The Day of Revolution
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| The Day of Revolution | |||
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 Cover of the second volume with Megumi. |
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| 革命の日 (Kakumei no Hi) |
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| Genre | Comedy, Drama | ||
| Manga | |||
| Author | Mikiyo Tsuda | ||
| Publisher |  Shinshokan |
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| Demographic | Shōjo | ||
| Magazine | Wings |
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| Original run | March 1999 – January 2001 | ||
| Volumes | 2 | ||
The Day of Revolution (革命の日 Kakumei no Hi?) is a manga written and illustrated by Japanese manga creator Mikiyo Tsuda in 1999. The story mainly focuses around a boy who starts to live as a girl and how his group of friends changes due to his new lifestyle. This short series was first serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Wings by Shinshokan between March 1999 and January 2001. The manga has been picked up by Digital Manga Publishing to be published in North America. The English language edition released on September 20, 2006 while the second volume was released on December 13, 2006. Also, two drama CDs have been created based on the series. The first was first released in Japan on July 28, 2001 while the second came out the following year sometime in 2002.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The Day of Revolution revolves around a group of friends and their lives as they attend the same high school. The protagonist, Kei Yoshikawa, was a "normal" boy in high school until one day he has a sudden fainting spell at school. Afterwards, a doctor informs him and his parents that Kei is genetically female. When his mother asks "How can this be?" the doctor lists off a dozen different syndromes. It appears that neither the doctor nor the author ever informs the readers of Kei's actual condition. It could be XX male syndrome, but from the symptoms it could also be true hermaphroditism with ovotestis.[2] This shocking realization takes his entire family through a loop though in the end brings them closer together when Kei determines that he's going to restart his life as a girl named "Megumi", but it's not as easy as she thinks.
Kei, now Megumi, takes a leave from school for six months in order to have his body worked on in order to appear more feminine. In order to make the transition easier for Megumi, she was sent back a year and started high school off as a new entering first year student. However, there is not enough money to send her to a different school. Upon arrival, she finds that her male friends from when she lived as a boy all start hitting on her once they discover the truth that she was Kei. Shocked at their new behavior, Megumi starts to develop an aversion for all boys which later turns into all out androphobia after a traumatic experience with a former enemy.
[edit] Characters
- Kei/Megumi Yoshikawa (吉川恵 Yoshikawa Kei/Megumi?)
- Voiced by: Junko Takeuchi
- The main character, Kei was a "normal", though rebellious, boy in high school who would get into fights along with his three close friends.
However, one day his doctor tells him and his parents that while Kei may appear to be physically male, he is in fact genetically female. He thus starts to live as a girl and even changes his name to Megumi, which incidentally uses the same kanji as Kei. After the change in lifestyle, Megumi still has a problem with the transition from male to female. Even as Megumi dresses as a girl, she still feels more like a boy, and feels more comfortable when around Makoto.
Megumi (left) and Kei (right)
- As a guy, he was often told he was cute, which would usually land the person who said it with a clean punch to the face. Similarly, as he starts to live as a girl, he keeps much of the same personality for the bulk of the story and only towards the end does he seem more feminine than masculine. Also, Megumi tends to be very outspoken and even blunt sometimes. After he found about his genetic disorder, Kei took six months off from school in order to have his body worked on to appear more feminine. Upon returning to school, Megumi was set back one year to the first year of high school (equivalent to tenth grade in America) because of all the school she lost and it would be easier for her to not be in the same class as those who knew her as Kei.
- Megumi appears in the series Princess Princess, by the same author of The Day of Revolution, as Mikoto's girlfriend, though only references are made about her past life in the manga and nothing in the anime. In the manga, Megumi once feared that Mikoto had something with the other Princesses and that the only reason he is interested in her is because of her past life.
- Makoto Yutaka (豊麻琴 Yutaka Makoto?)
- Voiced by: Fujiko Takimoto
- Makoto is Megumi's best female friend who acts as a kind of coach to guide her through the process of becoming a typical girl. She teaches Megumi things such as feminine mannerisms, and speech patterns that only Japanese girls use. She was given this task because of her connection to Kei's doctor and because she wants to become a counselor after high school. She is the niece of Kei's doctor, presumably the doctor who diagnosed Kei. Makoto is also very protective of Megumi, not wanting anything bad to happen to her. She has a very strong personality and uses it to command people around her however she likes. Makoto often uses this trait to coerce her younger brother, Mikoto, into doing things she wants him to do, whether they be for her own benefit or his own.
- Like Megumi, Makoto also appears in the series Princess Princess as a minor character; she is still portrayed as Mikoto's sister. In the Princess Princess manga, once Megumi tells Makoto about her insecurities regarding Mikoto's sexual orientation, Makoto tells Megumi not to let him know that. Megumi thought it was because it would hurt his feelings, but Makoto says that she does not want him to know how much Megumi loves him because it would make him happier.
- Mikoto Yutaka (豊実琴 Yutaka Mikoto?)
- Voiced by: Naoki Yanagi
- Mikoto is Makoto's younger brother who later becomes Megumi's boyfriend. He is a rather short guy who is in his second year at an all-boys junior high school. He is usually a very shy person but speaks out with much emotion. Ever since he entered junior high, he's been plagued by other students who treated him more like a girl than a guy due to his appearance and feminine face. He is intensely embarrassed about this happening to him. He took an early liking to Megumi by the pictures of her that were all around his house, which was never explained why. Mikoto even took a few of the pictures for himself, something his sister reminds him about later to the embarrassment of Mikoto. Eventually, he wants to become a doctor and take over the family hospital.
- Mikoto appears in Mikiyo Tsuda's later work Princess Princess as one of the series' main characters and Princesses. While the main reason he expresses to object being a Princess (aside from male pride) is the fear that Megumi will reject him if she finds out which could be implying that he sees it as a continuation of the embarrassment he faced in junior high because of his feminine appearance.
- Hiroaki Kawada (河和田広明 Kawada Hiroaki?)
- Voiced by: Eiji Takemoto
- Hiroaki is a former classmate of Kei's who eventually becomes the student body president. He has a lot of traits that fit well for a school president, such as forcefulness and being straightforward.
- Shōji Tōba (鳥羽修司 Tōba Shōji?)
- Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki
- Shōji has a very lively personality and is one of Megumi's main friends. Back when she was Kei, he would love to hug her, much to the detest of Kei.
- Tadashi Tachimachi (立待匡 Tachimachi Tadachi?)
- Tadashi is also one of Megumi's close friends, he is usually very silent. He is also rather short, only a few centimeters taller than Megumi.
- Kazutoshi Shinmei (神明和季 Kazutoshi Shinmei?)
- Voiced by: Susumu Chiba
- Kazutoshi is one of Megumi's friends that she knew as Kei. He constantly smiles and is shown to be the leader of Shouji and Tadashi. He can be very domineering and intimidating at times.
- Taisei Nakagawa (中河大誠 Nakagawa Taisei?)
- Taisei is a third-year student at the school who is at odds with Kazutoshi, Shōji, Tadashi and Kei since they took over the roof position at the top of the school. He is rather idiotic and doesn't always think up the best of plans on how to go about things. Also, he is the main reason Megumi starts to avoid guys after he assaulted her one day.
- Takayuki Katakaki (片上孝之 Katakaki Takayuki?) and Tomoyuki Katakaki (片上智之 Katakaki Tomoyuki?)
- They are twin brothers who serve as the voice of reason for the otherwise idiotic Taisei. They always hang around with Taisei and follow him as their leader.
[edit] Media
[edit] Manga
The Day of Revolution manga is written and illustrated by Mikiyo Tsuda and was first serialized in the manga magazine Wings, with the first bound volume released in March 1999. Later, the chapters were collected into two separate volumes, published by Shinshokan, and has already ended in Japan. The manga series has since been licensed for distribution in the United States by Digital Manga Publishing. The first English volume was released on September 20, 2006 and the second volume was released on December 13, 2006. Concerning the second volume, its full title in the original version is different from that of the first volume in that the additional kanji Zoku (続? meaning "to continue") was added to the beginning of the title. Tsuda wrote in the second volume that she had intended the story to be complete with one volume's worth of chapters, but was persuaded by a good friend and fellow manga author Eiki Eiki that the story had not been satisfactorily ended, and needed some more telling.
[edit] Drama CDs
Two drama CDs based on the manga series were made. The first was released in Japan on July 28, 2001, published by Shinshokan. The second came out sometime in 2002.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Mikiyo Tsuda's personal website. Retrieved on 2007-07-12.
- ^ Ovotestis at emedicine.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
[edit] External links
- Digital Manga Publishing's website for The Day of Revolution
- The Day of Revolution (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
