Itazura na Kiss is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Kaoru Tada. Itazura na Kiss was first serialized and published in 1990 by Shueisha through Bessatsu Margaret magazine. It became successful very quickly and became the manga series that Tada became known for in Japan. The manga became so popular that three live TV series have been made so far in 1996, 2005, and 2010, with a sequel of the 2005 drama in late 2007. In 2013, a remake of the Japanese live TV series, called Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo, was made. Despite its success, the manga was never completed due to the unexpected death of the author in a house accident while she was moving to another house with her husband and son. However, the manga series continues to be published with the permission of the artist's widower. The manga has sold 35 million copies, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.

Bessatsu Margaret , or Betsuma (別マ) for short, is a shōjo manga magazine published monthly in Japan by Shueisha since 1964. The stories featured in it are noted to have an emphasis on character growth, focusing on themes of interpersonal relationships and settings of everyday life.