Hanayamata(ハナヤマタ, also stylized as HaNaYaMaTa) is a Japanesemanga series by Sō Hamayumiba, serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Forward since June 2011. It has been collected in eight tankōbon volumes as of August 2016. An anime television series adaptation by Madhouse aired in Japan between July and September 2014.
Naru Sekiya is an ordinary 14-year-old girl who likes fairy tales, but is worried about her lack of other interests. She has a chance encounter with a "fairy", a foreign girl practicing dance at night. On a spur of the moment, Naru asks to join her and is introduced to the world of yosakoi dancing. The series' title is a portmanteau (combination) of the first two letters of the girls' first names: HAna, NAru, YAya, MAchi, and TAmi.
Main characters
Naru Sekiya(関谷 なる,Sekiya Naru)
Voiced by: Reina Ueda (Japanese); Caitlynn French (English)A 14 year old girl who considers herself extremely average. Aside from reading fairy tales, she doesn't have many interests outside of practising iaido at home. She lacks confidence to bring herself out of her routine life, but upon encountering Hana and taking up yosakoi, she starts to change little by little. Her favorite flower is the cherry blossom.
Hana N. Fountainstand(ハナ・N・フォンテーンスタンド,Hana Enu Fontēnsutando)
Voiced by: Minami Tanaka (Japanese); Luci Christian (English)An excitable American girl who transfers into Naru's class. Having become fascinated with yosakoi following a trip to Japan when she was young, she decided to move there and form her own yosakoi club, inviting Naru to join her. She lives with her father, who is divorced from her mother who lives in America. She has a tomboyish personality and tends to get a little over excited, sometimes dancing in dangerous locations. Her favorite flower is the bluestar.
Yaya Sasame(笹目 ヤヤ,Sasame Yaya)
Voiced by: Kaya Okuno (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)Naru's best friend whose parents run a noodle shop. She possesses both brains and beauty, making her very popular at her school, but has messy handwriting. She is particularly clingy towards Naru and gets jealous when she becomes friendly with others. She is initially hesitant towards yosakoi and joins the club in name only, but after her dream of being part of a band falls apart, she understands she has a place to belong and joins the club in earnest. Her favorite flower is the rose.
Tami Nishimikado(西御門 多美,Nishimikado Tami)
Voiced by: Yuka Ōtsubo (Japanese); Cynthia Martinez (English)The student council vice-president at Naru's school. As both of their fathers were acquaintances, she and Naru grew up together, with Naru regarding her as a big sister. She is quite fond of her father, often being accused of having an Electra complex, and had spent most of her time focusing on becoming a proper Japanese woman in order to please him. However, Naru soon helps her to overcome her worries and she joins the yosakoi club. Her favorite flower is the lily.
Machi Tokiwa(常盤 真智,Tokiwa Machi)
Voiced by: Manami Numakura (Japanese); Carli Mosier (English)The student council president and Tami's close friend, who is the younger sister of Sally. Whilst generally strict, she is particularly weak to sweet things, as well as Tami's general requests. She is initially hostile towards Sally for leaving home, but she soon comes to understand her true feelings and joins the yosakoi club. Her favorite flower is the sunflower.
Yosakoi Club
Sari Tokiwa(常盤 沙里,Tokiwa Sari)
Voiced by: Megumi Toyoguchi (Japanese); Molly Searcy (English)Sally Tokiwa is Naru, Yaya, and Hana's homeroom and English teacher and Machi's older sister; she is nicknamed 'Sally-sensei'. She originally planned to take over her parents' hospital together with Machi, but after helping Machi with studying, Sally chose to leave home, inspired to become a teacher instead. She becomes the yosakoi's club advisor, initially showing little interest but soon becoming more involved, including trying to make the girls wear cosplay while performing, though she is occasionally shown to be lazy and forgetful.
Need Cool Quality band
An anime original band, the Need Cool Quality was the band joined by Yaya, the drummer of the band, Sachiko, Arisa and Yuka before its disbandment due to personal issues of Sachiko, Arisa and Yuka and the failure of the band in a light music band audition.
Sachiko Yamanoshita(山ノ下 祥子,Yamanoshita Sachiko)
Voiced by: Yuki Wakai (Japanese); Brittney Karbowski (English)Lead vocalist and the guitarist of the band.
Arisa Kajiwara(梶原 亜里沙,Kajiwara Arisa)
Voiced by: Ayano Yamamoto (Japanese); Margaret McDonald (English)Co-vocalist and the guitarist of the band.
Yūka Komachi(小町 結香,Komachi Yūka)
Voiced by: Maika Takai (Japanese); Juliet Simmons (English)Bass player of the band.
Supporting characters
Masaru Ofuna(大船 勝,Ōfuna Masaru)
Voiced by: Tsuyoshi Koyama (Japanese); John Gremillion (English)A 33-year-old bachelor who runs the Yosakoi Masaru shop. Despite having an appearance like a bald yakuza, he is quite friendly and eager to help those learning yosakoi. He is affectionately called "Big brother" (兄貴,Aniki) by Hana.
The original series by Sō Hamayumiba began serialization in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Forward magazine from June 2011. It has been collected into eight tankōbon volumes as of August 2016.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation produced by Madhouse aired in Japan between July 7, 2014 and September 22, 2014 and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Hana wa Odoreya Iroha ni Ho" (花ハ躍レヤいろはにほ,Dancing in the Scent of Flowers) by Team "Hanayamata" (Reina Ueda, Kaya Okuno, Minami Tanaka, Yuka Ōtsubo, and Manami Numakura), whilst the ending theme is "Hanayuki" (花雪,Snowflake) by smileY inc. (composed of vocalist Yuka Ōtsubo and musician Yuuyu). The same ending theme is also performed by Team "Hanayamata" in the very last episode (episode 12). Furthermore, an insert song, "Kodoku Signal" (コドクシグナル,Signal of Solitude) by Need Cool Quality (Kaya Okuno, Yuki Wakai, Ayano Yamamoto and Maika Takai) is used in the first episode.
In September 2015, Sentai Filmworks announced they had acquired the rights to the North American release of the show. Later that month, it was revealed that the DVD and BD of Hanayamata will be released on January 19, 2016, as well as getting an official English dub. The Anime has been licensed in the UK by Animatsu Entertainment.
Video game
An adventure/rhythm game based on the series, titled Hanayamata: Yosakoi Live!(ハナヤマタ よさこいLIVE！), is developed by Bandai Namco Games and was released for PlayStation Vita on November 13, 2014. The game was also available in a limited edition containing a bonus Blu-ray Disc and an original drama CD.
