is a

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 by

Shūhō Satō is a Japanese manga artist. He won the Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Award for his work '' Say Hello to Black Jack''. His assistants have included his wife, manga artist Tomomi Satō, as well as Masasumi Kakizaki (one year before his debut), ...

which was serialized by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

in ''

Weekly Young Sunday was a weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan since the first issue on March 27, 1987. It replaced '' Shōnen Big Comic'' in Shogakukan's lineup of shōnen titles, and many of the titles in ''Shōnen Big Comic'' were continued in ...

'' from 1998 to 2001.

Yōichi Komori is a critic of Japanese modern literature and a social activist in Japan. He is currently a professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Early life Yoichi Komori was born into a family of a professional political activists on May 14, 1953, in T ...

is credited with the original idea for the series, and he also did the research to make the series more authentic. The series focuses on Daisuke Senzaki, an officer in the

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...

, and tells the stories of shipwreck rescues and other incidents where the coast guard plays a role. The plotlines in the series were drawn from incidents and accidents which actually happened while the manga was being written (similar to the "ripped from the headlines" tagline used by various ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'' series). The manga has been adapted into two

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

high-definition specials, four films, and one

drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

Media

Manga

Adaptations

''Umizaru'' (2004)

''Umizaru Evolution'' (2005)

Title: 海猿 Title (romaji): Umizaru Also known as: Umizaru Evolution / Sea Monkey Format: Renzoku Genre: Action, human drama, romance Episodes: 11 Viewership ratings: 13.1 Broadcast network: Fuji TV Broadcast period: 2005-Jul-05 to 2005-Sep-13 Air time: Tuesday 21:00 Theme song: Ocean by B'z Synopsis: A story of friendship, love and the brutal training of 14 Japan Coast Guard officers becoming rescuer divers. The rescuer divers, on the front line in rescue activities in heavy seas and always one step away from death, are a group of specialists in a profession that only 1% of all Coast Guard officers qualify for. In order to receive that qualification they have to undergo 50 days of grueling training in rescue activities. The young Coast Guard officers, including Daisuke Senzaki, take on the challenge of that hellish training. The story concentrates on the lives of the divers after having passed their examination. Cast: * Ito Hideaki as Senzaki Daisuke * Kato Ai as Izawa Kanna * Nakamura Toru as Ikezawa Masaki * Sato Ryuta as Yoshioka Tetsuya * Sato Hitomi as Komori Chika * Suzuki Kazuma as Fuyushiba Kosuke * Natsuyagi Isao as Katsuda Kotaro * Iida Kisuke as Miike Kenji * Sakamoto Akira as Iwamatsu Daigo * Hirayama Usuke as Yamaji Takumi * Miyake Hiroki as Bessho Kenjiroh * Usuda Asami as Hoshino Rei * Ichiki Ami Ono Yui * Okunuki Kaoru Ono Eriko * Yoshimoto Miyoko as Ikezawa Naoko * Masuoka Toru as Tsuda Shinpei * Ibu Masato as Higo Daisaku * Tokito Saburo as Shimokawa Iwao * Sakamoto Makoto as Nagashima Kenta * Ito Atsushi (ep1) * Karina (ep1) * Aoki Munetaka (ep1) * Namioka Kazuki as Tokunaga Masaya (ep4) * Fuse Hiroshi * Suzuki Honoka * Tanaka Tetsushi * Yashiba Toshihiro * Abe Ryohei Production Credits: * Screenwriter: Fukuda Yasushi * Producer: Sekiguchi Shizuo (関口静夫), Suzuki Shintaro (鈴木伸太郎), Hashimoto Hasumi (橋本芙美) * Director: Hasumi Eiichiro (羽住英一郎), Kobayashi Yoshinori, Usui Hirotsugu * Music: Sato Naoki

''Limit of Love: Umizaru'' (2006)

''The Last Message: Umizaru'' (2010)

''Brave Hearts: Umizaru'' (2012)

External links

*{{ann, manga, 4112 1998 manga Japanese drama television series Shogakukan manga Seinen manga