Too Many Losing Heroines! Was Inspired By DARLING In The FRANXX Anime, Reveals Author Takibi Amamori

In the latest Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! 2025 Edition, author Takibi Amamori shared the creative inspiration behind Too Many Losing Heroines! light novel series.

Amamori detailed how the concept of focusing on losing heroines was born from observing the love triangle in DARLING in the FRANXX anime.

Amamori cited Ichigo, the blue-haired heroine from DARLING in the FRANXX, as the catalyst for the novel’s concept.

“She’s the protagonist’s childhood friend, a representative figure, and has a crabby yet endearing personality with a petite stature. She had all the elements of a losing heroine,” Amamori stated. “And sure enough, she lost to the main heroine in the story.”

The idea for the light novel took shape while the author pondered a different outcome for childhood friend archetypes, where they ultimately win the protagonist’s heart.

However, this realization posed a new dilemma. “If the childhood friend wins, another girl inevitably becomes the losing heroine,” Amamori explained. “That made no sense, so I decided to focus only on losing heroines, and that was the beginning of Makeine.”

Too Many Losing Heroines!, also known as Makeine, is a Japanese light novel series written by Takibi Amamori and illustrated by Imigimuru.

It began publication under Shogakukan’s Gagaga Bunko imprint in July 2021. A manga adaptation illustrated by Itachi began serialization on Shogakukan’s Ura Sunday website and MangaOne app in April 2022.

An anime television series adaptation produced by A-1 Pictures aired from July to September 2024.

Source: X