is a Japanese

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 written and illustrated by

Takashi Hashiguchi is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his manga series ''Yakitate!! Japan'', for which he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen in 2004. Hashiguchi won a newcomer's award in 1987 (published in a magazine), and ''Combat Teacher'' ...

. The series was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

's ''

CoroCoro Comic is a Japanese children's manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was established in 1977 and several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and the ''Pokémon'' series of games, have gone on to be cultural phenomena in Japan. The name comes fr ...

'' magazine between December 1997 and August 2000, and was translated into English and published in Singapore by

Chuang Yi Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. ( zh, s=创艺出版社) was a publishing company based in Singapore that specialized in producing domestic and imported comics and comics-related merchandise in English and simplified Chinese. Chuang Yi distribute ...

. In 1998, the manga series was adapted into a 22-episode

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 produced by

Xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that originated in the barbary states (Algeria), it was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a ...

, it ran from November 1998 to September 1999. The television series has been dubbed into English in Singapore by

Odex Odex Private Limited is a Singapore-based anime distribution company that licenses and distributes anime content for theatrical, home video, and digital platforms. It initially focused on Southeast Asia but now distributes anime films across ...

and released in 2003. A

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

video game adaptation has been published by

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company known for releasing numerous titles across video game consoles, home computers, and mobile phones. Headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo, it also maintained an office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. F ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on September 18, 1998.

Plot

Shun'ichi Domoto is a 5th grade boy. He usually helps the sport teams in his school due to his talent in sports. One day his friend, Beso Kimura lost his Yoyo in a Yoyo duel against a bully boy, Benkei Musashimaru and ask Shun'ichi for help. Shun'ichi challenges Benkei to a Yoyo duel then defeats him. After that he was challenged by the exceptionally gifted Yoyoer, Seito Hojoin and get beaten because he ridiculed the Yoyo game. So, Shun'ichi enters Japan's Yoyo championship to get his revenge from his loss with Seito. Throughout this Championship, he learns new Yoyo Skills, meets new friends and powerful rivals.

Manga volume list

Anime

Cast

* : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * :

Music

Opening themes

* "SOMEDAY LET'S GO TOGETHER" performed by rub-down (Episodes 1–14). * "Loop & Loop" performed by

Showtaro Morikubo is a Japanese voice actor and singer who has voiced characters in anime, drama CDs, and video games. He was formerly affiliated with I'm Enterprise, Sigma Seven and VIMS. His most notable roles were Shikamaru Nara from ''Naruto'', Souji Okit ...

(who also voiced the main character) (Episodes 15–22).

Ending theme

* "Future" performed by Chiaki Nakajima.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album titled has been released by Polystar in Japan on September 1, 1999.

Episode list

Release

The anime series has been released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

in 5 volumes by

Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{Xebec 1998 anime television series debuts 1999 Japanese television series endings Anime series based on manga Children's manga Odex Shogakukan franchises Shogakukan manga Sports anime and manga TV Tokyo original programming Xebec (studio) Yo-yos Japanese children's television series Comics based on toys Television shows based on toys Video games based on toys