is a Japanese ''

yuri Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

series written by

Hitoma Iruma is a Japanese writer and light novel author, best known for creating ''Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl'' and the yuri series '' Adachi and Shimamura'', both of which have received anime and manga adaptations. He is also known for having w ...

and illustrated by

Non Non, non or NON can refer to: * ''Non'', a negatory word in French, Italian and Latin People *Non (given name) *Non Boonjumnong (born 1982), Thai amateur boxer * Rena Nōnen (born 1993), Japanese actress who uses the stage name "Non" since July ...

, which began serialization in October 2012 in ASCII Media Works' ''

Dengeki Bunko Magazine was a Japanese light novel magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). The magazine succeeded the light novel magazine '' Dengeki hp'', and originally was published as a special edition issue of '' Dengeki Daioh'' for the fir ...

'' and is published under the

Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint a ...

imprint. The light novels are licensed for English release in North America by

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as w ...

. The series has been adapted into two

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series, and an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation by

Tezuka Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as '' Marvelous Melmo'', the 1980 and 2003 ''Astro Boy'' series, and '' Black Jack''. It is also the holder of the intellectual propert ...

aired from October to December 2020.

Plot

First-year high school students Sakura Adachi and Hougetsu Shimamura encounter each other by chance one day while skipping class, and become friends. Over time, Adachi develops romantic feelings for Shimamura, which she has significant difficulty expressing, while Shimamura feels like Adachi is merely a friend to her. The series follows their relationship and the emerging romance which gradually develops as Adachi gathers the courage to open up further to Shimamura.

Characters

; : :A first-year high school student who often skips classes. A beautiful girl with a slender figure and black hair, she works part-time at a Chinese restaurant. Adachi is a deeply

introverted The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl J ...

individual who generally eschews relationships with others, as she finds them to be a significant burden. This changes when she meets Shimamura, who is also skipping classes, on the second floor of the gymnasium. She has romantic feelings for Shimamura, and feels intense jealousy towards other girls who interact with her. :During a summer break in their second year of high school, Adachi confesses her feelings to Shimamura at a summer festival, and becomes her girlfriend. ; : :A first-year high school student who tends to skip classes, though not as much as Adachi. Her hair is light brown colored, and she has an innocent personality. Although she thinks socializing is troublesome, she has a talent for taking care of others. :During a summer break in their second year of high school, Shimamura is confessed to by Adachi at a summer festival, and chooses to accept her feelings, thus becoming her girlfriend. ; : :The youngest daughter of a wealthy family with four older brothers; a frivolous girl, short in stature and with black hair. She is not used to the refined atmosphere at home, often staying at Nagafuji's house. She became friends with Shimamura in high school. ; : :A high school girl as tall as Shimamura with large breasts and glasses. Her recent worry is being stared at by boys. She is a little careless and always teased by Hino. She has been friends with Hino since kindergarten. ; : :A self-proclaimed alien from the future who comes to Earth in search of her lost compatriot from space. She looks like an elementary school girl, but claims to be around 670 years old. She likes Shimamura and often plays with Shimamura's younger sister at home. She usually wanders around the town. Yashiro demonstrates

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

abilities, and is described in a flash-forward sequence set ten years after the main events of the series as having never physically aged. :In the special novel stories included with the Japanese Blu-ray release of the series, Yashiro is depicted thousands of years after the events of the series, still not having aged. She encounters

reincarnations Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...

of Adachi and Shimamura (called Chito and Shima) on a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

planet that has been

colonized Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

by a since-degraded future human civilization, and it is revealed that she has committed herself to ensuring that every version of Adachi and Shimamura continue to meet each other, having promised this to Shimamura in the past. ; : :Shimamura's best friend in elementary school. She and Shimamura called each other "Shima-chan" and "Taru-chan", but became distant as a result of attending different junior high schools. The two happen to meet again in the winter of their first year of high school with the hope of restarting their friendship. She has a reputation as a delinquent because she often skipped school and wandered around in junior high. Tarumi's efforts to reignite her friendship with Shimamura upset Adachi, igniting extreme feelings of jealousy when she sees them together.

Media

Light novels

The original light novel series, written by

and illustrated by

, was first serialized in ASCII Media Works' ''

'' in October 2012. ASCII Media Works began publishing the series under its ''

'' imprint on March 10, 2013. ASCII Media Works has published eleven volumes as of December 9, 2022, with the twelfth volume being the final volume.

have licensed the light novels for release in North America.

Manga

adaptation illustrated by Mani was serialized online via

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

's ''

Gangan Online is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese m ...

'' website from April 4, 2016 to December 22, 2017. It was collected in three ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. A second manga adaptation with illustration by Moke Yuzuhara began serialization in ASCII Media Works' ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''

Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comi ...

'' on May 25, 2019. It has been collected in four ''tankōbon'' volumes. The second manga adaptation is licensed in North America by

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published ''Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...

2016 series

2019 series

Anime

television series adaptation was announced on May 6, 2019. The series was animated by

and directed by Satoshi Kuwabara, with Keiichirō Ōchi handling series composition, and Shizue Kaneko designing the characters. Natsumi Tabuchi, Hanae Nakamura, and Miki Sakurai composed the music. The opening theme is performed by

Akari Kitō is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Raccoon Dog. She debuted in 2014, acted her first main role in ''Time Bokan 24'', and has since received more major and leading roles. Her nickname is Akarin. She made her debut as a solo sin ...

and

Miku Itō is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Style Cube. Her major voice roles include Nanako Usami in ''Locodol'', Ann Akagi in '' Action Heroine Cheer Fruits'', Kokoro Tsurumaki in ''BanG Dream!'', Miku Nakano in ''The Quintessential ...

as their respective characters, while the ending theme is performed by Kitō. It aired from October 9 to December 25, 2020 on TBS and BS11. The series ran for 12 episodes.

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

had acquired the series and streamed it on its website in North America and the British Isles, and on

AnimeLab Crunchyroll Pty. Ltd., trading as Madman Anime, is an Australian distribution company focused on anime and Japanese media. The company handles licensing and distribution of anime in Australia and New Zealand. Originally part of independent film ...

in Australia and New Zealand. On February 17, 2021, Funimation announced the series would be receiving an English dub, with the first episode premiering the next day. Following

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

's acquisition of

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

, the series was moved to Crunchyroll.

Reception

Joe Ballard of CBR reviewed the anime series throughout its run. In early reviews, Ballard said that it is similar to '' Bloom Into You'' and called it "a heartwarming

coming-of-age story In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or internal ...

" while noting the "growing

friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...

" between Adachi and Shimamura, as their relationship expands, and their bond strengthens. In later reviews, he said that series focuses mainly on "two girls getting to know each other" as they learn more about each other along the way and their romance blossoms. In his review of the final episode, Ballard said that the story is "slowly blossoming into a love story" and added that end of the episode is

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

ic, as Adachi and Shimamura are not sitting next to each other, "but they're a little closer than they were before." In January 2021, Constance Sarantos of CBR said that the series shares similar storyboarding moments which emphasize "

intimate Intimate may refer to: * Intimate examination, a physical examination for medical purposes that includes examination of the breasts, genitalia, or rectum of a patient * Intimate ion pair, the interactions between a cation, anion and surrounding sol ...

moments and

loneliness Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social paina psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perceived lack ...

" with the series ''

Otherside Picnic is a Japanese ''yuri'' science fiction novel series written by Iori Miyazawa and illustrated by shirakaba. Inspired by the novel ''Roadside Picnic'' by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Hayakawa Publishing have released seven volumes of the seri ...

''. The same month, Ballad penned another review of the series, saying that the first season "concluded with more questions than answers," and hoped that a second season would bring "more concrete answers." The same month, Angelo Delos Trinos of CBR called the series a "heartwarming Shoujo Ai (i.e. Girls' Love) anime" which legitimizes the yuri genre, saying that it is unfortunate that not many people talk about it or "Yuri romances in general." The

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

listed the first volume of the ''Adachi and Shimamura'' (2019 manga) as one of the top 10 manga of 2021.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adachi to Shimamura 2020 anime television series debuts 2012 Japanese novels 2013 Japanese novels 2020s Japanese LGBT-related television series Anime and manga based on light novels ASCII Media Works manga Crunchyroll anime Dengeki Bunko Dengeki Daioh Extraterrestrials in anime and manga Gangan Comics manga Iyashikei anime and manga Japanese LGBT-related animated television series Japanese webcomics Kadokawa Dwango franchises Light novels Seven Seas Entertainment titles Shōnen manga Tezuka Productions Webcomics in print Yen Press titles Yuri (genre) anime and manga Yuri (genre) light novels