O~i! Ryoma
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese shōnen
manga
written by Tetsuya Takeda and illustrated by Yū Koyama
. It is a comical and serious account mixing history and fiction of the life of the Bakumatsu period leader Sakamoto Ryōma
.
. The youngest daughter of the Sakamoto family, Otome Sakamoto is stargazing and sees a comet. That day her mother, Sachi Sakamoto, is about to give birth. The comet appears as a dragon and a horse, and Otome shouts to it "Make the child born tonight a boy! I promise I'll make him a strong samurai!" after which the comet changes to a soft glow. Soon the first cry of the baby is heard – a strong baby boy. However, the newborn boy has long hair on his back which is seen as strange. At this the father, Yahei, is dumbfounded but Otome names the boy Ryōma, a name combining Japanese characters for dragon and horse.
Ryōma quickly grows but is a coward and a crybaby. He is mocked for his back hair and bullied every day by children in the neighborhood. He is not a good student and is thrown out of his juku
. Otome and the second oldest sister Ei do not give up on Ryōma, and raise him more strictly. Even so, Ryōma's unique characteristic is his kind heart. This kind heart amazes the bullies in the neighborhood, led by a young Izo Okada. Zuizan Takechi, helped by Ryōma, is also impressed by his capacity for good. It looks as though Ryōma will enjoy a peaceful childhood, but he soon learns about the oppression of the by the upper class samurai. His mother is chased to her death by the daimyo
Yamanōchi, after which Ryōma vows to himself "I want to become stronger!" at the age of 16.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga
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 by Tetsuya Takeda and illustrated by Yū Koyama
Yu Koyama
is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from the University of Shizuoka he moved to Tokyo and in 1968 took a job with Saito Productions, the company run by Takao Saitō...
. It is a comical and serious account mixing history and fiction of the life of the Bakumatsu period leader Sakamoto Ryōma
Sakamoto Ryoma
was a leader of the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. Ryōma used the alias .- Early life :Ryōma was born in Kōchi, of Tosa han . By the Japanese calendar, this was the sixth year of Tenpō...
.
Outline
- Broadcast as an animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
on NHKNHKNHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
from April 7, 1992 to March 30, 1993.- Scenes from ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
to his return to Japan were cut and connected to the assassination scene. Until the Meiji RestorationMeiji RestorationThe , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
, his actions are presented in digest. - The opening and closing themes are sung by the author Tetsuya Takeda.
- There is a VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
version but no DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
is currently available. The series has not been rebroadcast. - It is the first anime to be broadcast in stereo on NHK via airborne signal.
- Scenes from Shanghai
- In October, 2005 theatrical troupe Guinyaon staged an adaptation produced by and starring , born May 27, 1967
- Based on the novel Ryōma ga yuku by , born August 7, 1923; however, it differs in that unlike the novel it details the early years of Sakamoto's life in Tosahan (modern-day Kōchi PrefectureKochi Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located on the south coast of Shikoku. The capital is the city of Kōchi.- History :Prior to the Meiji Restoration, Kōchi was known as Tosa Province and was controlled by the Chosokabe clan in the Sengoku period and the Yamauchi family during the Edo period.- Geography...
) and the discrimination against the country by the upper class 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...
. Instead of relating Ryōma's struggle to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, the novel focuses on this class struggle. The result is an arguably more empathetic story. Specifically (November 27, 1827 – July 26, 1872), jōshi samurai (April 13, 1838 – August 4, 1897) and politician Itagaki TaisukeItagaki TaisukeCount was a Japanese politician and leader of the , which evolved into Japan's first political party.- Early life :Itagaki Taisuke was born into a middle-ranking samurai family in Tosa Domain, , After studies in Kōchi and in Edo, he was appointed as sobayonin to Tosa daimyo Yamauchi Toyoshige,...
are all dramatized as villains in conflict with Ryōma. The descendants of Yamauchi have objected to his vilification in this way. In fact, author Tetsuya Takeda appeared in a 2006 Taiga dramaTaiga dramais the name NHK gives to the annual, year-long historical fiction television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white Hana no Shōgai, starring kabuki actor Onoe Shōroku and Takarazuka star Awashima Chikage, the network has hired a producer, director, writer, music...
Kōmyō ga Tsuji (功名が辻) as a vassalGokeninA was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods. In exchange for protection and the right to become shugo or jitō , in times of peace a gokenin had the duty to protect the imperial court and Kamakura, in case of war had to fight with his forces under the...
of Yamauchi. - Largely fictional. For example, gōshi samurai (October 24, 1829 – July 3, 1865) and Izo Okada appear as childhood friends; after becoming a lordless samurai Ryōma goes to Shanghai; Ryōma has an interview with 14th shogunShogunA was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
Tokugawa IemochiTokugawa Iemochiwas the 14th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, who held office 1858 to 1866. During his reign there was much internal turmoil as a result of Japan's first major contact with the United States, which occurred under Commodore Perry in 1853 and 1854, and of the subsequent "re-opening" of...
; Ryōma is oppressed from childhood by Shōjirō Gotō and Itagaki Taisuke.
Synopsis
It is November 15, 1835 near Kōchi CastleKochi Castle
is a castle located in Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan.-History:Following the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Kōchi Castle was constructed in what was then the province of Tosa. It was built by Yamanouchi Kazutoyo, who took control of the province after the Tokugawa victory. The castle was constructed...
. The youngest daughter of the Sakamoto family, Otome Sakamoto is stargazing and sees a comet. That day her mother, Sachi Sakamoto, is about to give birth. The comet appears as a dragon and a horse, and Otome shouts to it "Make the child born tonight a boy! I promise I'll make him a strong samurai!" after which the comet changes to a soft glow. Soon the first cry of the baby is heard – a strong baby boy. However, the newborn boy has long hair on his back which is seen as strange. At this the father, Yahei, is dumbfounded but Otome names the boy Ryōma, a name combining Japanese characters for dragon and horse.
Ryōma quickly grows but is a coward and a crybaby. He is mocked for his back hair and bullied every day by children in the neighborhood. He is not a good student and is thrown out of his juku
Juku
Gakushū juku are special private schools that offer lessons conducted after regular school hours and on the weekends....
. Otome and the second oldest sister Ei do not give up on Ryōma, and raise him more strictly. Even so, Ryōma's unique characteristic is his kind heart. This kind heart amazes the bullies in the neighborhood, led by a young Izo Okada. Zuizan Takechi, helped by Ryōma, is also impressed by his capacity for good. It looks as though Ryōma will enjoy a peaceful childhood, but he soon learns about the oppression of the by the upper class samurai. His mother is chased to her death by the daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
Yamanōchi, after which Ryōma vows to himself "I want to become stronger!" at the age of 16.
Manga
| Vol. | Release date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | February 1998 | ISBN 4-09-152801-5 |
| 03 | June 1998 | ISBN 4-09-152803-1 |
| 04 | August 1998 | ISBN 4-09-152804-X |
| 05 | October 1998 | ISBN 4-09-152805-8 |
| 09 | June 1999 | ISBN 4-09-152809-0 |
| 10 | August 1999 | ISBN 4-09-152810-4 |
| 11 | October 1999 | ISBN 4-09-152811-2 |
| 12 | December 1999 | ISBN 4-09-152812-0 |
| 13 | February 2000 | ISBN 4-09-152813-9 |
| 14 | April 2000 | ISBN 4-09-152814-7 |