is a Japanese manga by
Rumiko Takahashi
is a Japanese manga artist. With a career of several commercially successful works, beginning with ''Urusei Yatsura'' in 1978, Takahashi is one of Japan's best-known and wealthiest manga artists. Her works are popular worldwide, where they have ...
published in February 1983 issue of ''
Shōnen Sunday Zōkan''. The manga was later compiled in ''
Rumic World
, can refer either to a series of short manga stories written by Rumiko Takahashi or to a series of original video animations (OVAs) based on those stories.
''Rumic World'' was later reprinted in Japan as , and released in English by Viz Med ...
'' books, which are available in English from Viz Media. It 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 ...
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 ...
released in 1987. A subtitled VHS release was published in North America by
US Manga Corps
Central Park Media, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in Midtown Manhattan (on the corner of Central Park, hence ...
on April 7, 1993. An English dub was produced by
Manga UK
Crunchyroll Ltd., trading as Crunchyroll UK and Ireland, is a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded in 1987 as Island World Communications, the company operated as Manga Entertainment Ltd. until ...
.
Plot
The
main character
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of the series is Yuzuru Shiga, one of the descendants of the expiring Shiga clan along with his cousin Azusa Shiga, the daughter of his father's older sister. In order to preserve the family legacy, Azusa's mother and Yuzuru's father agree to have cousins Azusa and Yuzuru marry each other when they are of age. Ten years later, Azusa's mother dies and Azusa goes to live with Yuzuru's family. Azusa fully intends on claiming that promise of marriage from Yuzuru in spite of it being wrought during their childhood. She has been waiting, faithful, not so as much speaking to another boy since that time. Yuzuru, however, has his own life as a high school student: He's the captain of the archery club, and he has a girlfriend named Satomi.
Even though Yuzuru has paid no heed to the betrothal, Azusa has taken it very seriously and expects Yuzuru to fulfill their family expectations. When he was a child, Yuzuru also promised her directly that he’d stay with her, and she took it to heart. When Azusa sees Yuzuru with Satomi, she tries to scare Satomi off in the hope that Yuzuru will return to her; but instead, he goes back to Satomi. Azusa then decides she has to take care of Satomi ''permanently''. And that’s no idle threat because, unknown to Yuzuru, Azusa is a demon because of a
family curse
A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...
, which first manifested itself after Azusa killed a group of boys who tried to rape her.
Satomi tries to tell Yuzuru that Azusa is after her, but she can’t do it directly because Azusa is stalking her. Worse yet, Yuzuru, while aware that something strange is going on, is somewhat oblivious to Azusa’s actions.
Reception
On
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 ...
, Justin Sevakis said the anime "isn't perfect, but it's thoroughly engrossing".
References
External links
*
Furinkan.com page on ''Laughing Target''
{{Pierrot films
1983 manga
1987 anime OVAs
Central Park Media
Horror anime and manga
One-shot manga
Rumic World
Shogakukan manga
Shōnen manga
Works by Rumiko Takahashi