Twin Spica

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{{Infobox animanga/Anime of title =

Twin Spica
ふたつのスピカ
(Futatsu no Supika)
Genre Science fiction, Drama, Supernatural
Manga
Author Kō Yaginuma
Publisher Media Factory
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Comic Flapper
Original run 23 January 2001 – ongoing
Volumes 14
director = Tomomi Mochizuki studio = Group TAC network = Flag of Japan Animax, NHK
Flag of the Philippines Animax, QTV 11
Flag of Brazil Flag of Singapore Flag of Argentina Flag of Malaysia Animax		 first = 1 November 2003 last = 27 March 2004 episodes = 20

}}

Twin Spica (ふたつのスピカ Futatsu no Supika?) is a Japanese science fiction manga series by Kō Yaginuma. It began serialization in the seinen magazine Comic Flapper in January 2001. Twin Spica tells the story of a group of Japanese high school students training to become astronauts.[1]

The manga has been adapted by Group TAC as a 20-episode anime television series that first aired on NHK's BS-2 satellite service between 1 November 2003 and 27 March 2004. The anime has been translated into English and other languages by the anime television network Animax, which has broadcast the series on its networks in several regions, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Latin America.

The series title comes from the binary star system Spica. It is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo and one of the brightest stars in the sky. Spica is really two stars that circle each other, though from a distance they appear as one, which parallels the series' running theme of friendship.

Contents

[edit] Story

The primary setting of Twin Spica in the near future at the Tokyo Space School, where high school students train to become astronauts. Asumi Kamogawa (鴨川アスミ?) has dreamed of going to space since she was a child. Her experiences in school and her relationships with her friends, family and teachers are the central themes of the story. The manga and anime series both have a relaxed, slice of life pace.

Several chapters of the manga and episodes of the anime are flashbacks and explore the childhood of Asumi and some of the other characters. When she was a baby, Japan's first manned rocket (called Shishigō (獅子号?)) crashed into Asumi's hometown of Yuigahama, killing many people and critically injuring her mother, who finally dies after many years in a coma. While trying to accept her mother's death, six year old Asumi meets Lion-san (ライオンさん Raion-san?), the ghost of a young astronaut who had been on board the rocket. Inspired by Lion-san's stories of space, Asumi makes it her goal to become an astronaut herself.

The storylines of the manga and the anime adaptation are very close together initially, but the anime's diverges to have an ending that is not related to anything published. The anime covers most of the manga's story in volume 1-3 but later takes bits and pieces of the latter volumes.

[edit] Characters

Asumi Kamogawa (鴨川 アスミ Kamogawa Asumi?)
The story's main character. After her mother died when she was young, she grew up with her father. She is the only one who can see Lion-san, whom she met soon after her mother's death. After meeting Lion-san, she becomes determined to become an astronaut. When her name is written in kanji (her name is in katakana), asu means "tomorrow" (in her cause is interpreted as "future") and mi means "look".
Lion-san (ライオンさん Raion-san?)
Lion-san meets Asumi when she is young and introduces himself as a ghost. He wears a large lion mask that covers his entire head. He comforts Asumi during the difficult time after her mother's death, and fosters her interest in space.
Marika Ukita (宇喜多 万里香 Ukita Marika?)
A classmate of Asumi's, she is a loner and generally treats her peers coldly. She justifies her attitude by reflecting on the difficult childhood she endured, which comprised mostly of studying in isolation. Marika's backstory is unusual, but is only touched upon in the anime.
Shinnosuke Fuchūya (府中野 新之介 Fuchūya Shinnosuke?)
Asumi's childhood friend, whose ends up following her to take the astronaut course. He likes Asumi and always looks after her but hasn't really revealed his feelings to her. He is nicknamed Fucchi (ふっち?) by Kei.
Kei Ōmi (近江 圭 Ōmi Kei?)
The first girl Asumi meets during the Space School entrance exam. Sociable, gregarious and frank, she is Asumi's first female friend in the astronaut course.
Shū Suzuki (鈴木 秋 Suzuki Shū?)
The top student of their course, Shū is often depicted as a laid-back, easy going guy. Despite the facade, he tries his best to reach for his dream—to become an astronaut.
Tomorō Kamogawa (鴨川 友朗 Kamogawa Tomorō?)
Asumi's father
Kyōko Kamogawa (鴨川 今日子 Kamogawa Kyōko?)
Asumi's mother
Ringo Sakashita (坂下 リンゴ Sakashita Ringo?)
  • Voiced by: Junko Ishī
Ringo is the dorm manager for the Kamome dorms.
Kasane Shibata (柴田 かさね Shibata Kasane?)
Kasane, a survivor of the Shishigou incident, is Asumi's childhood friend. Because of the crash, she has a horrible burn mark on her left arm. In the present, Kasane goes to an all-girls school. In the manga, her first reappearance shows her sleeping in Asumi's dorm room, which is a few volumes after her reappearance in the anime.
Sano-sensei (佐野先生 Sano-sensei?)
Sano is one of the teachers in the space school. Sano attempts to sabotage Asumi because of his past and gets in trouble for it. He resurfaces in the manga with insights on the Shishigou incident and, once again, gets in trouble for it.
Shimizu Takashi (島津タカシ?)
  • Voiced by: Daisuke Fujita
Takashi is a classmate of Asumi in junior high school. He was also her classmate in elementary school but he was too sickly to regularly attend school. His story is mainly shown in the flashback episode/chapter, "Asumi's Sakura".
Kiriu (桐生?)
Kiriu is an orphan and is initially shown as activist against space exploration. He closely resembles Takashi Shimizu, Asumi's junior high friend. He first meets Asumi on a rally against a rocket launch and gets mad at her. Their relationship, which is not in the anime, develops in the manga. In the end, however, Kiriu leaves to do volunteer work elsewhere.
Tokushima Mikan (徳島みかん?)
Mikan is Asumi's underclasswoman in the space school.
 Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.


[edit] Music

Opening Theme

  • "Venus Say"
Lyrics by: Haruichi Shindō
Composition and arrangement by: Akimitsu Honma
Performed by: Buzy

Ending Theme

  • "Look Up to the Stars in the Night" (見上げてごらん夜の星を Miagetegoran Yoru no Hoshiwo?)
Lyrics by: Rokusuke Ei
Composition by: Taku Izumi
Arrangement and performed by: BEGIN

Original Soundtrack performance: Kazunori Miyake

[edit] Manga

Twin Spica is published by Media Factory in the magazine Comic Flapper, and collected in 14 tankōbon volumes as of March 2008.[1]

# Release date ISBN
1 January 2002 ISBN 978-4-8401-0428-9
2 April 2002 ISBN 978-4-8401-0440-1
3 November 2002 ISBN 978-4-8401-0468-5
4 May 2003 ISBN 978-4-8401-0490-6
5 October 2003 ISBN 978-4-8401-0906-2
6 April 2004 ISBN 978-4-8401-0944-4
7 December 2004 ISBN 978-4-8401-0984-0
8 May 2005 ISBN 978-4-8401-1307-6
9 December 2005 ISBN 978-4-8401-1349-6
10 March 2006 ISBN 978-4-8401-1377-9
11 November 2006 ISBN 978-4-8401-1635-0
12 March 2007 ISBN 978-4-8401-1687-9
13 December 2007 ISBN 978-4-8401-1984-9
14 March 2008 ISBN 978-4-8401-2205-4

In addition, an illustration book (ISBN 978-4-8401-1380-9, published March 2006) and an official guide to the anime (ISBN 978-4-8401-1041-9, published April 2004) have been published.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Twin Spica (manga). Anime News Network. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.

[edit] External links