Zettai Karen Children
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese shōnen
manga
by Takashi Shiina
. The manga started being serialized in Shogakukan
's manga magazine Shōnen Sunday
in 2005. An anime
series began on April 6, 2008 which ran for fifty-one episodes. Shiina developed the series out of a short story he had written in a special issues of Shōnen Sunday. The series was essentially the same, except for the fact that Kōichi Minamoto was named "Hikaru Minamoto", and he also had psychic
powers.
are becoming more widespread, requiring training to be able to use their power for constructive purposes. Unfortunately, there are also espers that abuse their powers and wield them to destructive ends. The Japanese government's solution to both challenges is the establishment of the Base of Backing ESP Laboratory (B.A.B.E.L.) for the purpose of appraising, identifying, nurturing, and protecting espers (even if that means apprehending them as if they were criminals). Five decades later, B.A.B.E.L. locates a trio of natural Level 7 (the maximum esper potency designation) espers within Japan, and assembles them into the special esper team known as "The Children". However, all three have developed questionable attitudes because of the persecution and ostracization caused by the ignorant fear of their powers. Still, the question now becomes whether Kaoru Akashi, Shiho Sannomiya, and Aoi Nogami can be refined into young ladies.
manga
written and illustrated by Takashi Shiina
. The manga started serialized in Shogakukan
's manga magazine Shōnen Sunday
in 2005. Shiina developed the series out of a short story he had written in a special issues of Shōnen Sunday.
adaptation produced by SynergySP
began airing in Japan on TV Tokyo
on April 6, 2008, and contained fifty-one episodes. The anime has six pieces of theme music; two opening themes and four ending themes. The first opening theme is "Over The Future" by Karen Girl's, the first ending theme is by "The Children starring Aya Hirano
, Ryoko Shiraishi
and Haruka Tomatsu
"; the second ending theme is , also by Hirano, Shiraishi, and Tomatsu. From episode 27 onwards opening theme has changed to "MY WINGS", once again by Karen Girl's, ending theme changed to "Break+Your+Destiny" by Yuuichi Nakamura, Kishō Taniyama and Kōji Yusa and "Soushunfu" performed by Aya Hirano, Ryoko Shiraishi and Haruka Tomatsu. In episode 46 of the series, the opening theme, "MY WINGS", was sung by Aya Hirano
, Ryoko Shiraishi
and Haruka Tomatsu
while the ending theme was "Zettai love×love Sengen!!", sung by Karen Girl's.
An OVA was released in summer of 2010. It will include original material based on the junior high school story arc. The opening theme for this OVA is "Seventh Heaven" by The Children and the ending theme is "Out of Control" by Karen Guy's.
developed by Konami
entitled was released on September 4, 2008.
Kaoru Akashi appears as a fighter character in the fighting game
for Sony
's PlayStation Portable
. Characters Aoi, Shiho, Minamoto, Fujiko and Hyōbu also make appearances as part of special moves or as support. The game was also developed by Konami
and released on March 26, 2009.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga
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...
by Takashi Shiina
Takashi Shiina
is a Japanese manga artist who writes primarily for the weekly Shogakukan manga publication Weekly Shōnen Sunday. When he started at the company in 1989, he began with an anthology of various shorts and one-shots collectively known as Shiina Department Store...
. The manga started being serialized in Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
's manga magazine Shōnen Sunday
Shonen Sunday
, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.- History :...
in 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....
series began on April 6, 2008 which ran for fifty-one episodes. Shiina developed the series out of a short story he had written in a special issues of Shōnen Sunday. The series was essentially the same, except for the fact that Kōichi Minamoto was named "Hikaru Minamoto", and he also had psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
powers.
Plot
In the future, people with ESPExtra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
are becoming more widespread, requiring training to be able to use their power for constructive purposes. Unfortunately, there are also espers that abuse their powers and wield them to destructive ends. The Japanese government's solution to both challenges is the establishment of the Base of Backing ESP Laboratory (B.A.B.E.L.) for the purpose of appraising, identifying, nurturing, and protecting espers (even if that means apprehending them as if they were criminals). Five decades later, B.A.B.E.L. locates a trio of natural Level 7 (the maximum esper potency designation) espers within Japan, and assembles them into the special esper team known as "The Children". However, all three have developed questionable attitudes because of the persecution and ostracization caused by the ignorant fear of their powers. Still, the question now becomes whether Kaoru Akashi, Shiho Sannomiya, and Aoi Nogami can be refined into young ladies.
Main characters
- Voiced by: Yuuichi Nakamura
- The male protagonist of the series. He's a normal human with abnormal high intelligence (in the pilot chapter, he is also an esper with level 7 negation of anti-esper powers). He is the workaholic field leader of "The Children" Special Esper Team, tasked with overseeing their day-to-day care and making sure they do not get too carried away when they are doing their jobs. While good-natured and tolerant for the most part, there are times when he is pushed over his limits and comically goes into a Fist of the North StarFist of the North Staris a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and drawn by Tetsuo Hara that was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1983 to 1988, spanning 245 chapters, which were initially collected in a 27-volume tankōbon edition by Shueisha...
-inspired personality complete with quotes.
- Future title: Queen of Catastrophe
- A Level 7 psychokinetic (the maximum esper potency designation), Kaoru is the reckless and zealous member of "The Children", and often goes overkill with her psychic powers. In spite of being a girl, sometimes she acts like a pervert towards women, sexually harasses her team-mates and her classmates as well and shows interest in female figures in general. Ten years old at the start of the story, she has aged to thirteen over the course of the series.
- Future title: Lightspeed Goddess
- An esper with Level 7 teleportationTeleportationTeleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
capability, Aoi is the rational member of "The Children", and likes playing video games in her spare time. She is from KyotoKyotois a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
and speaks in local dialect. Comically, Aoi is concerned about her smaller chest size in comparison to the other two Children. Ten years old at the start of the story, she has aged to thirteen over the course of the series.
- Future title: Untouchable Empress
- An esper with Level 7 psychometry, Shiho is the sarcastic, sharp-tongued and often childishly sadistic member of "The Children". Her power allows her to read other people's thoughts by touch and to enhance her accuracy when using guns and throwing weapons. Shiho often shows a more grown-up personality than the other children which can sometimes lean toward the dark side. Ten years old at the start of the story, she has aged to thirteen over the course of the series.
Manga
Zettai Karen Children began as a shōnenShonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga
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...
written and illustrated by Takashi Shiina
Takashi Shiina
is a Japanese manga artist who writes primarily for the weekly Shogakukan manga publication Weekly Shōnen Sunday. When he started at the company in 1989, he began with an anthology of various shorts and one-shots collectively known as Shiina Department Store...
. The manga started serialized in Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
's manga magazine Shōnen Sunday
Shonen Sunday
, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.- History :...
in 2005. Shiina developed the series out of a short story he had written in a special issues of Shōnen Sunday.
Anime
An 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 produced by SynergySP
SynergySP
is a Japanese animation studio founded on May 1, 1998 which originally split off from Toei Animation. In 2005, the company became associated with Shogakukan Productions, a subsidiary of the Shogakukan publishing company.-Produced series:MÄR...
began airing in Japan on TV Tokyo
TV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
on April 6, 2008, and contained fifty-one episodes. The anime has six pieces of theme music; two opening themes and four ending themes. The first opening theme is "Over The Future" by Karen Girl's, the first ending theme is by "The Children starring Aya Hirano
Aya Hirano
from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer who has had roles in several anime, visual novels, and TV commercials in Japan. She was contracted to Space Craft Produce, a branch of the Space Craft Group, for her voice acting career, and for her singing career,...
, Ryoko Shiraishi
Ryoko Shiraishi
is a voice actress from Nara, Japan who works for Aoni Production. Due to her low and gentle voice, she is often cast as either the effeminate-and-kind young man or the sexually mature but sweet-and-sensitive supporting lady...
and Haruka Tomatsu
Haruka Tomatsu
is a Japanese voice actress and singer, employed by Music Ray'n .-Summary:Haruka debuted as voice actress in 2007, starring in Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica as Corticarte Apa Lagranges...
"; the second ending theme is , also by Hirano, Shiraishi, and Tomatsu. From episode 27 onwards opening theme has changed to "MY WINGS", once again by Karen Girl's, ending theme changed to "Break+Your+Destiny" by Yuuichi Nakamura, Kishō Taniyama and Kōji Yusa and "Soushunfu" performed by Aya Hirano, Ryoko Shiraishi and Haruka Tomatsu. In episode 46 of the series, the opening theme, "MY WINGS", was sung by Aya Hirano
Aya Hirano
from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer who has had roles in several anime, visual novels, and TV commercials in Japan. She was contracted to Space Craft Produce, a branch of the Space Craft Group, for her voice acting career, and for her singing career,...
, Ryoko Shiraishi
Ryoko Shiraishi
is a voice actress from Nara, Japan who works for Aoni Production. Due to her low and gentle voice, she is often cast as either the effeminate-and-kind young man or the sexually mature but sweet-and-sensitive supporting lady...
and Haruka Tomatsu
Haruka Tomatsu
is a Japanese voice actress and singer, employed by Music Ray'n .-Summary:Haruka debuted as voice actress in 2007, starring in Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica as Corticarte Apa Lagranges...
while the ending theme was "Zettai love×love Sengen!!", sung by Karen Girl's.
An OVA was released in summer of 2010. It will include original material based on the junior high school story arc. The opening theme for this OVA is "Seventh Heaven" by The Children and the ending theme is "Out of Control" by Karen Guy's.
Video game
A video game for the Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
developed by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
entitled was released on September 4, 2008.
Kaoru Akashi appears as a fighter character in the fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
for Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
. Characters Aoi, Shiho, Minamoto, Fujiko and Hyōbu also make appearances as part of special moves or as support. The game was also developed by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
and released on March 26, 2009.