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is a 2006 Japanese novel by
Shion Miura is a Japanese writer. She has won the Naoki Prize, the Oda Sakunosuke Prize, and the Japan Booksellers' Award. Her work has been adapted for film and television, and her books have been translated into Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, E ...
. The novel has received a
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 ...
and a live-action film adaptation, as well as 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 ...
television series adaptation produced by
Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
that aired from October 2018 to March 2019.


Synopsis

Kakeru, a former elite runner at high school, is chased for stealing food. He is saved by a Kansei University student named Haiji, who is also a runner. Haiji persuades Kakeru to live in the old dormitory "Chikusei-so" where he plans to team up with fellow residents to enter the
Hakone Ekiden , officially called the , is one of the most prominent university ''ekiden'' (relay marathon) races of the year held between Tokyo and Hakone in Japan on January 2 and 3. The race is telecast on Nippon Television. This two-day race from Ōtemachi ...
relay marathon, one of the most prominent university races in Japan. Kakeru soon finds out that all of the residents except for Haiji and himself are complete novices.


Characters

; : :Kakeru is a 1st year sociology student at Kansei University Student and an experienced runner. A prodigious athlete since high school, he became disillusioned due to an incident on his old Track and Field team. He first joined Chikusei-so after Haiji meets him stealing from a convenience store. Over the course of the story, Kakeru learns the meaning of running together with others. ; : :Haiji is a 4th year Kansei University Student and a long time resident of Chikusei-so. He has dreams of running in the Hakone Ekiden with a team and slowly built up one of at-first unwilling acquaintances at the dorm. Despite recovering from a knee injury, Haiji remains one of the most enthusiastic residents and coach of the group. ; : :Known as 'Shindo' to the other members of the dorm. Generally considered an honor student by the other residents of Chikusei-so, Takashi is an earnest student from the mountain regions. He was the first convinced by Haiji to give running a chance and has been a significant driving force behind the others. His dedication towards training originally stemmed from wanting to inspire and impress his family, but eventually became something entirely his own. ; : :Nicknamed 'Prince' by the other dorm members, Akane is a manga enthusiast with his room filled to the brim with various volumes. He began as one of the most reluctant and slowest members due to his lack of physical stamina and indoor tendencies. Akane picked up his training after Takashi had his family send over a treadmill for him to remain indoors to read manga. After finding true inspiration from his friends at Chikusei-so and Kakeru's presence, he pushes himself beyond his limitations. ; : :The older of the Jō twins. He goes by Jota and is nearly indistinguishable from his younger brother. The two think and act in tandem. Though he was originally driven by the intention to attract girls through running, Jota came to appreciate the sport. ; : :The younger of the Jō twins. He goes by Joji and appears almost the exact same as his elder brother. Originally intending to run for the sake of becoming popular with girls, he realize that running was something enjoyable in itself. ; : :Known as 'Yuki' by the other members of Chikusei-so, he passed the bar examination on his first try. Yuki was initially reluctant to run and was bent on defying Haiji's enthusiasm, but eventually got drawn into it as the others members did. He hates the smell of tobacco coming from Akihiro's smoking until he quit for running. ; : :Musa is a native to Tanzania. He moved to Japan to study Space and Engineering as a sponsored international student at Kansei University. His Japanese still has flaws leading to some misunderstandings and written mistakes. Kind and earnest, Musa is always supportive of his other team members and is well known by the residents of the local shopping district. ; : :Known as 'King' due to his love of trivia, Yohei is a 4th year Sociology student at Kansei University. Besides his nightly trivia marathons, he's generally preoccupied by job hunting to no avail. Yohei eventually relented and joined in the team's efforts due to the earnest words of Takashi. ; : :Known as 'Nico-senpai' due to his habit of smoking. Prior to entering Kansei University, he ran Track during high school but quit due to his coach. As Akihiro picked up running again under Haiji's influence, he stopped smoking and began to make small metallic figures as a substitute. ; : :Known as Hana-chan to the members of Chikusei-so, she is a 3rd year high school student and daughter of one of the shop owners in the local shopping district. At Haiji's request, Hanako rode her bike alongside the team and also times their runs. She's become well known for her terrible cooking. ; : :Sakaki was a member of Kakeru's high school Track and Field team. He developed an eternal grudge towards Kakeru after causing an incident that affected their entire team. ; : :Kazuma is a running prodigy and famous among intercollegiate track meets and races. He knew Haiji prior to his knee injury and becomes a target for Kakeru to defeat. ; : :Genichiro is the landlord of Chikusei-so and the official coach of the team. However, he leaves most of the work to Haiji and his enthusiasm.


Media


Novel

The novel was written by
Shion Miura is a Japanese writer. She has won the Naoki Prize, the Oda Sakunosuke Prize, and the Japan Booksellers' Award. Her work has been adapted for film and television, and her books have been translated into Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, E ...
, and
Shinchosha is a publisher founded in 1896 in Japan and headquartered in Yaraichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinchosha is one of the sponsors of the Japan Fantasy Novel Award. Books * Haruki Murakami: ''Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World'' (1985), ...
published it on September 22, 2006. Shinchosha published a second edition of the novel on July 1, 2009. In January 2024,
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
announced that they will release the novel in English.


Manga

A
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 ...
adaptation by Sorata Unno launched in
Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's ''Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in ''tankōbon'' v ...
'' on October 18, 2007. It moved to ''Monthly Young Jump'' in 2008, where it ran until November 17, 2009.


Live-action film

A live-action film adaptation premiered in October 2009.


Anime

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 ...
television series adaptation premiered from October 2, 2018 to March 26, 2019, and was broadcast on
NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...
, SDT, YTV and BS-NTV. The series is directed by Kazuya Nomura and written by Kohei Kiyasu, with animation by
Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
. The series' character designs are provided by Takahiro Chiba and the music is composed by Yuki Hayashi. It aired for 23 episodes, and
Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...
simulcasted the series. The series is licensed by
Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...
for streaming and home video release. An English dub of the series was confirmed by Sentai on November 16, 2019.


Music

In the first half of the anime, the opening theme song is "Catch Up, Latency" by
Unison Square Garden Unison Square Garden (stylized as UNISON SQUARE GARDEN, or USG) is a Japanese pop rock band signed to Toy's Factory. The band includes Kosuke Saito (vocals/guitar), Tomoya Tabuchi (bass/backing vocals), and Takao Suzuki (drums). Career In July 2004 ...
and the ending theme song is "Reset" by
Taichi Mukai is a Japanese singer, songwriter and model from Fukuoka. He was previously a member of the funk band Modio and signed with Miya Terrace in 2017 as a solo artist, releasing his debut studio album, ''Blue''. Mukai has collaborated with a range o ...
. In the second half of the anime, the opening theme song is "Kaze Tsuyoku, Kimi Atsuku" by Q-MHz and
Sky-Hi is a Japanese rapper, singer, actor, dancer, and a member of the J-pop group AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * ...
, and the ending theme song is "Michi" by Taichi Mukai. The anime series' soundtrack is composed by Yuki Hayashi. A two-disc soundtrack album published by Toho Animation Records was released on December 19, 2018 with a total of 51 tracks.


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Production I.G 2000s Japanese films 2006 Japanese novels Anime and manga based on novels HarperCollins books Production I.G Seinen manga Sentai Filmworks Shinchosha books Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Toho Animation