Star of the Giants
| Kyojin no Hoshi | |
|
Cover of the 1995 reprint of the first manga volume | |
| 巨人の星 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sports |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Ikki Kajiwara |
| Illustrated by | Noboru Kawasaki |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Magazine |
| Original run | 1966 – 1971 |
| Volumes | 19 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by |
Tadao Nagahama (director) Daikichiro Kusube (animation director) |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Network | Nippon Television |
| Original run | March 30, 1968 – September 18, 1971 |
| Episodes | 182 |
| Anime film | |
| Kyojin no Hoshi: Chizome no Kesshousen | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Released | July 26, 1969 |
| Runtime | 90 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Kyojin no Hoshi: Ike Ike Hyuuma | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Released | December 20, 1969 |
| Runtime | 70 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Kyojin no Hoshi: Dai League Ball | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Released | March 21, 1970 |
| Runtime | 70 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Kyojin no Hoshi: Shukumei no Taiketsu | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Released | August 1, 1970 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
| Anime television series | |
| Shin Kyojin no Hoshi | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Network | Nippon Television |
| Original run | October 1, 1977 – September 30, 1978 |
| Episodes | 52 |
| Anime television series | |
| Shin Kyojin no Hoshi II | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Network | Nippon Television |
| Original run | April 14, 1979 – September 29, 1979 |
| Episodes | 23 |
| Anime film | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Released | August 21, 1982 |
| Runtime | 110 minutes |
Kyojin no Hoshi (巨人の星, trans. Star of the Giants) is a Japanese sports manga written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Noboru Kawasaki. It was adapted as the first sports anime television series broadcast in Japan, in 1968. It later spawned two anime sequels and different anime movies.
The manga appeared in Weekly Shōnen Magazine about the actual baseball team Yomiuri Giants using fictional characters. It was launched by the "Yomiuri Group" which at the time owned not only the actual baseball team, but the TV network Nippon Television, the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, as well as Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation.
Story
The story is about Hyuuma Hoshi, a promising young baseball pitcher who dreams of becoming a top star like his father Ittetsu Hoshi in the professional Japanese league. His father was once a 3rd baseman until he was injured in World War II and was forced to retire. The boy would join the ever popular Giants team, and soon he realized the difficulty of managing the high expectations. From the grueling training to battling the rival Mitsuru Hanagata in the Hanshin Tigers, he would have to take out his best pitching magic to step up to the challenge.
Characters
- Hoshi Hyuuma: Tohru Furuya
- Hoshi Ittetsu: Seizō Katō
- Akiko: Fuyumi Shiraishi
- Ban Chuuta: Jōji Yanami
- Hanagata Mitsuru: Makio Inoue
- Kawakami Tetsuharu: Tadashi Nakamura
- Masaichi Kaneda: Teiji Ōmiya
- Kyōko: Reiko Mutō
Adaptations
Anime
Staff
- Original creator: Ikki Kajiwara, Noboru Kawasaki
- Director: Tadao Nagahama, Yoshio Kabashima, Tadaaki Tamazaki, Mamoru Sasaki
- Script: Masaki Tsuji, Seiji Matsuoka, Tooru Sawaki, Ryohei Ito, Toru Sawaki, Yoshiaki Yoshida
- Music: Takeo Watanabe
- Art director: Isamu Kageyama
- Animation director: Daikichirou Kusube
- Editing: Kazuo Inoue
DVD
Beginning in 2001, the series was re-released on DVD format. On June 2013, a five set Blu-ray release was released.
Movies
The first Star of the Giants movie was debuted in 1969 as part of the vacation anime festival on large screen theatres in color. The draw was that most people had black and white TVs at the time. The Star of Giants vs Mighty Atoms TV special reached the U.S and was renamed to Astro Boy vs. the Giants.[1]
| Japanese Name | English Name | Release Date | Type | Run time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 巨人の星 | Star of Giants the movie | 1969 | movie | 90 mins |
| Star of Giants vs the Mighty Atom | 1969 | TV special | 30 mins | |
| 巨人の星 行け行け飛雄馬 | Star of Giants: Ike Ike Hyuma | December 20, 1969 | movie | 75 mins |
| 巨人の星 大リーグボール | Star of Giants: Big League Ball | 1970 | movie | 70 mins |
| 巨人の星 宿命の対決 | Star of Giants: Shukumei no Taiketsu | 1970 | movie | 60 mins |
| 新巨人の星 | New Star of Giants | 1977 | series | 52 Episodes |
| 新巨人の星 | New Star of Giants the movie | 1977 | movie | |
| 新巨人の星II | New Star of Giants II | 1979 | series | 23 Episodes |
| Stars of Giants Special Edition: Fierce Tiger Mitsuru Hanagata | 2002 | series | 13 Episodes | |
Video games
Kyojin no Hoshi (The Anime Super Remix) was released for the PlayStation 2 by Capcom on June 20, 2002. There were also a number of other games on the same platform.
Impact
- Professional baseball player Ichiro Suzuki used Star of Giants as a reference to his grueling childhood baseball training.
- The anime was remade in India in 2012 as Suraj: The Rising Star where cricket was substituted for baseball.[2]
References
- ↑ Clements, Jonathan. McCarthy Helen. [2006] (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5.
- ↑ http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/12/colors-to-air-japanese-anime-remake-from-dec-23/
External links
- Star of Giants Official anime site by Tokyo Movie Shinsha. (Japanese)
- Kyojin no Hoshi (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Kyojin no Hoshi (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
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