is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

written by Ryō Asai, first published on October 5, 2010, by

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

. It follows the members of a university's all-male

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

squad. The novel is loosely based on the real-life men's cheerleading team "Shockers" from

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

. The series was also adapted as a

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 ...

by Kenichi Kondō for the ''

Shōnen Jump+ is a manga platform created by Shueisha. Launched on September 22, 2014, it operates as a free mobile app and website. Jump+ serializes original titles and titles from other Shueisha manga magazines, and also carries digital editions of ''Weekl ...

'' app starting on April 5, 2016. 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 ...

adaptation started airing on July 5, 2016. It is directed by Ai Yoshimura and written by

Reiko Yoshida is a Japanese screenwriter. She has written and supervised numerous screenplays for anime series, live-action dramas and films. Her major works include ''Kaleido Star'', ''Aria'', ''Maria-sama ga Miteru'', '' D.Gray-man'', ''K-On!'', ''Bakuman'' ...

for the studio

Brain's Base is a Japanese animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animation, animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, ...

. A live action film directed by Hiroki Kazama was released on May 10, 2019.

Plot

Disheartened with judo, college student Haruki "Haru" Bando was invited by his childhood boyfriend Kazuma Hashimoto to create "BREAKERS", an unprecedented boys' cheerleading team. Those that came to join all were very characteristic in nature: argumentative Mizoguchi, voracious Ton, frivolous Kansai boys Gen and Ichiro, and Sho, who has cheerleading experience.

Characters

; : :Haruki is the protagonist. He was previously a part of the judo club before he was convinced to join the cheerleading team, Breakers, by his childhood friend, Kazuma. ; : :Haruki's childhood friend. ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : (Japanese); Seth Magill (English) ; : ; : (Japanese);

Jessie James Grelle Jessie James Grelle (, ; born Joshua James Ervin Grelle) is an American voice actor and ADR script writer in English language dubs of Japanese anime. They are known for voicing numerous main characters in the harem genre. Major roles include N ...

(English) ; : ; : (Japanese);

Ricco Fajardo Ricco Fajardo is an American voice actor who has provided voices for English versions of Japanese anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan ...

(English) ; : (Japanese); Ethan Gallardo (English) ; : (Japanese); Jacob Browning (English) ; : ; : ; : ; : (Japanese); Kyle Igneczi (English) ; : ; : ; :

Anime

A 13-episode anime television series produced by

aired from July 5, 2016, to September 27, 2016, on

KBS Kyoto is a commercial broadcasting station headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It is doing business in Kyoto Prefecture as and in Shiga Prefecture as Its radio station serves Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures and is a member of National Radio Network (NR ...

, Sun TV, and

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 ...

. The anime is directed by Ai Yoshimura and written by Reiko Yoshida. The opening theme song is "Hajime no Ippo" (初めの一歩, lit Fighting Spirit) by Luck Life and the ending song is "LIMIT BREAKERS" by BREAKERS.

Episode list

References

External links

Anime official website
* {{Reiko Yoshida 2010 Japanese novels Brain's Base Cheerleading in anime and manga Funimation Shōjo manga Shōnen manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Sports novels