is a Japanese
''seinen'' manga series created by
Koharu Sakuraba
is a Japanese manga artist. Sakuraba's best-known work is ''Minami-ke'', a slice-of-life comedy about three sisters, which has run in ''Young Magazine'' since 2004 and has been adapted into an anime that has run multiple seasons. Sakuraba's oth ...
, the author of ''
Minami-ke
is a Japanese manga series by Koharu Sakuraba, creator of ''Kyō no Go no Ni''. It was first serialized in the weekly Japanese manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' in March 2004. The slice of life comedy focuses on the everyday life ...
''. It was originally serialized 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 ''Bessatsu Young Magazine'' from 2002 to 2003, and the twenty-two chapters were later collected together in a single ''
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 along with two
extra
Extra or Xtra may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Film
* ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film
* ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film
Literature
* ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper
* ''Extra!'', an American me ...
chapters and published on November 11, 2003 by Kodansha. The main premise of ''Kyō no Go no Ni'' is the school life of the fifth year class 5-2 (age 11-12), focusing on an elementary-school boy named Ryōta Satō.
In 2006, Shinkūkan produced a four-episode original video adaptation (
OVA
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
) directed by Makoto Sokuza. The OVAs contain a special audio track in which the female characters' voices are replaced by members of the
idol unit Sweet Kiss and were released in two versions: original and special edit.
Xebec
A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a small, fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth ...
produced a thirteen 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 directed by Tsuyoshi Nagasawa, unrelated to the OVAs. It first began airing on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
between October 5, 2008 and December 28, 2008. an OVA version of the anime was released in 2009, directed by Tsuyoshi Nagasawa, featuring the same cast as the anime.
Plot
Ever since their childhood, Ryōta Satō and Chika Koizumi have been close friends, going so far as to
pinky swear
To make a pinky promise, or pinky swear, is a traditional gesture most commonly practiced amongst children involving the locking of the pinkies of two people to signify that a promise has been made. The gesture is taken to signify that the person ...
to marry each other. The story begins when they are both now in their fifth year of
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
in class 5-2 together with their group of friends Yūki Asano, Kazumi Aihara, Natsumi Hirakawa, Megumi Hidaka, Kōji Imai, Tsubasa Kawai. While making his way to sixth year, much to his own dismay, Ryōta is often forced unwillingly into compromising situations.
Characters
;
:
:Ryōta is the protagonist of the series and the childhood friend of Chika, having a crush on her ever since. In the past the two often played together, even sleeping together in the same bed, and promised to marry each other once they had grown into adults. He is best friends with Kōji and good friends with Tsubasa Kawai and often challenges Kōji to see which of the two is better. He enjoys eating and playing games together with the rest of the class. Although he is not very intelligent, he is a kind person and tries to help others when he can, which often unwilling and unintentionally trap him in comprising situations that earn him a beating from either Chika or Yūki. He is naive to the desires of normal males as he is not especially interested in relationships between males and females. Once he falls asleep, not only is it extremely hard to waken him once more, but for anyone who comes into close proximity to him, he will grab them and do something strange to them before they too fall asleep. Not only that, he is also a bad sleeper as he frequently rolls around in his sleep. His seat number is 12.
;
:
:Chika is the childhood friend of Ryōta and in their romantic relationship with each other, she often takes the lead role. She has a crush on him and despite her best attempts, she is unable to get Ryōta to notice. She is fond of her childhood memories that she shares with Ryōta and in the end, she up take his hand. She is usually level-headed but not always, physically abusing Ryōta should he "deserve" it (decided by her jumping to conclusions). She also has a mischievous spirit, unafraid to play pranks on Ryōta, no matter what position they leave him in. Her number on the class list is 10.
;
:
:She is bright, talkative, and active. She enjoys chatting, gossiping, and talking about things such as fashion and frequently worries about the size of her breasts. Though despite having a strong sense of responsibility, she is known for being unable to keep secrets. She has a crush on Kōji and gives him chocolates for
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
. She is a terrible cook. Her number on the class list is 2.
;
:
:She is quiet, mysterious, and sadistic. She is often seen taking notes down in her observational diary on whatever happens to interest her at the time rather than participating in physical activities along with everyone else. However, no one, not even Chika whom she has been friends with for a long time, has ever seen her laugh. Like Ryouta, she is a member of the health committee. Her number on the class list is 1.
;
:
:She is a short, sporty and athletic girl who can beat anyone at sports. Although she generally does not have desires, when she finds a goal, she is able to single-mindely pursue it. Although she is generally a calm person, she is
nyctophobic. She is very innocent, often being stopped by her friends from undressing in public in front of boys. She is a tomboy and refers to herself in a very masculine way as she uses the male-singular pronoun to refer to herself and always dresses in boys clothing except during the epilogue of the anime. Her number on the class list is 17.
;
:
:Megumi wears glasses and is nearly blind without them. Surprisingly, she is a rather carless person and is often fooled by her surroundings. She is more developed then the other girls in her class and is self-conscious when others notice that. She often worries about her weight, ensuring that it stays at exactly 35 kg. Her number on the class list is 16.
;
:
:Kōji is Ryōta's best friend. He is bold and quick witted as well as being knowledgeable as to what girls expect from guys and in his childhood, he was a habitual skirt flipper. He has black hair in the TV version and blond in the OVA. He often challenges Ryōta to several duels to see which of the two is better. He is afraid of Yuki cooking. His number on the class list is 3.
;
:
:Tsubasa is one of Ryōta's close friends. He is very calm and kind, always carrying an innocent smile and often playing the role of mediator between Ryōta and Kōji. He is intelligent and loves reading about and viewing outer space. He has blond hair in the TV version and black in the OVA. His number on the class list is 8.
Media
Manga
The original work for ''Kyō no Go no Ni'' is illustrated and written by
Koharu Sakuraba
is a Japanese manga artist. Sakuraba's best-known work is ''Minami-ke'', a slice-of-life comedy about three sisters, which has run in ''Young Magazine'' since 2004 and has been adapted into an anime that has run multiple seasons. Sakuraba's oth ...
. It was serialized 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 ''
Bessatsu 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 ...
'' between 2002 and 2003. The only ''
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 of the series was published on November 11, 2003. The volume features Chika as the cover character in addition to two ''
omake
''Omake'' (, usually written ) means ''extra'' in Japanese language, Japanese. Its primary meaning is general and widespread. It is used as an anime and manga term to mean "extra or bonus." In the United States, the term is most often used in ...
'' chapters entitled ''Supplementary Lesson - "Today in Tennis Club"'' and ''Invitation''. In a similarly named magazine the ''
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 ...
'', it was announced in its 43rd issue on September 22, 2008 that it would begin serializing ''Kyō no Go no Ni'' once again in its next issue on September 29, 2008.
Chapter List
* 001.
* 002.
* 003.
* 004.
* 005.
* 006.
* 007.
* 008.
* 009.
* 010.
* 011.
* 012.
* 013.
* 014.
* 015.
* 016.
* 017.
* 018.
* 019.
* 020.
* 021.
* 022.
*
* "Turn on the Water"
OVAs
''Kyō no Go no Ni'' was adapted into an
OVA
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
by
Shinkūkan in 2006, directed by
Makoto Sokuza and written by
Miki Okitsu. The music for the OVA was composed by
Toru Yukawa. A sixty-six second trailer was announced on February 20, 2006. A special audio track was included in the DVDs in which the female characters' voices are replaced by members of the idol unit
Sweet Kiss; Chika's voice actor (Mai Kadowaki) is replaced by
Saaya Irie
is a Japanese actress, Voice acting in Japan, voice actress, gravure idol and singer. Her stage name is simply her given name, Saaya.
In addition to her modeling work she has recently been appearing in numerous films, radio, and television prog ...
; Yūki's voice actor (Mikako Takahashi) is replaced by Jessica; Kazumi Aihara's voice actor (Noto Mamiko) is replaced by Runa. It featured three theme songs, one opening and two endings that were all sung by Mai Kadowaki, Mamiko Noto, and Mikako Takahashi. "Baby Love" is used as the opening for all the episodes. is used as the first ending theme for the first two episodes. is used as the second ending theme for the last two episodes. It adapts all the chapters of the manga except for ''9th Period - "Rain"'', ''12th Period - "Fairytale"'', ''17th Period - "Nodding Off"'', and ''Supplementary Lesson - "Today in Tennis Club"''. However, it includes an arc not included in the manga in its second episode entitled ''"5th Period 'Invitation'"''.
The OVAs span four episodes, released in four different DVDs entitled and were released from March 24, 2006 to and March 21, 2007. Each DVD also has a special edit version that comes with an extra item or two. The DVD boxset was released on January 30, 2008. It included all four of the OVA adaptation's DVDs, an additional DVD entitled that included the extra chapter as well as an interview with the staff, and an additional CD which included: all three of the theme songs, all the tracks on the radio drama included with the special edit of the third OVA DVD volume, and a special wallpaper for a computer.
A second
OVA
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
adaptation of ''Kyō no Go no Ni'', directed by
Tsuyoshi Nagasawa and written by
Takamitsu Kouno, featuring the same cast as the anime adaptation by Xebec was released in October 2009. The music was composed by
Kei Haneoka.
Anime
''Kyō no Go no Ni'' was adapted into an
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 ...
by
Xebec
A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a small, fast vessel of the sixteenth to nineteenth ...
, directed by
Tsuyoshi Nagasawa, written by
Takamitsu Kouno, and produced by
Starchild Records. The music for the anime was composed by
Takamitsu Kouno. The major and staff and leading
voice actor
Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
s were announced on August 7, 2008. It was announced that
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
would post a promotional movie on the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
on September 27, 2008. It was broadcast by
TV Tokyo Network Stations and first began airing on TV Tokyo on Sunday at 1:30 starting October 5, 2008 and ending on December 28, 2008. It adapts all the chapters of the manga except the chapter entitled ''"Supplementary Lesson - 'Today in Tennis Club'"''.
The anime adaptation featured six main theme songs, one opening that was also used as an ending theme, and five different ending themes. is used as the opening theme for all the episodes except the last which does not feature an opening theme. is used as the first ending theme from episodes one through three. is used as the second ending theme for episodes four and five. is used as the third ending theme for episode six. is used as the third ending theme from episode seven to episode nine. is used as the fifth ending theme from episode ten to episode twelve. "Nisemono" is used once again as the final ending theme in episode thirteen. The two songs, "Secret Base (Kimi ga Kureta Mono)" and "Daibakuhatsu No.1" are both
covers of the same song performed by
Zone
Zone or The Zone may refer to:
Places Climate and altitude zones
* Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span
* Frigid zone, ...
. All the ending themes feature the voice actors for the main characters: Yū Kobayashi, Asami Shimoda, MAKO, Satomi Akesaka, Yōko Honda, and Kana Asumi under the band name Friends.
Four DVDs were released from December 25, 2008 to March 25, 2009, each containing three episodes except for the last which contains four. Each DVD is assigned a season in chronological order beginning from spring. An official fanbook was released on December 22, 2008 by
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 ...
with an ISBN of 978-4-06-375627-2 and Yūki, Chika, and Kazumi as the cover characters.
CDs
Multiple music
CDs have been released for ''Kyō no Go no Ni''. The first was a
maxi single
A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song.
The first maxi singles
Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...
entitled on March 23, 2006 by
Avex Tracks under the catalog number AVCA-22708.
The single contained three version for each "Baby Love" and "Yakusoku": two versions sung by the two sets of voice actors for Chika Koizumi, Kazumi Aihara, and Yūki Asano (Mai Kadowaki, Mamiko Noto, and Mikako Takahashi, followed by the respective members of
Sweet Kiss) and an instrumental version. A
maxi single
A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song.
The first maxi singles
Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...
entitled ''Nisemono'' was released on November 5, 2008 by
King Records under the catalog number KICM-3175. This single contained "Nisemono" and "Secret Base (Kimi ga Kureta Mono)" in original and instrumental versions as sung by the group, Friends. A
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
of twelve tracks was released on January 7, 2009, entitled ''Best Friends'', by King Records under the catalog number KICA-950. It included all six of the theme songs as sung by the group, Friends: "Nisemono", "Secret Base (Kimi ga Kureta Mono)", "Daibakuhatsu No.1", "Natsu Matsuri", "Yūyake Iro", and "Negai."
The anime adaptation's
original soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of ...
on December 10, 2008 by King Records under the catalog number KICA-945. Twenty-eight tracks of the album are
background music
Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...
whereas the other six tracks are the shortened versions of all the theme songs. The album is separated into four sections named chronologically after the seasons starting with spring.
Drama CDs
King Records has released two
drama CD
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
s adaptations of the series. The first CD is an eight-track album entitled released on December 25, 2008 under the catalog number KICA-951.
The second CD is a nine-track album entitled released on February 25, 2009 under the catalog number KICA-952.
Reception
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
's Carl Kimlinger praised the 2007 OVA's characters design as "smooth" and "shiny". He praised it for almost entirely removing what he described as "squirm-inducing
fan-service" as was present in the OVA adaptation.
See also
*''
Minami-ke
is a Japanese manga series by Koharu Sakuraba, creator of ''Kyō no Go no Ni''. It was first serialized in the weekly Japanese manga magazine ''Weekly Young Magazine'' in March 2004. The slice of life comedy focuses on the everyday life ...
''
References
External links
Official website for the OVA seriesOfficial website for the animeTV Tokyo's website for the animeNew OVA Official Site
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyo no Go no Ni
Anime series based on manga
Kodansha manga
School life in anime and manga
Seinen manga
Xebec (studio)