''Shadow Star'', known in Japan as , 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 Mohiro Kitoh, originally serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

Monthly Afternoon is a Japanese monthly manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as '' Oh My G ...

'' from 1998 to 2003. The Japanese name is an abbreviation of , which roughly translates to ''Corpse of a Star; A Precious Child''. In North America, it was licensed by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

and serialized in '' Super Manga Blast!''. A 13-episode anime adaptation by Planet was broadcast in 2003 and was released in English by

Central Park Media Central Park Media Corporation, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in Midtown Manhattan (on the corner of Centra ...

Plot

The protagonist of the series is a twelve-year-old girl named Shiina Tamai. She bonds with a starfish-shaped "dragonchild" (baby "shadow dragon") whom she calls Hoshimaru. The series is mainly about the interaction between Shiina and other young people who have also bonded with dragons.

Media

Manga

''Shadow Star'', written and illustrated by Mohiro Kitoh, was serialized in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' from 1998 to 2003. Kodansha collected its chapters in twelve ''

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 from August 19, 1998, to December 22, 2003. In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by

and serialized in their '' Super Manga Blast!'' manga magazine. The series ran in the magazine from March 29, 2000, to February 1, 2006, when the magazine ceased its publication. Dark Horse Comics collected the chapters in seven volumes, which were released from September 5, 2001, to December 21, 2005.

Anime

A 13-episode anime adaptation by Planet was broadcast from July 7, to September 29, 2003, on

Kids Station Kids Station ( Japanese: キッズステーション, ''Kizzu Sutēshon'') is a Japanese cable and satellite television channel that launched on April 12, 1993. It primarily airs anime and other animation-related content aimed at children during ...

. The anime adapted the storyline of the first six volumes (seven volumes of the American release) of the manga. The anime was licensed by

and released in English as ''Shadow Star Narutaru'', and has played on Comcast's Anime Selects multiple times. In 2007 it ran on the Illusion on Demand television network. Central Park Media released the title under their "U.S. Manga Corps" line, on 4 DVDs, and later re-released the DVDs in a box set. Central Park Media filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and the DVDs have since been out of print.

Reception

Tasha Robinson of the Sci Fi Channel described the anime series as "transformed" from "fascinatingly quirky" to "slow but expressive".Robinson, Tasha.
Shadow Star Narutaru
" '' Sci Fi Channel''. May 21, 2008. Retrieved on December 26, 2010.

Notes

References

External links

* * *
ANIMEFringe article about ''Shadow Star''
* {{Afternoon 2003 anime television series debuts Central Park Media Dark fantasy anime and manga Dark Horse Comics titles Kids Station original programming Kodansha manga Mystery anime and manga Seinen manga