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 ...

Mitsuru Sugaya , is a Japanese manga artist, novelist, an author of instructional comics, and a racing writer. Sugaya wrote and illustrated '' Game Center Arashi'', a manga series based on video games. He also drew a manga tied to the Japanese ''Spider-Man'' tel ...

, which ran in ''

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 ...

'' from 1978 to 1984. It focus on Arashi Ishino, a young

gamer A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...

whose life revolves around

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

. The manga, which is one of the earliest Japanese video game-themed comics, sold over 5 million copies. The series was adapted as a popular

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 show that aired in 1982 in

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 Mondays from 7:00pm to 7:30pm.; and in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. In Japanese, the word "Arashi" means "storm". In

, the show aired under the title 電子神童, which translates to "Electronic Prodigy". The series was considered iconic in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, since it came at a time when the public was being exposed to video games for the first time. The manga and TV series opened the imagination and possibilities of what gaming entertainment was about, while boosting its popularity as a new

phenomenon A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...

Story

The story is about a young boy named Arashi Ishino who is obsessed with video games. He would spend all his time trying to beat the games and conquer the local arcades. He would meet competitors like Satoru Daimonji and Ishii, who would try to out match him with higher scores. At a certain point in each episode, he would display his special skill of unleashing a

top Top most commonly refers to: * Top, a basic term of orientation, distinguished from bottom, front, back, and sides * Spinning top, a ubiquitous traditional toy * Top (clothing), clothing designed to be worn over the torso * Mountain top, a moun ...

which will spin so fast that both the top and his hands would catch on fire. On release, the spin would land on or near the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

panels, turning the ordinary button into a

turbo button On IBM PC–compatible computers, the turbo button selects one of two run states: the default "turbo" speed or a reduced speed closer to the Intel 8086 CPU. It was relatively common on computers using the Intel 80286, 80386 and 80486 processors, ...

thus giving him a major advantage. His appearance is known for being bucktoothed, and he always wears a hat labeled "Arashi" with a picture of a sprited alien. ''Game Center Arashi'' was the first animation with a

as the lead character and have the plot revolve around life with competitive gaming. Some of the games featured in the show include ''

Space Invaders is a 1978 shoot 'em up video game developed and published by Taito for Arcade video game, arcades. It was released in Japan in April 1978, with the game being released by Midway Manufacturing overseas. ''Space Invaders'' was the first fixed s ...

'', '' Breakout'', ''

Galaxian is a 1979 fixed shooter video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. The player assumes control of the Galaxip starfighter in its mission to protect Earth from waves of aliens. Gameplay involves destroying each formation of alien ...

'', though they were not explicitly named. Some of Arashi's gaming techniques even have special names like "Blazed Top", "Vacuum Hurricane Shot", "Fish Stance".Clements, Jonathan. McCarthy Helen.

006 Alec Trevelyan is a fictional character who is the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye,'' portrayed by actor Sean Bean. Bean's likeness was also used as the model for Alec Trevelyan in the 1997 video game '' GoldenEye 007' ...

(2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press.

Characters

; ; ;

Anime

Staff

Original broadcast

Additional versions and appearances

In 1999, the series spawned a

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

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 ...

called ''Game Center Arashi R''. In 2004,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

used the character of Arashi as a mascot to boost

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

sales and image. In 2006, the

Let's! TV Play Classic Let's! TV Play Classic (Let's!TVプレイCLASSIC or レッツテレビプレイクラシック) is a series of Japan-only plug & play devices developed and distributed by Bandai programmed on '' XaviX'' software created by SSD Company Limited in ...

series of plug and plays used Arashi as a mascot.

References

External links

Official siteGame Center Arashi Manga info
*

{{Shin-Ei TV series 1978 manga 1982 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga CoroCoro Comic Nippon Television original programming Shōnen manga Shin-Ei Animation Shogakukan manga Shogakukan franchises Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga Works about video games