is a romantic comedy

Romantic Comedy

Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...

 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...

 series by Mitsuru Adachi

Mitsuru Adachi

is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Maebashi Commercial High School in 1969, Adachi worked as an assistant for Isami Ishii. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kieta Bakuon, based on a manga originally created by Satoru Ozawa...

. It was published by Shogakukan

Shogakukan

is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...

 from 1980 to 1984 in the biweekly manga magazine Shōnen Big Comic

Shonen Big Comic

was a bi-weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan from 1979 to 1987. From 1976 to 1979, the magazine was titled before being renamed Shōnen Big Comics in 1979.In 1987, the magazine changed format and was renamed Weekly Young Sunday...

(precursor to the current Weekly Young Sunday

Weekly Young Sunday

was a weekly manga magazine published by Shogakukan in Japan since the first issue on April 10, 1987. It replaced Shōnen Big Comic in Shogakukan's lineup of shōnen titles, and many of the titles in Shōnen Big Comic were continued in Young Sunday...

). The series was adapted

Film adaptation

Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...

 into a movie, 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....

 television series, and a live-action television drama. It was very popular in Japan and was one of the winners of the 1982 Shogakukan Manga Award

Shogakukan Manga Award

The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...

 for 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"...

 or shōjo

Shojo

The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 manga, along with Adachi's Touch

Touch (manga)

is a Japanese high school baseball manga by Mitsuru Adachi. It was originally serialized in the weekly manga magazine Shōnen Sunday from 1981–1986...

.

Miyuki was Adachi's first manga adapted as an anime. The 37-episode anime series was broadcast from 31 March 1983 until 20 April 1984 on the Fuji Television

Fuji Television

is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....

 network. The movie version was released on 16 September 1983. The television drama, produced by Fuji TV and Kyodo Television

Kyodo Television

is a Japanese television production company founded on 1958-07-28 as . It is a subsidiary of Fuji Television, one of the largest television networks in Japan...

 (a television production house), aired on 4 August 1986.

Storyline

Masato Wakamatsu, 16 years old, is working at the beach one summer. Having made a bad impression on his classmate/crush Miyuki Kashima, he makes a pass at another pretty girl. To Masato's shock, the girl turns out to be his younger stepsister Miyuki (15), who has been living abroad with their father for the past six years.

As school progresses, Masato starts dating Miyuki Kashima. He and his sister Miyuki are living alone together, and he is troubled by his conflicting emotions: filial and romantic feelings toward a sister who may or may not know she is not related to him by blood.

Characters

(TV anime series), Masatoshi Nagase

Masatoshi Nagase

Masatoshi Nagase is a Japanese actor. He is best known in the West for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's Cold Fever and Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train, in Japan for his role as TV's Mike Hama .He has won two Japanese Academy Awards, for Best Supporting Actor and Best Newcomer in 1992...

 (TV anime movie)

An average high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 student (later a rōnin for a year, then a college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 student). His mother died when he was young, and his step-mother also died when he was young, and he still misses both of them. Masato really likes the Miyuki Kashima, the most popular girl in class, but keeps messing up whenever he tries to talk to her or ask her out on a date. Just before high school begins, his younger sister (also named "Miyuki") returns from living overseas with their father (Miyuki's step-father) for six years, and they now live alone in the same house. This Miyuki is the daughter of his step-mother, and there is no blood relation between them.

This causes some problems as Masato is torn between his growing feelings for his step-sister (who doesn't seem to know they aren't related by blood, and insists on having a normal brother-sister relationship while constantly speculating on "if we got married...") and his very obvious feelings for his classmate Miyuki. As a result of living with his sister, he is constantly seeing women's underwear and finding them in his pants pockets, leading to embarrassing situations with his classmate Miyuki.

Partway through the series, Masato is the second of two people to come down with the mysterious , caused by going an extended period without seeing his sister Miyuki.

(TV anime series), Yukari Usami (TV anime movie)

Masato's younger step-sister, unrelated by blood. Her birthday is 9 February 1966. She has short wavy hair, though it becomes a little longer as the series progresses (a little past shoulder length at the end of the series). Despite being younger, she gets much better grades than Masato, and she excels in athletic events. She is extremely popular among the boys at school. She has a very bright and cheerful personality. Even though Miyuki tries to brush off those actively courting her, they end up causing more headaches for Masato than Miyuki does. As her brother, Masato tries to protect Miyuki from these encroaching "wild beasts", though this protectiveness slowly becomes indistinguishable from jealousy. Miyuki also begins seeing her brother's girlfriend, Miyuki Kashima, as a rival.

(TV anime series), Hiroko Mita

Hiroko Mita

Hiroko Mita is a Japanese singer and actress.-Appearances:-External links:*...

 (TV anime movie)

In the same class and homeroom as Masato all during high school, this Miyuki is Masato's girlfriend for most of the series. She has long hair and is extremely popular among the boys in the school. She has the same birthday as Miyuki Wakamatsu, though she is one year older. She has had a crush on Masato since junior high school. She is extremely proactive in their relationship, regularly asking him to come to parties and over to her house even before they started regularly dating. Miyuki is a very kind and humble person. However, she can be forceful as well, and the beginning of her relationship with Masato is punctuated by her frequently slapping him due to one misunderstanding or another due to her becoming angry. She always apologizes to Masato afterward, however, asking him to forgive her for getting angry so easily.

She is an excellent student, cook, and seamstress. In order to go to the same university as Masato (and be in the same year), she purposely missed the application deadline despite having passed the entrance exam without any trouble. She subsequently attended the same cram school

Cram school

Cram schools are specialized schools that train their students to meet particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schools or universities...

 just to be with him. After overhearing the Wakamatsu sibling's secret (that they aren't related by blood) at the pre-wedding dinner reception for Yūichi Sawada and Miyuki Wakamatsu, she runs away and goes on a trip to Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

 in order to sort out her feelings. While there, she runs into Yūichi, who is traveling there after breaking up with the other Miyuki.

(TV anime series), Daisuke Shima (TV anime movie)

Ryūichi was in same year as Masato, but he purposely failed his high school entrance exams in order to be in the same year as Masato's sister Miyuki. He is actually a year older than Masato, but it is not explained why he was held back the first time. After graduating from high school, he was able to pass his college entrance exams the first time. He fell in love with Miyuki Wakamatsu at first sight, and is constantly telling her how they will be able to go on school trips

Field trip

A field trip or excursion, known as school trip in the UK and school tour in Ireland, is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment...

 together, graduate together, go to class reunion

Class reunion

A class reunion is a meeting of former classmates, typically organized at or near their former school by one of the class on or around an anniversary of their graduation. Former teachers may be invited as well...

s together, and get married together. He is very proactive in his pursuit of Miyuki, which tends to annoy Masato.

Because he's something of a delinquent, he frequently does poorly on tests, which causes a lack of sympathy from his friends and acquaintances. He also frequently tricks his friends into working part time

Part time

A part-time job is a form of employment that carries fewer hours per week than a full-time job. Workers are considered to be part time if they commonly work fewer than 30 or 35 hours per week...

 jobs during the summer. He is very strong, which helps him to win the frequent fights he has. He rarely wears a helmet while riding his motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

 (even when giving rides to Miyuki Wakamatsu), though he does have a helmet. His family owns the "Kissaten Dragon", a coffee shop

Kissaten

A is a Japanese-style coffee shop. Kissaten are particularly popular among students and business people for breakfast.By law kissaten are able to serve sweets and tea, but almost all will also serve coffee, sandwiches, spaghetti, and other light refreshments, as well as curry rice or set meals at...

, where he frequently works part time. Ryūichi is the first to come down with the mysterious "Miyuki Illness".

The bachelor

Bachelor

A bachelor is a man above the age of majority who has never been married . Unlike his female counterpart, the spinster, a bachelor may have had children...

 P.E.

Physical education

Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....

 teacher at Miyuki Wakamatsu's junior high school. He transfers to Miyuki's high school as the P.E. teacher when she graduates junior high in order to near her. He considers Ryūichi to be his rival for the affections of Miyuki Wakamatsu, and a stylized Chinese dragon

Chinese dragon

Chinese dragons are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology and folklore, with mythic counterparts among Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Bhutanese, Western and Turkic dragons. In Chinese art, dragons are typically portrayed as long, scaled, serpentine creatures with four legs...

 (representing Ryūichi) and tiger (representing Torao) fighting is frequently employed when the two meet. He is about 20 years older than Miyuki. His mother is constantly trying to set up omiai

Omiai

or is a Japanese traditional custom in which unattached individuals are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. Since this "Miai" or "Omiai" was sometimes translated as "arranged marriage" in English and other foreign languages, which is a total misnomer, some foreigners...

, or marriage meetings, with potential brides, but Torao doesn't want to be with anyone other than Miyuki Wakamatsu. He was briefly engaged to another woman named Miyuki, but the marriage was called off after Torao got drunk and was mouthing off in a bar while sitting next to that Miyuki's father. At the end of the series, he finally consents to go along with his mother's omiai planning.

Miyuki Kashima's father. He is a detective

Detective

A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

 with the local police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 department. He has a predilection for pretty young girls. After meeting Miyuki Wakamatsu during the New Year

New Year

The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....

 visit to the local shrine, he begins pursuing her and frequently invites her out for coffee. He frequently abuses his authority as a police detective in order to get closes to Miyuki. In return, Miyuki frequently abuses his kindness in order to get free rides to the grocery store and other locations to which she needs to go. This really annoys Masato, who is always calling him a "dirty old man" for chasing after his sister.

Kenji is in the same year as Masato who is good at sports and does well academically, a teacher's dream student. He is good looking and has a large fan base among the girls in the school, though he spends his time pursuing the affections of Miyuki Kashima. He had the starring role in a school play opposite Miyuki Kashima, but was injured in an accident and couldn't play the part. His understudy

Understudy

In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...

, Masato, was then put into the role, which included a kissing scene with Miyuki. When he found out that Miyuki had deliberately missed the filing deadline for applications to the university, Kenji also "forgot" to file his paperwork so he could attend the same cram school. He's one of three pursuing the affections of Miyuki Kashima.

An old friend of the Wakamatsu family, Yūichi used to play with Masato all the time when they were younger. He was Masato's next-door neighbor until his high school years, at which point his parents moved to West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

. He's a university student, and an excellent soccer player. In the second half of the series, he suddenly returned to Japan in order to play on the national team during the Olympics. After returning, he stays at the Wakamatsu home for a short time while looking for his own apartment. After he moves out, he begins pursuing Miyuki Wakamatsu, and even asks Masato if it's okay for him to do so. This causes Masato to really consider what his true feelings are for his step-sister. At the end of the series, Yūichi runs into Miyuki Kashima as she's travelling in Hokkaidō and trying to sort her own feelings.

Yoshio is in the same year as Masato, has similar grades and similar perverted tastes, and can be found almost anywhere Masato goes. He almost always appears when Masato and Miyuki Kashima are having or planning an important moment together, and he tries to include himself in their plans. He is constantly asking Masato how someone like Miyuki could possibly fall in love with someone like him. Yoshio has a younger sister, though he rarely talks about her and doesn't think much of her (at least not that he'll admit to). He did not attend Yūichi Sawada's and Miyuki Wakamatsu's pre-wedding banquet reception.

Sources:

TV series

The anime TV series aired from 31 March 1983 to 20 April 1984 on the Fuji TV network. Because Kitty Film was already producing the popular Urusei Yatsura

Urusei Yatsura

is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...

anime TV series, they asked Tomoyuki Miyata from Tatsunoko Pro to produce the Miyuki series, Mizuho Nishikubo to be the supervising director for the series, and had their own in-house studio handle the animation. Fuji TV had wanted Group TAC

Group TAC

Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968. They have worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and have contributed to all stages of the process, including planning, production, sound effects, and so on...

, the studio which had done the animation for the first Nine

Nine (manga)

is a baseball manga series by Mitsuru Adachi. It was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sunday Zōkan from the October 1978 through May 1979 issues. The series was adapted into three television anime movies and a live-action television drama...

TV special, to do the animation, but arrangements had already been made. Subsequent Adachi works were all animated by Group TAC

Group TAC

Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968. They have worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and have contributed to all stages of the process, including planning, production, sound effects, and so on...

.

The lead role of voicing Miyuki Wakamatsu was given to Yōko Oginome

Yoko Oginome

, real name , is a singer, actress and voice actress. Oginome spent most of her elementary and junior high years living in the town of Ranzan in Saitama Prefecture, though she attended school in the city of Sakura. She graduated from Horikoshi High School in Nakano, Tokyo. She is represented by the...

 after she auditioned for Kitty Film's Shonben Rider. Masatoshi Nagase

Masatoshi Nagase

Masatoshi Nagase is a Japanese actor. He is best known in the West for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's Cold Fever and Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train, in Japan for his role as TV's Mike Hama .He has won two Japanese Academy Awards, for Best Supporting Actor and Best Newcomer in 1992...

, the seiyū

Seiyu

Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...

 for Masato Wakamatsu, is known for his passionate acting and his love scenes.

Kitty Records was contracted to provide the music for the series, and one group, H₂O, supplied the opening theme and two of the three ending themes. H₂O's song was a hit, reaching #6 on the Oricon

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

 charts. It is considered one of the "standard songs" from 1980's era Japan.

After its original run on the Fuji TV network, the series was rebroadcast on the NTV

Nippon Television

is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...

 network in 1986.

Staff

• Producer: Tomoyuki Miyata
• Fuji TV Producer: Okamasa
• Production Director: Hidenori Taga
• Planning: Shigekazu Ochiai
• Music: Lion Merry, Masamichi Amano
  Masamichi Amano
  Masamichi Amano is a Japanese music composer, arranger and conductor. He studied at the Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo and graduated in 1982. He obtained the Takeoka Prize....
  
  , Fumitaka Anzai
• Character Designs: Kazushige Yusa
• Script Supervisor: Mayori Sekijima
• Art Director: Nisaburō Kaihō
• Art Design: Mitsuru Saotome
• Audio Director: Noriyoshi Matsuura
• Director of Photography: Masayoshi Tsushima
• Chief Director: Mizuho Nishikubo
• Production Studio: Kitty Film Mitaka Studio
• Produced by: Kitty Film, Fuji TV

Music

Opening theme

Lyrics: Yōko Aki

Yōko Aki

is a Japanese actress and novelist. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 5th Hochi Film Award for Shiki Natsuko.-References:...

Composer: Gisaburō Suzuki

Vocals: H₂O

Ending theme #1 (episodes 1-13, 20-22)

Lyrics: Yōko Aki

Composer: Gisaburō Suzuki

Vocals: H₂O

Ending theme #2 (episodes 14-19)

Lyrics: Tsuzuru Nakazato

Composer: Katsuhiko Yoshida

Vocals: Michiko Kawai!

Ending theme #3 (23-37)

Lyrics: Keisuke Yamakawa

Composer: Gisaburō Suzuki

Vocals: H₂O

Sources:

Movie

The Miyuki anime TV movie aired in the Fuji TV Nissei Family Special slot on 16 September 1983, coming out at the same time the Nine

Nine (manga)

is a baseball manga series by Mitsuru Adachi. It was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Sunday Zōkan from the October 1978 through May 1979 issues. The series was adapted into three television anime movies and a live-action television drama...

movie was in theaters. This movie was made by the same staff which worked on the Touch

Touch (manga)

is a Japanese high school baseball manga by Mitsuru Adachi. It was originally serialized in the weekly manga magazine Shōnen Sunday from 1981–1986...

anime TV series. The lead character was voiced by Masatoshi Nagase

Masatoshi Nagase

Masatoshi Nagase is a Japanese actor. He is best known in the West for his roles in Friðrik Þór Friðriksson's Cold Fever and Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train, in Japan for his role as TV's Mike Hama .He has won two Japanese Academy Awards, for Best Supporting Actor and Best Newcomer in 1992...

, who made his debut in Kitty Film's Shonben Rider right before voicing this role. Yumiko Takahoshi, the screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 for this movie, went on to work on the Touch anime TV series.

Staff

• Original Story: Mitsuru Adachi
• Production Chief: Hidenori Taga
• Producer: Tomohiro Iji
• Director: Kazuyuki Izutsu
  Kazuyuki Izutsu
  is a Japanese film director, screenwriter and film critic. Born in Nara Prefecture, he started making 8mm films in high school, and directed his first 35mm film, a pink film, in 1975. He earned a citation from the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award in 1981 for Gaki teikoku, and his Boys...
  
  
• Screenplay: Yumiko Takahoshi
• Music: Keiichi Oku, Mitsuo Hagita
• Assistant Director: Kōsei Yano
• Director of Photography: Akihiro Itō
  Akihiro Ito
  is a Japanese manga artist born in Nagoya, in Aichi Prefecture. He is known for his work on the manga series Geobreeders, serialized in the monthly manga magazine Young King Ours. Ito also worked on a second manga series, Wilderness, which was serialized in Sunday GX. Both titles have been on...
  
  
• Art Director: Hiroshi Tokuda
• Audio Director: Osamu Onodera
• Lighting Director: Seisaku Kimura
• Editor: Isao Tomita
  Isao Tomita
  , often known simply as Tomita, is a Japanese music composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements...
  
  

Sources:

TV drama

The TV drama special aired as part of the on Fuji TV on 4 August 1986.

Cast

• Masato Wakamatsu: Makoto Nonomura
• Miyuki Wakamatsu: Sonoko Kawai
• Miyuki Kashima: Sonoko Kawai

Staff

• Original Work: Mitsuru Adachi
• Teleplay: Keiji Okutsu
• Director: Setsurō Wakamatsu

Sources:

External links

• 5-Ace (official DVD site)