''Moonlight Mile'' (stylized in all caps) 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 written and illustrated by Yasuo Ohtagaki. It was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Big Comic Superior is a semimonthly seinen manga magazine published since July 1, 1987 by Shogakukan in Japan. Its target audience is somewhere between the audience for ''Big Comic Original'' and ''Big Comic Spirits''. The magazine has published works by a number ...

'' from 2000 to 2011, when the manga entered a ten-year hiatus. It resumed publication on

Pixiv is a Japanese online community for artists. It was first launched as a beta test on September 10, 2007, by Takahiro Kamitani and Takanori Katagiri. Pixiv Inc. is headquartered in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. As of April 2020, the site con ...

in December 2021. A twenty-six 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 ...

television series by

Studio Hibari is a Japanese animation studio founded in July 1979 by Hiroyoshi Mitsunobu and his wife Sachiko. In 1985 Hiroyoshi Mitsunobu fell ill and Sachiko Mitsunobu was appointed president. During that time Seiji Mitsunobu (Hiroyoshi and Sachiko's son) wa ...

was broadcast on Wowow for two seasons in 2007. The story follows a pair of

mountain climbers A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

who decide to become

astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

. Yasuo Ohtagaki says, in the preview special of the anime, that his goal in writing the story was to create a realistic space drama that features the political elements involved in modern space missions.

Ken Noguchi is a Japanese mountaineer and environmental activist. His father was a diplomat, so he lived in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Japan. He was often bullied because he was half-Japanese. In 1999, at the age of 25, he became the youngest person ...

, a professional mountain climber, provided inspiration to the creators of ''Moonlight Mile'' for their depictions of ascending

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

Plot

Gorou Saruwatari and Jack "Lostman" Woodbridge are mountain climbers who have ascended some of the highest mountains around the world. At the peak of Mount Everest, they see the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

in the sky above and become determined to go into space. At the same time, the International Space Association (ISA) begins the "Nexus" program to research and obtain a new energy source (

Helium-3 Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (the most common isotope, helium-4, having two protons and two neutrons in contrast). Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the ...

) which has been discovered on the moon. Gorou and Lostman attempt to join the program through different approaches: Lostman becomes a military pilot and Gorou takes a job as a construction worker.

Characters

* Jack F. Woodbridge, a.k.a. "Lostman" () * Gorou Saruwatari () * Kousuke Sawamura () * Steve O'Brien () * Miguel () * Riyoko Ikeuchi () * Maggy Hiraoka () * Akemi Saruwatari ()

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Yasuo Ohtagaki, ''Moonlight Mile'' started in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' in 2000. The series' first part finished in October 2007; the second part started in December of the same year. The second part finished in November 2011 and the manga entered on hiatus, when it was announced that Ohtagaki would start a new series, ''

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuo Ohtagaki. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Superior'' since March 2012, with its chapters collected in twenty ''tankōbon'' volumes a ...

''. Shogakukan collected its chapters into individual ''

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 ...

'' volumes. The first volume was released on May 30, 2001. The 23rd and last volume by Shogakukan was released on January 30, 2012. Shogakukan re-released the first part in a five-volume edition, which collected three original ''tankōbon'' volumes in one, from October 30, 2012, to July 30, 2013. In May 2021, Ohtagaki announced that the manga would resume publication; the series resumed with its third part on the

website on December 25 of the same year. The 24th volume was published as an

ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

by Number Nine on December 23, 2022.

Anime

television series adaptation by

was broadcast on Wowow in 2007; the first season, ''Lift off'', was broadcast for twelve episodes from February 4 to May 26; the second season, ''Touch down'', was broadcast for fourteen episodes from September 13 to December 13, 2007. The main opening theme was composed by

Kan Sawada (born 9 April 1968) is a Japanese composer and arranger. His desire to be a composer came from listening to Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonies in junior high school. Sawada studied composition and orchestration at Tokyo College of Music. He won ...

, while

the Pillows are a Japanese alternative rock band formed in 1989. The group has released 22 studio albums, several Extended play, EPs and compilations, and over 40 singles. Outside Japan, they are best known as the group responsible for the soundtrack to the ...

performed the ending themes "

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...

" and " BOAT HOUSE" for the first and second season, respectively.

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gre ...

acquired the license for U.S. distribution of ''Moonlight Mile'' on July 21, 2007. This was announced at Otakon 2007. The series began its US DVD release on March 3, 2008 and the third and final volume came out on 05/20/2008. A box to hold all three volumes was released with the second volume. As it is currently known, only the first season ''LIFT Off'' has been licensed for a

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

release. In July 2008, the anime became one of over 30 ADV titles transferred to

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

.Anime from FUNimation Entertainment – THE BEST IN ANIME

Season 1

Season 2

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moonlight Mile (Manga) 2000 manga ADV Films Anime series based on manga Funimation Science fiction anime and manga Seinen manga Shogakukan manga Studio Hibari