, also known as ''Nozomi in the Sun'', is a Japanese manga series written by Keisuke Fujikawa and illustrated by Mayumi Suzuki. It also received an anime adaptation by Mushi Productions which ran for 26 episodes in 1971. Both

Yoshiyuki Tomino is a Japanese mecha anime creator, animator, director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the ''Gundam'' anime franchise. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College of Art ...

and

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko is a Japanese animator, manga artist, and anime director. He is best known for being the character designer and animation director of the original ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' anime, which began in 1979. That same year, he began working as a manga art ...

were involved in the production of ''Wandering Sun'', and would later again collaborate on the ground-breaking and genre-defining series Brave Raideen and

Mobile Suit Gundam , also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcastin ...

. The anime toned down some of the more intense and mature elements of the manga for a prime-time TV audience. ''Wandering Sun'' tells the story of two girls switched at birth by the nurse Michiko, out of a grudge against the parents of one of the newborns. Miki was born in the poor Mine family but is switched into the rich Kouda clan, and Nozomi the opposite. Fate cannot separate the two girls who compete to become successful singers after meeting at high school, with the girl-next-door Nozomi working hard and on her own to be the best pop singer in Japan and the rich girl Miki using her family's status to reach the same goal. This series was itself a ground-breaker in that it was perhaps the first anime series to depict the entertainment industry—specifically

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...

,http://www.mushi-pro.co.jp/2010/09/%E3%81%95%E3%81%99%E3%82%89%E3%81%84%E3%81%AE%E5%A4%AA%E9%99%BD/ which would be a major plot point in many anime to come from '' Creamy Mami'' to ''

Perfect Blue is a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon. It is based on the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, with a screenplay written by Sadayuki Murai. Featuring the voices of Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shiho Niiy ...

''. The TV series was also released in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

under the title ''Jane e Micci'' and in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

as ''Nathalie et ses Amis''.

Cast

*Junko Fujiyama as Nozomi Mine * Michiko Hirai as Miki Kouda * Kōsei Tomita as Kumagoro *

Makio Inoue Makio may refer to: * Makio, grind used in Aggressive Inline Skating * ''MakiO'', the yearbook of Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, ...

as Fani * Ryōko Kinomiya as Michiko Nohara * Tesuya Asado as Isao Egawa * Koichi Noda as Jun Nohara * Mitsuko Aso as Tsune * Kinpei Azusa as Shinsuke Mine *

Miyoko Asō was a Japanese actress. She is best known for her role as the first voice of Fune Isono from 1969 to 2015 in the longest-running Japanese anime series ''Sazae-san'', which first aired in 1969. She was the voice of Dr. Pinako Rockbell in both ''F ...

as Shizuko Mine * Takako Kondo as Kazuo Mine * Waka Tachibana as Yuki Mine * Osamu Kobayashi as Daijiro *

Ikuo Nishikawa is a Japanese voice actor who works for Production Baobab. Filmography Television animation *'' Star of the Giants'' (1968) (Mishima) *'' Judo Boy'' (1969) (Sanshiro) *'' Wandering Sun'' (1971) (Yumemaro) *''Casshan'' (1973) (Casshern) *'' Brave ...

as Yumemaro *

Takeshi Aono was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Asahikawa, Hokkaidō. He was attached to Aoni Production at the time of his death. He graduated from Hokkaidō Asahikawa Higashi High School. Career Aono was most known for the roles of Shi ...

as Akira Nitta

Staff

* Original Creator: Keisuke Fujikawa, Mayumi Suzuki * Script: Keisuke Fujikawa, Shun'ichi Yukimuro * Character Designs: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko * Storyboards: Yoshiyuki Tomino * Music: Hideki Fuyuki * Producer: Hiroshi Saito, Noboru Katano * Production: Mushi Production,

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

References

External links

* {{Yoshiyuki Tomino Shogakukan manga Shōjo manga 1971 anime television series debuts Drama anime and manga Mushi Production Fuji TV original programming