| Umizaru | |
Cover of volume 1 |
|
| 海猿 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama, romance |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Shūhō Satō |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Magazine | Weekly Young Sunday |
| Original run | 1998 – 2001 |
| Volumes | 12 |
| TV special | |
| Directed by | Yoshiko Hoshida |
| Written by | Yasuo Hasegawa |
| Network | NHK |
| Released | July 13, 2002 |
| Runtime | 45 minutes |
| TV special | |
| Umizaru 2 | |
| Directed by | Yoshiko Hoshida |
| Written by | Yasuo Hasegawa |
| Network | NHK |
| Released | August 18, 2003 |
| Runtime | 45 minutes |
| Live-action film | |
| Umizaru | |
| Directed by | Eiichirō Hasumi |
| Written by | Yasushi Fukuda |
| Music by | Naoki Satō |
| Studio | Fuji Television |
| Licensed by | Toho |
| Released | June 12, 2004 |
| Runtime | 120 minutes |
| TV drama | |
| Umizaru Evolution | |
| Directed by | Eiichirō Hasumi, Yoshinori Kobayashi |
| Produced by | Shizuo Sekiguchi, Shintarō Suzuki, Fumi Hashimoto |
| Written by | Yasushi Fukuda |
| Music by | Naoki Satō |
| Studio | Fuji TV / Kyodo |
| Network | Fuji TV |
| Original run | July 5, 2005 – September 13, 2005 |
| Episodes | 11 |
| Live-action film | |
| Limit of Love: Umizaru | |
| Directed by | Eiichirō Hasumi |
| Written by | Yasushi Fukuda |
| Music by | Naoki Satō |
| Studio | Fuji Television |
| Licensed by | Toho |
| Released | May 6, 2006 |
| Runtime | 117 minutes |
Umizaru (海猿, lit. Sea Monkeys) is a manga series by Shūhō Satō which was serialized by Shogakukan in Weekly Young Sunday from 1998 to 2001. Yōichi Komori is credited with the original idea for the series, and he also did the research to make the series more authentic.
The series focuses on Daisuke Senzaki, an officer in the Japan Coast Guard, and tells the stories of shipwreck rescues and other incidents where the coast guard plays a role. The plotlines in the series were drawn from incidents and accidents which actually happened while the manga was being written (similar to the "ripped from the headlines" tagline used by various Law & Order series).
The manga has been adapted into two NHK high-definition specials, three films, and one drama series.