Hipira: The Little Vampire (ヒピラくん, Hipira-kun^?) is a manga-style story book written by Katsuhiro Otomo and illustrated by Shinji Kimura. The manga is licensed in English by Dark Horse Comics. The manga was adapted into an anime and broadcast on NHK BS-2 from December 21–25, 2009.

Media

Manga

Shufu-to-Seikatsu Sha Ltd. released the manga on September 2002.^[1] The manga is licensed in English by Dark Horse Comics,^[2] which released the manga on August 24, 2005.^[3] Casterman released the manga on October 17, 2007.^[4]

Anime

The manga to be adapted into an anime and broadcast on NHK BS-2's BS Fuyu Yasumi Anime Tokusen program for five consecutive days starting from December 21, 2009.^[5] The anime will feature Yumiko Kobayashi as Hipira, Sayaka Ohara as Soul, Bin Shimada as Chōrō, Chihiro Suzuki as Georuge and Ayumi Fujimura as Erena.^[5]

Reception

NewType USA magazine commends Shinji Kimura's artwork saying that his illustrations are both "creepy and cute".^[6] A reviewer at Fourth-Rate Reader commends the manga for being "tooth-achingly sweet and cute". However, the reviewer felt that the translation and editing of the manga from Japanese to English was done poorly.^[7]

References

1. ^ "ヒピラくん (大型本)" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4391126907/. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
2. ^ "New Dark Horse Manga". Anime News Network. 2004-07-24. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2004-07-24/new-dark-horse-manga. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
3. ^ "Hipira". Dark Horse Comics. http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/10-505/Hipira. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
4. ^ "Hipira Vol.1 (Casterman) - Manga Sanctuary" (in French). Manga Sanctuary. http://www.manga-sanctuary.com/manga-hipira-vol-1-simple-s5422-p10241.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "Otomo's Hipira: The Little Vampire Book Gets TV Anime (Updated)". Anime News Network. 2009-12-10. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-10/otomo-hipira/the-little-vampire-book-gets-tv-anime. Retrieved 12 December 2009. 
6. ^ "Review: Hipira: The Little Vampire". Dark Horse Comics. April 2005. http://www.darkhorse.com/Reviews/118/Hipira-The-Little-Vampire. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
7. ^ "Hipira (Katsuhiro Otomo)". Fourth-Rate Reader. 09 January 2006. http://lit.fictionary.ca/2006/01/hipira-katsuhiro-otomo.html. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 

External links

• Hipira: The Little Vampire (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Official Hipira website (Japanese)