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

Saki Hiwatari is a Japanese '' shōjo'' manga artist. Her first work, ''Mahōtsukai wa Shitteiru'' (''I Know a Magician'') was published in the weekly ''shōjo'' anthology ''Hana to Yume'' (''Flowers and Dreams'') in 1982. Her best-known work was ''Please S ...

. The manga was serialised in

Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV ...

's ''

Hana to Yume , also known as , is a semi-monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Hakusensha on the 5th and 20th of every month. The magazine is B5-size, and always comes with or free supplements, such as drama CDs, pencil boards (shitajiki), manga ...

'' from 1994 to 1998 and collected in eleven ''

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 ...

''. The series has been licensed in North America by

CMX Manga CMX was an imprint of DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment. It was DC's line of manga translations. CMX was known for its censored release of ''Tenjho Tenge'' and the print version of Fred Gallagher's ''Megatokyo'' web manga seri ...

, which released the manga's eleven ''tankōbon'' volumes between August 16, 2005 and June 18, 2008. It is also licensed in France as ''Mirai no Utena - La Mélodie du futur'' by Delcourt.

Plot

Takeru Matsuyuki, a

junior school A Junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at Infant school which covers the age range 5–7. (As both Infant and Junior schools are giving Primary E ...

student, is forced to aim for Hinami Private High School for his senior school selection exam by his mother, who wants him to be

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

like his father. On Hinami's open day, Takeru sees his own incentive to go to Hinami: Ichigo Suzunari, a girl with a melodic voice. Just before his exams, Takeru's mother is critically injured in a car accident. On her deathbed, she reveals to Takeru that he has an older half-sister, Hyoju, living alone in England. His mother feels guilt for refusing to take in Hyoju after her mother died and wishes for Hyoju to come to Japan and live with them. Takeru's mother then dies. After a period of unrest between Takeru and his father, Takeru allows Hyōju to live with them. Takeru does poorly in his senior school selection exam and ends up in Tennendo, a public high school. However, he sees Ichigo there as well. He confesses his love for her and she off-handedly accepts. He meets Zen Hokuoin, a kindergarten boy, who shows up at odd moments and innocently and strangely gives wise advice to Takeru. Takeru discovers that Ichigo's older brother, Kazuki, is a photographer. He, with the help of his classmates, Seika Nishizawa and Yoruko Tōsaka, enters a modeling agency competition in which Kazuki is one of the judges. Takeru's classmate, Kouki Noda, is inadvertently entered into the competition as well. Kazuki shows his over protectiveness of his sister to Takeru coupled with rumours that Kazuki kisses his sister daily, Takeru turns to the Hokuoin family for help. Zen finds out that Kazuki is infected by the Noize, a

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

that amplifies the person's strongest desires. He takes Takeru to his house so that his sisters can explain that he is part of the Nan'itsu family, tasked with opposing the Noize. The head of the Hokuoin family, Jin, and his family expels the Noize from Kazuki's body. Later, Kazuki asks Takeru to introduce him to Hyōju. In the school holidays, Takeru works part-time in a

game arcade An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such as cl ...

with Hotei, one of the Seven Stars, the group opposing the Nan'itsu family. Hotei's

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics i ...

friend, Hijiri, informs Takeru that his true love is not Ichigo but Yoruko. He also teaches Takeru to climb the "tower", where the past and future of people's lives can be seen. Ichigo, Takeru and Noda were planning for a trip to the beach with their friend but Takeru subconsciously climbed the tower and warped them 14 years in the past to 1982. The trio have to survive in the past without using ¥1000 notes and ¥500 coins.

Manga

''Tower of the Future'' is written and illustrated by

. The manga was serialised in

's ''

'' and collected in eleven ''

'' volumes which were released between March 1995 and April 1999. The series has been licensed in North America by

, which released the manga's eleven ''tankōbon'' volumes between August 16, 2005 and June 18, 2008. It is also licensed in France as ''Mirai no Utena - La Mélodie du futur'' by Delcourt which released the manga's eleven ''tankōbon'' volumes between July 12, 2007 and May 14, 2008.

Chapter list

Reception

Mania.com's Jarred Pine commends the first volume of the manga for " rabbingthe reader's interest and feed them with potential", saying, "while the story of family in conflict gives the manga some semblance of structure, it's the mysterious other small elements that are introduced that really piqued my interest in finding out just where this supposed fantasy story will go." A review of the second volume criticises the manga for its "snail's pace" in introducing Takeru's half-sister, Hyoju, at his "mother's deathbed". Pine's review of the third volume criticises the manga for "the severe lack of character development

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

really hinders the supporting cast, as I'm pulled along with the drama and given contrived explanations". Mangalife's Dan Polley commends the manga for "Takeru and Ichigo’s budding relationship". However, "toward the end of the volume, when the relationship becomes more of a focus, Ichigo seems to self-destruct from some inner battle. It’s interesting, yet it’s boring, too, as her reactions show just how sensitive she is and seems to stereotype her as a high school girl who can’t control her own feelings".

References

External links

* {{Hana to Yume 1994 manga CMX (comics) titles Hakusensha manga Romantic comedy anime and manga Science fiction anime and manga Shōjo manga