is a Japanese manga by Mitsuru Sugaya, which ran in ''

CoroCoro Comic is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan, established on May 15, 1977. Its main target is elementary school-aged boys, younger than the readers of shōnen manga, shōnen manga. Several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and ...

'' from 1978 to 1984. It focus on Arashi Ishino, a young gamer whose life revolves around

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedbac ...

. The manga, which is one of the earliest Japanese video game-themed comics, sold over 5 million copies. The series was adapted as a popular

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 ...

television show that aired in 1982 in Japan on Mondays from 7:00pm to 7:30pm.; and in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. In Japanese, the word "Arashi" means "storm". In

, the show aired under the title 電子神童, which translates to "Electronic Prodigy". The series was considered iconic in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, since it came at a time when the public was being exposed to video games for the first time. The manga and TV series opened the imagination and possibilities of what gaming entertainment was about, while boosting its popularity as a new

phenomenon A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried ...

Story

The story is about a young boy named Arashi Ishino who is obsessed with video games. He would spend all his time trying to beat the games and conquer the local arcades. He would meet competitors like Satoru Daimonji and Ishii, who would try to out match him with higher scores. At a certain point in each episode, he would display his special skill of unleashing a top which will spin so fast that both the top and his hands would catch on fire. On release, the spin would land on or near the cabinet panels, turning the ordinary button into a

turbo button On IBM PC compatible computers, the turbo button selects one of two run states: the default "turbo" speed or a reduced speed closer to the Intel 8086 CPU. It was relatively common on computers using the Intel 80286, Intel 80386 and Intel 80486 ...

thus giving him a major advantage. His appearance is known for being bucktoothed, and he always wears a hat labeled "Arashi" with a picture of a sprited alien. ''Game Center Arashi'' was the first animation with a gamer as the lead character and have the plot revolve around life with competitive gaming. Some of the games featured in the show include ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Tomohiro Nishikado. It was manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and licensed to the Midway division of Bally for overseas distribution. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed shooter an ...

'', '' Breakout'', ''

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of aliens, wh ...

'', though they were not explicitly named. Some of Arashi's gaming techniques even have special names like "Blazed Top", "Vacuum Hurricane Shot", "Fish Stance".Clements, Jonathan. McCarthy Helen.

006 Alec Trevelyan (006) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film '' GoldenEye'', the first film to feature actor Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Trevelyan is portrayed by actor Sean Bean. The likeness of Bean as Ale ...

(2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.

Characters

; ; ;

Anime

Staff

Original broadcast

Additional versions and appearances

In 1999, the series spawned a PlayStation novel called ''Game Center Arashi R''. In 2004,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

used the character of Arashi as a mascot to boost

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

sales and image. In 2006 the Let's TV Play Classic series of Plug and Plays used Arashi as a mascot.

References

External links

Official siteGame Center Arashi Manga info
*

{{Shin-Ei TV series 1978 manga 1982 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga CoroCoro Comic Nippon TV original programming Shōnen manga Shin-Ei Animation Shogakukan manga Shogakukan franchises Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga Works about video games