is a Japanese

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

television series produced by

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

Asmik Ace , formerly is a Japanese film production and distribution company. In the past, the company has distributed video games. It was formed in 1997 through a merger between the Asmik Corporation and Ace Entertainment, both of Japan. The name Asmik ...

Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is oper ...

Dentsu Dentsu Inc. ( ja, 株式会社電通 ''Kabushiki-gaisha Dentsū'' or 電通 ''Dentsū'' for short) is a Japanese international advertising and public relations joint stock company headquartered in Tokyo. Dentsu is currently the largest adverti ...

, Bones, and

Kinema Citrus is a Japanese animation studio, founded on March 3, 2008, by former Production I.G and Bones members and based in Suginami, Tokyo. Its business directors are Muneki Ogasawara, Yuichiro Matsuka and Masaki Tachibana. Notable works include ''Tok ...

. It first aired on Fuji TV's noitamina timeslot in july 2009, running for 11 episodes until September. The anime was directed by Masaki Tachibana, with

Natsuko Takahashi is a Japanese anime screenwriter. After learning about the profession of screenwriting in middle school, in university she entered a contest. Although her entry did not fit the theme of the contest, the examiners liked it so much that they gave ...

handling series composition, Atsuko Nozaki designing the characters and Kow Otani composing the music. The series centers on two young siblings, Mirai and Yūki, and single mother Mari who the two meet in the aftermath of a major earthquake hitting the Japanese capital, placed in the near future. In 2009, ''Tokyo Magnitude 8.0'' won the Excellence Award at the 13th

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by a ...

Plot

After a massive

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

in Tokyo 25 km under the sea at a magnitude of 8.0, two young siblings Mirai and Yūki, who were visiting a robot exhibition in

Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built in this area for defensive purposes in the 1850s. Reclaimed land offshore Shinagawa was dramatically expanded du ...

at the beginning of their summer vacation, struggle to reach their parents in their house in

Setagaya is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. The ward calls itself Setagaya City in English. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orc ...

, assisted by a female motorcycle courier named Mari, who is striving to reach her own daughter and mother in Sangenjaya. Together, the three of them brave the partly ruined city and try their best to make it home safely.

Characters

* is a 7th grader who attends Rika Girls Academy. At the beginning of the series, she is unsure of what she wants to become later in life, but starts to change this outlook after the earthquake. * is a 3rd grader and enthusiastic about

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

s. He has a somewhat distant relationship with his sister, and does not like to let others know when he is tired or ill. * is a motorcycle courier who assists Mirai and Yūki reach their parents' home after the earthquake happens. They make a promise to reach their home together. * , Mirai and Yūki's father, is injured while at work when the earthquake occurs. * is Mirai and Yūki's mother. The earthquake occurs on her birthday. * is one of Mirai's friends from school. She is seen taking care of her younger siblings while her mother is in a nearby hospital. * is Mirai's other friend from school. Because of her laziness she tends to do poorly in her studies. * another classmate of Mirai's. She comes from a rich family and owns a summer house in Canada that was built by her father. * is Yuki's best friend who is in the same class as him. Before the earthquake, he and Yuki along with their school teacher planted a tree in their school's yard. * is Mari's daughter age 3 to 5 years old. While Hina's mother was out searching for her, she was staying with her grandmother during the earthquake. * is a middle school boy who becomes friends with Mirai in episode 7. Just like Yuki he is a big fan of robots. * Aya Kawasaki is Mari's co-worker at Tiger Express Delivery who helps take care of her when she arrives at the office.

Production and release

The series was first announced at the 2009 Tokyo Anime Fair, denoting that it would replace '' Eden of the East'' in

's noitamina well-rated anime timeblock and would be co-produced by Bones and

. It first aired on

's noitamina timeslot on July 9, 2009, running for 11 episodes until September 17. The series' setting is based upon the

prediction A prediction (Latin ''præ-'', "before," and ''dicere'', "to say"), or forecast, is a statement about a future event or data. They are often, but not always, based upon experience or knowledge. There is no universal agreement about the exac ...

that there is 70% or higher chance of an earthquake measuring 7.0 magnitude on the

Richter scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 p ...

hitting Tokyo in the next 30 years, with the series illustrating the consequences of a magnitude 8.0 earthquake affecting the city. Bones stated that it would try to realistically depict the after-effects of such a situation and that it would collect and tabulate research on previous earthquakes and interview individuals who were affected by them. The series features the efforts of the

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service ...

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...

Tokyo Fire Department The Tokyo Fire Department (TFD) ( Japanese: 東京消防庁, Tokyo Shōbōchō) is a fire department headquartered in Ōtemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.

and Tokyo Disaster Medical Assistance Team in assisting recovery efforts after the initial earthquake and its recurring

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

s. FNN

newscaster A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on television show, TV, radio or ...

Christel Takigawa , commonly known as , is a French-Japanese television announcer and news presenter. She is the wife of politician Shinjirō Koizumi. Biography Takigawa Lardux Christel Masami was born in Paris, France, to a Japanese mother and a French fa ...

also features as a guest, reporting on the earthquake and assuming the role of a "navigator" during the series.滝川クリステル：アニメに登場　大地震を「まっすぐ」伝える　フジ「東京マグニチュード８．０」
, '' MANTAN WEB'', June 18, 2009 The series uses two pieces of theme music. by

Abingdon Boys School Abingdon Boys School (stylized as abingdon boys school) is a Japanese rock band formed in 2005 and fronted by Japanese singer Takanori Nishikawa. Formed in 2005, the band shares a name with the British independent school Abingdon School, in Ab ...

is used for the opening theme, while "M/elody" by Shion Tsuji is used for the ending. This series was broadcast only in Italy on Italian television channel Rai 4 on August 22, 2011, and ended September 5, 2011 for a time ranging from 10.45am and 11.00am.

Episode list

Reception

''Tokyo Magnitude 8.0'' won the Excellence Award in the Animation Division at the 13th

in 2009.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Kinema Citrus 2009 anime television series debuts 2009 Japanese television series endings Anime with original screenplays Bones (studio) Drama anime and manga Fiction set in 2012 Fiction with unreliable narrators Japanese disaster films Kinema Citrus Maiden Japan Noitamina Works about earthquakes