Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi (??????!, Asu no Yoichi!, lit. Tomorrow's Yoichi) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Y? Minamoto. It has been serialized in Monthly Sh?nen Champion since October 2006 with last volume released on March 8, 2011. The manga is licensed and released in Chinese by Sharp Point Press. The manga was formerly licensed in North America by Tokyopop as Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi!.
It has been adapted into an anime series by AIC and was broadcast in Japan on TBS between January 8, 2009 and March 26, 2009.
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Plot
After learning martial arts in the mountains for 17 years under his father's teachings, Yoichi Karasuma's father orders Yoichi to continue his training to strengthen his spirit with the Ikaruga family in the city, as he has nothing left to teach him (but really because Yoichi has become stronger and far more skilled than him). The current assistant head of the Ukiha Divine Wind Style Swordplay school of martial arts in the city, Ibuki Ikaruga, and her siblings gradually accept Yoichi as a freeloader at their dojo. In addition to domestic problems, Yoichi deals with local bad-boy Washizu's jealousy of Ibuki and Yoichi's supposed relationship, his school life and various attempts by other martial arts schools to assassinate him or destroy the Ikaruga dojo.
Characters
Ikaruga family
Classmates
Tsubame Benten Ryuu Dojo
Saginomiya clan
Others
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Y? Minamoto, Asu no Yoichi! has been serialized in Monthly Sh?nen Champion since it premiered in the October 2006 issue. The individual chapters are collected into 15 tank?bon volumes by Akita Shoten, which published the volumes between October 6, 2006 and March 8, 2011. The manga was formerly licensed in North America by Tokyopop as Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi!. The manga is licensed in Taiwan by Sharp Point Press and in France by Kazé as High School Samurai: Asu no Yoichi!.
Anime
An anime adaptation began production on August 6, 2008. Directed by Rion Kujo, the first episode premiered on TBS on January 8, 2009. The first episode was broadcast on Sun Television on January 25, 2009. It was also broadcast on Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting and BS-i on January 29, 2009. On February 26, 2010, Section23 Films announced that Sentai Filmworks had picked up Samurai Harem: Asu no Yoichi and the series was later released on DVD, on May 11, 2010.
The anime ran for 12 episodes.
The series used two pieces of theme music. "Egao no Riyuu" (?????) by Meg Rock was used for the opening theme, while "Life and proud" by Aki Misato was the series' ending theme.
Internet radio show
An Internet radio show to promote the anime series called Asu no Yoichi Radio! (?????????!, Asu no Yoichi Rajio!) was streamed online every Friday and aired 42 episodes until September 25, 2009 hosted by Lantis website. It had two hosts -- Nobuhiko Okamoto and Rina Sat? who played the voices of Yoichi Karasuma and Ibuki Irukaga respectively in the anime series.
Soundtracks
On January 21, 2009, Geneon released a single for Asu no Yoichi!'s opening theme, "Egao no Riyuu" (?????) by Meg Rock. On February 4, 2009, Geneon released a single for Asu no Yoichi!'s ending theme, "Life and proud" by Aki Misato.
Geneon released four character song CDs for Asu no Yoichi!. The first two CDs were composed by Miki Fujisue and released on February 25, 2009. The first CD, character song for Ibuki Ikaruga, is sung by Rina Sato. The second CD, character song for Ayame Ikaruga, is sung by Haruka Tomatsu. On March 25, 2009, Geneon released the last two character CDs, both composed by Masumi Ito. The third character CD, character song for Chihaya Ikaruga, is sung by Yukari Tamura. The fourth and final CD, character song for Kagome Ikaruga, is sung by Kana Hanazawa.
Reception
The eighth volume of Asu no Yoichi! was ranked 26th on the Tohan charts between 9th and 15 December 2008. The tenth volume of Asu no Yoichi! was ranked 12th on the Tohan charts between July 6-12, 2009. The eleventh volume of Asu no Yoichi! was ranked 30th on the Tohan charts between November 2-8, 2009. Coolstreak Comics' Leroy Douresseaux commends the manga by saying, "While it offers plenty of cleavage and panty shots, Samurai Harem is more than just a fanservice manga. It's also an energetic romantic comedy, made all the nicer by the fact that each of the four sisters has a distinct personality". A later review by Douresseaux comments that the manga "mostly avoids the martial aspects of having samurai and ninja populating a manga series. So far, this series avoids the action, but does have plenty of comedy." Comics Worth Reading's Ed Sizemore criticises the manga's "focusing on the pubic region of girls and women" and "sound effect coming from the girl's genitalia" as "shameless in its tastelessness" as well as "disturbing". Pop Culture Shock's Ken Haley criticises the manga's art as "bland" but concedes the point that "it does a good job at depicting scantily clad underage girls in compromising positions."
The third DVD of Asu no Yoichi! was listed on the Oricon charts between May 18 and 24, 2009. THEM Anime Review's Tim Jones likens Yoichi and Ibuki with Tom and Jerry respectively from Tom and Jerry "where Tom always lost against Jerry". Jones compares Yoichi's love rival, Ryo Washizu, as "a mishmash of Kuno and Ryoga from Ranma ½". He's part Ryoga in that he wants to trump Yoichi even if it means training himself to the bone, and part Kuno in that he's an idiot when it comes to women (especially around Ibuki, who he constantly fantasizes of, as well as worries that she'll hate him for something inane that happens to him)." Jones criticises the art with "often drab, uncreative scenery, and the animation is only adequate save for a few fight sequences". He also comments that "the character designs are cute, but the Ikaruga sisters' hair and outfits (save Ayame's) look ridiculous." He also criticises the background music as "entirely forgettable", and the "opening & closing songs won't be staying in your head anytime soon".
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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