is a Japanese

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 ...

series written and illustrated by

Kaiji Kawaguchi is a Japanese manga artist. He is known for works such as '' The Silent Service'', '' Zipang'', ''A Spirit of the Sun'' and ''Kūbo Ibuki''. Generally, his stories involve Japan and examine the moral choices that people make in extreme situation ...

. It is about a resourceful boy, Genichiro Ryu, as he survives a series of natural disasters and collapse of the economy in Japan set in the beginning of the 21st century. It was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...

's ''

Big Comic is a semimonthly Seinen manga, ''seinen'' manga List of manga magazines, magazine published since 18 February 1968 by Shogakukan in Japan. It was originally launched as a monthly magazine, but switched to twice monthly on the 10th and 25th begin ...

'' from 2002 to 2008. It was followed by a second part, serialized in the same magazine from 2008 to 2010. The series was adapted into a 2-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, 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 Japane ...

television special produced by Madhouse in 2006. In 2006, ''A Spirit of The Sun'' received the 51st

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being given since ...

for the General category. As well as the Grand Prize of the 10th

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by a ...

Plot

In Japan, the series of earthquakes beginning on August 10, 2002 caused the explosion of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest ...

, and its consequences: a Japan, where half of the population has perished and whose main island,

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island sepa ...

, is cut in two, and which must to survive appeal to the United States and China. Years later; two Japans coexist and many Japanese live as refugees in makeshift camps around the world. The south area is controlled by the United States, and the north area by China, with capitals in

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since anc ...

and

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, respectively. Draws "abandoners" scattered all over the world.

Media

Manga

''A Spirit of the Sun'', written and illustrated by

, was serialized in

's ''

'' from 2002 to 2008, with its chapters collected in seventeen ''

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 ...

'' volumes, released from May 30, 2003 to February 29, 2008. A second part, , was serialized in the same magazine from 2008 to 2010. Its chapters were collected in nine ''tankōbon'' volumes, released from June 30, 2008 to January 28, 2011.

Volume list

=1st part

=2nd part

Anime

Directed by Masayuki Kojima and written by Tatsuhiko Urahata, Madhouse produced a 2-episode TV special adaptation of the manga, which was shown on WOWOW on September 17 and September 18, 2006. The ending theme is "The Power" performed by Kanon. In North America, Maiden Japan licensed the anime in 2018.

Reception

In 2006, ''A Spirit of The Sun'', along with '' Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin'' by Masasumi Kakizaki and George Abe, received the 51st

for the General category. It also received the Grand Prize for the Manga Category at the 10th

in 2006.

References

External links

Official Madhouse Studios ''A Spirit of The Sun'' website
*
Official WOWOW ''A Spirit of The Sun'' website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit of the Sun 2002 manga Kaiji Kawaguchi Madhouse (company) Maiden Japan Seinen manga Shogakukan manga Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga Wowow original programming