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 written and illustrated by Yumiko Ōshima. It was serialized by

Hakusensha is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company mainly publishes manga magazines and is involved in series' productions in their games, original video animation, music, and their animated TV ...

in ''

LaLa Lala may refer to: Geography * Lala language (disambiguation) Places * Lala (Naples Metro), an underground metro station in Naples, Italy * Lala, Assam, a town in Assam, India * Lala, Ilam, a village in Ilam Province, Iran * Lala, Lanao del No ...

'' magazine from 1978 to 1987 and collected in seven ''

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. The story is about an abandoned

kitten A kitten is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are totally dependent on their mothers for survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop qu ...

called Chibi-neko (drawn as a small girl with cat ears and tail) who is adopted by a young man named Tokio who grows up believing that she is human. The series was adapted as 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 ...

movie directed by Shinichi Tsuji and produced by

Mushi Production or Mushi Pro for short, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Fujimidai, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. It previously had a headquarters elsewhere in Nerima. The studio was headed by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka started it as a rivalry wit ...

, it was released in theaters in February 1984. In 1979, ''Wata no Kunihoshi'' received the 3rd

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 the '' shōjo'' category. It is credited with popularizing the ''kemonomimi'' (

catgirl A is a female kemonomimi character with feline traits, such as , a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres and in particular Japanese anime and manga. Catboy is a term f ...

) character type.

Synopsis

A two-month-old kitten, , was abandoned by her owners. An 18-year-old young man named Tokio finds Chibi-nekko and brings her home. Although his mother is allergic to cats and fears them, she agrees to let him keep the kitten for company because she is afraid that he has become too withdrawn after having failed his university entrance exams. Soon, Chibi-nekko falls in love with Tokio. In her own mind, Chibi-nekko is a young human who speaks the human language, even though people only seem to hear her cat meows. She believes that all humans were once kittens like her. When she realizes that Tokio is in love with a human girl, Chibi-nekko wishes to grow up quickly into a young woman. A tomcat, Raphael, tells Chibi-nekko that it would be impossible for her to do so, shattering her dream. Raphael proceeds to tell Chibi-nekko of a paradise called Cottonland, where dreams can come true. Chibi-nekko runs away from home to travel with Raphael in search of Cottonland. After many adventures, she ends up near Tokio's house, where his mother finds her and overcomes her fear of cats.

Characters

; : : The main

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

is a two-month-old kitten known as . She was an abandoned cat before being adopted by Tokio. She believes that there is a way that cats can become human. ; : : 18 years old. Has recently failed his college entrance exams after encountering a kitten. ; : : Tokio's father and a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. ; : : Tokio's mother and a stay-at-home mom. She is allergic to cats and was afraid of them before she met Chibi. ; : : Tokio's girlfriend and a law school student. ; : : Beautiful male leader of the neighborhood cats. He admires Chibi. ; : : Chibi-neko's friend. He has a little sister who looks like Chibi-neko. ; : Appears in the "Cat" Chibi sequel.

Media

Manga

''Wata no Kunihoshi'' was serialized by

in ''

'' magazine at irregular intervals from 1978 to 1987. The series was collected in seven ''tankōbon'' volumes under the

Hana to Yume , also known as , is a semi-monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Hakusensha on the 5th and 20th of every month. The magazine is B5-size, and always comes with or free supplements, such as drama CDs, pencil boards (shitajiki), manga ...

imprint, and then reissued in 16 child-sized volumes. It was later reprinted in four '' bunkoban'' volumes on June 17, 1994.

Original release

# June 20, 1978, # June 20, 1979, # April 25, 1980, # March 25, 1981, # December 25, 1983, # March 25, 1985, # August 25, 1986,

Reprint

The manga was reprinted in '' bunkoban'' format on June 17, 1994. # # # #

Film comics

The film was adapted by

Futabasha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Higashigokenchō, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.会社概要
" Futabasha. R ...

in March 1984 into a three-part

using images from the film. # 綿の国星Part 1 # 綿の国星Part 2 # 綿の国星Part 3

Other books

All books by Ōshima unless otherwise noted. Listed in release order. * – Hardcover. Released by Hakusensha in May 1980. No ISBN. * – Released by Hakusensha in December 1980. . No ISBN. * –

Mook Mook or Mooks may refer to: Places * Mook, Iran (disambiguation) * Mook, Kentucky, an unincorporated community, United States * Mook en Middelaar, a municipality in the Netherlands Entertainment * Mook (publishing), a portmanteau of magazine a ...

related to the film. Released by Animedia through

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales is reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces other ...

in March 1984. No ISBN. * – Sheet music book. Released by in January 1989. . * – Picture book sequel to the manga. Released 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 November 1995. . **Reprint: – Released in '' bunkoban'' and ebook formats by

in November 2010. . *Volumes 9, 15, and 16 of – This 10-volume set contains selections from Ōshima's works. Volumes 9, 15, and 16 contain excerpts from this series. Released by

Asahi Sonorama is the publishing arm of The Asahi Shimbun Company, publishing books, magazines, and manga. It replaced on 1 April 2008 just after it went bankrupt. History Asahi Sonorama was created as a division of Asahi Shimbunsha on September 9, 1959 ...

in August 2003. . * – Cookbook based on the manga, with many new illustrations and many from the manga. Co-written with

Minako Imada is a Japanese feminine given name. Minako can be written using different kanji characters: *美奈子, "beauty, apple tree, child" *美那子, "beauty, unknown, child" or "beauty, child" *美菜子, "beauty, (green) vegetable, child" *美名子, ...

, an expert on Western foods and table arrangements (for photos). Released by Fukkan in February 2014. .

Movie

''Wata no Kunihoshi'' was adapted as an

movie that was produced by

. The movie was directed by Shinichi Tsuji from a script by

Masaki Tsuji is a Japanese anime screenwriter, mystery writer, manga author, travel critic, essayist, professor as well as mystery fiction novels writer. Tsuji was most active in the business from the 1960s through the 1980s, and worked as a script writer on ...

and Yumiko Ōshima, with music by pianist

Richard Clayderman Richard Clayderman (; born Philippe Pagès , 28 December 1953 in Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Marc Minier, instrumental renditions of popular ...

. The movie was released in theaters on February 11, 1984. The movie was later released on VHS, and VHD by Victor Japan. It was released on DVD by

Columbia Music Entertainment , often pronounced ''Korombia'', operating internationally as , is a Japanese record label founded in 1910 as Nipponophone Co., Ltd. It affiliated itself with the Columbia Graphophone Company of the United Kingdom and adopted the standard UK C ...

on March 31, 2004.

Albums

The opening theme song for the film was by

, titled . The film featured an

insert song is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening ...

, , and an ending theme, , both sung by . Two albums, a soundtrack and an

image album An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

, and a single were released. * – Released as an LP by Victor Japan. VIP-20875. * – Released as an LP by Victor Japan. JBX-25030. * – Single EP (12-inch). Released by Victor in 1980. KVX-1073.

Reception

''Wata no Kunihoshi'' won the 3rd

in the '' shōjo'' category in 1979. The same year, it was voted the most popular series running in ''

'' magazine. According to German manga scholar Jaqueline Berndt, the depiction of cats as young girls spread to other manga series from ''Wata no Kunihoshi''. It is described by Masanao Amano as not just a simple

animal fable An animal tale or beast fable generally consists of a short story or poem in which animals talk. They may exhibit other anthropomorphic qualities as well, such as living in a human-like society. It is a traditional form of allegorical writing. A ...

but a story in which psychological and mental states are highly differentiated. The movie of ''Wata no Kunihoshi'' has been praised as a "hidden gem" for its complex characterization, philosophical story, and gorgeous animation. The soundtrack of

's piano music is praised by

Helen McCarthy Helen McCarthy (born 27 February 1951) is the British author of such anime reference books as ''500 Manga Heroes and Villains'', ''Anime!'', ''The Anime Movie Guide'' and ''Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation''. She is the co-author of ...

and

Jonathan Clements Jonathan Michael Clements (born 9 July 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shi Huang, as well as monthly opinion columns for '' Neo'' magazine. He is also the co-aut ...

as striking exactly the right tone for the romantic mood. The depiction of Chibi-neko's self-image as a

was seen by a reviewer at ''

THEM Anime Reviews THEM Anime Reviews, otherwise known as THEM or T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews, is an Anime, anime Review, review website that writes about current and past anime in any form, including Original video animation, OVAs and Original net animation, ONAs. The ...

'' as a metaphor for adolescence.

References

External links

Official Columbia movie website
* {{Kodansha Manga Award - Shōjo 1978 manga 1984 anime films Manga series Shōjo manga Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōjo) Japanese-language films Animated films based on manga Hakusensha franchises Hakusensha manga Manga adapted into films Japanese animated films