Kiss×sis
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese seinen manga
written and illustrated by Bow Ditama. It began serialization
in Bessatsu Young Magazine (now Young Magazine
) on December 11, 2005 and has since been published into eight volumes by Kodansha
. The series was later adapted into two animated series by Feel; a twelve-episode television show aired from April 5 to June 21, 2010 by AT-X
, and an ongoing OVA, started December 22, 2008.
fashion; Ako and Riko frequently flirt and lust after Keita while, much to his chagrin, he fights the urge to give into them. The relentless admiration he receives, coupled with the situations and fan service
that often ensues, is the primary basis of the series.
, published by Kodansha
in their now-defunct bimonthly Bessatsu Young Magazine, a manga magazine aimed at a mostly adult male audience. Well-received by readers, Kiss×sis began regular serialization on December 11, 2005, ultimately becoming a monthly periodical when on December 9, 2009 Kodansha transpired the magazine into a monthly publication. On September 6, 2007, a manga containing the first six chapters of the series was published by Kodansha, released under their KC Deluxe imprint. , nine volumes have been published, totaling fifty-five chapters. The manga is also licensed in Taiwan by Sharp Point Press
.
A 12-episode TV anime adaptation of the manga aired on AT-X
between April 5 and June 21, 2010. A censored pre-release of the first episode aired online on March 28, 2010. The opening theme is performed by Ayana Taketatsu and Yuiko Tatsumi, and the ending theme is "Our Steady Boy" by Yui Ogura and Kaori Ishihara. The ending theme for episode 12 is by Ogura and Ishihara. The first DVD volume was released on June 23, 2010. Unlike the TV airings of the other episodes, certain scenes of episodes nine through twelve were censored.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
written and illustrated by Bow Ditama. It began serialization
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
in Bessatsu Young Magazine (now Young Magazine
Young Magazine
is a Japanese manga magazine published weekly by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at adult males . It is also known as Young or YM. It goes on sale Monday every week...
) on December 11, 2005 and has since been published into eight volumes by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
. The series was later adapted into two animated series by Feel; a twelve-episode television show aired from April 5 to June 21, 2010 by AT-X
AT-X (company)
is a Japanese anime television network owned by . AT-X, Inc. was founded on June 26, 2000 as a subsidiary of TV Tokyo Medianet, which, in turn, is a subsidiary of TV Tokyo. Its headquarters are in Minato, Tokyo. AT-X network broadcasts anime via satellite and cable since December 24, 1997.AT-X is...
, and an ongoing OVA, started December 22, 2008.
Plot
Keita Suminoe is a third-year Japanese middle school student living with his father, stepmother, and older twin stepsisters, Ako and Riko in undisclosed Japan. Since the remarriage of their parents at childhood, the siblings have always been affectionately close and supportive of one another. Picking up at least a decade later, the trio, now pubescent teenagers, see their opposites in a noticeably less platonicPlatonic love
Platonic love is a chaste and strong type of love that is non-sexual.-Amor Platonicus:The term amor platonicus was coined as early as the 15th century by the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino. Platonic love in this original sense of the term is examined in Plato's dialogue the Symposium, which has...
fashion; Ako and Riko frequently flirt and lust after Keita while, much to his chagrin, he fights the urge to give into them. The relentless admiration he receives, coupled with the situations and fan service
Fan service
, fanservice, or , is a term originating from anime and manga fandom for material in a series which is intentionally added to please the audience. It is about "servicing" the fan - giving the fans "exactly what they want"...
that often ensues, is the primary basis of the series.
Characters
- Keita Suminoe is the main protagonist of the series. Blended into a stepfamily when, at childhood, his father remarries, he comes into the acquisition of a stepmother and older stepsisters, Ako and Riko; an arrangement he welcomes. A fifteen-year-old, third-year middle school student, and under the now persistent debauchery of his siblings, Keita finds it increasingly difficult to retain his modest, dignified morals; especially when his parents encourage him to indulge! A former track and fieldTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
member, Keita is athletic more than he is academic; however he strives to and eventually is accepted to his stepsisters' high school.
- Bright and cheery, Ako Sumione is a sixteen-year-old, first-year high school student who is one of two stepsisters to Keita, twin sister to Riko. The more intellectual of the pair, Ako is educated, maternal, responsible, an active member of the student councilStudent councilStudent council is a curricular or extra-curricular activity for students within elementary and secondary schools around the world. Present in most public and private K-12 school systems across the United States, Canada and Australia these bodies are alternatively entitled student council, student...
, skilled at cooking, homemaking, and endeavors to maintain a prim and proper demeanor. In spite of this imposing façade however, she is outwardly emotional, childish, whiny, reluctant, easily embarrassed and perverse; her most well-known open secretOpen secretAn open secret is a concept or idea that is "officially" secret or restricted in knowledge, but is actually widely known; or refers to something which is widely known to be true, but which none of the people most intimately concerned are willing to categorically acknowledge in public.Examples of...
. Having grown up with Keita since toddlerhood, Ako is altruistic and not to mention in love with him.
- Riko Suminoe is the second stepsister to Keita; a fellow sixteen-year-old, first-year high school student. Though less accomplished than her counterpart, Riko is interpersonal, cunning, insightful, crafty, an active member of the disciplinary club, and boldly open about her personal life and sexuality; although she surprisingly cannot bring herself to kiss Keita in front of others. She is known however, to be soft-spoken, clumsy, temperamental and weaker to alcohol than her sister. Riko is most recognized for wearing an adhesive bandageAdhesive bandageAn adhesive bandage, also called a sticking plaster is a small dressing used for injuries not serious enough to require a full-size bandage. "Band-Aid" is the common American English term, while "plaster" is the term in British English usage.- Function :The adhesive bandage protects the cut, e.g...
on her left cheek, the purpose of which covers a scar she received from when Keita threw a toy at her during their childhood. In a complimenting fashion, Riko is also ardently fond of her stepbrother and is forever fighting with Ako over his affection.
- Miharu Mikuni is a third-year middle school student. A fairly quiet and unknown character, she is brought into attention when she delivers Keita his entrance exam results; having passed, he joyfully befriends her. Unlike the other girls, Miharu is comparatively tacit, meek, intimidated and predisposed to anxiety; as such, she suffers from enuresisEnuresisEnuresis refers to an inability to control urination. Use of the term is usually limited to describing individuals old enough to be expected to exercise such control.Types of enuresis include:* Nocturnal enuresis* Diurnal enuresis...
. Her relationship with Keita is mostly platonic; what feelings she does have for him are generally overshadowed by the images she has of him and his stepsisters. She sometimes fantazises about Keita making non-consensual advances against her, but doesn't seem to be seriously interested in a romantic relationship with him. Of the entire cast, Miharu is the only bespectacled character.
- Peppy and outgoing, Mikazuki Kiryu is a second-year middle school student and younger sister of Yuzuki Kiryu. In spite of her age, she is far more mature of the two, and tends to keep the most level head when her sister is losing hers. An underclassman to the rest of the cast, Mikazuki looks up to everyone, especially Keita, who she fashionably has a crush on. However, she seems to be just as interested in amusing herself by watching the antics and reactions of others than actually winning him over. Mikazuki lives with her parents and is the shortest character of the entire cast.
- Yuzuki Kiryu is a homeroom teacher at fictional Gakushū Senior High, a recent hire, and is also the older sister of Mikazuki. Single, unmarried, independent, and noticeably eccentric, she is initially disgusted with Keita and his relationship with Ako and Riko, to the point of unduly crusading against it; like the girls to come, and despite her age difference, she develops conflicting feelings for him herself. An obsessive fan of anime, manga and cosplay, her apartment spans a large collection of merchandise, books, games and posters; a particularly favored theme of hers being samuraiSamuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
. Much to her humiliation, Yuzuki is a virgin.
Manga
Kiss×sis started as a one-shot series in January 2004 by Bow Ditama, an illustrator known for his work on MahoromaticMahoromatic
is a sci-fi romantic comedy manga and animeseries which contains elements of the literary genre of tragic dramas. It is about a female android former soldier, Mahoro...
, published by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
in their now-defunct bimonthly Bessatsu Young Magazine, a manga magazine aimed at a mostly adult male audience. Well-received by readers, Kiss×sis began regular serialization on December 11, 2005, ultimately becoming a monthly periodical when on December 9, 2009 Kodansha transpired the magazine into a monthly publication. On September 6, 2007, a manga containing the first six chapters of the series was published by Kodansha, released under their KC Deluxe imprint. , nine volumes have been published, totaling fifty-five chapters. The manga is also licensed in Taiwan by Sharp Point Press
Sharp Point Press
Sharp Point Press is a Taiwanese publisher of manga and music. It was founded in June 1982.-History:*1982 - Company established. Mainly publishes military and models related books.*1985 - Started publishing annual Zodiac fortune telling handbook....
.
Anime
It was announced in June 2008 that an animated adaption of Kiss×sis would be produced by Feel. On December 22 of that year, the first OVA was released, directed by Munenori Nawa. Subsequent releases were packaged with copies of the manga: the second episode was bundled with volume four on May 22, 2009, the third with volume five on November 20, four with volume six on June 4, 2010, five with volume seven and six with volume eight on June 22, 2011. The opening and closing themes for the OVA include by Ayana Taketatsu and Yuiko Tatsumi and by Nana Takahashi, respectively.A 12-episode TV anime adaptation of the manga aired on AT-X
AT-X (company)
is a Japanese anime television network owned by . AT-X, Inc. was founded on June 26, 2000 as a subsidiary of TV Tokyo Medianet, which, in turn, is a subsidiary of TV Tokyo. Its headquarters are in Minato, Tokyo. AT-X network broadcasts anime via satellite and cable since December 24, 1997.AT-X is...
between April 5 and June 21, 2010. A censored pre-release of the first episode aired online on March 28, 2010. The opening theme is performed by Ayana Taketatsu and Yuiko Tatsumi, and the ending theme is "Our Steady Boy" by Yui Ogura and Kaori Ishihara. The ending theme for episode 12 is by Ogura and Ishihara. The first DVD volume was released on June 23, 2010. Unlike the TV airings of the other episodes, certain scenes of episodes nine through twelve were censored.