Written by Kazuhiko Shimamoto Demographic Shōnen Volumes 12 Adaptations Honō no Tenkōsei (1991) Studio Gainax Genres Martial arts, Parody | Published by Shogakukan Original run 1983 – 1985 Directed by Katsuhiko Nishijima Magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday Publisher Shogakukan | |
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Similar Aoi Honō, Skull Man, Fūma no Kojirō, Kyūkyoku Chōjin R, Birdy the Mighty | ||
Honō no Tenkōsei (炎の転校生, lit. Blazing Transfer Student) is a manga written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Shimamoto. It was serialized in the Shogakukan manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1983 to 1985. Honō no Tenkōsei was adapted into a two-episode original video animation (OVA) anime series in 1991 by Gainax.
Contents
Plot
In this series, Takizawa Noboru transfers to a school where all disputes are settled through fighting. He quickly runs afoul of the school bully, Ibuki Saburo, who has a boxing match with "God's Hall Monitor", Jounouchi Kouichi, to determine who will date the lovely Yukari. Takizawa is enraptured with Yukari, and decides to intervene in the fight which Ibuki managed to win by bending the rules. Takizawa loses the fight in the first OVA to Ibuki's deadly finishing punch, but in the second OVA Takizawa develops his own finishing punch and eventually wins the day.
Manga
Honō no Tenkōsei was written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Shimamoto. The series was serialized in the Shogakukan magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1983 to 1985. The individual chapters were bound in tankōbon book format and published in 12 volumes from February 18, 1984 to January 18, 1986.
OVA
Honō no Tenkōsei was adapted into a two-episode original video animation (OVA) anime produced by Gainax. The anime reunites director Katsuhiko Nishijima and character designer Yuji Moriyama of the original Project A-ko and features storyboards by Sumio Watanabe. The OVA features an opening vocal theme written by Shimamoto Kazuhiko, arranged by Kohei Tanaka, and performed by Toshihiko Seki. The ending theme, Yumemiru Ki Mo Chi Dreaming Heart (夢みるキ・モ・チ 〜Dreaming Heart〜), was composed and arranged by Tanaka and performed by Noriko Hidaka. The Honō no Tenkōsei OVA parodies anime of the 1970s, particularly Tomorrow's Joe, and is complete with intentionally jerky animation, dirty-looking cels, thick black lines, and retro character designs, much like Shimamoto's drawing style.
According to Chris Beveridge of The Fandom Post Honō no Tenkōsei was released on both VHS and laserdisc, but not DVD. It was released on Blu-ray by Pony Canyon on March 19, 2014.
Cast
Reception
Anime News Network's Justin Sevakis, commenting on the anime, said that "while the animation has that slightly soft shot-on-film look, the heightened contrast and angular designs that were meant to evoke the past have instead kept it looking modern."