Wandering Sun


Wandering Sun, also known as Nozomi in the Sun, is a Japanese manga series written by Keisuke Fujikawa and illustrated by Mayumi Suzuki. It also received an anime adaptation by Mushi Productions which ran for 26 episodes in 1971. Both Yoshiyuki Tomino and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko were involved in the production of Wandering Sun, and would later again collaborate on the ground-breaking and genre-defining series Brave Raideen and Mobile Suit Gundam. The anime toned down some of the more intense and mature elements of the manga for a prime-time TV audience.
Wandering Sun tells the story of two girls switched at birth by the nurse Michiko, who has a grudge against the wealthy. Miki was born in the poor Mine family but is switched into the rich Koda clan, and Nozomi the opposite. Fate cannot separate the two girls who compete to become successful singers after meeting at high school, with the girl-next-door Nozomi working hard and on her own to be the best pop singer in Japan and the rich girl Miki using her family's status to reach the same goal.
This series was itself a ground-breaker in that it was perhaps the first anime series to depict the entertainment industry—specifically popular music, and that would popularize the future concept of Japanese idols which would be a major plot point in many anime to come from Macross, Creamy Mami and Perfect Blue until the Love Live series. The TV series was also released in Italy under the title Jane e Micci and in France as Nathalie et ses Amis.

Main characters

;Nozomi Mine
;Miki Koda
;Fanny
A handsome young man and Nozomi's love interest. He is actually the long lost son of the Mine family.
;Kumagoro
A friend to the Mine family.
;Michiko Nohara
A deranged woman who hates the wealthy due to her rough upbringing. She does anything possible to make Nozomi suffer. Her younger brother is a famous lyricist.