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 ...

written and illustrated by Kouji Seo. The series is a character-driven romance story that uses the athletics of

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

as a subplot. The story primarily follows the life of the teenager Yamato Akitsuki, who moved to Tokyo to change himself, and his main love interest Suzuka Asahina, a talented and highly scouted high jumper who lives in Yamato's aunt's dormitory and attends his new high school. ''Suzuka'' was serialized in the Japanese magazine ''

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 hig ...

'' 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'' ...

. It was adapted into a twenty-six episode

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 and aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...

in Japan between 6 July 2005 and 28 December 2005. Both versions of the series have been licensed for release in North America. The manga has been licensed for publication in North America by

Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing relation ...

under their mature line; it published the first 15 volumes, before it folded and transferred its publication rights to

Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and manga, ...

. The anime series has been licensed and released by

FUNimation Entertainment Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

. Two

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 Ayuna Fujisaki based on the series have also been released. A related series, ''

Kimi no Iru Machi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōji Seo. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from May 2008 to February 2014 and the chapters collected into 27 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series follows the d ...

'' ''(A Town Where You Live)'', ran in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from 2008 until 2014, and a sequel, '' Fuuka'', ran in the same magazine from 2014 to 2018.

Plot

''Suzuka'' is a sports-themed

romance comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

that intertwines the pursuit of love and athletics. The story is based around Yamato Akitsuki, a young man from rural Hiroshima Prefecture moving to the big city of Tokyo, and his new next-door neighbor, Suzuka Asahina, a skilled high jumper. Yamato falls in love with Suzuka and pursuing a relationship with her he joins the

team hoping to impress her. After joining, Yamato discovers that he has the potential to become a top hundred-meter sprinter. Suzuka's character-driven plot predominantly makes use of

dramatic structure Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and schola ...

to facilitate character development.

Characterization Characterization or characterisation is the representation of persons (or other beings or creatures) in narrative and dramatic works. The term character development is sometimes used as a synonym. This representation may include direct methods ...

is further achieved through the use of character

back-story A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of ...

. The story in general employs a realistic tone, but occasionally uses

surreal humour Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of surrea ...

. Some events covered in the story are: track competitions, vacations, culture festivals, and outings to a

Karaoke Box A is a type of karaoke establishment commonly found in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the United States and Canada. It originated in Japan, and is now popular worldwide, particularly in Asia. Karaoke boxes consist of multiple rooms contai ...

and a

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

. The manga and anime follow the same storyline, though there are minor differences. One of these changes is that the nude scenes are less graphic in the anime than the manga. Another disparity is the hair color of some of the characters such as the character Miki, who is depicted as having bright red hair on the covers of the manga, but is portrayed with red-brown hair in the anime.

Characters

Yamato Akitsuki, the main protagonist of the series, has moved from his home in the Hiroshima Prefecture to stay at his aunt's dormitory in Tokyo. Yamato falls in love with his new next-door neighbor, Suzuka Asahina, a girl from

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

who was scouted by a local

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

because of her high jump athletic ability. While the main female lead remains Suzuka throughout the series, Yamoto later meets several other girls: Honoka Sakurai, a girl whose family are caretakers of a local Shinto shrine, Miki Hashiba, a sprinter and friend of Suzuka, and others. Yamato also develops a friendship with Yasunobu Hattori, a perverted young man"Suzuka" Manga; volume 1

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

(Chapter 02, Page 115). who dreams about

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...

and often gives relationship advice to Yamato.

Media

Manga

The ''Suzuka''

first appeared as an initial one shot in the Japanese manga magazine ''

'', published by

on December 2003. It was first serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' on March 3, 2004 and was completed on September 21, 2007, with one hundred sixty-six chapters in total. The chapters were compiled in eighteen bound volumes by Kodansha, with each volume being released roughly quarterly. These volumes often included character profiles or extra stories. Several sequel 4-koma manga specials were included in volumes of ''

A Town Where You Live is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōji Seo. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from May 2008 to February 2014 and the chapters collected into 27 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series follows the d ...

'' manga. ''Suzuka'' has been licensed for North American publication by Del Rey, becoming the publisher's first sports manga and second title to be added under its mature line, the first being the manga ''

Basilisk In European bestiaries and legends, a basilisk ( or ) is a legendary reptile reputed to be a serpent king, who causes death to those who look into its eyes. According to the ''Naturalis Historia'' of Pliny the Elder, the basilisk of Cyrene i ...

''. Fifteen volumes had been released in English with the first volume released on 29 August 2006 and the last, a 592-page collection containing volumes 13, 14 and 15, was released in North America on 31 August 2010, before Del Rey Manga folded and transferred its publishing rights to

. The manga was released completely by Kodansha USA in a digital edition from October 2016 to February 2017.

Anime

In April 2005, ''

'' announced through their website that ''Suzuka'' was being adapted into an anime. Produced by Studio Comet and

Marvelous Entertainment (MMV) was a multinational corporation that produced animation, music, video games and television series. MMV is known for its involvement in the ''Story of Seasons'' series. They merged with AQ Interactive in 2011 and became Marvelous AQL; the ...

, the series is directed by

Hiroshi Fukutomi is an anime director born July 25, 1950, in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. After leaving Tokyo Designer Gakuin in the middle of his studies, he joined A Production (then known as Shin'ei Dōga). In 1982, with some of the staff producing ''Kaibuts ...

, with

Hiroko Tokita is a Japanese anime screenwriter and director. Productions worked on *''Bonobono'': Storyboard, Episode Director *''Chocchan's Story'': Director, Screenplay *'' Descendants of Darkness'': Director, Storyboard (ep. 1) *'' Galaxy Angel A'': Screen ...

handling series composition, Tadashi Shida designing the characters and Masanori Takumi composing the music. The 26-episode anime aired weekly on

in Japan on Wednesdays running from 6 July 2005 to 28 December 2005. The anime follows relatively close to the first 72 chapters of the manga, but changes were made to accommodate younger audiences: The hole in the wall between the rooms of Suzuka and Yamato does not exist, Yamato also sees Suzuka for the first time outside, instead of inside the school gym, and many scenes were removed or subdued such as those in the

bath house Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

. In addition, a

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

for the

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda ...

baseball team ''Soreyuke Carp'' (それ行けカープ, ''lit. Go Go Carp'') is included in the anime and soundtrack, but cuts off before the 4th stanza because of a reference to Japanese sake. The anime was dubbed in Tagalog and broadcast by the

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

station

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

starting on 3 December 2006. The anime series has been licensed for North America by

FUNimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

, and released with the

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, s ...

"Love is not a Spectator Sport". Their first DVD was released on 12 June 2007.

Music

The anime's music, including the

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

and theme songs, was composed by Takumi Masanori and POM. The vocals for the opening and ending songs were provided by COACH☆. Except for one member of the group COACH☆, all worked as a

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

for one of the series' characters. For the North American release, FUNimation had the opening and ending songs re-written and performed in English by Kristine Sa. In 2005, three Suzuka soundtrack albums were released in Japan through King Records.

Light novel

On 17 May 2007, a ''Suzuka''

was published by

under its ''KC Novel'' label. It contained three

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

written by Ayuna Fujisaki with illustrations done by the series creator, Kouji Seo.

Spin-offs

A portion of Seo’s manga ''

'' takes place at the apartment complex where the Akitsukis are neighbors. Suzuka and Fuuka also make cameo appearances in some of the story’s chapters. In February 2014, a manga spin-off was released under the name '' Fuuka''. It follows the story of Yuu Haruna, a 15-year-old boy who is a loner and his only friends are those on Twitter. After moving to live with his three sisters, two older one younger, he meets Fuuka, who is Yamato and Suzuka's daughter and now a high school student. Initially, Fuuka perceives Yuu as a pervert due to an embarrassing encounter during their first meeting. However, after learning about Fuuka's dream of starting a music band, he befriends her and they later fall in love. However, a tragic event prompts a new legend involving Yuu and his friends to begin.

Reception

''Suzuka'' has been compared to other manga such as ''

Love Hina is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from October 1998 to October 2001, with the chapters collected into 14 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Kodansha. The ...

'', ''

Maison Ikkoku is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1980 to 1987, with the chapters collected into 15 ''tankōbon'' volumes. ' ...

'', and ''

Kimagure Orange Road is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Izumi Matsumoto. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine from 1984 to 1987, with the chapters collected into 18 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shueisha. The story follows tee ...

'' since, early on, it used similar plot structure and

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelie ...

s. These comparisons became less frequent as the story developed. According to Kouji Seo, ''Suzuka'' was to be a romance story from the beginning, and he had no intention of creating a

harem Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...

manga. Since the North American version is uncensored, this caused the manga to be rated "Mature" and sold in

shrink wrap Shrink may refer to: Common meanings *Miniaturization *Shrink, a slang term for: ** a psychiatrist ** a psychoanalyst ** a psychologist Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shrink'' (album), album by German indie rock/electronica group The Notwist ...

. Despite the amount of fan service, the manga does not focus on that element. Kouji Seo pays attention to detail which can be seen in the clothing that gives off the sensation they are made out of different material along with the reflections in the windows during the nighttime. This detail can also be seen in his characters as they all have complex personalities that make them interesting and have substance. Overall the reception of the manga has been positive. The anime has been described as having "all the trappings of a standard high school romantic comedy", but lacks the spirit and craftsmanship of the manga. Since the anime is a close adaptation from the manga, the criticisms of the plot are the same of it being described as generic. The anime sells " tselfsolely on the merits of character development". One effect of this character development is that some viewers will find the

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

and the male lead unlikable, with complaints of lack of

sympathy Sympathy is the perception of, understanding of, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form. According to David Hume, this sympathetic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint from a personal perspective to the perspective of an ...

for both characters. The animation is considered to be ordinary with some scenes that have timing problems, look awkward, or have objects that seem oversized. The voice actors performances are considered to be mundane and sound rather flat, in both Japanese and English languages. Viewers with sensitive hearing might also pick up on the switches between

mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

and stereo audio in the different episodes. The sports scenes are poorly animated, and the best animated scenes include night-time scenes. Overall the reception of the anime so far has been mixed. The response to the soundtrack for the anime is somewhat mixed. Most find the music respectable, but some may detest it when it tries to be funny. The opening and ending songs that were re-written and performed in English made the songs fairly close approximations of the originals and worked out better than one might imagine, but others still prefer the Japanese versions.

References

* "Suzuka". (May 2007) ''Newtype USA''. p. 23.

External links

FUNimation's ''Suzuka'' anime page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuka (Manga) 2005 Japanese television series endings 2007 Japanese novels Anime series based on manga Athletics mass media Del Rey Manga Funimation Japanese high school television series Kodansha manga Light novels Romantic comedy anime and manga School life in anime and manga Shōnen manga Sports anime and manga TV Tokyo original programming Works by Kōji Seo