Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible (Kubo-san wa Mobu o Yurusanai, literally "Kubo Won't Give Up the Mob") is a manga written and drawn by Nene Yukimori. Serialized in Weekly Young Jump from 2019 to 2023, it received an animated adaptation written by Yūya Takahashi in the 2023 Winter Season.
Junta Shiraishi is an Ordinary High-School Student, and so ordinary, he can be mistaken for a mob character in a video game. But suddenly, Nagisa Kubo makes moves on him, and Junta is now encouraged by her to stand out from the crowd. Would he remain a nameless face? Or would he be something else?
Tropes include:
- Art Shift: The manga uses Super-Deformed style for a number of cute and/or funny scenes. This is carried over to the anime.
- Automatic Door Malfunction: As part of Shiraishi's ability to be practically invisible, sometimes automatic doors can't detect him, necessitating him doing things like hopping up and down or jogging in place.
- Beach Episode: Vol. 8 of the manga, in which Junta is invited by Akina to work at the Kubo family beach shack over summer break.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: In chapter 10/episode 3, Shiraishi goes to buy the new issue of Weekly Young Jump,note which he wants to do from a bookstore in the next town over because he feels self-conscious about buying a magazine with an "embarassing bikini-babe cover".
- Bland-Name Product: In chapter 47, Kubo gives Junta a KitGot bar, because he's hungry.
- Casting Gag: Regarding The Quintessential Quintuplets, Ichika now has Miku as her elder sister, and Nino is now one of her best friends.
- This additionally isn’t the first time that Kengo Kawanishi is a teenage boy who gets acquainted with a family of three (in this case, somewhat surrogate) sisters, where the middle child, voiced by Kana Hanazawa, is his Implied Love Interest.
- Caught in Embarrassing Act: Junta is helping his kid brother Seita do a "transformation" sequence from the young boy's favorite tv show, when he hears his own voice repeating the action. He turns to see that Nagisa Kubo is watching him, and has recorded a video of his act, which she finds cute and adorable.
- Character Development: Junta, who starts out as the kind of guy who would normally be in the background of the main story, but through his interactions with Nagisa, gradually starts to make friends, grow in self-confidence, and finally become the “main character” of his own life.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The opening song is performed by Nagisa Kubo's voice actress, Kana Hanazawa.
- Everyone Can See It: Well maybe not literally “everyone”, but every member of the main group of friends except Nagisa and (especially) Junta can see that the two of them have a special kind of connection that goes beyond friendship.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Most of the cast (Shiraishi is the most notable exception) have square pupils that expand horizontally when expressing emotion.
- Fanservice: The chapter art occasionally features Nagisa in cosplay, such as in a Sexy Santa Dress or wearing a "virgin killer" halter top sweater.
- The Generic Guy: Junta is this to the extreme, he can be mistaken for a nameless character in anime. He has such a lack of presence to the average person that even automatic doors can fail to register him.
- Good Luck Charm: Because of how difficult it is to even catch a glimpse of him, a Running Gag throughout the early episodes of the manga is that Shiraishi is this to his classmates, as they will excitedly say that today might be their lucky day in Gacha.
- Heroic BSoD: Nagisa gets lost in the woods during a courage walk in Episode 69 and it doesn’t take long for her to become paralyzed by fear, in a way we have never seen from her before. Luckily, Junta finds her and gives her some much-needed comfort and assurance.
- Holding in Laughter: Nagisa reflects on how she came to sit by Junta, holding in her laughter as she reflects on just how invisible he is to everyone, including the teacher not seeing him when he was standing right in front of him.
- I Have This Friend: Shiraishi wants to confess his love for Kubo. When Akina hears him thinking about it, the boy claims his friend's gonna to confess his feelings.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: In Chapter 26, just as Shiraishi thinks he'll "survive a single day without a red pen," the teacher announces: "Okay, folks, it's time to check your answers on the handouts. Get out your red pens!"
- It Runs in the Family: For some reason, all the members of the Kubo bloodline have no difficulty noticing Shiraishi, whom even electronic sensors may fail to detect.
- "Notice Me" Desire: Zigzagged. Junta Shiraishi doesn't register on most people's radars, having very little noticable presence (to the point that automatic doors can fail to open for him). Except, there is one person who notices him, Nagisa Kubo, the charming and beautiful classmate of his who sits right beside him. And while Junta is used to being unnoticed and doesn't particularly wish to be noticed, Kubo wants everyone to notice him, because she sees him as a kind and helpful young man and she wants everyone else to know that about him.
- Playful "Perv" Accusation: Junta realizes that there has been something different about Nagisa Kubo all day, but couldn't put his finger on it until she's hanging a flyer for the class and he notices she's wearing tights instead of her usual socks. She sits down on the chair she'd been standing on, smiling, as she slowly draws her long legs up to rest her feet on the seat, and teasingly calls Junta a "pervert" for looking at her legs.
- Resort to Pouting: If Junta tries to evade Kubo's latest attempt at teasing him, she'll pout, including an Angry Cheek Puff, until he relents and goes along with it.
- Right Behind Me: Kubo's right behind Shiraishi when he tells Sudo "I was about to tell her how I feel."
- Romantic Ribbing: Kubo likes to tease Junta because she's in love with him (though not quite aware of it herself at first). This is especially prevalent during the Valentine's Day episode, when Kubo leaves a heart-shaped cookie in his desk, but doesn't tell him who it's from, and teases him come White Day about knowing the identity of the girl who left him the cookie without telling him that it was her.
- Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Junta is the pragmatic, introverted hero whilst Nagisa is his extroverted, fun loving heroine.
- Shout-Out: Episode 4 has Seita watching a Kamen Rider parody called Poodle Man, with him and Junta doing henshin motions later.
- Stealth Prequel: A work-internal example – chapter 95's ending is revealed by extra drawings in the collected volume to tie into the title page for chapter 77. Most of the chapter focuses on Akina giving Nagisa and Saki matching hairstyles to help alleviate Saki's dissatisfaction with having cut her bangs too short, but the final panel creates the link: Akina sends a photo to Junta of all three Kubo girls with the same hairstyle, and Seita voices a desire to have the hairstyle himself – which Junta is shown administering on the aforementioned title page.
- Tone Shift: A noticeable, if not massive one occurs around the end of the third volume and throughout the fourth. While retaining its lighthearted slice-of-life core, the series mostly abandons the “Nagisa teasing Junta” episodic structure common to the earlier volumes in favor of a more serious plot and meaningful interactions between our leads. Greater characterization is also given to the other members of their group of friends, as well as Junta and Nagisa’s family members.
- Umbrella of Togetherness: Episode 7 has Nagisa insists on sharing an umbrella with Junta on their way home, in order to see if he can become more visible this way. After walking for a while, Junta realizes they are engaging in this trope and decides to take a side route so that no one will notice them. However, they are spotted by Akina near the end, who clearly enjoys the sight.