Nagasarete Airantō
| Nagasarete Airantō | |
| File:Nagasarete Airantou logo.PNG This is the logo for the series | |
| Genre | Comedy, Harem, Romance, Shōnen |
|---|---|
| Created by | Takeshi Fujishiro |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Takeshi Fujishiro |
| Published by |  Square Enix |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Shōgo Mukai |
| Published by | Square Enix |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Hideki Okamoto |
| Studio | Feel, Starchild |
Nagasarete Airantou (ながされて藍蘭島, lit. Casted Away... Airan Island) is a Japanese manga series created by Japanese author Takeshi Fujishiro. It was first serialized in the manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan in January 2002, published by Square Enix. Currently, nine volumes have been released in Japan. A few years later, a couple of drama CDs were released based on the manga version. Also, an anime adaptation by the animation studio Feel began airing in Japan on April 4 2007.
Plot
Nagasarete Airantou revolves around Ikuto Tōhōin, the main protagonist, who ran away from home because of a fight with his father. Due to a life-long dream of wanting to board a ship, Ikuto decides to take a vacation until the ship is suddenly hit by a huge storm throwing Ikuto overboard. He wakes up the next day to discover he is on an uncharted island populated by girls. Ikuto finds himself to be extremely popular on the island due to the fact that no other men are currently on the island. In effect, nearly the entire island starts going after Ikuto to become his bride, all except a young girl named Suzu and her extremely old grandmother. Suzu's grandmother decides that Ikuto will live with Suzu for the time being, but Ikuto initially finds it difficult to adjust, especially with the entire island population after him night and day. Meanwhile, Suzu does her best to protect Ikuto from the masses. However, Ikuto still does not want to stay on the island any longer, and soon after arriving, he attempts to leave by boat, but discovers the island is completely surrounded by whirlpools and thus it is impossible to leave. With no other choice, Ikuto starts to settle into life on the island.
Characters
- Ikuto Tōhōin (東方院行人, Ikuto Tōhōin)
- Voiced by: Hiro Shimono
- Ikuto is the main character of the story and is currently stranded on Airantou. At extreme odds with his father, he ran away from home on a cruise liner, resulting in his arrival on the island due to the storm. Exceedingly kind and helpful, Ikuto's physical ability pales in comparison to that of the women on the island and would have massive nosebleeds when he sees them without garments; nonetheless, he has inherited his grandfather's ideal of determination, and the words "It's impossible!" send him into a state of berserk strength and tenacity due to the conflict with his father. Though he becomes part of Suzu's surrogate family, he has a younger sister named Misaki back home in Japan. Ikuto has considerable trouble with the idea that most of the young women on the island want him for a husband and is unwilling to bathe together with them, as this tends to overstimulate him to the point that he hemorrhages from the nose.
- Suzu (すず)
- Voiced by: Yui Horie
- Suzu is the main heroine of the story. She is an honest girl and can be very spontaneous when excited. She is the first person that Ikuto meets on the island and is possibly the closest one to him. As the series progresses, Suzu begins to develop feelings for Ikuto, but she has trouble realizing it due to her inexperience with boys. She is still very happy to have him in her life, since she had been living alone apart from her pet piglet Tonkatsu (lit. "breaded pork cutlet") since the death of her mother. Suzu loves sweets to the point where she can be easily bribed with them, espically with the special Mame Daifuku made by the Ayane and Machi's mother. Suzu is one the best players of Shougi and other strategy games on the island, to the point that she could easily beat Ikuto at chess, a game he taught her. She claims this is because she learned how to play from her mother on rainy days.
- Ayane (あやね)
- Voiced by: Saeko Chiba
- Ayane is Suzu's rival, always being defeated by her and wanting to win at least once. Despite her appearance, she is actually 16 years old, and being underdeveloped she is also jealous of Suzu's sudden growth. She is deathly afraid of Machi, her older sister, and uses anesthetic darts as her main weapon. She hopes to take Ikuto captive and trump Suzu. She's a miko at the local shrine along with Machi and their mother Chizuru (whom Ikuto mistook for her sister at first).
- Machi (まち)
- Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi
- Ayane's elder sister. Despite her innocent looks, Machi is something of a sadist: she often tortures people with her voodoo doll, finding beauty in their pained, frightened expressions. She also tends to take the most dangerous methods to getting things done. Her weakness lies within being self-conscious of her age; she gets horrible shocks every time someone calls her old. Machi wishes to take Ikuto because her age means she should be getting married soon. She has a talent for magic, such as summoning Shikigami.
- Rin (りん)
- Voiced by: Ryoko Shiraishi
- An apprentice carpenter who is popular on Airantou due to her somewhat tomboyish outfit and attitude, she was the subject of a lot of attention and romantic interest from other women before Ikuto's arrival. She found this situation so uncomfortable that she developed a tendency to bathe alone. Rin's busty frame belies her amazing strength, but she does still possess quite a number of feminine behaviors, such as feeling embarassed when seen naked and liking to dress in pretty female clothes (due to her popularity, she only engages in this practice when no one is watching). She is also an excellent chef - in fact, as indicated in the manga, she is far better at cooking than she is at carpentry. Initially, Rin propositions Ikuto to be her husband to prove her heterosexuality (and so end the advances made on her by the other girls). However, she soon develops real feelings for him.
- Mikoto (みこと)
- Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe
- Mikoto is a kunoichi and an apprentice carpenter who is obsessed with Rin (Mikoto is so far the only girl identified as not developing any feelings for Ikuto) and always attempts to peek at or touch her body, particularly when she is bathing. She is often jealous of Ikuto to the point that she would either threaten to hurt him or outright throw shurikens and/or heavy objects at him, but in response Rin will often make short work of her. Her family, of which she is the youngest human member, consists entirely of practitioners of Ninpo and Bushido.
- Chikage (ちかげ)
- Voiced by: Shizuka Itō
- Obsessed with scientific research, Chikage wants Ikuto for the sole purpose of examining a real male and learning about the world beyond the island from him. She collects things that drift in from the modern world and plans on adding Ikuto to her collection, seeing him as a potentially invaluable source of information. Chikage lives in the only English-style house on Airantou with her elephant maid, Panako. She has a habit of reading mature magazines and gets misguided ideas from them to use against Ikuto. Although Ikuto believes her to be a calm, well-behaved girl, Yukino has noted that Chikage tends to perform strange experiments and questionable research. In the manga, she proves the truth of this statement when she briefly gains access to magic and causes havoc around the island until it is taken away by an angry Panako.
- Yukino (ゆきの)
- Voiced by: Shizuka Hasegawa
- Yukino is the youngest girl on the island and has an affinity for animals. She is always seen riding an animal, most prominently a giant bear named Kuma Kuma, and is sensitive about her age. Her connection to nature stems from her earlier years; being too young to help with farm work, Yukino was often left behind to play with the woodland creatures. Her habit of riding everywhere would mean that she tires easily, but in the anime she is quite athletic, being able to race with her animal friends and win.
- Mei Mei (梅梅 (メイメイ))
- Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame
- Mei Mei is an outsider just like Ikuto. Her family worked as traveling performers, but she kept messing up and embarked on a journey that got her to the island. She is very shy and reclusive, to the point where she is forced to illustrate her thoughts through drawings. She befriended the kappa Toono during her travels and the creature has accompanied her to the island.
- Obaba (オババ)
- Voiced by: Kujira
- Originally named "Koto", Obaba is the village chief and the village doctor and would probably be the oldest person surviving on Airantou - as depicted in the manga and the anime, she had survived since the shipwreck and is probably over 148 years old. Despite her age, she is still quite spry and strong, capable of inflicting physical punishment on the disrespectful or simply intimidating them back in line. While she mostly plays a minor role in the story, there are certain events that revolve around her.
- Kagami (かがみ)
- Voiced by: Mika Kanai
- She is the mother of Yukino who ironically is very childish and also has a crush on Ikuto on first sight and she is also friends with the animals.
Adaptation
Manga
The Nagasarete Airantou manga was first serialized in the January 2002 issue of Monthly Shōnen Gangan, published by Square Enix. The magazine it is now currently serialized in is Gangan Powered. So far, ten bound volumes and one "guide book" containing various background information have been released in Japan.
Drama CDs
There have been two drama CDs released based on the series.
- Comic CD Collection 30 Nagasarete Airantou Vol.1 （On sale February 20 2004）ISBN 4-7575-1154-X
- Comic CD Collection 32 Nagasarete Airantou Vol.2 （On sale February 10 2005）ISBN 4-7575-1380-1
Seiyū
- Ikuto Touhouin - Soichiro Hoshi
- Suzu - Yui Horie
- Machi - Masumi Asano
- Ayane - Yukari Tamura
- Chikage - Ai Nonaka
- Yukino - Rie Kugimiya
- Rin - Yuu Asakawa
- Tonkatsu - Masayo Hosono
Light novels
There have been two light novels based on the manga version of Nagasarete Airantou written by Shōgo Mukai and illustrated by Ken Fujiyo. The first went on sale on November 30 2004 and the second went on sale on March 22 2007
Anime
The anime adaption of Nagasarete Airantou began airing on April 4 2007. It is being produced by the animation studio Feel and is directed by Hideki Okamoto and written by Mamiko Ikeda. It is set to contain twenty-six episodes.
Episodes
| # | Title | Original air date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Theme songs
- Opening theme
- "Days" by Yui Horie
- Ending theme #1
- "Say cheese" by Yui Horie
- Ending theme #2
- "恋する天気図" (koisuru tenkizu) by Yui Horie