No. 6

No. 6
Genre	Science fiction
Novel
Written by	Atsuko Asano
Published by	Kodansha
Imprint	Ya!Entertainment
Original run	October 10, 2003 – June 14, 2011
Volumes	9
Manga
Written by	Atsuko Asano
Illustrated by	Hinoki Kino
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Aria
Original run	March 2011 – ongoing
TV anime
Directed by	Kenji Nagasaki
Music by	Keiichi Suzuki
Studio	Bones
Licensed by	Sentai Filmworks
Network	Fuji TV (noitaminA) Kansai TV
Original run	July 8, 2011 – September 16, 2011
Episodes	11
Anime and Manga Portal

No. 6 is a nine-volume novel series written by Atsuko Asano and published by Kodansha between October 2003 and June 2011. A manga adaptation drawn by Hinoki Kino began serialization in the March 2011 issue of Kodansha's Aria magazine. A TV anime series adaptation by Bones began airing in Japan in July 2011.^[1]

Plot

The story takes place in an ideal city known as "No. 6". Shion, a boy raised in the elite and privileged environment of his home, gives shelter to another boy, who only gives his name as 'Nezumi' (Meaning mouse or Rat) on the former's 12th birthday. After spending a rainy night with his new friend, Shion discovers the next morning that Nezumi has disappeared without a trace. Four years later, Shion experiences a spate of incidents around him in which a deadly infection by parasitic bees causes its victims to age rapidly. Shion's co-worker is one of the victims and Shion is arrested on suspicion of murder. While Shion is being transported to the Correctional Institute, Nezumi appears and rescues him. Shion begins to find out the hidden truth behind the Ideal City No.6.^[2]

Characters

Shion (シオン^?)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji

Shion is an intelligent individual who was on his way to going into the Special Curriculum for gifted students where he planned to specialize in Ecology, until his fateful encounter with Nezumi on his twelfth birthday. Although he knew Nezumi was a wanted fugitive he cared for the bullet wound in his arm, fed him, and allowed him to stay overnight in his room. After the following police investigation he and his mother were forced to move away from Chronos to Lost Town. He was stripped of his rights to the Special Curriculum because of his poor judgment skills in taking in a known fugitive (Nezumi), and his status in their caste-based society was lowered.

Four years later, Shion gets a job in a office for safety in a park where he controls Waste Management Robots. The job pays for tuition for his schooling, where he plans to go into the trades. A man dies of suspicious causes in the park and later his coworker dies of the same causes. Shion witnesses his coworker age rapidly and a bee emerge from his neck. Shion is then arrested on suspicion of murder. Nezumi saves him and he is forced to leave NO.6. Shion nearly dies himself when he is infected with a killer-bee, but Nezumi saves him a second time, though Shion is left with white hair and scars that look like a red snake curling from his ankle to his neck. After this, Shion decides to try to create a cure for people infected with the killer bees in NO.6, but is hindered by lack of resources and Nezumi's reluctance. He is polite and idealistic, and refuses to give up on saving the people of NO. 6.

He works for InuKashi cleaning her dogs, and is childhood friends with Safu.

Nezumi (ネズミ^?)

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya

Nezumi is a a young man, who lives outside of NO.6 in The West Block. As a child he was followed by the police,wounded, and by chance ended up staying at Shion's house where he is shocked that another human being could extend a kind hand when knowing there is no reward. He runs off the next morning. Four years later, he saves Shion from a police car and takes him with him to his home because he feels indebted to Shion for taking him in on their first meeting. He hates the City of NO.6 with an intense passion and is trying to figure out a way to destroy it. He is well known as an actor/actress under the nickname Eve and is very talented in singing and acting, and dancing. His home is filled to the brim with books most of which are classic literature and plays by Shakespeare, but also books on religion and scientific journals. He often quotes these books on the spot (specifically Macbeth and Faust). He also knows how to deal with weapons and knows how to fight and has very honed 'street smarts'. He is a cynical boy with a dark past. His hate for NO.6 extends from his village being destroyed and him being one of the sole survivors.

DogKeeper (イヌカシ InuKashi^?)

Voiced by: Kei Shindō

One of the residents of the West Block outside of NO. 6. Inukashi (lit. 'DogKeeper') is a brash, and often dangerous individual who spends her time either renting out her many dogs as heaters during the winter or collecting items to sell from a contact within NO. 6's correctional facility. She has a very violent, volatile relationship with Nezumi but Nezumi still often goes to her to gather information - for a price. She cares about her dogs very much as was raised by a dog who she called her "mother" before it passed away. While InuKashi looks like a girl, there are hints that she maybe in fact a boy but the series keep her real gender ambiguous.

Safu (サフ^?)

Voiced by: Yasuno Kiyono

Shion's childhood friend and a fellow resident of NO. 6. Like Shion, she's a child genius - her expertise is the human brain and to a degree, psychology. Also like Sion, Safu begins to show doubt about the utopia that is No. 6. She went abroad to study in NO.5 and asked Shion to have sex with her, which Shion refused saying he always thought of her as a friend, and to wait two years for him. She was taken into custody later in the story and is being experimented on somehow.

Karan (カラン^?)

Voiced by: Rei Sakuma

Shion's mother. With Shion, she was sent to live down in Lost Town where she opened up a bakery. She and Nezumi contact one another through strips of paper brought by mice. She is believed to be involved in the creation of NO.6 somehow.

Rikiga (リキガ^?)

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma

One of the residents of West Block. He runs a prostitution service which allows him a life of luxury in comparison to other residents. At one point, he wrote articles regarding NO. 6. He really likes Eve, Nezumi's stage persona yet is less charitable towards Nezumi himself, given Nezumi's disdain shown to him. He tries to be a parental substitute to Shion who he has a soft spot for given that he's still attached to his Mother, Karan, a former love interest.

Media

Novels

No. 6 began as a novel series written by Atsuko Asano. Nine tankōbon volumes were published by Kodansha between October 10, 2003 and June 14, 2011. Kodansha began publishing bunkobon versions of the novels on October 13, 2006; as of August 12, 2009, five bunkobon volumes have been released.

Manga

A manga adaptation drawn by Hinoki Kino began serialization in the March 2011 issue of Kodansha's shōjo manga magazine Aria.

Anime

An anime TV series adaptation produced by Bones and directed by Kenji Nagasaki began airing in Japan on Fuji TV's noitaminA programming block on July 8, 2011. The anime's opening theme is "Spell" by Lama and the ending theme is "Rokutōsei no Yoru" (六等星の夜^?) by Aimer. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the anime. It is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and the Anime Network's Online Player and will be released on home video next year. In Japanese Nezumi means Rat.^[3]

No.	Title	Original airdate
01	"Drowned Rat" "Bishonure Nezumi" (びしょぬれネズミ)	July 8, 2011[4]
The episode starts with 12 year-old Shion day dreaming and not paying attention during class. It's his birthday today so after school he heads over to his friend Safu's house to have a party with her and her grandmother. The storm outside starts to turn into a typhoon, so Shion heads home. Once home, he goes out on his balcony and screams. An alarm goes off inside so he heads back in. When he looks back at his window, a strange boy is standing there, who seems to be injured. After gaining the boy's trust, Shion proceeds to treat his wounds. We find out the boy's name is Rat (or pronounced Nezumi in Japanese). Shion discovers that Nezumi is a wanted fugitive - a VC - but he still aids Nezumi by giving him food and letting him sleep in his bed. The next day, Nezumi is gone and the Bureau of Peace is at Shion's door, looking for him.
02	"City Adorned in Light" "Hikari Matou Machi" (光まとう街)	July 15, 2011[5]
After harboring a VC, Shion is stripped of his elite citizen privileges and forced to live in the suburbs with his mother. Four years later, Safu leaves him to go study abroad in No. 5. While being with Safu, Shion comes in contact with a rat that had Nezumi's voice. While working at the park security, Shion learns of a mysterious parasite that makes people grow old and die in seconds before emerging as a bee. Shion questions the authority of the city once again after one of the deaths isn't shown on the news. Shion's co-worker also dies from the parasite shortly after and Shion is arrested. While being taken to the correctional facility, Shion is rescued by Nezumi and has to throw away his ID bracelet. After the duo escape from the city's limits, Nezumi shows Shion what really lies beyond the walls of No. 6.
03	"Life and Death" "Sei to Shi to" (生と死と)	July 22, 2011[5]
Soon after escaping from No. 6, Shion finds that he is also infected. After nearly going insane, Shion decides that he wants to die. Nezumi won't have it. The parasite is extracted by Nezumi from his body and he survives, but not without taking its toll on his body. Scars are left on Shion's body and face. His hair is white and his eyes are red. Having recovered, Shion is taken by Nezumi to a hotel whose owner, Dogkeeper (or Inukashi in Japanese), rents her dogs to keep the guests warm while sleeping. Shion finds that Nezumi contacted his mother and she sent a message to him. By analyzing the parasite, Shion concludes that when spring comes, a large number of them will emerge and kill their hosts, causing turmoil in the city. He predicts that The Holy Day will be the day all the parasites become active. By learning that such great tragedy will befall the place he loathes, Nezumi rejoices. And when Shion states that the inhabitants of No. 6 must be warned, Nezumi claims that if he insists in helping them even after he learns the truth, the two will become enemies.
04	"Good and Evil" "Ma to Sei" (魔と聖)	July 29, 2011[5]
Following Shion's mother's instruction, Shion and Nezumi pay a visit to Rikiga, an old friend of hers. When asked how he knew Shion's mother, Rikiga states that Karan had turned him down when he asked her out. Rikiga offers himself to take care of Shion, but Shion himself gets angry on him when he asks Nezumi to work for him as a male prostitute and the two leave. While cleaning Inukashi's dogs, Shion is inquired by her about his relationship with Nezumi, and when an angry Nezumi appears before him, she realizes he became attached to Shion. Believing Nezumi became soft because of Shion, Inukashi attacks Nezumi with her dogs, but their fight is interrupted when Shion arrives. Shion confesses to Nezumi that despite caring for his mother, he decides to live in the west district with him and has one of Nezumi's rats send a farewell message to his mother.
05	"Angel of Death" "Meifu no Tenshi" (冥府の天使)	August 5, 2011[5]
Another person in No. 6 has suddenly aged and died, this time a woman who worked at the Twilight House that Safu's grandmother is staying in. Shion hears about this from Rikiga and races to the theater where Nezumi is performing to inform him of the news. This is the first time he's seen Nezumi act. But during the play, Nezumi has a vision of a strange wind and song and he faints on stage. Meanwhile, in an art museum in No. 5, Safu is looking at a work which displays three bees when she, like Nezumi, is visited by a strange wind and song, and she also faints. When Safu wakes up, she is told she must immediately return to No. 6 because her grandmother has died.
06	"Hidden Dangers" "Hisoyakana Kiki" (密やかな危機)	August 12, 2011[6]
Safu has returned to No. 6 because of her grandmothers’ death. After she collects the last of her grandmother's things, she knows something's odd when her grandmother's knitting needles are missing. She also observes that the clothes left by her grandmother don't smell like her. While back in No. 6, she visits Karan and learns of what has happened to Shion. After leaving Karan's bakery, Safu is abducted by the Bureau of Peace. At the same time, Shion and Nezumi continue their discussion over the future of No. 6 and the parasite bees. Nezumi receives a notice from Shion's mother informing him that Safu was taken by city officials. Nezumi contemplates whether or not to tell Shion as he would die trying to save her. In the end, he decides to keep this a secret from Shion.
07	"True Lies, False Truths" "Shinjitsu no Uso Kyokō no Shinjitsu" (真実の嘘・虚構の真実)	August 19, 2011[6]
Nezumi secretly requests that Dogkeeper obtain information on the correctional facility, giving her all of his money as payment along with the promise to sing for her soul when she dies. However, unbeknownst to Nezumi, Shion and Rikiga are visiting a used clothing store where Shion discovers Safu's coat that was smuggled from the correctional facility. Meanwhile, Safu is being treated as a "sample" by the researchers at the facility where she was taken. That night when Nezumi comes home, he sees that Shion has made a large supper. The two eat and Shion says he was happy to have met Nezumi before giving him a "goodnight kiss". The next morning, Shion tries to leave to go to the correctional facility, but Nezumi catches up to him. The two fight before they promise not to lie to each other anymore. Nezumi tells Shion that there's something he needs to show him.
08	"The reason for that is..." "Sono Wake wa..." (そのわけは…)	August 26, 2011[6]
In order to save Safu, Shion and Nezumi head to the edges of the Western District. There, they meet a legless old man who leads a large group of men. The old man, the person who named Rat, is actually one of the researchers with the young Karan in Rikiga's picture. The man tells Shion that he was the real first survivor of the parasite bees. He also states that Nezumi is the last survivor of the forest folk who were wiped out by No. 6. After Nezumi has another vision with the winds and the singing like he had before while he was performing in his play, he repeats the song to the legless man and the water around them begins to glow. The legless man tells them about Elyurias, the reason No. 6 destroyed the forest folk.
09	"Stage of Disaster" "Saiyaku no Butai" (災厄の舞台)	September 2, 2011[6]
Rikiga leads a client of his to a young girl, whom he has solicited to the client. The girl is really Inukashi in disguise, as this was a part of a plan devised by Shion, Nezumi, Inukashi and Rikiga. Inukashi, unable to deal with the man's advances, disrupts the facade in outrage. Nezumi and Rikiga bind and gag the man in order to get information from him, while Shion consoles Inukashi. The information they receive entails a map of the correctional facility in No. 6, as well as word of a "pre-Holy Day cleaning operation." Back at their underground hideout, Shion discusses potential plans of their living conditions when the summer comes, idealizing that his mother and Safu live here together with him and Nezumi. Meanwhile, Karan walks through a festive No. 6, as the inhabitants are preparing for the Holy Day. Back in the outskirts of the city, Shion asks Nezumi if he sent a message to his mother because he had finally come up with a plan. Suddenly, the town is attacked by No.6 military tanks, which Shion discovers were part of the "cleaning operation" he had asked Nezumi about earlier. The two flee to seek shelter from the raid, and in an alley, Shion finds an infant whose mother was killed by the blasts. He sends their guard dog off with the baby to Inukashi. The army then rounds up all the town's survivors, telling them they will be taken to the correctional facility--which had been Nezumi's plan all along. Meanwhile, Karan frets about Shion's safety, but Yoming assures her that Shion is fighting back and not to worry. He also informs her that the Twilight House was established to kill off all unneeded people of the city's elderly population, and that he will be sending out a message to his comrades to fight back against No. 6. Karan then receives a message from one of Nezumi's rats, telling her that she will be reunited with Shion. In the transport trucks, Nezumi sings an old song to raise the hopes of the captured townsfolk, but tells Shion that a song will never save anyone. Meanwhile, Safu is mysteriously contacted by Elyurias right before she wakes up. Shion, Nezumi, and all the townsfolk are then loaded into the facility.
10	"What Lies in the Abyss" "Naraku ni aru mono" (奈落にあるもの)	September 9, 2011[6]
Sion and Nezumi climb through the huge pile of bodies where they were dropped in and infiltrate the facility searching for Safu. Meanwhile, Rikiga and Inukashi leave the baby Sion saved to one of the dogs and gain entry into the facility by themselves to clear a path for Sion and Nezumi. Somehow, Sion knows exactly where to go and where all the cameras are, and this makes Nezumi a bit suspicious. He and Sion fight their way through the complex until Nezumi is wounded by a security guard. Sion kills him in retaliation, much to Nezumi's grief. When the duo manage to get through Safu's location, they find that she broke herself free and the researchers around her are lying dead on the ground.
11	"Tell Me The Truth" "Tsutaetekure, arinomama wo" (伝えてくれ、ありのままを)	September 16, 2011[7]
Inukashi and Rikiga are waiting for Nezumi and Sion to hurry up and meet back up with them, while at the same time, Sion and Nezumi are just now encountering Safu. The fireworks celebration is commencing at No. 6 to celebrate the Holy Day, but for some reason, Lili still feels like something dangerous is about to happen, and Karan can only wonder about what's coming next. Yoming is setting up his plans with his other friends, waiting for a perfect time to act. Suddenly, the parasites become active and people start dying very rapidly. The parasite bees are everywhere, millions of them. Back at the facility, one of the dead researchers on the floor gets a phone call, and it plays the frantic message of another researcher saying that their plans had gotten out of hand. Nezumi asks Safu if she was truly the one who led them there, and when she responds saying that she wanted to see them, Nezumi says that she has "Mother's" voice. Mother is the main computer behind Safu, which controls the entire correctional facility. Safu says that Mother was held in the Moon Drop until four years before when the authorities captured Nezumi and took him to the Moon Drop. She says that the researchers had planned to use Mother to analyze Nezumi so they could learn Elyurias' power and use it to revive the land they had destroyed. She tells them that the researchers had used the information they had received from the legless man to experiment Elyurias' power on the citizens of No. 6, thus the parasite bees. At this time, Yoming starts to broadcast to the city, though many people are already dead. Sion doesn't understand Safu, so Nezumi tells him that Safu is really Elyurias. Safu admits to it, and tells Sion that she loves him. As Sion starts to lose control of himself, Safu tells Nezumi to destroy Mother. After having to fight back against Sion, Nezumi puts an explosive on Mother and the two escape, leaving Safu behind to die. Sion is hysterical, but Nezumi tells him that she's not Safu anymore. Once Mother explodes, the other computers in the facility start to do the same and all the workers start to evacuate. At this point, Karan and Lili go inside and hide and all the parasite bees start to become small orbs of light that come together to form giant cyclones. While trying to leave the facility, Nezumi is shot and Sion has to bandage him up in an infirmary and has to carry him. They try to escape through a garbage shoot, but Sion is shot in the heart and dies. Inukashi and Rikiga find the two and start to question Nezumi. Inukashi says that they have to leave, because the entire building is collapsing. Nezumi won't leave Sion, so Inukashi and Rikiga abandon them. Nezumi starts to sing to Sion, while outside the cyclones are starting to destroy the wall around No. 6. Nezumi lays next to Sion, crying, waiting to die, when a glowing, ghost-like version of Safu appears and starts to sing to Sion. Safu then disappears and the true form of Elyurias appears. Elyurias disappears in a large explosion of light and then Nezumi notices that he's healed. Then, remarkably, Sion comes back from the dead, saying he heard Safu singing. Nezumi and Sion leave the facility and stop to look at the destruction. The wall that was once surrounding No. 6 is completely gone. At this point we see everyone is looking in awe at the destruction, except for Yoming, who is now dead. Everyone starts to walk to the wall but Karan, who runs, calling Sion's name. Nezumi starts to walk back to the outside of the wall, but Sion doesn't want him to go. Nezumi kisses Sion and tells him that he'll be fine, then he leaves. A dog comes to Sion carrying the baby he had rescued earlier. Sion destroys the chip that the legless man gave him and takes the baby, the dog and Hamlet, walking back towards the city, telling himself that he'll meet Nezumi again someday.

References

1. ^ "Fuji TV's Noitamina to Air Usagi Drop, No. 6 in July". Anime News Network. January 1, 2011. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-01-07/noitamina-to-air-usagi-drop-no-6-in-july. Retrieved May 23, 2011. 
2. ^ "NO.6 ストーリー" (in Japanese). BONES. http://www.no-6.jp/#/story/. Retrieved July 5, 2011. 
3. ^ "Sentai Filmworks Announces License of No. 6". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2011-08-03/sentai-filmworks-announces-license-of-no-6. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 
4. ^ "NO.6" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on June 12, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/5zOOfHtcA. Retrieved June 12, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} "NO. 6" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/604tbuwH5. Retrieved July 10, 2011. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} "NO. 6" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/60qOi9JBl. Retrieved August 10, 2011. 
7. ^ "NO. 6" (in Japanese). Web Newtype. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/627JxM4Xz. Retrieved October 2, 2011. 

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• No. 6 at Aniplex (Japanese)
• No. 6 (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia