Sola (manga)

:anime voices|Nobuhiko Okamoto:Yorito is the main protagonist of "Sola". He enjoys taking photographs of the sky and will go out of his way to do so. He meets Matsuri Shihou early on in the story and finds out she is not human and is being chased by a man—Takeshi Tsujidou—who intends to kill her. Yorito tries to protect her by asking her to stay at his house. Yorito has an older sister named Aono who at the beginning of the story is in the hospital. Yorito visits her with Mana everyday and he brings her a new doll from a strange store that sells oddly designed dolls. Yorito is in fact a paper construct made by Aono, implanted with the memories of and designed after the image of the original Yorito, who died in the past.

;Nihongo|Matsuri Shihou|四方茉莉|Shihō Matsuri:anime voices|Mamiko Noto:Matsuri is a strange girl Yorito meets early on in the story. She is a Nihongo|"Calamity of the Night"|夜の災い|Yoru no Wazawai, otherwise known as a "Yaka", and has lived for hundreds of years. She cannot come in contact with direct sunlight as it harms her. Matsuri does not have much common sense and will often break machines in Yorito's house after kicking them too hard; she believes that any device can be fixed by kicking it. She has extreme fondness for tomato juice. Her ability is the power to make an object rapidly decay and transform those who have died into "Yaka".

;Nihongo|Aono Morimiya|森宮蒼乃|Morimiya Aono:anime voices|Mai Nakahara:Aono is Yorito's older sister who has been sickly ever since she was born and is hospitalized at the beginning of the story. She has a cold personality, showing very little emotion but still is visibly annoyed at Yorito for how much he seems to ignore her to do other things. Every time Yorito brings her a new doll, she takes one look at it and throws it in a nearby basket filled with other dolls. However, she does not hate them and even has one which is her favorite — the first one Yorito brought her. She enjoys making origami and is friends with Koyori. Aono is a "Yaka" — she was transformed into one by Matsuri when she tried to commit suicide after the Yorito from her time was killed. She has the power to control paper.

;Nihongo|Mana Ishizuki|石月真名|Ishizuki Mana:anime voices|Yōko Honda:Mana is Yorito's friend from school; she often gets annoyed at Yorito for how he spends so much time taking photographs of the sky instead of spending more time with his sister. Mana works as a waitress at the "Azur Restaurant" and often comes over to Yorito's house to cook for him. She looks after her younger sister Koyori. She also knows about Matsuri's secret. She eventually takes up Yorito's hobby of taking pictures of clouds in the early morning, although she has no more memories of him.

;Nihongo|Koyori Ishizuki|石月こより|Ishizuki Koyori:anime voices|Ai Shimizu:Koyori is Mana's little sister who, at the beginning of the story, is staying in the same hospital as Aono, but is soon discharged. Whenever she calls Mana by her given name instead of referring to her as her big sister, Mana strikes her head. Koyori tries to keep Aono company whenever she can and they become good friends over the time Koyori spends in the hospital. Aono also teaches her how to make origami. Koyori is very polite to others even when not required to do so.

;Nihongo|Takeshi Tsujidou|辻堂剛史|Tsujidō Takeshi:anime voices|Keiji Fujiwara:Takeshi is an older man who is trying to track down Matsuri. When fighting her, he wields a large sword unaffected by Yaka powers with the intention of killing Matsuri and uses ultraviolet lamps to try to immobilize her. His intention to kill her is due to a promise to turn Mayuko back into a human, and if he succeeds then Matsuri's sacrifice will restore Mayuko back to normal.

;Nihongo|Mayuko Kamikawa|神河繭子|Kamikawa Mayuko:anime voices|Tomoko Kaneda:Mayuko is a young girl with distinctive attire who follows Takeshi; she is also a "Yaka". Whenever Takeshi finds her, it is at night when she is sleeping in a cardboard box which changes location around the city. Mayuko has a pompous personality and will not hesitate to talk bad of Takeshi around others, but she worries about Takeshi a lot. She became a "Yaka" many years before the story began when she was killed during a house robbery, and has stayed with Takeshi ever since.

;Nihongo|Sae Sakura|佐倉紗絵|Sakura Sae:anime voices|Ami Koshimizu:Sae is Mana's friend and classmate. She works in the same restaurant as Mana and instantly was attracted to Takeshi when he first started coming to their restaurant due to his goatee. She also works at a convenience store. Sae loves to gossip and often talks to the point where she is ignored by her friends.

Media

Manga

The manga version of "Sola" was first serialized in the Japanese shōnen manga magazine "Dengeki Daioh", published by MediaWorks. On December 21 2006, the prologue was published, and then the following month on January 20 2007, the first chapter was serialized, which continued until February 21 2008 when the final chapter was published. The story is adapted from Naoki Hisaya's original concept and illustrated by Chako Abeno. Two bound volumes were published under MediaWorks' "Dengeki Comics" label, the first on July 27 2008, and the second on March 27 2008. [citeweb|url=http://www.sola-project.com/iframe_goods03.html|title=Book sub-section of the Goods section at Sola's official website|publisher=Nomad|accessdate=2007-12-18|language=Japanese] The manga has been licensed for English language-distribution in the US by Broccoli Books; the first volume was released on June 18 2008. [citeweb|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-12-29/broccoli-books-to-release-sola-manga-this-summer| title=Broccoli Books to Release "Sola" Manga This Summer|publisher=Anime News Network|date=December 29 2007|accessdate=2007-12-29]

Drama CDs

A short audio drama CD was released at Comiket 71 on December 31 2006. The story consists of a prologue for the series that does not reveal much other than the personalities of the characters and a brief image of the setting. After the audio drama finished, an image song played entitled "Sensitive Scenery" by Ceui. This song was used as an insert song at the beginning of episode one of the anime, and then was used again in episode nine. Another drama CD based on the series was released on August 22 2007 by Lantis; it is longer than the previous one. Another drama CD, this time using the manga's story as a basis, was produced by Marine Entertainment on May 30 2008, and was supervised by Naoki Hisaya. [citeweb| url=http://dol.dengeki.com/data/news/2008/2/22/c329e70a830aa9bb5c8896586a0b148a.html|title=A Drama CD Based on the "Sola" Manga Will Be Sold on May 30!|publisher=MediaWorks|accessdate=2008-02-23|language=Japanese] The cast for the drama CDs is the same as with the anime version.

Internet radio shows

There have been two Internet radio shows for the "Sola" series. The first show, which used the anime adaptation as the basis, aired between February 2 2007 and February 23 2007 called Nihongo|"Sky-blue Radio in Charradio"|そらいろらじお in キャララジオ|Sorairo Rajio in Kyararajio, produced by Charradio. It aired every Friday hosted by either Mamiko Noto who played Matsuri Shihou in the anime, and Mai Nakahara who played Aono Morimiya in the anime depending on the week. There were two separate corners which were used to further promote the series and to update on any information regarding "Sola". There were four episodes, and some time was set aside for the last two broadcasts to play the audio drama released at Comiket 71. There were two guests to the show: Yōko Honda in episode three who played Mana Ishizuki in the anime and Tomoko Kaneda in episode four who played Mayuko Kamigawa in the anime.

The second show, which again used the anime adaptation as the basis, aired between March 30 2007 and July 27 2007 called Nihongo|"Sky-blue Radio"|そらいろらじお|Sorairo Rajio, produced by Beat ☆ Net Radio! as well as Lantis Web Radio. It aired every Friday and had nineteen episodes hosted by different people depending on the month. The first broadcast, and the rest of April was hosted by Yōko Honda, and Ai Shimizu who played Koyori Ishizuki in the anime. The May broadcasts were hosted by Mamiko Noto and the June broadcasts were hosted by Mai Nakahara, though also featured appearances by both Noto and Honda. Finally, the July broadcasts were hosted by Keiji Fujiwara who played Takeshi Tsujido in the anime, and Nobuhiko Okamoto who played Yorito Morimiya in the anime. There were three corners named Nihongo|"Attack of Tomato Soup"|アタック・オブ・トマトしるこ|Atakku Obu Tomato Shiroko, Nihongo|"Sky-blue Letter"|そらいろの手紙|Sorairo no Tegami, and Nihongo|"Futsu Ota"|ふつおた. The show also had a series of guests that were other cast members from the anime series, but also included those who had previously hosted the show. These include Nobuhiko Okamoto who appeared in the second, ninth, and fourteenth episodes; Yōko Honda who appeared in the seventh, eighth, ninth, and eighteenth episodes; Tomoko Kaneda, who played Mayuko Kamikawa in the anime, appeared in the seventeenth episode; and Mamiko Noto and Mai Nakahara who appeared in the nineteenth episode.

Anime

An anime adaptation of "Sola" was produced by the animation studio Nomad and directed by Tomoki Kobayashi. The series aired in Japan on the TV Aichi television network between April 7 2007 and June 30 2007, containing thirteen episodes, though aired on other networks at the same time with slightly different start and end dates.citeweb|url=http://www.sola-project.com/story.html|title= Official episode listing for the Sola anime|publisher=Nomad|accessdate=2007-12-18|language=Japanese] The series was released in five DVD compilation volumes in limited and regular editions,each containing three episodes.citeweb|url=http://www.sola-project.com/iframe_goods.html|title=DVD sub-section of the Goods section at Sola's official website|publisher=Nomad|accessdate=2007-12-18|language=Japanese] The first DVD volume was released on June 22 2007, followed by the second on July 27 2007, and the third on August 24 2007. Two additional episodes were made available exclusively on DVD volumes four and five; the first was released on September 25 2007, and the second was on October 26 2007. A poll was held in Japan by the company Spider Networks asking what was the best anime that aired in 2007. After two million votes were cast, "Sola" placed number one at approximately 340,000 votes.citeweb|url=http://www.activeanime.com/html/content/view/2389/58/|title=Sola Voted Best Anime of 2007|date=January 2 2008|accessdate=2008-05-03] citeweb|url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2008-02-26/bandai-visual-usa-new-title-announcement-sola-voted-best-anime-of-2007-in-japan |title=Bandai Visual USA New Title Announcement: sola, Voted Best Anime of 2007 in Japan|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-02-28|accessdate=2008-05-03]

The Japanese DVDs were also released by .Anime as a "special package edition" with different cover art released for the limited or regular edition volumes. The covers of the special package and limited edition volumes were illustrated by Naru Nanao, the original character designer for "Sola"; the covers of the regular edition volumes had illustrations of the anime-style art by Makoto Koga. Each of the regular edition DVDs contained an eight-page color booklet with illustrations from the series. The special package and limited edition DVDs also contained the color booklet, along with drama CDs containing tracks from the Internet radio show, and poster cards (the first volume also contained a poster card holder). The price of the special package and limited edition DVDs retailed for 8,190 yen (about US$72), and the regular edition DVDs retailed for 6,090 yen (about US$54); both prices are after tax.

Bandai Visual licensed the "Sola" anime in early 2008 for release in North America, but was delayed. [citeweb|url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-02-25/bandai-visual-usa-picks-up-sola-anime|title=Bandai Visual USA Picks Up "Sola" Anime|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-02-25|accessdate=2008-02-25] [citeweb|url= http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-03-19/bandai-visual-usa-delays-shigofumi-true-tears-sola|title=Bandai Visual USA Delays "Shigofumi", "True Tears", "Sola"|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-03-19|accessdate=2008-07-08] After Bandai Visual USA folded into Bandai Entertainment, the "Sola" anime will be released in a fifteen-episode subtitle-only box set. [ citeweb|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-09-26/bandai-entertainment-cancels-sola-true-tears-release|title=Bandai Entertainment to Ship "Sola", "True Tears" in DVD Boxes|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2008-09-26|accessdate=2008-09-27]

Music

The opening theme to the anime, "Colorless Wind" by Aira Yūki, was released in a maxi single by the same name on April 25 2007 by Lantis; the opening theme was used for anime episodes two through thirteen.citeweb|url=http://www.sola-project.com/iframe_goods02.html|title=Music sub-section of the Goods section at Sola's official website|publisher=Nomad|accessdate=2007-12-18|language=Japanese] The ending theme, "Mellow Melody" by Ceui, was released in another maxi single also by the name of "Mellow Melody" on May 23 2007 by Lantis; this ending theme was used for anime episodes one through twelve. The ending theme for the final episode is "Miageru Ano Sora de" by Aira Yūki. "Mellow Melody" also included the song Nihongo|"Sensitive Scenery"|敏感な風景|Binkan na Fūkei by Ceui which was used as an insert song in anime episodes one and nine and the second OVA episode. The "Sola" original soundtrack was released on June 27 2007, and an image album, "Oratorio", was released on August 8 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.sola-project.com/ Anime official website] ja icon
* [http://www.mediaworks.co.jp/contents/sola/index.php "Sola"] at ASCII Media Works ja icon
* [http://www.broccolibooks.com/books/sola/sola_index.htm "Sola" manga] at Broccoli Books
* [http://www.bandai-ent.com/sola/ "Sola" anime] at Bandai Entertainment
*ann anime|id=7481|title=Sola