View source for Star of the Giants

{{short description|Japanese manga series}}
{{Expand Japanese|topic=manga|巨人の星|date=August 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| image       = Kyojin no Hoshi volume 1.jpg
| caption     = Cover of the first volume of ''Star of the Giants'', as published in Japan by [[Kodansha]]
| ja_kanji    = 巨人の星
| ja_romaji   = Kyojin no Hoshi
| genre       = [[Sports manga|Sports]]<!-- Note: Use and cite reliable sources to identify genre/s, not personal interpretation. Please don't include more than three genres (per [[MOS:A&M]]). -->
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type       = Manga
| author     = [[Ikki Kajiwara]]
| illustrator = [[Noboru Kawasaki]]
| publisher  = [[Kodansha]]
| demographic = ''[[Shōnen manga|Shōnen]]''
| magazine   = [[Weekly Shōnen Magazine]]
| first      = 1966
| last       = 1971
| volumes    = 19
| volume_list = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type       = TV series
| director   = [[Tadao Nagahama]]
| producer   = 
| writer     = 
| music      = 
| studio     = [[TMS Entertainment|Tokyo Movie]]
| network    = [[Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation|YTV]]
| first      = March 30, 1968
| last       = September 18, 1971
| episodes   = 182
| episode_list = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type       = Film
| title      = Kyojin no Hoshi: Chizome no Kesshōusen
| director   = 
| producer   = 
| writer     = 
| music      = 
| studio     = Tokyo Movie
| released   = July 26, 1969
| runtime    = 90 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type       = Film
| title      = Kyojin no Hoshi: Ike Ike Hyūma
| director   = 
| producer   = 
| writer     = 
| music      = 
| studio     = Tokyo Movie
| released   = December 20, 1969
| runtime    = 70 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type       = Film
| title      = Kyojin no Hoshi: Dai League Ball
| director   = 
| producer   = 
| writer     = 
| music      = 
| studio     = Tokyo Movie
| released   = March 21, 1970
| runtime    = 70 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type       = Film
| title      = Kyojin no Hoshi: Shukumei no Taiketsu
| director   = 
| producer   = 
| writer     = 
| music      = 
| studio     = Tokyo Movie
| released   = August 1, 1970
| runtime    = 60 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type       = TV series
| title      = Shin Kyojin no Hoshi
| director   = 
| producer   = 
| writer     = 
| music      = 
| studio     = Tokyo Movie Shinsha
| network    = [[Nippon Television Network System|NNS]] (YTV)
| first      = October 1, 1977
| last       = September 30, 1978
| episodes   = 52
| episode_list = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type       = TV series
| title      = Shin Kyojin no Hoshi II
| director   = 
| producer   = 
| writer     = 
| music      = 
| studio     = Tokyo Movie Shinsha
| network    = NNS (YTV)
| first      = April 14, 1979
| last       = September 29, 1979
| episodes   = 23
| episode_list = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type       = Film
| title      = 
| director   = {{ubl|[[Satoshi Dezaki]]|[[Tadao Nagahama]]}}
| producer   = 
| writer     = 
| music      = 
| studio     = Tokyo Movie Shinsha
| released   = August 21, 1982
| runtime    = 110 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{nihongo|'''''Star of the Giants'''''|巨人の星|Kyojin no Hoshi|lead=yes}} is a Japanese [[Sports manga|sports]] [[manga]] series written by [[Ikki Kajiwara]] and illustrated by [[Noboru Kawasaki]]. It was serialized in [[Kodansha]]'s ''[[Weekly Shōnen Magazine]]'' from 1966 to 1971. It is 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]]. It was adapted into an [[anime]] television series broadcast in Japan in 1968.<ref name=Clements2006 /> It later spawned two anime sequels and different anime films. In total there were {{sum|182|5|52|23}} episodes.

==Story==
The story is about Hyūma Hoshi, a promising young baseball pitcher who dreams of becoming a top star like his father Ittetsu Hoshi in the professional Japanese league. Ittetsu was once a [[Third baseman|3rd baseman]] until he was injured in [[World War II]] and was forced to retire; now an impoverished and bitter widower, he's raised Hyūma and his older sister Akiko in a very severe environment. 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 in the [[Hanshin Tigers]], Hyūma would have to take out his best pitching magic to step up to the challenge.

==Characters==
* '''Hyūma Hoshi''': [[Tōru Furuya]]
* '''Ittetsu Hoshi''': [[Seizō Katō]]
* '''Akiko Hoshi''': [[Fuyumi Shiraishi]]
* '''Ban Chūta''': [[Jōji Yanami]]
* '''Mitsuru Hanagata''': [[Makio Inoue]]
* '''[[Tetsuharu Kawakami|Kawakami Tetsuharu]]''': [[Tadashi Nakamura (voice actor)|Tadashi Nakamura]]
* '''[[Masaichi Kaneda]]''': [[Teiji Ōmiya]]
* '''Kyōko''': [[Reiko Mutō]]
* '''Hosaku Samon''': [[Shingo Kanemoto]]
* '''Mina Hadaka''': Yoshiko Matsuo

==Media==
===Manga===
{{Empty section|date=January 2021}}

===Anime===
Beginning in 2001, the series was re-released on DVD format. In June 2013, a five set Blu-ray release was released.

===Films===
The first ''Star of the Giants'' movie debuted on July 26, 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 the Giants vs. Mighty Atom'' TV special reached the United States and was renamed to ''Astro Boy vs. the Giants''.<ref name=Clements2006>Clements, Jonathan. McCarthy Helen. [2006] (2006). ''The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition''. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press. {{ISBN|978-1-933330-10-5}}.</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
! width=25% | Japanese name
! width=30% | English name
! width=10% | Release date
! width=10% | Type
! width=10% | Run time
|-
| || ''[[:jp:巨人の星対鉄腕アトム|Star of the Giants vs. Mighty Atom]]'' || June 9, 1969 || TV special || 30 mins
|-
| 巨人の星 || ''Star of Giants: The Movie'' || July 26, 1969 || Film || 90 mins
|-
| 巨人の星 行け行け飛雄馬 || ''Star of Giants: Ike Ike Hyuma'' || December 20, 1969 || Film || 75 mins
|-
| 巨人の星 大リーグボール || ''Star of Giants: Big League Ball'' || March 21, 1970 || Film || 70 mins
|-
| 巨人の星 宿命の対決 || ''Star of Giants: Shukumei no Taiketsu'' || August 1, 1970 || Film || 60 mins 
|-
| 新巨人の星 || ''New Star of Giants'' || October 1, 1977 || TV series || 52 episodes
|-
| 新巨人の星 || ''New Star of Giants: The Movie'' || December 1, 1977 || Film || 
|-
| 新巨人の星II || ''New Star of Giants II'' || April 14, 1979 || TV series || 23 episodes
|-
| || ''Stars of Giants Special Edition: Fierce Tiger Mitsuru Hanagata'' || October 23, 2002 || OVA || 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.

==Reception and legacy==
On [[TV Asahi]]'s Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, ''Star of the Giants'' ranked 38th.<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ja:テレビ朝日『国民15万人がガチで投票!漫画総選挙』ランキング結果まとめ！ 栄えある1位に輝く漫画は!?|url=https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1609599746&p=2|website=animate Times|publisher=[[Animate (retailer)|Animate]]|access-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210103111919/https://www.animatetimes.com/news/details.php?id=1609599746&p=2|archive-date=January 3, 2021|language=ja|date=January 3, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

The anime series ranked fifteenth on TV Asahi's Top 100 Anime 2005 poll.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Macdonald|first=Christopher|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-09-23/tv-asahi-top-100-anime-part-2|title=TV Asahi Top 100 Anime Part 2|website=[[Anime News Network]]|access-date=November 1, 2016|date=September 23, 2005}}</ref>

Professional baseball player [[Ichiro Suzuki]] used ''Star of Giants'' as a reference to his grueling childhood baseball training.{{sfn|Whiting|2009|p=6}} The anime was remade in India in 2012 as ''[[Suraj: The Rising Star]]'' where cricket was substituted for baseball.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mxmindia.com/2012/12/colors-to-air-japanese-anime-remake-from-dec-23/|title=Colors to air Japanese 'anime' remake from Dec 23|last=Correspondent|first=A|date=3 December 2012|website=MxM India|publisher=|access-date=20 October 2016}}</ref> Episode 18 of ''[[Kyatto Ninden Teyandee]]'' (dubbed and released in North America as ''[[Samurai Pizza Cats]]'') includes a pitcher named Puma Pochi, voiced by [[Tōru Furuya]], as a direct parody of Hyūma Hoshi. In English, the character is renamed [[Fernando Valenzuela|Fernando Curtainzuela]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=[[Tatsunoko Production]]|url=https://store.udonentertainment.com/products/samurai-pizza-cats-official-fanbook|title=Samurai Pizza Cats Official Fanbook|date=January 2019|page=56|publisher=[[Udon Entertainment]]|isbn=978-1-77294-038-1}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{cite book|last=Whiting|first=Robert|title=The Meaning of Ichiro|year=2009|publisher=Grand Central Publishing|isbn=9780446565226|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbXJcV8lWyIC&pg=PT14}}

==External links==
* [http://www.tms-e.com/library/old/tv/data/t_giants.html ''Star of Giants''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205075730/http://www.tms-e.com/library/old/tv/data/t_giants.html|date=2012-02-05}} - official anime site by Tokyo Movie Shinsha {{in lang|ja}}
* {{anime News Network|manga|11115|Kyojin no Hoshi}}

{{Weekly Shōnen Magazine - 1960–1989}}
{{Yomiuri Giants}}
{{TMS Entertainment}}
{{TMS Entertainment films}}

[[Category:1966 manga]]
[[Category:1968 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:1977 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:1979 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:Baseball in anime and manga]]
[[Category:Ikki Kajiwara]]
[[Category:Kodansha manga]]
[[Category:Nippon Television original programming]]
[[Category:Shōnen manga]]
[[Category:TMS Entertainment]]
[[Category:Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation original programming]]
[[Category:Gekiga]]
[[Category:1982 films]]