Castle Town Dandelion

Castle Town Dandelion

Cover of the first manga volume
城下町のダンデライオン
(Jōkamachi no Danderaion)
Genre Comedy, Supernatural
Manga
Written by Ayumu Kasuga
Published by Houbunsha
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Manga Time Kirara Miracle!
Original run June 2012 – ongoing
Volumes 3
Anime television series
Directed by Noriaki Akitaya
Written by Reiko Yoshida
Music by Tabuchi Nastumi
Studio Production IMS
Licensed by
Network TBS, CBC, SUN, BS-TBS
English network
Original run July 2, 2015 – September 17, 2015
Episodes 12

Castle Town Dandelion (城下町のダンデライオン Jōkamachi no Danderaion, "Dandelion of Jōkamachi"), is a Japanese four-panel comic strip manga written and illustrated by Ayumu Kasuga. It made its first appearance in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Miracle! magazine with the June 2012 issue. An anime adaptation produced by Production IMS and directed by Noriaki Akitaya premiered in Japan on July 2, 2015.

Plot

The story revolves around the Sakurada family, a family of nine super-powered siblings whose father is the king. It focuses on Akane, the fourth eldest, who is extremely shy. However, the actions of her and her siblings are constantly being recorded and broadcast on TV, allowing the citizens to choose which one to elect as the next king.

Characters

Sakurada family

Akane Sakurada (櫻田 茜 Sakurada Akane)
Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa[1][2]
The main viewpoint character, Akane is the third daughter and fourth child of the Sakurada family. She hates being the center of attention, due to a childhood trauma and being followed by cameras all day, and as such aims to be king to get rid of the cameras, despite how ironically she would get more attention on herself if she succeeds. Her ability is Gravity Core[n 1], which allows her to manipulate the gravity of herself and anyone she touches, as well as allowing her to increase her speed and strength. Despite her shyness, she has a strong sense of justice and is her class' representative. She's completely unaware that she has a fan club at school. Once, Aoi and Kanade wanted her to become a more confident person so they give her an alter-ego as a super hero named Scarlett Bloom (スカーレットブルーム Sukāretto Burūmu), basing her on a fictional television superhero, Rose Typhoon. Akane thinks this as a great disguise not knowing that the citizens and the Sakurada siblings were all aware of her true identity and only played along with the charade for her.
Aoi Sakurada (櫻田 葵 Sakurada Aoi)
Voiced by: Ai Kayano[1][2]
Eldest child of the Sakurada family. Her ability is originally said to be Invisible Work[n 2], which allows her to do anything once she has learned it. However this is only a front for her true ability, Absolute Order[n 3], which allows her to order anyone under her bidding but she keeps this as a secret from everyone except her father, as she is afraid of this power and has very little control over it. It is also because of this that she feels she does not deserve to be king, despite having the highest chance according to the pre-election rankings.
Shū Sakurada (櫻田 修 Sakurada Shū)
Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura[1][2]
Second child and eldest son of the Sakurada family. He's the twin of Kanade. His ability is Transporter[n 4], which allows him to teleport him and anyone he touches to a certain location. He has stated that he is too busy making sure Kanade is not chosen as king to be campaigning for and try to become king himself, despite knowing her agenda to become one. Although not really showing it, Shū has a crush from his childhood, that makes it a reason why he prefers twintailed girls. In the past, Shu wanted to become a professional soccer player but when Kanade accidentally injured his legs, his current condition prevents him from joining advanced sports. He is the second member of the Akane Fan Club. He greatly resembles his father when he was his age.
Kanade Sakurada (櫻田 奏 Sakurada Kanade)
Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara[1][2]
Third child and second daughter of the Sakurada family. She's the twin of Shū. Her ability is Heaven's Gate[n 5], which allows her to create objects using materials within a certain area. In order to materialize them, she has to pay the amount of money it takes to use the requested object, which makes her have a job and keeping a vast amount of money as much as the country's national savings. Among her siblings, Kanade has the strongest desire to become king. She is also vice president of the student council. Because she accidentally injured Shu's legs in the past, Kanade's motive for becoming the king is to advance the country's medical system in order to cure him and correct her past mistake.
Haruka Sakurada (櫻田 遥 Sakurada Haruka)
Voiced by: Ayumu Murase[1][2]
Fifth child and middle son of the Sakurada family. He's the twin of Misaki. His ability is Lots of Next[n 6], which allows him to calculate the possibilities of a situation effortlessly. He tends to be the straight man in the antics of his siblings.
Misaki Sakurada (櫻田 岬 Sakurada Misaki)
Voiced by: Eriko Matsui[1][2]
Sixth child and fourth daughter of the Sakurada family. She's the twin of Haruka. Her ability is All for One[n 7], which allows her to multiply herself up to seven times, which all represent aspects of her personality and the seven deadly sins: Yuniko (ユニコ) (wrath), Revi (レヴィ) (envy), Inari (イナリ) (greed), Bubu (ブブ) (gluttony), Bell (ベル) (sloth), Shaura (シャウラ) (lust), and Raio (ライオ) (pride). Since each copy excels in each of their aspects, Misaki gets annoyed that that makes her look bland in comparison as she doesn't excel in anything.
Hikari Sakurada (櫻田 光 Sakurada Hikari)
Voiced by: Yui Ogura[1][2]
Seventh child and fifth daughter of the Sakurada family. Her ability is God Hand[n 8], which allows her to increase or reverse the growth of a living being for 24 hours. Inspired by Sacchan's performance, Hikari tries to become an idol, under the name Light Sakuraba (桜庭 らいと Sakuraba Raito), but finds it futile to draw votes for her since she isn't using her real name or age as an idol.
Teru Sakurada (櫻田 輝 Sakurada Teru)
Voiced by: Shiori Katsuta[1][2]
Eighth child and youngest son of the Sakurada family. His ability is Limit Over[n 9], which increases his strength to a superhuman level. He tends to speak in an old fashioned way and likes to think of himself as a hero.
Shiori Sakurada (櫻田 栞 Sakurada Shiori)
Voiced by: Aina Suzuki[1][2]
Ninth child and youngest daughter of the Sakurada family. Her ability is Soulmate[n 10], which allows her to communicate with animals and even inanimate objects. Despite being the youngest of the nine, she's actually thoughtful and observant.
Sōichirō Sakurada (櫻田 総一郎 Sakurada Sōichirō)
Voiced by: Dai Matsumoto
Sōichirō is the father of the nine Sakurada children and the king. He cares for his family so much that he secretly hires a SAT team whenever his children are alone at home. His parents died when he was younger, and as a result he became king in his first year of high school. His royal ability allows him to read people's emotions through their aura.
Satsuki Sakurada (櫻田 五月 Sakurada Satsuki)
Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino
Satsuki is the mother of the nine Sakurada children and the queen. Her original name is Satsuki Shinonome (東雲 五月 Shinonome Satsuki), and she is actually a year older than Sōichirō. She comes from a family of five siblings, and was Sōichirō's first friend as she was the only person willing to interact with him despite knowing his royalty.
Borscht (ボルシチ Borushichi)
Voiced by: Shō Hayami
The Sakurada family's pet cat, it was first picked and adopted by Hikari. Borscht likes to chews plastic bags than cat food after claiming that even the taste of a royal cooking "loses" to a plastic bag. He also likes Akane and always sleeps on her chest as it feels like his old shelter, much to Hikari's dismay, since she thinks of herself as his true owner.

Others

Hana Satō (佐藤 花 Satō Hana)
Voiced by: Yuka Aisaka[1][2]
Hana is Shū's classmate from elementary school who moved out from the town. After she's back to the town, she falls in love with Shū and confessed her feelings. Shū decided to put a status quo of their relationship since he wants to focus on the election, although he actually also had a crush on Hana since they were young.
Karen Ayugase (鮎ケ瀬 花蓮 Ayugase Karen)
Voiced by: Saori Hayami[3]
Karen is Akane's classmate and childhood friend, always helping her whenever she is in trouble. She also has a crush on Akane.
Fukushina (福品)
Voiced by: Satoshi Nakao
Fukushina is Akane's classmate and secretly the president of the Akane Fan Club. He likes Akane's face when she is embarrassed. Although his given name is unrevealed in the original manga, it is Hajime (創) in the anime.
An Shirogane (白銀 杏 Shirogane An)
Voiced by: M.A.O[3]
An is Akane's classmate. In the anime, she only made her appearance during the first and the last episodes and alongside Karen wishing their classmates to vote for Akane.
Sachiko Yonezawa (米澤 紗千子 Yonezawa Sachiko)
Voiced by: Sachika Misawa[3]
Nicknamed Sacchan (さっちゃん), she is an idol under the talent management Geinou Productions. Her career is the inspiration behind Hikari's alter ego as Light Sakuraba, much to her dismay. She initially sees Hikari/Light as a great rival and doesn't understand the true efforts as an idol, often giving her a bad treatment until she sprained her ankle during a live stage, causing her to realise her mistake. According to the manga's writer, Ayumu Kasuga, Sachiko was purposely designed and named after the voice actress herself.

Media

Manga

Castle Town Dandelion is a four-panel comic strip manga written and illustrated by Ayumu Kasuga. It made its first appearance in the June 2012 issue of Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Miracle! magazine,[4] and began serialization in the magazine with the August 2012 issue.[5] Houbunsha published the first tankōbon volume on March 27, 2013, and three volumes have been released as of August 27, 2015.[6] A manga anthology illustrated by various artists titled Castle Town Dandelion Anthology Comic (城下町のダンデライオン アンソロジーコミック Jōkamachi no Danderaion Ansorojī Komikku) was released on August 27, 2015.[7]

Anime

The series has been adapted into a 12-episode anime television series,[8][9] directed by Noriaki Akitaya and produced by the animation studio Production IMS. The series is written by Reiko Yoshida, and Shinpei Kobayashi serves as character designer and animation director.[10] The opening theme is "Ring Ring Rainbow!!" by YuiKaori (Yui Ogura and Kaori Ishihara),[11] and the ending theme is "Honey♥Come!!" by Yui Ogura.[12] The series premiered in Japan on July 2, 2015 on TBS and CBC, on Sun TV on July 3,[13] and on BS-TBS on July 11.[14] The series is simulcast in North America by Funimation,[15] and in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Anime Limited and Viewster.[16]

Episode list

No. Title Original air date
1"The Sakurada Family's Nine Siblings"
"Sakurada-san-chi no Kyū-nin Kyōdai" (櫻田さんちの9人きょうだい)		July 2, 2015

The episode opens with the family eating breakfast and heading off to school, where Akane learns that the 2,000 cameras placed around town have been rearranged again, after she had just memorized their locations in an attempt to avoid them. On the way home from school, she apprehends a purse-snatcher. A few days later, the children hold a contest on live TV to show off their special abilities to the public, where they must gather stuffed toys off the roof of a building and collect them in baskets on the ground, with the loser having to clean all the toilets in the castle. Due to a series of embarrassing incidents, Akane comes in tied for last with Hikari, who was stuck in a tree that she grew too large while trying to reach the rooftop. That evening, Akane comments to Aoi that she would rather be a dandelion in the field than a princess and the center of attention. Aoi points out that if she were king, she could abolish the system of surveillance, and the episode ends with Akane resolving to win the election.

2"Big Sister's Good Image"
"Sotozura no Ii Ane" (外面のいい姉)		July 9, 2015
"Sato's Unrequited Love"
"Satō-san no Kataomoi" (佐藤さんの片想い)

Kanade and Akane leave for school to go to a student council meeting. On the way, Kanade points out the obvious flaw in Akane's plan to become king, namely, that it would bring her more attention. Kanade then tries to ditch Akane for clinging to her too closely. Akane is then almost hit by a truck while saving a cat, but Kanade saves her by materializing a giant, shock-absorbent wall. Akane asks how much it cost, and is shocked when Kanade tells her it cost 40,000,000 yen. The second part of the episode focuses on Hana Satō, who is bemoaning that no one at school knows her after she transferred away for a few years. She is shocked to find that Shū still remembers her. After school, she sees him walking home with Akane, and assumes that Akane is his girlfriend. Realizing the misunderstanding, she confesses her feelings for him. He says he would return her feelings, but is focused on the election, trying to prevent Kanade from becoming king, and agrees to return them once it is over. That evening, he calls her to make sure she arrived home alright. Later, Akane wonders why Shū would want to prevent Kanade from becoming king.

3"I Want to Be Popular"
"Ninkimono ni Naritai no" (人気者になりたいの)		July 16, 2015
"The First Errand"
"Hajimete no Otsukai" (初めてのおつかい)
"Idol Activities"
"Aidoru Katsudō" (アイドル活動)

Akane is chosen to grocery shopping, and Hikari volunteers to go with her. While Akane tries to evade surveillance cameras, Hikari ages into a woman to save a stray cat. However, this results in her clothes not fitting, and she has to turn Akane into a child so they can switch clothes. The cat picked by Hikari is adopted as Borscht by the Sakurada family. The next week in the second part, Teru and Shiori volunteer themselves to take over Akane's grocery shopping duties. Teru tries his best to prove himself worthy to Shiori, and gets his chance when confronting a wild dog on the way home. In the final part, inspired by Sacchan's performance, Hikari seeks Haruka's help to become an idol to draw votes; after successfully becomes one, however, she realizes that her actions were futile, since she uses an alias when turning into a teenage girl.

4"The Royal Princess' Skirt"
"Ōjo no Sukāto" (王女のスカート)		July 23, 2015
"The Mysterious Student Council President"
"Nazo no Seito Kaichō" (謎の生徒会長)

In the first part, Akane arrives at school apparently not wearing a skirt. Everybody notices, but is afraid to mention it. Karen, Akane's best friend, debates whether to point it out or not, reasoning that Akane might die of embarrassment. When Akane is summoned to the student council room over the PA system, all the boys in the class follow her with the intent of peeking at her as she goes up the stairs. On the way, they run into Kanade, who is shocked to see that the rumor is true. However, Akane explains that her skirt tore on the way to school and she changed into shorts. She lifts her shirt to demonstrate, only to reveal that she is only wearing underwear after all. In the second part, Kanade announces that the school will be taking part in a town beautification project. As president of the Akane Fan Club, Fukushina attempts to restrict his and Akane's class to the school grounds to make Akane feel more comfortable. However, he loses his resolve when Kanade points out that the project would afford him a chance to see Akane with her embarrassed face. In the epilogue, at the Sakurada family residence, Borscht's affinity for Akane is revealed to be the fact that her flat chest reminds him of his old bed. When Aoi announces that they are having Borscht for dinner, he flees, believing they are attempting to eat him, but returns due to the delicious smell.

5"Summer Vacation"
"Natsu no Bakansu" (夏のバカンス)		July 30, 2015
"Online Secret"
"Kakushigoto Onrain" (隠し事オンライン)
"Eight of Misaki"
"Hachi-nin Misaki" (八人岬)

In the first arc, Shū brings his siblings on a vacation to the beach. However, after everyone has fun, they realize that Shū actually brought them to an empty lot with a painted background. The set breaks, and Akane realizes that she is in her swimsuit in front of a large crowd of people. The second arc involves Haruka trying to delete images of Akane from the family's fansites; she finds out, however, and it embarrasses her further. In the third part, Misaki uses her seven clones again in order to help multiple school clubs, but in the end feels infuriated that her clones and siblings are more popular than her. After being encouraged by Haruka and Akane, Misaki regains confidence and goes to an interview by herself.

6"The Election and Me"
"Senkyo to Watashi" (選挙とわたし)		August 6, 2015
"My Big Sister is Sentimental"
"Onee-chan wa Senchimentaru" (お姉ちゃんはセンチメンタル)

During the first part, the Sakurada siblings are busy with their election campaigns and the plot moves to Kanade, who reveals her reason to become the king: long ago, she brought Akane and Shū to play at a park. When she materialized a castle for Akane to play in, it crumbled and injured both Shū and Akane. Shū was the most severely injured and it broke his leg, simultaneously crushing his dream to become a soccer player. Due to this, she wants to become a king in order to advance the medical system and correct her past mistake with Shū. Meanwhile, Haruka sees an improvement in his siblings, even seeing Misaki trying to campaign for herself for the first time. In the second part, after visiting a kindergarten, Kanade comes to see Aoi as a rival and asks what her true power is. Aoi's true power, Absolute Order, allows her to make anyone obey her commands, but she stopped using it out of fear being unfit to be king. While returning home from school, Aoi believes begins to worry that she only has friends because of her royal status, but Akane reassures her.

7"Worrywart King"
"Ōsama wa Shinpaishō" (王様は心配性)		August 13, 2015
"Secret Idol"
"Shīkuretto Aidoru" (シークレットアイドル)

During the first part, the Sakurada family takes a vacation overseas but leaves Kanade and Shiori at the house when Akane catches a high fever. Kanade has an uneasy feeling for her father, Sōichirō, whom greatly cared for her safety. In the end, when Kanade accidentally knocked Shū (whom was teleported from the overseas to retrieve a forgotten item) after mistaken him for an intruder, SAT officers storms in, causing Kanade to be infuriated to her father. In the second part, Hikari's increasing popularity as Light puts Sachiko at odds, believing that she had not understand the true efforts of an idol. During the day of performance, while Sachiko made a performance with Light, she accidentally sprained her ankle. Witnessing Light made her performance alone, she realised her mistake and apologises to Hikari for her bad treatment earlier.

8"Troubled Satō"
"Satō-san ga Nayandeiru" (佐藤さんが悩んでいる)		August 20, 2015
"The King's Side Trip"
"Ōsama no Yorimichi" (王様の寄り道)

The Sakurada siblings experiences breakout, causing their powers to gone beyond their control. The next day, Akane and Satō take a walk outside when she breakout took effect, causing Akane's superhuman strength to unintentionally ripped off her clothes until Satō covers her and loudly confessed her love for Shū to divert everyone's attention from Akane. In the next part, Sōichirō recalls his children of his days as a high school student, where his royalty status as a king in his teenage years caused fear among other students. However, he met his future wife, Satsuki, and she brought him to her house as he experiences warth in her siblings. Seeing this as an inspiration, Shū tried to respond to Satō's previous confession in front of her but failed after accidentally brought her to an unknown polar region, as he still in his breakout period.

9"Scarlet Bloom"
"Sukāretto Burūmu" (スカーレットブルーム)		August 27, 2015
"Big Sister's Birthday"
"Onee-chan no Tanjōbi" (お姉ちゃんの誕生日)

Wishing to find a way to help Akane overcoming her shyness towards the public, Aoi and Kanade decides to make Akane into a masked hero and gives her a pair of glasses to "hide" her identities. But as she had become a superhero and her election rank rises to third place, she finally realises her sisters' deception when she saves a girl from falling, as said victim recognize her alter-ego as Scarlett Bloom despite not wearing the glasses. On the second part, while Misaki finally starts her own election, Aoi believes that she always becomes a burden for everyone and during the day before Christmas, her friend was forced to leave her for their own business. However, she realises that they were actually preparing for her birthday party, wishing to celebrate with her alone before her siblings would prepare for their own.

10"Search☆Light's Whereabouts"
"Sāchi Raito no Yukue" (さーち☆らいとの行方)		September 10, 2015
"Big Brother Being A Big Bro"
"Aniki-zura Suru Onii-chan" (兄貴面するお兄ちゃん)
11"Goodbye, Scarlet Bloom"
"Sayōnara Sukāretto Burūmu" (さようならスカーレットブルーム)		September 10, 2015
12"Who Will the Crown Shine Upon"
"Ōkan wa Dare ni Kagayaku" (王冠は誰に輝く)		September 17, 2015

Notes

  1. ↑ 重力制御 (グラビティコア) Gurabiti Koa, "Gravity Control"
  2. ↑ 完全学習 (インビジブルワーク) Inbijiburu Wāku, "Perfect Learning"
  3. ↑ 絶対遵守 (アブソリュートオーダー) Abusoryūto Ōdā, "Absolute Observance"
  4. ↑ 瞬間移動 (トランスポーター) Toransupōtā, "Teleportation"
  5. ↑ 物質生成 (ヘブンズゲート) Hebunzu Gēto, "Material Creation"
  6. ↑ 確率予知 (ロッツオブネクスト) Rottsu obu Nekusuto, "Probability Prediction"
  7. ↑ 感情分裂 (オールフォーワン) Ōru fō Wan, "Emotion Split"
  8. ↑ 生命操作 (ゴッドハンド) Goddo Hando, "Life Operation"
  9. ↑ 怪力超人 (リミットオーバー) Rimitto Ōbā, "Herculean Superman"
  10. ↑ 物体会話 (ソウルメイト) Sourumeito, "Object Conversation"

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Kana Hanazawa, Ai Kayano, Ryohei Kimura Lead Jōkamachi no Dandelion Anime's Cast". Anime News Network. May 1, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Komatsu, Mikikazu (May 1, 2015). "Kana Hanazawa, Ai Kayano, Kaori Ishihara to Lead "Joukamachi no Dandelion" TV Anime". Crunchyroll. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Komatsu, Mikikazu (June 17, 2015). "Saori Hayami, M.A.O, Sachika Misawa Join "Joukamachi no Dandelion"". Crunchyroll. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  4. ↑ まんがタイムきららミラク 2012年6月号 [Manga Time Kirara Miracle! June 2012 issue] (in Japanese). Tohan Corporation. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ まんがタイムきららミラク 2012年8月号 [Manga Time Kirara Miracle! August 2012 issue] (in Japanese). Tohan Corporation. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ 城下町のダンデライオン [Jōkamachi no Dandelion] (in Japanese). Houbunsha. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  7. ↑ 城下町のダンデライオン アンソロジーコミック [Jōkamachi no Dandelion Anthology Comic] (in Japanese). Houbunsha. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Jōkamachi no Dandelion TV Anime Slated for Summer". Anime News Network. March 14, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Blu-ray & DVD Vol.6" (in Japanese). Production IMS. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Bakuman.'s Noriaki Akitaya to Direct Jōkamachi no Dandelion Anime". Anime News Network. April 15, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Yui Ogura, Kaori Ishihara Sing Jōkamachi no Dandelion's Opening". Anime News Network. May 10, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Yui Ogura Sings Jōkamachi no Dandelion's Ending Theme". Anime News Network. May 10, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  13. ↑ Komatsu, Mikikazu (May 31, 2015). ""Joukamachi no Dandelion" TV Anime Premiere Set for July 2". Crunchyroll. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Castle Town Dandelion - On Air". TBS. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Funimation Streams Gangsta, New Hetalia, 11 More New Anime". Anime News Network. June 29, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Anime Limited to Stream Castle Town Dandelion". Anime News Network. July 2, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.

External links

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