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 ...

series written and illustrated by . It was serialized in the manga magazine ''

Weekly Morning is a weekly Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. It debuted in 1982 as . The digital edition of the magazine is titled . In 2006 a spin-off magazine called was launched (formerly bimonthly), featuring stories like ''Saint ''� ...

'' from 2005 to 2017 and collected into 25 volumes by publisher

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'' ...

. ''Hyouge Mono'' won an Excellence Prize for manga at the 13th

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by a ...

in 2009. It also won the Grand Prize at the 14th

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Curre ...

s in 2010. The manga was adapted into an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, 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 Japane ...

television series in 2011.

Plot

During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

in Japan, while the shadow of

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

still looms over the land, the warlord Furuta Sasuke loses his soul to the

tea ceremony An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transl ...

. While war shakes the world around him, he faces his own conflict between his desire for promotion and his love for his art.

Characters

; : :A vassal of Oda Nobunaga. He is an aesthete, a person who holds a dear appreciation of art and beauty. He is obsessed with the form of glazed pottery, tea, and architecture. He is married to Osen (voiced by

Megumi Toyoguchi is a Japanese voice actress affiliated by 81 Produce. Some of her starring roles are Yao Sakurakouji in '' Miami Guns'', Ran Kotobuki in '' Super Gals!'', Winry Rockbell in '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' (first anime), Sei Sato in '' Maria-sama ga ...

). ; : :An ambitious man who seeks control over not only Japan, but also the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...

(Chinese) and

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

(Korean) dynasties. Sasuke is one of his vassals. ; : :The most influential tea master. He greedily pursues a life centered around the worldview. Sasuke is one of his pupils. ; : :A sharp vassal of Oda Nobunaga who becomes a powerful person after Nobunaga's death. He likes women and has no sense of

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

. ; : :An idealistic vassal of Oda Nobunaga, he feels antipathy to his lord's policy. ; : :A loyal vassal from Mikawa. He has a strong sense of justice, and succeeds Oda in his work to reunify Japan. ; : :A younger brother of Nobunaga. He is a smart playboy and smooth fellow. ; : :A loyal vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He is a meticulous person and has little interest in art. Other characters include Nobunaga's African retainer Yasuke (voiced by

Takaya Kuroda is a Japanese actor and voice actor from Tokyo, Japan. He is affiliated with Axlone, and was formerly with Mausu Promotion and 81 Produce. He is best known for his bass voice, which has usually seen him cast in villainous roles such as the voi ...

), tea connoisseur Hechikan, Hideyoshi's wife

Kita no Mandokoro was the chief governing body of an important family or monastic complex in ancient Japan. This name was borrowed for the administrative department of the Shogunate in feudal times. History The earliest usage of the term was found in the Heian ...

and his concubine Lady Chacha, his mother

Ōmandokoro Ōmandokoro (大政所, 1516 – 29 August 1592) or Ōmandokoro Naka was the mother of the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. She was also the mother of Asahi no kata, Tomo and Toyotomi Hidenaga. Biography It is said that Ōmandokoro was born ...

, and the painter Hasegawa Tōhaku.

Media

Manga

''Hyouge Mono'' premiered in

's ''

'' magazine in 2005. It ended its serialization in the magazine's 2017 53rd issue on November 30, 2017. Kodansha collected the individual chapters into 25 volumes published from December 21, 2005, to January 23, 2018.

Anime

The

was adapted into an

television series directed by

Kōichi Mashimo (born June 21, 1952) is a Japanese anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in a large number of the studio's works, for example, as a member ...

and animated by

Bee Train , commonly referred to simply as Bee Train, is a Japanese animation studio founded by Kōichi Mashimo in 1997. Since their involvement with '' Noir'', '' .hack//Sign'', and ''Madlax'' (among other series) they have a strong following in the yuri ...

. It aired for 39 episodes on the

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 ...

's Broadcast Satellite (BS) channels from April 7, 2011, to January 26, 2012. The first opening theme of the anime is "Bowl Man" by Cro-Magnon featuring

Yoshi Ikuzō is the stage name of , a Japanese famous enka singer-songwriter. Enka is a popular genre akin to Japanese folk music or blues music in the Western world. He has released several popular albums. Amongst his most famous hits are "Sake-yo", "Suika ...

, and the ending theme is "KIZUNA" by Yuki Saito. In April 2011, Cro-Magnon band member Tsuyoshi Kosuga was arrested on suspicion of violating Japan's Cannabis Control Law. As a result, the NHK changed the opening theme to "Naghol Jumping" by Quasimode for episodes five through ten. Starting with episode 11, the opening was changed to "Ebi Sukui" by Taku Takahashi of

m-flo is a Japanese hip hop group consisting of record producer DJ Taku Takahashi, Verbal and Lisa. Lisa left the group in 2002 to pursue a solo career and the remaining members then started the M-Flo Loves... project working different vocalists ...

. In June 2011, for unstated reasons, series creator Yoshihiro Yamada and the editors of ''Weekly Morning'' quit consulting for the anime series, and Yamada had his credit changed from the author of the "original story" to the author of the "original concept".

Episode list

Reception

''Hyouge Mono'' won an Excellence Prize for manga at the 13th

in 2009. It also won the Grand Prize at the 14th

s in 2010.

Notes

References

External links

Official blog

Official manga website
at ''Weekly Morning''
Official anime website
at the NHK * * {{Bee Train 2005 manga 2011 anime television series debuts 2012 Japanese television series endings Bee Train Production Historical anime and manga Kodansha manga NHK original programming Seinen manga Winner of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Grand Prize)