, also known as ''Smart-san'' or ''Mademoiselle Anne'', 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

Waki Yamato is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1966 with the short story ''Dorobō Tenshi''.｢あさきゆめみし PerfectBook｣ p.181 Special Interview Since her debut, Yamato steadily created and published a variety of works in the genre of ...

. It was serialized by

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 ...

in the magazine ''

Shōjo Friend was a shōjo manga magazine formerly published by Kodansha, beginning in 1962. Kodansha used the knowledge gained from publishing magazines aimed at young girls, including ''Nakayoshi'' and '' Shōjo Club'', as well as the experience from publish ...

'' from 1975 to 1977. The title can be literally translated into English as ''Here Comes Miss Modern'', ''Here Comes Miss High-Collar'' (" haikara" being the '' wasei eigo'' for "high collar"), or ''Fashionable Girl Passing By''. In 1977, it was awarded the 1st

Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...

for manga. The series was later adapted as a 42-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

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with its headquarters in their Tama, Tokyo, Tama City studio and an administrative office in the Ginza district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō. Nippon Animation is known for prod ...

, which aired in Japan on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

in Tokyo and other local stations across the country from June 3, 1978, to March 31, 1979. The anime was later rebroadcast across Japan on the anime

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

network

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

and on

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

satellite channel BS2. The manga was also adapted into three television drama specials and theatrical

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. Two new anime films have been released, with the first film in 2017, and the second film in 2018. In 2017, the story was also adapted for the

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

of the

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo, Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway theatre, Broadway-style productions of musicals and stories adapted from films, nov ...

Plot

One day, Benio has a series of embarrassing encounters with the handsome army lieutenant Shinobu Ijuin (voiced by

Katsuji Mori is a Japanese actor, Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo. He is most known for the roles of Go Mifune (''Mach GoGoGo''), Joe Shimamura/009 (''Cyborg 009''

960s The 960s decade ran from January 1, 960, to December 31, 969. Significant people * Abd al-Rahman III caliph of Córdoba * Otto I of Holy Roman empire * Al-Muti caliph of Baghdad * Al-Hakam II caliph of Córdoba * Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah of Fati ...

, Ken the Eagle (''Science Ninja Team Gatchaman''), Jouji Mi ...

). Benio encounters Shinobu again when she arrives home that day, and promptly attacks him with her

kendo is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords ( shinai) as well as protective armor ( bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship ex ...

stick, only to receive a shock when her father (voiced by

Ichiro Nagai , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played for 28 seasons. He played the first nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the next 12 years w ...

) tells her that Shinobu is to be her husband, due to a pact made between the Hanamura and Ijuin families before Benio's birth. Since Benio's friend Tamaki is in love with Shinobu, Benio also wants out of the engagement to avoid hurting Tamaki. Moved by this unexpected show of kindness, Benio decides to forget Shinobu and accept Tosei's proposal of marriage. Lalissa is fatally injured in the quake trying to save Shinobu, and as she lies dying, she tells Shinobu to marry Benio and be happy. Tosei tries to save Benio, but Benio refuses, preferring to die alongside her beloved rather than face life without him; thus, Tosei rescues both Benio and Shinobu. In the end, Tosei comes to terms with his feelings about his mother and rededicates himself to his business; Onijima returns to Manchuria, Tamaki decides to obey her heart and follow him, and Benio and Shinobu are wed at last.

Distribution

The manga was serialized in Kodansha's ''Shōjo Friend'' magazine in Japan from 1975 to 1977. It remains a popular nostalgia item in Japan to this day, considered a classic work from the same 1970s ''shōjo manga'' boom that gave birth to such popular titles as ''Candy Candy'', and copies are still in print. The anime adaptation of the story, which aired across Japan on the terrestrial TV Asahi network from June 1978 to March 1979, spanned 42 episodes, was directed by Kazuyoshi Yokota (''Spaceship Sagittarius'', ''Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics'', ''My Daddy-Long-Legs''), and featured character designs by future ''Ranma 1/2'' director Tsutomu Shibayama. Due to disappointing ratings, Nippon Animation was forced to end the series early and craft an ending to the anime that was different from that of the manga, cutting the story off after the arrival of Shinobu and Lalissa in Japan. In the final episode, Benio is told that the mysterious Russian count is ''not'' Shinobu (Lalissa has a photograph of their wedding day to prove it). However, an epilogue narration reveals that Lalissa found Shinobu in Siberia. He was severely hurt, and was the spitting image of her late husband. The final episode concludes with Benio finally being reunited with Shinobu. Up until this point, the anime had been a very faithful adaptation of the manga, even incorporating redrawn stills from Yamato's original work (although the anime portrayed Benio with reddish-brown hair, and Yamato's colorized drawings often showed her as blonde). The anime has been discovered by new audiences in the years since thanks to the enduring popularity of the original manga (as well as a live-action movie version of the story released in Japan in 1987). In 2005, ''Haikara-san ga Tooru'' was listed at #95 in a TV Asahi poll of the top 100 animation series of all time, based on a nationwide survey of Japanese of all age groups. The anime has also been aired across Japan by the anime

network,

, and the

satellite channel BS2. Both the manga and anime have also enjoyed considerable success in the European market. The manga was released in Italy in the late 1990s under the title ''Una ragazza alla moda'' (''A Fashionable Girl''). The anime was successful on Italian TV in 1986 under the title ''Mademoiselle Anne,'' and a French dub of the series, ''Marc et Marie,'' aired on French TV in 1995. The anime has also been dubbed into Arabic, under the title ''Beno'' (the Arabic name for Benio). Nippon Animation's official

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

title for the anime is ''Smart-san''. Two-part anime film adaptations have been announced with the first film being released in Japan on November 11, 2017, while the second film on October 19, 2018, covering the latter story of the original manga series, which was not told in the 42-episode anime television series in 1978–1979.

Eleven Arts Eleven Arts is a film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It has Japanese executives and has "a largely Japanese lineup". It specializes in importing anime from Japan to the United States. History The company ...

has released the first film in theaters in the U.S. and Canada and on Blu-ray in partnership with

Right Stuf Right Stuf Inc. (formerly known as The Right Stuf International Inc.) was an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specialized in Asian entertainment (anime and live action films). It had several divisions includin ...

. The second film has also been licensed by Eleven Arts.

1978–1979 anime television series

* Director: Kazuyoshi Yokota * Script: Nizo Takahashi * Storyboards: Hiroshi Yoshida, Teppei Matsuura * Music: Masuhiro Yamaguchi * Original Story: Waki Yamato * Character Design: Tsutomu Shibayama * Animation Directors: Eiji Kawakita, Eiji Tanaka, Takashi Saijo, Tatsuhiro Nagaki, Yoshiyuki Kishi * Background Art: Kazu Setouchi, Takafumi Kase * Executive Producer: Koichi Motohashi * Theme Songs: OP - ''Haikara-san ga Tōru'', ED - ''Gokigen Ikaga? Benio desu'', performed by Shosuke Sekita The theme song for the late 1980s movie was performed by

Yoko Minamino , also known as Nanno (ナンノ), is a Japanese actress and singer. She is best known for playing Saki Asamiya in the second season of the live action ''Sukeban Deka'' television series. Though currently independent, Minamino was previously unde ...

; it is a different song from that used in the anime series.

2017–2018 anime films

Staff

* Director:

Kazuhiro Furuhashi is a Japanese anime director and supervisor. He is amongst anime's most foremost directors, having directed the '' Rurouni Kenshin'' series (including the original television series, and its subsequent original video animation iterations), '' Zi ...

(first film), Seimei Kidokoro (second film) * Script: Kazuhiro Furuhashi * Original Story: Waki Yamato * Character Designer: Terumi Nishii * Background Designer, Art Director: Kentaro Akiyama *Color Designer: Kunio Tsujita *Photography: Takeo Ogiwara (Graphinica) *Sound Director: Kazuhiro Wakabayashi *Music:

Michiru Oshima Michiru (満, みちる, ミチル) is a Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, 1970s J-Pop artist *, Japanese composer *, Japanese pop singer and songwriter *, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese anime scriptwriter *, Japane ...

*Animation Production:

Cast

Saori Hayami performed the theme song .

Mariya Takeuchi is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and record producer. With over 16 million records sold, Takeuchi is one of the List of best-selling music artists in Japan#10 million to 19 million records, best-selling music artists in Japan and is deemed th ...

composed the theme song and also wrote the lyrics, with arrangement by Takeshi Masuda. Hayami also performed the theme song for the second film, , also composed by Takeuchi.

Takarazuka Revue

Naoko Koyanagi adapted the story for

for the all-female

. She directed the Flower Troupe in performances in October 2017 and July to November 2020. In both performances, Rei Yuzuka was cast as Shinobu Ijuin and Yuuki Hana was cast as the title role, Benio Hanamura. The 2020 performance was Rei Yuzuka's Grand Theater debut as top star of the Flower Troupe; while it was originally scheduled for March 2020, it was delayed and rescheduled due to government COVID-19 restrictions.

References

External links

Official manga website
at

Dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...

(archived)
Animax's official site for ''Haikara-san ga Tōru''
(archived)

with a section for ''Smart-san (Haikara-san ga Tōru)'' (archived) * {{Nippon Animation 1975 manga 1978 anime television series debuts 1980s Japanese-language films 1987 films Anime and manga about marriage Anime series based on manga Asahi Broadcasting Corporation original programming Historical anime and manga Japanese animated films Japanese television dramas based on manga Kodansha manga Live-action films based on manga Manga adapted into films Nippon Animation Romantic comedy anime and manga Shōjo manga Taishō era in fiction Takarazuka Revue Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōjo)