Figure 17

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Figure 17


caption = "Figure 17" Tsubasa & Hikaru
ja_name = フィギュア17つばさ＆ヒカル
ja_name_trans = Figure 17 Tsubasa & Hikaru
genre = Drama, Science Fiction, Slice of life storyInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Genco Olm
illustrator = Guy Nakahira
publisher = flagicon|Japan MediaWorks
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Dengeki Daioh
first = 27 November 2001
last = 27 October 2002
volumes = 2 (380 pages)Infobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Naohito Takahashi
studio = GENCO
network = TV Tokyo
licensor = flagicon|USA AnimeWorks
first = 27 May 2001
last = 26 June 2002
episodes = 13 x 45minInfobox animanga/Novel
light = yes
title =
author = Shoji Yonemura
illustrator = Yuriko Chiba
publisher = flagicon|Japan Dengeki Bunko
demographic = Male
first = 10 June 2002
last =
volumes = 1

nihongo|"Figure 17 Tsubasa & Hikaru"|フィギュア17つばさ＆ヒカル is an original anime series written by Genco Olm that was later adapted into a manga by Guy Nakahira.

The original anime which aired on TV Tokyo is published in English by AnimeWorks. This anime is unusual in that the episodes are a good deal longer than most standard TV anime broadcast episodes, at 45min per episode. Each half episode is approximately the length of one standard TV anime episode. The series is published on six volumes of DVDs in North America and one compiled collection of all 6 discs together.

Later, the manga was created and published in the Japanese magazine "Dengeki Daioh". The manga was also licensed and is now published in English by ADV Manga.

Plot

The anime covers a small portion of the life of the timid, shy, Shiina Tsubasa, a grade schooler who is forced to move to Hokkaidō from Tokyo with her father as he pursues his dream of becoming a baker. At her new school, she is so shy and unsociable that her classmates ignore her at best, and abuse her inability to defend herself at worst.

But her life changes when an alien spaceship comes crashing down to earth in the forest behind her house. There she discovers the pilot, unconscious and wounded, and a monster who is trying to kill him. When the monster attacks, the alien wakes and tries to fight off the monster. Tsubasa, in her fright, runs for the ship to hide from the monster. The monster quickly takes care of the alien, killing his Figure, and then tries to reach into the ship to get at Tsubasa.

In its effort to reach her, the monster accidentally cracks the container of a Figure, the contents of which leaks out onto the floor next to Tsubasa. Moments later, the liquid converges with her, joining with her, transforming her into Figure 17. Together, Tsubasa and the Figure fight and defeat the monster.

When the battle is over, the Figure, its holding case destroyed, separates from Tsubasa into what appears to be an exact duplicate of her in both appearance and memories. The Figure introduces herself as Hikaru. The alien awakens, but his Figure was destroyed protecting him. Together, all three return to Tsubasa's house and stay the night in her room.

The next day the alien introduces himself as D.D. and explains that he was transporting the seeds of a monster called a Maguar, when suddenly one of the seeds hatched and attacked him, causing him to crash his ship on earth. Unfortunately, the Maguar that Tsubasa defeated was only 1 of 6 that he had been transporting, and that the other 5 have escaped the ship and are each scattered somewhere throughout Hokkaidō.

He tells the girls that he needs them to help him destroy the remaining 5 Maguar since the atmosphere of the earth has enhanced both Tsubasa's Figure and the Maguar in a similar way, while he waits for reinforcements.

To facilitate the problem of suddenly having a twin that no one knows about, D.D. decides to modify the memories of Tsubasa's father, making him think that he had twin daughters all along, and that Hikaru was simply living elsewhere with an aunt. So, while D.D. continues to monitor the Maguar from his ship, Tsubasa and Hikaru live together at Tsubasa's house, go to school together at Tsubasa's school, fight together as Figure 17 against the Maguar, and essentially become twins in more than just the appearance.

Each episode consists of about 35-40 minutes of Tsubasa's & Hikaru's school life, and is typically concluded by about 5-10 minutes of Maguar fighting. In the end, this series is more about Tsubasa growing up and learning how to cope with what life deals her, than the alien-monster fighting which is present throughout each episode and drives the plot.

External links

* [http://www.genco.co.jp/works/figure17.html Figure 17 at GENCO]
*imdb title|id=0475192|title=Figure 17
* [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1116 Figure 17 at Anime News Network Anime Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.medianet.co.jp/english/anim/figure17.html Figure 17 at MediaNet] (English)
* [http://figure17.areaseven.net Figure 17 fansite]