From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Akikan! (アキカン!
?, lit. Empty Can!) is a
Japanese light novel
series by Riku Ranjō, with illustrations by Hiro Suzuhira,
known for her artistry in Shuffle!. The first novel was released on
May 24, 2007, and as of April 24, 2009, eight volumes have been
published by Shueisha
under their Super Dash Bunko label. A manga
adaptation began serialization in Ultra Jump on October 18, 2008, an anime adaptation began airing on
January 3, 2009.[1] On
December 22, 2008, an early release of the first episode was
streamed on the internet through Bandai Channel. On the day the final episode
aired on March 28, 2009, an Akikan! OVA was announced to
follow on 23 October.[2]
Story
Akikan (”Empty Can”) is the unlikely story of high school boy
Kakeru Daichi, whose can of melon juice soda magically transforms
into a human girl. More "akikan" girls begin appearing, each of
them needing to be infused with carbon dioxide from their
respective drink types to survive. The akikans were created as part
of the 'Akikan Elect' to determine whether steel cans or aluminium
cans are superior. The akikans must battle each other until only
the strongest can type is left standing.
Characters
Owners
- Kakeru Daichi (大地 カケル, Daichi
Kakeru
?)
- Voiced by: Jun
Fukuyama
- The series' main Protagonist. A sixteen year old male virgin
studying at Kyuugetsu Academy. He's a perverted boy who loves to
play lewd jokes. He enjoys collecting rare juice cans and basically
likes juices. One day, he bought a melon soda that transformed into
a girl, which was an Akikan. He was later invited by Hidehiko Otoya
to join the "Akikan Elect" and "Intelligence Port Project" but
being a person who hated fights, he rejected the invitation
(although he was later forced to participate). Later, he made his
mind to crush those projects together with his comrades. A certain
incident during his sophomore/junior high school days made him
afraid of hurting somebody. Later on, he will also be the owner of
Shiruko, who is another Akikan.
- Najimi Tenkuji (天空寺 なじみ, Tenkūji
Najimi
?)
- Voiced by: Aki
Toyosaki
- Kakeru's childhood-friend and classmate, whose charm point is
her "antenna" hair which changes form according to her mood. She's
an heiress to the Tenkuuji group of companies and she holds a
romantic feeling toward Kakeru. She's gentle and easy-going, but
her weird sense of imagination tend to warp her into her own world.
She became Yell's owner as she bought a sports drink at the night
of Yurika Kochikaze's birthday party. She has the history of being
saved by Kakeru from being kidnapped. She also gets drunk off
carbonated drinks and will attempt to strip when under the
influence.
- Kensuke Toudou (塔堂 拳介, Tōdō
Kensuke
?)
- A former boxer and a participant of the "Akikan Elect". He was
a good and hard-working guy back when he was still practicing
boxing, but became bitter and cruel when he was forced to retire
due to an injury. He is also the owner of Mai, an Aluminum
Akikan.
- Misaki Miyashita (宮下 美咲, Miyashita
Misaki
?)
- Voiced by: Ryou Hirohashi
- A junior high sophomore student who owns Budoko. She was a
timid girl who hid inside her shell and didn't have friends. She
was afraid of making friends, thinking that someday she and her
friends might hate each other, just like her parents. Her hobby is
drawing and she often refers people to Otaku terminologies.
Akikans
- Melon (メロン,
Meron
?)
- Voiced by: Sayaka
Narita
- A steel Akikan who came from a melon soda, owned by Kakeru.
She's competitive and strong-willed, which was the reason why she
was always having a fight with Kakeru. Although she likes her owner
she cannot express her feelings well, which ends up telling
opposite of what she wants to say. She likes watching baseball
matches, even with midnight telecasts, though she has stated she
has no clue on how the game is played. She basically hates Aluminum
Akikans and is always having small quarrels with Yell. She mostly
uses carbon dioxide based cool drink sorcery in battle.
- Budoko (ぶど子
?)
- Voiced by: Aoi Yūki
- An Aluminum Akikan who came from a grape juice. She's small but
strong willed and talks in a funny way. She was killed once by
Melon as a result of the "Akikan Elect" battle but was revived
later as RG:A (this does not happen in the anime as Kakeru made
Melon miss). She loves to watch the stars together with her owner,
Misaki Miyashita.
- Yell (エール,
Ēru
?)
- Voiced by: Mamiko Noto
- An Aluminum Akikan who came from a sports drink, owned by
Najimi. She's usually cool and composed but she becomes furious
when someone tries to insult her owner, going as far as to attempt
to kill Kakeru when he (unknowingly) upsetted Najimi. She's got
sharp vision which was the cause for her being sensitive to moving
objects, causing her the urge to play with it. In this aspect and
several others, she is very cat-like. Her tail-like hair that
twitches when she see's moving objects ecentuates this fact. She
also loves animals and she herself has a pet turtle called "Kame".
She uses the "isotonic sword" as her cool drink sorcery, which can
cut through anything made of organic matter.
- Shiruko (しるこ
?)
- A steel Akikan who came from a sweet red bean soup. She has the
appearance of a 5th grade school student. She's very shy is easily
scared by loud noises, but she is a kind-hearted girl who worries
for everyone. Unlike Melon and Yell, she dislikes being cold and
prefers warm temperature. She loves taking hot baths and she likes
to eat red bean rice cakes. She wears mouse-style pajamas when she
sleeps.
- Mai (舞
?)
- An Aluminum Akikan who came from a can of vegetable juice owned
by Toudou. At first, she seemed to be a selfish Akikan who did not
care for her owner but later it was discovered that she was a
caring Akikan who always thinks about what is best for her owner.
She talks tomboyishly. Her cool drink spells are the
vegetable-summoning "Gevetarians" and the knuckle bombing "Mixed
Vegetable".
- Miku (未来,
Miku
?)
- Voiced by: Megumi
Nakajima
- A mixed juice Steel Akikan who appears in the anime. Her can
was girlished by a cat (the same cat that is usually found on the
roof of Daichi and Melon's house) who ran off right away. This
caused her to have a hatred of Akikans, both Aluminum and Steel,
with owners, and she began absorbing their powers and calling
herself The Strongest Akikan. Her main cool drink sorcery is
Rainbow Splash Mixer, and she also has the ability to make clones
of the Akikans she had captured called Zeros. Since she was never
given a name, Kakeru gives her the name 'Miku', a name she likes
but doesn't admit to it. Daichi offered the idea to be her Owner,
something she considered until Otoya showed her a picture of her
true Owner and ran off to find it. At the end of the series she is
friends with the main cast and still chasing her Owner.
Others
- Yurika Kochikaze (東風 揺花, Kochikaze
Yurika
?)
- Voiced by: Aiko
Ōkubo
- Kakeru and Najimi's classmate who claims to be Najimi's lover.
She's always having fights with Kakeru and Yell as her rival for
Najimi. She's also a self-proclaimed witch and she often uses cards
to throw at Kakeru (which, from the back, look like tarot
cards but are normal poker cards). In some instances she shows
mysterious powers. Her birthday is on Halloween, which could relate to the reason
she believes she is a witch.
- Goro Amaji (甘字 五郎, Amaji
Gorō
?)
- Voiced by: Nobuhiko
Okamoto
- Kakeru's classmate and friend. He was nick-named Gigolo by
Kakeru but he was far from being a ladies' man. He is often
forgotten by his friends due to his lack of Existence. He also has
a crush on Yurika Kochikaze but always ends up not being able to
tell her or being ignored. But, he is a reliable person at times of
need, always ready to help his friend. He lives together with his
three sisters, all sharing the same bunk bed.
- Hidehiko Otoya (男屋 秀彦, Otoya
Hidehiko
?)
- Voiced by: Ryōtarō
Okiayu
- A government official designated to Department of Economy. He
is the person who established the "Akikan Elect" and "Intelligence
Port project", though his motive for their establishment is not yet
clear. A self-proclaimed gay who loves pretty boys, he goes
undercover at the school as the school doctor. He's often having
contact with Kakeru harassing him sexually, only to be hurt
severely by Kakeru every time.
- Airin Kizaki (木崎 愛鈴, Kizaki
Airin
?)
- Voiced by: Megumi
Toyoguchi
- Otoya's secretary. She's strict but shy by nature and is always
having a problem with Otoya calling her by her given name, which
she was embarrassed to be heard by others. She later becomes the
homeroom teacher to keep an eye on the Owners and Akikans. She's
also one of the few ordinary persons in the series.
Terminology
- Akikan
- Literally, an empty can. They are juice cans who turn into
girls when drunk. Their life is the juice that is contained within
them, and when they become empty, they turn back to an empty can.
They can be replenished by pouring the same juice into the original
can. Turning into human form consumes juice so they have to keep
drinking the same juice in order to maintain their human form,
although they can also eat fruits relevant to their juice. Using
cool drink sorcery also consumes juice. They can also turn back
into an empty can when their pull tab in their ear is pulled.
Steel cans have their pull tab in their left ear while aluminum
cans have theirs in the right ear. Depending on the kind of juice
contained inside that can, an Akikan can be sensitive to
temperature. This meaning that their health is affected by the
temperature of the environment they live in. For example, if Melon
is in a warm cupboard, once in human form, Melon would have fainted
due to loss of carbon dioxide within her body (all because of the
warm temperature). On the other hand, if Shiruko was placed in a
fridge, due to her "juice" being red bean soup (a hot condiment)
she would lose her natural heat and therefore weaken and faint,
etc. There is only one Akikan in any type of juice.
- Girlish
- A term for the process of turning an Akikan into human by
kissing. Name derived by Otoya based on the fact that it benefits
the girl.
- Cool Drink Sorcery
- Magical abilities that are unique to the Akikans. Each has
different kind of sorcery depending on their kind.
- Owner
- Term for the person (or animal) who owns an Akikan after first
awakening her. An Akikan will also stop functioning if its owner is
killed.
- Akikan Elect
- A competition between Steel and Aluminum cans established by
Otoya. It is a death match between the cans made from different
materials, and its goal is the eradication of one kind of can.
According to Otoya, it was decided by the Department of the Economy
that only one kind of can was needed in the juice industry to cut
costs.
- Intelligence Port Project
- Another project established by Otoya. Its details are still not
known.
Themes
- Opening 1 - "Miracle Plan ga Dekichatta!"
(ミラクル・プランができちゃった！
?) by Charmmy Queen
- Opening 2 - "Juicy Extacy" by Little Non
The ending to each episode is a variation of its theme,
performed in different styles with different lyrics, but always
ending with, "Would you like something to drink?" Guest artists
include k. moriya, Little Non, Charmmy Queen and Miku Hatsune.
- Ending - "Koisora Recycling" (恋空リサイクリング
?) by Nomiko
References
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