''Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture'', known in Japan as , 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 Masayuki Ishikawa. It was serialized in

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'' an ...

's seinen magazine '' Evening'' from July 2004 to June 2013 and moved to the magazine ''Monthly Morning Two'', where it concluded in January 2014. The series follows Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university, who has a unique ability to see and communicate with

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

s. Del Rey Manga licensed the manga, but only released two volumes in English in North America. An 11-episode

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, animated by

Shirogumi , member of The Association of Japanese Animations, is a company centralized in the production of animated series and feature films, as well as the making and adjusting of visual effects. History In 1973, Tatsuo Shimamura established . To expan ...

and

Telecom Animation Film is a Japanese animation studio founded on May 19, 1975 and currently affiliated with TMS Entertainment. The company produces television series, films, and original video animations (OVA). Works Television series and original video animations ...

, aired between October and December 2007 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. An 11-episode live action adaptation was aired on Noitamina between July and September 2010. An 11-episode animated second season titled ''Moyasimon Returns'' aired from July to September 2012. The manga, anime and live action have all been generally well received by reviewers, with praise received for the artwork and sustaining the viewer's interest through clear presentation of a difficult topic. It won the 2008

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. Current ...

for Grand Prize and the 2008

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...

for general manga.

Plot

''Moyasimon'' follows the life of Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university, who has the unique ability to see and communicate with microorganisms. Additionally, these organisms look very different to him, and much larger than what can be seen under a microscope by normal people. This ability has brought him a bit of fame as when he entered the university, Tadayasu discovered that one of the professors there, Keizō Itsuki, already knew about his gift via Tadayasu's grandfather. Professor Itsuki's coworker Haruka Hasegawa has trouble believing what Tadayasu claims at first, but later comes to accept it. Tadayasu enters the university with his good friend Kei Yūki whose family runs a

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

brewery.

Characters

; :Tadayasu Souemon Sawaki is the main protagonist of ''Moyasimon'' and attends an agricultural university in Tokyo as a freshman. His middle name is the ''

yagō , literally meaning "house name", is a term applied in traditional Japanese culture to names passed down within a guild, studio, or other circumstance other than blood relations. The term is synonymous with and . The term most often refers to the ...

'' of his family home; it is usually omitted, and he is called "Tadayasu Sawaki". He is a childhood friend of Kei Yūki and his parents run . He is able to see and communicate with microorganisms. Sawaki is shown to have feelings for Haruka in the live action version. He is voiced by

Daisuke Sakaguchi is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production. He is best known for his roles in '' Mobile Suit Victory Gundam'' as Üso Ewin, ''Gintama'' as Shinpachi Shimura, '' Clannad'' as Youhei Sunohara, '' Blood Blockade Battlefront ''as Le ...

in the anime and played by Yuichi Nakamura in the live action drama. ; :Kei is Sawaki's childhood friend and is also a freshman. His parents run a sake brewery (making them customers for the mold starter from Sawaki's parents). Kei disappears from the story soon after he and Sawaki enter college. He comes back

cross-dressed Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

in black Gothic Lolita clothing, and reveals he has stronger feelings for Sawaki than initially let on. He is voiced by Mitsuki Saiga in the anime and played by Azusa Okamoto in the live action drama. ; :Keizō Itsuki is a professor at the university and an acquaintance of Sawaki's family, who know of his ability. His age is a mystery, but there are reports of his works back to World War II. He is voiced by

Tomomichi Nishimura is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator who works for Arts Vision. He is most known for the roles of the Narrator of ''YuYu Hakusho'', Tsuchikage Ohnoki (''Naruto''), Mitsuyoshi Anzai (''Slam Dunk''), Shibaraku Tsurugibe (''Mashin Hero ...

in the anime and played by Kurosawa Toshio in the live action drama. ; :Haruka Hasegawa is a postgraduate student. She wears a lab coat over revealing clothing. She is a violent, somewhat sadistic woman from a wealthy, over-protective family. Her family arranged a marriage for her, against her will. However, she does not have to marry him until she is finished with her studies at the university. This is the main reason why she decided to stay there until she receives her doctorate. Hasegawa is not very good at communicating with people, and her harsh personality is used to mask this handicap. She has known Itsuki since she was in middle school. Haruka is shown to have feelings for Misato in the manga. Haruka is shown to have feelings for Sawaki in the live action version. She is voiced by

Sayaka Ohara is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Haikyō. Her major roles include Alicia Florence in ''Aria'', Milly Ashford in ''Code Geass'', Erza Scarlet in ''Fairy Tail'', Irisviel in the '' Fate/Zero'' and ''Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya'' s ...

in the anime and played by

Natsuki Katō is a Japanese actress, singer and former fashion model, regularly appearing on television in various roles. Career In November 2010, Akita Prefecture chose her as one of the two official PR-Ambassadors, along with Nozomi Sasaki, with the purp ...

in the live action drama. ; :Hazuki Oikawa is a freshman at the same agricultural university. She is a compulsive neat freak and always carries disinfectant tissues and antibacterial spray with her. She is voiced by Akemi Kanda in the anime and played by Haneyuri in the live action drama. ; :Kaoru Misato is a sophomore who tries to use his knowledge of bacteria to earn easy money, who becomes friends with Sawaki. He speaks in the

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...

. He shares a run-down, dirty dorm room with his best friend, Kawahama. Misato is shown to have feelings for Haruka in the manga. He is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi in the anime and played by Nishida Koji in the live action drama. ; :Takuma Kawahama is a short, overweight sophomore and Misato's best friend. He is a returnee from Mexico, which amounts to his knowledge of insects and pulque. He is voiced by Noriaki Sugiyama in the anime and played by Kimura Akihiko in the live action drama. ; :Possessing the unofficial title of "Miss Agriculture" due to her beauty, Mutō is also an assistant to Itsuki and Hasegawa. She is also president of the UFO club, which she joined to escape reality. She is voiced by Mamiko Noto in the anime and played by Chisun in the live action drama. ; :Aya is a third year economics student at the university. She also works as a bartender at a local pub. She is voiced by Chiaki Takahashi in the anime and played by Yōko Chōsokabe in the live action drama. ; :Yū is the keeper of Okinawa proving ground of the agricultural university. She is a look-alike to Kei, except she has dark skin. ; :Marie is a french girl Sawaki meets in France. She is born in an old family Burgundy Domaine specializing in wine brewery and speaks fluent Japanese. She wears white

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...

clothing, and is the second look-alike to Kei. She is knowledgeable about wine brewery but has some disagreements with her father, who is in charge of the winery business. She is voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro in the anime. ; :Hana comes to meet Kei at the Hiyoshi Liquor Shop to sell beer she brews in her farm. She is short, wears glasses, and looks very young.

Microorganisms

; :A variety of acetic acid bacteria. ; :Also known as "soot fungus." ; : :Used in the production of awamori. ; : :''A. oryzae'' is the main character of the microorganism side. Traditionally known in Japan as and used to

saccharify Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile. Biological hydrolysi ...

the starches in rice to make

and

shōchū is a Japanese distilled beverage. It is typically distilled from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, or brown sugar, though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes, or even carrots. Ty ...

. ; :Used to make

miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and ''kōji'' (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae'') and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spread ...

. ; :Used in the production of

. ; :Seen on

hongeohoe ''Hongeo-hoe'' * () is a type of fermented fish dish from Korea's Jeolla province. ''Hongeo-hoe'' is made from skate and emits a very strong, characteristic ammonia-like odor that has been described as being "reminiscent of an outhouse". Origi ...

by Tadayasu. ; :Used to make natto. ; : ; ; :A caterpillar fungus prized in

Traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

. ; :'' Lactobacillus homohiochi'', ''

Lactobacillus fructivorans ''Fructilactobacillus fructivorans'' is a gram-positive bacteria and a member of the genus '' Fructilactobacillus'' in the family Lactobacillaceae. It is found in wine, beer, grape must, dairy, sauerkraut, meat, and fish. They are facultative a ...

'' the "bad guy" of the series. A fructivoran which makes

go bad. ; :Used to make Western

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in t ...

. ; :Found in fermented vegetables like kimchi and

Japanese pickles are Japanese preserved vegetables (usually pickled in salt, brine, or a bed of rice bran). They are served with rice as an ''okazu'' (side dish), with drinks as an '' otsumami'' (snack), as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and as ...

. ; ; :Used to make

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferme ...

and other fermented vegetables. ; :Used to make Japanese yogurt. Speaks in a very formal accent. ; :A common green mold used to produce antibiotics (most notably,

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

) ; :Also seen on

by Tadayasu. ; :Creates alcohol out of sugars. Hangs around Kei in the anime. ; :The cause of Hasegawa's athlete's foot.

Media

Manga

''Moyasimon'' is written and illustrated by Masayuki Ishikawa. In early 2004, the editor-in-chief of Kodansha's '' seinen'' magazine '' Evening'' at the time, Kazuya Kajiwara, gave Ishikawa the opportunity to draw a manga that would appear in that year's 16th issue sold on July 20, 2004. Kajiwara told Ishikawa to draw a

storyboard A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...

for five chapters, and only after Kajiwara approved the storyboard would Ishikawa be allowed to draw the manuscript for the first chapter. Following this, Ishikawa worked on several proposals for a story about an agricultural university with his supervising editor and submitted them to Kajiwara, but he rejected every one. As the deadline approached, Ishikawa asked his editor what was wrong with his proposals, to which his editor casually suggested that one of the characters could have the ability to see microorganisms with the naked eye. After submitting this idea to Kajiwara, he immediately approved it. In 2004, Ishikawa was living in Sakai not far from

Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), also abbreviated to , is one of the largest public universities in Japan. The main campus is among big Kofun tombs in Sakai, Osaka. The university will merge with Osaka City University to form Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) in A ...

, so to better understand microorganisms, Ishikawa spent long days from morning until evening reading technical books on microorganisms in the university's library. During this time, Ishikawa always had lunch at the university's dining hall where he would hear students and faculty talking about various topics. This led him to solidify the story's concept about college life using microorganisms as a motif and self-reliance as a theme. The series was originally titled , but this was changed in the second chapter to and then simply ''Moyasimon'' with chapter three; the subtitle ''Tales of Agriculture'' was added with chapter eight. Even after the serialization began, Kajiwara continued to suggest ideas for future chapters, such as adding the police to one chapter, or including a mysterious microorganism that could threaten humanity. However, Ishikawa did not feel any of these proposals were interesting, and instead decided to work with his editor to get ranked No. 1 among the series serialized in ''Evening'' without any other outside help. Shortly thereafter, while Kajiwara went on a short vacation to Germany, Ishikawa and his editor worked feverishly on the next chapter, which ultimately led ''Moyasimon'' to achieve a No. 1 ranking for the first time in its history. When writing ''Moyasimon'', Ishikawa aimed to take difficult to understand information from technical books and present it in a way that was easier for readers to grasp. Themes and motifs Ishikawa developed led him to learn more about additional topics to better flesh out the initial idea. When deciding on certain fashion for the characters, Ishikawa wanted clothing that would not degrade with age as new fashion trends were introduced, which is one of the reasons for Haruka Hasegawa's distinctive bondage-esque fashion. ''Moyasimon'' was serialized in ''Evening'' from July 20, 2004 in the 16th issue of that year to April 23, 2013 in the 10th issue of that year. Following this, it moved to Kodansha's ''Monthly Morning Two'' magazine and ran in that magazine from the August 2013 issue sold on June 22, 2013 to the March 2014 issue sold on January 22, 2014. The individual chapters were collected and published in 13 ''

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 by Kodansha from May 2005 to March 2014. Limited editions were also released for volumes 3 through 13. The manga was licensed in North America by Del Rey Manga, but they only released the first two volumes in November 2009 and June 2010. Further English volumes were discontinued after Kodansha USA took over the manga published by Del Rey Manga. The manga is also published by Glénat Manga in France, GP Publishing and later RW Edizioni in Italy, and

Sharp Point Press Sharp Point Press () is a Taiwanese publisher of manga and music. It was founded in July 1982. History *1982 - Company established. Mainly publishes military and models related books. *1985 - Started publishing annual Zodiac fortune telling handb ...

in Taiwan.

Anime

An 11-episode

adaptation aired on Fuji TV's Noitamina block between October 11 and December 20, 2007. The series was produced by

and

with Yuichiro Yano as series director. Natsuko Takahashi served as screenwriter with Junichi Takaoka as character designer and Naoki Satō as sound director. The opening theme is by Sarasa Ifu and the ending theme is "Rocket" by Polysics. The opening theme video was directed by noted film director Takashi Yamazaki.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

streamed the first season of the anime. At the Tokyo International Film Festival, it was explained that over 100 types of bacteria appear in the anime and that a combination of CG animation and live-action shots were used in the animation opening sequence. The anime's original soundtrack was released on November 28, 2007. ASMIK released the anime over 4 DVDs between December 21, 2007 and March 19, 2008. ASMIK also released a DVD box on May 26, 2010 and a

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

box on October 26, 2011. The ninth volume of the manga was released with a CG anime DVD on July 6, 2010, which contained a six-minute

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

about the microorganisms. A second season titled ''Moyasimon Returns'' aired on Noitamina for 11 episodes between July 5 and September 13, 2012. Crunchyroll

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

ed the second season of the anime. Yuichiro Yano and Natsuko Takahashi returned as series director and screenwriter.

Takefumi Haketa Takefumi (written: 建文, 健史, 丈史 or 武文) is a masculine Japanese given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name ...

replaced Naoki Satō as sound director. The opening theme is "

Wake Up Wake Up or wake up is to awake. It may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Wake Up'' (Anthony Neely album) or the title song, 2012 * ''Wake Up!'' (The Boo Radleys album), 1995 * ''Wake Up'' (BTS album) or the title song, 2014 * ''Wake Up!'' (Ha ...

" by ClariS and the ending theme is by Hiiragi. ASMIK released the second season over 6 DVDs as well as 6 Blu-rays, with the corresponding volumes being released on the same date, between September 5, 2012 and February 6, 2013.

Live action TV series

''Moyasimon'' has been adapted into a live action television series. It was also broadcast on the mainly anime-based programing block Noitamina that the anime aired on. The series aired on Fuji TV between July 8 and September 16, 2010. Akira Iwamoto is series director, with Natsuko Takahashi as screenwriter. Shirogumi handled production and visual effects, with a live demonstration of

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

technology used for ''Moyashimon'' super deformed germs at the press conference. Funimation announced a license to simulcast the series at their panel at Anime Expo 2010. ASMIK released the live action series over 4 DVDs between December 23, 2010 and March 16, 2011.

Reception

The ''Moyasimon'' manga was awarded the Grand Prize for the 12th

in 2008. It was also awarded the 2008

for general manga. It was selected as one of the best manga in Japan in 2008 by Tamaki Seto. It was nominated for the first Manga Taishō awards in 2008. In 2006, the manga and its animated adaptation were finalists in the 2007 Japan Media Arts Festival. In 2006, the manga was a finalist in the 10th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. Zoltan Fehervari writing for '' Cell'' commends the manga's art for being "generally excellent throughout, with crisp detail, expressive characters, and fluid action." Brigid Alverson commends the manga with "while this series showcases the author's zany sense of humor, the series is so scientifically accurate it's legitimately educational, too!" ''

Ain't It Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book proje ...

Scott Green comments on the presentation of the bacteria in the manga "basically shapes with faces", highlighting the differences between their "broad and cute" character design and Jessica Rabbit. He also praises the art with "characters appear in thought out backgrounds with plenty of line work, an abundance of zip tones, margin illustrations and notes." However the density of the information given leads to "a viscous manga that moves slowly. Even if there aren't dead stops, it doesn't flow easily." Satsuki Murakami and Mio Bryce writing for the International Journal of the Humanities commend the manga by stating that "key concepts are repeatedly presented in the entertaining format, making Moyashimon representative of manga that successfully promotes readers' interest in, and effective understanding of, difficult subjects such as brewing technology." Jason Thompson, in his online appendix to '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', comments that "Ishikawa sometimes errs on the side of too much info, resulting in pages and pages filled with text, and not so much in the way of plot or character development in the macroscopic human world." Carlo Santos from

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

commended Ishikawa's art stating "lots of careful shading to bring out the depth and texture in each scene, as well as distinctive character designs for each of the newcomers." Jake Godek from THEM Anime commends the anime for its portrayal of the microorganism stating that they are "so adorable it's easy to see one in the show and want to hug it." He also praises the "catchy beyond needed" music, however he criticizes the weak story stating "it feels like the story really is being decided on step-by-step during production rather than before it." Carl Kimlinger from

commends the anime's setting for "capturing that collegiate feeling: the freedom, the newness, the adventure; the bad roommates, the bizarre school activities, the drunken sexual experimentation." Kimlinger compared the two seasons of anime: "This season is the sharper looking of the two, with cleaner designs and more detailed settings; season two is the more vivid, with brighter colors and more expressive designs. This season's score is sometimes incongruously serious (which actually adds to the humor on occasion), and its fan service level is orders of magnitude higher. (Remember the drunken sexual experimentation? Let's just say no men were involved)." Kimlinger, in his review of the second season, commends the "great

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

" and "pleasing pace" but criticizes the first three episodes of "inconsequential filler and food-science lectures". Clarissa Graffeo from Anime World Order comments on "gross" practice of preparing

kiviak Kiviak or kiviaq is a traditional wintertime Inuit food from Greenland that is made of little auks (''Alle alle''), a type of seabird, fermented in a seal skin. Up to 500 whole auks are packed into the seal skin, beaks and feathers included. A ...

in the live action and Itsuki consumes the fermented meal. Erin Finnegan from

comments on the denseness of the live action, comparing the live action to '' Nodame Cantabile''s live action, "which seemed to cover one entire volume of manga per episode." Mania.com's Chris Beveridge comments on the "mildly comical microbes that are reminiscent of the aliens from '' Toy Story'' except that they talk more." In a review of the fifth episode, Beveridge criticizes the introduction of gothic lolita girl, saying "that while cute in manga and anime, looks ridiculous in person." A review of the final episode has Beveridge commending the " CG work both for the bacteria and all the campus oddities". He further applauds the live action with "''Moyashimon'' overacts everything in just the right way, rarely taking it too far and instead being just goofy and unrealistic enough to make you laugh while still going with the core concept."

References

External links

Anime official website
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