Rizelmine
Encyclopedia
is a manga
series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki
. The manga was originally serialized for six chapters in the Kadokawa Shoten
magazine Ace Next from November 2001 to April 2002 with a single tankōbon
collection released on March 22, 2002. The manga has was translated into English and published in the North America
by Tokyopop
on August 9, 2005. An anime
adaptation co-produced by m.o.e
, Imagin
, and Madhouse
aired on Japan's Kids Station
in 2002, but has not been licensed in English. Rizelmine was split into two seasons, both containing 12 episodes each. The first season aired April 2, 2002 through June 18, 2002. The second season, titled Rizelmine II, aired October 5, 2002 through December 21, 2002.
, promotion, and government paid home loan
s, all instituted by "Power Of The State". Despite Tomonori's protests, Rizel and her three secret service guardians known only as Papa A, Papa B, and Papa C move briskly into Tomonori's house, and the stage is set.
Rizel's tears contain the same make up as nitroglycerin and as such are explosives which creates a need for constant repair in their house. A running gag is that at the end of each episode, Tomonori calls Rizel an idiot, causing her to cry and thus cause an explosion. Rizel, with the help of her Papas, tries as hard as she can to win Tomonori's love. However, Tomonori is still in love with his teacher. Other characters creating an ever-tangled love web are Ryunosuke Hououin, who is in love with Rizel, and Kyoko Yachigusa, who is in love with Tomonori. Both try their best to prevent Rizel and Tomonori from getting close to each other. Later on Tomonori finds out that Rizel is the older woman he fell in love with when he was young but she was unable to grow after they met because she fell for him too, and she needed more than just the love from her "papas". When he learns this, Tomonori realizes that Rizel is his older woman.
The Papas
The Mamas
Natsumi-sensei
was originally serialized in the Kadokawa Shoten
magazine Monthly Ace Next beginning in its November 2001 issue and ending in its April 2002 issue. All six chapters were compiled into a single tankōbon
collection released on March 22, 2002. The manga was translated into English and published in the North America
by Tokyopop
on August 9, 2005. Tokyopop advertised the manga's cover with "From the creator of D.N.Angel
!".
adaptation was co-produced by the studios m.o.e
, Imagin
, and Madhouse
. It was broadcast on Japan's Kids Station
in two separate seasons, both containing 12 episodes with 15-minute runtimes each. The first season aired April 2, 2002 through June 18, 2002. The second season, titled Rizelmine II, aired October 5, 2002 through December 21, 2002 as part of the channel's Anime Complex Night
block. Pony Canyon
released a series of eight DVD
s containing three episodes apiece. The two seasons were released in box sets on September 15, 2010. Streamed episodes were also made available on m.o.e.'s official website for the show. No English version of the anime has been official released. However, the anime streaming website Crunchyroll
has previously hosted fansub
titled episodes of the series.
. A CD single featuring the opening and the first ending was released by Pony Canyon on April 17, 2002.
, selling around
1,165 copies in the United States in July 2005. The manga was nominated for "Best One-Shot" of 2005 by the readers of AnimeOnDVD.com. Critical reviews for Rizelmine have been very mixed. Eduardo M. Chavez of Mania.com gave a somewhat positive review of the manga. He opined that Sugisaki's art style and character designs in Rizelmine have evolved since her earliest work, such as The Candidate for Goddess
. However, he felt she still has difficulty setting up action scenes, with panels that are "far too active" with "characters and SFX jumping in and out" despite the story already being so highly paced. The reviewer compared the relationship of the two protagonists to that of Urusei Yatsura
, an older motif that he felt Sugisaki made very derivative. Chavez concluded that Rizelmine "does have enough of its own style for it to stand on its own", with half of the chapters consisting of filler
, bookended by the opening with character introductions and the ending with some background information. Craig Johnson of Manga Life highly recommended Rizelmine, finding it to be largely entertaining and funny, and desiring more than just one volume. In contrast, Carlo Santos, a writer for the Anime News Network
(ANN), stated that readers should avoid Rizelmine at all costs. Although he thought the artwork was "cute", he was mortified by the way the storyline presented its running jokes. This includes Tomonori's physical and verbal abuse of Rizel and the latter's "somewhat sneaky (and disturbing) fanservice".
According to Japanese television ratings information, Rizelmine was the eighth most viewed show for the month of May 2002. Like the manga version, the anime adaptation has received mixed reviews. ANN's Allen Divers appreciated Rizelmine for its animation quality and humor, confessing it to be "an easygoing fun little romp" despite its lack of advancing narrative and its similarity to Urusei Yatsura. Carlos Ross of THEM Anime Reviews lambastes nearly every aspect of the television series aside from its animation. Like Santos, Ross was disturbed by the fanservice and even took offense to its slapstick approach to domestic abuse. John Oppliger, a writer for AnimeNation
, found Rizelmine to be "too cute to appeal to mainstream consumers, and too cliché and sappy to attract a significant audience of hardcore American anime fans".
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki
Yukiru Sugisaki
is a Japanese manga artist. She has created numerous manga in several demographics, but is perhaps best known for creating the seinen series The Candidate for Goddess and the shōjo series D.N.Angel.-Career:...
. The manga was originally serialized for six chapters in the Kadokawa Shoten
Kadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
magazine Ace Next from November 2001 to April 2002 with a single tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
collection released on March 22, 2002. The manga has was translated into English and published in the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
on August 9, 2005. An anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
adaptation co-produced by m.o.e
Masters of Entertainment
Masters of Entertainment is a Pony Canyon label responsible for production in various anime works. Their name is based on the term moe as they primarily produce "cute" anime.-Anime involved in producing:*The Cosmopolitan Prayers...
, Imagin
Imagin (studio)
is a Japanese anime studio located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established on June 15, 1992 by Akio Sakai, the current president, who had previously worked for Mushi Production, and Madhouse.-Anime involved in:*Eureka Seven: In-Between Animation...
, and Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
aired on Japan's Kids Station
Kids Station
Kids Station is a Japanese children's television channel showing animation and other cartoon material. Kids Station also airs some anime aimed at adults during the night, such as Narutaru, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Genshiken, Kujibiki Unbalance and "Rosario + Vampire". It is broadcast on...
in 2002, but has not been licensed in English. Rizelmine was split into two seasons, both containing 12 episodes each. The first season aired April 2, 2002 through June 18, 2002. The second season, titled Rizelmine II, aired October 5, 2002 through December 21, 2002.
Plot
The storyline of Rizelmine centers on Tomonori Iwaki, a 15-year-old student who likes older women, including high school girls, college girls, and even female instructors. Having just discovered that his teacher (upon whom he has nursed a massive crush) is engaged to be married, he comes home to find, much to his dismay, that he has been forced by "Power Of The State" to marry a 12-year-old girl named Rizel, who is the government's first creation in its experiments to genetically engineer a human. Whatever resistance Iwaki's parents might put forth is immediately dissolved by promises of free HVACHVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
, promotion, and government paid home loan
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
s, all instituted by "Power Of The State". Despite Tomonori's protests, Rizel and her three secret service guardians known only as Papa A, Papa B, and Papa C move briskly into Tomonori's house, and the stage is set.
Rizel's tears contain the same make up as nitroglycerin and as such are explosives which creates a need for constant repair in their house. A running gag is that at the end of each episode, Tomonori calls Rizel an idiot, causing her to cry and thus cause an explosion. Rizel, with the help of her Papas, tries as hard as she can to win Tomonori's love. However, Tomonori is still in love with his teacher. Other characters creating an ever-tangled love web are Ryunosuke Hououin, who is in love with Rizel, and Kyoko Yachigusa, who is in love with Tomonori. Both try their best to prevent Rizel and Tomonori from getting close to each other. Later on Tomonori finds out that Rizel is the older woman he fell in love with when he was young but she was unable to grow after they met because she fell for him too, and she needed more than just the love from her "papas". When he learns this, Tomonori realizes that Rizel is his older woman.
Characters
- Tomonori is a normal 15 year old boy in his third year of junior high-school with a thing for older women. The reason is when he is a child, he tried to save Rizel when she was about to be hit by a truck and when he wakes up Rizel is hugging him. He has a long standing crush on his homeroom teacher, Natsumi Ibata. He was forcibly married to Rizel by the government. When Rizel starts appearing at school and claiming to be his wife, his friends are jealous of such a girl being ensnared by Iwaki already and start calling him a pervert. Despite his rather brash nature, he has a tendency towards chivalrousChivalryChivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...
acts. This is shown when he saved Rizel from a car and Kyouko from her out of control bike.
- Rizel was developed as a secret government project. She has stopped growing so she has the body of a 12 year old and has a happy-go-lucky personality. She started living with Tomonori but is subject to his constant abuse, always resulting in her nitroglycerin tears blowing up yet another part of his house. She is considered cute and friendly by many of her classmates. She chose Iwaki as her husband and needs his love to be able to continue her growth. She is often chased by Hououin Ryunosuke, for her innocence and her cute bear panties.
- Kyouko is two years older than Iwaki and has a crush on him. She is the daughter of Papa C. Iwaki saved her when her bicycle brakes stopped working two years ago and she has liked him ever since. She is seemingly very shy and so has taken her two years to confess her love to Iwaki. In fact, she has a highly volatile, dominative personality, so much that she has to oppress it by wearing special glasses. When she finally gives up on Iwaki, she and Ryuunosuke become a couple in the end of the anime.
- Hououin is in the same year as Iwaki and fell in love with Rizel at first sight. He used her as a model to update his figure which he calls "the twelve year old". He is very wealthy and has a personal ninja who acts as his assistant whenever he executes his plans to win Rizel's heart. His other hobbies include collecting bear panties, which he calls a symbol of the purity and innocence of a twelve-year-old girl. Towards the end of the second season he and Kyouko become a couple.
The Papas
- The Papas are a group of three old men who are the guardians of Rizel. Their names are never revealed, but they are called Papa A, Papa B and Papa C. Papa C has a tendency to cross-dressCross-dressingCross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
.
The Mamas
- Three women whose real names, like the Papas, are never revealed. They are called Mama A, Mama B, and Mama C. While the Papas are taking care of Rizel, the Mamas are in the lab monitoring her emotions. it is revealed in the end that mama A is the daughter of papa A.
- Aoi is Tomonori's childhood friend and Rizel's best friend. She's the president of the class and has a crush on Ryunosuke. She's generally mature for her age, though she often teases Tomonori about his crush on the teacher and often helps Rizel win his heart. Towards the end of the anime, Aoi gives up on liking Ryunosuke and instead develops feelings for a stray dog.
Natsumi-sensei
Sensei
' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...
- The teacher of the class 3-B and the object of Tomonori's affections. Unfortunately for him, she became engaged. Eventually, she has some sort of fight with her fiancé, so she doesn't come to school. Tomonori goes to her house, at one point leaving her flowers. He takes her to his special spot beside the sea where he goes to think about things and he ends up comforting her and convincing her to go through with the marriage, contrary to his plans. Rizel catches the bouquetFlower bouquetA flower bouquet is a collection of flowers in a creative arrangement. There are different kinds including nosegay, crescent, and cascading bouquets. Flower bouquets are often given for special occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries. They are also used extensively in weddings. Traditionally...
at Natsumi-sensei's wedding.
Manga
The Rizelmine mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
was originally serialized in the Kadokawa Shoten
Kadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
magazine Monthly Ace Next beginning in its November 2001 issue and ending in its April 2002 issue. All six chapters were compiled into a single tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
collection released on March 22, 2002. The manga was translated into English and published in the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
on August 9, 2005. Tokyopop advertised the manga's cover with "From the creator of D.N.Angel
D.N.Angel
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki. The ongoing manga premiered in Japan in the Kadokawa Shoten shōjo magazine Monthly Asuka in November 1997. The series went on an extended hiatus after the August 2005 issue, returning in the April 2008 issue...
!".
Anime
The Rizelmine animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
adaptation was co-produced by the studios m.o.e
Masters of Entertainment
Masters of Entertainment is a Pony Canyon label responsible for production in various anime works. Their name is based on the term moe as they primarily produce "cute" anime.-Anime involved in producing:*The Cosmopolitan Prayers...
, Imagin
Imagin (studio)
is a Japanese anime studio located in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established on June 15, 1992 by Akio Sakai, the current president, who had previously worked for Mushi Production, and Madhouse.-Anime involved in:*Eureka Seven: In-Between Animation...
, and Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
. It was broadcast on Japan's Kids Station
Kids Station
Kids Station is a Japanese children's television channel showing animation and other cartoon material. Kids Station also airs some anime aimed at adults during the night, such as Narutaru, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Genshiken, Kujibiki Unbalance and "Rosario + Vampire". It is broadcast on...
in two separate seasons, both containing 12 episodes with 15-minute runtimes each. The first season aired April 2, 2002 through June 18, 2002. The second season, titled Rizelmine II, aired October 5, 2002 through December 21, 2002 as part of the channel's Anime Complex Night
Anime Complex
Anime Complex was a series of omnibus anime shows broadcast on WOWOW and KIDS STATION. It featured two unrelated series from various producers of 15 minutes each per airing, and cycled as one series ended. It had three runs from 1998 to 2001.The first, Anime Complex, was broadcast on WOWOW from...
block. Pony Canyon
Pony Canyon
is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
released a series of eight DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s containing three episodes apiece. The two seasons were released in box sets on September 15, 2010. Streamed episodes were also made available on m.o.e.'s official website for the show. No English version of the anime has been official released. However, the anime streaming website Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is an American website and international online community focused on streaming East Asian media including anime, manga, drama, music, electronic entertainment, and auto racing content...
has previously hosted fansub
Fansub
A fansub is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program which has been translated by fans and subtitled into a language other than that of the original.-History:...
titled episodes of the series.
Episodes
| EP# | Title | airdate |
|---|---|---|
CD
The opening theme, , and the closing themes, and , were all performed by Rie KugimiyaRie Kugimiya
is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with I'm Enterprise.Kugimiya's most famous roles include Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Happy in Fairy Tail, Kagura in Gintama, Nagi Sanzenin in Hayate no Gotoku!, Shana in Shakugan no Shana, Louise in Zero no Tsukaima, Taiga Aisaka in Toradora!, and...
. A CD single featuring the opening and the first ending was released by Pony Canyon on April 17, 2002.
Reception
Rizelmine was ranked number 87 on a list of comic sales estimates by Diamond Comic DistributorsDiamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
, selling around
1,165 copies in the United States in July 2005. The manga was nominated for "Best One-Shot" of 2005 by the readers of AnimeOnDVD.com. Critical reviews for Rizelmine have been very mixed. Eduardo M. Chavez of Mania.com gave a somewhat positive review of the manga. He opined that Sugisaki's art style and character designs in Rizelmine have evolved since her earliest work, such as The Candidate for Goddess
The Candidate for Goddess
is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki. The series takes place in the distant future, where human beings live among space colonies and a single, inhabitable planet called Zion. The plot follows Zero Enna and his fellow candidates as they try to prove themselves worthy of...
. However, he felt she still has difficulty setting up action scenes, with panels that are "far too active" with "characters and SFX jumping in and out" despite the story already being so highly paced. The reviewer compared the relationship of the two protagonists to that of Urusei Yatsura
Urusei Yatsura
is a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...
, an older motif that he felt Sugisaki made very derivative. Chavez concluded that Rizelmine "does have enough of its own style for it to stand on its own", with half of the chapters consisting of filler
Filler (media)
In media, filler is material that is combined with material of greater relevance or quality to "fill out" a certain volume.-Early television:...
, bookended by the opening with character introductions and the ending with some background information. Craig Johnson of Manga Life highly recommended Rizelmine, finding it to be largely entertaining and funny, and desiring more than just one volume. In contrast, Carlo Santos, a writer for the Anime News Network
Anime News Network
Anime News Network is an anime industry news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, Japanese popular music and other otaku-related culture within North America, Australia and Japan. Additionally, it sometimes features similar happenings throughout the Anglosphere and elsewhere in the...
(ANN), stated that readers should avoid Rizelmine at all costs. Although he thought the artwork was "cute", he was mortified by the way the storyline presented its running jokes. This includes Tomonori's physical and verbal abuse of Rizel and the latter's "somewhat sneaky (and disturbing) fanservice".
According to Japanese television ratings information, Rizelmine was the eighth most viewed show for the month of May 2002. Like the manga version, the anime adaptation has received mixed reviews. ANN's Allen Divers appreciated Rizelmine for its animation quality and humor, confessing it to be "an easygoing fun little romp" despite its lack of advancing narrative and its similarity to Urusei Yatsura. Carlos Ross of THEM Anime Reviews lambastes nearly every aspect of the television series aside from its animation. Like Santos, Ross was disturbed by the fanservice and even took offense to its slapstick approach to domestic abuse. John Oppliger, a writer for AnimeNation
AnimeNation
AnimeNation is an American retailer of anime, manga, and other products of Japanese culture. It was founded in 1995 and is located in Tampa, Florida...
, found Rizelmine to be "too cute to appeal to mainstream consumers, and too cliché and sappy to attract a significant audience of hardcore American anime fans".