No. 5

***No. 5*** (Japanese: ナンバーファイブ, Hepburn: *Nanbā Faibu*) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Taiyō Matsumoto. It was serialized in Shogakukan's *seinen* manga magazine *Monthly Ikki* from November 2000 to January 2005. Shogakukan compiled its chapters into eight *wideban* volumes.

In North America, Viz Media released the series' first two volumes in 2002 and 2003, but due to low sales it was discontinued. Viz Media republished the series in a four-volume omnibus edition from July 2021 to April 2022.

## Publication

*No. 5*, written and illustrated by Taiyō Matsumoto, began in the first ever issue of Shogakukan's *Spirits Zōkan Ikki* (re-branded as *Monthly Ikki* in 2003), released on November 30, 2000. The series finished in the March 2005 issue of *Monthly Ikki*, published on January 25, 2005. Shogakukan collected its chapters into eight *wideban* volumes, released from November 30, 2001, to February 28, 2005. Shogakukan would later re-released the series into four deluxe volumes from November 30 to December 26, 2005.

In North America, Viz Media announced the license of the series in December 2001. A preview for the then forthcoming first volume was published in the January 2002 issue of *Pulp*. Viz Media published the first volume on April 5, 2002, and the second on August 13, 2003. After having released these two volumes, Viz Media ceased the series' publication due to low sales. In 2011, the series was completely available in English language via the *No. 5* app on iTunes. In October 2020, Viz Media announced that they would re-publish the series in a four-volume deluxe edition, in print and digital formats, released from July 20, 2021, to April 19, 2022.

The manga was also licensed in France by Kana.

## Plot

> In a distant future, humanity’s boundless insolence has caused the extinction of most life-forms on the face of the planet (humans included). To answer the necessity of restoring some measure of integrity to the ecosystem, the proliferation of Man and machine has been subjected to legally enforced limitations (New Survival Laws).
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> The only military force remaining in this peaceful era seems pretty much ornamental.
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> Chief Donovan has found a passion for the Oud, a musical instrument (at which he is terrible).
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> For all this, however, the army still carried out some secret experiments.
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> The suggestion of a research program for the creation of the Perfect Being did exist, but scientists hardly manifested any concern at all over the subject.
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> “Experimentation is progressing towards humankind’s real centers of interest.” – 6th Generation Papa, M. Friedrich Monte
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> The people thus fabricated became the Peacekeeping Corps and were granted high social status. The nine best among them created a group known as the Rainbow Council, in which they would address one another by their numbers. Although they stood at the top of the hierarchy, their main purpose was to act as strawmen, mascots meant to mitigate the army’s poor image in the eyes of the general public.
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> And because this group cruelly lacked any sense of harmony and cohesions, it did not take long for internal strife to appear and irremediably break it apart.
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> One evening, one of their members, a man skilled in the handling of weaponry attacked his companions’ castle killing three of them and making off with a girl who happened to work there. His old comrades set out to pursue him, but none of them survived.
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> Consequently, Donovan announced the disbanding of the Peacekeeping Corps. The experiments were put to an end.
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> In a snow-covered landscape, the elderly twins were put down by Viktor, the man with the wicked soul.
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> In a distant future…
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## Characters

No. 5MatroshkaNo. 1No. 2No. 3No. 4No. 6No. 7No. 8No. 9