''Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed'', titled in Japan, or simply ''Shigofumi'', is a Japanese
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
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
created by Tomorō Yuzawa and produced by
Bandai Visual
was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
Most of the anime and f ...
and
Genco
is a Japanese anime production enterprise, founded on March 3, 1997. Presided over by Tarō Maki, its headquarters is located in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. It has produced numerous anime series such as ''Honey and Clover'', '' Nodame Cantabile'', ...
,
which aired in Japan on
Chiba TV , doing business as , is a Japanese commercial terrestrial television broadcasting company headquartered at 11-25 Miyako-chō 1-chōme, Chūō-ku, Chiba serving Chiba Prefecture but spill-over is received in the neighbouring prefectures. It is a m ...
and other networks between January 6 and March 22, 2008, and contains twelve episodes. An
original video animation episodes was included with the final anime
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
volume released on September 26, 2008. A
light novel
A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
series was originally adapted from the anime's premise set by Tomorō Yuzawa, featuring story composition and illustrations by Ryō Amamiya and Poko, respectively. Four novels were published by
MediaWorks under their ''
Dengeki Bunko
is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint ai ...
''
imprint between October 2006 and March 2008. Despite the novels being produced first, the anime is considered the original work, as stated by Yuzawa.
The anime was acquired by Bandai Visual for English language localization.
The title ''Shigofumi'' comes from the combination of the Japanese words for , and , which literally translates to an "after death letter". However, the release was cancelled and Bandai Visual closed its North American branch. Sentai Filmworks picked up the license and released the entire series on DVD in 2010.
Plot
''Shigofumi'' primarily centers around a young-looking girl named Fumika who works as a
mail carrier
A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...
to deliver . These letters are written by people after they die and are delivered to the person the letter is addressed to in the living world. The letters contain things that the now-deceased could not say while they were alive, such as things they wanted to say before they died, or even to inform others about who killed them in the case of a murder. Accompanying Fumika is her talking staff Kanaka which can also float of its own accord and likes to be treated as if "she" were a human. In contrast to Fumika who is quiet and serious about her job, Kanaka is loud and boisterous. The story follows Fumika and Kanaka as they interact with the living via the ''shigofumi''. Shigofumi mail carriers are assigned a specific area that they deliver letters to, just like a normal mail carrier. When they are not delivering letters from the dead, they are in another realm called Shigo. The mail carriers are usually now-dead humans who do not age, and take on the appearance of just before they died, but Fumika does age, signifying that she is not dead yet.
Characters
;
:
:Fumika is the main character in the anime series. She appears to be a young girl, though her real age is never mentioned. She works as a
mail carrier
A mail carrier, mailman, mailwoman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, or letter carrier (in American English), sometimes colloquially known as a postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), is an employee of a post ...
from the afterlife realm of Shigo, delivering what are known as "shigofumi" to people in a Japanese city that she has been assigned to. These shigofumi are letters written by those who have recently died, and it is Fumika's job to deliver the letters to whoever the dead wanted them to go to. Though typically the shigofumi mail carriers are people who have already died, and thus do not age, Fumika is different in that she ages at the same rate as a normal person, signifying that she has not died yet but is merely in a state of
astral projection.
:Fumika is almost always calm and speaks in a low monotonic voice. She is serious about her job and carries out her duties even if it takes her longer to deliver a given letter, such as her having to follow the recipient by train to another part of Japan. She does not like normal people interfering with her work, and often has to resort to violence or threaten others with a large gun she carries in order to complete her deliveries. Due to her unusual occupation and the uniform she wears, she is generally not taken seriously when she tells others that she is delivering an "after death letter" to them, but continues to persist until she has handed over the letter. The only time she shows any expression is when around cats which make her very agitated to the point of her losing her composure entirely.
:While still the main focus in the light novels, her character is somewhat different. She still appears the same and generally carries the same personality, though Fumika in the novel, for one, hates all insects vehemently and will not even go near them. She loves to play
shogi (Japanese chess), though she plays on only intuition alone.
:Fumika actually suffers from
dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states.
The di ...
due to the abuse from her father, Kirameki Mikawa, while growing up. The two personalities are Fumi and Mika. Mika is the shigofumi mail carrier that takes her job very seriously; and Fumi is a kind, outgoing young girl. Mika is the one that shot Kirameki when he tried to kill Fumika when she made him remember her mother. Fumi blamed herself for the shooting, withdrawing to a coma-like state, causing Mika to "die". Mika has said that even her words do not reach Fumi.
;
:
:The
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
staff that Fumika carries is named Kanaka in the anime and Mayama in the light novels, and are drastically different between the two media. The function of the staff is meant to aid the shigofumi mail carrier by keeping track of senders, receivers, the delivery area, and supplementing other usual tasks. The mail carrier can give the staff a numeral code pertaining to a program which can be activated and aid the mail carrier further, such as turning them invisible, or supplementing white wings on their back to enable them to fly, though there are time limits on these programs. The staffs carry their own personalities and have the ability to levitate. In the anime, Fumika's staff Kanaka has a female voice and a loud, boisterous personality which directly contrasts Fumika's otherwise placid disposition. Kanaka often gives Fumika her opinion on matters pertaining to who she is delivering letter to, though Fumika just goes along her business as usual either way. Despite technically not being alive, Kanaka still insists that "she" be referred to as a person, or in terms of what a person would do, such as while levitating or regenerating which she calls "standing" and "sleeping" respectively. Kanaka is prone to making mistakes while on the job, such as misplacing letters.
:In the light novels, Mayama as the staff is called, has a young boy's voice, though still serves the same function of supporting Fumika in her delivering. "He" always talks down to Fumika and proves her to be wrong in certain situations. He has never been able to beat Fumika at shogi, though he can still do things she cannot, such as reading foreign languages.
;
:
:Chiaki is Fumika's coworker and
superior, though unlike Fumika, Chiaki has already died. Chiaki died due to a car accident and thus retains the appearance of how she looked before she died, which happens to be very similar to Fumika, though Chiaki does not age. She says she is "over twenty-one-years-old" (and admits in that she died over 'fifty years ago'), however looks roughly as old as Fumika is. She is assigned a different city in Japan than Fumika, and the two rarely ever meet on Earth, but do see each other more often when in Shigo. Chiaki has a bright personality and likes to express her emotions outwardly, whether they be related to frustration, or happiness. As observed by Fumika, Chiaki usually is not as diligent about her job as Fumika is, and if a delivery is too much of a pain, she will generally drop it, marking the letter with an invalid addressee.
;
:
:Matoma is the staff that Chiaki carries and like Fumika's staff, helps her with her job. Matoma has a male voice and speaks in a monotonic tone. He is better at the job than Kanaka is and talks down to Kanaka for doing a poor job. Kanaka in turn needles Matoma by mocking him by twisting his name as in calling him 'Tomato Juice'.
;
:
:Kaname is a male high school student who briefly knew Fumika Mikawa back in junior-high school when they were in the same class. After he initially met Fumika the mail carrier, he recognized her face and was reminded how Fumika had shot her father three years prior, which led him to continue to search for Fumika later on. Kaname had liked Fumika in junior-high, and even went so far as to confess his love to her, but she rejected him, though Fumika the mail carrier later tells him that she was merely surprised and does not dislike him. Even now, it would seem he still has feelings for Fumika.
;
:
:Natsuka is an energetic high school girl who knew Fumika from junior-high school when they were in the same class, though they first talked in the school infirmary. She has a tendency to like guys who are intelligent and even goes as far as to read the same books of guys she likes; incidentally, she likes Kaname who is one such type. After Kaname comes to her regarding information pertaining to Fumika, she gets involved with him in his search to discover what really happened to Fumika three years prior to the beginning of the story.
;
:
:Kirameki is a famous writer and the father of Fumika Mikawa. He is obsessed with beauty, and goes so far as to suggest that ugly people should kill themselves. Kirameki lives and works in a twisted glass building called "The forever leading silver road". His name, Kirameki, translates to glitter, or twinkle.
Media
Light novels
''Shigofumi'' was first released as a series of
light novel
A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a '' wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
s written by Ryō Amamiya, and drawn by Poko. Despite the novels being produced first, the
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 ...
series is considered by Tomorō Yuzawa as the original work.
The novels are published by
MediaWorks under their ''
Dengeki Bunko
is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint ai ...
'' imprint. The first novel was released on October 10, 2006, with the fourth, and final, volume published on March 10, 2008. The story from the novels differs somewhat from that of the anime.
Internet radio show
An
Internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
show called , hosted by Beat Net Radio!, originally had a pre-broadcast on December 28, 2007, and another the following the week on January 4, 2008; these two broadcasts served as an introduction to what the show would consist of, and also asking listeners to send in comments and questions about the show. Regular weekly broadcasts every Friday began the following week on January 11, 2008. The show has two hosts —
Kana Ueda
is a Japanese voice actress and singer represented by I'm Enterprise.Doi, Hitoshi"Ueda Kana" ''Seiyuu Database''. June 11, 2010Archivedby WebCite July 6, 2010. She is a graduate of Kobe College's department of General Culture.
She is best known ...
and
Masumi Asano
is a Japanese voice actress, singer and narrator who worked for Aoni Production, but now as of January, 2021 a Freelancer.
Biography
Asano was born on August 25, 1977 in Noshiro, Akita and studied at the Kokugakuin University Faculty of Litera ...
who play Fumika and Chiaki in the anime respectively — and is produced by
Bandai Visual
was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
Most of the anime and f ...
. There are three corners on the show, which is used mainly to promote the anime version.
Anime
The
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 ...
, directed by
Tatsuo Satō and written by
Ichirō Ōkouchi
is a Japanese screenwriter and novelist. He is a graduate of Waseda University, School of Human Sciences.
Ōkouchi is best known for collaborating with director Gorō Taniguchi for composing the story and script of the Sunrise original producti ...
, features original character designs by
Kouhaku Kuroboshi
, also known as , is a Japanese illustrator and character designer. He is from the Kanagawa Prefecture and lives in the Fukuoka Prefecture. He is probably best known for his frequent collaborations with writer Keiichi Sigsawa as the illustrator/cha ...
and assistant direction by
Katsushi Sakurabi
is a Japanese animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, t ...
.
Animated by
J.C.Staff
, is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was ''Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Food ...
and produced by
Bandai Visual
was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
Most of the anime and f ...
and
Genco
is a Japanese anime production enterprise, founded on March 3, 1997. Presided over by Tarō Maki, its headquarters is located in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. It has produced numerous anime series such as ''Honey and Clover'', '' Nodame Cantabile'', ...
,
it first aired in Japan on numerous
UHF stations and
BS11 between January 6 and March 22, 2008,
containing twelve episodes. The series was released in six
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
compilations in Japan by
Bandai Visual
was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
Most of the anime and f ...
between March 25 and August 22, 2008. Presented on a 16:9
anamorphic
Anamorphic format is the cinematography technique of shooting a widescreen picture on standard 35 mm film or other visual recording media with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. It also refers to the projection format in which a distorted ...
frame rate, the DVDs feature the two episodes each along with numerous extras, including audio commentary, liner notes, picture dramas, and ''Shigofumi'' letter sets.
An
original video animation episode was released on DVD on September 26, 2008. The televised broadcast of episodes three and eight, "Friends" and "Beginning," respectively, were "altered in light of recent circumstances in the society at large," as reported on the anime's official website.
Sun TV also ceased broadcast of ''Shigofumi'' episode six and resumed broadcasting with episode seven.
Other recent 2007 anime series which were changed due to current events in Japan include ''
School Days'', ''
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai'', and ''
Kodomo no Jikan
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kaworu Watashiya. The story revolves around a grade school teacher named Daisuke Aoki, whose main problem is that one of his students, Rin Kokonoe, has a crush on him. It was serial ...
''.
The anime was licensed by
Bandai Visual
was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
Most of the anime and f ...
for English language localization,
and the first DVD release was originally scheduled for May 13, 2008, but was placed on hold as Bandai Visual reconsidered their release plans. The series was later released 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 ...
on August 17, 2010, in North America.
Two pieces of
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 ...
are used for the anime: one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme, , is performed by
Ali Project
Ali Project (typeset as ALI PROJECT) is a Japanese rock band with a strong Japanese Aristocrat-style image, consisting of and .
In the band's earlier days, their musical style tended towards light, cheerful and/or refreshing songs. However, ...
, and the single was released on January 23, 2008. Written by Saori Kodama with
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...
and
arrangement by Pe-jun, the ending theme "Chain" is performed by Snow*; it was released on February 6, 2008. The anime's original soundtrack was released on March 26, 2008; each of the albums are released by
Lantis.
References
External links
''Shigofumi'' anime official websiteMediaWorks' official ''Shigofumi'' websiteOfficial English anime website*
{{J.C.Staff OVAs
2006 Japanese novels
2008 anime OVAs
Anime with original screenplays
Bandai Visual
Dengeki Bunko
J.C.Staff
Kadokawa Dwango franchises
Lantis (company)
Light novels
Sentai Filmworks
Supernatural thriller anime and manga
Suspense anime and manga
Television shows written by Ichirō Ōkouchi