- The motorcycle gang whose members are all enemies to Zero. They are very violent and often threaten him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Zero come off as an aloof and selfish jerk in the beginning, but he is just trying to hide his Hidden Heart of Gold. His nice side becomes more evident as the series goes on, as his bond with Jun grows.
- Kissing Discretion Shot: The final (and only) kiss between Jun and Zero is covered up by Jun's Robot Buddy and not visible to the audience.
- Love Triangle: Jun/Zero/Yoko. Both Jun and Yoko are in love with Zero. Zero initially dates Yoko, but he still hangs out with Jun to have free food (since he is a Big Eater). Over time, Zero learns to genuinely like Jun more and more.
- Mr. Vice Guy: Zero is an irresponsible slacker, a Big Eater, and a Heavy Sleeper (especially at school), but is a decent guy if you get to know him.
- Older Than They Look: Jun looks like a little girl, but according to the Japanese wiki, she is 14 and known for being very short. This works better, considering her Ship Tease with a visibly older boy.
- Opposites Attract: Short and brilliant Jun and tall Book Dumb Zero. It's implied Zero likes her back and it becomes increasingly obvious later on.
- Precocious Crush: There is one episode where a little girl has a crush on Zero. The girl initially claims to be in love with Kichinosuke, leading Jun to think she is Robosexual. At the end, it turns out that Zero gave the little girl a fake name, the one of Jun's Robot Buddy.
- Put on a Bus: Zero moves to England in the middle of the series. He eventually comes back before moving again in the last episode.
- Robot Buddy: Kichinosuke, a male robot created by Jun herself. A female robot will be created later.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Zero's grandmother adores Jun, so she is a Zero/Jun shipper.
- Jun's friends Toko and Mako also support the couple because they know Jun is in love with him.
- Subverted with Jun's Robot Buddy Kichinosuke, who dislikes Zero in the beginning and thinks What Does She See in Him?.
- Satellite Character: Jun's two friends Toko and Mako have no role or personality outside of being always nice and supportive of Jun. Although Toko gets slightly more focus later on (after Zero is Put on a Bus), since we know she is the Only Sane Woman in her family. Mako, not so much.
- Shorter Means Smarter: Jun is a tiny girl and a Child Prodigy who is much smarter than her Love Interest and all her taller classmates.
- Spanner in the Works: Kichinosuke, the robot built by Jun, often ends up causing more problems than anything else, both to Jun and other people.
- Stock Shoujo Heroine: Despite this series being shonen, Jun fits the bill perfectly and basically all the main traits, being an overly romantic, carefree, and often childish Genki Girl. Despite her genius intelligence, she can't even escape the Book Dumb trope, since it's stated that her grades in non-scientific subjects are not very good.
- Teacher's Unfavorite Student: Jun and especially Zero are seen as problematic by their teachers.
- Jun, because her inventions often make a mess at school.
- Zero, because he is seen as a slacking delinquent who always sleeps during class.
- Teen Genius: While she looks younger, Jun is actually 14, so she qualifies as a teenage prodigy and exceptional Gadgeteer Genius.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: When Zero comes back from England for the first time, he has apparently changed from a careless biker/slacker to an overly serious and stuffy guy who claims that his past self is dead. Not many people like this change (especially Jun), and it's eventually revealed to be a prank and that Zero is still himself.