Tonari no 801-chan

] The mascot, resembling Kyoto's well-known Kamo eggplant, was designed in late 2005 by a student at Kyoto Seika University. The shopping center itself was named for its 800-meter length, adding one to represent future expansion. Since the numbers 8-0-1 can be read in Japanese as ya-o-i (yaoi), the mascot soon became an Internet phenomenon. This brought the mascot to the attention of Ajiko Kojima, a Japanese blogger who took the mascot and slightly altered its appearance, using it as a basis for use his new webcomic "Tonari no 801-chan" in April 2006.

Plot and characters

"Tonari no 801-chan" is narrated by Nihongo|Tibet|チベット|Chibetto, otherwise known as Nihongo|Tibe-kun|チベ君|Chibe-kun, a twenty-eight-year-old company employee and boyfriend to Yaoi, otherwise known as Nihongo|Yaoi-chan|801ちゃん. Yaoi, who also works in a company, is a twenty-two-year-old fujoshi, a female otaku who is a fan of anime and manga series featuring yaoi, or romantic relationships between men. Tibet, who is an otaku himself, initially met Yaoi over the Internet. When she obsesses over yaoi, a small green furry monster comes out of a zipper from her back as the manifestation of her obsession.

In "Tonari no 801-chan: Fujoshiteki Kōkō Seikatsu", the story begins with the junior-high school student Nihongo|Rei Hoshino|星野 れい|Hoshino Rei, a fujoshi who does not especially have an interest in the 3D aspect of life. One rainy day, however, she takes an interest in a high school student named Nihongo|Kei Akai|赤井 彗|Akai Kei and wants to get into the same high school as him. To that end, she enlists the help of her childhood friend Nihongo|Shōtarō Kamiyu|神湯 正太郎|Kamiyu Shōtarō who helps her study for the entrance examination, and diet so as to become a cuter girl. All goes according to plan, until a scheming girl going to the same school named Nihongo|Luna Kurotsuki|黒月 ルナ|Kurotsuki Runa makes it harder for Rei to get closer to Kei.

Media

Manga

"Tonari no 801-chan" began as a four-panel Internet manga series written and illustrated by Ajiko Kojima which he started on his blog on April 18 2006.citeweb|url=http://indigosong.net/cat2/| title="Tonari no 801-chan" webcomic archive|last=Kojima|first=Ajiko|date=2006-04-18|accessdate=2008-08-18|language=Japanese] Ohzora Publishing released the first bound volume of the manga on December 14 2006 under their "Next comics" imprint, and as of July 17 2008, three volumes have been published. Included in the volumes are additional manga strips not featured on his blog. The first two volumes have sold over 320,000 copies in Japan.

A shōjo manga re-imagining of the series entitled Nihongo|"Tonari no 801-chan: Fujoshiteki Kōkō Seikatsu"|となりの801ちゃん～腐女子的♥高校生活～ written and illustrated by Jin started serialization in Kodansha's shōjo manga magazine "Bessatsu Friend" on November 28 2007. [citeweb|url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-11-15/tonari-no-801-chan-fujoshi-manga-adapted-for-shojo-mag|title="Tonari no 801 chan" Fujoshi Manga Adapted for Shōjo Mag|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2007-11-15|accessdate=2008-08-18] The first volume was released on March 13 2008, and the second followed on July 11 2008; the volumes are published under Kodansha's "KC Deluxe" imprint.

Movie

A live action straight-to-DVD sixty-minute movie directed by Kōtarō Terauchi was produced on September 5 2007. The movie stars Sō Hirosawa as Yaoi, and Koji Seto as Tibet, and also features Kotaro Yanagi playing a role. Ajiko Kojima, the original manga author, has a small cameo appearance in the film.

Drama CDs

A drama CD based on the original manga was released by Marine Entertainment in Japan on April 23 2008, and the first-print version of the CD came bundled with a mini hand towel.citeweb|url= http://www.marine-e.co.jp/sakuhin/801/|title="Tonari no 801-chan"'s drama CD official website|publisher=Marine Entertainment| accessdate=2008-08-18|language=Japanese] Another drama CD will be released by Marine Entertainment on October 22 2008, and the first-print version will come bundled with a mousepad sticker, and an extra track featuring a group talk of the drama cast.

Anime

An anime adaptation of the original manga produced by Kyoto Animation and broadcast on TBS was announced to begin airing in Japan in 2009,citeweb|url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-08-17/haruhi-kyoto-animation-to-produce-tonari-no-801-chan|title="Haruhi"'s Kyoto Animation to Produce "Tonari no 801-chan"|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-08-17|accessdate=2008-08-18] but was unexpectedly canceled.citeweb|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-08-29/tbs-acknowledges-tonari-no-801-chan-cancellation|title=TBS Acknowledges "Tonari no 801-chan's" Cancellation|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-08-29|accessdate=2008-08-29]

References

External links

* [http://indigosong.net/ Ajiko Kojima's blog] ja icon
* [http://www.ohzora.co.jp/sp/801/ "Tonari no 801-chan"] at Ohzora Publishing ja icon
*ann manga|id=8607