This year's January issue of Kodansha's Dessert magazine announced on Friday that Takashi Naoya (Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru) will direct the television anime based on Mao Nanami's Real Girl (3D Kanojo) manga. The magazine also revealed rough character designs for Tsuttsun and Iroha. the anime will premiere in 2018.

The josei manga follows Hikari "Tsuttsun" Tsutsui, a high school boy who is satisfied with the virtual girls he encounters in anime and games. He does not have many friends and he lives in his own world. One day, when he is stuck on pool cleaning duty, he is approached by Iroha, a "real girl" who is showy and popular with boys.

The romantic comedy manga ran in Kodansha's Dessert magazine from July 2011 to May 2016, and Kodansha published the series in 12 compiled volumes. Kodansha Comics is releasing the manga digitally in English.

Warner Bros. Japan announced in July that it will also release a live-action film adaptation of the manga in 2018. Ayami Nakajō and Hayato Sano are starring as Iroha and Hikari, respectively.