Star of the Giants
| Star of the Giants | |
| File:StarofGiantsAnime.jpg | |
| Genre | Sports |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Ikki Kajiwara |
| Illustrated by | Noboru Kawasaki |
| Published by |  Kodansha |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | 1966 – 1966 |
| Volumes | 19 |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Tadao Nagahama(director) Daikichiro Kusube(animation director) |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Released | March 30, 1968 – September 18, 1971 |
| Anime | |
| Shin Kyoujin no Hoshi | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Released | 1977-10-01 – 1978-09-30 |
| Anime | |
| Shin Kyoujin no Hoshi II | |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Released | 1979-04-14 – 1979-09-29 |
| Movie adaptations | |
Star of the Giants (巨人の星, Kyojin no Hoshi) is a sports manga written by Ikki Kajiwara and drawn by Noboru Kawasaki. It was adapted as the first sports anime television series [citation needed]broadcast in Japan, in 1968. It later spawned 2 anime sequels and different anime movies.
The manga appeared in Weekly Shōnen Magazine about the actual baseball team Yomiuri Giants using fictional characters. It was launched by the "Yomiuri Group" which at the time owned not only the actual baseball team, but the TV network Nippon Television, the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, as well as Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation.[citation needed]
The show targeted young audiences expanding the imagination of what is physically possible by dramatizing pitches and wind-up sequences. While staying true to being a sports anime, the contents are not simulated like real baseball. It was closer to fantasy surreal anime, though that was the norm within manga publications at the time.[citation needed]
Story
The story is about Hyuma Hoshi, a promising young baseball pitcher who dreams of becoming a top star like his father Ittetsu Hoshi in the professional Japanese league. His father was once a 3rd baseman until he was injured in World War II and was forced to retire. The boy would join the ever popular Giants team, and soon he realized the difficulty of managing the high expectations. From the grueling training to battling the rival Mitsuru Hanagata on the Hanshin Tigers, he would have to take out his best pitching magic to step up to the challenge.
Characters
- Hoshi Hyuuma - Voiced by: Tohru Furuya
- Hoshi Ittetsu - Voiced by: Seizo Katou
- Akiko - Voiced by: Fuyumi Shiraishi
- Ban Chuuta - Voiced by: Jouji Yanami
- Hanagata Mitsuru - Voiced by: Makio Inoue
- Kawakami Tetsuharu - Voiced by: Tadashi Nakamura
Adaptations
Anime
Staff
- Original creator: Ikki Kajiwara, Noboru Kawasaki
- Director: Tadao Nagahama, Yoshio Kabashima, Tadaaki Tamazaki, Mamoru Sasaki
- Script: Masaki Tsuji, Seiji Matsuoka, Tooru Sawaki, Ryohei Ito, Toru Sawaki, Yoshiaki Yoshida
- Music: Takeo Watanabe
- Art director: Isamu Kageyama
- Animation director: Daikichirou Kusube
- Editing: Kazuo Inoue
DVD
Beginning in 2001, the series was re-released on DVD format.
Movies
The first Star of the Giants movie was debuted in 1969 as part of the vacation anime festival on large screen theatres in color. The draw was that most people had black and white TVs at the time. The Star of Giants vs Mighty Atoms TV special reached the U.S and was renamed to Astro Boy vs the Giants[1].
| Japanese Name | English Name | Release Date | Type | Run time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 巨人の星 | Star of Giants the movie | 1969 | movie | 90 mins |
| Star of Giants vs the Mighty Atom | 1969 | TV special | 30 mins | |
| 巨人の星 行け行け飛雄馬 | Star of Giants: Ike Ike Hyuma | December 20, 1969 | movie | 75 mins |
| 巨人の星 大リーグボール | Star of Giants: Dai Big League | 1970 | movie | 70 mins |
| 巨人の星 宿命の対決 | Star of Giants: Shinjuku no Taiketsu | 1970 | movie | 60 mins |
| 新巨人の星 | New Stars of Giants | 1977 | series | 52 Episodes |
| 新巨人の星 | New Stars of Giants the movie | 1977 | movie | |
| 新巨人の星II | New Stars of Giants II | 1979 | series | 23 Episodes |
| Stars of Giants Special Edition: Fierce Tiger Mitsuru Hanagata | 2002 | series | 13 Episodes |
Video games
Kyojin no Hoshi (The Anime Super Remix) was released for the Playstation 2 by Capcom on June 20, 2002. There were also a number of other games on the same platform.
Impact
- Professional baseball player Ichiro Suzuki used Star of Giants as a reference to his gruesome childhood baseball training. [citation needed]
References
- ^ Clements, Jonathan. McCarthy Helen. [2006] (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5
External links
- Star of Giants Official anime site by Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Template:Ja icon