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 ...

written and illustrated by Yukari Ichijo. It is serialized in

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

's ''

Bessatsu Margaret , or for short, is a shōjo manga magazine published monthly in Japan by Shueisha since 1964. The stories featured in it are noted to have an emphasis on character growth, focusing on themes of interpersonal relationships and settings of ever ...

''. ''Yūkan Club'' received the 1986

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 ...

for the shōjo category. The manga was adapted into an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

by Madhouse Studios. It was also adapted into a

Japanese television drama , also called or J-drama, are television programs that are a staple of Television in Japan, Japanese television and are broadcast daily. Format All major Television networks, TV networks in Japan produce a variety of Drama (genre), drama serie ...

Media

Manga

''Yūkan Club'' was written and illustrated by Yukari Ichijo.

released the 19 '' bound volumes'' of the manga between December 13, 1982 and November 15, 2002. Shueisha re-released the manga into 10 ''kanzenban'' volumes between May 18, 2000 and April 18, 2002. Shueisha re-released the manga a second time into 9 ''kanzenban'' volumes. The third revision of the manga was called . The first three ''kanzenban'' volumes were released simultaneously on October 15, 2007. The next three ''kanzenban'' volumes were released on November 15, 2007. The final three ''kanzenban'' volumes were released on December 14, 2007. The manga is licensed in Indonesia by

Elex Media Komputindo Elex Media Komputindo is a publishing company in Indonesia that publishes books, comics, magazines, novels and other print media. Established on January 15, 1985, Elex Media Komputindo is a subsidiary of Kompas Gramedia Group. Elex is headquarte ...

OVAs

The manga was adapted into an

. The first

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

's ending theme was "Shake Dance" by Toy Boys, while "Rainy Dance", also by Toy Boys, was the second OVA's ending theme. The first OVA was released on a

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

on July 25, 1991. The second OVA premiered on December 14, 1991 as a film, in

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

cinemas. The second OVA was released on April 25, 1992. Both of the VHSs were released by Madhouse Studios.

TV Drama

Directed by , the drama's 10 episodes were broadcast on

Nippon Television 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 ...

between October 16, 2007 and December 18, 2007. On April 23, 2008, VAP released a DVD Box set containing five DVDs, spanning the 10 episodes of the drama. The theme song of the series is " Keep The Faith" by

KAT-TUN was a Japanese boy band under Starto Entertainment. Their formation under Johnny & Associates was in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnos ...

. It was voted the fifth best selling single listed on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

charts in 2007. Main cast: *

Jin Akanishi is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He has been active since 1998 as one of the two lead vocalists of the J-pop boy-band KAT-TUN before starting a solo career in 2009. Akanishi has also acted in several films and dramas. Bi ...

as Miroku Shochikubai * Yu Yokoyama as Seishiro Kikumasamune *

Junnosuke Taguchi in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan), is a singer-songwriter, actor, and model. He is a former member of the Japanese idol group KAT-TUN. He joined the talent agency Johnny & Associates in 1999 and officially debuted as part of KAT-TUN in 2006. A ...

as Granmarie Bido * Minami as Yuri Kenbishi * Yu Kashii as Noriko Hakushika * Emi Suzuki as Karen Kizakura *

Takeshi Kaga , real name , is a well-known stage and movie actor in Japan who is best known internationally for his portrayal of Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show ''Iron Chef'' produced by Fuji TV. Biography Kaga was born on October 12, 1950, ...

as Jishu Shochikubai * Tsurutaro Kataoka as Mansaku Kenbishi * as Yuriko Kenbishi On November 21, 2007,

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

released a single for the theme song of the drama. The lyrics were written by

Kyosuke Himuro is a former Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band Boøwy from 1981 to 1988. After the band disbanded, he went on to have a successful solo career, becoming one of Japan's best-selling artists, with 1 ...

. On November 28, 2007, wint released a soundtrack CD for ''Yūkan Club''. The songs are sung by

and are composed by

. ''Yūkan Club'' won four of the five awards at the 2007

Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix The Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix is an award given by the Nikkan Sports newspaper to Japanese television dramas. The award is determined by viewer votes. The 14th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix was canceled due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake an ...

was awarded best actor;

was awarded best supporting actor; Yu Kashii was awarded best supporting actress and ''Yūkan Club'' was awarded best drama of 2007.

Reception

More than 27 million copies were sold of the manga volumes, making the series one of the best-selling manga series.

References

External links

Official Shueisha ''Yūkan Club'' website

Official''Yukan Club'' Japanese drama website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yukan Club 1982 manga 1991 anime OVAs 2007 Japanese television series debuts Comedy anime and manga Japanese television dramas based on manga Magic Bus (studio) Nippon Television dramas Shōjo manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōjo) Television shows written by Eriko Shinozaki