is a

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 culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

novel written by Ryō Asai, first published on October 5, 2010, by

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

. It follows the members of a university's all-male

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

squad. The novel is loosely based on the real-life men's cheerleading team "Shockers" from

Waseda University , mottoeng = Independence of scholarship , established = 21 October 1882 , type = Private , endowment = , president = Aiji Tanaka , city = Shinjuku , state = Tokyo , country = Japan , students = 47,959 , undergrad = 39,382 , postgrad ...

. The series was also adapted as a manga by Kenichi Kondō for the ''

Shōnen Jump+ is a Japanese online magazine for manga created by Shueisha, spin-off from its '' Jump'' line of magazines. Launched on September 22, 2014, the magazine operates as a free mobile app and website. The magazine serializes original titles and titl ...

'' app starting on April 5, 2016. An

anime is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

adaptation started airing on July 5, 2016. It is directed by Ai Yoshimura and written by

Reiko Yoshida is a Japanese screenwriter. She has written and supervised numerous screenplays for anime series, live-action dramas and films. Her major works include ''Kaleido Star'', ''Aria'', '' Maria-sama ga Miteru'', ''D.Gray-man'', ''K-On!'', ''Bakuman' ...

for the studio

Brain's Base is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1996 by former Tokyo Movie Shinsha staff. Works Television series Original video animations Films See also * Shuka * Lapin Track * Platinum Vision is a Japanese animation studio founded in ...

. A live action film directed by Hiroki Kazama is slated to open in early 2019.

Plot

Disheartened with judo, college student Haruki "Haru" Bando was invited by his childhood boyfriend Kazuma Hashimoto to create "BREAKERS", an unprecedented boys' cheerleading team. Those that came to join all were very characteristic in nature: argumentative Mizoguchi, voracious Ton, frivolous Kansai boys Gen and Ichiro, and Sho, who has cheerleading experience.

Characters

; : :Haruki is the protagonist. He was previously a part of the judo club before he was convinced to join the cheerleading team, Breakers, by his childhood friend, Kazuma. ; : :Haruki's childhood friend. ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : (Japanese); Seth Magill (English) ; : ; : (Japanese);

Josh Grelle Joshua Grelle ( ; born November 2, 1985) is an American voice actor and ADR script writer in English language dubs of Japanese anime, working mostly with Funimation, ADV Films and Seraphim Digital. Grelle is known for voicing numerous main cha ...

(English) ; : ; : (Japanese);

Ricco Fajardo Ricco Fajardo is an American voice actor who has provided voices for English versions of Japanese anime series and video games. Some of his roles include Taiju Oki in ''Dr. Stone'', Itona Horibe in ''Assassination Classroom'', Mirio Togata in '' ...

(English) ; : (Japanese); Ethan Gallardo (English) ; : (Japanese); Jacob Browning (English) ; : ; : ; : ; : (Japanese); Kyle Igneczi (English) ; : ; : ; :

Anime

A 13-episode anime television series produced by

aired from July 5, 2016, to September 27, 2016, on

KBS Kyoto is a commercial broadcasting station headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It is doing business in Kyoto Prefecture as and in Shiga Prefecture as Its radio station serves Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures and is a member of National Radio Network (NRN) ...

, Sun TV, and

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

. The anime is directed by Ai Yoshimura and written by Reiko Yoshida. The opening theme song is "Hajime no Ippo" (初めの一歩, lit Fighting Spirit) by Luck Life and the ending song is "LIMIT BREAKERS" by BREAKERS.

Episode List

References

External links

Anime official website
* 2010 Japanese novels Brain's Base Cheerleading television series Funimation Shōjo manga Shōnen manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Sports anime and manga Sports novels {{anime-stub