Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun (Japanese: 潔癖男子！青山くん, Hepburn: Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Taku Sakamoto. It was first serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Miracle Jump in 2014, and was transferred to Weekly Young Jump, where it ran from 2015 to 2018, with its chapters collected in thirteen tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Studio Hibari aired from June to September 2017.
Plot
A first-year student, Aoyama, is a genius soccer player who is also obsessed with cleanliness.
Aoyama is a first-year student and has competed in U16 matches before becoming a midfielder of the soccer club. He is a clean freak due to his mysophobia, which resulted in his unique style of playing soccer involving extremely cautious physical contact with other players and the ball. He also cleans the clubroom and soccer balls after school. He is popular among the students and often garners many spectators during club activities, causing Kaoru Zaizen to become annoyed. Aoyama chooses Fujimi High School for its "uniqueness", which turned out to be having bidets installed in its toilets.
Kaoru Zaizen is a rich kid who was the playmaker before Aoyama's arrival. He is the only person who could not get used to his eccentricities. While not good with his kick despite being a midfielder, Kaoru is good at using his head literally.
Moka Gotō is a student known for having a crush on Aoyama since elementary. She is good at lock picking and wields a baseball bat designed with nails and cute stickers as her weapon to protect him. After the soccer club members found out about her secretly cleaning their clubroom, Moka becomes their manager.
Jin Tsukamoto is a defender and is always seen wearing red-framed glasses. He cheers up the soccer club by playing a soccer ball with his butt. Jin reveals that he got bullied by his former soccer club captain named Ryō Kadomatsu because of his habit, which resulted in his fear of him.
Miwa Takei is the soccer club coach. She is good at judo but she chooses to join the soccer club because of her love for an anime with a soccer player as the main character. She is also a fan of yaoi.
Tsubasa Umeya is a judo club member who joined the soccer club after he fell in love with Moka Gotō. When he learned about her crush on Aoyama, Tsubasa decides to support Moka's love instead but he states that not every couple would end up marrying each other so he only needs to wait until his time comes.
Atsumu Ozaki is a popular manga author under the pen name "Mirai Takada" known for his cool-handsome aura despite his secretive presence. He loves observing things around him for manga references but he later becomes annoyed with Aoyama's popularity. He decides to create an antagonist based on him but the character ends up gaining popularity for his manga instead.
Shion Narita is one of Aoyama's classmates and is also a clean freak like him but he hides it to avoid drawing attention. Shion likes to play online games, specifically "Beasts Hunter" because the online world is where he would not need to worry about getting dirty. He is playing at the same party as Aoyama in the game.
Mio Odagiri is the school's idol and a member of the basketball club. Despite her athletic ability, Mio is unable to shoot the ball until Aoyama inspires her to put some feeling into it. Mio is currently the only person who could touch Aoyama without him fainting. She is hinted to have developed a crush on him after her classmate pointed out their closeness.
Oshigami-Minami High's forward who always insists on Aoyama joining their soccer club instead while looking down on the rest of Fujimi High's soccer club members. He always shows his abs when talking to Aoyama.
One of the U16 players' along with Aoyama, whose football skills exceeds those of Aoyama's. He was contracted with a Spanish football club, but he came back to Japan because he missed Japanese food.
Kana is Yōji's girlfriend who was initially tasked to lock Aoyama up in their clubroom to ensure Takada High's win but ended up becoming his fan instead.
Takada High soccer club's captain with a Yankee hairstyle. It is said that soccer is the only thing he does seriously but, he likes to playing dirty to ensure his win.
Media
Manga
Clean Freak! Aoyama kun is written and illustrated by Taku Sakamoto. It was first published in Shueisha's Miracle Jump on May 20, 2014.[6] It was later transferred to Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump on January 29, 2015,[7] and finished on January 4, 2018.[8] Shueisha collected its 113 chapters into thirteen tankōbon volumes, released between June 19, 2015 and March 19, 2018.[9]
An anime television series adaptation by Studio Hibari aired from July 2[3] to September 17, 2017. With Kazuya Ichikawa directing and Midori Gotou supervising scripts. TMS Entertainment are credited with producing the anime.[22][23][3] The opening theme is "White" by Bentham, while Ryotaro Okiayu, Tomokazu Seki, Sōichirō Hoshi, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Hiroyuki Yoshino perform the ending theme "Taiyō ga Kureta Kisetsu" (The Season the Sun Gave Us) under the name "Fujimi High School Soccer Team."[4] Crunchyroll streamed the anime.[24]
"Aoyama-kun Is a Clean Freak!" Transliteration: "Aoyama-kun wa Kireizuki" (Japanese: 青山くんはキレイ好き)
July 2, 2017 (2017-07-02)
Aoyama is a talented midfielder of Fujimi High School's soccer team and has mysophobia. His obsession with cleanliness around him and during the game enrages his fellow teammate named Kaoru Zaizen. When Oshigami-Minami High School's soccer team visited his school and its forward named Akira Takechi persuaded him to join their school instead, Aoyama overcomes his phobia for a short time to win the match.
2
"Aoyama-kun, Do You Remember?" Transliteration: "Aoyama-kun wa Oboeteru?" (Japanese: 青山くんは覚えてる？)
July 9, 2017 (2017-07-09)
Moka Gotō has a crush on Aoyama since elementary and decides to secretly clean the soccer clubroom as a way to help him. She eventually becomes the club manager after she got caught by the team. The next day, a rumor about Aoyama's fragrant towel spreads around and causes chaos among people curious about its smell. Kaoru manages to dispel the crowd but he later gets to smell the towel until Aoyama catches him in the act.
3
"The Reason Aoyama-kun Isn't Here" Transliteration: "Aoyama-kun ga Inai Riyū" (Japanese: 青山くんがいない理由)
July 16, 2017 (2017-07-16)
Akira and Taichi Yoshioka engage in an eating contest at a family restaurant while Aoyama and his teammates wait for the rain to stop. On the day of the match against Takada Academy High School, its captain's girlfriend named Kana locks Aoyama inside their clubroom to prevent him from competing. Moka manages to find them and frees him to join the final few minutes of the match, leading to Fujimi's victory.
4
"Narita-kun Keeps It a Secret" Transliteration: "Narita-kun wa Himitsu ni Shiteiru" (Japanese: 成田くんは秘密にしている)
July 23, 2017 (2017-07-23)
Shion Narita has an obsession with cleanliness, like his classmate Aoyama, but he keeps it secret in their class. Shion and Aoyama compete in a cooking match during their home economics class. Shion is suspected to be the thief of one of his classmates' P.E. uniform until Aoyama solves the situation.
5
"Tsukamoto-kun's Life Is All About Laughs" Transliteration: "Tsukamoto-kun wa Uke ga Inochi" (Japanese: 塚本くんはウケが命)
July 30, 2017 (2017-07-30)
Fujimi's next match is against Minamida Fuzoku High School but Jin Tsukamoto faces trouble with their captain named Ryō Kadomatsu due to being bullied by him in their middle school days. Aoyama, Taichi, and Kazuma Sakai help him to regain his confidence to win the game.
6
"Ozaki-kun Has His Pride" Transliteration: "Ozaki-kun ni wa Puraido ga Aru" (Japanese: 尾崎くんにはプライドがある)
August 6, 2017 (2017-08-06)
Aoyama's popularity irritates a manga author named Atsumu Ozaki. He decides to create a villain based on Aoyama but the character becomes a fan favorite, much to his chagrin. Atsumi finds ways to make the villain unlovable.
7
"Odagiri-san Can't Get It In" Transliteration: "Odagiri-san wa Nakanaka Hairanai" (Japanese: 小田切さんはなかなか入らない)
August 13, 2017 (2017-08-13)
During a basketball match, Mio Odagiri manages to touch Aoyama without him fainting. After he challenged her for arm-wrestling and even requested her to make him a homemade lunch, everyone at school believe the two are in a relationship. Aoyama invites Mio to watch his soccer match for him to experience a high five. Mio clarifies they are not dating, much to everyone's relief while Moka realizes that Aoyama only wanted to feel how to be touched.
8
"Umeya-kun Is Very Patient" Transliteration: "Umeya-kun wa Nintai Tsuyoi" (Japanese: 梅屋くんは忍耐強い)
August 20, 2017 (2017-08-20)
Tsubasa Umeya quits the judo club and joins the soccer team to get closer to his crush (Moka). He invites Aoyama and Moka to visit a cat shop inside a zoo for a date. As Aoyama and Moka go on a boat together to conclude the day, Tsubasa believes that a couple would not always end up marrying and will wait for his time.
9
"Miwa-chan Wants to Do a Training Camp" Transliteration: "Miwa-chan wa Gasshuku ga Shitai" (Japanese: 美和ちゃんは合宿がしたい)
August 27, 2017 (2017-08-27)
Fujimi soccer club's coach named Miwa Takei invites the team to attend a training camp after she got inspired by an anime show she obsessed with. The team and other clubs arrive in a man-made indoor beach resort operated by Kaoru's rich family. Later night, they participate in a test of courage.
10
"Aoyama-kun Has Many Secrets" Transliteration: "Aoyama-kun wa Himitsu ga Ōi" (Japanese: 青山くんは秘密が多い)
September 3, 2017 (2017-09-03)
Kaoru, Kazuma, Jin, and Taichi follow Aoyama on his way home to learn about his lifestyle after a girl named Kozue Kurata visited him. They find him cooking dinner inside a house owned by Seigo Ibuki, a famous soccer player of the Spanish national team. Aoyama helps Seigo to make amends with his girlfriend (Kozue) after the latter got angry at him for messing with the nutritional dinner she cooked for him.
11
"Sakai-kun's Hairstyle Has Changed" Transliteration: "Sakai-kun no Kamigata ga Kawatta" (Japanese: 坂井くんの髪型が変わった)
September 10, 2017 (2017-09-10)
Kazuma changes his hairstyle to look like Aoyama, gaining popularity among female students and becoming better at playing soccer in the process. He replaces Kaoru as the new forward, causing the latter to ask Moka for help in training him. Meanwhile, Jin and Taichi persuade Kazuma to return to his old self and enjoy becoming friends with them instead of acting cool.
12
"The Reason Behind Aoyama-kun's Choice" Transliteration: "Aoyama-kun no Eranda Riyū" (Japanese: 青山くんの選んだ理由)
September 17, 2017 (2017-09-17)
Kaoru becomes worried that Aoyama might quit their soccer club after he spotted scouts talking to him about joining renowned teams instead of Fujimi's. During their preliminary match against Kuraishi High School, the team struggles to score until Kaoru manages to do so as a present for his mother who arrived to watch the game after she went overseas for five years. Aoyama then delivers the winning scores that led to Fujimi's victory. He later reveals his intention to remain in the team due to the color of their uniforms (white), which symbolized cleanliness.
Notes
^All English episode titles are taken from Crunchyroll.
^"「サムライうさぎ」の福島鉄平、MJで読切シリーズ始動" ["Samurai Usagi" Teppei Fukushima launches one-shot series at MJ]. Natalie (in Japanese). May 20, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
^"潔癖すぎる天才サッカー少年描く「潔癖男子！青山くん」ヤンジャンに移籍" ["Innocent boy! Aoyama-kun" drawn by a genius soccer boy who is too innocent transferred to Yangjan]. Natalie (in Japanese). January 29, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
