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

Shūhō Satō is a Japanese manga artist. He won the Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Award for his work ''Say Hello to Black Jack''. His assistants have included his wife, manga artist Tomomi Satō, as well as Masasumi Kakizaki (one year before his debut), Ta ...

. It was serialized by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

in '' Weekly Young Sunday'' from 1998 to 2001.

Yōichi Komori is a critic of Japanese modern literature and a social activist in Japan. He is currently a professor at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Early life Yoichi Komori was born into a family of a professional political activists on May 14, 1953, in T ...

is credited with the original idea for the series, and he also did the research to make the series more authentic. The series focuses on Daisuke Senzaki, an officer in the

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard responsible for the protection of the Geography of Japan#Composition, topography and geography, coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It consists of about ...

, and tells the stories of shipwreck rescues and other incidents where the coast guard plays a role. The plotlines in the series were drawn from incidents and accidents which actually happened while the manga was being written (similar to the "ripped from the headlines" tagline used by various ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'' series). The manga has been adapted into two

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 ...

high-definition specials, four films, and one

drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular su ...

Media

Manga

Adaptations

''Umizaru'' (2004)

''Umizaru Evolution'' (2005)

Title: 海猿 Title (romaji): Umizaru Also known as: Umizaru Evolution / Sea Monkey Format: Renzoku Genre: Action, human drama, romance Episodes: 11 Viewership ratings: 13.1 Broadcast network: Fuji TV Broadcast period: July 5–September 13, 2005 Air time: Tuesday 21:00 Theme song:

Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

B'z is a Japanese rock duo consisting of guitarist, composer and producer Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto and vocalist and lyricist Koshi Inaba,佐伯明『B'z ウルトラクロニクル』ソニー・マガジンズ、2003年。新型光�B'zはなぜ� ...

Synopsis: A story of friendship, love and the brutal training of 14 Japan Coast Guard officers becoming rescuer divers. The rescuer divers, on the front line in rescue activities in heavy seas and always one step away from death, are a group of specialists in a profession that only 1% of all Coast Guard officers qualify for. In order to receive that qualification they have to undergo 50 days of grueling training in rescue activities. The young Coast Guard officers, including Daisuke Senzaki, take on the challenge of that hellish training. The story concentrates on the lives of the divers after having passed their examination. Cast: * Ito Hideaki as Senzaki Daisuke * Kato Ai as Izawa Kanna * Nakamura Toru as Ikezawa Masaki * Sato Ryuta as Yoshioka Tetsuya * Sato Hitomi as Komori Chika * Suzuki Kazuma as Fuyushiba Kosuke * Natsuyagi Isao as Katsuda Kotaro * Iida Kisuke as Miike Kenji * Sakamoto Akira as Iwamatsu Daigo * Hirayama Usuke as Yamaji Takumi * Miyake Hiroki as Bessho Kenjiroh * Usuda Asami as Hoshino Rei * Ichiki Ami Ono Yui * Okunuki Kaoru Ono Eriko * Yoshimoto Miyoko as Ikezawa Naoko * Masuoka Toru as Tsuda Shinpei * Ibu Masato as Higo Daisaku * Tokito Saburo as Shimokawa Iwao * Sakamoto Makoto as Nagashima Kenta * Ito Atsushi (ep1) * Karina (ep1) * Aoki Munetaka (ep1) * Namioka Kazuki as Tokunaga Masaya (ep4) * Fuse Hiroshi * Suzuki Honoka * Tanaka Tetsushi * Yashiba Toshihiro * Abe Ryohei Production Credits: * Screenwriter: Fukuda Yasushi * Producer: Sekiguchi Shizuo (関口静夫), Suzuki Shintaro (鈴木伸太郎), Hashimoto Hasumi (橋本芙美) * Director: Hasumi Eiichiro (羽住英一郎), Kobayashi Yoshinori, Usui Hirotsugu * Music: Sato Naoki

''Limit of Love: Umizaru'' (2006)

''The Last Message: Umizaru'' (2010)

''Brave Hearts: Umizaru'' (2012)

References

External links

* {{Weekly Young Sunday 1998 manga Japanese drama television series Shogakukan manga Seinen manga Japan Coast Guard