Weathering Continent
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
fantasy
light novel
series written by Sei Takekawa and illustrated by Mutsumi Inomata
. The Weathering Continent centers on three travelers - the delicately handsome sorcerer Tieh, the burly and reticent warrior Bois, and the spritely young Lakshi - as they trek though the shattered wastelands of the ancient continent of Atlantis
.
The first installment of The Weathering Continent was published in Monthly Dragon Magazine in April 1988, with a total of 28 collected novels released from November 1990 to April 2006. An anime
feature film
based on the novels was also released theatrically in Japan on July 18, 1992. It is available in the United States courtesy of Media Blasters
. During the novels' original run, several side stories were published. A short, sequel series also followed when the original The Weathering Continent ended.
written by Sei Takekawa and illustrated by Mutsumi Inomata
, was first serialized in the Fujimi Shobo
seinen publication Monthly Dragon Magazine in the April 1990 issue. The series totals 28 collected volumes. The first was released on November 11, 1988 and the last was released on April 20, 2006. The entire The Weathering Continent series was also collected into five larger volumes and published on September 28, 2007.
During the publication of The Weathering Continent, several related stories were issued: The three volume ; the three volume ; and the single volume . A sequel light novel
series, , has been published in two volumes by Kadokawa Haruki Corporation from November 2010 to March 2011.
film was produced by Production I.G and released theatrically in Japan on July 18, 1992 as part of a triple bill with The Heroic Legend of Arislan II
and Silent Möbius: The Motion Picture 2
. It was written and directed by Kōichi Mashimo
and features character designs by Nobuteru Yūki
and music by Michiru Oshima
. The film made its way to VHS
in Japan via Bandai
on December 16, 1992. It has aired on both the NHK
network and the Bandai Channel
. The film was localized in the United States by Media Blasters
with English voice recordings by NYAV Post
. It was released on DVD
on July 29, 2003. The film was aired on the Starz network channels throughout 2006.
on July 18, 1991 and January 21, 1993. The company also released CD singles for the anime's vocal songs by Yui Nishiwaki and Arai Akino.
Three art books based on The Weathering Continent have also been issued: Mutsumi Inomata Paintings Collection The Weathering Continent: Un Ballo en Maschera, Dragon Magazine Collection The Weathering Continent The Approach of Atlantis, and Fujimi Fantasia Comics: The Weathering Continent.
had high expectations for the anime, but was ultimately bored by it. He summarized the film as "a group of mopey kids on a dying mid-Atlantic continent from long, long ago comment on their bleak lives and their bleak world and how bleak everything is". Raphael See of THEM Anime Reviews made similar comments, calling the pace of the plot "a little faster than the diffusion of molasses through a granite wall" and that the key characters constantly reflect on past events.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
series written by Sei Takekawa and illustrated by Mutsumi Inomata
Mutsumi Inomata
is a Japanese illustrator and animator.-Biography:An anime fan, Inomata began her career as an animator with Toei Animation, soon after graduating from her senior year at high school...
. The Weathering Continent centers on three travelers - the delicately handsome sorcerer Tieh, the burly and reticent warrior Bois, and the spritely young Lakshi - as they trek though the shattered wastelands of the ancient continent of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
.
The first installment of The Weathering Continent was published in Monthly Dragon Magazine in April 1988, with a total of 28 collected novels released from November 1990 to April 2006. 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....
feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
based on the novels was also released theatrically in Japan on July 18, 1992. It is available in the United States courtesy of Media Blasters
Media Blasters
Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...
. During the novels' original run, several side stories were published. A short, sequel series also followed when the original The Weathering Continent ended.
Novels
The Weathering Continent, serial novelsSerial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
written by Sei Takekawa and illustrated by Mutsumi Inomata
Mutsumi Inomata
is a Japanese illustrator and animator.-Biography:An anime fan, Inomata began her career as an animator with Toei Animation, soon after graduating from her senior year at high school...
, was first serialized in the Fujimi Shobo
Fujimi Shobo
is a Japanese publishing company that specializes in the publication of light novels, manga, role-playing games and collectible card games. The company started in 1991 as a subsidiary of Kadokawa Shoten.-Magazines published:Light novel magazines...
seinen publication Monthly Dragon Magazine in the April 1990 issue. The series totals 28 collected volumes. The first was released on November 11, 1988 and the last was released on April 20, 2006. The entire The Weathering Continent series was also collected into five larger volumes and published on September 28, 2007.
During the publication of The Weathering Continent, several related stories were issued: The three volume ; the three volume ; and the single volume . A sequel light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
series, , has been published in two volumes by Kadokawa Haruki Corporation from November 2010 to March 2011.
Anime film
The Weathering Continent 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....
film was produced by Production I.G and released theatrically in Japan on July 18, 1992 as part of a triple bill with The Heroic Legend of Arislan II
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
is the title of a Japanese fantasy novel series. The author, Yoshiki Tanaka, started writing Arslan in 1986 and is still writing it as of 2008, with the current number of books at 13 novels and one side story in the official guidebook Arslan senki tokuhon...
and Silent Möbius: The Motion Picture 2
Silent Möbius
is a twelve-volume manga, a 26-episode anime series, and a pair of motion pictures, created by manga artist Kia Asamiya. Both anime versions have been licensed by Bandai Entertainment...
. It was written and directed by Kōichi Mashimo
Koichi Mashimo
is a well-known Japanese anime director and the founder of the animation studio Bee Train. Since the creation of the studio, Mashimo directed or otherwise participated in all its works, for example, as a member of art or sound department...
and features character designs by Nobuteru Yūki
Nobuteru Yuki
is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and animator. He began as a doujinshi artist under the nom de plume The Man in the High Castle and Yubic , both references to the works of American science fiction author Philip K. Dick...
and music by Michiru Oshima
Michiru Oshima
, is a Japanese composer who has worked on several video game, movie, and television titles. Her works include composition for the video games Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf for Super Nintendo, Ico for PlayStation 2, Legend of Legaia for the PlayStation , is a Japanese composer who has...
. The film made its way to VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in Japan via Bandai
Bandai
is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...
on December 16, 1992. It has aired on both the NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
network and the Bandai Channel
Bandai Channel
Bandai Channel Co., Ltd. is a distributor and broadcaster of anime by broadband access. It was established on March 1, 2002 by Bandai in coordination with Sunrise Inc., Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. and Bandai Networks Co., Ltd...
. The film was localized in the United States by Media Blasters
Media Blasters
Media Blasters is an entertainment corporation founded by John Sirabella and Sam Liebowitz, based in New York City. They are in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American market manga compilations and anime and live-action movies and television series to home-video...
with English voice recordings by NYAV Post
NYAV Post
NYAV Post is an American recording studio founded by Michael Sinterniklaas in 2000. The studio is located in New York City, with a West Coast branch located in Los Angeles, California...
. It was released on 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....
on July 29, 2003. The film was aired on the Starz network channels throughout 2006.
CDs and artbooks
A number of audio CDs relating to The Weathering Continent have been published in Japan. An original soundtrack to the anime film, consisting of a total of 25 background and vocal tracks, was released in two volumes by Victor EntertainmentVictor Entertainment
is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...
on July 18, 1991 and January 21, 1993. The company also released CD singles for the anime's vocal songs by Yui Nishiwaki and Arai Akino.
Three art books based on The Weathering Continent have also been issued: Mutsumi Inomata Paintings Collection The Weathering Continent: Un Ballo en Maschera, Dragon Magazine Collection The Weathering Continent The Approach of Atlantis, and Fujimi Fantasia Comics: The Weathering Continent.
Reception
Brian Hanson of the Anime News NetworkAnime 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...
had high expectations for the anime, but was ultimately bored by it. He summarized the film as "a group of mopey kids on a dying mid-Atlantic continent from long, long ago comment on their bleak lives and their bleak world and how bleak everything is". Raphael See of THEM Anime Reviews made similar comments, calling the pace of the plot "a little faster than the diffusion of molasses through a granite wall" and that the key characters constantly reflect on past events.