Moonlight Lady
Encyclopedia
is the American
release title for No Surface Moon The Animation; a 2001 Japan
ese OVA anime
series adapted from the 2000 Japanese visual novel
eroge
of the same name. It was created by Orbit Co., Ltd., animated by IMAGIN
and produced by Pink Pineapple and later licensed by Media Blasters
, English
dubbed
by Wave Form Solutions and distributed by Kitty Media.
faith. As part of her initiation, she must not only practice consecration, but also enter marriage by arrangement and subsequently participate in the decadal
Tsukimachi ceremony; an esoteric ritual held to welcome a new clergywoman. However things starts to get complicated when her fiance, Koichi Hayama, is brought to her estate and a mysterious paranormal energy begins making her act somewhat strangely.
released ; an animated adaption of the 2007 Japan
ese visual novel
eroge
and manga
of the same name. All three versions are the same spin-off
of 顔のない月 (Kao no nai tsuki). The animation aired from April 3, 2007 to September 24, 2007 on BS Asahi, SUN TV, Tokyo MX TV. The series was directed by Yuji Yamaguchi.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
release title for No Surface Moon The Animation; a 2001 Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese OVA 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....
series adapted from the 2000 Japanese visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
eroge
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
of the same name. It was created by Orbit Co., Ltd., animated by IMAGIN
Imagin
The are a fictional race that serve as the antagonists in the Kamen Rider Series Kamen Rider Den-O. The name "Imagin" comes from several words in the English, Japanese, and even Arabic languages: , , and ....
and produced by Pink Pineapple and later licensed by Media Blasters
Media Blasters
Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
by Wave Form Solutions and distributed by Kitty Media.
Synopsis
Suzuna Kuraki is a beautiful young woman apprenticing to become a priestess of her wealthy, matrilineal family's ShintoShinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
faith. As part of her initiation, she must not only practice consecration, but also enter marriage by arrangement and subsequently participate in the decadal
Decade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
Tsukimachi ceremony; an esoteric ritual held to welcome a new clergywoman. However things starts to get complicated when her fiance, Koichi Hayama, is brought to her estate and a mysterious paranormal energy begins making her act somewhat strangely.
Primary characters
- (Ep. 1-4), Janet Moltow (Ep. 5)
- A typical high school student, Suzuna Kuraki is the protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the series. She is a delicate, beautiful young woman, training to become a priestess of her Shinto ancestry so that she may properly consecrate her family shrine; a job traditionally bestowed upon the women of her lineage. Outside of her religious services, Suzuna generally behaves in a very aristocraticAristocracy (class)The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
, conceited and fastidious manner, even though she is in fact the most apprehensive and solicitous person in the house. Suzuna is the obligatory fiancée of Koichi Hayama by arranged marriageArranged marriageAn arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
, sister of Mizuna and daughter of Yuriko.
- Koichi Hayama is the fiancé of Suzuna Kuraki. He was subconsciously chosen as her fiance and subsequently brought to the estateEstate (house)An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
to live while the Tsukimachi ceremony approaches. A tall and handsome university student, Koichi tends to clash with Suzuna, but this can be regarded as evidence of a tsundereTsundereis a Japanese character development process that describes a person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time. The word is derived from the terms , meaning to turn away in disgust, and meaning to become 'lovey dovey'...
love affair. By the effects of an unexplained illness, he is unable to recollect any of his past, including his childhood or parents. He also could not recognize the faces of women before coming to the Kuraki estate. Koichi is a frequent smoker and has a elongated scar across his chest.
Secondary characters
- Employed maidservant and childhood friend of Suzuna Kuraki. Despite her noticeably sizable bust, Tomomi is a very slow, gentle, soft-spoken girl who often meticulously strives to please those being served; particularly Suzuna, who ironically is her foilFoil (literature)In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight particular qualities of another character....
. She is the only bespectacled member of the household and the most bisexually promiscuous. Tomomi is a niece to Gohei Harukawa and granddaughter to Ippei.
- (Epi. 1-4), Sharon Simpson (Epi. 5)
- The second maidservant of the household, Sayaka Kurihara is roughly the opposite of Tomomi in that she is upbeat, playful, talkative, and at times childish. Although she is unable to ever clearly remember, Sayaka did in fact used to be a renowned promotional modelPromotional modelA promotional model is a person hired to drive consumer demand for a product, service, brand, or concept by directly interacting with potential consumers. A promotional model can be female or male, and typically is intended to be attractive in physical appearance. They serve to provide information...
and actress by the name of Ruri Yamato; acquired when she was found wandering the estate grounds by Gohei Harukawa.
- Friendly yet inept, Io Azuma is a distant cousin of Suzuna and is good friends with Tomomi. He was originally chosen to be a suitor for Suzuna, but much to her disappointment, he matured somewhat effeminate instead of into the charming gentleman she was expecting. A devout otakuOtakuis a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
, Io frequently spends most of his leisure in the house library reading mangaMangaManga 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...
; playfully extending his obsession to Suzuna who, much to her chagrin, he tends to address with the Japanese honorificJapanese honorificsThe Japanese language has many honorifics, parts of speech which show respect, and their use is mandatory in many social situations. Honorifics in Japanese may be used to emphasize social distance or disparity in rank, or to emphasize social intimacy or similarity in rank.The system of honorifics...
title Chan. He and Koichi have no sexual contact in the anime, unlike in the original game.
- (Epi. 1-4), Molly Walters (Epi. 5)
- Yuriko Kuraki is the biological mother of both Suzuna and Mizuna, widowWidowA widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
of her late husband Zenzirō and matriarch of the house. A mysterious and voluptuous woman, Yuriko is by far the most influential figure over the household and the paranormalParanormalParanormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
force that manifests within it; exhibiting this position with formality in both her voice and clothes.
- Voiced by: Michael Johnston (English, epi. 1-4), Brian Drewberry (Epi. 5)
- Ominous and inscrutable, Gohei Harukawa is the great-uncle of Tomomi, older brother of Ippei and estate landscaper; even though he is rarely ever seen doing garden work. While he does not have supernatural powers of his own, Gohei frequently assists Yuriko with her endeavors; such as triggering events in preparation for the Tsuki Maki ceremony.
- First daughter of Yuriko and monozygotic twin sister of Suzuna. Unlike her younger sister, Mizuna is very taciturn, yet cheerfully playful; living silently and peacefully in the water caverns beneath the mansion. She was once the shrine maiden for the Kuraki family, but when Suzuna was born she was cast away.
- Chikako Sawaguchi is a professor of psychologyPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
who visits the estate in response to sensing paranormal activity. Besides that, not much else is known about her except that she is a past teacher of Koichi.
- Older brother of Gohei, grandfather of Tomomi and family physician. Has no significant role in the series.
Episodes
| # | Title | Release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Music
- Closing theme: "Cruel Moon" by Arca, 2001 (Epi. 1 - 5)
- We used to walk all through the night
- Looking for something we could never find
- Now I alone sit in the deep
- And talk to ghosts I can't see
- I hear the wind call my name
- Oh, where can I find a trace
- Cruel Moon, I cry for you
- To bring him back to my place
- I used to feel magic in the night
- Gazing at your eyes to find there the light
- Now left alone out in the cold
- Hearing the goodbye you told
- I hear the wind call my name
- Oh, where can I find your trace
- Cruel Moon, I cry for you
- To bring him back to my place
- I hear the wind call my name
- Oh, where can I find your trace
- Cruel Moon, I cry for you
- To bring him back to my place
Goofs
- The First Night: Camellia
- English dub: In the beginning when Suzuna is explaining about her participation in the Tsuki Maki ceremony, she mispronounces her own family last name, saying "Kasaki" instead of "Kuraki"
- Japanese and English dub: When Tomomi visits Suzuna in the shower room, she brings with her a folded paper sheet piled with small crimson fruits. Suzuna happily leans in close to take one calling them strawberries when they are in fact, raspberries.
- The Second Night: Sunflower
- Art inconsistency: In the beginning, while Suzuna is being raped by Koichi, her open bra disappears and reappears in-between shots. Later during the same scene, her stockings disappears briefly and reappears later.
- The Third Night: Peony
- Art Inconsistency: Towards the end of the episode, when Suzuna and Tomomi are having intercourse, Tomomi's arm disappears for a single frame.
- The Fourth Night: White Lily
- Art inconsistency: During a scene where Tomomi and Suzuna are having intercourse, there is a moment where Suzuna's eyes are green when in fact, Suzuna's eyes are orange.
Japanese staff
- Original Story 顔のない月 No Surface Moon
- Planning Piston Horaguchi
- Assistant Planning Endo Kei
- Producer Oruga Susumu
- Original Plan and Supervisor Carnelian
- Composition and Script Arakawa Masanobu
- Animation Studio Imagin Co.,Ltd
- Character Design and Chief Animator Ishihara Megumi
- Assistant Animator Hattori Noritomo
- Director and Storyboards Sato Toshiharu
- Production Pink Pineapple
- Music Hiroshi Igarashi
American staff
- Producer Gary Sierra
- Production Supervisor Jharmoni Nagasaki
- Production Assistant Roller Girl
- Editor Scottie Mack
- Translation J. Yoshizawa
- Design Temper-Tantric
Spin-offs
On April 3, 2007 Studio DeenStudio DEEN
is a Japanese company that produces anime. Three years after Sunrise was founded in 1972, Studio Deen was established by Sunrise's members in 1975. As a result of this, anime shows such as Cowboy Bebop that were produced by Sunrise may have had assistance from Studio Deen.-Produced anime:* Urusei...
released ; an animated adaption of the 2007 Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
eroge
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
and 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...
of the same name. All three versions are the same spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of 顔のない月 (Kao no nai tsuki). The animation aired from April 3, 2007 to September 24, 2007 on BS Asahi, SUN TV, Tokyo MX TV. The series was directed by Yuji Yamaguchi.
Official sites
- Moonlight Lady (Japanese)
- 顔のない月 No Surface Moon (Japanese)