is a Japanese ''
shōjo''
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
Hinako Ashihara
is a Japanese manga artist. She wrote and illustrated various manga series, including, ''Homemade Home'', ''Forbidden Dance'', ''Sand Chronicles'', '' Piece: Kanojo no Kioku'', ''Tennen Bitter Chocolate'', ''SOS'', and ''Chouchou Kumo''. Ashiha ...
. 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 ''
Betsucomi
, known as before 2000, is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was conceived as a or "special issue" of its sister magazine '' Shōjo Comic''. It is released on the 13th of each month.
Serializations
Current
* ' ...
'' magazine from the May 2003 issue (released in April) to the July 2006 issue (released in June).
Shogakukan collected the individual chapters into 10
bound volumes from August 2003 to August 2006.
The series won the 50th
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being ...
in the ''shōjo'' manga category in 2005.
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
licensed the manga for an English-language release in North America, first serialized in their ''
Shojo Beat
''Shojo Beat'' is a manga magazine formerly published in North America by Viz Media. Launched in June 2005 as a sister magazine for '' Shonen Jump'', it featured serialized chapters from six manga series, as well as articles on Japanese cult ...
'' magazine in 2007 and later published in ten print volumes from January 2008 to January 2011.
The manga is also licensed by
Kana
The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...
in France and by
Planet Manga
Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectable stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hunga ...
in Germany.
In 2007, ''Sand Chronicles'' inspired a
live-action
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
Japanese television drama
, also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thriller ...
series which aired during the half-hour Love Theatre time-slot on
TBS. In 2008, the manga was adapted into a live-action Japanese
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
directed by
Shinsuke Sato
is a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter and video game designer. He has directed several live-action film adaptations of manga and anime, including ''The Princess Blade'' (2001), ''Gantz'' (2011), ''I Am a Hero'' (2015), ''Bleach'' (2018), ''Inuya ...
, starring
Kaho and
Nao Matsushita
is a Japanese actress and singer.
History
Nao was born in Ikoma, Nara on 8 February 1985 and grew up in Kawanishi, Hyōgo. Winning Japan's Elite Model Look started her modeling career in earnest. She attended the Tokyo College of Music.
D ...
as the main character Ann during different stages of her life.
Plot
Twelve-year-old Ann Uekusa and her mother move to the small town of
Shimane
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geo ...
, where Ann's grandparents live and everyone seems to be familiar with everyone else. Ann soon becomes friends with Daigo, a young boy who lives in Shimane, as well as Fuji and Shika, Fuji's younger sister and her best friend in Shimane.
When Ann's mother, Miwako, commits
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
, Daigo helps Ann cope with the sudden change in her life. They fall in love, but Ann's life can only become more complicated when her estranged father suddenly arrives from
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. After greatly contemplating going to Tokyo to live with her father after he asks her, she decides to stay. Ann tells Daigo about her decision but makes her go anyway. Ann and Fuji both live in Tokyo but hardly ever talk because Fuji goes to an elite high school, K High. Ann reunites with the friends she had before moving to Shimane and they continue their friendships. In Tokyo, she ends up becoming closer to Fuji, which causes conflict between her and Daigo.
In Shimane, Shika learns the truth about her parentage; in her confusion, she begins to fall in love with Daigo. When Ann returns to Shimane, Shika upsets Ann's fragile emotional state so that Ann and Daigo will break up. In the end, Ann breaks up with Daigo for fear that her own sadness will weigh him down. Ann returns to Tokyo and starts a relationship with Fuji; however, because she does not love him, the relationship does not last. Daigo refuses Shika and rumors begin to circulate that he is interested in his middle school classmate Ayumu, who has been helping him studying to get into university and become a teacher.
Nearing graduation, Ann learns that her father and his friend Kaede Kuroki have been dating and she is pregnant with Ann's half-sister.
After attending her middle school reunion, Ann spends some time with Daigo, where he tells her to find her own happiness. Six years later, Ann meets a young businessman named Keiichiro Sakura and they become engaged shortly after. After Ann learns that he only uses people for his own gain, she confronts him about his insensitivity, but he is disappointed in her and breaks off the engagement. Almost a week afterward, she takes a train to
Okayama
is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is .
The city is ...
, where Daigo teaches elementary school. Ann's grandmother, meanwhile, believes Ann will suffer the same fate as her mother. After a
suicide attempt
A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide res ...
on the beach, Ann is taken to the hospital and later meets Daigo, who asks her to marry him. She says yes, and at the very end, the two are shown to be happily married with an infant son named Ryo. Meanwhile, Fuji decides to marry his cousin Mariko (against his family's wishes) and Shiika decides to work for her uncle in America.
Characters
; ,
: Drama actresses:
Megumi Satō,
Ryoko Kobayashi
is a Japanese actress.
Filmography
Movies
*''Hinokio'' (2005), Sumire
*''Kamen Rider The First'' (2005), Miyoko Harada
*''Zoo'' (2005)
*'' Helen the Baby Fox'' (2006), Misuzu Yajima
*'' Wangan Midnight'' (2009)
*'' Pink and Gray'' (2016)
*''2 ...
(middle school),
Karen Miyama
is a Japanese actress and voice actress. She used to be part of the Gekidan Tohai talent agency, and is now part of Horipro talent agency. She portrayed the young Ann Uekusa in the live-action drama ''Sand Chronicles''. In anime, she provided ...
(young girl)
: The protagonist of the story. An affectionate, sensitive girl who likes to be silly sometimes, Ann cares deeply for all her friends. After her mother's death, she and Daigo become very close and she wishes to be able to stay with Daigo for the rest of her life. However, she chooses to return to Tokyo to take care of her estranged father when he comes to see her in Shimane.
;
: Drama actors:
Terunosuke Takezai
is a Japanese actor. He is sometimes referred to as a ''promotion video actor'' due to his numerous appearances in promotion videos.http://50秒ニュース.com/geinoukai/pvhaiyu/
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
...
,
Kazuma Sano
is a Japanese actor.
Sano is represented with Stardust Promotion's Section 3.
Biography
While he was in his third-year junior high school, Sano was scouted in Shibuya Station. He is a former member of Stardust Promotion's young actor dance unit ...
(middle school), and (young boy)
: Ann's first friend when she comes to Shimane, Daigo is very athletic and is not very articulate. He and Ann eventually fall in love and begin a
long-distance relationship
A long-distance relationship (LDR) or long-distance romantic relationship (LDRR) is an intimate relationship between partners who are geographically separated from one another. Partners in LDRs face geographic separation and lack of face-to-face ...
when she leaves Shimane for Tokyo. They break up when Ann feels that she's too much of a burden to him. He and Ann are the same age. His mother is a down-to-earth woman who was best friends with Ann's mother.
;
: Drama actors:
Jōji Shibue,
Ruito Aoyagi
is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Gakuto Mukahi in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musicals. He is managed by Amuse, Inc.
Appearances
Musicals
* Musical Kuroshitsuji: That Butler, friendship (May 28, 2009 and June 7, ...
(middle school), and (young boy)
: Shiika's older brother, Fuji comes from a well-off family. He is the same age as Ann and Daigo and has a secret crush on Ann, which he eventually reveals to her. Fuji tends to keep to himself and eventually decides to attend high school in Tokyo shortly before Ann leaves Shimane. He has doubts concerning who he is because it is suspected that Fuji is not his father's biological son (though his father has accepted him as such), but the son of one of his mother's affairs. It is revealed eventually that he did not result from the affair, though it remains the reason why his mother does not treat him the same as his younger sister.
;
: Drama actresses:
Akiko Kinouchi, (middle school), and (young girl)
: Ann's best friend in Shimane and perhaps her only best friend growing up. Though her mother is kind and loyal to her children, Shiika does not get along with her well. She is one year younger than Ann. It is revealed through a letter written by her mother to a lover that she is the child of one of her mother's affairs rather than Fuji. The reason that her mother pays more attention to her and pushes her so hard it is out of guilt of the affair.
;
: Ann's grandmother, the mother of . Though she is strict, she wants what's best for Ann and cares for her. When Miwako commits suicide and leaves Ann in the care of her parents, Ann's grandmother believes that she was too insensitive to Miwako, but was unable to bear seeing her daughter so depressed and blames herself for Miwako's weakness.
;
: Miwako partially married Ann's father to leave Shimane because she was too sensitive to bear how everyone in her town gossiped about one another so easily. They moved to Tokyo after marrying, but when Ann's father ended up deeply in debt during Ann's childhood, Miwako divorced him. A year after Miwako commits suicide, he comes to Shimane and offers to take care of Ann should she choose to return to Tokyo. He cares deeply for his family and worked very hard to clear his debts before he approached them again. He calls upon Ann to live with him in Tokyo because he promises the debts are soon over. Ann now lives with him for high school.
;
: Ann's childhood rival, who had her sights set on Daigo and used dirty tricks to try to get him for herself, which, incidentally, lead to them being a couple. Ayumu, her brother, and the rest of her family move back to Shimane and meet up with Daigo after Daigo plays soccer with her little brother. She now tutors Daigo because he told her he wanted to be a grade-school teacher and she is the only one who supports him. Everyone thinks Ayumu and Daigo have a thing but Daigo doesn't want that.
;
: Masahiro's new wife and Ann's stepmother. She stated that she's been in love with Ann's father since high school, although he was completely unaware until many years later. In volume 7, she gives birth to Ann's half-sister, .
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{Shinsuke Sato
2003 manga
2007 Japanese television series debuts
2007 Japanese television series endings
Drama anime and manga
Films set in Shimane Prefecture
Japanese television dramas based on manga
Manga adapted into films
Romance anime and manga
Shogakukan franchises
Shogakukan manga
Shōjo manga
TBS Television (Japan) dramas
Viz Media manga
Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo manga
Japanese romantic drama films