is a Japanese

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by Makoto Isshiki. It was serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Mr. Magazine'' from 1993 to 1995, with its chapters collected in four ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes. The story follows a mischievous young boy, called Hanada Ichiro, who attains the ability to see and talk to the supernatural after an accident to the back of his head. A 25-episode

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series by Madhouse was broadcast on

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

from October 2002 to March 2003. A

live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...

film adaptation premiered in August 2006. In 1995, ''Hanada Shōnen Shi'' won the 19th

Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...

in the general category.

Plot

Hanada Ichiro is the troublemaker in a small village. After being hit by a truck and getting stitches in the back of his head, he gains the ability to see ghosts, all of whom want him to fulfill their unfinished business.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Makoto Isshiki, ''Hanada Shōnen Shi'' was serialized in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ' from 1993 to 1995. Kodansha collected its chapters in four ''

'' volumes released from January 1994 to July 1995; it was republished in a four-volume in 1999; a five-volume edition in 2002–03; a five-volume edition in 2006; and five-volume edition in 2015.

Anime

A 25-episode

television series adaptation, directed by

Masayuki Kojima is a Japanese animator, storyboard artist, and director, best known for directing the acclaimed anime series ''Monster (manga), Monster'' and ''Made in Abyss''. He was born on March 11, 1961, in Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan. Career Kojima first g ...

and animated by Madhouse, was broadcast on

, from October 2, 2002, to March 26, 2003. The opening theme is " The One" and the ending theme is "

Drowning Drowning is a type of Asphyxia, suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where othe ...

", both performed by the American vocal group the

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

Music

The

original soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured ...

of the anime series was composed by

Yoshihisa Hirano is a Japanese composer and arranger. He is best known for composing the scores for anime series, such as ''Death Note'', '' Hunter × Hunter (2011)'', and '' Edens Zero''. He has also made the orchestration for video games, mostly in the Final ...

. The album was released on March 24, 2003.

Live-action film

film adaptation premiered on August 19, 2006. The film was directed by Nobuo Mizuta and stars Kenta Suga as Ichiro Hanada. It was distributed by

Shochiku is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed '' kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establis ...

Reception

The manga received the 19th

for the general category in 1995. The anime series received the '' Tokyo International Anime Festival'' Grand Prize for the TV Anime category in 2003.

References

External links

* * * {{Madhouse Comedy-drama anime and manga Kodansha manga Nippon Television original programming Madhouse (company) Seinen manga Slice of life anime and manga Supernatural anime and manga Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (General)