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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 by
Akira Kojima is a Mangaka, manga artist from Ibaraki prefecture who works for Square Enix. He is best known for ''Mahoraba'', which was published in ''Gangan WING'' and adapted as an anime television show broadcast on TV Tokyo. He often represented himself in ...
. It was serialized in
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
' ''
Monthly Gangan WING is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mar ...
'' manga magazine between January 2000 and July 2006, spanning a total of 12
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 ...
volumes. 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 adaptation, entitled , was animated by
J.C.Staff , is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was ''Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Food ...
, aired on
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
from January 10, 2005, to June 26, 2005, spanning a total of 26 episodes.


Plot

Shiratori Ryushi wants to become a children's picture book writer, and he moves to an apartment, Narutaki-Sou (Narutaki Villa), in order to go to an art school in Tokyo. Narutaki-Sou is an old Japanese style one-story house which doesn't fit in urban scenery. The complex is owned by his mother's cousin and the manager of the apartment is his second cousin, Aoba Kozue. They met each other when they were children, although Shiratori doesn't remember much of it. Kozue is in the second grade of a high school attached to Aoba Junior College. There are seven residents of Narutaki-Sou. The first, Chanohata Tamami, lives in room #1 and she is Kozue's childhood friend and best friend. Shiratori Ryushi, the main character of the series, resides in room #2. In room #3 resides Momono Megumi, a person who goes her own way in life. Kurosaki Sayoko and her daughter Asami, who is in the first grade of middle school, live in room #5. Finally, in room #6, Haibara Yukio lives with his puppet Johnny. Narutaki-Sou is filled with characteristic and eccentric people. However, the most eccentric person is Kozue herself. She has a secret of which even she does not know; when she is shocked at something, her personality changes. Not knowing this, Ryushi moves to Narutaki-Sou to realize his dream.


Characters


Narutaki Sou residents

Note: All characters are voiced by
Satomi Arai is a Japanese voice actress from Saitama Prefecture. She married voice actor Yoshimitsu Shimoyama is a male Japanese voice actor from Kanagawa Prefecture. He revealed himself as Satomi Arai's husband, having married since 2008 and had a son in ...
. ; Landlady of Narutaki Sou and Ryūshi's 16-year-old second cousin. She attends the same high school as Tamami. She has several different personalities that come out when she experiences different emotions, but returns to her original one after sleeping or passing out. In the manga, she begins going out with Ryūshi in chapter 39. Near the end of the manga, it is revealed that the cause of her different personalities is her sad past where she lost everyone that she loved, starting with the death of her great grandfather and her later abandonment by her parents. It is further revealed that her other personalities were influenced by the 10-year-old Ryūshi who showed her his drawings and taught her that people can be anything in their imagination. In the epilogue, it is shown that she and Ryūshi are married and have four kids, each of them similar to one of her four alternate personalities. ; Saki has a tough attitude and is very strong physically. Despite this, she actually does care about others, even if she is embarrassed to admit it. She appears when Kozue is surprised or angered. She is an extreme lightweight, and unable to tolerate anything but ''
umeshu is a Japanese liqueur made by steeping ''ume'' plums (while still unripe and green) in and sugar. It has a sweet, sour taste, and an alcohol content of 10–15%. Famous brands of ''umeshu'' include Choya, Takara Shuzo and Matsuyuki. Var ...
'' (in the manga), in the anime she can't even smell liquor without passing out. ; Nanako is usually better behaved after she becomes "Shiny". One other noteworthy feature of Nanako is that of all the other personalities that Kozue goes through, Nanako is the only one given an actual age. According to the manga, Saki, Chiyuri, and Natsume all are of unknown age, though it is safe to assume that all of the others have the same age as Kozue. ; Chiyuri loves
cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...
and also makes everyone else cosplay against their will, but only if it is against their will. If they don't care or want to do so, she doesn't want to. She appears when Kozue is clumsy or frightened. While she is in this personality, Tamami acts as her assistant, whom Chiyuri refers to as "my partner", while supplying Tamami many embarrassing photo-ops with which to fill her camera. Tamami, in return, calls Chiyuri "my sweetheart". "Correct!" is her catchphrase. ; Natsume has a very shy personality who initially avoided speaking to anyone at all. She is extremely skilled at
sleight of hand Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' ()) refers to fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card ...
and card tricks. The first time she talked was when teaching Ryushi a trick. Flowers will spontaneously pop out of the top of her head when she's happy. She has a habit of ending her sentences with "kamo", meaning either "maybe" or "I think" depending on the context.


By room number

; : Tamami is close friends and classmates with Aoba Kozue. She always has a camera and likes to take pictures of Kozue in embarrassing situations. She is also an inactive member ("Ghost member") of the
occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
club, along with Kozue. Tamami is very strong physically, although she appears quite normal, if not short and weak. A perpetually smiling evil genius, Tamami is cold, sarcastic, cruel, manipulative, inconsiderate and condescending towards those she deem to be her moral/intellectual inferiors; which in other words mean everybody besides Kozue-Chan and her other personalities. This is explained by her usually being isolated for her extreme genius before meeting Kozue. Tamami goes to Seika Tandai Fuzoku High School with Kozue, and has a habit of saying "desu" at the end of her sentences. In the manga, it is revealed that she is actually a very emotional person, crying all the while during Momono's departure. At the end of the manga, she becomes a world-class photographer who frequently travels oversea. ; : The main protagonist of the series, who is an aspiring children's book artist. Ryūshi moved into Narutaki Sou so he could attend the Sumeragi Design School in Tokyo. Aoba Kozue is his second cousin. He met Kozue when they were younger, but doesn't remember this at the start of the series. He is childish and passive to the point of never objecting when anyone does anything wrong to him, which happens a lot. In the epilogue, he is shown to have married Aoba Kozue, with four daughters, possibly representing Aoba's former personalities. ; : Megumi attended Washida University for one year, but it turned out to be too expensive, so she took a year off. Her hairstyle features an
ahoge The following is a glossary of terms that are specific to anime and manga. Anime includes animated series, films and videos, while manga includes graphic novels, drawings and related artwork. ''Note: Japanese words that are used in general (e. ...
. She stays at Narutaki Sou all the time and is in a long distance relationship with her middle school boyfriend who is studying cinema overseas. She's also a heavy drinker, and likes to party with Johnny in Shiratori's room, much to his dismay. In the epilogue, she is shown with one daughter, Ruri, who is a fan of Ryūshi's children's books. In the anime, she remains at Sou Narutaki, telling her boyfriend to ask her to join him again once he has finished his studies and fulfilled his dreams. ; : Sayoko has a very dark personality and is not very responsible. Her father is a rich and talented sculptor, with whom she became estranged in her youth over her choice of her husband; rather than let her parents choose a fiancé for her, she eloped with the estate's gardener. Her favorite food is Mizuyōkan. Despite her evident uselessness throughout the series, she really cares for Asami. ; : Asami lives in room 5 with only her adopted mother since her adopted father died when she was younger. She keeps things together in spite of her mother's problems, pulling most of the workload at home and keeping track of expenses. ; : Yukio doesn't speak directly, but rather uses
ventriloquism Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...
to speak through his puppet, Johnny. In the anime, he is at one point mistaken for Aleister Crowley by Vermilion, to his and Johnny's considerable distress. Yukio Haibara became Kozue's caretaker after her parents abandoned her at Narutaki Sou. In the manga, Haibara speaks using his own voice only once when he expresses his hope that Shiratori can heal Kozue. ; : Yukio Haibara's hand puppet of a brown dog through whom Yukio speaks using ventriloquism. They both act as if the puppet were really the one speaking; Johnny often "speaks" as if Haibara is the extra part. It is revealed near the end of the manga that Johnny was "born" when Haibara was at a loss as to how to get the sad and lonely Kozue to talk to him after her parents left her.


Sumeragi (Imperial) Design School

* is Shiratori's teacher. Students who are disobedient or forget their homework are subjected to "the mysterious closet", which apparently is a frightful ordeal. She has a habit of having her eyes half open and talking very cheerfully until certain moments. At one point she and Tamami meet and get along quite well, much to the others' terror. She typically wears kimono and "normal" clothes on festivals. * is Shiratori's classmate who is always trying to charm high school girls and young women. He happened to meet Shiratori when he was dressed as a girl due to a prank and fell in love with "her". Without a name to call this newfound love, he nicknamed her "Reiko", not realizing that she was really Shiratori. ''Voiced by:'' * is Shiratori's classmate who wears glasses. Her name is based on the famous bank in Japan "
Resona Bank () is the holding company of , the fifth-largest banking group in Japan as of 2012. It is headquartered in the Kiba area of Koto, Tokyo. The main operating entities of the group are Resona Bank, a nationwide corporate and retail bank head ...
". A devoted fan of manga (especially
yaoi ''Yaoi'' (; ja, やおい ), also known by the ''wasei-eigo'' construction and its abbreviation , is a genre of fictional media originating in Japan that features Homoeroticism, homoerotic relationships between male characters. It is typi ...
and
yuri Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...
manga), Risona aims to become a
dojinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created b ...
author. She has a fear of white goats eating her manga manuscripts. ''Voiced by:''
Riku Moriyama , also credited as , is a Japanese voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voic ...
* is Shiratori's classmate who uses her batting skills to punish Tsubasa for his womanizing. She normally uses a spiked baseball bat, but because of the adults' circumstances, her bat was taken away and replaced with a plastic megaphone. In the epilogue of the manga, she is shown to have become an editor, despite studying to be an author. ''Voiced by:''
Nozomi Masu is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress from Saitama Prefecture. Filmography Anime *''Desert Punk'' (Namiko Onami) *''Fushigiboshi no Futagohime'' (Seed Princesses) *''Fushigiboshi no Futagohime, Fushigiboshi no Futagohime Gyu!'' (Noc ...


Seika Tandai Fuzoku High School

* (Voiced by:
Shizuka Itō is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo, Japan. She is represented by Ken Production. She won a "Best Actress in Supporting Roles" award at the 10th Seiyu Awards for her roles in ''Prison School'' and ''Sailor Moon Crystal''. She is ...
) :She is the head of the occult research lab, of which Tamami, as well as Kozue are technically members. She is never named and only referred to as "" until the final chapter of the manga. "Erika Vermillion" is a stage name for her fortune-telling business. She has a masochistic slant as well, and enjoys Tamami's talent for insults and other unusual tortures. When at a shrine, she is strangely purified into a person exactly opposite (bright and kind, to a point of using a lot of money to wish for happiness of everyone). * (Voiced by:
Sayaka Kinoshita is a Japanese voice actress. She is the official dubbing roles for Kristen Stewart, especially in '' The Twilight Saga'' series. Filmography Television animation *'' Blue Dragon'' (????) – Valkyrie *''Net Ghost PiPoPa'' (????) – Eriko Murat ...
) :Orchestra club president and conductor, who is the younger sister of Sakura.


Asami's Classmates

* is Asami's classmate and speaks in Kaisai dialect. She tries to keep control of Mi-chan's haughty attitude, often using heavy texts such as dictionaries or telephone books as punishment. ''Voiced by:''
Akeno Watanabe is a Japanese voice actress and narrator affiliated with Office Osawa. Some of her notable voice roles include Robin Sena in ''Witch Hunter Robin'', Chachamaru Karakuri in ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', Halle Lidner in ''Death Note'', Rito ...
* is Asami's classmate and is rich and slightly snobby, often having a blase attitude and striking old-fashioned poses with her fan. Even if Michiyo won't freely admit it, she just wants to be friends with Asami. ''Voiced by:''
Riku Moriyama , also credited as , is a Japanese voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voic ...


Futaba Ginza shops

* :She works for the bakery, which is famous for its taiyaki. * :She works for the bakery, but is notorious for going through several, vastly unrelated jobs in quick succession — most likely because she is known for frequent slip-ups. She was previously a department jewelry store clerk, fortune teller, lifeguard, and various other jobs. She calls herself Hanako Suzuki. *Grocer / Yaonaga :He runs various prize games with items such as futon warmers and refrigerators as prizes. He often tells bad jokes and puns, mostly for his own amusement. *Book Store


Minazuki residence

*Ushimitsu Minazuki (水無月 丑三 ''Minazuki Ushimitsu''; voiced by: ) :Sayoko's father and an established and wealthy sculptor. He has a tendency to be controlling. *Yu Minazuki (水無月 夕 ''Minazuki Yū''; voiced by:
Kotono Mitsuishi is a Japanese voice actress, actress, singer, and narrator. She was affiliated with Arts Vision and Lasley Arrow, but is now freelance. Mitsuishi lived in Nagareyama, Chiba. She graduated from high school and entered the Katsuta Voice Actor's Ac ...
) :Sayoko's mother, who cannot stand sunlight, and is therefore much more active at night. Yū Minazuki walks with a cane, which she applies to her husband's feet when he is rude. *Mahiru Minazuki (水無月 まひる ''Minazuki Mahiru'') :Sayoko's younger sister and Asami's aunt, though they are closer to sisters in terms of their relationship. Mahiru Minazuki has been living in Italy since childhood, so she is somewhat awkward at speaking Japanese. She speaks little, and tends to employ a kind of formal monotone when she does. * :The senior maid of the Minazuki household. She is an extremely skilled maid and is a capable martial artist and especially skilled with projectile weapons such as
darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...
. Despite her tough appearance, she has a soft spot for things like teddy bears. She is very conscious of her height, thinking herself to be too tall (at the shrine, her wish is to shrink). She is extremely protective of Mahiru. *Sakura Utsugi (空木 桜 ''Utsugi Sakura''; voiced by:
Yuka Inokuchi is a Japanese voice actress who is affiliated with Ken Production. She is originally from Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture. She voices Uzume in '' Ai Yori Aoshi'', Rin Kamishiro in '' Maburaho'', Anju Maaka in '' Karin'', Tabitha in '' The Familiar ...
) :A maid of the Minazuki household. While her heart is in the right place, she is extremely careless and clumsy, a flaw which often lands her in trouble. In the epilogue, her little sister works as a maid in the house with her. *Chauffeur :The personal chauffeur of the Minazuki household.


Other characters

*Tobita Haruka :An artist who happens across Sayoko's carvings. After multiple attempts to track her down, she is now producing and selling sculptures with Sayoko whom she considers to be a genius.


Sidestories

Children's storybook sidestory Ryushi Shiratori's children's story that is seen many times throughout the anime involves the story of a prince. The prince, who is a representation of Ryushi himself, discovers a castle with a princess living in it. The princess has a fondness for
umeboshi Umeboshi (Japanese: 梅干し, pronounced , literally 'dried ume') are pickled ( brined) ''ume'' fruits common in Japan. The word ''umeboshi'' is often translated into English as 'salted Japanese plums', 'Japanese plums' or 'preserved plums'. ...
and for various reasons concerning umeboshi, she multiplies into other princesses. These new princesses are the representations of Kozue, Saki, Chiyuri, Nanako and Natsume and the princesses appear in the same episode as each of the new personalities are introduced. Comic panel sidestory Often during the anime a vertical comic-style sketch related to the main story is shown. The art style and music are consistently used in this way as various situations are shown for comedic purposes. Each panel is displayed for several seconds until the next panel scrolls into view. Usually there are four per situation, reflecting the same
yonkoma , a comic strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requirements of ...
device that is used in the manga.


Manga


Anime


Episodes

#Welcome to Narutaki-sou (ようこそ鳴滝荘へ) #The Landlady's Secret (大家さんのひみつ) #The Precious Place (たいせつな場所) #Warm and Fuzzy (ぬくぬく) #Nega-Posi (ネガポジ) #Tama Check (珠チェック) #Hide and Seek (かくれんぼ) #Shopping (おかいモノ) #Correct-o (これくと) #Sketch (スケッチ) #Affection (想い...) #Summer! Swimsuits! The Beach! (夏だ!水着だ!海水浴だ!) #Narutaki-sou's Treasure (鳴滝荘のタカラモノ) #The End of Summer (夏の終わりに) #...Maybe (...かも) #Guests After Guests (千客万来) #Color of the Sky (そらのいろ) #Meow Meow Meow (にゃーにゃーにゃー) #Everyone's Day (みんなの一日) #School Festival (学園祭にて) #Mother and Daughter (親·子) #Important... (大事...) #Among the Red Leaves (紅葉の中で) #Bells (すず) #Night of Revelation (告げる夜) #Heartful Days


Theme songs

Opening *Daiji Da·I·Ji (大事▽Da·I·Ji) by Saiki Mia and Shiraishi Ryoko Ending *Boku no SPEED de (僕のスピードで) by
Chihiro Yonekura is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. History While Yonekura was attending university, she sent off several demonstration tapes to recording companies. She was scouted out, and received the opportunity to do the op ...
Together with King Records (Starchild label).


Mahotarot

A set of 22
tarot cards The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...
with Mahoraba's characters exist. The drawings are done by the author, and in addition to original cards, others such as mass-production versions (simplified background), fake tarot cards (different pictures for card number), and special editions (holographic) exist. These are supplements for related merchandises, and cannot be collected in its entirety solely by buying the books; thus, it is hard to complete the collection.


References


External links


Mahoraba ~Heartful Site (Archived)
Anime official website
Mahoraba
Manga official site
TV Tokyo Anime X-Press Mahoraba ~ Heartful days
{{J.C.Staff 2000 manga 2005 Japanese television series debuts 2005 Japanese television series endings Discotek Media Dissociative identity disorder in popular culture Gangan Comics manga J.C.Staff Odex Shōnen manga TV Tokyo original programming