Hikari no Densetsu
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Hikari no Densetsu | |
romance, slice of life | |
Manga | |
Written by | Izumi Aso |
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Published by | Shueisha |
Magazine | Margaret |
Demographic | Shōjo |
Original run | 1985 – December 1988 |
Volumes | 16 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Tatsunoko Productions |
Original network | ANN (TV Asahi) |
Original run | 3 May 1986 – 20 September 1986 |
Episodes | 19 |
Hikari no Densetsu (光の伝説, lit. Legend of Light) is a Japanese
Hikari no Densetsu is a love story that it is set in the late 80s junior high school atmosphere, one of the few sports anime and manga to have dealt mainly with rhythmic gymnastics as the main subject matter. Hikari Kamijou, a young, naïve, care-free, young woman who dreams of becoming an Olympic Champion in the sport of
Plot
This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (July 2017) |
The story is about Hikari Kamijou, a fifteen-year-old
At first Hikari lacks natural skill, but then she meets Takaaki Ooishi, a fellow gymnast and popular schoolmate who helps her to improve. With his support, Hikari's talent blossoms, landing her on the map of popularity along with the best rhythmic gymnast at her school, Hazuki Shiina.[1][2]
As Hikari and Hazuki begin training for the World Cup competition together, a healthy rivalry develops.[3] Hikari longs to embody Hazuki's graceful elegance, and seeks out Mao Natsukawa to help.
Mao is a childhood friend and the lead singer of a rock band, and he dreams of becoming a world-renowned
Over the years, Mao has come to love Hikari deeply, but Hikari has fallen in love with Takaaki Ooishi. While this causes a rift in Hikari and Mao's relationship, he remains a loyal friend. When Hikari discovers that Hazuki also has feelings for Takaaki, they become rivals in sport and love. Hikari does not know how Takaaki feels about her, and worries Takaaki might fall for Hazuki because of her gymnastic talent. Hikari begins to perfect her skills, and is soon competing at the national and international level.
In the TV series, Hikari wins Ooishi's heart and we are shown a little flash forward: Hikari is an Olympic champion, Ooishi is recovering from a lesion but with Olympic expectations, Mao is working on his career as a musician and Hazuki has retired and is working with as a trainer for young children who want to be gymnasts.[4]
The end in the manga version
This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. |
Hikari goes on to win a national competition, giving her the opportunity to compete at the Seoul 1988 Summer Olympics. While Hikari has finally surpassed Hazuki in terms of ability as a rhythmic gymnast, their rivalry for Takaaki Ooishi's affection is still going strong.
When Hikari, Mao, Hazuki, Takaaki and rest of the athletes competing in the 1988 Summer Olympics travel to Seoul, Hikari finds out that Ooishi and Hazuki are in love and that they are set to be married. Hikari turns to Mao Natsukawa for support, but he becomes frustrated with her for ignoring his own love for her. When Mao leaves Hikari, she realizes that she has feelings for him, too. Even while he is not there to watch her compete, Hikari is determined to prove to Mao that he is an important part of her life and her success.
At the end of the manga, Hikari is competing at the 1988 Summer Olympics. While she is performing, Mao begins to sing an Italian love song, even though vocal music is banned during competitions. Despite this Hikari and Mao finish their performance, prompting applause from the crowd and their friends, Takaaki and Hazuki, who have come to see them perform. Before the winner is announced, both Hikari and Mao exit the competition arena. The manga concludes with Hikari smiling, hinting that in the end she may have not won a medal, but that she will have a bright future with Mao.
Media
Manga
The manga was serialized in Japan in the weekly publication
Anime
The anime series which was produced by
Episode list
Like many popular manga series of the time (this is still done today), Legend of Light was turned into an anime series. At the time the producers of Tatsunoko Productions had picked the manga series to produce it into an anime series. It was first aired in Japan in early 1986. At the time the manga series was still unfinished so the producers of the anime were not sure how long the anime would last since the manga was not finished. Finally they settled at 26 episodes (the average number of episodes done per anime series, at the time highest number of episodes was 52). Due to poor ratings in Japan, the series was left unfinished at only 19 episodes with the last couple of episodes wrapping up the series in a hurry and left in an open ending in late 1986. The series was aired again abroad during the
Theme songs
# | Song title | Episodes | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Haato no kisetsu" (ハートの季節) |
1-19 | 1986 - Japanese
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2 | "Kataomoi no hamingo" (片思いのハミング) |
1-19 | 1986 - Japanese
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3 | "Hilary" | 1-19 | 1988 - Italian
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4 | "Se stai con me" | n/a | 1988 - Italian
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5 | "Il vento" | n/a | 1988 - Italian
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6 | "Quando tornerai" | n/a | 1988 - Italian [7]
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7 | "Cynthia ou le rythme de la vie" | 1-19 | 1988 - French (translated from the original Italian song)
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8 | "Quand tu reviendras" | 1-19 | 1988 - French
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9 | "le vent" | 1-19 | 1988 - French
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10 | "Si tu parles avec moi" | 1-19 | 1988 - French
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11 | "Piruetas" | 1-19 | 1991 - Spanish (translated from the original Italian song)
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12 | "Die kleinen Superstars" | 1-19 | 1994 - German (translated from the original Italian song)
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VHS and DVD releases
System | Episodes | Discs or Cassettes | Features | |
---|---|---|---|---|
First released | ||||
VHS | 16 - 18 | 1 |
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Germany: 1994[8] |
VHS | 1 - 19 | 4 |
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Italy: Late August 2001 |
DVD | 1 - 19 | 5 |
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France: June 15, 2006 |
DVD | 1 - 19 | 4 |
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France: October 24, 2006 |
Reception
In Japan, the manga series by Izumi Aso was very popular when it was beginning to be published by
The anime was not very successful in Japan and it was taken off the air sooner than expected due to its low ratings in the country .[9] (the anime series stalled at the count of only 19 episodes, as opposed to 26 episodes that had been planned by the producers). The manga series remained popular among loyal fans and continued to be serialized through Margaret magazine until Aso ended the series at 16 volumes.
The anime series would have probably never have been released outside Japan had not been for the 1988 Olympics which were to be held at Seoul, South Korea. The 1988 Olympics featured national rhythmic gymnastic competitions, and because of that the anime series was re-aired during the Olympics in 1988.[3] During this time Tatsunoko Productions decided to release the series in Europe were rhythmic gymnastics is popular. And in an instant the anime became a huge success in every European country that it was dubbed and aired.[citation needed]
The anime series was criticized in Europe for its inability to properly show movement and for the fact that the rhythmic gymnastic performances were too short compare to real performances that can last for as far as five minutes.[10] But despite this criticism, the anime became very successful in Europe and it is still popular to this day[citation needed].
Hentai version
For a number of years during the late 1980s and 90s there have been rumors of a
Notes
- ^ Hikari's age and name changes in the different versions of the anime: In the Italian version her name is Hilary and she is fourteen. In the German version her name is Hikari and she is thirteen. In the French version her name she is Cynthia and she is fifteen. In the Spanish version her name is Valentina and she is twelve.
References
- ^ Esther Forberger (2007-03-05). "Hikari - Die kleinen Superstars (Anime)" (in German). animePRO. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
- ^ Romanesque (2007-03-05). "Cynthia ou le rythme de la vie" (in French). Romanesque. Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
- ^ a b Zahara Medina (2007-03-05). "Hikari no Densetsu (Piruetas)" (in Spanish). Manga Es. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
- ^ Candy (2007-03-05). "Cynthia ou le rythme de la vie" (in French). Animez Vou. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
- ^ Martina (2007-03-05). "La leggenda di Hikari" (in Italian). Shōjo in Italia. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ Richard Llewellyn (2007-03-05). "Hikari no Densetsu". Animated Divots. Archived from the original on 2007-03-22. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
- ^ Only Shōjo (2007-05-03). "Hilary" (in Italian). Only Shōjo. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- ^ Anime no Tomodachi (2007-03-05). "Die kleinen Superstars" (in German). Anime no Tomodachi. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
- ^ Homme de Verre (2007-03-05). "Cynthia ou le Rythme de la Vie" (in French). Planete-Jeunesse. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- ^ VSpider (2007-03-05). "Cynthia ou le rythme de la vie" (in French). Vspider. Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
- ^ G-root (2007-03-05). "White Shadow (ホワイト·シャドウ)" (in Japanese). G-root. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
- ^ Martina Emy (2007-03-05). "Curiositá" (in Italian). Shōjo in Italia. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
External links
- Hikari no Densetsu (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia