I Hear the Sunspot

College student Taichi Sagawa learns that his lonely classmate, Kohei Sugihara, is deaf, and he enrolls in a part-time job to take notes for him in exchange for food. As the two become more acquainted with each other, they develop a strong friendship that eventually turns into love.

Kohei Sugihara (杉原 航平, Sugihara Kōhei)

Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa (audio drama)

Portrayed by: Hideya Tawada (film),^[2] Motoki Nakazawa (TV drama)^[3]

Kohei is a college student who had a sudden hearing loss in high school, and because of his disability, he struggles to fit in and is usually seen alone.

Taichi Sagawa (佐川 太一, Sagawa Taichi)

Voiced by: Junya Enoki (audio drama)

Portrayed by: Akira Onodera (ja) (film),^[2] Toranosuke Kobayashi (TV drama)^[3]

Taichi is an optimistic and outgoing college student who takes on the job of taking notes for Kohei part-time in exchange for food.

Yoko (ヨコ)

Voiced by: Yoshiki Nakajima (audio drama)

Portrayed by: Ryo Mitsuya (ja) (film)^[4]

I Hear the Sunspot is written and illustrated by Yuki Fumino as her debut work.^[1] Fumino came up with the idea of writing about the hearing impaired from being around friends and acquaintances who had a hearing disability.^[5] She wrote I Hear the Sunspot based on what she learned from them as well as visiting a sign language school.^[5]

I Hear the Sunspot was serialized in the semi-monthly BL manga anthology Canna from December 22, 2013^[6] to August 2014.^[1] Originally released as a single-volume story,^[1][7] it was followed up with I Hear the Sunspot: Theory of Happiness from April 22, 2015^[8] to February 2016.^[7] After the story's end, Fumino continued with a third series, titled I Hear the Sunspot: Limit, from October 2016 to December 2019.^[7][9] A fourth series titled I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons began publication in December 2020 and is still ongoing.^[10] The chapters have been released in 7 bound volumes by France Shoin under the Canna Comics imprint as of April 2023.^[11]

One Peace Books publishes I Hear the Sunspot in English for North American distribution.^[12]

Hideya Tawada (pictured in 2018) portrayed Kohei in the film.

A live-action film adaptation of I Hear the Sunspot was announced through the physical release of the first volume on the wrap-around band.^[1] The film starred Hideya Tawada as Kohei and Akira Onodera (ja) as Taichi.^[2][4] Ryo Mitsuya (ja) was later cast as Yoko.^[25] Additional cast members included Ami Yamazaki, Miyū Ōsaka, Hiroe Igeta, Rima Matsuda, Yūki Fukumoto, Tsubasa Shimada, Hideyuki Araki, Anna Kijima, Suzuno Nomura, Norihisa Hiranuma, Shinshō Nakamura, and Reiko Takashima.^[4] The film was directed by Daisuke Kamijō.^[4] It was released on June 24, 2017.^[4]

A live-action television drama adaptation was announced on May 28, 2024.^[3][26] The series premiered its first episode on U-Next on June 26, 2024.^[3][26] It was then being broadcast from July 4, 2024, to September 19, 2024, for 12 episodes on TV Tokyo as part of their Drama Next (ja) programming block.^[3][26][a] The series stars Motoki Nakazawa as Kohei and Toranosuke Kobayashi as Taichi.^[3] It is directed by Fūga Yaegashi, Shō Makino, and Takanobu Harashima, with screenplay written by Izumi Kawasaki (ja).^[3] In 2025, the series won the My Best TV Award in the 19th Grand Prix of the 62nd Galaxy Award.^[27]