''A Centaur's Life'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese

slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to Naturalism (theatre), naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series by Kei Murayama. The series has been serialized in

Tokuma Shoten is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...

's ''

Monthly Comic Ryū is a Japanese monthly ''seinen'' manga and anime magazine published by Tokuma Shoten. The magazine was originally a quarterly special issue of ''Animage'', beginning in 1979 before switching to a monthly schedule and finally suspending publica ...

'' magazine since February 2011, and is published in English by

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as w ...

. An

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series adaptation by Haoliners Animation League aired in Japan from July to September 2017.

Plot

The series takes place in a world that took a different path of evolution from the world we know resulting in

mythological creatures A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

, such as

centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. ...

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

s, and

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

s, taking the place of humans in today's society. The story largely focuses around a centaur girl named Himeno Kimihara as she goes about her daily life with her friends and family.

Characters

; : : A

girl with a gentle personality. She is at an age where she is anxious about the size of her chest and body. Himeno is informally called "hime" (Japanese for "princess") by her friends. ; : : A demon girl who is a friend of Himeno and lives in a karate dojo. She has a rough personality and is often teased for her boyish appearance. ; : : A half- Satyress who is another friend of Himeno. She is cool and composed. She is just like her older brother. ; : : An angel girl. She naturally has the disposition of a committee chairman. She looks after her four younger sisters; her mother is not around and her father tries to find success as an artist. ; : : A ram-horned girl who has a cheeky personality. She is a lesbian who is in a relationship with Inukai, but enjoys teasing other girls too. ; : : An Unicorn horned girl and Mitsuyo's girlfriend. ; : : A perverted demon boy who lusts after Himeno. ; : : A shy

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

boy and the assistant to Manami. ; : : A cat boy and friend to Komori. ; : ; : : A foreign exchange student from

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

who resembles a

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

. Since her race has a logical way of thinking, she feels like an alien within Japanese culture. Though Quetzalcoatl is gentle, friendly, and adaptable. ; : : A centaur and Himeno's cousin who is in kindergarten. She loves Himeno very much. ; : ; : (Chigusa, Chinami, Chiho) : Mostly known as the Chi-chans-(ちち-ゃん) are Manami's identical triplet younger sisters and the older sisters of Sue. They each have light orange hair-(in different hairstyles) along with cat ears and a tail like their father. While their personalities are extremely similar, they can be told apart by their hairstyles; Chigusa has her hair kept in twin braids, Chinami has her hair up in a ponytail, and Chiho's hair is in a bob-cut. ; : : The youngest sister of the Mitama siblings. She is a rare mix of an angel and a cat, however she suffers from a strange disease that is associated with it; she has white hair just like her older sister and mother. Despite her weak and fragile appearance, she is always a happy and playful child. Unlike her older sisters she is quiet, sensitive, and soft-spoken. She refers to all of her sisters as "''nē-nē''" (ネネ). ; : : A friend and next-door neighbor of the youngest Mitama siblings. She has a six-legged dog named Yoshi. ; : : A friend and classmate of Shino from kindergarten. ; : : A friend and classmate of Shino from kindergarten. ; : : Himeno's mother and Shino's aunt. ; : : Himeno's father and Shino's uncle.

Media

Manga

The original manga illustrated by Kei Murayama began serialization in

's ''

'' from February 2011. Twenty-five tankōbon volumes have been released as of February 13, 2024. The series moved to online-only serialization when ''Comic Ryū'' changed formats on June 19, 2018. The series is licensed in English by

, who began releasing it in North America from November 5, 2013.

Volume list

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced on the wraparound of the manga's 14th volume, released on December 13, 2016, later revealed to be a television series. It is animated by Haoliners Animation League and directed by Naoyuki Konno, with

Fumitoshi Oizaki is a Japanese animator, character designer, storyboard artist and director. He is primarily associated with Gonzo (company), Gonzo, which animated his series directorial debut, ''Romeo × Juliet'', and with Sunrise (company), Sunrise, where he ser ...

credited as the chief director and

Touko Machida is a Japanese anime screenwriter. She debuted as a screenwriter in 2001, and in 2006 got to become the lead screenwriter for the first time with '' Ramen Fighter Miki''. Since ''Ramen Fighter Miki'', she has done screenwriting for many works, suc ...

is the series composition. The character design is done by Sakae Shibuya, who is also a chief animation director. The twelve-episode series aired on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...

between July 9 and September 24, 2017. The opening theme is by Purely Monster, while the ending theme is "Edelweiss" by Asaka.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

streamed the series, and

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

dubbed it and released it on home video as part of the two companies' partnership.

Episode list

Reception

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

, Rebecca Silverman gave volume 1 an overall grade of B−.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Centaur's Life 2017 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga Centaurs Comedy anime and manga Crunchyroll anime Funimation Haoliners Animation League Japanese LGBTQ-related animated television series LGBTQ speculative fiction television series Manga adapted into television series Seinen manga Seven Seas Entertainment titles Slice of life anime and manga Supernatural anime and manga Tokuma Shoten manga Tokyo MX original programming Tokuma Shoten anime