is a Japanese
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
television series animated by
Lay-duce and produced by
Aniplex
is a Japanese anime, music production and anime licensee company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Established in September 1995, Aniplex has been involved in the production and distribution of several anime series, such as both ''Fullme ...
. The series is directed by
Kenji Nagasaki
is a Japanese anime director employed by Madhouse. He made his full directorial debut in 2011 with '' No. 6''. Starting in 2016, he directed the anime adaptation of ''My Hero Academia'', which has received praise from critics.
Biography
Kenji N ...
and features original character designs by Hiro Kanzaki. It aired between July 3 and September 25, 2015.
Plot
Set in a future where
interplanetary space travel has become possible, a space aeronautics
mega-corporation
Megacorporation, mega-corporation, or megacorp, a term originally coined by Alfred Eichner in his book ''The Megacorp and Oligopoly: Micro Foundations of Macro Dynamics'' but popularized by William Gibson, derives from the combination of the prefi ...
named Kirishina Corp. has opened an academy on
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...
, and a specialized class in that academy, named A-TEC (Advanced Technological Development Department, Educational Development Class) contains especially talented students, spending part of their time in class, and the other part of their time working to develop rocket engines.
The story follows the members of the A-TEC class, and their progress on developing a new engine, called the X-2, while dealing with issues related to both being in high school, and being company employees engineering rockets. The issues they will face include those stemmed from adolescence and those brought onto them from higher management.
Characters
;
:
:A third-year transfer student and new chief of the patents development division, A-TEC. He is the younger brother of Kazuhisa and Yūji. After having a large amount of corporate success in various tasks around the Solar System, the company brought him to Mars to handle the disbanding of the A-TEC division. A-TEC, however, fights to survive, and he begins to be more swayed by their efforts. As time passes, Nagisa; after being rescued by Iris and Mizuki, distances himself from the Kirishina Group and founded his own company.
;
:
:Kaito is a young senior engineer who is also a teacher at Kirishina Academy and homeroom teacher of the A-TEC class. He aspires to make a new engine with his students, His inspiration to keep A-TEC going and allow his students to keep working comes from the company's co-founders' humble beginnings when they were in high school. He gives off the impression that he can be easily popular with his students because he is closer to their age, but in fact, he can be annoying during passionate speeches.
;
:
:Iris is a third-year student and A-TEC's poster girl test pilot. She has incredible flying skills, but is not very safety-conscious and is known for her recklessness when operating any sort of vehicle. Mizuki is her closest friend and only joined A-TEC simply due to Mizuki's suggestion. Iris is generally pretty quiet. She is later revealed to be the real Nagisa Shinamiya after regaining her memories and appears to have been close to and had feelings for the current Nagisa Kiryū in the past. This leads to her competing with Mizuki for his affections.
;
:
:Mizuki is Kaito's younger sister, third-year student, and engineer in A-TEC. A member of her class committee, she hopes to follow in the footsteps of her late parents and become an engineer. She is friendly and generally positive. As time goes on, she tries to involve Nagisa in A-TEC's events and eventually falls in love with Nagisa Kiryu. They end up kissing in episode 11. By the end of the series, and after Iris regains her memories, she begins to actively compete with Mizuki for Nagisa's affections, though they remain steadfast friends.
;
:
:A member of the accounting department. She is ordered by Nagisa to manage A-TEC's finances when the class runs into financial trouble and orders the class to move back into its original factory. She is also ordered to keep an eye on Yuji. Her real name is Hanako Hattori, something she responds negatively to when revealed. She seems to have feelings for Nagisa.
;
:
:Makoto is a third-year student who orders materials necessary for the construction of aircraft at A-TEC. She acts like an older sister and has a consistently calm personality that is present even in unexpected situations.
;
:
:Kojirou is a third-year student and A-TEC's aircraft designer. Though he acts mature around his classmates, he has a frivolous personality and tends to cause trouble. He is one of the few boys attending Kaito's class.
;
:
:Tsubasa is a high-spirited second-year student who is in charge of A-TEC's PR efforts. She was selected for the position for her cheerfulness and excellent communication skills.
;
:
:Sakugo is a second-year student and A-TEC's reliable IT supervisor. He has a nihilistic outlook of life and sports a hunch that gives off the impression of an
otaku
is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejora ...
.
;
:
:Yuna is a second-year student and accountant at A-TEC. She keeps tight control over the budget, and is always giving A-TEC members a hard time for wasting what they have been allowed for rocket development.
;
:
:Aki is a second-year student and A-TEC's supervisor in engine maintenance. She is extremely enthusiastic about mechanics, but is known to be a workaholic in her field. She has a crush on Kaito, who she assists in his work.
;
:
:Subaru is an androgynous first-year student at A-TEC, who is in charge of combustion-related experiments and is known for his distinctive style of clothing. He has a confident, impertinent personality.
;
:
:Kaoruko is a first-year student and operator at A-TEC. She is the youngest girl at A-TEC, and her timid nature and delicate constitution make her loved by all, to the point of being their mascot. She handles communication during protype flight tests, though normally she's helping Makoto order supplies.
;
:
:The corporation's youthful representative director and president, whose managerial abilities are regarded favorably by other executives.
;
:
:A senior managing director of the corporation and Kazuhisa's younger brother. He bears an intense, deep hatred for Nagisa.
;
:
:The head of A-TEC's advanced technologies development division and the principal of the technical high school.
Media
Print media
A
manga
Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...
adaptation of the anime series, illustrated by Masaharu Takano, began serialization in the August 2015 issue of
Media Factory
, formerly is a Japanese publisher and brand company of Kadokawa Future Publishing.
History
It was founded on December 1, 1986, and its headquarters are situated in Shibuya, Tokyo. It is a subsidiary of Recruit Co., Ltd. Media Factory was poss ...
's ''
Monthly Comic Alive
is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Media Factory. The first issue was released on June 27, 2006.
Serialized titles
*'' Absolute Duo''
*'' Alice or Alice'' (until 2015, part of the supplement magazine '' Comic Cune'')
*''Ano Ko ni ...
'' on June 27, 2015 with a prologue.
It ended in the April 2016 issue of the magazine on February 27, 2016. Its chapters have been collected into two ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or m ...
'' volumes.
A
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
adaptation of the series, written by Hajime Taguchi and illustrated by Rin and Lay-duce, will ship its first volume on July 24, 2015. A spin-off novel, revolving around the daily lives of A-TEC members, will also ship its first volume on July 24. It is written by Hajime Asano and illustrated by Kingin.
Anime
The anime television series is animated by Lay-duce and produced by Aniplex. Based on an original story by Montwo, the series is directed by
Kenji Nagasaki
is a Japanese anime director employed by Madhouse. He made his full directorial debut in 2011 with '' No. 6''. Starting in 2016, he directed the anime adaptation of ''My Hero Academia'', which has received praise from critics.
Biography
Kenji N ...
and written by Fumiaki Maruto, with music composed by Yūki Hayashi. Art direction is by Takashi Aoi and Masahiro Obata, with Hiro Kanzaki providing original character designs.
It aired in Japan between July 3 and September 25, 2015, on
TBS, and later on
MBS (
Animeism
is a Japanese late night anime programming block airing on MBS. The timeslot was established in October 2006 with a Thursday night/Friday morning schedule, until April 2015, when it switched to a Friday night/Saturday morning schedule.
I ...
programming block).
CBC and
BS-TBS
is a Japanese satellite broadcasting station headquartered in Akasaka Gochome, Minato, Tokyo. Its channel name is BS-TBS (formerly, BS-i). It is a member television station of Japan News Network.
Channels
*Television: BS-TBS is assigned BS16 ...
.
AnimeLab simulcasted the show in Australia and New Zealand, and
Crunchyroll streamed it in the Americas, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It was also streamed online on Aniplex Channel,
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television seri ...
,
Daisuki
''Daisuki'' was a German manga anthology for girls published by Carlsen Verlag. It was the first girl's comics (shojo manga) magazine published outside Asia. One edition was about 256 pages long and costs 5.95 Euros in Germany. The chief editor ...
and
Viewster
Viewster was a video on demand service that was founded in 2007 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
Viewster offered a wide range of ad-supported free TV shows and movies.
History
Viewster AG was founded in 2007 by Kai Henniges and Jö ...
. The opening theme song is by
TrySail, and the ending theme song is by
ClariS
Claris International Inc., formerly FileMaker Inc., is a computer software development company formed as a subsidiary company of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) in 1987. It was given the source code and copyrights to several programs that were ...
.
Episode list
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Lay-duce
Anime with original screenplays
Animeism
Aniplex franchises
Kadokawa Dwango franchises
Lay-duce
Madman Entertainment anime
Media Factory manga
MF Bunko J
Science fiction anime and manga
Mars in television
Seinen manga