Hanayamata


Hanayamata is a Japanese manga series by Sou Hamayumiba. It was serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine Manga Time Kirara Forward from April 2011 to February 2018, with its chapters collected in ten tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Madhouse aired in Japan from July to September 2014.

Plot

Naru Sekiya is an ordinary 14-year-old middle school 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 of the first two letters of the girls' first names: Hana, Naru, Yaya, Machi, and Tami.

Characters

Main characters

Yosakoi Club

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.

Supporting characters

Media

Manga

Hanayamata, written and illustrated by Sou Hamayumiba, was serialized in Houbunsha's Manga Time Kirara Forward magazine from April 23, 2011, to February 24, 2018. It was collected into ten tankōbon volumes from December 12, 2011, to April 12, 2018.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation produced by Madhouse aired in Japan from July 8 to September 23, 2014, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. The opening theme is "Hana wa Odoreya Iroha ni Ho" by Team "Hanayamata", while the ending theme is "Hanayuki" by smileY inc.. The same ending theme is also performed by Team "Hanayamata" in episode 12. Furthermore, an insert song, "Kodoku Signal" by Need Cool Quality is used in the first episode.
In September 2015, Sentai Filmworks announced they had acquired the license of the series in North America. Later that month, it was revealed that the DVD and Blu-ray of Hanayamata would be released on January 19, 2016, as well as getting an official English dub. The series has also been licensed in both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland by Animatsu Entertainment and in Australasia by Madman Entertainment.

Episode list

Video games

An adventure/rhythm game based on the series, titled Hanayamata: Yosakoi Live!, was developed by Bandai Namco Games and released for the 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. Characters from the series appear alongside other Manga Time Kirara characters in the 2018 mobile RPG, Kirara Fantasia.