Neighborhood Story

Template:Nihongo is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa. It was serialized by Shueisha's [[Shōjo manga|Template:Transliteration manga]] magazine Ribon from 1995 to 1997, with its chapters collected in seven Template:Transliteration volumes. The manga has been licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media.

A 50-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Toei Animation, was broadcast on TV Asahi from September 1995 to September 1996. An anime film was released in March 1996.

Story

Mikako Kōda is an aspiring fashion designer who attends Yazawa Art Academy in Tokyo and is slowly building up her clothing brand, Happy Berry. Having been childhood friends with her neighbor, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, since infancy, Mikako reassesses her once-platonic feelings for him when he suddenly becomes popular at school due to his resemblance to the singer Ken Nakagawa and begins dating Mariko, a popular and attractive girl.

Characters

Main characters

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Mikako is driven by her dream of becoming a fashion designer and having all the stores sell her handiwork under the brand name "Happy Berry". Mikako is at her most conspicuous when she is inspired or in a stormy mood for one reason or another. The former earns her the admiration of her classmates while the latter incenses her teacher Ms. Hamada who thinks nothing of keeping her after school to revise her clumsy handiwork. Mikako has a ferocious rivalry with Mariko who she fears will wield Tsutomu to his detriment along with unrealistic expectations of Tsutomu that leads to a very vivacious and adversarial discourse that often inflames matters on many occasions.

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Unlike his fiery friend and next-door neighbor Mikako, Tsutomu is somewhat equivocal in regards what he wishes to do with his life as he synthesizes abstract art from odds and ends that he has found here and there but not his feelings about Mikako as his prologue is rife with instances where he has interceded on her behalf or otherwise come to her rescue. Tsutomu follows Mikako's lead in forming the street market club Akindo while seeming to operate according to the proverb "Keep moving forward by doing your best in the moment." Unfortunately, as much of a chivalrous knight as he has been that has long embraced being in love with Mikako, Tsutomu is not perfect. Tsutomu's eerie corporeal similarity to the Manbou lead singer Ken Nakagawa from Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai has caused several fangirls mistaking him for the musician and fanatically accosting him for an autograph, being given a love letter, or being chased around all over the place. In addition to being frightened of Mikako forcing him to forego the world and the rest of his life, Tsutomu also has a very accommodating »aim to please« personality that affords easy coercion/manipulation (or in Mariko's case, seduction). Tsutomu's chaotic conduct often frustrates Mikako into prosecuting a fierce adversarial divergent concourse that has led to several impulsive comments about which neither adolescent is really sincere.

Akindo members

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Mikako's best female friend, Risa comes from Hokkaido and her dream is to design children's clothes. She lives with her boyfriend Takeshi, a guitarist for a local band, and is Mikako's biggest supporter as well as (later in the series) the mother of Arashi whose best friend is George from Paradise Kiss.

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Also known as P, she is a friend of Mikako and Risa's. Mai wears Lolita-style clothing and always carries her stuffed animal Pucci Francois with her. She makes stuffed animals to sell at Akindo and falls for Seiji.

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Has purple hair and always wears sunglasses, though Mikako gets to see his eyes during the last volume of the manga. He is close friends with Tsutomu and Yuusuke and is a computer programmer that creates various computer games.

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Tsutomu's best friend, Yuusuke studies painting at Yazawa (although half-heartedly) and has feelings for Mariko. He is very gruff, but has a good heart and rides a motorcycle.

Kouda family

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Miwako is spawned as a result of her parents finally seeing the light in regards to their childish conduct and how it adversely affects Mikako. Miwako does not get to begin her postnatal life until Paradise Kiss, whose inception is several years after Neighborhood Story.

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Although she is Mikako's mother, Ruriko often acts more like a co-dependent elder sister than a mother whose irresponsibility forces Mikako to maintain their home life by herself. Ruriko is often seen sleeping the morning away after all-night deadline crunches due to her job as a shoujo manga author.

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Considering the conduct he demonstrates with his daughter and the sometimes erratic hours photographers like him are required to keep, Hirohiko's divorce from Ruriko when Mikako was young was probably caused by both Hirohiko and Ruriko growing apart because they failed to do the work necessary to maintain their marriage. Fortunately, Hirohiko comes back onto the scene and does the work alongside Ruriko necessary for the two eventually reconcile and remarry. Hirohiko is also a crucial force for Tsutomu deciding what to do with his life.

Nakasu family

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Nicknamed “Body Ko” for her usual, sultry appearance. She is popular at school and has had many boyfriends, but admits she is tired of dating men who only want her for sex. She is in love with her childhood friend from Yokohama, Shuuichi. After going out with Tsutomu for a short amount of time, she begin a volatile relationship with Yuusuke which lasts for almost the whole length of the series.

She later marries her Shuuichi, and has a son.

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Body Ko's little brother, he sculpts dolls and sports dreadlocks (much to Mariko's chagrin). He studies ceramics and gives his sister advice, though she does not want to hear it most of the time.

Other characters

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Ms. Hamada is the strict teacher of the fashion design and sewing lab classes at Yazawa that has no qualms about detaining a student after school for inattentive or clumsy handiwork -- a trap that Mikako often instigates when she is upset for one reason or another. Strangely enough, Mikako is not sent packing by Ms. Hamada's abrasive personality or having her handiwork harshly appraised and even goes so far as to identify clumsy textile handiwork that would instigate an after-school detention at Ms. Hamada's hands. She was also the professor for Seiji and the cast of Paradise Kiss.

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Noriji is the old-fashioned but well-intentioned manager of the apartment complex where Mikako and Tsutomu live. It is his good-natured teasing that inspires the epiphany as to the metamorphosis in their mutual feelings that Mikako and Tsutomu undergo throughout the series. Noriji also has a bit of a crush on Ruriko and demonstrates an almost paternal concern when Mikako's status is unknown.

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Tsutomu's classmate who owns the shed where the group creates Akindo's headquarters and she creates large, abstract 3-D sculptures. She likes Yuusuke and admires his paintings, but she is jealous of his relationship with Mariko. She later marries Yuusuke (which then makes her Ayumi Toshiro), and she is last seen pregnant with his child.

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Owns a bar which is frequented by the characters who live in Mikako's apartment complex. Father of (later in the series) Hiroyuki Tokumori from Paradise Kiss. Initially considered an 'older-brother' type figure to Miwako, his role is late replaced by Seiji.

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A “sparkling foreigner” who applies for the job of manga assistant for Mikako's mother. He is saving up money to study abroad. He used to go to Yazawa for fashion, but dropped out when he realized that his passion was in hairstyling. He becomes a close friend of Mikako's and appears in Paradise Kiss.

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Mariko's childhood friend from Yokohama. He has a girlfriend when first introduced. He later breaks up with her, and the series ends with Mariko and him married, with a son.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa, Neighborhood Story was serialized in Shueisha's [[Shōjo manga|Template:Transliteration manga]] magazine Ribon from the February 1995 to the October 1997 issues. Shueisha collected its chapters in seven Template:Transliteration volumes, released from October 13, 1995, to April 15, 1998. The covers of all volumes created a panoramic picture of the characters eating at a picnic when put together side-by-side.

The series was republished in a four-volume Template:Transliteration edition in 2005, and a five-volume Template:Transliteration edition in 2011.

In North America, the manga has been licensed for English release by Viz Media. The first volume was released on December 5, 2023. The fourth and final volume is set to be released on December 2, 2024.

Anime

A 50-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Toei Animation, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and Asatsu-DK, was broadcast on TV Asahi from September 10, 1995, to September 1, 1996. It was directed by Atsutoshi Umezawa, with Aya Matsui handling series composition, Yoshihiko Umakoshi designing the characters and Masahiro Kawasaki composing the music. The anime stars Rumi Shishido as Mikako, who was encouraged to audition for the part after producer Hiromi Seki heard her speaking voice in her 1990 album, Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do-Shi-Shi-Do-Ru-Mi. The opening theme is "He.Ro.I.Ne", the first ending theme is "Don't You Know?!" and the second ending theme is "NG!", all sung by Shishido. A DVD box set containing all episodes was released on September 28, 2005.

A 30-minute anime film premiered on March 2, 1996. It is an alternate retelling of the beginning of the series.

Reception

Viz Media's English release won the Japan Society and Anime NYC's first American Manga Awards in the Best New Edition of Classic Manga Series category in 2024. In 2024, through a survey of 100 people by TV Maga (a web magazine operated by Template:Ill), Neighborhood Story was voted second for most fashionable manga, along with Paradise Kiss, another series by Yazawa.

Further reading

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External links

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