Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō

] When she was younger, she rode motorcycles and raced hovercraft, and was Ojisan's senpai from school. Her surname is : The grandson of Ojisan, who lives with his grandparents. He meets Alpha at age nine, and she quickly takes to him as if he were a younger brother. He is the first character in the series to meet the Misago. As he grows up, Takahiro becomes fascinated with engines of all types and eventually moves away in his mid-teens to work for Nai.

; Saetta: The young daughter of Makki and Takahiro. She is the last character to meet the Misago.

Reception and awards

Even though it has not been published in English, "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō" has received significant attention from reviewers outside of Japan. Many reviewers praise Ashinano's drawing style, meticulous pacing, and engaging characters.cite web | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou | author=Ivevei Upatkoon | url=http://www.ex.org/3.4/26-anime_yokohama.html | publisher=EX | accessdate=2007-07-10] cite web | title=Yuri Anime: Yokohama Shopping Log | url=http://okazu.blogspot.com/2004/02/yuri-anime-yokohama-shopping-log.html | author=Erica Friedman | accessdate=2007-06-07] cite web | title=A Quiet Vision of Hope | author=Janet Crocker| publisher=Anime Fringe | url=http://www.animefringe.com/magazine/2004/04/feature/02.php | accessdate=2007-06-08] cite web | title=Yokohama Shopping Trip | url=http://www.ex.org/2.4/27-yokohama.html | author=Eric Luce | publisher=EX | accessdate=2007-06-26] Dirk Deppey wrote in "The Comics Journal", "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou" isn't just one of my favorite manga stories; it's one of my favorite comics, period."cite web | title=A Comics Reader's Guide to Manga Scanlations | author=Dirk Deppey | url=http://www.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=430&Itemid=70&limit=1&limitstart=2 | publisher=The Comics Journal | accessdate=2007-07-11] Derik A. Badman wrote, "This is light years beyond almost all the manga being translated and published in the US."cite web | title=Quiet Country Cafe | url=http://madinkbeard.com/blog/archives/quiet-country-cafe | author=Derik A. Badman | accessdate=2007-07-11] A reviewer at Uknighted Manganime wrote, "Artwise, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou ranks as the most impressive I have ever seen," adding, "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is, in short, the finest manga I have ever read, and I don’t see it being surpassed anytime soon, if ever."cite web | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou manga review | url=http://manganime.animeblogger.net/304/yokohama-kaidashi-kikou-manga-review/ | author=Northlander | publisher=Uknighted Manganime | accessdate=2007-07-11]

"Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō" won "Afternoon" magazine's Four Seasons Award for debut worksFact|date=August 2007 and the 2007 Seiun Award for Best Manga. [cite web | url=http://www.tokyograph.com/news/id-1659 | title=2007 Seiun Awards announced | publisher=TokyoGraph | accessdate=2007-09-04]

Influences and themes

Flying and flight recurs through the series. Alpha herself has repeated visions of flying. Planes that appear include Nai's airplane, the always-flying Taapon, and the model airplane engine that Alpha finds but never flies. The A7 series of robots is named after a line of Japanese WWII warplanes that never saw production,Fact|date=September 2007 and the character Saetta's name may be inspired by an Italian WWII warplane built by Aeronautica Macchi. Takahiro leaves ("flies away") to work for Nai. Ayase's "kamas" is a kind of flying fish. In the postscript episode, the unnamed character travels by glider.

The series contains elements of Chinese culture and mythology. Alpha's gekkin guitar is of Chinese origin, and the Taapon aircraft is named after the mythological bird Peng ("taapon" is the Japanese transliteration of "da peng").

Some character names appear in the geography of the Yokohama area. For example, there is a bus stop named Koumi'ishi to the south of Hayama, and Atsugi airfield, where Alpha meets Nai, is located in Ayase. There is a place called Maruko in Yokohama where Maruko's gallery is supposed to be.

That several details of "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō" are left unexplained, or have answers only hinted at, is frequently mentioned in reviews of the series as contributing to a tone of mystery. Some are mysteries to the characters, which they speculate about without reaching conclusions, while others are presented to the reader without comment. Among the most prominent are:
* What is the nature of the natural disaster that caused the world's oceans to rise?
* Who is Alpha's owner, and where did he go? Why does Ayase call him "sensei"?
* Why were robots created? Since none are slaves or servants, what is their purpose? In what sense are they, as Kokone claims, humanity's children? [cite book | last=Ashinano | first=Hitoshi | authorlink=Hitoshi Ashinano | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō | publisher=Kodansha | location=Tokyo | language=Japanese | year=2003 | month=March | isbn=978-4-06-321147-4 | series=Volume 10 | chapter=Chapter 93: Flower of Humanity]
* Why are the humans in Alpha's world dying out?
* Why are male robots so rare? [cite book | last=Ashinano | first=Hitoshi | authorlink=Hitoshi Ashinano | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō | publisher=Kodansha | location=Tokyo | language=Japanese | year=2001 | month=February | isbn=978-4-06-321120-7 | series=Volume 8 | chapter=Chapter 70: Water]
* Why is Alpha, unlike other robots, allergic to animal proteins? [cite book | last=Ashinano | first=Hitoshi | authorlink=Hitoshi Ashinano | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō | publisher=Kodansha | location=Tokyo | language=Japanese | year=1996 | month=February | isbn=978-4-06-321055-2 | series=Volume 2 | chapter=Chapter 11: Protein]
* What are the "water gods", strangely beautiful mushrooms with human faces, that have started growing in the wilds? [cite book | last=Ashinano | first=Hitoshi | authorlink=Hitoshi Ashinano | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō | publisher=Kodansha | location=Tokyo | language=Japanese | year=2005 | month=July | isbn=978-4-06-321171-9 | series=Volume 13 | chapter=Chapter 129: Solo]
* Why have trees that mimic streetlamps and fungi that mimic buildings begun growing? Are they really, as Alpha and Ayase speculate, the "recollections of people that the earth remembers"? [cite web | url=http://suguru-anime.blogspot.com/2006/03/yokohama-kaidashi-kikou-end.html | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou - End | author=Suguru | publisher=Suguru's Dame-Dame Anime Blog | accessdate=2007-09-05] [Ayase: cite book | last=Ashinano | first=Hitoshi | authorlink=Hitoshi Ashinano | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō | publisher=Kodansha | location=Tokyo | language=Japanese | year=2005 | month=July | isbn=978-4-06-321171-9 | series=Volume 13 | chapter=Chapter 129: Solo Alpha: cite book | last=Ashinano | first=Hitoshi | authorlink=Hitoshi Ashinano | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō | publisher=Kodansha | location=Tokyo | language=Japanese | year=2006 | month=May | isbn=978-4-06-321176-4 | series=Volume 14 | chapter=Chapter 140: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō]
* When was the eruption that removed Mount Fuji's top, and was it related to the ocean rise? [cite web | title=Yokohama Shopping Trip: Quiet Country Cafe | url=http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=519 | author=Stig Høgset | publisher=THEM Anime Reviews | accessdate=2007-09-14 ]
* What is the Misago? Why does she only show herself to children, and why is she unable to comprehend that they become adults? If, as Ayase claims, she is not a robot, then what is she? [cite book | last=Ashinano | first=Hitoshi | authorlink=Hitoshi Ashinano | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō | publisher=Kodansha | location=Tokyo | language=Japanese | year=2002 | month=March | isbn=978-4-06-321134-4 | series=Volume 9 | chapter=Chapter 87: People of the Bay]

Comparisons have been made between "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō" and "Aria", noting that they are both quiet slice-of-life stories in a futuristic setting.cite web | url=http://www.tcj.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=513&Itemid=70 | title=ADV's Abandoned Manga | author=Dirk Deppey | publisher=The Comics Journal | date=2007-01-24 | accessdate=2008-01-01] A reviewer at Uknighted Manganime wrote, "What the two have in common, though, is a bright look at the future and a generally optimistic view of humanity, despite our failings." [cite web | title=Manga review - Aria | url=http://manganime.animeblogger.net/64/manga-review-aria/ | author=Northlander | publisher=Uknighted Manganime | accessdate=2007-07-11]

Media

Manga

A total of 140 chapters were published, collected in 14 tankōbon volumes by Kōdansha's "Afternoon KC" division. The series is in Japanese, with official Korean, Chinese, and Indonesian editions.

Graphic novel list/header
OneLanguage = yes
Width=50%Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 1
RelDate = August 1995
ISBN = 978-4-06-321050-7 Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 2
RelDate = February 1996
ISBN = 978-4-06-321055-2 Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 3
RelDate = July 1996
ISBN = 978-4-06-321061-3Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 4
RelDate = March 1997
ISBN = 978-4-06-321066-8Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 5
RelDate = February 1998
ISBN = 978-4-06-321081-1Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 6
RelDate = February 1999
ISBN = 978-4-06-321095-8Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 7
RelDate = February 2000
ISBN = 978-4-06-321110-8Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 8
RelDate = February 2001
ISBN = 978-4-06-321120-7Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 9
RelDate = March 2002
ISBN = 978-4-06-321134-4Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 10
RelDate = March 2003
ISBN = 978-4-06-321147-4Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 11
RelDate = March 2004
ISBN = 978-4-06-321159-7Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 12
RelDate = November 2004
ISBN = 978-4-06-321165-8Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 13
RelDate = July 2005
ISBN = 978-4-06-321171-9Graphic novel list
OneLanguage = yes
VolumeNumber = 14
RelDate = 23 May 2006
ISBN = 978-4-06-321176-4

In addition, a six-page postscript episode was published in the July 2006 issue of "Afternoon". Titled "Touge" ("Mountain Pass"), this story does not have a chapter number (though it's still often referred to as "Chapter 141"Fact|date=July 2008) and was not included in the final collection.

An artbook (ISBN 978-4-06-330196-0) and a postcard book (ISBN 978-4-06-330041-3) were also published. [cite web | url=http://users.skynet.be/mangaguide/au180.html | title=Ashinano Hitoshi 芦奈野ひとし | author=Peter Van Huffel | publisher=Ultimate Manga Guide | language=English | accessdate=2007-08-31]

Anime

Parts of the manga have been dramatized in two OVA anime series of two episodes each.

* The first OVA series was released in May 1998 and December 1998, and covers selected events from volumes 1–3. [cite web | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (OAV) | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=1156&page=22 | publisher=Anime News Netork| accessdate=2007-07-02]
* The second series was released in December 2002 and May 2003, covering selected events from volumes 7–9. [cite web | title=Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou ~Quiet Country Cafe~ (OAV) | url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2115&page=22 | publisher=Anime News Netork| accessdate=2007-07-02]

Drama CDs

Three drama CDs of "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō" have been produced: [cite web | title=Yuri Drama CD: Yokohama Shopping Log, Volume 2 | url=http://okazu.blogspot.com/2007/01/yuri-drama-cd-yokohama-shopping-log.html | author=Erica Friedman | accessdate=2007-07-11]
* Volume 1 (released October 2002) dramatizes events from volume 1 of the manga, ending with the meeting of Alpha and Kokone.
* Volume 2 (released October 2002) dramatizes events from volume 2 of the manga, picking up immediately from where the first CD ended.
* Volume 3 was released December 2002.

In all three, Alpha is voiced by Hekiru Shiina and Kokone by Akiko Nakagawa.

References

External links

* [http://www.kodanclub.com/cgi-local/comic.cgi?id=009-00029-01-001 Kodanclub "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō" offical manga website]
* [http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Animation/yokohama/ "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō" official anime website] Ja icon
*
*
* [http://users.skynet.be/mangaguide/au180.html Ashinano Hitoshi] at The Ultimate Manga Guide
* [http://kimoto.cc/ykk/ "Behind the Panels" of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou]