is 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...

 series authored by Kenji Tsuruta

Kenji Tsuruta

is a Japanese manga artist. Among his most famous works is the science fiction series Spirit of Wonder, which has been adapted into an anime series and brought him much acclaim.-Profile:...

, originally serialized from 1986 in 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...

's Morning seinen

Seinen

is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at a 20–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be older with some manga aimed at businessmen well into their 40s. In Japanese, the word Seinen means "young man" or "young men" and is not suggestive of sexual matters...

 manga magazine, and later in Afternoon

Afternoon (magazine)

is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. It is a monthly anthology, and each issue typically has around thirty ongoing stories by various authors and runs about 800 pages...

, until 1996.

It was later adapted into a one-episode OVA in 1992, entitled , animated by Ajia-do Animation Works

Ajia-do Animation Works

is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, noted for several anime series, including Spirit of Wonder, Zettai Shōnen, and several others...

 and released by Toshiba-EMI

Toshiba-EMI

(formerly , is one of Japan's leading music companies. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of British music company EMI Group Ltd. in June 30, 2007 after Toshiba sold off its previous 45% stake. The current CEO and president is San-e Ichii. When EMI Music Japan was trading as Toshiba-EMI, it was...

. It was later followed in 2001 by a new OVA series, produced and released by Bandai Visual

Bandai Visual

, is a Japanese anime, film production and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai Co., Ltd. and a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings, Inc., which is based in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Since the reorganisation of Namco Bandai Holdings in 2006, Bandai Visual now heads the group's Visual and...

, which included two arcs, and . In 2004, Bandai Visual released a complete DVD boxset release of the entire series in Japan, entitled WONDERBOX, which included the 2001 sequel it produced as well as the earlier 1992 episode.

The complete OVA series has also been broadcast worldwide by the 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 network Animax

Animax

is a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...

, including its English language

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...

 networks in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

.

The earlier OVA was released in North America by AnimEigo. The newer OVA series was released in North America by Bandai, it is also available in Australia from MadMan Entertainment.

1992 OVA

Chaina-san no Yūutsu:

• Chief Director, Storyboards: Mitsuru Hongō
• Music: Kōhei Tanaka
• Script: Mitsuru Shimada
• Character Design and Animation Director: Yoshiaki Yanagida

2001 OVA

Shōnen Kagaku Kurabu:

• Chief Director, Screenplay, Storyboards, Episode Supervision: Takashi Annō
• Character Design and Animation Director: Yoshiaki Yanagida
• Music: Hayato Matsuo
  Hayato Matsuo
  is a Japanese video game and anime composer, arranger and orchestrator. He has worked on titles such as Front Mission 3, Final Fantasy XII, the Shenmue series, and Magic Knight Rayearth. Inspired by his mother, a piano teacher, he graduated from the music composition department of Tokyo University...
  
  

Chaina-san Tanpenshū:

• Chief Director, Storyboards, Animation Director: Masaya Fujimori
• Script: Hiroki Negishi

External links

• MadMan Australian DVD newer OVA collection