is a Japanese TV drama and

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 created and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, the creator of '' Tetsujin 28-go'' and '' Giant Robo''. The TV drama tells the story of Comet, one of the princesses of the Triangle Nebula who came to Earth in search for the missing prince. The manga is first serialized in Shueisha's monthly ''

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

'' magazine from July to November 1967, marking as one of Japan's first Magical girl series produced.

Plot

The story revolves around Princess Comet, a twelve-year-old girl who is also the princess of the Harmonica Star country of the Triangle Nebula. She was meant to meet the prince of the Tambourine Star country at a ball, but the prince ran away to Earth instead. As it turned out, Comet is sent to Earth to find him, though she has no idea what he looks like. "He will be known by the twinkling in his eyes" is the only clue she was given to the prince's identity. Once she travels to Earth, Comet falls in love with the people she meets there as well as the planet itself, quickly becoming attached to life on Earth. Meanwhile, Princess Meteor learns of Comet's plans to find and marry the prince, so she arrives on Earth in search of the prince, planning to marry him before Comet gets the chance. Both princesses are sent to Earth along with a companion. Comet's companion is a little puppy with a star at the end of his tail named . Meteor's companion is a round, purple bird named . Unbeknownst to Comet, her Aunt Spica also lives on Earth and had visited Earth before, deciding to stay there and get married herself. Aunt Spica's pet is , a white rabbit with a tiny heart on her tail. The main plot is Comet's tale about her journey to Earth, the people she meets, and her journey to find the prince. The series is set in

Kamakura, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Characters

* Comet (voiced by Aki Maeda in the anime adaptation)

Media

TV Drama

The original Japanese live-action drama was broadcast by Tokyo Broadcasting System in two seasons. The first season aired from July 3, 1967, to December 30, 1968, with a total of 79 episodes. The second season aired from June 12, 1978, to September 24, 1979, with a total of 68 episodes. Both seasons were dubbed into Spanish and broadcast within Mexico, Venezuela, Costa Rica and other Spanish-speaking countries, first season in the 1970s and second season in the 2000s. Additionally, two actresses (

Yumiko Kokonoe Yumiko Kokonoe (九重佑三子, born 21 March 1946) is a Japanese actress and singer. Her most notable role was the protagonist of the series '' Comet-san'' filmed by Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation formerly is a Japanese media and license ...

and

Kumiko Ohba Kumiko (くみこ, クミコ) is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Kumiko can be written using different kanji and can mean: *久美子, "forever, beauty, child" *空見子, "sky, see, child" *公美子, "public, beauty, child" * ...

) from the dramas appear in the later anime versions. Bundled with the anime version, the TV drama provides various modules of daily life-related scenarios for the audience, especially the fans of the two actresses that played the main character.

Manga

The Manga adaptation was serialized in Shueisha's monthly

from July to November 1967, illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama.

Anime

An anime adaptation of the drama series titled was animated by Nippon Animation, directed by

Mamoru Kanbe is a Japanese storyboard artist and director. He is best known for directing the anime series ''Elfen Lied'', ''Sound of the Sky'', and '' Kimi to Boku''. Filmography * '' Ninja Ryukenden'' (1991) Director * ''Nana Toshi Monogatari'' (1994) Di ...

of '' Cardcaptor Sakura'' and written by Akira Okeya of '' Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team''. Character designs were done by Kazuaki Makida, who later contributed to the characters designs of '' Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch''. The series premiered on TV Osaka and TV Tokyo from April 1, 2001, to January 27, 2002, with a total of 43 episodes. It was also later aired by Animax, which translated and dubbed the series into English and other languages for broadcast across its network in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South and Southeast Asia. The Anime adapts both the live-action dramas closely with close involvement with Yokoyama himself in redesigning the characters and including new concepts. The anime has four theme songs. The first opening song is titled by

Nayu Nibori Bangkok Malay, also referred to as Bangkok Melayu or Nayu, is the local variant of Malay spoken by ethnic Malays living in Bangkok and its surrounding areas. It arose from the intermingling of the Malay community from Southern Thailand and slowly ...

and the second is by

Shizuka Nakayama is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Shizuka can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *, "quiet/calm" *, "quiet/calm, flower" *, "quiet/calm, fragrance" *, "quiet/calm, flower" *, "quiet/calm, excellent" *, " ...

. The first ending theme is titled by Saeko Chiba and the second ending titled by

Sayuri Tanaka Sayuri may refer to: People * Sayuri (given name) * Sayuri (musician) (born 1996), Japanese musician * Yakob Sayuri Yakob Sayuri (born 22 September 1997) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a winger and full back for Liga 1 ...

. The music is composed by Moka, who later composed the soundtrack of '' Elfen Lied''.

Episode list

Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san runs 24 minutes per episode and has 43 episodes.

References

External links

TV Osaka website

TOHO's Official website
* {{SynergySP 2001 anime television series debuts Japanese drama television series Japanese television series with live action and animation Magical girl anime and manga Mitsuteru Yokoyama Nippon Animation