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 ...

series written and illustrated by

Takeru Nagayoshi is a Japanese mangaka, manga artist. He is notable as the author of the ''Sumire 16 sai!!'' series. He debuted on ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' in 2006 with the manga series ''Sumire 17 sai!!'', then later moved to ''Magazine Special'' continuing t ...

. It was serialized in ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

'' and later in ''

Magazine Special was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by Kodansha and first launched with a cover date of September 5, 1983. Its audience demographic is geared toward younger teenage boys, and contents tend to be predominantly sports stories and high ...

'', both published by

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 ...

. A live action adaptation was also aired as a drama series starting April 13, 2008 starring

Nako Mizusawa is a Japanese actress. Filmography Television *'' Garo: Makai Senki'' (Misao) (2011) *'' Sumire 16 sai!!'' (Sumire Yotsuya) (2008) *''Muse no Kagami'' (2012) Movies *'' Akanbo Shojo'' (Yoko Nanjo) (2008) *'' Tokyo Gore School'' (2009) *'' Mai M ...

and Takuma Oto'o.

Synopsis

The series chronicles the days of Sumire, a lively 16-year-old girl. However, Sumire is not a common girl: she is a life-sized

ventriloquist's dummy Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

, controlled by an old man in black clothes. Sumire's character acts unaware of her puppet nature, or of the old man controlling her movements, although the rest of the cast are very aware that she is a puppet, but they become more or less accustomed to her weird nature.

Characters

; :A full-sized puppet, resembling a mannequin, designed to look like a 16-year-old girl, with enough points of articulation to assume almost any pose. The puppet has a hole in her back where the puppeteer places his hand to control facial features. Beyond being a puppet, the character that is played through Sumire is that of a supposedly normal schoolgirl. Her character refuses to acknowledge the puppeteer, even when directly asked. She has trouble making friends due to her situation, but her strong will wins over many people. She was originally a smaller puppet that also attended grade school years beforehand. After years pass and she finally attends the next year of education, she seemingly forgets classmates from years ago. The Old Man reacts instead by crying in happiness upon encountering old classmates years later. At times, her appearance becomes softer and fewer indications that she is a puppet are visible. In the manga, this is evidenced by fewer joints being drawn; while in the TV drama, her mannequin form is replaced with her actress. ; :Sumire's puppeteer. An unnamed middle-aged man wearing black clothes, similar to those worn by puppeteers who perform against black screens to remain hidden from the audience. The puppeteer is often attacked by those unfamiliar with Sumire, however the effects of these attacks are ignored by Sumire's character, who dismisses them as close calls. Everyone acknowledges the existence of the old man except for Sumire and, seemingly, the school principal. Teachers at the school have learned to ignore him or risk being fired by the principal for badmouthing a student. In the manga, the old man does not speak for himself, exclusively using ventriloquism to make Sumire speak. The TV drama shows the old man speaking in unison with Sumire on occasion.

Drama cast

as Sumire Yotsuya * Takuma Oto'o as Old Man (Oyaji) * Kaoru Hirata as Renge Ooyama * Haru as Akebi Kiryu *

Ami Tokito is a Japanese female pop singer and gravure idol. She made her debut in 2005 Miss ''Young Jump'', winning Tsunku's honorable award. She started acting as a child actress using her former stage names, Sachie Komatsu and Hikaru Asakura. She feat ...

as Mitsuki Tsukamoto * Porshe Okite as Johnny * Saki Matsuda as Reiko Yamabuki * Vincent Giry * Bebe Hozumi * Takenori Murano * Takuya Uehara *

Takahiko Yanagisawa Takahiko (written: 崇彦, 孝彦, 貴彦, 隆彦 or 恭彦) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese film director *, Japanese figure skater *, Japanese psychologist *, Japanese baseball player *, Japa ...

References

External links

Manga Homepage

TV Drama Adaptation Home Page
* {{Weekly Shōnen Magazine - 2000–2009 Japanese drama television series Shōnen manga 2008 Japanese television series debuts 2008 Japanese television series endings