, short for , is a Japanese
four-panel 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 Kōtarō Kosugi. The manga was serialized in
Ichijinsha
is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books.
The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the name Studio DNA whose main purpose was to edit shōnen manga ...
's ''Manga 4-Koma Palette'' magazine from October 2011 to February 2022. 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 animated by
Feel
Feel may refer to:
*Feeling
Music Bands
* Feel (New York band), a 1980s dance and R&B band
* Feel (Polish band), a pop rock band
Albums
* ''Feel'' (Feel album), 2007
* ''Feel'' (George Duke album) or the title song, 1974
* ''Feel'' (Glenn Hughe ...
aired between July and September 2014, with three
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 ...
episodes released between September 2014 and June 2016.
Plot
In the town of , Nanako Usami, an ordinary high school girl, is approached by her uncle to become a local idol or "Locodol", partnering with upperclassman Yukari Kohinata to form the idol unit, . As the girls use their talent to promote Nagarekawa and their businesses, they are joined by Yui Mikoze, who acts as the local mascot, and Mirai Nazukari, who serves as Yui's substitute.
Characters
;
:
:A first-year student at Nagarekawa High School who winds up becoming a Locodol after being recruited by her uncle. She is generally the most level-headed member of the group, and worries about all sorts of things related to her job. Her nervousness on screen often results in her stuttering and mispronouncing her name as "Nanyako".
;
:
:Nanako's partner in Nagarekawa Girls is a blond-haired second-year student at Nagarekawa High. She is described as someone who "seems perfect, but ends up being airheaded".
She comes from a wealthy family, and has lived by herself in an apartment since entering high school. She ponders studying abroad after high school. Her grandfather was the town's former mayor. She is very fond of Nanako, and was inspired by the latter's kindness to help others.
;
:
:A third-year student at Nagarekawa High School who works alongside them as the
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
character, . Her brown hair is styled in a short ponytail. She is particularly athletic, able to perform various acrobatic feats in her costume despite its weight. She plans to use her savings from her locodol activity to enroll in a
voice acting
Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-sc ...
school.
;
:
:A first-year student at Nanako and Yukari's school who is hired as a substitute Uogokoro-kun to lighten Yui's workload. She is a capable performer in the school's drama club, but is generally shy otherwise.
;
:
:The Nagarekawa Girls' manager who secretly uses pictures she takes at events for her own fansite.
;
:
: Nanako's classmate with short burgundy-colored hair and two braids.
;
:
: Nanako's classmate with the blonde hair.
;
:
: Nanako's classmate with the ponytail.
;
:
: Yukari's cousin and classmate.
;
:
:Nanako's uncle (mother's brother) who is on the city council. He is the one responsible for recruiting the Locodols and was their previous manager before Saori was hired. He picks his niece to be a locodol because she is average in appearance and has a safe, non-scandalous character. At the end of the anime television series, he reschedules the girls' appearance at their local city festival so that they can attend after the Locodol festival goes long.
;
:
:Nanako's father.
;
:
:Nanako's mother. She has a part-time job as a cashier.
;
:;
:
: The Awa Awa Girls (stylized as AWA
2GiRLS), are a locodol group
from Tokunami City. Having won the Locodol Festival the previous year, the group has made many national TV appearances. However, after meeting the Nagarekawa Girls, they realize the importance of representing their hometown.
Media
Manga
''Futsū no Joshikōsei ga Locodol Yattemita'' is a
four-panel comic strip
A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
manga written and illustrated by Kōtarō Kosugi. It originally appeared in
Ichijinsha
is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books.
The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the name Studio DNA whose main purpose was to edit shōnen manga ...
's ''Manga 4-Koma Palette'' magazine between the October and December 2011 issues, and then later began
serialization
In computing, serialization (or serialisation, also referred to as pickling in Python (programming language), Python) is the process of translating a data structure or object (computer science), object state into a format that can be stored (e. ...
with the April 2012 issue. The first ''
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 ...
'' was published by Ichijinsha on January 22, 2013, and ten volumes have been published as of April 21, 2022. A special edition of the fifth volume was released bundled with a
drama CD
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
.
Anime
A 12-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
Feel
Feel may refer to:
*Feeling
Music Bands
* Feel (New York band), a 1980s dance and R&B band
* Feel (Polish band), a pop rock band
Albums
* ''Feel'' (Feel album), 2007
* ''Feel'' (George Duke album) or the title song, 1974
* ''Feel'' (Glenn Hughe ...
aired on
TBS between July 4, 2014 and September 18, 2014 and was simulcast outside of Asia by
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 ...
.
An
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 ...
episode was included on the first Blu-ray Disc/DVD volume released on September 24, 2014 and was streamed on Crunchyroll from December 3, 2014. The opening theme is by Nagarekawa Girls (
Miku Itō
is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and singer affiliated with Style Cube. Her major voice roles include Nanako Usami in ''Locodol'', Ann Akagi in ''Action Heroine Cheer Fruits'', Kokoro Tsurumaki in ''BanG Dream!'', Miku Nakano ...
and
Sachika Misawa
is a freelance Japanese voice actress and singer from Yamanashi Prefecture. As a voice actress, she was previously affiliated with numerous agencies, with the recent being Stardust Promotion, departing from the agency in March 2023. As a singer ...
) and the ending theme is by Miku Itō, Sachika Misawa, Maya Yoshioka, and
Inori Minase
is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Axl One.
In March 2016, she won the Best Lead Actress Award in the 10th Seiyu Awards for her leading roles as Jun Naruse in the box office hit '' The Anthem of the Heart'' and as Yuki Ta ...
. The theme songs were released on July 30, 2014,
with an appearance by Miku Ito at
Nagareyama
Nagareyama City Hall
is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 211,620 in 89,751 households and a population density of 6,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Nagareyama is ...
which the fictional town of Nagarekawa is based on.
A character single with insert songs was released on August 27, 2014.
Additional OVA episodes were released on December 24, 2015 and June 22, 2016.
Episode list
OVA episode list
Home release
The series was released to DVD and
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
format in seven volumes.
The first volume contains a full-length OVA special and six illustrated cards. In North America, Sentai Filmworks released the 12-episode series and an OVA as a boxset in Japanese with English subtitles.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Locodol
2014 anime television series debuts
Anime series based on manga
Comedy anime and manga
Crunchyroll anime
Feel (animation studio)
Ichijinsha manga
Japanese idols in anime and manga
Seinen manga
Sentai Filmworks
TBS Television (Japan) original programming
Yonkoma