Twin Spica — BrandWiki

Twin Spica

type	tv series
director	Tomomi Mochizuki
writer	Rika Nakase
music	Kazunori Miyake
studio	Group TAC
network	NHK BS2
first	November 1, 2003
last	March 27, 2004
episodes	20
episode list	List of Twin Spica episodes#Anime (2003/04)

Twin Spica (ふたつのスピカ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kou Yaginuma. The "realistic, slice-of-life science fiction series" tells the story of a group of Japanese high school students training to become astronauts in the early 21st century after the country's first human spaceflight launch ends in a disaster that causes many civilian casualties. It was serialized in the seinen manga magazine Comic Flapper from September 2001 to August 2009 and was later published in 16 volumes by Media Factory from January 2002 to October 2009.

The series is named after Spica, a binary star system and the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. In the manga, Yaginuma includes many references to historical events related to the development of human spaceflight as well as literary works such as Kenji Miyazawa's novel Night on the Galactic Railroad. American publishing company Vertical announced acquisition of the manga's license for English-language translation at the New York Anime Festival in September 2009, and the translated first volume was published in May 2010. The series was described by Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez as "technically sound" and "heartfelt" during its initial assessment.

The manga was adapted into an anime television series by animation studio Group TAC. It premiered on November 1, 2003, on Japan's NHK BS2 satellite channel. Twenty episodes of the anime aired until March 27, 2004, when the series concluded prematurely before the manga was completed.

Main characters

Yaginuma's work prior to serialization introduces readers to Asumi Kamogawa and her mentor, the ghost of a Lion astronaut whom she calls Mr. Lion.[11] Their friendship develops in several short stories in which, throughout her childhood, he nurtures Asumi's interest in space. As her interest and dreams grow, Asumi is often ridiculed by classmates, especially because she immerses herself in books about space and rarely engages in classroom activities.[12] When she decides to apply for admission to the Tokyo Space Academy, her teachers urge her to reconsider because she is below average height.[13] Her friendship with Mr. Lion continues to grow after Asumi successfully enters the academy, and she often consults him during periods of self-doubt.[14]

Asumi's elementary and middle school classmate Shinnosuke Fuchuya also enters the academy much to her surprise. He defended Asumi from ridicule by other classmates throughout their childhood despite occasionally teasing her as well,[12] and it has been suggested that he sees her as a romantic interest.[3] The two eventually befriend three other students in the astronaut training program. Shu Suzuki, who is named student representative for the astronaut program, has an easygoing personality.[15] He wears a distinctive face by shaving his eyebrows as a symbol of defiance against his father.[16] Kei Oumi befriends Asumi during the academy's entrance examination and is portrayed with an outgoing personality and a deep sense of loyalty toward her friends.[17] Marika Ukita initially responds coldly toward gestures of friendship, but she moves into Asumi's dormitory following an argument with her father.[18] The five students later make a promise to complete the astronaut program together as their friendship grows stronger.[19] After three years in the astronaut program, Asumi is chosen out of eleven remaining students to take part in Japan's second human spaceflight mission,[20] making her, at the age of eighteen, the youngest person to go into space.[21]

Throughout their time at the academy, astronaut candidates must overcome numerous physical and mental trials. Readers discover from a pre-serialization story that Asumi's mother dies following the Lion disaster,[22] but this is not known to Asumi's friends until Kei discovers the obituary listing in a newspaper article.[23] Marika is revealed to be the genetic copy of a deceased Marika Ukita despite a standing ban on human cloning.[24] Fuchuya suffers from red-green color blindness after his eyes are exposed to an exploding firework at close range in a childhood accident.[25] Unknown to the group, Shu suffers from hereditary hemoptysis (coughing up of blood) and dies from the condition soon after his selection as an exchange student to the American space program.[26] This tragedy reveals Kei's feelings for him, which she keeps hidden for much of the series.[27]

Production

Writing

The series is named after Spica,[28] a binary star system in the constellation Virgo and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. It appears as one star because of the relatively low center-to-center distance between the two component stars, estimated at an average of 11 million miles (17.7 million km). Astronomical observations also suggest that there may be additional stars in the Spica system.[29] In the story, Asumi mentions Spica's distance to Earth as 350 light-years.[30] This figure is also cited by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency;[31] however, other sources indicate a distance of approximately 260 light-years.[32][33]

Kou Yaginuma's initial inspiration for the story came from a statement he once read describing the Hohner Little Lady harmonica as one of the first musical instruments taken into space. However, as an aspiring manga artist, Yaginuma had neither resources to conduct research on nor knowledge pertaining to spaceflight. He also hesitated to write the series because his own life experiences did not reflect the dreams of his characters. Despite these challenges, Yaginuma found comfort in the determination of his characters, especially that of Asumi Kamogawa.[34]

Although Twin Spica began serialization in the October 2001 issue of Media Factory's Comic Flapper magazine, its lead character Asumi had appeared in Yaginuma's debut work "2015:Fireworks". This short story published in the July 2000 issue of Comic Flapper also introduced readers to Asumi's father, her elementary school teacher Yuko Suzunari, and the astronaut ghost Mr. Lion.[3] Four additional short stories that predate the series also feature Asumi as the central character: "Asumi" (アスミ),[35] "Campanella's Forest" (カムパネルラの森), "Our Stars, Leaf Stars" (ふたりの星はっぱ星),[36] and "Asumi's Cherry Tree" (アスミの桜).[37] These slice-of-life stories eventually served as prequels to Twin Spica.[3]

Cultural references

Twin Spica and its prequel stories make various references to historical figures and events in space exploration. Throughout the manga and the anime, Mr. Lion carries with him a harmonica, one of the first musical instruments to be played in space.[38] A harmonica and bell set was carried aboard the Gemini 6A spaceflight in December 1965 by American astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Patten Stafford. During the mission, the two men used these instruments to play "Jingle Bells".[39] Asumi is nicknamed "Seagull" by Shu Suzuki in the anime.[40] The same name was used as the call sign of Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, during her 1963 mission aboard Vostok 6.[41] Prior to Shu's death in the live-action adaptation, he reveals to his friends that the New Horizons spacecraft destined for Pluto carries the cremated ashes of the dwarf planet's discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh.[42]

Reception

In an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata named Twin Spica, because of its nostalgic story, as one of five manga series which highlight the dream of reaching space.[88] While assessing the series for licensing in English, Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez, a fan of science fiction, found its story "technically sound" and noted it as "possibly one of the most heartfelt series I've read in ages".[59] He hoped that the series would rank in top 10 of The New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller List for manga and believed that it would make Vertical a "known name, not only amongst better comic shops and independent book stores, but also with anime fans and casual graphic novel readers".[89] While the series was originally published in a magazine, Chavez expected that it would also appeal to fans of manga. He believed that the word "means adult and does not make reference to gender". He hoped Twin Spica will prove to be a financial success and enable Vertical to fund future licenses of classic works by Osamu Tezuka and the Forty-Niners.[57] The first volume in English was listed by Publishers Weekly as one of the most anticipated graphic novels of 2010.[90]

Jennifer Berman of THEM Anime Reviews rated the anime adaptation of Twin Spica five out of five stars but told readers, "Subtract a star if you don't like anime that have a somewhat slow pace." Berman praised its artistic design and noted that the character designs reminded her of works by Studio Ghibli. She found the characters "likeable" and saw Marika Ukita as the most intriguing character. Despite her praises, Berman noted one weakness in the anime adaptation. She observed the ending as "a rather open-ended one, and while it wasn't a bad ending, they probably should have thought of something better".[91] Similar to the manga, the anime series was seen as gender neutral. Sony Pictures Entertainment vice president Todd Miller stated that Twin Spica was one of the titles aired on Animax which appealed to both genders.[69] The first episode of the drama series aired with a 3.4 percent domestic viewership rating.[79] Reviewers from the Yomiuri Shimbun rated the live-action adaptation an average two out of three stars and ranked it third overall among 11 series airing in Q3 2009.[92]