, also known as ''Rainbow Samurai'', is a Japanese
manga series written by
Tetsuya Takeda
Tetsuya Takeda (), born April 11, 1949, is a Japanese folk singer and actor. Takeda is perhaps most known in Japan for his starring role in the Tokyo Broadcasting System's (TBS) long-running, highly rated television drama '' Sannen B Gumi Kinpa ...
and illustrated by
Yū Koyama
is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from the University of Shizuoka he moved to Tokyo and in 1968 took a job with Saito Productions, the company run by Takao Saitō. In 1971 he worked with Kazuo Koike at Studio Ship.
Koyama debuted in ...
. It is a comical and serious account mixing history and fiction of the life of the
Bakumatsu period
was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji govern ...
leader
Sakamoto Ryōma
was a Japanese ''samurai'', a '' shishi'' and influential figure of the ''Bakumatsu'' and establishment of the Empire of Japan in the late Edo period.
He was a low-ranking ''samurai'' from the Tosa Domain on Shikoku and became an active oppo ...
. 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 H ...
's
''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Shōnen Big Comic
was a bi-weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan from 1979 to 1987. From 1976 to 1979, the magazine was titled before being renamed ''Shōnen Big Comics'' in 1979. In 1987, the magazine changed format and was renamed ''Weekly ...
'' (1986–1987) and
''seinen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Sunday
was a weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan since the first issue on March 27, 1987. It replaced '' Shōnen Big Comic'' in Shogakukan's lineup of shōnen titles, and many of the titles in ''Shōnen Big Comic'' were continued in ...
'' (1987–1996), with its chapters collected in 23 ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes. It was adapted into a 39-episode
anime
is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
television series by Nippon Herald Films and Animation 21 and broadcast on
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
from April 1992 to March 1993. The manga has over 15 million copies in circulation.
Synopsis
It is November 15, 1835, near
Kōchi Castle. The youngest daughter of the Sakamoto family, Otome Sakamoto, is stargazing and sees a comet. That day her mother, Sachi Sakamoto, is about to give birth. The comet appears as a dragon and a horse, and Otome shouts to it: "Make the child born tonight a boy! I promise I'll make him a strong samurai!", after which the comet changes to a soft glow. Soon the first cry of the baby is heard—a strong baby boy. However, the newborn boy has long hair on his back which is seen as strange. At this the father, Yahei, is dumbfounded but Otome names the boy Ryōma, a name combining Japanese characters for dragon and horse.
Ryōma quickly grows but is a coward and a crybaby. He is mocked for his back hair and bullied every day by children in the neighborhood. He is not a good student and is thrown out of his
juku
''Gakushū juku'' ( ja, 学習塾; see cram school) are private, fee-paying schools that offer supplementary classes often in preparation for key school and university entrance exams. The term is primarily used to characterize such schools in ...
. Otome and the second oldest sister Ei do not give up on Ryōma, and raise him more strictly. Even so, Ryōma's unique characteristic is his kind heart. This kind heart amazes the bullies in the neighborhood, led by a young Izo Okada. Zuizan Takechi, helped by Ryōma, is also impressed by his capacity for good. It looks as though Ryōma will enjoy a peaceful childhood, but he soon learns about the oppression of the by the upper class samurai. His mother is chased to her death by the ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...
'' Yamanōchi, after which Ryōma vows to himself: "I want to become stronger!", at the age of 16.
Media
Manga
Written by
Tetsuya Takeda
Tetsuya Takeda (), born April 11, 1949, is a Japanese folk singer and actor. Takeda is perhaps most known in Japan for his starring role in the Tokyo Broadcasting System's (TBS) long-running, highly rated television drama '' Sannen B Gumi Kinpa ...
and illustrated by
Yū Koyama
is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from the University of Shizuoka he moved to Tokyo and in 1968 took a job with Saito Productions, the company run by Takao Saitō. In 1971 he worked with Kazuo Koike at Studio Ship.
Koyama debuted in ...
, ''Oi! Ryoma'' 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 H ...
's
''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Shōnen Big Comic'' from 1986 to 1987, when the magazine ceased its publication and was transferred to the
''seinen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Sunday
was a weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan since the first issue on March 27, 1987. It replaced '' Shōnen Big Comic'' in Shogakukan's lineup of shōnen titles, and many of the titles in ''Shōnen Big Comic'' were continued in ...
'', where it ran until its conclusion in 1996. Shogakukan collected its chapters in twenty-three ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes, released from October 5, 1987, to July 5, 1996; it was later republished in fourteen ''
wideban'' volumes from January 16, 1998, to March 16, 2000; and twelve ''
shinsoban'' volumes from October 30, 2009, to March 30, 2010.
Anime
The manga was adapted into a thirty-nine episode
anime
is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
television series, produced by Nippon Herald Films and Animation 21 and broadcast on
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
from April 7, 1992, to March 30, 1993.
Reception
As of November 2009, the manga had over 15 million copies in circulation.
References
External links
*
{{Weekly Young Sunday
Historical anime and manga
NHK original programming
Shogakukan manga
Seinen manga
Shōnen manga
Yū Koyama