''Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere'' is a Japanese

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

series written by

Minoru Kawakami is a Japanese author of light novels, best known as the author of the '' Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere'' and '' The Ending Chronicle'' light novel series. Career After graduating from the Faculty of Economics at Josai University, Kawakami ...

and illustrated by Satoyasu. The series is set in the distant future when Japan has been conquered by other countries and divided up into feudal territories. The series is part of a six-stage (particularly the fourth one, called "Genesis") chronicle universe, with Minoru's other light novels (including ''Owari no Chronicle'', the series pre-prequel) encompassing the other five. A 13-episode

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 ...

adaptation by

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

aired between October and December 2011. A 13-episode second season aired between July and September 2012. Both seasons have been licensed and released on DVD and Blu-ray by

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

in North America and

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyro ...

in the UK. A video game adaptation for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

titled ''Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere Portable'' was developed by Tenky, and was released in Japan on April 25, 2013.

Plot

In the far future, humans abandon a devastated Earth and travel to outer space. However, due to an unknown phenomenon that prevents them from traveling into space, humanity returns to Earth only to find it inhospitable except for Japan. To accommodate the entire human population, pocket dimensions are created around Japan to house the returned populace. In order to find a way to return to outer space, the humans begin reenacting human history according to the Holy Book Testament. But in the year 1413 of the Testament Era, due to the destruction of the land created above Japan for the reenactment which was called the Divine Realm, the nations of the pocket dimensions split Japan's territory into several "Divine States" most of which are ruled over by Japanese noble families of which the "Far East" of Japan is represented and the flying ship Musashi is the location of the Far East's academy. Musashi circles Japan and periodically docks in Far East Divine State territory. It is now the year 1648 of the Testament Era, and the Divine States are monitored by the Testament Union, the authority that runs the re-enactment of history. However, rumors of an apocalypse and war begin to spread when the Testament stops revealing what happened after 1648. Taking advantage of this situation, Tori Aoi, head of Musashi Ariadust Academy's Supreme Federation and President of the student council, uses this opportunity to lead his classmates and try to prevent the apocalypse and bring humanity into a better future.

Media

Light novels

''Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere'' began as serial light novel series published in ''

Dengeki Bunko Magazine was a Japanese light novel magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). The magazine succeeded the light novel magazine '' Dengeki hp'', and originally was published as a special edition issue of ''Dengeki Daioh'' for the first ...

'' in 2008. Twenty-nine compilation volumes covering eleven separate arcs have been published by

ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

' imprint

Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint a ...

. In 2012, it was #13 in the 2012 ranking of top-selling light novels by series with 409,949 estimated copies sold.

Manga

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 ...

adaptation illustrated by Hideo Takenaka was serialized between October 2011 and May 2015 issues of ASCII Media Works' manga magazine ''

Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Co ...

'' and was collected into six volumes. A second, four-panel

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

manga, illustrated by Kuraun Hani and titled , was serialized in between the January 2012 and November 2012 issues of ASCII Media Works' ''

Dengeki G's Magazine is a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and seria ...

'' and was collected into one volume.

Video game

A video game adaptation for

was developed by Tenky and released in Japan on April 25, 2013. The game is an RPG, the story is partially based on the anime and the novels but also includes an original scenario, with more than 80 characters from both media making an appearance. The game sold more than 26,000 copies in its first week after launch.

Anime

An anime television series based on the light novel was announced in the March 2011 issue of ''Dengeki Bunko Magazine''. Produced by

, the anime series debuted in Japan on October 1, 2011. The series has been licensed by

in North America and was simulcasted through the

Anime Network Anime Network is an American video on demand (VOD) network dedicated to anime owned by AMC Networks. History The network was launched in North America in late 2002 and is marketed to multi system operators (MSOs) as both a free and subscript ...

on October 4, 2011, followed by a home video release in 2012. Sentai has also licensed the second season for streaming and home video release in 2013. The opening theme song for the first season is "TERMINATED" by

Minori Chihara is a Japanese voice actress and former singer who has had roles in several anime series.Doi, Hitoshi"Chihara Minori" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. She is well known for her voice role as Yuki Nagato in '' The ...

. The first ending theme used is "Pieces -Side Ariadust-" by

AiRI Airi is a feminine given name used in several cultures, including Estonian, Finnish and Japanese. The Japanese name can be written as 愛里, 愛李, 愛莉, 愛理, 愛梨, 藍梨 or あいり in hiragana). In Estonian and Finnish the name is de ...

and the second ending theme used is "Stardust Melodia -Side Horizon-" by

Ceui Ceui (, born January 31) is a Japanese singer–songwriter originally from Chiba, Japan, though she grew up in Fukuoka. Ceui's name is derived from the Portuguese word for sky, céu. She has been singing since 2000, but made her major debut in 20 ...

. For the second season, the opening theme is "ZONE//ALONE" by Minori Chihara. The first ending theme is by

Aira Yūki is a female Japanese singer signed to the record label Lantis. She began her career in 2007 and since then has primarily sung songs that were used for theme music in anime. She released her debut album ''Reflection'' on July 2, 2008. Her second ...

and the second ending theme is by

Masami Okui is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Itami, Hyōgo. She began her professional musical career at age 21 as a concert backup singer. From almost the very beginning of her career, Masami has sung themes for anime television and movies. She ...

. An bonus OVA episode was released with the Blu-ray Disc box set on December 21, 2018.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Sunrise 2008 Japanese novels 2011 anime television series debuts 2011 manga Anime and manga based on light novels ASCII Media Works manga Dengeki Bunko Dengeki Daioh Dengeki G's Magazine Kadokawa Dwango franchises Light novels Japanese LGBT-related animated television series Seinen manga Sentai Filmworks Shōnen manga Sunrise (company) Television shows based on light novels