Dear Boys
Encyclopedia
is a sports manga
by Hiroki Yagami
, published by Kodansha
in Monthly Shōnen Magazine. As of June 2007, the Dear Boys series has 25 volumes in total, including the Dear Boys: The Early Days and Dear Boys: Act 2. In 2007, Dear Boys: Act 2 was awarded the Kodansha Manga Award
for the shōnen
manga.
The story concerns the progress of the Mizuho High School basketball team as it attempts to win the prefectural
championship. It also deals heavily with the relationship between the players on the team, especially the two main characters Kazuhiko Aikawa and Takumi Fujiwara.
has left after a conflict with Fujiwara. However, Aikawa transfers to Mizuho and through his enthusiasm and sheer love of the game, infuses the few remaining members with a sense of purpose.
Despite the fact that there are only five of them (i.e., they have no substitutes), they manage to get the coach of the girls' team to coach them as well. At first, she seems very strict, but later reveals her attachment to her "Dear Boys". Together, they do their best to make their dreams come true and take their team to the top of the prefecture.
The manga isn't only focused on the Mizuho team, but also on several rival teams. In fact, the manga artist
spends a bit of time developing the characters of other teams' members.
He was the one who convinced remaining players to play basketball again. Mutsumi had once said that it was as if Aikawa reminded them all about how much fun they could've all had playing basketball together. He was once the trump card and captain of the Tendōji High's basketball team. He plays the position of point forward in the team. He also has a knack of being able to jump higher than most people, and that makes up for his height disadvantage. Even though he is short, he is able to dunk.
He is considered to be a genius as can be seen in anime and it is seen that his skills seems to improve with every game that he plays. He is also the best friend of Masato Sawanobori, the star player and point guard of Tendōji High School and Fujiwara Takumi, the captain of the Mizuho basketball team.
He is always able to encourage the other players no matter how hard the game is.
He is romantically involved with Mai Moritaka of the girl's team.
Fujiwara is a second-year student at Mizuho High. He is often nicknamed as Taku by his close friends and seems romantically involved with Mutsumi Akiyoshi of the girls' team. Fujiwara also appears to be very close to his long-time friend, Miura Ranmaru.
He was involved in an incident where he was provoked into punching the coach in his first year. The coach has since transferred to another school and Mizuho's boys basketball team was banned from any tournament for a year. He is not to be mistaken with Initial D
's Takumi Fujiwara.
He has an old injury on his right knee which came from one of his games involving Miura and was ordered by Anzaki to rehabilitate
his knee and make it more flexible to improve his playing ability in time for the prefectural tournament.
Fujiwara is the captain of Mizuho basketball team and plays the position of point guard. He attended Mizuho Junior High and was Miura's teammate at that time as well.
As seen in the anime and said by Aikawa that he(Takumi) is the reason due to which Aikawa can push himself way beyond his limits.It is denied by Aikawa that he(Fuji) was equal to Masato Sawanabori of Tendouji in skills.
Miura has a calm and quiet personality. He has been Fujiwara's best friend since middle school. Miura was seen not to have good stamina
at the beginning of the series. He plays the shooting guard position and is the three pointer of the team. It was mentioned in the manga that he would rather be scoring points than being the playmaker of the team.He is also talented at stealing balls from his opponents. He is also the one who can shoot Fade Away Three Pointers.
During the match versus Kadena Nishi, he is forced to shoot NBA 3 pointers to help Mizuho win the match. Unfortunately, he was injured due to a foul made by Kenta Shimabukuro. He was then rested for the subsequent match.
Miura attended Mizuho Junior High and was Fujiwara's teammate at that time as well. He blamed himself for causing Fujiwara's knee injury although it is not his fault. In the anime, Keiko Ogami of the girls' team seems to have a crush on him.
Fujiwara had intended Miura to, before the start of tournament, become a player to be feared. He wants Miura to be like before, be unpredictable with his pin point passes, judgement and sharp shooting.
Ishii is an extremely short-tempered person. It was highlighted that his weakness is being easily provoked by the opposing team to foul, and is prone to commit four fouls at a crucial time of a match. However, as the team starts to advance to the final, he has grown mature and his skills were also starting to grow more steady and powerful.
He plays the position of power forward in the team. It appears that he and Dobashi are close friends, having played on the same team during middle school. Ishii attended Takakura Junior High.
And it says in the episodes that he matches with the big machine.
Dobashi is the largest on team. He resembles Miura and has a quiet personality. Although his legs are not strong, he proves to his teammates that he can steal, rebound
and defend better than ever before. He plays the position of center in the team.
He is often called "old man" by Ishii because of his hair and appearance. In the anime, before the prefectural championship, he changed his hairstyle. Dobashi attended Takakura Junior High.
As the story passes, he was one of the pillars for the team and his presence is felt. Whenever he was injured, the team performance will fare badly because everyone expects him to be there being the main guy in defence.
Takashina is first seen practising alone in one episode, and later became the 6th member of the boys' team. It was said that he can play any position in a team. He is extremely talented in shooting three-pointers, matching up to Miura's level of skill and excellent in rebounds.
It is said that Takashina was a friend of Ayumi Fuse during middle school.
Mutsumi is the captain of the girls' basketball team, and is a close friend of Moritaka's. She seems to be romantically involved with Takumi Fujiwara of the boys' team. She plays as a point guard on the team and used to admire Fujiwara's talent.During the quarter finals match,she couldn't play because of her emotional distress, and she fouled many times and was benched.But after Fujiwara opened up to her before the finals ,she played to her fullest, making Mizuho win.
Mai seems to be romantically involved with Kazuhiko Aikawa and becomes his girlfriend later in the series. Aikawa nicknames her "Pony" because of her long ponytail-like hair when he first saw her.
Her position on the team has never been revealed, neither in the manga nor in the anime. However, after some advice and personal training from Aikawa, Mai has the highest shot percentage among all her teammates when it comes to 3-pointers.
Keiko plays as a center for the girls' team and is the tallest among all her teammates.
She appears to have a crush on Miura and is proven on two occasions: one when she gave Miura a 'victory sign', and another when Mutsumi remarked if Keiko would get jealous after seeing a couple of girls approach Miura to congratulate him over the team's recent victory.
version of Dear Boys, also known as Hoop Days, was released on TV in Japan in 2003. Like many Kodansha adaptations (e.g., Peach Girl
), it was made on a rather low budget. As a result, it had somewhat lower quality animation
than many other shōnen
anime that came out in the same year.
It follows the storyline of the manga quite closely. Eurobeat
music is played during the games, much like how the music genre is featured during the mountain pass races in Initial D
.
Since the company that produced Hoop Days also produced Initial D, they featured an episode of the cast watching scenes from the then-upcoming Initial D Fourth Stage.
2) The Resurrection Of The Boys' Basketball Team?
3) Who Is The Opponent For The Practice Team?
4) Determination To Win
5) Counterattack Full Of Wounds
6) To Each His Own Emotion..
7) A Disquieting Air
8) Cold Rain
9) Because You Are Here....
10) Confined Passion
11) People Following Their Dreams
12) Meetings Are Sudden
13) Unengaged Gears
14) Anxiety and Burden
15) The Rivals
16) Dead Heat
17) Never Give Up
18) Game Set!
19) The Finals Opponent Is?
20) Trembling Hearts
21) Supporting Family
22) The Sixth Man
23) The Finals!
24) Back and Forth
25) It's Settled, and Then...
26) Look Towards Tomorrow
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...
by Hiroki Yagami
Hiroki Yagami
is a Japanese manga artist. In 2007, he won the 31st Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen manga for Dear Boys Act II.-Works:* Futari ni Omakase* Dear Boys** Dear Boys The Early Days** Dear Boys Act II** Dear Boys Act III* G-Taste-References:...
, published by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
in Monthly Shōnen Magazine. As of June 2007, the Dear Boys series has 25 volumes in total, including the Dear Boys: The Early Days and Dear Boys: Act 2. In 2007, Dear Boys: Act 2 was awarded the Kodansha Manga Award
Kodansha Manga Award
is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...
for the shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga.
The story concerns the progress of the Mizuho High School basketball team as it attempts to win the prefectural
Prefecture
A prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
championship. It also deals heavily with the relationship between the players on the team, especially the two main characters Kazuhiko Aikawa and Takumi Fujiwara.
Plot
At the outset of the manga, the team is in trouble, as there are not enough players to play a game. Additionally, the coachCoach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
has left after a conflict with Fujiwara. However, Aikawa transfers to Mizuho and through his enthusiasm and sheer love of the game, infuses the few remaining members with a sense of purpose.
Despite the fact that there are only five of them (i.e., they have no substitutes), they manage to get the coach of the girls' team to coach them as well. At first, she seems very strict, but later reveals her attachment to her "Dear Boys". Together, they do their best to make their dreams come true and take their team to the top of the prefecture.
The manga isn't only focused on the Mizuho team, but also on several rival teams. In fact, the manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
spends a bit of time developing the characters of other teams' members.
Characters
He was the one who convinced remaining players to play basketball again. Mutsumi had once said that it was as if Aikawa reminded them all about how much fun they could've all had playing basketball together. He was once the trump card and captain of the Tendōji High's basketball team. He plays the position of point forward in the team. He also has a knack of being able to jump higher than most people, and that makes up for his height disadvantage. Even though he is short, he is able to dunk.
He is considered to be a genius as can be seen in anime and it is seen that his skills seems to improve with every game that he plays. He is also the best friend of Masato Sawanobori, the star player and point guard of Tendōji High School and Fujiwara Takumi, the captain of the Mizuho basketball team.
He is always able to encourage the other players no matter how hard the game is.
He is romantically involved with Mai Moritaka of the girl's team.
Fujiwara is a second-year student at Mizuho High. He is often nicknamed as Taku by his close friends and seems romantically involved with Mutsumi Akiyoshi of the girls' team. Fujiwara also appears to be very close to his long-time friend, Miura Ranmaru.
He was involved in an incident where he was provoked into punching the coach in his first year. The coach has since transferred to another school and Mizuho's boys basketball team was banned from any tournament for a year. He is not to be mistaken with Initial D
Initial D
is a manga by Shuichi Shigeno which has been serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine since 1995. It has been adapted into a long-running anime series by OB Planning, Studio Comet, Studio Gallop, Pastel, and A.C.G.T, and a live action film by Avex and Media Asia...
's Takumi Fujiwara.
He has an old injury on his right knee which came from one of his games involving Miura and was ordered by Anzaki to rehabilitate
Physical therapy
Physical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
his knee and make it more flexible to improve his playing ability in time for the prefectural tournament.
Fujiwara is the captain of Mizuho basketball team and plays the position of point guard. He attended Mizuho Junior High and was Miura's teammate at that time as well.
As seen in the anime and said by Aikawa that he(Takumi) is the reason due to which Aikawa can push himself way beyond his limits.It is denied by Aikawa that he(Fuji) was equal to Masato Sawanabori of Tendouji in skills.
Miura has a calm and quiet personality. He has been Fujiwara's best friend since middle school. Miura was seen not to have good stamina
Endurance
Endurance is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. In humans, it is usually used in aerobic or anaerobic exercise...
at the beginning of the series. He plays the shooting guard position and is the three pointer of the team. It was mentioned in the manga that he would rather be scoring points than being the playmaker of the team.He is also talented at stealing balls from his opponents. He is also the one who can shoot Fade Away Three Pointers.
During the match versus Kadena Nishi, he is forced to shoot NBA 3 pointers to help Mizuho win the match. Unfortunately, he was injured due to a foul made by Kenta Shimabukuro. He was then rested for the subsequent match.
Miura attended Mizuho Junior High and was Fujiwara's teammate at that time as well. He blamed himself for causing Fujiwara's knee injury although it is not his fault. In the anime, Keiko Ogami of the girls' team seems to have a crush on him.
Fujiwara had intended Miura to, before the start of tournament, become a player to be feared. He wants Miura to be like before, be unpredictable with his pin point passes, judgement and sharp shooting.
Ishii is an extremely short-tempered person. It was highlighted that his weakness is being easily provoked by the opposing team to foul, and is prone to commit four fouls at a crucial time of a match. However, as the team starts to advance to the final, he has grown mature and his skills were also starting to grow more steady and powerful.
He plays the position of power forward in the team. It appears that he and Dobashi are close friends, having played on the same team during middle school. Ishii attended Takakura Junior High.
And it says in the episodes that he matches with the big machine.
Dobashi is the largest on team. He resembles Miura and has a quiet personality. Although his legs are not strong, he proves to his teammates that he can steal, rebound
Rebound
Rebound can refer to:In films:* Rebound , a 1931 movie starring Ina Claire and Robert Ames* Rebound , a 1959 movie starring Lyndon Brook and Jane Hylton...
and defend better than ever before. He plays the position of center in the team.
He is often called "old man" by Ishii because of his hair and appearance. In the anime, before the prefectural championship, he changed his hairstyle. Dobashi attended Takakura Junior High.
As the story passes, he was one of the pillars for the team and his presence is felt. Whenever he was injured, the team performance will fare badly because everyone expects him to be there being the main guy in defence.
Takashina is first seen practising alone in one episode, and later became the 6th member of the boys' team. It was said that he can play any position in a team. He is extremely talented in shooting three-pointers, matching up to Miura's level of skill and excellent in rebounds.
It is said that Takashina was a friend of Ayumi Fuse during middle school.
Mutsumi is the captain of the girls' basketball team, and is a close friend of Moritaka's. She seems to be romantically involved with Takumi Fujiwara of the boys' team. She plays as a point guard on the team and used to admire Fujiwara's talent.During the quarter finals match,she couldn't play because of her emotional distress, and she fouled many times and was benched.But after Fujiwara opened up to her before the finals ,she played to her fullest, making Mizuho win.
Mai seems to be romantically involved with Kazuhiko Aikawa and becomes his girlfriend later in the series. Aikawa nicknames her "Pony" because of her long ponytail-like hair when he first saw her.
Her position on the team has never been revealed, neither in the manga nor in the anime. However, after some advice and personal training from Aikawa, Mai has the highest shot percentage among all her teammates when it comes to 3-pointers.
Keiko plays as a center for the girls' team and is the tallest among all her teammates.
She appears to have a crush on Miura and is proven on two occasions: one when she gave Miura a 'victory sign', and another when Mutsumi remarked if Keiko would get jealous after seeing a couple of girls approach Miura to congratulate him over the team's recent victory.
Video games
Two video games were released.- Dear Boys - Super Famicom (1994)
- Dear Boys: Fast Break! - PlayStation 2 (2003)
Anime
The animeAnime
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....
version of Dear Boys, also known as Hoop Days, was released on TV in Japan in 2003. Like many Kodansha adaptations (e.g., Peach Girl
Peach Girl
is a Japanese shōjo manga series by Miwa Ueda. It was published in Japan by Kodansha in Bessatsu Friend from 1998 to 2003 and collected in 18 volumes...
), it was made on a rather low budget. As a result, it had somewhat lower quality animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
than many other shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
anime that came out in the same year.
It follows the storyline of the manga quite closely. Eurobeat
Eurobeat
Eurobeat is a form of italo-disco/hi-NRG music that developed in the late 1980s.In the United States, Eurobeat was sometimes marketed as Hi-NRG and for a short while shared this term with the very early freestyle music hits....
music is played during the games, much like how the music genre is featured during the mountain pass races in Initial D
Initial D
is a manga by Shuichi Shigeno which has been serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine since 1995. It has been adapted into a long-running anime series by OB Planning, Studio Comet, Studio Gallop, Pastel, and A.C.G.T, and a live action film by Avex and Media Asia...
.
Since the company that produced Hoop Days also produced Initial D, they featured an episode of the cast watching scenes from the then-upcoming Initial D Fourth Stage.
Theme songs
- Opening Theme: Sound of Bounce by Da PumpDa Pumpis an Okinawan male idol group comprising lead vocalist, Issa and MCs Ken, Yukinari, and Shinobu. The group formed as students at Okinawa Actors School in 1996...
- Ending Theme: Baller No Shougou (Baller's Number) by Chris F.
Episodes list
1) An Interesting Transfer Student2) The Resurrection Of The Boys' Basketball Team?
3) Who Is The Opponent For The Practice Team?
4) Determination To Win
5) Counterattack Full Of Wounds
6) To Each His Own Emotion..
7) A Disquieting Air
8) Cold Rain
9) Because You Are Here....
10) Confined Passion
11) People Following Their Dreams
12) Meetings Are Sudden
13) Unengaged Gears
14) Anxiety and Burden
15) The Rivals
16) Dead Heat
17) Never Give Up
18) Game Set!
19) The Finals Opponent Is?
20) Trembling Hearts
21) Supporting Family
22) The Sixth Man
23) The Finals!
24) Back and Forth
25) It's Settled, and Then...
26) Look Towards Tomorrow