D-Frag!

D-Frag!

Cover of D-Frag! volume 1 by Media Factory featuring president of the Game Creation Club (Provisional), Roka Shibasaki.
ディーふらぐ!
(Dīfuragu!)
Genre Comedy
Manga
Written by Tomoya Haruno
Published by Media Factory
English publisher
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Monthly Comic Alive
Original run July 26, 2008 – ongoing
Volumes 9
Anime television series
Directed by Seiki Sugawara
Written by Makoto Uezu
Music by Nijine
Studio Brain's Base
Licensed by
Network TV Tokyo, TVA, TVO, AT-X
English network
Original run January 6, 2014 – March 24, 2014
Episodes 12 + 1 OAD

D-Frag! (ディーふらぐ! Dīfuragu!), also known as D-Fragments, is a comedic manga series by Tomoya Haruno that began serialization in Media Factory's Monthly Comic Alive in July 2008.[1] It has been collected in nine tankōbon volumes as of September 2014. A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by Brain's Base aired from January 6, 2014 to March 24, 2014.[2]

Plot

The story focuses on a semi-connected series of sketches as delinquent student Kenji Kazama is forced into joining his school's struggling "Game Creation Club" by its members, a quartet of crazy women with their own eccentricities that drive him crazy. As he attempts to distance himself from the club, the more he seems to run into not only his fellow club members, but others from his school who drive him insane to different degrees.

Characters

Most main characters' names are reference to railway stations in Tokyo, particularly Keiō Line. Some main character's first names are not yet revealed.

Main characters

The main characters are members of a Game Creation Club[3] (alt. "Game Development Club",[4] "game-making club (working title)"[5]).

Kenji Kazama (風間 堅次 Kazama Kenji)
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Austin Tindle[6] (English)
The leader of the "Kazama Party" and one of the head delinquents in school, he was forcibly recruited into the club after attempting to help them put out a fire. He is actually quite capable of fighting, however because he can never hit a girl he "supposedly" is still no match for the other girls in the club. While not being able to hit a girl, he later starts using tricking and deceiving to outmatch them in competitions. Later, the club members refer him as "Wind" elemental, due to his name. At all times, he serves as the tsukkomi (comedic straight man) to the antics around him.
Roka Shibasaki (柴崎 芦花 Shibasaki Roka)
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Bryn Apprill[6] (English)
The president of the Game Creation Club (Provisional). She has blonde hair. Her element is "Fire", although she later states that her true element is actually "Darkness." Her main combat method is putting a bag over her opponents' head, rendering them blind, hence the darkness element. She carries a lot of spare bags so she can use them anytime. Despite having a small profile, she is referred as "Strongest Darkness" and is the strongest in school. She refers to Kenji as her "important person", and shows jealousy when other girls approach him.
Chitose Karasuyama (烏山 千歳 Karasuyama Chitose)
Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (Japanese), Whitney Rodgers[7] (English)
A second-year and the president of the student council. Her authority is so great even the teachers fear her. Her element is "Earth", and her main combat method includes punching her opponent, throwing dirt at them, or digging traps. She also has a habit of burying her victims up to the neck.
Sakura Mizukami (水上 桜 Mizukami Sakura)
Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (Japanese), Megan Shipman[5] (English)
A first-year and a pink-haired tomboy. Her element is "Water", and is usually seen carrying a water bottle. Her combat method includes pouring water on her hands, or forcing water down an opponent's throat. She later starts referring Kenji as her big brother, while Noe as her little sister, despite the denial from both.
Minami Ōsawa (大沢 南 Ōsawa Minami, alt. Minami Ohsawa[5])
Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (Japanese), Caitlin Glass[5] (English)
The faculty advisor of the club. Her element is "Lightning" because she carries around a taser. She is shown to be sleeping almost anytime, even in her own class.
Hachi Shiō (子王 八 Shiō Hachi)
Voiced by: Kōki Miyata (Japanese), Micah Solusod[8] (English)
The club's other male member, he has an unrequited crush on Roka. He often uses the gap between a bookshelf and the wall as his "seat". Other club members refer to him as a "Light" elemental due to the sparkles that seem to surround his appearance. Roka is quite harsh toward him, while most other club members simply ignore him. He later joined the Kazama gang.

Secondary characters

Real Game Creation Club
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Japanese), Tia Ballard[7] (English)
President of the "real" Game Creation Club with no known first name. Friends with Roka, even though she left and started her own Game Creation Club on negative terms. Others in the school refer to Takao as a "Boobs" elemental in later chapters due to their large bust size and amount of times they affect other people. She has a crush on Kazama. After losing a match with Game Creation Club (Provisional), she actually starts to hang around with the club more often than her own club.
Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese), Morgan Garrett[6] (English)
A glasses-wearing girl with a perverted streak who often dresses up Sakuragaoka in girly outfits. She acts as Chitose's counterpart for the "real" Game Creation Club.
Voiced by: Ryōko Shiraishi (Japanese), Megan Vander Pluym (English)
A boy with a very feminine appearance. Due to a misunderstanding during their first met, Kenji refers to him as a girl, which he never had a chance to correct.
Voiced by: Takahiro Fujiwara (Japanese), Chris Rager (English)
A big, muscular club member. He is described as looking like a brutish giant on the outside, but in reality he is a timid pacifist.
Kazama Party
Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum[6] (English)
Student council Vice-President with a masochistic streak who both admires and fears Chitose.
Voiced by: Hiroki Gotō (Japanese), Josh Grelle[6] (English)
A short but fat student who is a member of Kazama Party.
Voiced by: Kenichirō Matsuda (Japanese), Ian Sinclair[6] (English)
Tall member of the Kazama Party.
Former student council
Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese), Lindsay Seidel (English)
A senior student, Tama is the ex-student council president before Chitose. She has a grudge with Chitose since their childhood and secretly plots to have Game Creation Club (Provisional) disbanded. She specializes in using her twin-tails hairstyle in combat, in which she is renowned as the strongest in Fujou High, capable of fending off Roka, and known as "The Legendary" in other schools. She seems to have an interest in Kenji after losing to him during the competition between ex-student council members and Game Creation Club (Provisional), and starts to participate in the club activities despite not being a club member.
Voiced by: Akira Ishida (Japanese), Clifford Chapin (English)
Ex-student council vice president. He is quite good with anime-related subjects.
Voiced by: Yuuko Sanpei (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
Ex-student council treasurer, courteous but also quite capable of fighting.
Voiced by: Eri Sendai (Japanese), Leah Clark (English)
Ex-student council secretary. She has an unstable stomach and often vomits to the point that friends and enemies alike call her "Pukey". She is often shown working many different types of part-time jobs and often runs into the club activities.
Others
Voiced by: Emiri Katō (Japanese), Jad Saxton (English)
Kenji's little sister who shares her brother's spiky hair and a penchant for being the comedic "straight man" in a world full of crazy punchlines. She is often comforted by Kenji when she can't take the insanity of his daily life. Called an "ice" elemental by members of the Game Creation Club after misspeaking, and has also been referred to as the "little sister" element.
Roka's sister who attends another high school, having worse grades. Has made elaborate lunchboxes for Roka and seeks to "protect" her from Kenji.
Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki (Japanese), Felecia Angelle[9] (English)
Kenji's classmate, she is good at housework and often shown doing various chores for the class. Has trouble being the center of attention, and is often blushing when she receives praise from anyone. She has a crush on Kenji. Despite not a member of Game Creation Club (Provisional), she later shows up very often during their activities out of school.
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese), Scott Freeman (English)
A man who dresses in a tokusatsu outfit and plays a superhero.
Voiced by: Jōji Nakata (Japanese), Bill Jenkins (English)
Kenji's Japanese Classics teacher. He saved the Kazama Party (and RaGaiGar) from a flaming building when they were kids. He inspired Kenji to help those who are in need. A parody of real-life actor Sean Connery with elements of Indiana Jones, and supposedly wields the "Dandy" element.

Media

Manga

No.TitleJapanese releaseEnglish release
1D-Frag! 01 (ディーふらぐ！ 01)February 23, 2009[10]
ISBN 978-4-8401-2533-8		August 5, 2014[11]
ISBN 978-1-62692-070-5
2D-Frag! 02 (ディーふらぐ！ 02)October 23, 2009[12]
ISBN 978-4-8401-2929-9		September 23, 2014[13]
ISBN 978-1-62692-071-2
3D-Frag! 03 (ディーふらぐ！ 03)July 23, 2010[14]
ISBN 978-4-8401-3347-0		December 16, 2014[15]
ISBN 978-1-62692-091-0
4D-Frag! 04 (ディーふらぐ！ 04)February 23, 2011[16]
ISBN 978-4-8401-3758-4		March 10, 2015[17]
ISBN 978-1-62692-117-7
5D-Frag! 05 (ディーふらぐ！ 05)December 22, 2011[18]
ISBN 978-4-8401-4078-2		June 9, 2015[19]
ISBN 978-1-62692-136-8
6D-Frag! 06 (ディーふらぐ！ 06)October 23, 2012[20]
ISBN 978-4-8401-4734-7		–
7D-Frag! 07 (ディーふらぐ！ 07)August 10, 2013[21]
ISBN 978-4-8401-5302-7		–
8D-Frag! 08 (ディーふらぐ！ 08)December 21, 2013[22]
ISBN 978-4-0406-6192-6		–
9D-Frag! 09 (ディーふらぐ！ 09)September 23, 2014
ISBN 978-4-0406-6848-2[23]
ISBN 978-4-0406-6554-2[24] (special edition)		–

Anime

Episode list

No. Title Original air date
1 "Kazama Party"  January 7, 2014
Kenji Kazama arrives at school looking to leave an impression, but ends up forced into joining the Game Creation Club. Later, the Student Council Vice-President and fourth member of the Kazama Party, Ataru, reveals some backstory about the Student Council President Chitose. 
2 "Curse You, Fake Game Creation Club!!"  January 13, 2014
When Kenji is at a park (not at school due to the suspension he got from the events of the first episode), he finds himself confronted by members of the "real" Game Creation Club, claiming the one he joined was a fake club. When he confronts his own club members about it, he discovers that the leaders of both Game Creation Clubs were actually friends in one club, but Roka didn't like how the other members talked about her, so with Chitose's help she started her own club. 
3 "Fujou Academy Freedom Festival, AKA FuF Festival"  January 20, 2014
As the day of the school festival draws near, the presidents of both Game Creation Clubs prepare to make their own games to show the students at the festival. Takao and Roka agree that the loser's club will be absorbed by the winner, while Chitose threatens to do "that" (an undefined action) to Takao if her club wins. Later that day, Kenji discovers that Takao's club did a decent job of making their own video game, while Takao finds that the "fake" club made a mini-carnival with various analog games, as the rules never specified the type of game they had to make. 
4 "They're the Band of 14 Devils!!"  January 27, 2014
After some debate, Minami reveals that the club's official name is "Game Creation Club (Provisional)." While trying to avoid having to play the "Quest for Porn Mags in Space" board game that Roka created, the Kazama Party gets ambushed by the "Band of 14 Devils" (minus two for personal reasons). Despite his best efforts, Kazama and his friends are captured, though Ataru escapes to warn the Game Creation Club (Provisional) about what happened. The club and Takao decide to fake going to the bathroom and rush to Kenji's rescue. 
5 "What?! Your Little Sister Makes Your Lunches?!"  February 3, 2014
Kenji tries to get out of playing the newest edition of "Quest for Porn Mags in Space" again, promising Takao anything if she'll switch places with him. Unfortunately, after striking the deal, Roka reveals that this edition can be played by five people. Later, Chitose bullies Kenji into eating a green pepper off the floor. After lunch, Kenji reveals some backstory about his relationship with legendary Japanese classic literature teacher Shawn Konekone. 
6 "So That Means We're in a Love Triangle!"  February 10, 2014
Pretty boy and newest Game Creation Club (Provisional) member Shio appears to proclaim his love for Roka, but Roka is only interested in Kenji, and Kenji wants nothing to do with either of them. Later, after Funabori reveals she washed and cleaned one of Roka's bags, Shio, Kenji and Roka decide to have a contest over who owns that bag, and Chitose expands the contest into a school-wide event that begins with a King of the Hill-style tournament. 
7 "That`s Dirty---!!"  February 17, 2014
Kenji wakes up after being hit by the zipper from Takao's old uniform to discover that he's locked in a thumb war with Shio as a semifinal match. Meanwhile, Takao and Roka are locked in a game of musical chairs, but seem to have forgotten the chair entirely and are instead tackling each other. The Grand Final round turns out to be a "King's Game," but with only two people the winner is whoever picks the "King" stick. 
8 "I Liked The Pixels..."  February 24, 2014
Kenji and Takao are informed by a panel of teachers that ever since the zipper incident from the tournament, various students have been injured trying to copy the event with each other. After Kenji stands up for Takao, she later asks him out on a date. Unfortunately, the release date of a popular new game she planned to get falls on the same day, so Kenji ends up waiting in line with her. 
9 "That's Right. I'm His Little Sister."  March 3, 2014
After getting flustered by Kenji's demands to hide his bag from Shio and Ataru, Funabori ends up preempting the boys by sticking her own head in the bag. Kenji's little sister comes to visit her brother's club room, but ends up getting increasingly scared by the girls inside, then flees after Takao accidentally smacks her against a bookshelf. Takao tries to make nice with her to get closer to Kenji, but her attempts backfire. 
10 "Tama-senpai, Long Time No See"  March 10, 2014
Kenji gets kidnapped again, this time by the former student council led by senior student Tama. The Game Creation Club and Ataru race to save him, but find themselves facing the Science Club's robot mascot with Shinsen ("Barfy") riding inside. Takao ends up defeating the robot by herself, but when they reach the classroom, Roka finds her usual "darkness" bag attack blocked by Tama's unique twintail hairstyle. Tama demands the Game Creation Club (Provisional) disband, and Kenji proposes a contest to save the club. 
11 "I Have a Secret Move?"  March 17, 2014
Takao comes up with a contest called "Cell Thievery" where each team tries to snatch an opposing player's cell phone and correctly answer a question about that person written on the phone. Roka demands that Kenji "princess carry" her after Tama's hug from earlier drained most of her strength, and the two of them run away with Sakura, but two of Tama's team are in hot pursuit. Eventually, Roka regains her strength and distracts Naganuma long enough for Kenji to knock him out of the game. Chitose finds herself losing against Tama's strength and needs help. Roka tells Kenji he has a secret move: the "Vertical Jump." Kenji literally jumps up to the second floor and is immediately surrounded by the Basketball Club. 
12 "At this Rate, You'll have Zero Friends for All Eternity!"  March 24, 2014
Some of the teachers decide to bet over whether the Game Creation Club or the former student council will win their battle. Chitose has a flashback to when she was a kindergartner playing in a sandbox. Every time she tried to build a sandcastle, Tama would come over and smash it, until Roka appeared and helped Chitose bury Tama in sand. Since that day, Chitose swore to one day build a legendary sand castle, and Tama swore to break everything that Chitose loved for her humiliation. In the present, Tama's sumo slap attacks and "double kabuki" technique are keeping both Kenji and Chitose from getting to her cell phone. However, Kenji comes up with a plan that lets him slip past her guard and pull off Tama's hair ribbons, letting Roka subsequently place a bag over her head. The Game Creation Club is declared the winner. Later, Tama plays a round of "Quest for Porn Mags in Space" to get closer to Kenji, while swearing to his club members that her original goals haven't changed. 

References

  1. ↑ 月刊コミックアライブ2008年9月号 バックナンバー (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  2. ↑ "D-Fragments TV Anime's Staff, Cast Unveiled". Anime News Network. October 26, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  3. ↑ http://www.gomanga.com/books/d-frag!/111
  4. ↑ http://us.macmillan.com/dfragvol1/TomoyaHaruno
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "D-Frag! English Dub Casts Caitlin Glass, Megan Shipman". Anime News Network. January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "-Frag! English Dub Casts Austin Tindle, Bryn Apprill, More". Anime News Network. January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "D-Frag! English Dub Casts Whitney Rodgers, Tia Ballard". Anime News Network. January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Micah Solusod on Twitter: "Happy to be voicing the slightly creepy Hachi Siou in D-Frag!". Twitter. January 23, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Anime Roles - Felecia Angelle" (Facebook post). April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  10. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ #1 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  11. ↑ "D-Frag!, Vol. 1". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  12. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ #2 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  13. ↑ "D-Frag Vol. 2". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  14. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ #3 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  15. ↑ "D-Frag Vol. 3". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  16. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ #4 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  17. ↑ "D-Frag! Vol. 4". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  18. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ #5 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  19. ↑ "D-Frag! Vol. 5". Amazon.com. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  20. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ #6 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  21. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ #7 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  22. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ #8 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  23. ↑ ディーふらぐ！ 9 (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  24. ↑ "ディーふらぐ！9巻 OAD付き特装版" (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved October 23, 2014.

External links