From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kanokon (かのこん
?) is a Japanese light novel series by Katsumi Nishino, with
illustrations by Koin. The first novel was released on October 31,
2005, and as of February 25, 2008, nine volumes have been published
by Media Factory
under their MF Bunko
J label. A manga
adaptation by Rin Yamaki started serialization in the seinen manga magazine Monthly
Comic Alive on June 27, 2006, also published by Media
Factory. A drama CD was produced by Media Factory that
was released on March 28, 2007. A twelve-episode anime aired in Japan between April and June 2008
produced by Xebec.[1] A
second anime season has been announced. A visual novel named Kanokon Esuii
developed by 5pb. was released for
the PlayStation
2 on July 31, 2008.
Plot
Kanokon's story revolves around Kouta Oyamada, a young
first-year high school student who moves from the country to the
city and thus transfers to Kunpō High School. On his first day at
his new school, he meets a beautiful second-year female student
named Chizuru Minamoto. Chizuru asks him to meet her alone in the
music room. When he arrives, she tells him that she is in love with
him and accidentally reveals to him that she is in fact a fox spirit. Chizuru constantly
flirts with Kouta which embarrasses him greatly due to others
watching. Soon after the story begins, a wolf spirit named Nozomu
Ezomori transfers into Kouta's school and class. From day one, she
is all over Kouta which serves to embarrass him more and cause
Chizuru to become annoyed at her new competition for Kouta's
affection.
Characters
Main
characters
- Kouta Oyamada (小山田 耕太, Oyamada
Kōta
?)
- Voiced by: Mamiko Noto
- Kouta is the protagonist of the story. He moves from the
country to the city in his first year of high school, and on his
first day of school, he discovers that the second year girl Chizuru
Minamoto is actually a kitsune. He used to live with his grandfather
before moving. Kouta generally has a mild personality and is
indecisive. When he was younger, he almost drowned in a river and
now has a fear of swimming. At his school, everyone either calls
him the "Great Erotic
King" or a "beast" because of the disgraceful acts Chizuru commits
with him in public. Despite his reluctance to engage in the
'intimate' acts that Chizuru desires, his feelings for her are
genuine. One demonstration of this is that they are able to fuse
together into a powerful being, which can only occur between a
human and a kitsune when
they share a deep emotional link. In this form, Kouta tranforms
into a black-furred five-tailed fox spirit.
- Chizuru Minamoto (源 千鶴, Minamoto
Chizuru
?)
- Voiced by: Ayako
Kawasumi
- Chizuru is a carefree second year female student at Kouta's
school. She appears to be a normal, albeit big-breasted, teenage
girl, but she is in fact a 400-year-old powerful kitsune. When she changes form, her hair goes
from black to blond and she gains fox ears and a tail. She is
constantly hanging around and on Kouta; he is the only male she
acts genuinely towards. She loves Kouta very much and wants to
enter a "relationship of sin" with him. She is a very forward
person and makes almost constant sexual suggestions and actions
toward Kouta. She is also a terrible cook, though she improves
later on, and shows some interest in masochism.
- Nozomu Ezomori (犹守 望, Ezomori
Nozomu
?)
- Voiced by: Miyū
Takeuchi
- Nozomu is a first year female student at Kouta's school who
first appears in the third volume of the novels. She has short
silver hair, and is in fact a 200-year-old wolf spirit. She has an
older brother named Saku. Despite her seemingly detached and
emotionless manner, she is in love with Kouta and thus a rival of
Chizuru's for Kouta's affections. She sometimes insults Chizuru by
calling her a "Horny Beast," saying that Chizuru "smells obscene"
and that her breasts are flabby. While she has small breasts and a
much more childlike appearance than Chizuru, Nozomu also frequently
tries to initiate sexual acts with Kouta. She lives by herself in
an expensive penthouse apartment, though it is
empty where she always sleeps naked on the floor. Though he truly
cares for Chizuru, sometimes Kouta prefers Nozomu's company because
she is not as perverted as Chizuru. She is a serious glutton,
especially for meat.
Secondary
characters
- Tayura Minamoto (源 たゆら, Minamoto
Tayura
?)
- Voiced by: Toshiyuki
Toyonaga
- Tayura is the younger brother of Chizuru and Kouta's classmate.
When they first meet, Tayura is jealous of the relationship between
his sister and Kouta. Chizuru says that he is suffering from a sister
complex. Tayura looks much older than many boys his age. He
enjoys teasing his older sister and Kouta by calling them "love
birds". Like his sister, he too is a fox spirit, much younger, and is not really
related to Chizuru, but rather adopted. He generally has a calm and
cool personality. Whenever he tries to get closer to Akane, he is
given the cold shoulder, though he himself has stated that it is
okay with her being cold.
- Akane Asahina (朝比奈 あかね, Asahina
Akane
?)
- Voiced by: Chiwa
Saitō
- Akane is the class representative of Kouta's class, and wears glasses. Due to this,
she has a high sense of regulations, and therefore disagrees with
Kouta's and Chizuru's close high school relationship. She is on
good terms with Kouta, and worries about his relationship with
Chizuru. She warns Kouta to watch out for Chizuru, though she might
be jealous of Chizuru's body. Also, she is known to be intolerant
of alcohol, as seen in episode six in the anime where Kouta gives
her and Chizuru sweet wine. At first very cold to Tayura, she warms
up to him after he riskes his life to save her in the ocean, though
she still slugs him when he tries to be more intimate with
her.
- Ren Nanao (七々尾 蓮, Nanao
Ren
?), Ai Nanao (七々尾 藍, Nanao Ai
?)
- Voiced by: Mai
Kadowaki (Ren) and Tamaki Nakanishi (Ai)
- Ren and Ai are twin first-year sisters at Kouta's school, and
first appeared in the fifth volume of the novels. They are spirit
hunters who live at a very poor temple, and are frequently seen
doing things that homeless people would do, for example, making
stew out of trash and roadside weeds, or eating thrown away bread
crusts. Originally, they were given the task to assassinate
Chizuru, but did not go through with it since she was still "only a
kid," and the fact that she treated them to a free meal, which is
considered as heaven to the twins. They are nearly identical except
for their slightly different hair styles. They use chains when
attacking, and are also seen in the anime ineffectively using
explosives. They refer to Chizuru as "Mama".
- Omi Kiriyama (桐山 臣, Kiriyama
Omi
?)
- Voiced by: Takashi
Kondō
- Omi is a second year student at Kouta's school who is in fact a
sickle weasel with the
power to control the wind. Omi was once the bitter enemy of the
Minamoto siblings. In the fourth volume of the novels, he succeeds
as the gang leader of the delinquents at his school. He hates the
friendship between Kouta and his friends, and does not speak much.
In the anime, he accidentally hurts Kouta who took a blow for
Chizuru. Since he is not permitted to harm humans, such an act has
serious consequences for him. He thinks Mio is pretty.
- Mio Osakabe (長ヶ部 澪, Osakabe
Mio
?)
- Voiced by: Miyu
Matsuki
- Mio is a second year student with a shy nature who hangs around
with Omi. Due to her short stature, she is often mistaken for a
grade school student and has even received multiple confessions
from grade school students. She is in fact half frog spirit and can
heal quickly. While she did not have a name originally, Omi named
her from a combination of his own given name and his home town's
name. She is on good terms with Omi.
- Ryūsei Kumada (熊田 流星, Kumada
Ryūsei
?)
- Voiced by: Kenta
Miyake
- Ryūsei is a third year student who has a distinct cross-wound
over his left eye and was a gang leader of the delinquents at
school before Omi took over in his place. He is in fact a bear
spirit. In the fourth volume, he graduated from high school, but
soon changes his name to Suisei Kumada (熊田 彗星, Kumada Suisei
?) restarts high school as a first year
student.
- Iku Sahara (砂原 幾, Sahara
Iku
?)
- Voiced by: Noriko
Shitaya
- Iku is a social studies teacher and is Kouta's
homeroom teacher. She is prone to making silly mistakes and is very
childish. She is in fact possessed by a yōkai and thus has dissociative identity
disorder as an effect. She has to conceal her true identity to
Chizuru, and oversees the spirits at school.
- Takao Yatsuka (八束 たかお, Yatsuka
Takao
?)
- Voiced by: Takashi
Matsuyama
- Takao is the gym teacher at Kouta's school, and has a scary
face. Like Iku, he too is overseeing the spirits at school. He is
very wise, and gets along with Yukihana.
- Saku Ezomori (犹守 朔, Ezomori
Saku
?)
- Voiced by: Yūto
Kazama
- Saku is the older brother of Nozomu who makes his first
appearance in the second volume of the novels; and like his sister,
he is a wolf spirit. He usually drives a motorcycle around town,
and he later reveals that he is in love with Chizuru, resulting in
him putting a bracelet on Kouta to stop him from doing anything
perverted with Chizuru. The bracelet is taken off a few days later
when Kouta and Chizuru defeats him in their fused form.
- Minori Mitama (三珠 美乃里, Mitama
Minori
?)
- Minori makes her first appearance in volume three of the
novels, and refers to herself as Kouta's younger sister.
- Nue (鵺
?)
- Nue makes her first appearance in volume three of the novels,
serving as Minori's servant. As her name indicated, she is a nue, but also have a pair of raven
wings for flight.
- Tamamo (玉藻
?)
- Voiced by: Naomi
Shindō
- Tamamo makes her first appearance in volume three of the
novels. She is the manager of a hot-spring hotel deep in the snowy
mountains and Chizuru's mother, though not related by blood. She is
a very powerful, golden-furred nine-tailed kitsune. Occasionally, when business is slow,
she manages a beach-side restaurant. She gets along with Kouta,
though does sometimes meddle in his relationship with Chizuru.
- Yukihana (雪花
?)
- Voiced by: Risa
Hayamizu
- Yukihana, a yuki-onna, makes her first appearance in
volume three of the novels. She is a ninja who works under Tamamo
at her hot-spring hotel. She has an honest personality. In volume
seven of the novels, she becomes a teacher for the handicapped at
Kouta's school. When working as a teacher, she goes by the name
Hanadai Yukino (雪野花代, Yukino
Hanadai
?), and if someone calls out to her
using the name Yukihana, she will say she is not that person. She
can manipulate snow storms and uses a gleaming sword in battle, and
is physically very strong. Her name means Snow Flower.
- Okata (御方
?)
- Okata is a yōkai who is
the head of the Sahara family; her true form is that of an old
woman. She has survived for thousands of years.
Media
Light
novels
Kanokon began as a series of light novels written by Katsumi Nishino,
and drawn by Koin. The series started under the title Kanojo wa
Kon, to Kawaiku Seki o Shite (彼女はこん、とかわいく咳をして
?) when the first novel was submitted to
Media Factory's
annual literary contest MF
Bunko J Light Novel Rookie of the Year Award held in 2005. The
novel placed as a "good piece of work" with two other titles which
was more or less third place.[2] The
first novel was released on October 31, 2005, and as of February
25, 2008, nine volumes have been published.[3] The
novels are published by Media Factory under their MF Bunko
J publishing label. The novels were licensed by Los
Angeles-based company Seven Seas Entertainment for
distribution in the English language, but was later
removed from the Seven Seas website.
Manga
A manga adaptation started
serialization in the Japanese seinen manga magazine
Monthly Comic Alive on June
27, 2006, published by Media Factory. The manga takes its story
from the light novels that preceded it, and is illustrated by Rin
Yamaki. The first bound
volume was released on January 31, 2007, and as of December 22,
2009, eight volumes have been released by Media Factory under their
MF Comics label.[4]
Drama CDs
A drama CD based on the series was
released on March 28, 2007 by Media Factory. The drama's theme song was
"Otokonoko Desho" (オトコのコでしょ
?) sung by Marina Kuroki. Another drama CD will be
sold on June 25, 2008.[5]
Internet
radio show
An Internet
radio show produced by Media Factory called Kanokon Radio:
Kouta's and Chizuru's Bouncing Growth Diary (かのこんラジオ 〜耕太とちずるのゆやよん成長日記〜, Kanokon
Rajio ~Kōta to Chizuru no Yuya Yon Seichō Nikki~
?) began airing on March 21, 2007.[6] One
episode is broadcast every other week on Friday. The show is hosted
by Mamiko Noto (the
voice of Kouta in the anime), and Ayako Kawasumi (the voice of Chizuru in
the anime).[7] There
are four corners, or parts, to each episode. The shows starts with
a short radio drama,
which moves on to general news about the Kanokon anime and
series in general. Listeners can send in comments about the show up
on the air. The show's opening theme is "Strategy" by Ui Miyazaki, and the
ending theme is "Sweet Time" by Yui Sakakibara.
Anime
A twelve-episode anime
adaptation produced by the animation studio Xebec aired in
Japan between April 5 and June 21, 2008 on the AT-X television
network. The anime's opening theme is "Phosphor" sung by Ui Miyazaki, and the
ending theme is "Koi no Honō" (恋の炎
?) sung by Yui Sakakibara. There are also six
specials spread out over three DVDs. A second anime season has been
announced.[8] Media Blasters
licensed the series for distribution in North America.[9]
Visual
novel
A visual novel
playable on the PlayStation 2 entitled Kanokon
Esuii (かのこん
えすいー
?) was released on July 31, 2008 and
developed by 5pb. in limited and
regular editions.[10] The
limited edition came bundled with an audio CD containing an image song and an
original drama.[11] The
song, "Koi no Miracle Summer Vacation" (恋のミラクル☆サマーバケーション, Koi no
Mirakuru☆Samā Bakēshon
?), is sung by Mamiko Noto, Ayako Kawasumi, and Miyū Takeuchi, the
voice actresses of Kouta,
Chizuru, and Nozomu, respectively. The audio drama is entitled
"Natsu no Hi no Hajimari" (夏の日のはじまり
?, lit. "The Beginning of a Summery
Day"). The game is described by the development team as a
"noisy romantic-comedy ADV (ドタバタラブコメADV, Dotabata
Rabucome ADV
?).[12]
The game's opening theme is "Happy Succession" sung by Ui Miyazaki, and the
single containing the song will be released on August 27, 2008.[5]
The ending theme is "Eien no Koi" (永遠の恋
?, lit. "Eternal Love") by Yui
Sakakibara.[12]
Reception
The first DVD of Kanokon was ranked tenth on the Tohan
charts between June 26 and July 2, 2008,[13]
ranked eighth between July 10 and 16, 2008.[14] The
third DVD of Kanokon was ranked sixth on the Tohan charts
between August 21 and 27, 2008.[15] The
fourth DVD of Kanokon was ranked 21st on the Tohan charts
between September 23 and 29, 2008.[16] The
fifth DVD of Kanokon was ranked 28th on the Tohan charts
between October 21 and 28, 2008.[17] The
sixth DVD of Kanokon was ranked 14th on the Tohan charts
between November 19 and 25, 2008.[18]
References
External
links
Seven Seas Entertainment
Wikis
Quiz
Map
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