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 by Kōji Matsumoto. It was adapted into a live action film in 2010. It also spawned two sequel series, ''Higanjima: Saigo no 47 Nichikan'', and ''Higanjima 48 Nichigo…'', both published in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''

Weekly Young Magazine is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at the adult male ( ''seinen'') demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the seco ...

''.

Plot

When Akira Miyamoto learns that his older brother, Atsushi, is missing, his family begins to fall apart. The family business fails, and his father becomes an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

. His two parents constantly compare Akira to Atsushi. Worse, Akira has a crush on a girl named Yuki, who already has a boyfriend, his friend Ken. One day, Akira finds a girl unconscious in front of his house. The girl, Rei Aoyama, shows Akira Atsushi's ID card, claiming that Atsushi is alive. Rei explains that Atsushi is trapped on Higanjima Island, said to be inhabited by

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...

. Akira invites his friends to help his brother, under the guise of a vacation to celebrate their graduation. Upon arrival, vampires attack their boat and capture all of them except Rei. However, Akira escapes with his friends before vampires can drain their blood. On the island, he meets with Atsushi, who explains that the vampires are led by Miyabi, another vampire. Trained by Atsushi, Akira and his friends begin the battle against Miyabi and his vampire army in order to escape the island alive. The Plot of Higanjima 47 days set after the events of the original series has Akira and his allies try to stop the invasion only for the second sequel Higanjima 48 days later showed the vampire invasion succeeded.

Characters

Akira Miyamoto is the main protagonist of the franchise appearing in all three installments While Miyabi is the main antagonists appear in all three installments as well.

Publication

''Higanjima'' was serialized between 2002 and 2010 in the ''

''. Kodansha released the first ''

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 ...

'' volume on April 4, 2003, and the 33rd was published on December 6, 2010. A sequel series, , was serialized in the same magazine from October 2, 2010, to July 28, 2014. Sixteen volumes were published between January 6, 2011, and September 5, 2014. Another sequel, , started to be serialized on August 18, 2014. The first volume was published on December 5, 2014; as of April 6, 2020, twenty-four volumes have been released. The first series was published in France by Soleil Manga. Taiwanese publisher Tohan translated all the three series into Chinese. A gag comedy spin-off manga written and illustrated by Tarō Sasebo was serialized on the ''YanMaga Web'' website and the ''Comic Days'' app from October 19, 2020 to December 6, 2021.

Film

Cast

* Hideo Ishiguro – Akira * Dai Watanabe – Atsushi *

Miori Takimoto is a Japanese actress and a former singer. Takimoto debuted in 2003 as a singer of the girl group Sweets, where she performed under the name Miori. After Sweets disbanded, Takimoto appeared on television as an actress. Biography Miori Takim ...

– Yuki *

Tomohisa Yuge is a Japanese actor who has had roles in numerous TV Asahi Tokusatsu shows, including ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' and ''Kamen Rider Kabuto'', as well as a number of films. Filmography Drama *''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' (2003), Goro Yura (Kamen Rider Zolda ...

– Ken-chan *

Osamu Adachi is a Japanese actor and a former member of the acting group D-BOYS. He is best known for his role as Eiji Kikumaru in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical series, Tenimyu, and in the live film adaptation. Career In October 2004, Adachi joined ...

– Nishiyama *

Asami Mizukawa is a Japanese actress. She grew up in Ibaraki, Osaka. She made her debut in 1996 at age 13 in an advertisement for Asahi Kasei's "Hebel Haus". In 2000, she won the ''Grand Prix'' at the “3rd Miss Tokyo Walker” competition (the first winner ...

– Rei * Koji Yamamoto – Miyabi

Reception

Mark Schilling of ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' describes the vampires as "not the sensitive heartthrobs of ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this il ...

'' but vicious, ravenous types who revel in terror and torture." The film grossed $1,247,050 in Japan and $22,142 in Taiwan.

Anime shorts

A short anime adaptation, titled ''Higanjima X'', debuted on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

streaming service on October 15, 2016. On January 8, 2017, Multimedia Studio Tetra announced that

Tomokazu Seki is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He has previously worked with Haikyō. He is honorary president of and affiliated with Atomic Monkey and the chairman of theater company HeroHero Q. He is a special lecturer at Japan Newart College. Caree ...

will voice all of the characters from episode seven through nine.

Television drama

A live-action television adaptation aired between October 24, and December 26, 2013, on

MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepalese politician Places * MBS International Airport (IATA code: MBS), Freeland, Michigan, US * Mari ...

, and TBS. Starring

Shunya Shiraishi is a Japanese actor, best known for his role as Haruto Soma, the main character of the ''Kamen Rider Wizard'' tokusatsu series. He finished second at '' Junon Super Boy Contest 2007''. He is also known for his role as Hisashi Uehara in the Net ...

as Akira, other cast members include Ryohei Suzuki, Rio Yamashita, Megumi Sato, Rui Kurihara,

Yuya Endo is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Ryoma Echizen in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical series (commonly known as ''Tenimyu''). He was also part of a young men's stage acting troupe, D-BOYS, which perform in various sk ...

Shingo Tsurumi is a Japanese actor. Career Shingo Tsurumi has appeared in the films such as Katsuhito Ishii's '' Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl'', Hideo Nakata's '' L: Change the World'', and Tak Sakaguchi's ''Yakuza Weapon''. Filmography Films * ''Tonda ...

, and

Yūga Yamato (born August 4, 1977) is a former '' otokoyaku'' (a female playing a male part) for Cosmos Troupe of Takarazuka Revue. She joined the company in 1995 and became the top star in February 2007 upon the resignation of Kei Takashiro, which made her ...

. The series was released on DVD on March 26, 2014. A sequel television series adapting ''Higanjima: Saigo no 47 Nichikan'' and featuring the same cast was announced in August 2014.

Video game

A video game adaptation of ''Higanjima'' was released in 2005 by

Now Production (Stylized as NOWPRO) is a Japanese video game developer headquartered in Chūō-ku, Osaka. Founded in 1986, it started developing various games for major Japanese companies including Namco, Hudson Soft, Capcom, Activision, Taito, Konami, Sega, ...

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, ...

."Update: ''Higanjima''" video game
at

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

References

External links

* * * {{Comic Days 2002 manga 2005 video games 2010 manga 2010s exploitation films 2010s Japanese films Films scored by Hiroyuki Sawano Funimation Horror anime and manga Islands in fiction Japan-exclusive video games Japanese supernatural horror films Japanese vampire films Kodansha manga Live-action films based on manga Mainichi Broadcasting System original programming Manga adapted into films Now Production games PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Portable-only games Seinen manga TBS Television (Japan) dramas Video games based on anime and manga Video games developed in Japan