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 ...

written and illustrated by Yōko Shōji. It is serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''

Shōjo Friend was a shōjo manga magazine formerly published by Kodansha, beginning in 1962. Kodansha used the knowledge gained from publishing magazines aimed at young girls, including ''Nakayoshi'' and '' Shōjo Club'', as well as the experience from publi ...

'' from 1977 to 1984. The individual chapters were published into 24 ''

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 ...

'' by

between February 1978 and June 1985. ''Seito Shokun!'' won the second

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...

in 1978 for the shōjo category. The sequel to the manga, ''Seito Shokun! Kyōshi-hen'' was serialized in Kodansha's ''

Be Love ''Be Love'' is a Japanese monthly (bimonthly May 1982 – 2018) manga magazine targeting women published by Kodansha. It debuted in September 1980. It is one of the leading manga magazines for adult women, the second of its kind (the first being ...

'' between 2004 and 2011. Another spin-off, ''Seito Shokun! Saishū-shō: Tabidachi'', was published between 2011 and 2019 in the same magazine. The manga was adapted into several

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 ...

dramas, with two television drama series, from 1980 to 1981 and in 2007. It was also adapted into two live action television specials, broadcast on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

on February 23, 1986 and June 8, 1987, respectively.

Releases

Manga

''Seito Shokun!'' is a manga written and illustrated by Yōko Shōji. It is serialized in

's ''

'' from 1977 to 1984.

released the manga's 24 ''tankōbon'' between February 1978 and June 1985. In September, 1983,

released a

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

spin-off of ''Seito Shokun!'', called .

re-released the manga in 12 '' kanzenban'' volumes, which were released between December 12, 1995 and March 12, 1996.

released a sequel of the manga, called . It was serialized in Kodansha's ''

josei , also known as and its abbreviation , is an editorial category of Japanese comics that emerged in the 1980s. In a strict sense, ''josei'' refers to manga marketed to an audience of adult women, contrasting ''shōjo'' manga, which is marke ...

'' manga magazine, ''

''. Its first ''tankōbon'' volume was published on April 13, 2004, and its last was published on August 11, 2011. Another spin-off, , is published since the August issue of ''Be Love''. Its first ''tankōbon'' was published on August 11, 2011, and the latest—the 26th—was released on March 13, 2018.

Live action dramas

The manga was adapted into a 28-episode

series, which was broadcast on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

between September 1, 1980 and March 30, 1981. Produced by Toei, the drama was directed by Kimio Hirayama and Takahashi Masaharu, with the script written by

Masaki Tsuji is a Japanese anime screenwriter, mystery writer, manga author, travel critic, essayist, professor as well as mystery fiction novels writer. Tsuji was most active in the business from the 1960s through the 1980s, and worked as a script writer on ...

and Ryō Nakahara and Takeyuki Suzuki and Yoshiaki Koizumi as producers. The series'

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

s, , with lyrics by Kayoko Fujimori and , with lyrics by Yōko Shōji, were both composed by Asei Kobayashi, arranged by Masahisa Takeichi and performed by Satoko Yamano. A live action television special, produced by

Production Reed Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, was broadcast on

on February 23, 1986. Directed by Mitsuo Kusakabe, it starred

Tomoyo Harada is a Japanese actress, singer, and lyricist, and was a popular idol in the 80's. She was cast in numerous films and TV-series since her beginning in 1982 in the leading role of the original TV series '' Sailorfuku to kikanju''. Her first role i ...

Sumi Shimamoto , real name , is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator of film and anime and video games. After graduating from the Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music, she joined Gekidan Seinenza, a theatrical acting troupe. She is currently indepen ...

and

Michie Tomizawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer born in Maruko, Nagano Prefecture and raised in Shinmachi, Gunma. Life and career She is most known for the roles of Matsuzaka-Sensei ('' Crayon Shin-chan''), Manami Kasuga (''Kimagure Orange Roa ...

. Another live-action television special, produced by Hori Productions, was broadcast on Fuji TV on June 8, 1987. It was directed by Makoto Naito, produced by Masayuki Morikawa, Nobuyuki Kurauchi and Akifumi Takuma, with the script written by Ryo Ishikawa. The ending theme song, , composed by Tsugutoshi Gotō with lyrics written by

Yasushi Akimoto is a Japanese record producer, lyricist, and television writer, best known for creating and producing some of Japan's top idol groups, Onyanko Club and the AKB48 franchise. Total sales of the singles he has written exceed 100 million copies, maki ...

, was performed by

Ushirogami Hikaretai Ushirogami Hikaretai (うしろ髪ひかれ隊) was a Japanese idol J-pop band, active from 1987 to 1988. It was the third sub-group of Onyanko Club, consisting of three of its members: Shizuka Kudō, Akiko Ikuina, and Makiko Saitō, the group debu ...

. It starred Miki Itō, Shigeyuki Nakamura and Nagare Harigawa. In 2007, Horipro produced a 10-episode live-action television series. Directed by Karaki Marehiro and Tamura Naoki, the drama's 10 episodes was broadcast on

between April 20, 2007 and June 22, 2007. The series' ending theme, "

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It becam ...

" was performed by

Yui Yui may refer to: People * Yui (name), a Japanese name *Yui (singer) (born 1987), Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress * Yui people or Ibi, a Timucuan-speaking people in what now is Georgia, United States Places * Yui, Sh ...

, who released a CD containing the theme song on June 13, 2007. The soundtrack for the series was released by

Nippon Columbia , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

as a

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

CD on June 20, 2007. The DVD box set for the series was released by

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation is a certified broadcasting holding company headquartered in Osaka, Japan. Until March 31, 2018, it was a unified radio and television broadcaster serving in the Kansai region. On April 1, 2018, its radio and television broadcasting divisions ...

on September 26, 2007. It starred

Rina Uchiyama is a Japanese actress and idol. Career Uchiyama was first discovered in her hometown in Kanagawa Prefecture by the talent agency Sweet Power at the age of 15. She was signed up by the agency, and in 1998, moved to Tokyo to launch her career in ...

Kippei Shiina is a Japanese actor. Career Shiina portrayed John Rain and co-starred in Max Mannix's '' Rain Fall'' (2009) with Gary Oldman. He starred in Takeshi Kitano's '' Outrage'' (2010). Filmography Film *''Wangan Bad Boy Blue'' (1992) *''A Night in Nu ...

Maki Horikita is a Japanese former actress. During her career from 2003 until 2017, she starred in numerous Japanese television dramas, television and magazine advertisements, and movies, including roles in ''Nobuta wo Produce'', ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e' ...

and

Kanata Hongō is a Japanese actor, voice actor and Model (person), model. He is part of Stardust Promotion and has appeared several times in music videos, movies, TV series, and magazines. His major breakthrough role was as Ryoma Echizen in the The Prince of ...

Reception

''Seito Shokun!'' won the second

in 1978 for the '' shōjo'' category. The fourteenth volume of ''Seito Shokun! Kyoshi-hen'' was ranked 10th on the Tohan charts between March 11 and 17, 2008. The sixteenth volume of ''Seito Shokun! Kyoshi-hen'' was ranked 10th on the Tohan charts between November 11 and 17, 2008. The seventeenth volume of ''Seito Shokun! Kyoshi-hen'' was ranked 26th on the Tohan charts between February 10 and 16, 2009. As of 2010, ''Seito Shokun!'' and ''Seito Shokun! Kyoshi-hen'' have sold over 25 million copies in Japan.

References

External links

*
Official Kodansha ''Seito Shokun!'' website
{{Kodansha Manga Award - Shōjo Kodansha manga Romantic comedy anime and manga Shōjo manga Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōjo)