Zombie- Loan

Zombie-Loan (ゾンビローン ,Zonbi Rōn?) is a Japanese manga series created by Peach-Pit; Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara. It is published by Enix and is serialized in the Japanese shōnen manga magazine GFantasy. The series is licensed in the United States by Yen Press.

An anime adaptation produced by Xebec M2 was announced and started broadcast on the Japanese network TV Asahi on July 3, 2007. It contained a total of eleven episodes, with the final broadcast on September 11, 2007.[1] Subsequent episodes 12 and 13 were released as part of the seventh volume of the DVD release in April 2008, but no official word for television broadcast has been made.

Michiru Kita is a special girl who possesses Shinigami Eyes, a power which allows her to see a person’s nearness to their destined death by seeing a ring, invisible to normal people, around the person’s neck. When a person is marked to die, a gray ring appears, which darkens over time. Once the ring turns completely black, the person dies. Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana, two boys in her class, both have black rings around their necks, but to her surprise, they are not yet dead. It is revealed that after a tragic accident that was supposed to kill them both, the two boys made a deal with a secret loan office called the Zombie-Loan. In return for keeping them alive, the two have to hunt zombies for the loan office. When Michiru gets involved with them, she finds that her life has just become more complicated.

Slam DUnk

Slam Dunk (スラムダンク ,Suramu Danku?, officially romanized SLAM DUNK in Japan) is a sports-themed manga series written by Takehiko Inoue about a basketball team from Shōhoku High School. It was first serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan from 1990 to 1996. Inoue later used basketball as a central theme in two subsequent manga titles: Buzzer Beater and Real.

Slam Dunk centers around Hanamichi Sakuragi, who starts as a deliquent outcast, becoming the leader of a gang. Hanamichi, being very unpopular with girls, has been rejected by them fifty times. Yet, he finds out that Haruko Akagi is the girl of his dreams, and is happy when she’s not scared of him like all the other girls he has asked out.

Haruko Akagi, who recognizes Hanamichi’s athleticism, introduces him to the Shohoku basketball team. Hanamichi was reluctant to join the team at first because he had no previous background in any sports and thought that basketball was a game for losers (also because the fiftieth girl rejected him for a basketball player). Sakuragi, despite his immaturity and hot temper, proves to be a natural athlete with potential and joins the team in order to impress Haruko and prove that he is worthy of her. Kaede Rukawa — Sakuragi’s bitter rival (both on the basketball court and love, even when Rukawa doesn’t acknowledge Haruko’s crush on him), the star rookie and a “girl magnet” – joins the team at the same time. Hisashi Mitsui, an ex-junior high school MVP, and Ryota Miyagi , a short but fast player, both also rejoin the team and together these four struggle to complete team captain Takenori Akagi’s dream of making Shohoku the national champion. Together, these misfits gain publicity and the once little known Shohoku basketball team becomes an all-star contender in Japan.

Characters:

[edit] Aiwa High School
Aiwa is ranked 4th in Japan and was favored to win the Aichi Interhigh Tournament, but was upset by Meihou. Shohoku faces them in the third round of the National Championship and loses to them because they were exhausted from the Sannoh match. The team’s captain, shooting guard Dai Moroboshi, is known as the “Star of Aichi”. He was injured by Meihou’s Hiroshi Morishige during the Aichi Interhigh finals, and despite returning to the game later, could not push Aiwa over the top because of Meihou’s insurmountable lead. Some consider Moroboshi as the only one who can beat Sannoh’s Eiji Sawakita in a one-on-one, though Moroboshi himself does not think so.

[edit] Daiei High School
Daiei (Daiei Gakuen) is the lead representative for Osaka in the National Championship, having beaten Toyotama. Their captain, point forward Atsushi Tsuchiya, is also the top player for the team, and proved key in their victory.

[edit] Jousei High School
Jousei is ranked 8th in Japan, and the main representative for the Shizuoka Prefecture. Their coach is a former pupil of Coach Anzai’s, and prior to the start of the National Championship, Shohoku (minus Sakuragi, who undergoes a weeklong training on how to shoot from Coach Anzai) visits them for a weeklong training camp that includes three matches, resulting in a win, loss, and tie for Shohoku. They are knocked out of the National Championship in the second round by Meihou, in a match where Morishige alone eclipses the whole opposite team, leaving the team captain, Mikoshiba, greatly depressed.

[edit] Kainan University Affiliated High School
Main article: Kainan University Affiliated High School basketball team

[edit] Meihou High School
Meihou is a surprise newcomer to the National Championship, knocking off the favorite Aiwa to qualify as the lead representative for Aichi. They are spearheaded by a massive first year student, Hiroshi Morishige (so massive, he can take Sakuragi down with a mere nudge – given by Sakuragi himself). This gives Sakuragi the impression that Hiroshi is perhaps the strongest player he has ever met. Meihou beat Jousei in the second round of the National Championship. Hiroshi is actually a newcomer (like Sakuragi) in the game of basketball. He only started playing the second summer of middle school (which is less than a year). After a match many reporters interviewed him and asked his opinion about Sannoh’s strength, but he simply answers “Sannoh? What’s that?” Many were shocked and thought he was looking down on Sannoh but actually he really has no idea who they really are.

While watching the match between Shohoku and Sannoh, his coach (who he usually refers to as “uncle”) tells him that if Sannoh continues to develop Mikio Kawata’s skills in basketball, after a year or so he may rival Hiroshi. But Hiroshi shows more interest in Sakuragi.

[edit] Miuradai High School
Miuradai faces Shohoku in the first round of the Interhigh Tournament. They do well at first, because Takenori Akagi is the only one of the five starters to actually start the game, the other four being temporarily benched by Coach Anzai for fighting. The tide turns against Miuradai once the other four starters enter the court and Shohoku is restored to full strength. Miuradai is quite a self-confident team, whose members – particularly their captain, Kengo Murasame – only respect Kainan as an opponent.

One character who only appears in the anime, Tetsuya Naito, is enrolled in the ranks of Miuradai as a substitute Power forward and a brute physical force – he used to play for the Miuradai rugby team, but he was dissatisfied with the lack of challenge and dropped out after Murasame approached him. Naito’s inexperience as a basketball player is quickly exposed by Rukawa though, and Shohoku go on to win decisively. In the end, Naito ends up knocked out after Sakuragi (who was pissed off after Naito blocked him several times successfully) tries to use a slam dunk, yet ends up bashing him on the head by mistake.

[edit] Ryonan High School
Main article: Ryonan High School basketball team

[edit] Ryokofu High School
Ryokofu appears in the third OVA, inviting Shohoku for a friendly match right after their defeat from Kainan. They are a relatively new team, but were a force to be feared as their ranks included star players from junior high. Their half-American captain and ace Michael Okita was sponsored by their school to train in America, where he was also scouted by the NBA. Also in their ranks is Katsumi Ichiro, who also went to Takishi Junior High with Shohoku’s Mitsui. He eventually became captain after Mitsui left.

[edit] Sannoh Industry Affiliated High School
Main article: Sannoh Industry Affiliated High School basketball team

[edit] Shohoku High School
Main article: Shohoku High School basketball team

[edit] Shoyo High School
Main article: Shoyo High School basketball team

[edit] Takezato High School
Takezato was seeded first in its respective bracket in the Kanagawa Interhigh Tournament and makes the final four. However, they prove to be the weakest team present, losing to Shohoku, Ryonan, and Kainan and finishing fourth.

[edit] Takezono High School
Takezono is the team for which Tatsumasa Oda, the boy for whom Sakuragi suffered his 50th rejection, plays. Unluckily, their last match in the Kanagawa Tournament is against the reigning champion Kainan, who beats them handily with a reserve team, the only starters to play being Jin and Muto.

Sakuragi, who at first mistakenly thought that Oda was mistreating his girlfriend Yoko Shimamura, wanted Takezono to win so he could face Oda again (Shohoku and Takezono face each other in the first Slam Dunk OVA, in a friendly match). Oda was injured, but played all the same. However, none of these events are mentioned in the manga. That Oda is playing in Takezono or that Shohoku played them are also not mentioned.

[edit] Toyotama High School
Toyotama is the runner-up team from Osaka in the National Championship, having lost to Daiei. They are an A ranked team and almost all of their starters are third years.

Shohoku faces them in the first round of the National Championship, where Toyotama show a talent for getting away with violent, flagrant fouls, not to mention the constant teasing from the crowd, that constantly yells, swears and threatens the opposite team. They have mastered the run and gun style of play and divide their effort between 80% offense and 20% defense. Their main weakness was the replacement of their coach,’Kitano , who nurtured the team’s offensive philosophy and is widely respected by the players. His replacement, on the other hand, Jiei’, emphasizes defensive basketball, which the players have difficulty adjusting to. Because of this, they prefer to play their own way than listening to their new coach.

The Toyotama match only appears in the manga. One of the reserve players, Teruo Okawa, is a friend of Hikoichi Aida’s from junior high. Toyotama has an ace in the form of Minori Kishimoto, who earns not only Hikoichi’s enmity for Toyotama after he dismisses Sendoh’s abilities as a player (Hikoichi in retribution gives Shohoku information on Toyotama), but also from Sakuragi, who spent the first half under intense pressure and could not perform well enough, being substituted for by Yasuda early in the match. Their other ace and captain is Tsuyoshi Minami (who Sakuragi calls “chick-face” after the bird), who is the most aggressive of the players. He is known as the “Ace Killer”, and lives up to this nickname by hitting Rukawa in the face with his elbow as he once did to Kenji Fujima from Shoyo, leaving him with a black eye for the whole second half of the game. Minami however makes up for it later, as the night before the match against Sannoh, he gives Rukawa an ointment to help his eye heal and warns him about Sawakita. The other players include Mitsuaki Iwata (center), Kyohei Yajima (shooting guard) and Daijiro Itakura (point guard).

[edit] Tsukubu High School
Tsukubu used to be a high-leaguer team before the rise of Shohoku. They were the fourth team Shohoku faced in the Prefectural Tournament and, after a good start, they let their defense be breached by Miyagi’s fast play and lost concentration, leading to a rather shameful loss.

Tsukubu is featured prominently in the second OVA (which portrays the tournament match), where their star rookie, Koichiro Nango (who is actually a center player despite his youth, something quite uncommon in local basketball), falls in love with Haruko and becomes a bitter rival to Sakuragi, to the point of betting with him: whoever wins the game will have the right to ask Haruko out. Their coach, Kazuma Kawasaki, was a former pupil of Anzai, while their captain, Tomokazu Godai, attended Kogure and Akagi’s former junior high and is on friendly terms with them, but is kicked out of the game after losing his temper.

[edit] Other characters

[edit] Haruko Akagi
(赤木晴子 Akagi Haruko)

Year: 1st Year
Voice Actors: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japan) Martha McIsaac (USA)
Haruko is Takenori’s younger sister and Sakuragi’s love interest. Sweet and with a captivating personality, she is always around to cheer on the players, especially her brother Takenori, who is extremely protective of her and taught her the basics of basketball, and Sakuragi, whom she considers her best friend. Haruko often appears at matches together with Sakuragi’s cohorts and her two best friends, Fujii and Matsui. She, like most girls in Shohoku, only has eyes for Rukawa, although he never reciprocates her feelings and, later in the anime, she acknowledges that he will not love her the way she wants him to and tries to let go of her crush, however unsuccessfully.

Haruko was responsible for uncovering Sakuragi’s athletic talent after seeing him try to dunk a ball at her request – she was impressed by the height of his jump and considered him good enough to join the team. Sakuragi always listens to her due to his deep affection for her. They have gone on some (what Sakuragi considers) non-official dates and have occasionally trained together.

Despite her emotional denseness and sweetness, Haruko is a pretty good student, helping Akagi tutor Sakuragi and the other three starters when they had to retake some tests they had failed or be disqualified from the National Tournament, and is not afraid to stand up for others when needed. She confronted Sakuragi when she mistakenly thought that he had attacked Rukawa, and she also defended him many times from his most rabid fangirls (one of them even knocked her to the ground in the anime series).

At the end of the manga series, Haruko becomes the second manager of basketball team.

[edit] Sakuragi’s Gang
(a.k.a The Sakuragi Legion 桜木軍団 Sakuragi Gundan)

Yohei Mito (水戸洋平 Mito Yōhei) Chuichirou Noma
(野間忠一郎 Noma Chūichirō) Yuji Ohkusu
(大楠雄二 Ōkusu Yūji) Nozomi Takamiya
(高宮望 Takamiya Nozomi)

Year: 1st Year Year: 1st Year Year: 1st Year Year: 1st Year
Voice Actor: Toshiyuki Morikawa Voice Actor: Yūji Mikimoto Voice Actor: Nobutoshi Canna Voice Actor: Kōzō Shioya
Sakuragi’s best friend from childhood. He and the rest of his gang are always there to help him in whatever he needs, although Yohei is the only one able to help with actual advice. He also appears to be the best fighter out of the four aside from Sakuragi himself, having beat Mitsui badly all on his own during the gym fight. Three other students who often hang around Sakuragi and Yohei, who they also attended Wakoh Junior High with. Despite their loyalty and willingness at offering a hand whenever convenient, they often tease Sakuragi, for which they receive headbutts on their foreheads. They also take advantage of him by frequently placing bets on whether his endeavors will succeed, and even charge admission to see Sakuragi’s new hairstyle. In spite of all this, along with Yohei they are among Sakuragi’s most loyal supporters, going to all his games to cheer him on, and helping him out when he had to make 20,000 shots in one week to prepare for the National Championships. According to Yohei, they are known as “The Three Stooges of Wakoh Junior High”.

[edit] Tatsuhiko Aota
(青田龍彦 Aota Tatsuhiko)

Year: 3rd Year
Voice Actors: Hideyuki Umezu
The captain of the Shohoku judo team, Tatsuhiko is a childhood friend of the Akagi siblings, having argued with Takenori over which sport was better, judo or basketball, since their youth. This grudge continued until their present age, where their feud is over which team will be National Champion first. He once tried to make Sakuragi join the judo team because he considered his fighting skills exceptional, and to achieve this, “bribed” him with some photos of Haruko when she was younger. Still, Sakuragi refused, saying simply, “because I’m a basketball player” (actually because he knew he would actually be closer to Haruko if he stayed with the basketball team). But Tatsuhiko does not give up on trying once in a while. He is rather loyal to Takenori when the need arises, cheering him on when he is outplayed and hard-pressed during the second Ryonan match.

Despite his inability to physically coerce Sakuragi into joining the judo team, Tatsuhiko has proven that he is skilled, as he is the sole member of the judo team to qualify for the National Championships in judo. However unlike Takenori, he has to beg for the chance to retake the exams that he failed or else face academic disqualification – much like the other four starters of the basketball team. It is also worth noting that Tatsuhiko has had a crush on Haruko since they were young. She calls him “Ta-chan” instead of by his last name, which irritates Sakuragi immensely.

[edit] Norio Hotta
(Hotta Norio)

Year: 3rd Year
Voice Actors: Hōchū Ōtsuka
Hotta is the leader of a gang of fellow Third Year students who are the reigning delinquents at Shohoku. Sakuragi catches his attention on the first day of school when he gets into an altercation with two of his cronies, resulting in his issuing a direct challenge to Sakuragi by interrupting one of his classes. Before Sakuragi and his Gang arrive, Hotta and his cronies run into Rukawa on the school roof, who singlehandedly knocks out all four of them.

Hotta is a good friend of Mitsui, and backed him up when he challenged Miyagi to a fight a year ago. He and his friends provide the muscle again after Miyagi returns, and they join Mitsui in his attack on the basketball team. From Kogure’s revelation of Mitsui’s prior history with basketball, Hotta realizes that Mitsui deep down wants to play again, and is persuaded by Sakuragi’s Gang to share the blame with them for attacking the team, getting the team off the hook for fighting. It should be noted that though Hotta and his friends failed to win in fights against Sakuragi’s Gang or even Rukawa, they are portrayed as among the best fighters in Shohoku. Hotta and his cronies later become supporters of the basketball team during the National Championship Tournament (though even they get scared by the aggressiveness of the Toyotama crowd), largely because of their friendship with Mitsui, who they give the epithet Honoo no Otoko (lit. “Flaming Man”).

[edit] Tetsuo
(鉄男 Tetsuo)

Voice Actor: Masaharu Sato
Tetsuo is a biker and the only adult member of Mitsui’s gang, which included Norio Hotta and his cronies, in addition to some other delinquent high school students. It would appear that he is the gang leader, although he largely defers to Mitsui when they launch their attack on the Shohoku basketball team. He appears to be in his late 20′s/30s, and is the gang’s most experienced and capable fighter. Tetsuo succeeds in knocking out five Shohoku players, among them Rukawa and Miyagi, but meets his match in Sakuragi.

After Mitsui leaves the gang and rejoins the team, Tetsuo later runs into him after the former is heading home after getting his knee checked. He accepts Mitsui as an athlete, reaffirming the latter’s decision to rejoin the team. Because he refuses to wear a helmet when riding, Tetsuo has to constantly watch out for the police. Tetsuo makes an additional appearance in the anime when on the morning of Shohoku’s match with Shoyo, he is chased and cornered by the non-Shohoku members of his gang, who beat him up in a bid to challenge his leadership. Mitsui comes upon them, but refuses to fight because of the promise he made to Coach Anzai not to fight again. Tetsuo stands up for him, but gets knocked out. However the timely intervention of Sakuragi and his Gang enables the two basketball players to leave the scene, resulting in Tetsuo teaming up with Sakuragi’s Gang to take out Ryu and his cronies.

[edit] Yayoi Aida
(相田弥生 Aida Yayoi)

Voice Actor: Yuko Nagashima
Hikoichi’s older sister, she is a reporter for a weekly basketball magazine. Even though her brother plays for Ryonan, she is mostly designated to cover Shohoku matches, in which she is always impressesed about Shohoku players’ performances, as they mostly play stronger opponents like Kainan or Sannoh. In the National Championship though, she gets to watch Sannoh’s exercise training routines. She is almost always accompanied by a bubbly trainee called Nakamura, who does the driving when they need to go from gym to gym even though he drives slowly, as he had just gotten his driving license.She also has a huge crush on Ryonan ace Sendoh.

[edit] Fujii and Matsui
(藤井) and (松井)

Year: 1st Year
Voice Actor: Etsuko Nishimoto, Tomomi Sugimoto and Machiko Toyoshima (Fujii), Hiromi Nishikawa (Matsui)
Haruko’s classmates and friends from Junior High. They often appear together with or without her. They do not trust Sakuragi too much at first, but try their best to deal with him for Haruko’s sake, and gradually become more fond of him. Fujii is shy, soft-spoken and has short hair, while Matsui has her hair tied in pigtails, has thick lips and is rather sassy at times. Their first names are not known.

[edit] Ryu
(竜 Ryu)

Voice Actor: Nobuhiko Kazama
Ryu is one of the non-Shohoku members of Mitsui’s gang and the only other non-Shohoku member besides Tetsuo given the most depth. During Mitsui’s attack on the basketball team, he is matched up with Rukawa, giving him a bloody head wound with a broken mop head, but in turn gets knocked out by Rukawa.

In the anime, Ryu challenges Tetsuo’s leadership by recruiting new members and targeting him after Mitsui rejoins the basketball team. He takes advantage of Mitsui’s reluctance to fight to attempt to break his hands, but is interrupted by Sakuragi’s appearance. To his surprise, Sakuragi thanks him for beating up Rukawa. The arrival of Sakuragi’s Gang enables Mitsui and Sakuragi to break away and head to the 3rd round match (which they are late for), and results in the trouncing of Ryu and all his gang members.

[edit] Dr. T
Voiced by: Yoku Shioya
Dr. T is the avatar of Takehiko Inoue in the story. Every once in a while he appears in a short segment called Dr. T no Basukettobooru no Nyuumon (“Dr. T’s Introduction to Basketball” or, more loosely speaking, “Basketball for Dummies”), where he breaks the fourth wall by explaining to the reader (or the viewer in the case of the anime) the rules of basketball, usually when Sakuragi makes a mistake for not knowing the rules, or a new basketball concept is introduced. He appears once in the manga as an unnamed “manga artist” outside the Kanagawa Interhigh Tournament arena just before Shohoku faces Ryonan in the league round.

[edit] Kawai Mari
Year: 2nd Year
Voice Actor: Nanae Sumitomo (Japan)
A good friend of Ayako, Mari is a member of the Shohoku school newspaper and a skilled reporter, always followed by two of her clubmates. Sassy and outspoken, she likes to tease Ayako off-court, and like other girls from the school she has a huge crush on Rukawa, even when she considered him a rude brat at first.

[edit] The owner of Chieko Sports
Voice Actor: Hideyuki Umezu (when Sakuragi buys the Air Jordan Series VI), Hirohiko Kakegawa (when Sakuragi is offered the Air Jordan Series I)
The unnamed owner of Chieko Sports also runs the store, which specializes in basketball gear. He collects Air Jordan basketball shoes, which he doesn’t mind wearing himself. Haruko takes Sakuragi here to buy his first pair of basketball shoes. Sakuragi intimidates the owner into selling him a pair of his Air Jordan Series VI shoes that he’s wearing (because they are both currently the same shoe size) for 30 yen, justifying the discount on the grounds that they’re used.

Sakuragi and Haruko return to Chieko Sports a second time when Sakuragi wears out this pair of shoes following Shohoku’s defeat of Ryonan in the Kanagawa National Championship Qualifying Tournament and Sakuragi’s 20,000-shot training. The owner reveals that he was a member of the Minowa basketball team, which Kainan defeated in the Tournament 17 years ago to start their championship run. Every morning he wakes up regretting not being able to bring his team to victory, and has since then followed the League Round of the tournament closely. This is how he discovers that Sakuragi is on the Shohoku team, which he claims has been the only team since Minowa that made Kainan struggle for their win. He also remembers Akagi because of a run-in he had with him during the tournament matches two years prior because he couldn’t get Shohoku’s name straight. This time around, he willingly gives Sakuragi a pair of his Air Jordan Series I shoes that are black and red (Shohoku’s colors), in return receiving 100 yen for them, after having turned down a diehard shoe collector’s offer to buy them.

[edit] Rukawa’s Fan Club
Voice Actors: Nanae Sumitomo, Hiromi Nishikawa, Tomomi Sugimoto, Sara Nakayama et al.

Rukawa’s Fan Club originally starts out as a trio of unnamed female Shohoku students who watch the team practice and go nuts whenever Rukawa scores a basket. They then start to attend Shohoku’s matches, during which they dress up as cheerleaders and act as Rukawa’s very loud rooting section. The fan club later grows in numbers during the League Round of the Kanagawa Interhigh Tournament (though, in the anime, the three original members pictured on the left appear isolated from the other girls). Although Rukawa is aware of them, he only acknowledges their presence a few times, which does not seem to bother the members of his fan club one bit.

Strawberry Panic!

Strawberry Panic! (ストロベリー・パニック! ,Sutoroberī Panikku!?) is the title of illustrated Japanese fictional short stories and related media works written by Japanese author Sakurako Kimino, which focus on a group of teenage girls attending three affiliated all-girl schools on Astraea Hill. A common theme throughout the stories is the intimate lesbian relationships between the characters. The original artist was Chitose Maki, who was succeeded by Namuchi Takumi when production of the manga and light novels began.[1]

Following Strawberry Panic!’s first run in Dengeki G’s Magazine it was six months before results began to indicate that the series was a success, and that its fans were growing in number;[2] the manga and light novels which followed were a reflection of its popularity. The series became sufficiently popular for Los Angeles-based company Seven Seas Entertainment to license the manga series and light novels for English language distribution. Strawberry Panic! is one of the debut titles on the company’s Light Novel and Strawberry (for yuri manga) production lines.[3]

There is a slight difference in the title of the series between media and national affiliation. The original short stories, manga, light novels, and video game used the exclamation mark in the title; the anime excluded it. When the manga and light novel series were licensed for English language distribution, Seven Seas Entertainment did not use the exclamation mark in the title. The appearance of the logo for Strawberry Panic! has changed four times. The subtitle “Girls’ School in Fullbloom” was added during the short stories stage, and later appeared on the Japanese covers of the light novels, manga, and video game version, but was excluded from the anime adaptation and the English covers of the light novels and manga.

The plot of Strawberry Panic! revolves around the lives of the adolescents who attend one of three affiliated all-girl schools which share a campus and dormitories. The schools are: St. Miator’s Girls’ Academy, St. Spica’s Girls’ Institute, and St. Lulim’s Girls’ School. The story’s main character is Nagisa Aoi, a young girl entering her fourth year at St. Miator after being transferred from another school. On first entering the campus grounds she is overcome with joy by the overall appearance of the surrounding area, but her joy is soon turned to sorrow as she accidentally stumbles down a hill, causing her to be lost and disoriented. While walking around the grounds trying to work out where she is, Nagisa comes across an older student named Shizuma Hanazono, who happens to be Astraea Hill’s Etoile, a very important person who acts as a representative between the different schools and has specific duties that she must fulfill. Nagisa is instantly overcome by Shizuma’s beauty and finds that she cannot move. After Shizuma kisses her on the forehead, Nagisa loses consciousness and awakens in the school’s infirmary. In an adjacent chair is another girl of the same age, Tamao Suzumi, who informs her that they are to be roommates in the dormitory.

In the ensuing story Nagisa is introduced to other students from each of the three schools; some she admires, some she is intimidated by, and some are merely friends encountered while attending St. Miator. The series encompasses the relationships the characters build with each other, climaxing whenever two of the characters start dating. The central focus of Strawberry Panic! is the lesbian aspect to the relationships between the girls from the three schools. Depending on the media type, the depiction of the relationships between the girls is variously presented, with more explicit fan service – appealing visuals of the girls in provocative situations – in the anime adaptation than in the manga or light novels. A hint of astronomical star imagery is seen throughout the series, as well as minor Catholic religious undertones including a St. Mary statue on campus and a large Catholic church in the center of Astraea Hill.

Characters:

At each of the three schools, there are four main characters, who comprise the original twelve characters created for the short stories when the series began. Only those twelve appear in the subsequently adapted visual novel version.[8] Other characters were introduced in the manga and light novel versions to create plotlines and conflict, and these additional characters are also featured in the anime adaptation.

St. Miator’s Girls’ Academy
St. Miator’s Girls’ Academy (聖ミアトル女学園 ,Sei Miatoru Jogakuen?) is the oldest of the three schools; Miator is known for upholding old traditions. It was founded on a monastery and is seen as the school for “brides”, reinforced by the existence of extracurricular classes including tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and Japanese dancing.[7] It is not unusual for students to be engaged before graduation.[7] The school uniform is a long black dress, designed in the Gothic Lolita fashion. At Miator, the class names are associated with objects from nature, such as moon (月 ,tsuki?), flower (花 ,hana?) and snow (雪 ,yuki?).[8] In the Strawberry Dorms, there is a concept called the room temp system for students from Miator. Every underclassman entering the dormitories, if they are chosen to serve the upperclassman as room temps, perform maid duties, which include cleaning the room of the students they are assigned to serve.[9]
Nagisa Aoi is the main character of the story and the main love interest for the other three main characters attending Miator, each of whom is attracted to her. She is a cheerful girl who finds pleasure in making new friends, which she finds easy to do because of her open personality and sociable attitude. The first person she meets at Miator is Shizuma Hanazono,[4] a mysterious upperclassman and one of the Etoile as the story begins, which gives Miator significant influence. Nagisa at first finds that she is strangely affected when in the presence of Shizuma. The next girl she meets is Tamao Suzumi,[4] who becomes her close friend and roommate. Tamao is well-regarded among her fellow Miator students; among the first-years, she is seen as a viable Etoile candidate. The last main character from Miator is Chiyo Tsukidate, a timid first year student who is employed as the room temp for Nagisa and Tamao.[9]

St. Spica’s Girls’ Institute
St. Spica’s Girls’ Institute (聖スピカ女学院 ,Sei Supika Jogakuin?) has the white colored buildings and uniforms, and was built after Miator. The school prizes itself in advancing the independence of women who play a role in improving society.[7] It is well known for its culture and the accomplishments of its sports program compared to the other two schools. Spica has what is known as the St. Spica Choir, or the “Saintly Chorus”, which consists of students from Spica who perform at special events and even concerts for students at Astraea Hill. At Spica, the class names are numbers in French, such as un (one), deux (two), and trois (three).[8] Spica and Miator compete with each other quite aggressively, which often ends in dispute when students from these two schools get together.[10]
Hikari Konohana, a shy and quiet girl, is the main focus among the main characters who attend Spica. Much like Nagisa at Miator, she too has three girls wanting to get close to her. The first is Yaya Nanto, a rebellious girl who is Hikari’s best friend and roommate in the dormitory. Both she and Hikari are members of the St. Spica Choir. Hikari meets an older girl named Amane Ohtori early on in the story who is seen much like a prince from a fairy tale by other Spica students due to often riding a white horse named Star Bride. Amane is admired by many of the students from Spica as well as students from the other two schools, although she does not enjoy the attention.[11] The final girl from Spica is Tsubomi Okuwaka, a young first year student who acts maturely for her age and gets on Yaya’s nerves. She too is in the St. Spica Choir although Hikari was her main motivation for joining. Tsubomi once remarked that Yaya was more skilled than Hikari at singing in the choir.[12]

St. Lulim’s Girls’ School
St. Lulim’s Girls’ School (聖ル・リム女学校 ,Sei Ru Rimu Jogakkō?) (originally Le Lim[2]) is the newest of the three schools, and has pink colored buildings and uniforms. Its uniform is modeled after a traditional Japanese school uniform style. At Lulim, the class names are the letters from the Latin alphabet: A, B, C, etc.[8] Students at St. Lulim’s are traditionally free and relaxed, and are rarely seen fighting. The students enjoy a lot of freedom in terms of activities, or the clubs they are allowed to form. In effect, there are a wide range of clubs at St. Lulim’s ranging from dancing, to cooking, to anything else a group of at least three people can think up.[13]
Of the three schools, St. Lulim[14] has the least emphasis on romance between characters, although the Lulim characters are typically found together. The leader of their friendly group is Chikaru Minamoto, the student council president of Lulim, and a born leader. She has a friendly and supportive personality which she often uses to offer advice or simply a shoulder to cry on. The other three girls include Kizuna Hyūga, a very outgoing and excitable girl who enjoys following Chikaru’s decisions, finding fun in doing so. She is very expressive in her actions and words, not wasting a chance to introduce herself to anyone new. Her close friend is Remon Natsume, who is much like Kizuna in personality, but is not as accident-prone as her. Of the pair, Kizuna is the more talkative; Remon often agrees with her companion and will offer up an opinion when need be. Lastly, there is Kagome Byakudan, the youngest of the group, who is typically accompanied by her stuffed bear Percival (パーシバル ,Pāshibaru?) which she often talks to as if it were alive. Although she does not talk or express her emotions much, she has a heightened perception of others’ emotions and can tell when those around her are distraught or in emotional pain.[15]

[edit] Etoile system
Etoile (エトワール ,Etowāru?) is a French word meaning star. The Etoile system of Astraea Hill is employed as the internal politics between the schools and governs school operations. The system is designed for two Etoiles to be instated at the same time in order to work as a team. In the anime, Shizuma Hanazono is the sole Etoile,[4] (the other Etoile having died), which is explained in the latter part of the story. The two Etoiles are seen as figureheads for Astraea Hill. Although Astraea has three schools, both Etoiles must come from the same school. They have certain specific duties, such as greeting new students arriving at Astraea Hill, participating in important school events, and serving as mediator between disputes in student council meetings of the three schools, among others. They are given a private greenhouse in which to grow flowers for use during school events.[13]

The Etoiles are elected after going through what is known as The Etoile Election (エトワール選 ,Etowāru-sen?), which consists of three competitions in the light novels and the manga versions.[6][11] The higher scoring pairs from the first two competitions carry on to the third competition, and the pair that wins the third competition becomes the Etoile Couple. Once the winners have been named, a special ceremony marks the end of the election,[16] at which the president of the student council from the school that won the election presents two necklaces for the winners to wear during their tenure as Etoiles. They are both identical except for the colors of the pendants: one is red, the other is blue. The older student receives the blue pendant and the younger of the two is given the red pendant

True Tears

True Tears is a Japanese anime television series produced by P.A. Works and directed by Junji Nishimura. The anime aired in Japan on the TV Kanagawa television network between January 6, 2008 and March 30, 2008, containing thirteen episodes. The anime shares almost nothing in common with the visual novel of the same name that preceded it, using an entirely different story with different characters, and a different art style. An Internet radio show hosted by three voice actresses from the anime was also produced to promote the anime. The anime will be released by Bandai Entertainment in an English subtitle-only box set.

True Tears revolves around a high school student named Shinichirō Nakagami with a high artistic ability. He lives with his mother, father, and fellow high school student Hiromi Yuasa who moved into his house after her father died. Her father had been a close friend of the family, so it was natural for Hiromi to come stay with the Nakagami family; one year has passed since she came to live in their home. Shinichirō has known Hiromi for years, but before he had always treasured her smile, though now she acts coldly when at home and he cannot bring up the nerve to talk with her either. When she is at school, Hiromi is popular, always smiles, and is talented in sports, but Shinichirō knows she must be hiding things inside her. At school, he meets a strange girl named Noe Isurugi who wishes him misfortune after Shinichirō teases her. After a bit of bad luck, he reconciles with Noe by crafting a chicken out of a tissue box and finds out from her that she “gave her tears away”. Shinichirō also likes to spend time with his childhood friends Miyokichi Nobuse and Aiko Endō at the Imagawayaki shop Aiko’s family owns, and she helps out at the shop too.

The opening video of the anime contains shots of the Tateyama mountain range in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, and is where the series is set. Incidentally, the animation studio which produced the anime, P.A. Works, is located in Jōhana, Toyama, and places in the series are modeled after that town. However, the town in True Tears faces the sea, and in reality Jōhana is inland. Furthermore, the two surnames used in the series — Isurugi and Kurobe — are place names in Toyama Prefecture

Shinichirō Nakagami (仲上 眞一郎 ,Nakagami Shinichirō?)
Voiced by: Makoto Ishii

True Tears main characters (from left to right): Shinichirō, Noe, Hiromi, Aiko, and Miyokichi.Shinichirō is a male high school student who enjoys drawing, and even starts working on a picture book. He lives with his mother, father, and childhood friend Hiromi Yuasa. She used to smile around him, though does not anymore when at home. Shinichirō longs to see her smile again which he loved so much as a kid. He is living a relatively normal life until he meets a strange girl named Noe Isurugi who curses him with misfortune after he teases her a bit, though he reconciles with her soon after. Shinichirō is frustrated by not being able to see emotion from Hiromi, and other pressures from his family, such as a traditional Japanese dance he does not want to practice. However, he eventually gives in to practicing hard for the dance due to comments made by Noe. Shinichirō receives much confidence from Noe, and even goes out with her for a short time, but in the end he and Hiromi start a relationship.
Noe Isurugi (石動 乃絵 ,Isurugi Noe?)
Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki
Noe Isurugi is an odd girl at Shinichirō’s school. He first meets her up in a tree where she is picking silverberries for a chicken she named Raigomaru in a coop on a campus. Shinichirō ends up having to catch her as she jumps from the tree since she was stuck and could not get down on her own. She likes chickens, though would only feed one of them since she says “it could fly” while the other cannot. After the chicken gets killed by a raccoon, Noe becomes saddened, but does not cry because she “gave away her tears”. She later explains that after her grandmother died, she was unable to cry anymore due to her grandmother telling her that when she dies she will take Noe’s tears away with her. Noe has an older brother, Jun, who is a basketball team captain at another high school. Noe is known to have a frank personality and speaks honestly to other people. She seems to be able to judge people’s feelings to a certain extent.
Hiromi Yuasa (湯浅 比呂美 ,Yuasa Hiromi?)
Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka
Hiromi is a girl Shinichirō’s age and goes to the same high school as him. After her father died, she came to live with Shinichirō’s family and has already been living with them for a year when the story begins. She has been in the same class as Shinichirō since elementary school, though despite being cheerful back then, she now acts cold when living at his home. In contrast, she normally smiles and is popular at school. She often helps out with Shinichirō’s father’s work as they are low on man power. She is a very good player on her school’s girl’s basketball team and is number six. It is clear that Hiromi has feelings for Shinichirō, but she decided to lock these feelings inside when she began living with Shinichirō. It is suggested that she hides these feelings because Shinichirō’s mother told her, prior to the start of the story, that Shinichirō is her brother, which is later proven false.
Aiko Andō (安藤 愛子 ,Andō Aiko?)
Voiced by: Yuka Iguchi
Aiko is a girl one year older than Shinichirō who attends a different school than him. She is going out with his friend Miyokichi Nobuse, but instead has feelings for Shinichirō. Aiko continuously tries to get closer with Shinichirō, such as asking him to go shopping with her instead of Miyokichi, and when out with Miyokichi she does not have the same vigor as when she is just with Shinichirō. Aiko has known Shinichirō since they were kids, and was introduced to Miyokichi through Shinichirō. She helps out at her family’s Imagawayaki shop named Imagawayaki Ai-chan. She is shorter than Shinichirō, and enjoys teasing him from time to time.
Miyokichi Nobuse (野伏 三代吉 ,Nobuse Miyokichi?)
Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino
Miyokichi is Shinichirō’s good friend, and has known him since they were kids. They hang out together at school, and Miyokichi often brings up the fact that Shinichirō has an eye out for Hiromi when at school. Shinichirō introduced Miyokichi to Aiko which eventually led to Miyokichi asking out Aiko, and she agreed, though it is apparent that she agreed reluctantly. He did not seem to notice that Aiko has feelings for Shinichirō until she revealed it to him in a subtle way. In the end, Aiko wanted to start all over again with Miyokichi.
Tomoyo Kurobe (黒部 朋与 ,Kurobe Tomoyo?)
Voiced by: Tomomi Watanabe
Tomoyo is Hiromi’s friend whom she often hangs out with and fellow member of the girl’s basketball team. She is sure that Hiromi likes Shinichirō, but Hiromi constantly denies it. When Hiromi is troubled by something, Tomoyo worries about her.
Shinichirō’s father (眞一郎の父 ,Shinichirō no Chichi?)
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara
He and Hiromi’s father were good friends. After Hiromi’s father died, he took her in. Unlike his wife, he respects his son’s privacy and lets him do as he wishes, saying that “Shinichirō is Shinichirō”. Furthermore, he considers Hiromi to be a member of the family and does not treat her badly like his wife.
Shinichirō’s mother (眞一郎の母 ,Shinichirō no Haha?)
Voiced by: Rieko Takahashi
She likes to do what she thinks is best for her son, and tries to look after him. She has been known to read his mail if she deems necessary and often bugs him about things at school, or if his jacket smells. She takes favor over Shinichirō and does not consider Hiromi her child. She often shows hostile attitudes to Hiromi, and this has made her distant from her son. Eventually, she reconciles with Hiromi and tells her that she made up the story about Hiromi being her husband’s child.
Jun Isurugi (石動 純 ,Isurugi Jun?)
Voiced by: Yūki Masuda
Jun is Noe’s older brother. He is the captain of the basketball team at his school and is number four in his team. He is shown to have more feelings for Noe than just a normal sibling’s relationship. He asks Shinichirō to ask Noe out, but Shinichirō merely gets annoyed at him. However, when Shinichirō requests that Jun go out with Hiromi in return for going out with his sister Noe, he agrees immediately. He does not hold any feelings for Hiromi, and is merely acting to make Noe happy.

Initial D

Initial D (頭文字D ,Inisharu Dī?) is a manga by Shuichi Shigeno which has been serialized in Kodansha’s Young Magazine since 1995. It has been adapted into a long-running anime series by Pastel, Studio Gallop, and OB Planning, which premiered in Japan on Fuji TV and Animax, and a live action film by Avex and Media Asia. Both the manga and anime series were licensed for distribution in North America by Tokyopop.

The anime and manga focus on the world of illegal Japanese street drifting, where all the action is concentrated in the mountain passes and never in cities nor urban areas, and the drift racing style is emphasized in particular. Keiichi Tsuchiya helps with editorial supervision. The story is centered around the Japanese prefecture of Gunma, (mostly Shibukawa where Takumi’s home is) more specifically on several mountains in the kanto area and in and their surrounding cities and towns. Although some of the names of the locations the characters race in have been fictionalized, all of the locations in the series are based on actual locations in Japan.

First Stage
Keisuke Takahashi (RX-7) vs Takumi Fujiwara (Trueno), the first battle of the series.

The story begins when street racers called the Red Suns, a team from Mt. Akagi, come to challenge Mt. Akina’s local Speed Stars team to a “friendly” race. After seeing how skilled the Red Suns are, the Speed Stars treat it as a race for pride, determined not to be humiliated on their home turf. However, the Speed Stars are left in a bind when their team leader and primary downhill driver Iketani has an accident during a practice run. They were desperate for a replacement, until Iketani learns from Yuuichi, the manager of the petroleum station he is working in, that the fastest car in Akina’s downhill was a panda-colored AE86 owned by a tofu maker, and traces the car back to a local tofu shop. He discovers that the shop’s owner, Bunta Fujiwara, was a street racer of great repute in his younger days known as the “Ghost of Akina” . Iketani appeals to the older man to take his place in the race against the Red Suns. Iketani is confident that Bunta will come to save the day. But when the race day comes, his son Takumi appears with his Trueno instead. Although at first reluctant to let Takumi race, Ikatani relents after it is revealed that he is actually the “Ghost of Akina,” the one who outran Keisuke while on one of his delivery runs. Takumi proceeds to defeat Keisuke Takahashi and his Mazda RX-7 FD3S, causing considerable astonishment in the local racing community and putting an end to the Red Suns winning streak.

Despite him being originally apathetic about the notion of racing, Takumi begins to grow more interested as he receives other challenges, and begins to understand the concept of a street racer’s pride. He then proceeded to defeat drivers in more advanced and more powerful cars. like the Honda Civic EG6 hatchback, the Nissan Sileighty, and the Nissan Skyline R32. He proceded to defeat them in all sorts of conditions (Duct Tape Deathmatch, wet weather race), culminating in the battle between him and Ryosuke Takahashi, the so-called “White Comet of Akagi.” Takumi handed Ryosuke his first defeat.

[edit] Second Stage

A group of street racers called Team Emperor, all using Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, appear in the Gunma area, defeating anyone in their path, until one of them, Seiji Iwaki, was defeated by Takumi, breaking their winning streak. Their leader, a professionally-trained driver named Kyouichi Sudo, challenged Takumi to a race to “teach him some things” and as a sort of cover event for his race with Ryosuke, his primary target. This race saw Takumi’s AE86 blow its engine. While it may have been a defeat for Takumi, Kyouichi did not consider it a race instead considering it more as a seminar to show Takumi how much he needs a better car as he believes the 86 is far too old to match Takumi’s skill level. Kyouichi, believing in his street racing philosophy that professional circuit techniques were adequate to conquer the mountains passes, races Ryosuke who had the opposing philosophy that somehow, the fastest street racing required more than just what the circuit could teach. Ryosuke proceeds to defeat Kyouichi after noticing and exploiting Kyouichi’s inability to tackle some right-hand corners with full confidence. When Kyouichi confronted Ryosuke about the loss, Ryosuke explains that their techniques and abilities are actually quite close but that Kyouichi’s weakness were right-hand corners which, on Japan’s right-handed roads, had the possibility of encountering head-on collisions. He goes on to cite how Kyouichi was unable to conquer this fear due to the fact that circuits don’t have the danger of head-on collisions and that his home-course, Irohazaka pass, was a one-way road. This proved once and for all to Kyouichi that street-racing had its own special requirements just as Ryosuke had believed.

Meanwhile, Bunta knew that the engine in the 86 was about to give out. In fact, one of Bunta’s tasks to Takumi was “to lose.” He told his friends that he’d never replace the 86′s engine until it’s destroyed. In anticipation, he had already bought a new engine [1]- a high revving, race bred variation of the standard Toyota 4A-GE 20 valve twin cam engine, which is used for Group A Division 2 Touring Class races in the Japanese Touring Car Championship. This is extremely unusual, because this type of engine is supplied to race teams only, and is not street legal. The source of the engine was unknown. It should be noted that in addition to being a high-revving engine, the 4AGE in Takumi’s car is missing the pulley cover and runs Individual Runner Throttle Bodies. Bunta installs the engine without a new tachometer to teach Takumi the importance of learning mechanical knowledge and understanding why the car behaves as it does, though he has an instrument set ready for installation once Takumi knows of it. A fellow AE86 driver named Wataru Akiyama, who was surprised with Takumi’s lack of mechanical knowledge, told him that he needs a new tachometer.

Once Takumi unsealed the power of his new engine, Wataru challenges him to a race anywhere of Takumi’s choosing. Choosing Wataru’s home course: the treacherous Shomaru pass, Takumi went on to race Wataru despite the risks. Wataru, who knew the course well, was absolutely sure that Shomaru pass was a test of endurance and that it was not a course where overtaking was possible. Despite this, Takumi, upon noticing that in the process of four back-to-back runs through the course that the landslide which covered one half of the road at a certain part of the course had flattened out leaving enough space for another car, took advantage of Wataru not noticing the change in the course and went side-by-side with Takumi eventually overtaking the clearly shocked Levin driver and winning the battle.

[edit] Extra Stage

Capitalizing on the popularity of the all-female street racing team known as Impact Blue which appeared in First Stage, this OVA focuses on Impact Blue’s dynamic duo of Mako and Sayuki rather than Takumi and the usual main cast.

As Extra Stage begins, Mako is battling emotional wounds from what she thinks was a rejection by Iketani, while Sayuki’s childhood friend Shingo (of the Myogi Night Kids) and his teammate Nakazato arrive to warn them about Team Emperor, which defeated the Night Kids on their home course just as they have so many other street racing teams from around the region. Mako’s driving has been adversely affected by her preoccupations, and she worries about her ability to measure up to the Emperor’s challenge in her current emotional state. Finally, a pair of Emperor affiliated Evos show up in Usui. The challenger, an arrogant blonde driving an Evo 4, dissed the female racers and was confident to win easily. Later on in the race, the Evo 4 can no longer keep up with the Sil-80, until it was finally decided in a long turn, called C-121. where it hit the guardrail and lost control. Shingo and Nakazato were late and didn’t get to see the race. Thinking the girls also lost, they consoled them saying they lost in their home course as well, but Sayuki unexpectedly told them they won. The Night Kids leaders were startled, thinking they raced against the top Emperor drivers whereas they only dismissed an off-beat member.

Though Mako decides she doesn’t need a man in her life for a while, she gradually develops a relationship with a friend of Shingo’s named Miyahara after Shingo and Sayuki discreetly play matchmaker. Miyahara is a street racer himself, not a good one though, and he intends to give it up because he believes he has reached the highest level he possibly can, with no chance of progressing further. He has lost interest and intends to move on. He drives a red MR2 and plans to switch to an SUV in pursuit of settling down after racing. Mako feels differently, knowing there are many drivers better than her whose level she wishes to attain. As Mako and Miyahara grow closer, Miyahara reveals that he wishes Mako would quit racing also for her safety’s sake, because if she was his girlfriend he would be consumed with worry for her each time she raced.

However, after Mako takes him on a drive on an unknown pass, that was home to the mountain snow resort they were vacationing at, he finally understands why she will not give up racing and realizes that she is in love with another man, Iketani.

[edit] Third Stage

By this time Ryosuke approaches Takumi with an offer. Ryosuke has been putting together a racing team featuring the best racers of the Gunma prefecture, and would like Takumi to join. Takumi doesn’t want to decide whether or not to accept the proposal until he settles his score with Team Emperor leader Sudou Kyouichi, who had looked down on the AE86 because of the car’s age and had seriously damaged Takumi’s confidence in the AE86 after being defeated by him. Takumi proceeds to Irohazaka pass to challenge Kyouichi. Kyouichi had chosen to let Takumi lead; if Takumi prevents Kyouichi from passing him, he wins, if Kyouichi passes him, he loses. Takumi notes how the match is unfair, but this is quickly dismissed by Kyouichi. In the end, Takumi is able to prevent Kyouichi from passing. Kyouichi, who takes great pride in his knowledge and ability to race on his home course, concedes defeat and also gave praise to the new AE86, although Takumi still believes it was more of a tie and was more concerned about Kyouichi finally acknowledging the abilities of the AE86.

Kogashiwa Kai, the son of Bunta’s old rival, driving a Toyota MR2 later challenges Takumi upon knowing he beat his original target, Kyouichi. He and his father planned to beat Takumi by using a line strategy his father had devised and used against Bunta: the In-Air hairpin jump on the 33rd, 36th, 37th, 38th, and 39th hairpins of Irohazaka. Bunta, knowing how Kogashiwa has used the special line factor before, predicted to Takumi that Kai would surely be in front by the later half of the race and proceeds to give Takumi some obscure advice on how to beat Kai. Kyouichi, who had been with Iwaki Seiji , Keisuke, and Takahashi Ryouske, had predicted as well that Kai would use the technique and explains how he himself could not come to use the strategy due to his pride in his skills alone without need for strategy. Kai, upon realizing that he cannot win in a straight-forward clash of skill, uses the line strategy to overtake and further distance himself from Takumi. Takumi then finds it in himself to try this technique and masters it at the first try, finding himself catching up to Kai. At the last moment before they reach the finish Takumi realizes the meaning behind the advice given earlier by Bunta when he notices dead leaves piling up on one side of the road. Takumi proceeds puts his car past the shrubs and into the gutter to sling shot side-by-side forcing Kai to the side of the road where Takumi guesses the leaves would pile up on. Bunta, while talking to Yuuichi, has predicted that Takumi had a 50% chance of passing Kai. As they pass the bridge side-by-side airborne, the 50% chance presents itself as Kai had landed on the side of the road where the leaves had piled up where he lost control and spun out right before the goal.

This stage also saw the appearance of Miki, a former student at the same high school Takumi attended who Takumi once punched over Miki’s bragging about his sexual exploits with Natsuki (seen in a flashback from 1st Stage). It was Christmas season, and Natsuki surprises Takumi at his house, and celebrates Christmas with him and Bunta. On New Year’s Day, Miki takes Natsuki under duress, even attempting to rape her near Lake Akina. But Takumi, after hearing a few words of a call from Natsuki which was cut short, came to the rescue.

As spring comes, Takumi tells Ryosuke that he wants to request another battle with him, this time on Mt. Akagi, before making his decision regarding the team. It is unclear who actually wins the race, but during the race Keisuke reveals to the other members of the Red Suns that the race is not really about who wins or loses. As they approach the finish, side by side, Takumi decides that it is his desire to remain with Ryosuke and join the team.

[edit] Battle Stage

Initial D Battle Stage (special) summarizes the major street races from the two TV series. Rather than simply using clips from the TV series, the new special entirely re-animated all of the original CG car and background footage with new computer graphics rendering. The special also features a battle between the yellow FD3S of Keisuke against the white Evo 4 of Seiji, but no such race took place in the anime (although it does take place in the manga). Music is from an entirely new Super Eurobeat songs and guest commentary from legendary “Drift King” Keiichi Tsuchiya.

[edit] Fourth Stage: Project.D

This series focuses on the exploits of the new team founded by Ryosuke, Project.D, which is comprised of Ryosuke (leader and strategist), downhill specialist Takumi, uphill specialist Keisuke, and a staff consisting primarily of members of the Akagi Red Suns. The team travels the region, challenging other teams and posting the results of the battles on their website. Each race is intended by Ryosuke to develop a specific area of his drivers’ skills. By this time, Takumi matures slowly into a more confident and knowledgeable street racer, while Keisuke improves on his technical driving skills. Takumi instinctively develops many new techniques through his own ingenuity after some prompting by Ryosuke, such as passing with his headlights off so that his opponent is unable to see him coming and block him, and using weight shifting to execute maneuvers similar to the gutter-hook technique on Akina. Ryosuke also formed the team because in a few months he is headed for medical school, and this is his last chance in a long time to indulge in street racing. Takumi, on the other hand, contends with the “Four-Wheel Drive Complex”, when he was overtaken by a Subaru Impreza WRX STi, a 4WD car, on one of his delivery runs. He knew a bit later that his father drove the car. Bunta then allowed Takumi to deliver tofu, as well as practice, in the Impreza (alternating with the Trueno) to improve his skills as a driver and to get a feel of what modern cars can do.

Project.D’s opponents grew tougher and tougher, as well as more deceitful and threatening. They defeated local racing teams (like the Seven Star Leaf), students of the Todo-juku racing school (including a professional driver who is a graduate of the school), the combined forces of the Northern Saitama Alliance (who even used a kei-car), thugs in Lan Evos, and the “Godfoot” and “Godhand” tandem of Team Purple Shadow. In the shadows, Wataru Akiyama watches Takumi from a distance and looks for weaknesses, but it ceased when Project.D conquered Saitama, so he began giving Takumi a few pointers, especially with the 4WD problem. There are also glimmers of romance, like Kyoko Iwase, Keisuke’s fellow Mazda RX-7 FD driver and uphill ace racing for the Northern Saitama Alliance, falling in love with him, even lending her precious car to Keisuke–but, although he likes her, he rejected her, deciding to focus more on driving.

Takumi also learned a lot, including the theory of infinite lines and Joushima (the “Godhand” of Team Purple Shadow) teaching him the theory of one handed driving. Though he doubted that Takumi would start driving with one hand, he did believe he would master using the infinite lines to his advantage in future races. Hoshino, the “Godfoot” of Purple Shadow, offered his racing connections to Keisuke, who refused, saying he has still got a lot to do in street racing.

[edit] Battle Stage 2

Initial D Battle Stage 2 summarizes the major street races from the recent Fourth Stage TV series. While the first Battle Stage had every battle re-animated from scratch, the only episodes altered in the second version were the early races in stage 4, to match with the visual style of the latter portion of Stage 4. Additionally, two races that were previously seen only in the manga were animated specially for the feature. The first race is Takahashi Keisuke vs. Smiley Sakai, and the other is Keisuke vs. Kawai Atsuro. Both races are noticeably shorter than the other races in the feature.

Battle Stage 2 was released on DVD on May 30, 2007. The official soundtrack to Battle Stage 2, featuring 24 Eurobeat songs that played during the feature, was released on September 5, 2007.

[edit] Extra Stage 2

Announced in chapter 530 of the Initial D manga, Extra Stage 2 aired on pay-per-view on October 3, 2008 and is available on DVD from December 5.

Extra Stage 2 provides a closure on the relationship between Iketani and Mako.

[edit] Fifth Stage

While it is almost certain fifth stage will be produced, currently there is no announcement on a release for fifth stage.

Characters:

Initial D contains a myriad of characters, many of whom appear in a very small number of episodes, usually to race one of the main characters or as a teammate of another racer. The most frequently recurring characters are the protagonist Takumi Fujiwara, his love interest Natsuki Mogi, his father Bunta, the members of the Akina Speed Stars, and the members of the Akagi Redsuns (later Project D).

Inuyasha

InuYasha (犬夜叉 ?), full title InuYasha, a Feudal Fairy Tale (戦国御伽草子 犬夜叉 ,Sengoku Otogizōshi InuYasha?, lit. “Warring-States Fairy-Tale Book: InuYasha”) (romanized as INUYASHA), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008. The series follows a time-traveling high school student, a half-demon, a lecherous monk, a fox demon, a demon slayer, and a nekomata during the Sengoku period as they seek to find all the fragments of the Jewel of Four Souls and to keep them out of the hands of evildoers, especially Naraku.

The manga was adapted into a 167 episode anime series produced by Sunrise. Masashi Ikeda directed the first forty-four episodes, while Yasunao Aoki directed the remainder of the series. InuYasha premiered on Yomiuri TV in Japan on October 16, 2000 and ran until September 13, 2004. The television run of the anime ceased without a conclusion to the story.

The story begins in Feudal Japan, when the half-demon InuYasha steals the Jewel of Four Souls—a magical jewel that enhances the power of and can grant a single wish to the one who wields it—from a village. InuYasha desires the gem in order to turn himself into a full blooded demon. InuYasha does not get far before Kikyo, the young miko of the village, shoots him with a sacred arrow that indefinitely seals him onto Goshinboku, a sacred tree in the nearby forest. After being mortally wounded, Kikyo tells her younger sister, Kaede, to burn the jewel with her body to prevent it from falling into the hands of evil.

In modern Tokyo, a junior high school girl named Kagome Higurashi is on her way to school. She stops in the well house of her family’s Shinto shrine to retrieve her cat, Buyo, when a centipede demon emerges from the well and pulls her into the Sengoku period of Japan.

Not knowing where she is, Kagome wanders around a forest near the Bone Eater’s Well. She spots Goshinboku off in the distance and proceeds towards it. On the tree, she finds InuYasha, who is still sealed in an enchanted sleep. Villagers seize her and take her to the old priestess, Kaede. Recognizing that Kagome is the reincarnation of her sister Kikyo, Kaede tells her the story of Kikyo and InuYasha.

The centipede attacks again, and Kagome is forced to release InuYasha from his enchantment so he can kill it. After defeating the centipede, InuYasha tries to take the Jewel of Four Souls from Kagome. In order to thwart InuYasha and to save Kagome’s life, Kaede places magical prayer beads around InuYasha’s neck so that Kagome can subdue him.

The Jewel of Four Souls attracts more demons, and in a battle against a carrion crow demon, the jewel is shattered into numerous shards that spread all across Japan. As the individual shards are capable of granting those who embed it in their bodies with great power, it is sought after by many demons as well as some humans.

Kagome and InuYasha set out to collect the shards and restore the Jewel of Four Souls. Along the way, they befriend Shippo, a fox demon; Miroku, a cursed monk; and Sango, a demon-slayer whose brother was possessed and forced to slaughter their father and the other demon slayers. The group encounters many friends and foes during the adventure, including InuYasha’s older half-brother Sesshomaru; Kikyo, who died 50 years ago but, was resurrected with part of Kagome’s soul; Naraku, who tricked Kikyo and InuYasha into turning against each other; and a wolf demon named Koga, who is in love with Kagome and whenever he and InuYasha meet they constantly bicker.

Eventually, the Shikon jewel is reassembled by Naraku, who is then defeated by InuYasha. Before he dies, Naraku makes a wish on the jewel that Kagome would replace the soul of Midoriko, the jewel’s original creator, within the jewel and that his soul would also enter the jewel so he could survive inside as her enemy. This would only work if Kagome made a selfish wish, which Naraku tries to trick her into doing, but confident that InuYasha would rescue her, she refuses to do so. InuYasha rescues her and Kagome wishes for the jewel to disappear forever.

Kagome is thrown back into her own time, and InuYasha is no longer able to see her. However, after three years when Kagome has graduated high school, a portal opens allowing her to return to InuYasha’s time. They acknowledge their love for one another and she chooses to remain in the past with him.

Characters:

Kagome Higurashi (日暮 かごめ ,Higurashi Kagome?) Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese), Moneca Stori (English)
Kagome is a fifteen-year-old ninth grade student. She is the reincarnation of Kikyo, a miko (priestess) who died fifty years before the time Kagome first emerged from the Bone Eater’s Well in the Sengoku period. Because of this, Kagome has powerful spiritual powers and can sense the shards of the Shikon Jewel, an item that is said to balance the forces of good and evil, and resembles Kikyo. Later in the series, she admits that she loves InuYasha, which is also shown when she stays with him at the end of the series.

InuYasha (犬夜叉 ?) Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese), Richard Ian Cox (English)
InuYasha is a hanyō (half-demon), the product of an inu-yōkai (犬妖怪 ?, dog demon) and a human. He wields Tetsusaiga, a supernatural sword made from one of his deceased father’s fangs. When properly wielded, the sword can destroy one hundred demons with a single swing. InuYasha can quickly recover from injuries that would be fatal to a human, largely due to his demonic blood. During the first night of each lunar month (new moon), InuYasha changes into a normal human with black hair and black eyes and loses his demonic powers. InuYasha was bound to Goshinboku by Kikyo’s arrow for fifty years until Kagome freed him. InuYasha wears a special bead necklace that forces him to respond to Kagome’s command “Osuwari!”, which translates to “Sit!” in English. In the English-dubbed version, “InuYasha, sit!” or “Sit, boy!” are sometimes used instead. Following the command, InuYasha is thrown to the ground. Kaede had placed the necklace upon InuYasha because he had threatened to kill Kagome if she refused to give the Jewel of Four Souls to him.[2] As the series goes on, he begins to like Kagome more and more, shown when he will leave a battle to save her from being hurt.

Miroku (弥勒 ?) Voiced by: Kōji Tsujitani (Japanese), Kirby Morrow (English)
Miroku is a Buddhist hōshi (low-ranking, itinerant monk) who travels the countryside performing services such as exorcisms and yōkai exterminations to earn his living. He suffers from a hereditary curse originally inflicted upon his grandfather Miyatsu (also a Buddhist monk) by Naraku. The curse created a hole in his hand that became a kazaana (風洞 ?, air void or “wind tunnel”) that sucks in anything that is not nailed down, regardless of its mass. However, absorbing poisons or sharp objects harms him and can decrease his total life-span, a fact Naraku takes advantage of by creating highly poisonous insects whose presence prevents Miroku from using his kazāna on Naraku or his allies. Miroku uses the kazāna as a powerful weapon against yōkai, but if the curse is not broken (by defeating Naraku), it will grow too large to control and will consume Miroku himself. Miroku is a talented con artist who does not hesitate to invent fictitious supernatural menaces, which he can then offer to combat in return for food and shelter. He has a distinct weakness for single women. He makes a point of asking every attractive woman he meets if she will bear his child, and he habitually strokes the buttocks of attractive women. Miroku eventually proposes to Sango, though this does little to curb his flirtations with other women. At the end of the series, they are married with three children.

Sango (珊瑚 ?) Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima (Japanese), Kelly Sheridan (English)
Sango is a serious yōkai taijiya (demon slayer) who hails from a village of professional demon slayers. Sango wields the Hiraikotsu, a massive boomerang made of yōkai bones, and uses a broad repertoire of tools and tricks to battle yōkai. Sango seeks revenge against Naraku for the death of her family and her entire village. In addition, Sango seeks to rescue her brother Kohaku from Naraku’s influence and somehow save his life, even though Kohaku’s life is tied to the jewel shard embedded in his back. She eventually develops romantic feelings for Miroku. Despite the fact that everyone, even InuYasha, notices her interest, she refuses to admit it exists. The manifestation of her interest often takes the form of hitting Miroku when he flirts with other single women. Miroku eventually returns her feelings and proposes to her. At the end of the series, they are married with three children.

Shippo (七宝 ,Shippō?) Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe (Japanese), Jillian Michaels (English)
Shippo is a young orphan kitsune (fox demon) whose father was killed by the Thunder Brothers, Hiten and Manten, and the first character in the story to join InuYasha and Kagome in their travels. Shippo can shape shift, but his forms are temporary and often incomplete and ineffective, such that he is usually given away by his tail. His other noteworthy abilities are using illusionary tricks with toys like his giant spinning top attack, using his race’s notable foxfire magic, and duplicating things, such as leaves or his own body. He tends to be naively observant and often makes pointed and cheeky comments directed towards InuYasha, earning him a retaliatory rap on the head for his unsolicited “advice”.

Kirara (雲母 ?) Voiced by: Tarako
Kirara is Sango’s faithful nekomata. She has cream-colored fur, black ears, two black stripes on each of her two bushy tails near the tip, and black-tipped paws. Kirara can change between two forms: a ferocious lion-sized yōkai with the ability to fly, and a cute kitten. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo often use Kirara’s flying ability as transportation in order to keep up with InuYasha. (In the English dub, her name is pronounced “Kee-Lah-Lah”, because the Japanese language treats “r” and “l” as one phoneme.)

Sesshomaru (殺生丸 ,Sesshōmaru?) Voiced by: Ken Narita (Japanese), David Kaye (English)
Sesshomaru is the yōkai son of the powerful Inu no Taishou and InuYasha’s half-brother. Sesshomaru believes that struggle is the only way to survive, and throughout most of the series, he shows his contempt for InuYasha. Although Sesshomaru inherited his father’s Tenseiga, which can bring a hundred people back to life with a single swing, he originally coveted InuYasha’s inheritance, a powerful sword. However, a spell was cast on the sword so that a full yōkai cannot touch it without burning his flesh. Despite knowing that he cannot touch the sword, Sesshomaru still desires to take it from InuYasha. Throughout the series, Sesshomaru’s compassion gradually grows as his rivalry with InuYasha decreases.

Naraku (奈落 ?)Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Paul Dobson (English)
The main antagonist, Naraku (literally means “underworld”, or “hell”) is responsible for nearly every character’s suffering throughout the series. He is a hanyō that originated from a bandit named Onigumo (“Demon Spider”). Unlike InuYasha, he can choose the time of the month when he becomes his weak human form. Like InuYasha, Naraku’s main goal is to collect all of the shards of the Shikon no Tama in order to become a full yōkai. He had feelings for Kikyo because of Onigumo’s love for her while he was alive. Later, he expels his human heart and with it his feelings for Kikyo and his human half, making him a full demon.

Hyakko

Hyakko (ヒャッコ ?) is a Japanese manga created by Haruaki Katō. It started serialization on Flex Comix’s free web comic FlexComix Blood on January 16, 2007. An anime adaptation produced by Nippon Animation was first aired in October 2008 in Japan.

Hyakko takes place in the high school division of Kamizono Academy (上園学園 ,Kamizono Gakuen?), a fictional gigantic private institution located in Kyūshū, Japan, in which the motto is “to bring up talents of students in all departments and fields”. Its storyline focuses on the comedic school life of the four main heroines, Torako Kageyama, Ayumi Nonomura, Tatsuki Iizuka, and Suzune Saotome. As the plot progresses, Torako and her friends gradually begin to learn and interact with their classmates in Class 1-6, in which each student has unique and extraordinary personality.

Characters:

Torako Kageyama (上下山 虎子 ,Kageyama Torako?)
Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa
Outgoing and usually the instigator of the pack, she is identifiable by the fact that she does not wear a blazer over her shirt and tie like most other characters. She’s a typical trouble-maker, who likes to achieve her objectives in a straight-forward and intuitive manner and doesn’t really seem to mind other people’s circumstances. Because she was absent during the first few days of school, she was unwittingly assigned as a member of the discipline committee. She has an older brother Kitsune, whom she apparently holds in very low regard, and an older sister Oniyuri. It is later revealed that Torako is actually a half sister of Kitsune and Oniyuri. Torako used to live with her biological mother until she died of a disease when Torako was attending elementary school. She was then brought to her father’s family by him, a decision to which Torako and her stepmother disapproved at first. Due to this reason, she does not have a good relationship with her current family. So much much so that she runs away from her home whenever she has a quarrel with her family. However, Kitsune explains that it is always her half-sister Oniyuri’s kindness that brings Torako back to the family. She’s Suzume’s childhood friend. Despite her tendency to skip classes, she still receives above average grades in tests as she is actually quite intelligent. She’s 164 cm tall and her three sizes are 81-55-82. Her name contains a kanji of tiger (虎 ,tora?) and the first kanji letter of her name (上) can be pronounced as ‘Ue’ (West), thus revealing her name’s relationship with White Tiger of the West (白虎).

Tatsuki Iizuka (伊井塚 龍姫 ,Iizuka Tatsuki?)
Voiced by: Neya Michiko
Daughter to the corporate president of E-lectra, one of the biggest electronics companies in Japan. She lives in a modest-looking house with a housemaid, separate from her parents due to her father’s work. Ever the classy one, she tends to use honorific speech even towards her closest friends and is often annoyed by Torako’s mischief. Nonetheless, she has the tendency of ending up being taken along , forcefully or otherwise, with the other main heroines over the resulting shenanigans. Her name contains a kanji of dragon (龍 ,tatsu?) and the first kanji letter of her name (伊) is pronounced as ‘I’ (East), thus revealing her name’s relationship with Azure Dragon of the East (青龍).

Suzume Saotome (早乙女 雀 ,Saotome Suzume?)
Voiced by: Yurika Ochiai
Suzume has been Torako’s close friend since the middle school. She is usually very quiet but possesses monstrous strength and immense appetite. Despite her superior athletic ability, able to best her homeroom teacher in a one-on-one dodgeball match, she is in distress for looking child-like and not feminine enough. In fact, she does not wear a bra and does admire Tatsuki for wearing underwears for grown-ups. She also cannot swim. She seems to have no sense of shame and her behavior is very unpredictable, which often throws her friends off balance. Whenever Torako runs away from her home, Suzume always accompanies her. Her name contains a kanji of sparrow (雀 ,suzume?) and the first kanji letter of her name (早) is pronounced as ‘Sa’ (South), thus revealing her name’s relationship with Vermillion Bird of the South (朱雀).

Ayumi Nonomura (能乃村 歩巳 ,Nonomura Ayumi?)
Voiced by: Aya Hirano
Popular among boys for having a large bust and a naive personality, her photos are always in high demand. Due to her extreme shyness, she has had trouble making friends ever since the middle school and is most often the victim of practical jokes and mischief by others. Her three sizes are 90-56-85. Her name contains a kanji of snake (巳 ,mi?) and the first kanji letter of her name (能) is pronounced as ‘No’ (North), thus revealing her name’s relationship with Black Tortoise of the North (玄武).

[edit] Class 1-6

The following characters are classmates of the four main heroines:

Nene Andō (杏藤 子々 ,Andō Nene ?)
Voiced by: Fujita Masayo
President of Class 1-6, she often attempts to participate in activities above and beyond her call of duty in hope of paving her way to become the future head of student council. She is known for frequent sexual harassment, which always seems more targeted towards the female students despite her at one point openly describing herself as a bisexual (although she in anime episodes 11 and 13 has fantasies that do include male students). She takes a particular liking to Torako as well as Ayumi and doesn’t really seem to mind being called a pervert. She has an older brother, who has a similar personality.

Ushio Makunouchi (幕之内 潮 ,Makunouchi Ushio?)
Voiced by: Yūko Kaida
With a personality that doesn’t conform well with authorities and the habit of wearing T-shirt instead of the standard shirt and tie, Ushio is speculated to be a juvenile delinquent although she firmly denies being one. She likes pudding as well as cats and is tone deaf as revealed when she first when to Karaoke with Torako. She has an older brother.

Koma Kobayashi (古囃 独楽 ,Kobayashi Koma?)
Voiced by: Hiroko Igarashi
Often spotted alongside Yanagi Kyōgoku taking photographs of students and then selling them for profit, she is identifiable for wearing a large number of small decorative accessories. She speaks Kansai ben for no apparent reason. She has a younger brother and two younger sisters.

Chie Suzugazaki (涼ヶ崎 知恵 ,Suzugazaki Chie?)
Voiced by: Yui Horie
Befitting the stereotype of a scientist and an engineer, this girl with a long braided hair wears glasses and more often than not white lab coat over her uniform. She’s a member of the Robotics club, and her hobby is creating grotesque robots. Her desire is to work for the E-lectra Corporation in the future.

Inori Tsubomiya (蕾家 祈 ,Tsubomiya Inori ?)
Voiced by: Satomi Sato
Despite being actually quite pretty, her apparent lack of know-how for doing her own make-up means most of her face is not really visible as it is hidden behind her long hair, creating an image akin to that of a stereotypical female ghost in Japanese horror videos. She has a younger sister called Iori.

Minato Ōba (大場 湊兎 ,Ōba Minato?)
Voiced by: Asuka Nakase
Minato is a tall, blond girl with a tanned complexion reminiscent of the Ganguro style, and also has a more developed bust than the other girls. Despite her mature appearance, she has a very child-like personality which causes her to become teary eyed over the most trivial of matters. She also maintains an unusual level of childish innocence, causing her to interpret things differently than the other and at times be almost helpless doing the simplest of tasks. When she receives help from other students, she will persistently and excessively try to return the favor back to the person usually well beyond the norm and almost completely attaching to them.

Tōma Kazamatsuri (風茉莉 冬馬 ,Kazamatsuri Tōma?)
Voiced by: Hōko Kuwashima
Tōma is a bookworm and wears glasses. She prefers to be by herself alone in a quiet place. Although she is easily annoyed by Torako’s interference and she seems to dislike Torako on the surface, she is actually a good friend of Torako. She and Torako made a promise of becoming mutual friends, when they made a visit to the Kamizono Academy and met each other by chance. Tōma has an older sister.

Hitsugi Nikaidō (弐街道 火継 ,Nikaidō Hitsugi?)
Voiced by: Mana Ogawa
Hitsugi is a 11-year old girl who transferred from the elementary division of the school for her being a mathematics and science prodigy. However, she is not very good at subjects that requires memorization. She is very vulnerable to jokes, even the most boring ones. Her favorite snack is Yōkan. She refers to herself with the masculine pronoun boku (僕 ?), a rare occurrence among females.

[edit] Upper Classmates

Shishimaru Sengoku (戦国 獅々丸 ,Sengoku Shishimaru?)
Voiced by: Kenji Takahashi
Shishimaru is a second-year student, who has a crush on Torako.

Yanagi Kyōgoku (京極 柳 ,Kyōgoku Yanagi?)
Voiced by: Atsushi Kousaka
Yanagi is Shishimaru’s friend. Just like Koma, his hobby is to profit by selling photographs of students that he has taken. He was given a nickname “Photoshop”.

Kitsune Kageyama (上下山 狐 ,Kageyama Kitsune?)
Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino
Torako’s older brother, who has been bullying his sister since childhood. Among the students, Kitusne is known to be an ‘extreme sadist’. Despite being Torako’s brother, he seems to have no resemblance to her in terms of both appearance and personality. He wears a safety pin on his left ear like an earring contrasted by the silver clip Torako wears and a silver bell Oniyuri wears both on their left ears.

Oniyuri Kageyama (上下山 鬼百合 ,Kageyama Oniyuri?)
Voiced by: Hiroko Kasahara
Torako’s older sister. She is the head of the student council, and excels others in every ways. Despite being strict to her younger sister, she is actually being extremely overprotective of Torako. Nene has a great admiration for Oniyuri as she wants to also become the head of the student council in the future.

[edit] Teachers

Kyōichirō Amagasa (傘 叶一狼 ,Amagasa Kyōichirō?)
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara
He is the homeroom teacher of class 1-6. He is considered as a delinquent teacher by the students. He is a heavy smoker and is often seen smoking in the school. Although he’s doing his best to maintain cynical personality, he is easily influenced by other students.

Taiga Nishizono (西園 大河 ,Nishizono Taiga?)
Voiced by: Chafuurin
Taiga is the school’s principal, whose face has not been revealed yet as it has always been shadowed by a backlight. He is portrayed as a middle-aged gentleman with a mustache.

[edit] Other Supporting Characters

Yuki Yagi (八木 ユキ ,Yagi Yuki?)
Voiced by: Yuki Gotō
Yuki is Hitsugi’s friend, who attends the elementary division of Kamizono Academy. Her brother is in the Academy’s high-school. They appear together in a photo on a New Year’s greeting card sent to Tatsuki, glimpsed in episode 6.

Casshern Sins

Casshern Sins (キャシャーン Sins ,Kyashān Sins?) is a remake of the classic anime series Neo-Human Casshern, produced by Tatsunoko Productions and animated by Madhouse,[3][4] which premiered in Japan on October 1, 2008.[1]

The series has been remade, completely discarding the continuity presented in the original Neo-Human Casshern anime series, in which Casshern was a cybernetic superhero battling the evil robotic forces of Braiking Boss in a post-apocalyptic Earth.[4] Instead, in Casshern Sins, Casshern is presented as a cyborg subordinate of Braiking Boss who was ordered to assassinate the savior of mankind, and has thus doomed the Earth to ruin.[5]

A manga adaptation has also been announced, and is currently set to be serialized in Jive’s Monthly Comic Rush Magazine.

Created as a reboot of the Casshern franchise, Casshern Sins tells the story of a world where robots subjugated humanity after becoming self-aware. Their leader, Braiking Boss, ruled over the world with an iron fist. One day, a mysterious girl named Luna is summoned by the people, in order to bring salvation of mankind. Fearing her as a potential threat, Braiking sent three of his most powerful cyborg warriors to dispose of Luna: Casshern, Dio and Leda. Casshern, the strongest warrior, manages to track down and kill Luna, however, this triggers a cataclysmic event which sets into motion the end of the world. Hundreds of years later, the world’s atmosphere is filled with poison, and, due to the inability of most remaining humans to reproduce, as well as the constant threat posed by the robots, humanity is on the brink of extinction.[6]

Robots fare little better, fearing death as much as humans do: the poisonous environment quickly causes their mechanical bodies to rust and corrode, forcing them to constantly replace their damaged parts, if spare parts in good condition can even be found. In this wretched time and place, Casshern, who had disappeared following the assassination of Luna, returns with no memory of who he is or what he had done. As he embarks on a journey to find out the truth about himself, Casshern will discover his true purpose and destiny.[

Characters:

Casshern (キャシャーン ,Kyashān?)
Voiced by: Tohru Furuya

The protagonist of the series. In this latest incarnation, he was originally a subordinate of Braiking Boss and the strongest warrior in his robot army; with an advanced cybernetic body and quick reflexes, he can destroy any opponent he comes across. Casshern was ordered by Braiking Boss to assassinate Luna, however, this act triggered a cataclysmic event and he disappeared. Returning hundreds of years later with no memory of who he was, he somehow holds the ability to painfully regenerate from any injury, and goes violently berserk when incited.

While he travels to discover what has happened, and to redeem himself, he encounters people who have been affected by the cataclysm, as well as many others who attempt to kill him, under the belief that devouring him will save them from ruination.

Lyuze (リューズ ,Ryūzu?)
Voiced by: Nami Miyahara

A female robot, she pursues Casshern out of revenge for her sister and her vindication that Casshern is a calamity. Before the cataclysm, her sister Liza was injured by Casshern while trying to protect Luna, and eventually died a slow death from corrosion.

However, she hesitates when Casshern willingly allows her to kill him, and is unable to do so, after he goes berserk. Instead, she begins to follow and accompany Casshern on his journey.

Ringo (リンゴ ?)
Voiced by: Yuko Minaguchi

A young girl who befriends Casshern, she manages to maintain her innocence despite growing up in a destroyed world. Despite witnessing Casshern mercilessly destroying a robot in order to save her, she continues to have faith in him. Being cared by Ohji, the two come across Casshern regularly, and witness his endeavors.

Ohji (オージ ,Ōji?)
Voiced by: Yūichi Nagashima

A robot technician who spends his time maintaining robots, he is Ringo’s guardian. Originally a scientist working under Braiking Boss, he is the creator of Casshern, Dio, and Leda. Stricken by guilt of what he had caused, he attempts to kill himself, but finds Ringo as a baby, and continues to live for her. After finding Casshern, he follows and watches over him.

Friender (フレンダー ,Furendā?)

A robot dog who stayed with a robot community that peacefully accepted the idea of death, Friender himself does not display any signs of deterioration. After Casshern destroys the entire community after going berserk, he cautiously follows him, eventually trusting him. He primarily intervenes to stop Casshern whenever he goes berserk.
Luna (ルナ ,Runa?)
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima

A mysterious girl who was summoned by the human race for salvation, Luna was known as “the sun which is named the moon”, and has been dubbed the “Source of Life” — a living embodiment for the world. Deemed as a threat, Braiking Boss sends Casshern, Dio, and Leda to assassinate her. Casshern successfully does so, and triggers the destruction of the world. There are hints that she continues to exist in some form, and some humans and robots have begun to seek her, hoping for salvation. Casshern searches for her to find the cause of the state of the world, and the reason behind his apparent immortality.

Braiking Boss (ブライキング・ボス ,Buraikingu Bosu?)
Voiced by: Kenji Utsumi

Braiking Boss was the leader and commander of the robot army. Having dominated over humanity for ages, Luna was summoned to stop him. As the one who ordered the assassination of Luna, he was the true cause of the world’s destruction. Dismissing the rumors of the effects of devouring Casshern, he spends his time following him from afar, watching his actions.

Dio (ディオ ?)
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa

A robot built identical to Casshern, he, along with Casshern and Leda, were sent to kill Luna, but Dio failed to reach her before Casshern. He plots to halt the ruination by exposing Casshern’s secret and rule the world, taking the place of Braiking Boss. As such, he attempts to organize a robot army. He holds animosity towards Casshern, as they were both created with identical specifications, but Casshern was slightly ahead of him in reaching Luna, and now appears to be immortal.

Leda (レダ ,Reda?)
Voiced by: Mami Koyama

A female model created alongside Casshern and Dio, she assists Dio in restoring the robot army, and states that she is affectionate toward him. She intervenes and helps Dio retreat, whenever he begins to step over the boundaries of his well being.

Dune (ドゥーン ,Dūn?)
Voiced by: Yuto Nakano

A heavily deteriorated robot in tattered cloth, he is a powerful robot formerly assigned as Luna’s bodyguard, and was labelled the “God of Death” in that time. Unable to stop Casshern when he killed Luna, he wanders the wasteland solely to find her, and seek revenge on Casshern, despite his severe debilitation.

Elemental Gelade

Elemental Gelade (EREMENTAR GERAD（エレメンタル ジェレイド） ,Erementaru Jereido?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mayumi Azuma. The fantasy adventure is a tale of a group of five who are on a journey to Eden Garden, the birthplace of mystical beings called Edel Raids who are described as “living weapons”.

The manga series has been adapted into a TV anime produced by XEBEC, two light novels, two video games for the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance and four drama CDs. The anime ended with 26 episodes, but the original manga is still being serialized in the monthly Japanese manga magazine Monthly Comic Blade, published by Mag Garden.

Prior to the original broadcast of the anime on TV Tokyo on April 5, 2005, both the manga and anime were licensed by Tokyopop and Geneon Entertainment, respectively for North American distribution. The announcement was made even after ADV announced they acquired licensing rights for both manga and anime a year before

The tale of Elemental Gelade is set in the world of Guardia where beings called Edel Raids co-exist with humans. Edel Raids have the ability to fuse with a human and become a living weapon. The story focuses on the adventures of a young sky pirate named Coud Van Giruet, an Edel Raid named Reverie Metherlance, and three guardians of an Edel Raid protection organization called Arc Aile named Cisqua, Rowen, and Kuea. Reverie Metherlance is set on journeying to the legendary land of gold called Eden Garden, but it turns out that she is a powerful and rare Edel Raid which leads to many villains attempting to kidnap her for themselves.

Characters:
Coud Van Giruet
Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Kristian Ayre (English), Naozumi Takahashi (drama CD), Choi Won Hyeong (Korea)
Coud Van Giruet, better known as Coud, is a young member of the Red Lynx sky pirates. He finds Reverie Metherlence in a coffin that was picked up as loot in a raid. He reacts and becomes her Pleasure, someone who bonds with a Edel Raid and he promises her that he will be the one to escort her to Edel Garden. He soon realizes he has deep feelings for Ren.

Gelade Techniques
Euros Loop
Notus Chord
Reject Out
Zephyrus Art

Reverie Metherlence
Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (Japanese), Brenna O’Brien (English), Houko Kuwashima (drama CD), Rhee Hyeon Jin (Korea)
Reverie Metherlence, better known as Ren, is an Edel Raid and direct descendant of the Metherlence bloodline. She is also one of the Seven Glittering Jewels (or Shichiko-hoju), an Edel Raid line said to be the strongest. She recharges her powers by sleeping, which happens fairly often. As the story progresses, she realizes that she has developed feelings for Coud. Her elemental gelade is on her hair above her forehead. Her elemental power is wind, which she best uses defensively. Her weapon form is a giant sword on Coud’s right arm.

Cisqua

Cisqua

Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese), Alexandra Carter (English), Ikue Otani (drama CD), Jeong Mi Sook (Korea)
Cisqua is the energetic and upbeat leader of one of Arc Aile’s Edel Raid Complete Protection Association squads consisting of Rowen and Kuea. She is honest and passionate about her work, but only because of her desire to be promoted and her love for money. Cisqua is modeled from a character the creator drew in middle and high school and B.B. Hood from the Darkstalkers series.[3]

Cisqua is not an Edel Raid Pleasure, but she is well versed in martial arts and gunmanship. Despite having a small frame, she’s physically strong and capable on taking down well trained Pleasures such as the Edel Raid Hunter, Wolx Hound. Underneath her robes and hat, she keeps an arsenal of firearms, missiles, knives, and other weapons she uses to fulfill her missions. Cisqua’s gun can be adjusted to become a launcher, shotgun, or machine gun.

Rowen

Rowen

Voiced by: Yuji Ueda (Japanese), Philip Pacaud (English), Shoutarou Morikubo (drama CD)
Rowen is a guardian of Arc Aile, and is occasionally tasked to assist with his senior in rank, Cisqua. He is a young blond-haired man that tends to dislike conflict. In contrast to the impulsive and somewhat outrageous Cisqua, Rowen is logical, polite, and considerate of others.

Rowen is very intelligent and seems to be well skilled in multiple areas, making it seem as if he was perfect. Whether it is cooking or fighting he seems to excel at it. However Rowen claims to not be entirely perfect and have weaknesses as well. He is an excellent cook as well, an ability that the other members appreciate. Rowen is also the only member who is consistently doing jobs to meet ends with the party’s expenses.

Gelade Techniques
Vice Lit
Three of Hearts
Curva Proclesis

Kuea / Kullweet Envatilia
Voiced by: Naoko Suzuki (Japanese), France Perras (English), Akemi Okamura (drama CD)
Kuea, whose real name is Kullweet Envatilia, is a first class Edel Raid from Arc Aile and is Rowen’s partner. Her garnet red elemental gelade are on the back of both her hands which she covers with arm length gloves. Out of the five main characters, Kuea wears the most revealing clothes, however the creator modeled her character from an old male character she once drew in the past.[3] When Kuea gets hungry – which seems to be often – she can’t react, so she eats enormous amounts of food at a time. It is an ongoing gag that she’ll eat anything and anyone and she nibbles on Cisqua when she is extremely hungry, her hunger-induced stupor leading her to view Cisqua’s head as an apple and in episode 4, she gnaws on Rowen’s head, which he ignores and normally greets Coud.

Kuea loves to battle and often jumps into fights hastily. When reacted, she increases Rowen’s fighting speed. She takes the weapon form of double blades that Rowen wields on each hand and six chained sickles on his back which can detach and attack opponents from a distance. Her attacks are designed for piercing over slicing. Kuea and Rowen can perform an Obligath, a song that is performed by both as one performing a very powerful attack.

Ghost Hunt

Ghost Hunt (ゴーストハント ,Gōsuto Hanto?) is a manga series based on a light novel series called the Akuryou Series (悪霊シリーズ ?) created by Fuyumi Ono. A radio drama for Akuryou Series was made in 1997. It was then converted by mangaka Shiho Inada to a shōjo manga series.

Currently, the manga runs in the shōjo magazine Nakayoshi, published by Kodansha. An anime based on manga by J.C. Staff premiered on October 3, 2006. The anime series consists of 25 episodes (approximately 20 minutes each).

On October 31st, 2007 FUNimation Entertainment announced both their acquisition of the licensing rights to the anime,[1] and the release date of the first DVD in the United States to be in the fall of 2008.

Ghost Hunt follows the adventures of Kazuya Shibuya, the president of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center (SPR) and Mai Taniyama, a first year high school student. The story begins during an exchange of ghost stories between Mai and her friends, who are interrupted twice: first by a mysterious “male student” and then by a fellow classmate, who warns them of how their ghost stories attract spirits.

While out walking, Mai sees the building that all the ghost stories surround and decides to go in. As she is about to touch a camera in the middle of the room, a man stops her and ends up injuring himself. Mai is then forced to work as a stand-in assistant for the man, an employee of the “male student,” who was hired to study the “paranormal” events occurring at the school. Mai nicknames this “student” “Naru” for his narcissistic attitude. Naru owns a paranormal investigation company SPR and Mai eventually earns a part-time job at SPR after assisting with the first case. The more involved Mai becomes with Naru, the more she learns about herself and her feelings towards him.

Along with Shibuya’s assistant, Lin, the SPR also finds itself assisted by various spirit mediums and exorcists.

Characters:

oiced by: Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), Cherami Leigh (English)
Mai Taniyama
Born: July 3
Blood Type: B
Height: 155 CM

A 16 year-old orphan and first year high school student who temporarily fills in as an assistant for SPR to repay her debt when she accidentally injures Naru’s regular assistant, Lin, and breaks a camera that was being used in an investigation of an old building at Mai’s school (It is later revealed that the camera was covered by insurance, and the reason for her employment is unknown). After the conclusion of the first case, she is offered a regular part-time position for SPR and acts as an office and on-case assistant for SPR after developing an interest in the handsome boss of SPR, Shibuya Kazuya who she nicknames Naru for his narcissism. She openly dislikes Naru for his egotistical attitude and often argues with him, but harbors romantic feelings for him as well. She believes that her attraction to him manifests in her dreams as he often appears in them smiling and supporting her. It should be noted that both her parents have died: her father when she was little, and her mother when she was in middle school. Mai was taken in by a teacher who helped her through those years, yet when she reveals this late in the series, she is living alone and supporting herself through her wages at SPR.

Naru determines that she has ESP abilities through a test (although she does the complete opposite of what she is told to do: instead of predicting which light would light up, she predicts which wouldn’t, and has a miss rate of 1000/1000). Naru refers to her abilities as “latent sensitivity”, which include her dreams acting as a form of precognition and her seeming clairvoyance, akin to an animal’s ability to instinctively detect danger. In recent episodes, Mai has also experienced “out of body” movement, when she gives the key to her old home to Masako while she is dreaming. Whenever she is having these dreams, it seems that Naru was always there to guide her.

In the novel, it was confirmed that it was actually Naru’s dead twin brother who shows up in her dreams, smiling and always guides her. However, unlike in the novel it has not been revealed that the man in Mai’s dreams, the person whom she believes to be Naru is not Naru, but his twin brother. In the ending of the Evil Spirits series (wherein he found his dead twin brother’s dead body), Naru is about to leave for England when she confesses her feelings for him. When Naru asks if the one she loves if him or Gene, Mai cries and is surprised to see Naru is still there when she stops. He tells her that whether she likes it or not, she will eventually see his brother again (after they found Gene’s body, she stops dreaming about him). Two months after Gene’s funeral, Naru and Lin return to Japan since there are more supernatural activities going on in Japan. At this, Mai becomes his assistant once again.

Kazuya Shibuya (渋谷 一也 ,Shibuya Kazuya?)

Kazuya Shibuya

Voiced by: Yuuki Tai (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)
Born: September 19
Blood Type: A
Height: 175 CM

A paranormal researcher and the handsome 17 year-old president of the SPR, Shibuya Psychic Research. His nickname “Naru” is short for “narcissist”, given to him by Mai. Contrary to the other characters, he does not appear to possess any kind of spiritual power, and must count on his companions’ abilities and his own intellect and knowledge to solve the cases they investigate. It is later revealed that Naru is an extremely powerful psychic, but using it takes a toll on his body because it is difficult to control and can only be used as raw power.

Though appearing cold and critical in front of his friends, he does care for them deeply and has earned their trust and respect. He and Mai apparently share a close relationship as she is the only girl he addresses by given name, unlike Ayako (Matsuzaki-san) and Masako (Hara-san), resulting in the latter becoming jealous of Mai. When Mai notices that Naru treats her differently from their friends, she becomes angry and confronts him; Naru only smiles to indicate she is special to him. It is uncertain if he likes Mai romantically.

In the novels, it is revealed that Naru’s true name is not Kazuya Shibuya and that he is the famed paranormal researcher, Oliver Davis. Naru had a twin brother named Eugene; they were nicknamed Gene and Noll (Naru). Naru’s true identity as Oliver Davis is only known to Masako, as she had seen him in a video performing PK before they met, and uses this knowledge as leverage over him. When Mai first addresses him as Naru, he is shocked and asks how she knows the name because the Japanese pronunciation of Noll sounds identical to Naru, but she quickly explains it is because of his narcissism, ending his concern. Both Naru and his brother were orphans and were later adopted by the Davises. Naru actually went to Japan to search for his deceased brother whose death he experienced through psychometry; Gene was run over by a car and later thrown into a lake to destroy any evidence of the accident by a woman whose identity is still unknown. It is later revealed that Naru cannot use his ability without physically injuring himself, since Gene’s powers normally would have prevented such injuries; therefore Naru was taught by Lin to control it. When Naru left for England after finding Gene at the end of the Evil Spirit series, Mai confessed her love for him. At this, he told her that the one she loves is Gene, who appears in her dreams and not him. Naru went back to Japan (together with Lin) two months after Gene’s funeral stating that there is more supernatural activity there.

Also the novels reveals that the company named SPR, allegedly “Shibuya Psychic Research” at Dogenzaka, Shibuya, is actually a branch company for the Society for Psychical Research (also called SPR) and that the C.E.O is Naru’s adoptive father, Martin Davis.

Koujo Lin

Lin Koujo (林 興徐 ,Rin Kōjo?)
Voiced by: Ken Narita (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English)
Born: January 11
Blood Type: A
Height: 194 CM

Originally from Hong Kong. He is Naru’s calm and taciturn assistant who rarely speaks more than he needs to. He seems to get most of the unpleasant jobs, and works through the night. He appears to be an onmyoji and has a wide range of paranormal skills from exorcism to summoning spirit familiars. He acts as Naru’s guardian to help him find his brother. It is revealed that the three are childhood friends. Lin says he dislikes Japanese people because of the past conflicts Japan has had with China. At one time, he told this to Mai and she told him that he should forget the past to move on and if he should hate her, it should be because he hates her as an individual. At this, he stated that a long time ago, someone told him the exact same words. In the novels, it is revealed that this person was Gene.

Houshou Takigawa (滝川 法生 ,Takigawa Hōshō?)

Houshou Takigawa

Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (Japanese), Travis Willingham (English)
Born: January 22
Blood Type: O
Height: 185 CM

A 25 year old hakkaisou, a Buddhist monk who has left his position, who studied in Mt. Koya. He claims that he left Mt. Koya because they did not allow music CDs. His full-time profession is a bass musician in a popular band. He usually acts as a brotherly figure to Mai, but does ask Mai out on a date when she becomes jealous of Naru going on a date with Masako at the end of episode 11. He is one of the more powerful and effective members of the group and acts as leader in Naru’s absence, as seen in the Cursed House File. The other members of SPR refer to him casually as “Bou-san” (Monk-san).
It is revealed in the novels that he actually has a driver’s licence but has never used it, not even once.

Ayako Matsuzaki

Ayako Matsuzaki (松崎 綾子 ,Matsuzaki Ayako?)
Voiced by: Masami Suzuki (Japanese), Colleen Clinkenbeard (English)
Born: June 7
Blood Type: B
Height: 167 CM

A 23 year old outspoken, self-styled Shinto miko, or priestess, because she was not raised in a shrine and is actually the daughter of a wealthy doctor who owns a community hospital. She is confident and proud of her abilities, though her attempts to demonstrate them have almost always fallen short. To her credit, she did teach Mai some defensive sutras, particularly the Shinto Kuji exorcism incantation, “Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen”. It is later revealed that she is actually just as strong as Bou-san, but apparently only works well under certain conditions and is capable of hearing the spirits of trees. A running joke is that at the beginning of a new case, Ayako usually claims the incident is caused by an elemental earth spirit. She has also shown an interest in Naru, though he frequently rebuffs her with dry remarks concerning her age. Later in the story, she develops somewhat of an ‘older sister’ relationship to Mai.

John Brown

John Brown (ジョン・ブラウン ,Jon Buraun?)
Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto (Japanese), Jason Liebrecht (English)
Born: January 5
Blood Type: A
Height: 162 CM

A nineteen year old caucasian Catholic priest from Australia who learned to speak Japanese with a Kansai accent, thus giving his sentences a rather odd, humorous structure. Good-natured and helpful, he helps Mai and Naru however he can. His means of exorcism is spraying holy water while reciting the first passage of John from the New Testament of the Bible.

Masako Hara

Masako Hara (原 真砂子 ,Hara Masako?)
Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese), Jad Saxton (English)
Born: July 24
Blood Type: AB
Height: 152 CM

A spirit medium with a popular television show and the ability to speak to the dead, Masako is a 16 year old girl who resembles a Japanese doll because she is always wearing a kimono, even while sleeping. She has romantic feelings towards Naru and is jealous of how casual and free Naru is when dealing with Mai. This initially causes friction between Masako and Mai, as she views Mai as a rival; however, after Mai saves her in the Blood-stained Labyrinth File, they reach a shaky truce. In the novels, it is revealed that Masako knows of Naru’s true identity and his psychic powers and has used that secret to extract favors out of Naru himself, despite his reticence to participate in social events.

Osamu Yasuhara

Osamu Yasuhara (安原 修 ,Yasuhara Osamu?)
Voiced by: Kousuke Okano (Japanese), Eric Vale (English)
Born: March 1
Blood Type: AB
Height: 177 CM

A 3rd year top-ranked high school student and president of his school’s student council. Yasuhara first appears as a client of SPR as a result of unexplainable phenomena occuring at his school during “File 6″. After the case is solved, he continues to help out SPR in what ever ways he can, such as impersonating Kazuya Shibuya at the request of Naru and performing background research off-site while the others are on a case. He has no psychic powers of his own, but his sharp mind and work efficiency make him a good support to the team. He has a wry sense of humor and is unafraid to poke fun at the different members of the team, often making homosexual remarks to Bou-san. He is planning to attend university and has been accepted to Tokyo University after passing his entrance exams.