From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Full Moon o Sagashite (満月をさがして, Furu Mūn o Sagashite
?, lit. "Searching for the Full Moon")
is a Japanese shōjo manga by Arina Tanemura. According to the furigana, the kanji 満月 in the title are read
furu mūn ("full moon") and not mangetsu or
mitsuki, the Japanese words for the full moon. In
North America, the series is published as Full
Moon,[1]
although the full title is given on the front cover.
The manga was published by Shueisha in the magazine Ribon from January 2002 to June 2004 and
collected in seven tankōbon volumes. The manga is published
in North America
in English
by Viz Media.[2]
The series was adapted as an anime television series produced by Nihon Ad
Systems,[3]
which ended before the manga was completed, plus an OVA distributed with an issue
of Ribon.[4]
The series was broadcast on TV
Tokyo, where it enjoyed high ratings, and is also licensed in
North America by Viz
Media.[3]
Plot
12-year-old Mitsuki Koyama is a talented singer who dreams of
becoming a pop idol, but she is afflicted with sarcoma, which is curable only
through a surgery that could cost her vocal cords and her ability
to sing. The tumor in her throat also affects her ability to
breathe well and sing loudly. On top of that, her grandmother hates
music, and is completely opposed to Mitsuki's wish to audition. Her
dreams seem impossible to achieve, until one day she is visited by
two shinigami
whom only she can see. Without knowing Mitsuki can see and hear
them, they discuss how she only has one year left to live.
Realizing she cannot wait any longer to fulfill her dream, she
runs away from her house and the shinigami to try to
audition for a singing competition. However, the shinigami
catch her before she is able to audition. Mitsuki moves one of the
shinigami, Takuto, to make a deal with her—if she goes
quietly when her one year is up, he will help her become a singer
so that she may leave the world without any regrets. He gives her
the ability to transform into a healthy 16-year-old self who is not
encumbered by a throat tumor. Though there is much competition, she
is able to win over the judges with her enthusiasm for singing and
her excellent voice. To conceal her true identity, she chooses the
stage name Fullmoon.
Mitsuki decided to become a singer two years before the
shinigami's arrival, when she was 10 years old. She made a
promise with Eichi Sakurai, then a 16-year-old boy she met in her
orphanage, that the next
time they met, they would both be closer to their dreams. Eichi
wanted to become an astronomer and Mitsuki wanted to become a singer.
Shortly after, Eichi was adopted and emigrated to America before
Mitsuki could express her feelings for him. Mitsuki hopes that by
becoming a famous idol, Eichi will be able to hear her sing and
realize her feelings for him.
Shortly after her first audition to become a singer, the plot of
the manga and anime of this series separate. The two stories share
common themes, but events develop differently as the series
advances. In addition, several of the characters in the anime have
different histories and personalities from their manga
counterparts.
Characters
Humans
- Mitsuki Koyama (神山 満月, Kōyama
Mitsuki
?) Voiced by: myco
(Japanese), Katie
Rowan (English)
- A 12-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a pop singer but a
tumor in her vocal cords restricts her ability to sing. She is an
orphan who grew up in an orphanage, then later went to live with
her strict grandmother, Fuzuki, who forbid her from singing. When
Mitsuki learned that she would die if her vocal cords were not
removed, she refused the surgery, saying that she would rather die
than not be able to sing. With Takuto's help, she can transform
into Fullmoon (フルムーン, Furumūn
?), a 16-year-old pop idol, completely free of cancer and able
to sing. As Fullmoon, she is discovered by Seed Records during an
audition and releases several singles in both the manga and anime;
the anime ending theme songs are all
supposedly sung by her. Mitsuki chooses the stage name Fullmoon
both because mitsuki means "full moon" in Japanese and
because her childhood friend, Eichi Sakurai, wants to become an astronomer and the name
reminds her of him.
- Mitsuki wants to become a singer because she wants to tell
Eichi that she loves him. However, the shinigami
eventually discover that Eichi is dead. In the manga, they realize
that Mitsuki knew all along; in the anime, Mitsuki learns of his
death during a trip to America. Both the manga and anime revolve
around Mitsuki dealing with Eichi's death, as well as her eventual
feelings for Takuto.
- Eichi Sakurai (桜井 英知, Sakurai
Eichi
?) Voiced by: Ryohei Kimura
(Japanese), Graden Gant (English)
- Mitsuki's childhood friend and first love. After his parents
died, Eichi lived with his grandfather, then when he died as well,
Eichi moved to the orphanage where he met Mitsuki. They became fast
friends, and he eventually falls in love with her, confessing his
feelings just before moving to America. Mitsuki was heartbroken
when he left, as she could not yet confess her true feelings to
him. Part of the reason she wants to become a singer is to find
him. In the manga, Eichi dies when his flight to America crashes;
in the anime, Eichi dies in a car accident a few months after
moving.
- In the manga, Takuto's first assignment was taking Eichi's
soul, but Eichi refused to depart the world and instead stays near
Mitsuki as a spirit, which gives her the power to see
shinigami. He stays with her until the end of the manga,
when he leaves after seeing that she is now happy and wants to live
on, and no longer needs his presence.
- Fuzuki Koyama (神山 文月, Kōyama
Fuzuki
?) Voiced by: Kazuko Sugiyama
(Japanese), Maureen Jones (English)
- Mitsuki's grandmother. She initially hates music because she
believes that it has stolen everyone she has loved. She becomes
angry when Mitsuki sings in her house. After Mitsuki runs away from
home to become Fullmoon, Fuzuki constantly worries about her and
gradually realizes she cannot keep Mitsuki from music, and the two
reconcile.
- In the manga, as a young woman Fuzuki was friends with Moe
Rikyou (the human who became Meroko) and they both fell in love
with a violinist, Seijuro Koga. He chose Fuzuki as his fiancée, but broke off the engagement after
Moe committed suicide in despair. Fuzuki later married someone else
and had Hazuki, who became Mitsuki's mother. At the end of the
manga, Fuzuki reunites with Seijuro and they attend Mitsuki's
concert together.
- In the anime, Fuzuki was engaged to a man who wanted to become
a famous pianist. He became obsessed with practicing the piano, and
when she suggested that he should relax a bit, he said she did not
understand and left Japan, breaking Fuzuki's heart.
- Yoneya "Yone" Tanaka (田中 よね, Tanaka
Yone
?) Voiced by: Mayumi Akado
(Japanese), Suzette Mattar (English)
- Fuzuki's maid. She acts silly at times, but cares deeply for
both Fuzuki and Mitsuki. Tanaka is skilled at cooking, cleaning,
shopping, and appears to take pride in her abilities as a maid. She
is also something of a snoop and often eavesdrops on
conversations.
- In the anime, Tanaka is shown as loving music and she has a
radio with headphones so that she can listen without Fuzuki
knowing; Mitsuki sometimes uses this to blackmail Tanaka. Tanaka
also has a crush on Wakaoji and is jealous of Oshige, mistakenly
believing her to be Wakaoji's fiancée. In one episode, she
challenges Oshige to a contest to see which of the two would make a
better bride. Although Tanaka wins all events, she concedes contest
when she sees Wakaoji and Oshige laughing together, believing the
two are in love.
- Keiichi Wakaoji (若王子 圭一, Wakaōji
Keiichi
?) Voiced by: Teruaki Ogawa
(Japanese), Gerrick Winston (English)
- Mitsuki's doctor. He played keyboard in the band ROUTE:L along
with Mitsuki's father, Aoi Koga, and Takuto Kira, but he quit after
Aoi's death. Fans called him the "Prince of ROUTE:L" because
wakaōji means "young prince" in Japanese.
- In the manga, Wakaoji performed the surgery on Takuto to remove
the tumor in his vocal cords and witnessed Takuto's suicide.
Mitsuki learns that Wakaoji loved her mother because of a letter he
thought she had written him, but Wakaoji falls in love with Oshige
when he discovers the letter was from her. In a side story, he asks
Oshige to marry him and she accepts.
- Masami Oshige (大重 正実, Ōshige
Masami
?) Voiced by: Tomomi Seo
(Japanese), Kris Rundle (English)
- Fullmoon's manager, and a former avid fangirl of ROUTE:L,
especially Wakaoji. She started out as an unsuccessful idol singer,
under the stage name Yuina Hanakazari (花飾 結菜, Hanakazari Yuina
?), before moving to management. In the
manga, she has an affair with her boss out of loneliness despite
his being married, but she eventually starts dating Wakaoji. At the
end of the manga, Oshige marries Wakaoji.
- Madoka Wakamatsu (若松 円, Wakamatsu
Madoka
?) Voiced by: Kana (Japanese), Carol-Anne Day
(English)
- Madoka Wakamatsu is the stage name of Chisato Kurebayashi (暮林 千暁, Kurebayashi Chisato
?). She is Fullmoon's rival in the music
industry, who at the same time befriends 12-year-old Mitsuki. While
talented, she is constantly upstaged by Fullmoon because she
initially lacks the heart Mitsuki gives her songs. In addition, she
is insecure because she had plastic surgery to make herself
beautiful as a celebrity and was disowned by her family as a
result. Madoka has a small pig called Gut-chan (ぐっちゃん
?), who worships her; although she
sometimes takes out her anger on him, she is genuinely fond of
him.
- In the manga, Madoka is shown as having pride as well as
ambition: she refuses to cheat to win over Fullmoon, even once
resigning a commercial offer to Fullmoon when she realizes that
Fullmoon would have won if Madoka hadn't inadvertently stolen her
lyrics. In the anime, Madoka is not above using underhanded tactics
to best Fullmoon and does so several times.
- Aoi Koga (古雅 葵, Koga
Aoi
?) Voiced by: Hiroki
Takahashi
- Mitsuki's dead father, and former guitarist and songwriter for
the band ROUTE:L. He acted as a father figure for the orphaned
Takuto. In the manga, he died in an accident while driving Hazuki
to the hospital to give birth to Mitsuki; in the anime, he died
when Mitsuki was one year old.
- In the manga, Aoi is shown as a laid-back, cool-tempered man.
Arina Tanemura states that "He loves wearing Buddhist priest work
clothes!" Aoi was very close to his bandmates and friends, Keiichi
Wakaoji and Takuto Kira. He asked Takuto to name his daughter, and
Takuto decided on Mitsuki. He is only briefly seen in the anime,
including a scene where he gives a music box to Hazuki when
she named their daughter Mitsuki.
- Nachi (那智,
Nachi
?)
- The lead singer of the duo OZ, who befriends Mitsuki (as
Fullmoon) because she was the first person in the music industry to
genuinely smile as she spoke to him. He cherishes her friendship
and takes it upon himself to find a stalker hurting people close to
her. Nachi and Madoka fall in love, though Gut-chan is jealous of
him. When Madoka finds he has an old photo of her with her
unattractive childhood fiancée, Soichiro Shido (紫堂 総一郎, Shidō Sōichirō
?), she assumes Nachi is Soichiro's
friend, pretending to love her to get revenge for Soichiro for
rejecting him hurtfully. Madoka apologizes to Soichiro's mother and
asks to break off the engagement because she loves Nachi, only to
discover Soichiro is Nachi, after having plastic surgery to become
an idol in hopes of making her love him. In the end, they remain
engaged.
- Hikari Hayashi (林 光理, Hayashi
Hikari
?)
- She was Takuto's girlfriend while he was alive. Takuto
discovered that she was cheating on him and the two were on the
verge of breaking up when Takuto attempted suicide and went into a
coma, after which Hikari realized that she still loved him. She
later sees Takuto (visible to humans while on a date with Mitsuki)
and attempts to revive their relationship, which causes problems
between Takuto and Mitsuki.
Shinigami
The shinigami are the spirits of humans that
committed suicide and are
punished with the task of collecting souls. If a shinigami
fully remembers his or her past life before becoming a full
shinigami, he or she disappears and becomes a ghost.
- Takuto Kira (タクト·キラ, Takuto
Kira
?) Voiced by: Yakkun Sakurazuka
(Japanese), Jeffrey Watson (English)
- Takuto is Meroko's partner and trainee, and they are assigned
to take Mitsuki's soul. His shinigami costume is a cat
outfit plus a backpack with wings without which, as a trainee
shinigami, he cannot fly. Takuto is capable of
transforming into an anthropomorphic cat plushie. Moved by Mitsuki's plight, he
transforms her into the 16-year-old Fullmoon to let her audition as
a singer, and develops romantic feelings for her. He becomes
depressed at times, especially when Mitsuki talks about Eichi, the
boy she loves. As the series progresses, he remembers his past as
Takuto Kira (吉良托人, Kira
Takuto
?), the lead singer of ROUTE:L, the band
that both Mitsuki's father and her doctor were in. While Takuto was
alive, he named Mitsuki before she was born, and later met her when
she was four years old. After a malignant tumor in his throat took
his voice, he committed suicide by jumping from the top floor of
the hospital. At the end of the series, Takuto saves Mitsuki's
life, violating fate and his duty as a shinigami. At the
end of the manga, he is seen as a human again in the hospital,
having lost 3 months of memories. Three years later, he reunites
with Mitsuki during her concert, where Mitsuki jumps off stage
mid-song and confesses her feelings to him. In the anime
adaptation, the circumstances of his death are changed, and he is
said to have been in a motorbike accident and was in a coma rather
than dead. The ending is also changed, with Takuto seen in the last
series with no memories, but still carrying the cat charm Mitsuki
gave him. Mitsuki follows after him and manages to call out his
name, and he turns towards her.
- Meroko Yui (めろこ·ユイ, Meroko
Yui
?) Voiced by: Chieko Honda
(Japanese), Leda Davies (English)
- Meroko is a rabbit shinigami with long ears, capable
of transforming into an anthropomorphic
bunny stuffed toy.
Meroko is Takuto's partner and is infatuated with him, though her
love is unrequited. She is jealous of Takuto's affection for
Mitsuki, and fears that being around Mitsuki will cause Takuto to
remember his past, and thus become a ghost. Meroko was Izumi's
former partner and was infatuated with him; when Izumi grew tired
of her frequent declarations of love, he tricked her into training
newcomer Takuto in his place. Although Meroko claims to be in love
with Takuto, she eventually realizes that she still loves Izumi. As
a human, Meroko was Mitsuki's grandmother's best friend, Moe Rikyo
(里匡萌, Rikyō Moe
?). Mitsuki's grandmother, Fuzuki, was
engaged to be married when they both met, and fell in love with a
violinist, Seijuro Koga. He loved Fuzuki, however, and eventually
became engaged to her, whereupon her former fiancée was passed on
to Moe. When Moe caught Fuzuki and the violinist kissing, she ran
away, with a fallen over Fuzuki calling out to her. After her own
fiancée tried to rape her, Moe killed herself. In the anime
adaptation, the connection to Fuzuki and Meroko's human past are
never revealed. Meroko and Izumi become partners again in the
manga. In the anime Meroko becomes a ghost to save Takuto but she
instead becomes a angel and leads Mitsuki to Takuto using the
rabbit charm.
- Izumi Rio (いずみ·リオ, Izumi
Rio
?) Voiced by: Megumi
Ogata
- Izumi is a cold and distant shinigami assigned the
Pediatrics Ward. He can transform into an anthropomorphic dog plushie, but rarely
does so because it takes a lot of energy and he says it is
embarrassing. He likes to call other characters by nicknames. In
his human life, he was a six-year-old boy named Lio Izumi (泉利緒, Izumi Rio
?) whose mother beat him because he
looked like his dead father. To make his mother happy for once, he
threw himself in front of a train, and while he saw his mother
smile as he was hit, it did not satisfy him. Eventually, Mitsuki
helps Izumi realize that he had wanted his mother to call him back
from the tracks. At the end of the manga, he and Meroko team up
again as angels. In the anime, Izumi's background is not mentioned
and he is portrayed as a cold-hearted antagonist. He makes several
attempts to steal Mitsuki's soul, and although he claims to love
Meroko, he frequently does things to hurt her. He was responsible
for Takuto and Meroko being assigned to Mitsuki in hopes it would
get Takuto to remember his past life as a human and turn him into a
ghost.
- Jonathan (ジョナサン,
Jonasan
?) Voiced by: Norihisa
Mori
- Jonathan is the shinigami who becomes Izumi's partner
after Meroko leaves. He wears a top hat and often speaks in English.
Throughout the series, he appears subservient to Izumi, while
conducting covert operations including revealing to Mitsuki that
the shinigami already knew that Eichi was dead and
becoming a fanatic who tries to harm Fullmoon and her friends. It
is eventually revealed that he is really Sheldan (シェルダン部長, Sherudan-buchō
?), the head of the pediatrics ward. He
attempts to take Mitsuki's life, but is stopped by Takuto, Meroko,
and Izumi. He was the second shinigami to be born, and
shows great affection towards Mystere. In the final chapter, he
uses up all his powers with Mystere to heal Takuto's throat and
give him his voice back, and disappears along with Mystere. In the
anime adaptation, Jonathan's role is minor, acting only as Izumi's
sidekick and a source of annoyance.
- Death Master (死神主人, Desu
Masutā
?)
- Also called Mystere (ミスティア,
Misutia
?), the Death Master was the first human
soul to descend to the Underworld and is the crowned queen of the
Underworld. After discovering she could take the souls of humans,
she encountered a dying young girl who asked her if she was a
shinigami, which convinced her that she was one. Fragile
and sentimental, she is believed to be the most powerful
shinigami. When Meroko enters her room to erase Mitsuki's
name from the rolls of the dead, Mystere gives her the keys to free
Takuto, and later she listens with a smile to Mitsuki's final
performance as Fullmoon. At the end of the manga, when Mystere and
Sheldon disappear after using up their power healing Takuto's
throat, they appear to show great affection for each other, and
Mystere says that unlike the last time she died, she has no regrets
about it.
Production
- In an author's freetalk in the manga, Tanemura mentions that
one day with her friends, she drew a picture of what she thought Peeves from Harry Potter looked like. She showed
it to friends, who laughed and said it did not look anything like
Peeves. Tanemura decided not to waste it, and used the sketch as
the design of Jonathan in ghost form.
- Mitsuki's corkscrew hairstyle is taken from Ai Kago from the group Morning
Musume.[5]
Mitsuki herself is modeled on one of Arina Tanemura's assistants,
Airi Teito.[6]
Media
Manga
Full Moon o Sagashite was published by Shueisha in the magazine
Ribon from January 2002
to June 2004 and collected in seven tankōbon volumes. The
manga is licensed in North America in English by Viz Media as Full
Moon,[2]
although the full title is given on the front cover.
| No. |
Japan[7] |
North America[1] |
| Release date |
ISBN |
Release date |
ISBN |
| 1 |
June 14, 2002 |
ISBN 978-4-08-856380-0 |
July 5, 2005 |
ISBN 978-1-59116-928-4 |
| 2 |
October 15, 2002 |
ISBN 978-4-08-856408-1 |
August 23, 2005 |
ISBN 978-1-4215-0036-2 |
| 3 |
March 14, 2003 |
ISBN 978-4-08-856445-6 |
October 4, 2005 |
ISBN 978-1-4215-0059-1 |
| 4 |
August 8, 2003 |
ISBN 978-4-08-856483-8 |
December 6, 2005 |
ISBN 978-1-4215-0125-3 |
| 5 |
January 15, 2004 |
ISBN 978-4-08-856514-9 |
April 4, 2006 |
ISBN 978-1-4215-0266-3 |
| 6 |
June 15, 2004 |
ISBN 978-4-08-856542-2 |
July 5, 2006 |
ISBN 978-1-4215-0397-4 |
| 7 |
July 15, 2004 |
ISBN 978-4-08-856549-1 |
October 3, 2006 |
ISBN 978-1-4215-0476-6 |
Anime
The series was adapted as a 52-episode anime television series by Studio Deen, directed by Toshiyuki Kato.
It was broadcast on TV
Tokyo from April 6, 2002 to March 29, 2003.[3]
The adaptation follows the manga closely until Mitsuki's first
audition as a singer, before diverging. Several characters have
different histories and personalities, and the television series
concluded before the manga did, with a different resolution.
The television series is licensed by Viz Media, which released seven DVDs under
the title Full Moon[3]
before putting further releases on indefinite hold, citing low
sales potential.[8]
The songs are subtitled only, resulting in a dub that switches
between English dialogue and Japanese singing.[9]
Full Moon o Sagashite has two openings, and four endings. "I
Love U" by The Scanty
is used as the opening song for the first 26 episodes, while the
group's song "Rock 'n' Roll Princess" is used for the rest. Changin' My
Life performs all four ending themes: "New Future" used for the
first six episodes and the last episode 52, "Myself" is used for
episodes 7-26, "Eternal Snow" is used for episodes 27-42, and "Love
Chronicle" is used in episodes 43-51.
OVA
Full Moon o Sagashite: Cute Cute Adventure (満月をさがして かわいいかわいい大冒険, Furu Mūn
o Sagashite Kawaii Kawaii Daibōken
?) is a ten-minute anime OVA that was distributed with
the November 2002 issue of Ribon, the magazine in which the manga was
serialized. It was produced by Studio Deen, and stars myco as
Mitsuki and Chieko
Honda as Meroko, as in the television series, but Hiromi Ōtsuda
as Takuto.[4]
Set before the series ends, it features Takuto and Meroko trying to
make their way to the studio in stuffed animal forms after Mitsuki
accidentally leaves them home while rushing to work.
Art book
On April 15, 2004, Shueisha released a seventy-page art book for
the series entitled The Arina Tanemura Collection: The Art of
Full Moon (満月をさがしてイラスト集種村有菜COLLECTION, Furu Mūn
o Sagashite: Irasuto Shū Tanemura Arina Collection
?).[10] Viz
Media released an English language edition in North America October
21, 2008.[11]
References
External
links
Shueisha
Viz Media
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