is an ecchi shōnen 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 co-written and illustrated by Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara, credited under their pen name Peach-Pit. It was serialized monthly by MediaWorks in their magazines '' Dengeki Comic Gao!'' from October 2001 to September 2005 and '' Dengeki Maoh'' from October to November 2005 and was later published into ten volumes by the company. The manga was licensed and translated into English by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...

. A 13-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 ...

was adapted by MSJ and a

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

video game was produced by MediaWorks.

Plot

Exactly one year prior to the beginning of ''DearS'', humanity made unprecedented contact with extraterrestrial life. Forced to crash land into Tokyo Bay when, en route to their home planet of Thanatos, their spacecraft breaks down, 150 humanoid aliens are

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

into Japanese society and affectionately nicknamed "DearS"; a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the words "Dear" and "Friends". The crashed aliens consist entirely of individuals from a genetically modified "slave race" designed to enjoy slavery. Takeya Ikuhara is a temperamental seventeen-year-old Japanese student attending the fictitious Koharu High School with a strong prejudice against the DearS. Due to a childhood scare, he believes that the aliens are fake, worthless beings that have generated nationwide overhype and are secretly plotting to take control of Earth. On his way home from school he discovers a homeless DearS who, after fainting and much to his annoyance, he feeds and shelters in his apartment. The girl, who he nicknames Ren, is infantile and friendly, and grows obsequious and dependent upon Takeya, and calling him "Master", a responsibility he tries to disassociate himself from. Her oblivious tenacity keeps her around, however, and over time, realizing Ren's genuine care and empathy for him, Takeya has a change of heart. Unfortunately, because Ren is deemed defective, DearS headquarters orders her arrest.

Media

Manga

''DearS'' began as a

series co-written and illustrated by Banri Sendo and Shibuko Ebara, credited under their pen name Peach-Pit, which was serialized in MediaWorks' '' Dengeki Comic Gao!'' manga magazine from October 2001 to November 2005. The manga was compiled into ten ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes released by MediaWorks in Japan. The series was later translated into English and German by

, French by Semic Comics and Italian by Flashbook Editore.

Volume list

Anime

''DearS'' was adapted into a twelve episode television and single

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

by MSJ with co-production 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 ...

, Geneon Entertainment, Lantis and TeaM DearS. The series was directed by Iku Suzuki. The series was broadcast on Chiba TV, TV Kanagawa, TV Saitama, Tokyo MX TV, TV Santerebi, TV Aichi and TVQ Kyushu from July 10 to September 26, 2004. Four DVD compilation volumes were released from August 2, 2005 to February 21, 2006. The anime's opening theme is by Under17 and the ending theme is "Happy Cosmos" by Poppins. The anime has been re-licensed by Discotek Media.

Video game

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

video game was developed and published by MediaWorks for the

. It was released on June 24, 2004. It received a C rating by the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization.

References

; Book references *

External links

Official website
* * {{Daume 2002 manga 2004 anime television series debuts 2004 video games 2005 anime OVAs Bandai Visual Dengeki Comic Gao! Extraterrestrials in anime and manga Geneon USA Japan-exclusive video games Kadokawa Corporation franchises Peach-Pit PlayStation 2 games PlayStation 2-only games Shōnen manga Tokyopop titles Video games developed in Japan