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 . It started serialization in

Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha is a Japanese publishing company founded on June 10, 1897. Magazines Monthly *''Body+'' *''Comic Candoll'' *''GarrRV'' *''Garuru'' *''Misty'' *''Monthly Bijutsu'' *''Monthly J-novel'' *''Waggle'' Quarterly *''Kabuka Yohō'' *''NAIL VENUS'' Def ...

's seinen magazine, ''

Weekly Manga Sunday , also known by the nickname , is a defunct Japanese weekly ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha. It started to be published under the name in 1959. On June 5, 2012, it start to be published twice in a month and the "Wee ...

'' on November 15, 1988. The manga was licensed and published in Taiwan by before being transferred to . The manga was adapted into an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

Tokyo Movie Shinsha , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as ''Lupin the Third'', ...

. Directed by

Hajime Kamegaki is the Japanese word meaning . In the Japanese traditional martial arts such as karate, judo, aikido, Kūdō and kendo, it is a verbal command to "begin". Hajime is also a common Japanese given name for males. In the Amami Islands, Hajime (元) ...

, it was released in Japan by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

on April 12, 1991. It was made into a

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 in 1994, into films in 2000 and 2009, and into a

drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

in 2010.

Manga

Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha released the first ''tankōbon'' volume of the manga on April 6, 1989. The last ''tankōbon'', the 108th volume, was released on June 29, 2013. Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha re-released the manga in 16 ''

bunkobon In Japan, are small-format paperback books, designed to be affordable and space saving. The great majority of ''bunkobon'' are A6 (105×148mm or 4.1"×5.8") in size. They are sometimes illustrated and like other Japanese paperbacks usually ...

'' volumes between July 28, 2005, and June 25, 2006. The manga was licensed in Taiwan by Da Ran Culture up to volume 66 before it went bankrupt on March 31, 2003. Volumes 67 onwards were licensed by Sun Ho.

Reception

It has sold over 45 million copies in Japan as of 2016. In 2013, it won the Grand Prize of the 42nd

Japan Cartoonists Association Award is an annual award for manga, sponsored by the Japan Cartoonists Association. The prize was first awarded in 1972. Prizes Recipients of the Grand Prize receive a gold plaque, a medal, and a cash prize of ¥500,000. Recipients of the Excellence P ...

as the judges declared it was an important manga to support ''Weekly Manga Sunday'' and due to its "absurdity and fun."

References

External links

Official list of ''Shizukanaru Don'' releases
* * 1989 manga 1991 anime OVAs Comedy anime and manga Seinen manga Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha manga TMS Entertainment {{anime-OVA-stub