| Sensual Phrase | |
Cover of the first volume of the Viz Media English release of Sensual Phrase |
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| 快感 フレーズ (Kaikan Phrase) |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Music, Romance |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Mayu Shinjo |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| English publisher | Viz Media |
| Demographic | Shōjo |
| Magazine | Shōjo Comic |
| Original run | 1997 – 2000 |
| Volumes | 18 |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Hiroko Tokita |
| Studio | Studio Hibari |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | April 20, 1999 – March 25, 2000 |
| Episodes | 44 |
Sensual Phrase (快感 フレーズ Kaikan Furēzu) is a shōjo manga series created by Mayu Shinjo. The manga was published by Shogakukan in Shōjo Comic between 1997 and 2000, and collected in 18 bound volumes. It was adapted as a 44-episode anime television series by Studio Hibari and as a series of novels. The series tells the story of Aine Yukimura, a high school student who becomes the lyricist for a Japanese rock band, and her relationship with the band's lead singer, Sakuya Ookochi.
To promote the anime, two real-life bands were formed: Λucifer, the band the story focuses on, and e.MU, a rival band. Both bands continued after the anime ended before disbanding. Within the series, Λucifer’s original name is Lucifer, which is changed to Λucifer (using the Greek letter lambda) when the band decides to go international. For the purposes of the article, the second name, Λucifer is used. Japanese names are given in Western order, with family name last.
Contents |
Virginal Aine Yukimura is a quiet high school student who secretly writes raunchy song lyrics in hopes of becoming a song writer. One day she drops her lyrics and is almost run over by a car driven by Sakuya Ookochi, the lead singer for the hard-rocking band Lucifer known for their sensual lyrics. While helping her out, he ends up with a copy of her lyrics. Seeing her talent and desiring the girl, he campaigns for Aine to become the official lyricist for the band. His manager initially objects, but when Aine continues producing excellent lyrics, he relents and she becomes their lyricist using the male pseudonym Yukihiko Aine to protect her identity.
Aine and Sakuya's relationship starts on rocky ground, with Aine in love with Sakuya but thinking he only is with her for her lyrics. When he rejects her sexual advance, this only furthers this belief until he expresses his own love for her through a ballad he writes entitled "Little Bird". However, being the girlfriend of a high profile star is not an easy task. Aine is almost immediately targeted by jealous classmates who are fans of Sakuya's with Sakuya finally having to step in to put an end to things when some female fans pay some guys to attempt to rape Aine. As the series progresses, Aine is frequently targeted by Sakuya's enemies including rival bands and obsessed fans. In particular, his half-brother Ralph uses blackmail to take Aine from Sakuya temporarily, forcing Sakuya to face his father, who raped his mother. Knowing that his father prefers him over Ralph, Sakuya bows his head to him and learns the family business, giving him the power to take back Aine and keep Ralph from trying such a tactic again. However, Ralph continues attempting to woo Aine, having fallen in love with her during the time he held her captive and refused to submit to him.
Lucifer continues to grow as a band, moving from an independent band to major hit, renaming itself to Λucifer, and preparing to do tours in America and Europe, while Sakuya and Aine attempt to balance their love and professional lives. As the group continues to grow, the president of Λucifer's parent label, Kaito Yoshioka, grows to dislike the band's success overshadowing the main label's act. He brutally rapes Aine in an attempt to break Sakuya. She is found by their producer Hitoshi, who takes her to his home and tries to comfort her while helping her avoid Sakuya. Aine tries to commit suicide that night, leaving Hitoshi no choice but to tell Sakuya. Sakuya tries to kill Yoshioka, but is stopped by Ralph, who promises to avenge Aine while reminding Sakuya that she needs him with her, not in prison. Sakuya takes Aine, who is in a near catatonic state, into hiding to care for her. When she again attempts suicide, he cuts his own wrist telling her he will die with her if that's what she really wants. Aine snaps out of her depression and begins healing emotionally, while they work to recover their relationship. Aine realizes Sakuya is avoiding music and is afraid she will be hurt again because of him. She convinces him to return to the world they both love and after the death of the Hitoshi, Λucifer goes on to perform their final concert in Japan before a big European tour. While they are overseas, Aine studies to become the group's new manager. At the end for the series, Sakuya and Aine are married with a son.
The anime adaptation does not follow most of the manga, acting more as a prequel series that shows how the band came to be formed and the daily hardships and struggles they faced as they formed. Aine is not introduced until the band gets their first debut in Episode 19.
In her blog, Shinjo noted that though she was the actual creator of Sensual Phrase, she was one of the last to know that the series was going to be adapted into an anime, and that by the time she knew, Shogakukan had already made the decision to do the series. She was also unaware that there were talks about making a film adaptation of the series until two years after the proposal was rejected. When the anime was rerun on AT-X, she found out by seeing it on the channels official website.[1] She left Shogakukan in 2007, despite the company threatening to take all of her earlier series, including Sensual Phrase, out of print if she did so. Shinjo contacted a lawyer and, the threat was never carried out.[2]
Written and illustrated by Mayu Shinjo, Sensual Phrase premiered in Shōjo Comic in 1997 , where it was serialized monthly until its conclusion in 2000. The individual chapters were collected and published in 17 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan from June 1997 through January 2001.[3][4][5] An additional volume was released on April 24, 2003 containing a sequel chapter for the story and additional unrelated short stories.[3] Shogakukan republished the serialized chapters across six shinsoban hard cover editions in 2003 and re-released the original 17 volumes in 2006 with new covers.[3][6]
Sensual Phrase is licensed for an English-language release in North America by Viz Media, including the special final volume.[7] It released the first volume of the series on March 24, 2004; the final volume was released on February 13, 2007.[8][9]
The series is licensed for regional language releases by Editorial Ivréa in Spain and Latin America, Pika Edition in France, Egmont Manga & Anime in Germany, and Star Comics in Italy. It was serialized in Germany in Manga Twister and in Italy in Amici.
Five novels based on the manga were published by Shogakukan:[3]
Sensual Phrase was adapted as an anime television series by Studio Hibari. It was directed by Hiroko Tokita, with music by Susumu Akitagawa and character designs by Yumi Nakayama. There were multiple opening and closing themes, some of them credited to the fictional bands Λucifer and e.MU, for which real-world counterparts were created. The anime was broadcast on TV Tokyo in 44 episodes from April 20, 1999 to March 25, 2000. It was later released on 11 Videos by Pony Canyon.[3]
Kaikan Phrase Original Soundtrack (快感フレーズ Original Soundtrack) is the anime series soundtrack album. It was released February 16, 2000 by Pony Canyon. Some tracks are performed by Λucifer, the real-world counterpart of the fictional rock band of the series.
Kaikan Phrase Visualism (or Kaikan Phrase BGM Image Album: VISUALISM) was releaded on March 15, 2000 by Pony Canyon. In addition, a self-title album by Λucifer was released on April 15, 1998 by PolyGram, containing songs from the manga.[3]
A video game based on the series, Kaikan Phrase: Datenshi Kourin, was released in Japan for the Sony PlayStation by Enix on February 24, 2000. Produced by Produce, it is a Single-player Music game that features the five members of Λucifer. In 2010, Datenshi no Amai Yuuwaku x Kaikan Phrase was released for the Nintendo DS.
In 2006, a film adaption of Sensual Phrase was reportedly discussed by the Sensual Phrase editor at Shogakukan, but the idea was rejected because the company felt it would have been too much of a "hassle." According to Shinjo, she didn't learn about the proposal until years after it happened.[1]
In addition, an artbook called SA KU YA (ISBN 4-09-199791-0) and a postcard book based on the manga were published.