is a Japanese

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

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 ...

Shūzō Oshimi is a Japanese manga artist who publishes works primarily for Kodansha. He made his debut with ''Superfly'' in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine. He is best known for his manga ''Drifting Net Cafe,'' '' The Flowers of Evil'' and ''Happiness''. ...

that was serialized in the manga magazine, ''

Manga Action is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Futabasha. It is currently published twice a month, on the first and third Thursday. The magazine was originally formed as and began publishing weekly from July 7, 1967. It is considered the firs ...

''. ''Drifting Net Cafe'' is a science fiction mystery involving a group of patrons trapped in an

internet café An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generall ...

, which has become a strange universe of its own. The story focuses primarily on the relationship between Koichi Toki, a

salaryman In Japan, a is a salaried worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works. Salarymen are expected to work long hours, to put in addit ...

who leads a trouble-free but unexciting life, and Kaho Tono, his first love whom he never forgot. The manga was adapted into a TBS

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

on April 15, 2009, and stars Atsushi Itō as Koichi Toki.

Plot

Koichi Toki is an office worker or salaryman with a wife. He works hard to bring food home and leads a rather simple and boring life. During a work trip, he decides to spend time in an internet cafe, where he meets an ex-schoolmate after not seeing each other for a while. In the same cafe, several clients begin to have problems with their computers and the cellular signal disappears. The group of clients together with the manager of the place, Toki and his partner are trapped, to discover that they are in a mysterious place that is not Japan. The group suffers from disagreements, several escalations of anger and despair trying to survive while Toki and his friend's relationship progresses little by little.

Manga

The manga was serialized in

Futabasha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Higashigokenchō, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.会社概要
" Futabasha. R ...

's ''

'' and the 63 chapters were compiled into 7 volumes from February 28, 2009 to June 28, 2011. The defunct American publisher

JManga JManga was an American website and international online community focused on the promotion, distribution, and monetization of digital comics (specifically manga) as well as the development of other manga related services. Founded in December 20 ...

licensed the manga and released the first volume in August 2011. The name of the manga is a reference to

Kazuo Umezu is a Japanese manga artist, musician and actor. He is among the most famous authors of horror manga and has been vital for its development since the 1960s. Life Umezu was born in Kōya, Wakayama Prefecture, but raised in the mountainous Go ...

's ''

The Drifting Classroom is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Kazuo Umezu. It was serialized in the manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from 1972 to 1974, and published as collected ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan. The series fol ...

'', which it is a retelling of. The manga has also been published in Spain by Milky Way Ediciones.

Television series

The series was released in a 4-disc

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

boxset A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

on August 5, 2009. The ending theme「Brave Heart (Remix)」by MAY'S was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on April 22, 2009.

Cast

* Atsushi Itō – Koichi Toki * KIKI – Kaho Tono * Reina Asami – Yukie Toki * Shinpei Takagi – Atsushi * Masahiro Toda – Osawa *

Mai Takahashi is a Japanese actress and model. Takahashi made her acting debut in 2004, playing the role of Amano Sora in TV Asahi's ''Sky High 2''. In 2005, she made her film debut as Fumie Hayashida in ''Simsons''. Since her debut Takahashi has worked with ...

– Kazumi Kato *

Takahiro Hojo is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Takahiro can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *高広, "high, broad" *隆弘, "noble, vast" *隆宏, "noble, wide" *隆博, "noble, gain" *孝広, "filial piety, broa ...

– Takashi Matsuda * Reo Yoshitake – Kameda *

Kazumi Urano is a Japanese singer and ''tarento''. She is represented by Production Ogi and is a former provisional member of the female idol group Watarirouka Hashiritai 7, and former member of AKB48 and SDN48. Biography *Urano was born on 23 October 1985 ...

– Miku * Hidekazu Nagae – Terasawa * Yuko Mano – Sachiko Imai *

Go Riju Go, GO, G.O., or Go! may refer to: Arts and entertainment Games and sport * Go (game), a board game for two players * '' Travel Go'' (formerly ''Go – The International Travel Game''), a game based on world travel * Go, the starting position l ...

– Kensuke Kajimachi * Miyu Watanabe – Saori Mizuno * Shusuke Tsumura – Satomura

Episode information

Special Rerun

Reception

Katherine Dacey of Manga Bookshelf was disappointed in how the first volume of the manga stood in comparison to ''The Drifting Classroom'', saying the horror was not as well-executed, but felt that the manga had better pacing and artwork: "Long-time fans of Classroom are likely to find Oshimi's update slick but soulless, as it relies more heavily on low-budget disaster movies than the original source material for its characters and conflicts." Sean Gaffney of A Case Suitable for Treatment felt that the horror aspect was pulled off well in the first volume, but was turned off by the excessive violence and sex: "It's as sordid as it sounds, and made me feel ill... tdidn't take long for morality to erode, much like 'The Drifting Classroom''"

References

External links

Official website: TV Series

MBS website
* {{Manga Action 2009 Japanese television series debuts 2009 Japanese television series endings 2009 manga Futabasha manga Japanese drama television series Mystery anime and manga Romance anime and manga Science fiction anime and manga Seinen manga Shūzō Oshimi TBS Television (Japan) dramas