Ben-To
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese light novel
series written by Asaura, with illustrations by Kaito Shibano. The first volume was published in February 2008, and nine volumes have been released by Shueisha
as of July 2011. A manga
adaptation titled Ben To Zero: Road to Witch, also illustrated by Shibano, was serialized in 2011. An anime
TV series adaptation produced by David Production
began airing in Japan in October 2011.
, Yō Satō finds himself beaten up on the floor of a supermarket. He soon learns that getting half-priced bento is an all-out brawl between students. Yō is invited to the Half-Priced Food Lovers Club by one of the top fighters, Sen Yarizui, in order to train to compete in these battles.
and
series written by Asaura, with illustrations by Kaito Shibano. The first volume was published on February 22, 2008 under Shueisha
's Super Dash Bunko imprint
. As of July 27, 2011, seven main novels in the series have been released, as well as two additional short story collections. Other short stories are published online on Super Dash Bunko's official website and in Super Dash Manga Program, a separate volume included with Shueisha's Jump Square
manga magazine.
adaptation illustrated by Kaito Shibano titled Ben To Zero: Road to Witch was serialized five chapters between in the first issue of Super Dash Manga Program, included with the combined May/June 2011 issue of Jump Square
sold on April 21, 2011, and the issue included with the October 2011 issue of Jump Square.
and directed by Shin Itagaki began airing in Japan from October 9, 2011 on TV Aichi
. The main opening theme is by Manami, while the ending theme is by Mariya Ise
. The opening theme for episode four is "Treasure!" by Emiri Katō
.
reported that as of March 2011, over 550,000 copies of the light novels have been sold in Japan. The light novel series has ranked twice in Takarajimasha's light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!
published yearly: eighth in 2010, and fifth in 2011.
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
series written by Asaura, with illustrations by Kaito Shibano. The first volume was published in February 2008, and nine volumes have been released by Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
as of July 2011. A manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
adaptation titled Ben To Zero: Road to Witch, also illustrated by Shibano, was serialized in 2011. An anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
TV series adaptation produced by David Production
David Production
is a Japanese animation studio. Its name has also been typeset as david production.The company was founded by former Gonzo president and producer Kōji Kajita and fellow producer Taito Okiura in September 2007 upon having left Gonzo...
began airing in Japan in October 2011.
Plot
While innocently reaching for some half-priced bentoBento
is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware...
, Yō Satō finds himself beaten up on the floor of a supermarket. He soon learns that getting half-priced bento is an all-out brawl between students. Yō is invited to the Half-Priced Food Lovers Club by one of the top fighters, Sen Yarizui, in order to train to compete in these battles.
Characters
- The main character, a high school freshman who finds himself dragged into the battle for half-priced bento. He enjoys playing retro video games, particularly SegaSega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
games. Though at first shown not able to even hold his ground in a bento brawl, he soon shows remarkable strength, enough to be recognized as an equal by Yū, the Wizard, and win a one-on-one fight against Ayame. Following a particularly embarrassing incident, he ends up with the title of .
- A second year student who is the president of the Half Priced Food Lovers Club. Her skill in bento brawls has led her to be known as . Her title comes from her accidentally almost buying a beer called because she liked the design and assumed it was a normal drink.
- Yō's first cousin who is an avid gamer and will often use her wily ways to get him to do what she wants. She is also a bento brawler known as after eating a bento on a bench at a park next to a lake and ended up falling asleep there.
- An easily excitable girl who joins the Half Priced Food Lovers Club. Her hobby is writing yaoiYaoiIn careful Japanese enunciation, all three vowels are pronounced separately, for a three-mora word, . The English equivalent is . also known as Boys' Love, is a Japanese popular term for female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male relationships, usually created by...
erotic novels, having its characters inspired on other bento brawlers. Not a fighter type at all, Hana usually resources to sneak past the other bento brawlers while they are fighting to grab a bentou for herself.
- The student council president and a lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
who constantly abuses and slaps Sato due to her jealousy of Hana for whom she has feelings, despite also being prone to flirt with other girls like Ayame.
- A third year student and a veteran bento brawler who is known as . He is also the former president of the Half Priced Food Lovers Club.
- A schoolmate of Shaga who is also in the gaming club at their school. She is cursed with bad luck which spreads to anybody she touches, though she is oblivious to her curse and has a happy-go-lucky and childlike personality otherwise.
and
- A pair of twin sisters with identical sounding names, who are the respective Student Council President and Vice President of Ayame's school.
Light novels
Ben-To began as a light novelLight novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
series written by Asaura, with illustrations by Kaito Shibano. The first volume was published on February 22, 2008 under Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's Super Dash Bunko imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
. As of July 27, 2011, seven main novels in the series have been released, as well as two additional short story collections. Other short stories are published online on Super Dash Bunko's official website and in Super Dash Manga Program, a separate volume included with Shueisha's Jump Square
Jump Square
is a Japanese monthly shōnen manga magazine with a circulation of over 300,000. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007 as a replacement for Monthly Shōnen Jump, another manga anthology that Shueisha discontinued in June of that year. The magazine is a part of the Jump...
manga magazine.
Manga
A mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
adaptation illustrated by Kaito Shibano titled Ben To Zero: Road to Witch was serialized five chapters between in the first issue of Super Dash Manga Program, included with the combined May/June 2011 issue of Jump Square
Jump Square
is a Japanese monthly shōnen manga magazine with a circulation of over 300,000. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007 as a replacement for Monthly Shōnen Jump, another manga anthology that Shueisha discontinued in June of that year. The magazine is a part of the Jump...
sold on April 21, 2011, and the issue included with the October 2011 issue of Jump Square.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation produced by David ProductionDavid Production
is a Japanese animation studio. Its name has also been typeset as david production.The company was founded by former Gonzo president and producer Kōji Kajita and fellow producer Taito Okiura in September 2007 upon having left Gonzo...
and directed by Shin Itagaki began airing in Japan from October 9, 2011 on TV Aichi
Aichi Television Broadcasting
Aichi Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd. is a TV station in Nagoya. It is known as "TV Aichi"...
. The main opening theme is by Manami, while the ending theme is by Mariya Ise
Mariya Ise
' is a female Japanese voice actress from Kanagawa, Japan. She is affiliated with Across Entertainment.- Voice acting roles :Leading roles in bold.2004* Aishiteruze Baby 2005* Onegai My Melody...
. The opening theme for episode four is "Treasure!" by Emiri Katō
Emiri Kato
is a female Japanese voice actress working for 81 Produce.-Anime:*Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka *Angel Beats! *Arc Rise Fantasia *Ad Lib Anime Kenkusho is a female Japanese voice actress working for 81 Produce.-Anime:*Akane-Iro ni Somaru Saka (Karen Ayanokouji)*Angel Beats! (Sekine)*Arc Rise Fantasia...
.
Episode list
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
Reception
The Mainichi ShimbunMainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by .-History:The history of the Mainichi Shimbun begins with founding of two papers during the Meiji period. The Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun was founded first, in 1872. The Mainichi claims that it is the oldest existing Japanese daily newspaper...
reported that as of March 2011, over 550,000 copies of the light novels have been sold in Japan. The light novel series has ranked twice in Takarajimasha's light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!
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 and their characters according to readers polled on the Internet. An introduction to each of the works comes with each listing, along with an interview of the...
published yearly: eighth in 2010, and fifth in 2011.
External links
- Ben-To at ShueishaShueishais a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
- Anime official website