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is a Japanese
light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...
series written by
Hikaru Sugii is a Japanese light novel author. In 2005, his debut work ''Hime no Miko'' won the Silver Prize at the 12th Dengeki Novel Prize. Works Source: * Hime no Miko (Dengeki Bunko, February 2006 –) * Kami-sama no Memo-chō (Dengeki Bunko, 9 Volume ...
, with illustrations by
Mel Kishida is a Japanese illustrator. His works include both light novel illustration and anime character design. His major works include the character designer of the ''Hanasaku Iroha'' anime and character designer for the ''Arland Atelier'' game series, ...
.
ASCII Media Works , formerly , is a Japanese Publishing, publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing headquartered in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It originally formed on April 1, 2008, as a result of a Mergers and acquisitions, merger bet ...
published nine volumes between January 2007 and September 2014 under their
Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint (trade name), imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (a division of Kadokawa Future Publishing formerly called MediaWorks (publisher), MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with th ...
imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...
. A
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 ...
adaptation illustrated by Tiv was serialized between the August 2010 and September 2012 issues of ASCII Media Works' ''
Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comi ...
'' magazine. A 12-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 ...
adaptation aired in Japan between July and September 2011.


Plot

Narumi Fujishima is a high-school student who keeps himself uninvolved in school life to the point of not knowing most of his classmates' names. Because of some circumstances, he must participate in his school's "Gardening Committee", with Ayaka Shinozaki. He is also persuaded to join NEET, an amateur detective agency filled with unemployed slackers who take on and solve cases on their own. The NEET agency is led by "Alice", a childish, anti-social extreme shut-in, who never leaves her room full of computer monitors and stuffed animals. However, Alice has proven herself a resourceful hacker and an astounding detective. Throughout the series, Narumi, accompanied by the other members of NEET, solve crimes, including murders, using their limited resources and Alice's genius intellect.


Characters


NEET Detective Team

; : (anime),
Atsushi Abe is a Japanese voice actor and narrator represented by Ken Production. Some of his major roles include Toma Kamijo in the ''A Certain Magical Index'' / ''A Certain Scientific Railgun'' series, Kukai Soma in ''Shugo Chara!'', Moritaka Mashiro i ...
(drama CD) : An ordinary 16-year-old high-school student who lives with his elder sister. He thinks he has become like this, alone and occupying time by himself, because he is always transferring schools dues to his dad's work. He is introduced to Hanamaru by his classmate Ayaka, through whom he meets Min, Alice, and the NEET Detective Team members. ; : (anime),
Minako Kotobuki is a Japanese actress and singer. She played Tsumugi Kotobuki in the anime series '' K-On!'' about a high school girl band. The show launched her music career as she performed the opening and ending themes, and joined three other voice actress ...
(drama CD) :The mysterious female protagonist who lives on the third floor above the Hanamaru ramen shop. Her age is unknown, but looks like a 12- or 13-year-old girl. She has said that her diet has been heavy Dr. Pepper for more than 10 years. She is short and pale white and has long black hair. She calls herself Alice (a mixed reading of the kanji for Yūko) and a "
NEET A NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", is a person who is Unemployment, unemployed and not receiving an education or Vocational education, vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in ...
Detective". She is a
hikikomori ''Hikikomori'' (, "pulling inward, being confined") are reclusive adolescents or adults who withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement. The term refers to both the sociological phenomenon in gener ...
and a
cracking Cracking may refer to: * Cracking, the formation of a fracture or partial fracture in a solid material studied as fracture mechanics ** Performing a sternotomy * Fluid catalytic cracking, a catalytic process widely used in oil refineries for crac ...
genius. She has disclosed that she has never attended school, and that she ran away from home some time before deciding to become a NEET detective. Her diet contains little more than
Dr. Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. Dr Pepper was created in the 1880s by the American pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper in th ...
, orders of noodles, hold everything except the broth, and sometimes ice cream; on Min's insistence she sometimes eats vegetables, typically leeks. Min threatens to withhold the ice cream unless Alice eats something. She suffers from severe
insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...
and tends to annoy people around her, eliciting angry responses. She usually wears bear-patterned pajamas and is typically surrounded by a pile of teddy bears. She is the brains of the NEET Detective Team and gathers information to solve the cases with her laptop without stepping out of her bedroom. ; : (anime), Yōko Honda (drama CD) :Narumi's classmate, an active and cheerful girl who works part-time at a ramen shop called Hanamaru. She was the only member of the gardening club, but made Narumi join her, starting a friendship with him. Soon after, she inexplicably jumps off the school roof, injuring herself and falling into a coma. This motivates Narumi to make a request to Alice: find out why she jumped off from the roof. Ayaka eventually recovers consciousness but suffers amnesia and does not remember anything about Narumi. ; : (anime),
Fuyuka Oura , professionally known as since 2016, is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Green Note. She is known for starring as Kei Oumi in ''Twin Spica'', Geo Stelar/Subaru Hoshikawa in ''Mega Man Star Force'', Toshiya in ''Major'', Hiro Hiyorimi in ...
(drama CD) :The current owner of the ramen shop Hanamaru, the one who takes care of the members of the NEET Detective Club. Her personality is generally brash and tomboyish, often talking to people with a tone usually more masculine than what her looks suggest. However, she is as caring inside as she is harsh, as proven by her unrelenting support for the NEET Detective Club in spite of its members not being able to return the favor. ; : (anime), Kenji Takahashi (drama CD) :One of the NEET Detective Team members, an ex-boxer addicted to gambling, especially dice games, pachinko, and horse races. He dropped out of Narumi's high school an unspecified number of years ago, and has connections with the local police. ; : (anime),
Nobuhiko Okamoto is a Japanese voice actor and singer affiliated with Raccoon Dog. He won the Best New Actor Award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and Best Supporting Actor Award at the 5th Seiyu Awards. Voice acting career In an interview held at the Anime Expo, wh ...
(drama CD) :One of the NEET Detective Team members, a university student whose appearance is that of an elementary-school boy. He rarely attends classes and stays enrolled only to use the university library. He is a military
otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...
who spends most of his time playing survival games, is always carrying model guns and wearing a camouflage outfit, and is an expert on spying devices. ; : (anime),
Junji Majima is a Japanese voice actor who is contracted to I'm Enterprise. He was born in Nagoya, Aichi. Filmography Anime ;2002 *'' Midnight Horror School'' – Borocca *'' Princess Tutu'' – Funeral Attendee (ep 4), Townsperson B (ep 6) ;2003 *'' BA ...
(drama CD) :One of the NEET Detective Team members and the only one with a driver's license. Because of his very handsome and gentle appearance he is quite popular among girls, having numerous girlfriends at the same time. Narumi thinks of him as a gigolo. Hiro is often seen with two cellphones, writing romantic text messages to two different girls at the same time. He collects information or pictures and is an expert in investigation.


Other characters

; : (anime),
Kenta Miyake is a Japanese voice actor and narrator. He is affiliated with 81 Produce. Biography Miyake wanted to become a voice actor after admiring an actress. After attending the Amusement Media Research Institute and joining 81 Produce, he replaced se ...
(drama CD) :The head and one of the founding members of a young NEET
yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...
group called the Hirasaka Group. He has a ferocious look and a violent attitude. He hires Alice to find the source of the drug 'Angel Fix' in the first novel, and has hired her several times before and after. He often lends a hand to Alice's cases. He is also good at textile arts and responds to Alice's calls when one of her stuffed bears needs repair. ; : :A fourteen-year-old Thai girl with apparently brown skin whose father, Masaya Kusakabe, is a Japanese man who married a Thai woman who died in Japan. She has been in Japan since she was five, so she speaks Japanese fluently. Meo asks the NEET Detective Team to search for her missing father after he phones requiring her to take a bag containing two hundred million yen banknotes and leave for any safe place. Her nickname, Meo, is derived from "Maeo" (; ), a Thai word meaning
cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
; her first name, Charuni (), is a Thai word derived from
Pāḷi Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravād ...
, Cāruṇī, meaning a young pretty girl. ; : :The former leader and one of the founding of a young NEET
yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...
group called the Hirasaka Group who broke his oath as a sworn brother to the Fourth after their roommate Hisan was supposedly killed. He is known as the person who originally designed the Hirasaka Group emblem, albeit unfinished.


Media


Light novels

The ''Heaven's Memo Pad''
light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...
s are written by
Hikaru Sugii is a Japanese light novel author. In 2005, his debut work ''Hime no Miko'' won the Silver Prize at the 12th Dengeki Novel Prize. Works Source: * Hime no Miko (Dengeki Bunko, February 2006 –) * Kami-sama no Memo-chō (Dengeki Bunko, 9 Volume ...
, with illustrations by Mel Kishida.
ASCII Media Works , formerly , is a Japanese Publishing, publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing headquartered in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It originally formed on April 1, 2008, as a result of a Mergers and acquisitions, merger bet ...
published nine volumes between January 2007 and September 2014 under their
Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint (trade name), imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (a division of Kadokawa Future Publishing formerly called MediaWorks (publisher), MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with th ...
imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...
.


Drama CD

Three
drama CDs Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
were produced by Lantis. The first, titled , was released on July 8, 2009. The second, titled , was released on May 7, 2010. A third drama CD titled was released on November 9, 2011, casting the same voice actors from the anime.


Manga

A
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 ...
adaptation illustrated by Tiv was serialized in
ASCII Media Works , formerly , is a Japanese Publishing, publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing headquartered in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It originally formed on April 1, 2008, as a result of a Mergers and acquisitions, merger bet ...
' ''
Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Comi ...
'' between the August 2010 and September 2012 issues. Three ''
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 were released between April 4, 2011 and August 27, 2012 under ASCII Media Works'
Dengeki Comics is a manga publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks (publisher), MediaWorks) and is aimed at a male audience. Aside from the main Dengeki Comics label, there is the related Dengeki Co ...
imprint.


Anime

An
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 ...
adaptation was announced in February 2011. It aired 12 episodes between July 2 and September 24, 2011 with
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 '' Aria ...
in charge of the animation. North American licensor
Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC (or simply Sentai) is an American entertainment company. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is Sentai Studios. The ...
simulcast the series on
The Anime Network Anime Network was an American video on demand (VOD) network dedicated to anime owned by AMC Networks. History The network was launched in North America in late 2002 and is marketed to multi system operators (MSOs) as both a free and subscri ...
, and released the series on DVD in 2012. The opening theme is "Kawaru Mirai" by
ChouCho is a Japanese singer from Osaka Prefecture and is signed to Lantis. Career ChouCho initially formed the band ''Lotus Lotus'' in 2007 when still in high school and performed covers of songs from anime. Starting in June 2008, ChouCho began subm ...
and the ending theme is "Asunaro" by
Kenichi Suzumura is a Japanese voice actor, narrator, and singer who is affiliated with and a representative of INTENTION, a voice acting company he founded in March 2012. He voiced Morley in ''Macross 7'', Hikaru Hitachiin in '' Ouran High School Host Club'', M ...
.


Reception

As of July 2011, the light novels have sold over 1,000,000 copies in Japan. The light novel ranked at No. 10 in 2011 in
Takarajimasha is a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It is known for publishing subculture-oriented fashion magazines aimed at teens, fashion magazines in general, as well as guide books. History The company was founded on September 22, ...
's annual light novel guide book ''
Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! is an annual light novel guide book published by Takarajimasha. The guide book publishes a list of the top ten most popular light novels according to readers polled on the Internet and votes from "collaborators" (critics, influencers, and other p ...
''. Theron Martin of
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 ot ...
published a positive review of the complete anime series in 2012. Despite his criticism towards
Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
for being another moe archetype for the viewers and its glorification of
NEET A NEET, an acronym for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", is a person who is Unemployment, unemployed and not receiving an education or Vocational education, vocational training. The classification originated in the United Kingdom in ...
s, Martin praised the series for its well-conceived adaptation, its understated yet eclectic score and for tackling social issues found in Japan. He concluded by saying, "Overall, ''Heaven's Memo Pad'' is a very good series which falls short of being a great series...though the stories in between also have their moments."


References


External links


Official ''Kami-sama no Memo-chō'' anime website

''Kami-sama no Memo-chō''
at
Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint (trade name), imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (a division of Kadokawa Future Publishing formerly called MediaWorks (publisher), MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with th ...
* {{J.C.Staff 2007 Japanese novels 2010 manga 2011 Japanese television series debuts Anime and manga based on light novels Anime series Dengeki Bunko Dengeki Comics Dengeki Daioh Kadokawa Corporation franchises Detective anime and manga J.C.Staff Light novels Shōnen manga Sentai Filmworks Television shows based on light novels