is a Japanese

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 and illustrated by

Hinako Ashihara is a Japanese manga artist. She wrote and illustrated various manga series, including, ''Homemade Home'', ''Forbidden Dance'', ''Sand Chronicles'', '' Piece: Kanojo no Kioku'', ''Tennen Bitter Chocolate'', ''SOS'', and ''Chouchou Kumo''. Ashiha ...

. 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 ''

Bessatsu Shōjo Comic , known as before 2000, is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was conceived as a or "special issue" of its sister magazine ''Shōjo Comic''. It is released on the 13th of each month. Serializations Current * '' ...

'' magazine from the June 1997 issue to the September 1998 issue. Shogakukan collected the individual chapters into four bound volumes under the Flower Comics imprint from December 1997 to December 1998.

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

licensed the manga for an English-language release in North America and published four volumes from August 2003 to March 2004. The manga went

out-of-print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

when Tokyopop closed its North American publishing division in 2011.

Plot

Aya Fujii is a high school student who eats, sleeps and breathes

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, but an accident during the National Competition causes an ankle injury for her that left her unable to dance for nearly a year. Although Aya recovers physically, she has not recovered psychologically. It isn't until she is invited to watch the performance of a small ballet troupe, called COOL, that Aya comes out of her funk. Now she has a new goal, to dance on stage with the charismatic leader of COOL: Akira Hibiya. However, since Akira has an incredibly strong presence and powerful

charisma Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

, many girls have made such proclamations that have been ignored. Thus Aya was labeled a fanatical

fangirl A fan or fanatic, sometimes also termed an aficionado or enthusiast, is a person who exhibits strong interest or admiration for something or somebody, such as a celebrity, a sport, a sports team, a genre, a politician, a book, a movie, a vid ...

and promptly escorted from the theater where the performance took place. As the story progresses Aya struggles to prove her worth as a ballet dancer and earn her place in COOL, while also struggling with more typical teenage concerns such as her friends and her grades in school. While the main focus is Aya, the story also delves into the backgrounds of most of the supporting characters. Aya herself is not left out of the character development, as she refines her ballet technique and matures emotionally throughout the narrative.

Characters

* * * * * Nachan

Volumes

References

External links

* * {{Betsucomi 1997 manga Art in anime and manga Drama anime and manga Dance in anime and manga Manga series Romance anime and manga Shogakukan manga Shōjo manga Tokyopop titles