''Dan Doh!!'' (stylized as ''DAN DOH!!'') is a Japanese

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

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 written by Nobuhiro Sakata and illustrated by Daichi Banjō. It was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...

'' from March 1995 to July 2000. It was followed by ''Dan Doh! Xi'' (July 2000–April 2003) and ''Dan Doh! Next Generation'' (April–December 2004). ''Dan Doh!!'' was adapted into 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 broadcast on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

from April to September 2004.

Plot

''Dan Doh!!'' focuses on a fifth grader named Tadamichi Aoba also nicknamed Dandoh. Dandoh and his two friends are their baseball team's best players, but after an incident with their school principal, they are introduced to the world of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. Dandoh and his friends are taught by a former professional golfer named Shinjō Mikiyasu, who believes that they can surpass even him. As Dandoh begins to play in tournaments, his friendly spirit, determination, and hard working and competitive attitude brings the best in the players around him and earns him many friends.

Characters

; : :Tadamichi Aoba, also called Dandoh by his friends, was originally a talented baseball player with the ability to hit long-distance home runs. He is introduced to golf by his school's principal. Dandoh quits baseball and decides to play golf instead partly after hearing he could win 30 million

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

in a tournament. He believes if he wins the money, his mother would come back after she left him, his older sister, and his father because of money problems. His nickname comes from an alternate pronunciation of his given name, the Japanese word ''dandō'' ( 弾道, lit. "trajectory"). ; : :Yuka Sunada is Dandoh's friend who follows him to play golf. She constantly worries about Dandoh, but also gets excited after his accomplishments. Yuka's swinging pivot is firm, which allows her to keep her form when under pressure and even when being harassed during her first tournament game. She has a calm and kind personality. Yuka shows talent in golf like Aoba whom she hold strong feelings for. ; : :Kōhei Ooike is Dandoh's friend who follows him to play golf. He also played baseball and could hit further than Dandoh. Along with his strength to hit the ball far, Kōhei excels in putting. ; : :Shinjō Mikiyasu was a Japanese pro golfer who won a tournament over fictional pro golfer Jimmy McGray a year and seven months prior to the beginning of the story. His career came to an end after a car accident, which left him unable to swing a golf club. He envies Dandoh because he has good friends that back him up, thus agrees to teach Dandoh, Yuka, and Kōhei after they show him their determination and patience.

Media

Manga

''Dan Doh!!'' is written by Nobuhiro Sakata and illustrated by Daichi Banjō. It was serialized in

's ''

'' from March 29, 1995 to July 5, 2000. Shogakukan compiled its chapters into twenty-nine ''

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, published from September 18, 1995 to November 18, 2000. The manga was followed by a sequel, titled ''Dan Doh! Xi'', which ran in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from the July 19, 2000 to April 23, 2003. Shogakukan collected its chapters into fifteen ''tankōbon'', published from December 18, 2000 to May 17, 2003. A third series, titled , was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from April 7, 2004 to December 15, 2004. Shogakukan compiled its chapters into four ''tankōbon'', published from July 16, 2004 to January 18, 2005.

Anime

''Dan Doh!!'' was adapted into a 26-episode anime television series which was broadcast on

from April 3 to September 25, 2004. ''Dan Doh!!'' was licensed for North American distribution by

Bandai Entertainment was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

, which they announced at

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

2004 when they wanted to establish a strong presence in the sports genre. The English dub was produced by Odex Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based anime licensor company.

Episode list

Theme songs

;Opening theme : "Going On" by Bullet 77 ;Ending themes : "Wild Flower ~ Hana ni Arashi no Tatoe ari ~ " (WILD FLOWER ~花に嵐の喩えあり~) by Bullet 77 (Episodes 1-13) : "Believe In Love" by Bullet 77 (Episodes 14-25) : "Going On" by Bullet 77 (Episode 26)

References

External links

Official ''Dan Doh!!'' anime site at TV Tokyo
* {{Tokyo Kids 1995 manga 2004 anime television series debuts 2004 manga Bandai Entertainment anime titles Golf in anime and manga Odex Shogakukan manga Shōnen manga TV Tokyo original programming