Medaka Box

Medaka Box (Japanese: めだかボックス, Hepburn: Medaka Bokkusu) is a Japanese manga series written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Akira Akatsuki. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between May 2009 and April 2013, with its chapters collected in 22 tankōbon volumes. The series follows Medaka Kurokami, Zenkichi Hitoyoshi, Kouki Akune and Mogana Kikaijima, who are the members of the student council, during their various adventures to honor suggestions presented by academy members in order to better the academy.

Medaka Box
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Medaka Kurokami (left) and Zenkichi Hitoyoshi (right)
めだかボックス
(Medaka Bokkusu)
Genre
Manga
Written byNisio Isin
Illustrated byAkira Akatsuki
Published byShueisha
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 11, 2009 – April 27, 2013
Volumes22
Further information
Anime television series
Directed byShouji Saeki
Produced by
  • Tomoyuki Saitō
  • Yoshikazu Beniya
  • Masazumi Katō
  • Yoshiyuki Itō
  • Tomoko Saitō
Written byShouji Saeki
Music byTatsuya Kato
StudioGainax
Licensed by
Original networkTV Tokyo, TVA, TVO, Niconico Channel, AT-X
Original run April 5, 2012 – June 21, 2012
Episodes12
Light novel
Shousetsu Ban Medaka Box
Written byNisio Isin
Illustrated byAkira Akatsuki
Published byShueisha
ImprintJump J-Books
DemographicMale
Original runMay 2, 2012 – June 4, 2012
Volumes2
Light novel
Medaka Box Gaiden: Good Loser Kumagawa
Written byNisio Isin
Illustrated byAkira Akatsuki
Published byShueisha
ImprintJump J-Books
DemographicMale
Original runOctober 10, 2012 – November 12, 2012
Volumes2
Anime television series
Medaka Box Abnormal
Directed byShouji Saeki
Produced by
  • Tomoyuki Saitō
  • Yoshikazu Beniya
  • Masazumi Katō
  • Yoshiyuki Itō
  • Tomoko Saitō
Written byShouji Saeki
Music byTatsuya Kato
StudioGainax
Licensed by
  • AUS: Hanabee
  • NA: Sentai Filmworks
Original networkTV Tokyo, TVA, TVO, Niconico Channel, AT-X
Original run October 11, 2012 – December 27, 2012
Episodes12
Light novel
Medaka Box: Juvenile - Shousetsu-ban
Written byNisio Isin
Illustrated byAkira Akatsuki
Published byShueisha
ImprintJump J-Books
DemographicMale
PublishedOctober 4, 2013

It received three light novel series, two series with two volumes and one with one volume between 2012 and 2013. It was adapted into a 12-episode anime television series that aired between April and June 2012. A second 12-episode season aired between October and December 2012.

Plot
See also: List of Medaka Box characters

The series follows Medaka Kurokami, a charismatic and attractive first-year Hakoniwa Academy student who is elected Student Council President with 98% of the vote. She institutes a suggestion box, and with the help of her childhood friend Zenkichi Hitoyoshi, addresses these requests in an unconventional manner. Over the course of the story, she distributes the student council leadership positions to other students such as Kouki Akune and Mogana Kikaijima.

The Student Council learns that the academy chairman intends to initiate the Flask Plan, a project to forcefully experiment on regular students, called Normals, in order to turn them into humans with superhuman abilities called Abnormals. The Student Council infiltrates the academy's secret lab and battles other students that are involved with the project.

Shortly after, the Student Council are challenged to a tournament by Misogi Kumagawa who wishes to replace Medaka's Student Council with one of his own. After Kumagawa's defeat, two students are unsealed from his powers and complete their transfer to Hakoniwa Academy. The two are more powerful than Abnormals and are dubbed "Not Equals". Their leader, Anshin'in, threatens to restart the Flask Plan once Medaka graduates, forcing the Student Council to train their successors. However, Anshin'in's true plan is to have Zenkichi usurp Medaka's position as Student Council President. Zenkichi does so on the pretense of improving the student life and succeeds. He convinces Medaka to allow the Flask Plan for those who are willing.

Relieved from her duties as president of the Student Council, Medaka soon becomes involved in a tournament to decide her husband. Medaka enters herself and becomes the victor, choosing to marry Zenkichi once they both graduate. Soon after, Zenkichi's close friend Hansode Shiranui leaves the academy. Medaka and Zenkichi discover she is to become the next host for Iihiko Shishime, a 5000-year-old being. Medaka defeats him and disappears after stopping the moon from crashing towards the Earth, just to reappear in time for the year-end ceremony. Following her return, Medaka decides to leave the academy and assume her father's place ahead of her family's business conglomerate, the Kurokami Group, just to later return as the new chairwoman. Ten years later, Zenkichi, has worked his way up the Kurokami Group, becoming a high-level employee before reuniting with her, with both promising to get married after another fight.

Media

Manga
Main article: List of Medaka Box chapters

Medaka Box is written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Akira Akatsuki. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between May 11, 2009, and April 27, 2013.[3][4][5] Shueisha collected its 192 individual chapters in twenty-two tankōbon volumes, released from October 2, 2009, to September 4, 2013.[6][7]

Anime
See also: List of Medaka Box episodes

An anime adaptation of the manga produced by Gainax was announced by the series' creator in late 2011, and premiered on April 5, 2012.[8][9] A second season, titled Medaka Box Abnormal (めだかボックス アブノーマル, Medaka Bokkusu Abunōmaru), aired between October 11 and December 27, 2012.[10]

The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks, who released the anime in both digital and home video formats in September 2013.[10] Sentai Filmworks has also licensed the second season for digital and home video, which was released on January 21, 2014.[11][12][13] Both season were streamed by Crunchyroll;[1][14] after the acquisition of Crunchyroll by Sony Pictures Television, Medaka Box, among several Sentai Filmworks titles, was dropped from the Crunchyroll streaming service on March 31, 2022.[15]

Light novel

In May 2012, a spin-off light novel called Shousetsu Ban Medaka Box was released by Shueisha under the imprint Jump J-Books with Nisio Isin as the author and Akira Akatsuki as the illustrator, with the novel ending in June of the same year with two volumes. In October 2012 under the same publisher, imprint and creative team, a prequel called Medaka Box Gaiden: Good Loser Kumagawa was launched, with the second and last volume launching in November. Lastly, another prequel called Medaka Box: Juvenile - Shousetsu-ban launched with the same publisher, imprint and creative team in October 2013 but this time with a unique volume.[16][17]

Video game

Medaka Kurokami appears as a playable character in the Jump crossover fighting game J-Stars Victory VS, with Kumagawa appearing as a support character.[18]

Reception

By 2013, the series had over 5 million copies in circulation.[19]

References
  1. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (April 9, 2012). "Crunchyroll to Stream Medaka Box TV Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  2. "Medaka Box". Sentai Filmworks. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  3. ジャンプ次号の新連載「めだかボックス」は原作に西尾維新. Natalie (in Japanese). April 27, 2009. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  4. "Medaka Box Manga Ends". Anime News Network. April 23, 2013. Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  5. "「めだかボックス」最終回！夏発売のNEXT!に球磨川完結編". Natalie (in Japanese). April 27, 2013. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  6. めだかボックス 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  7. めだかボックス 22 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on December 6, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  8. "Medaka Box Manga Gets TV Anime". Anime News Network. September 28, 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  9. "Medaka Box School Comedy Anime To Be Produced By Gainax". Anime News Network. November 16, 2011. Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  10. "Sentai Filmworks Licenses Medaka Box TV Anime". Anime News Network. April 16, 2012. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  11. "Sentai Filmworks Adds Medaka Box Abnormal TV Anime". Anime News Network. September 28, 2012. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  12. "Medaka Box Abnormal Complete Collection Blu-ray Anime Review". The Fandom Post. January 17, 2014. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  13. "North American Anime, Manga Releases, January 19–25". Anime News Network. January 21, 2014. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  14. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (April 9, 2012). "Crunchyroll to Stream Medaka Box TV Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  15. Cardine, Kyle (March 24, 2022). "Food Wars, Is It Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and More Are Leaving Crunchyroll". Crunchyroll. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  16. "集英社の本 公式". Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  17. "集英社の本 公式". Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  18. "Medaka Box Joins Shonen Jump Crossover Game J-Stars Victory Vs". Anime News Network. October 2, 2013. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  19. めだかボックス ： 西尾維新原作の人気マンガついに完結 4年の歴史に幕. Mantan Web. April 27, 2013. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.