Classmates (manga)
Classmates, also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Asumiko Nakamura. The series follows the relationship between students Rihito Sajō and Hikaru Kusakabe, who meet while attending an all-boys high school. First published in the manga magazine "Opera" in July 2006, "Classmates" has spawned multiple sequels and spinoffs: "Sotsu Gyo Sei – Winter" ("Graduate – Winter"), "Sotsu Gyo Sei – Spring" ("Graduate – Spring"), "Sora and Hara", "O.B.", "Blanc", and "Futarigurashi" ("Living Together"). An anime film adaption of the first volume of the series, "Doukyusei: Classmates", was produced by A-1 Pictures and released in February 2016. Synopsis . Section::::"Dou Kyu Sei" ("Classmates"). Rihito Sajō is a quiet and intelligent student at Touichikou High School, an unexceptional all-boys high school, where he is tutored for the school's choir by classmate Hikaru Kusakabe. They begin dating after Kusakabe impulsively kisses Sajō, and grow closer over the course of the year; Kusakabe rebuffs a romantic advance on Sajō by music teacher Manabu Hara, and Sajō attends a concert where Kusakabe performs as a guitarist. On the day of his mock college entrance exam, Sajō suffers a panic attack, and reveals that his transfer to Touichikou was prompted by low  test scores caused by his anxiety. Sajō takes the exam with encouragement from Kusakabe, and the two affirm their desire to remain together. Section::::"Sotsu Gyo Sei" ("Graduate"). In their final year of high school, Sajō is accepted to study pharmacology at Kyoto University; when his mother is diagnosed with cancer, he introduces Kusakabe to her as his boyfriend. Kusakabe intends to stay in Tokyo to purse a career in music, and performs at a music festival in Nîmes that forces him to leave Japan until immediately before graduation. At graduation, Sajō and Kusakabe visit the classroom where they met, where  they confront their divergent plans for their respective futures. Sajō confesses his love for Kusakabe, and they have sex; Kusakabe proposes they marry when they turn twenty, which Sajō accepts. Section::::"Sora and Hara". In this spin-off series, Hara has an encounter with Aoto "Sora" Sorano at a bar in Ni-chōme, but rebuffs him upon discovering he is a student at Touichikou. Sora sets up a date between Hara and Sajō after learning about their history, and Hara achieves a sense of closure on his pursuit of Sajō. Satoshi Arisaka, a teacher Hara once kissed as a student, is  hired as a substitute teacher at Touichikou. Satoshi is dating Hibiki Sano, a student, and Hara intervenes to reconcile their relationship. Sorano angrily tells Hara that he needs to care more about his own happiness; they kiss, but mutually decide not to pursue a relationship for the time being. Section::::"Occupation to Beloved (O.B)". Kusakabe and Sajō pursue a long-distance relationship. After Kusakabe spends a week in Kyoto visiting Sajō, they reaffirm their desire to marry at 20 and decide to start referring to each other by their first names. Satoshi learns his daughter is getting married, and reconciles their  relationship with the support of Hibiki. Sora, having graduated high school, works as a fashion model; after a chance reunion with Hara, they begin to pursue a relationship. Section::::"Blanc". Sajō, now in his final year of university and lacking a clear direction for his future, asks Kusakabe to take a break on their relationship. When his mother's cancer returns, Kusakabe agrees to be her caretaker while Sajō concludes his studies in Kyoto and Sajō's father is abroad for work; she later dies from pneumonia brought on by the illness. After Sajō fights with his father when he comes  out to him, he reconciles his relationship with Kusakabe, and they wed in a commitment ceremony. Section::::"Futarigurashi" ("Living Together"). Now married, Kusakabe and Sajō move into a shared apartment. Media. Manga. "Classmates" was conceived after editors at the manga magazine "Opera" approached Nakamura about creating a manga series for the magazine in the boys' love genre (male-male romance, also known as BL). While Nakamura had previously created works depicting male homosexuality in the erotic comics magazine "Manga Erotics F", she had never created works in the BL genre; "Classmates" would ultimately become Nakamura's first BL series, and  her first series published in a BL magazine. She has stated that she wished to create "Classmates" as a story about a "slow, serious love" that was "cliché" and "almost hackneyed" in its execution. For example, Nakamura chose the setting as an all-boys school – historically a common setting in BL manga – despite the fact that BL works centered on schools and students had declined in popularity at the time of "Classmates"' initial publication. The series is noted as a departure from Nakamura's earlier and subsequent works, such as "" and "Kaori no Keishou", which typically focus on darker themes  and erotic subject material. Nakamura has stated that she had created "aesthetically pleasing works" with "soft images" prior to the publication of "Classmates", but did not have the opportunity to publish them. In "Classmates", Nakamura stated that she wished to balance the exaggerated romance elements typical of BL with elements of realism, particularly in regards to LGBT issues and identity. "Classmates" and its sequels and spinoffs have been published in "Opera" since 2006. "Dou Kyu Sei" was serialized from June 2006 to July 2007, "Sotsu Gyo Sei – Winter" was serialized from January to October 2008, "Sotsu Gyo Sei – Spring" was  serialized from January to August 2009, "Sora and Hara" was serialized from December 2009 to December 2011, "O.B." was serialized from April 2012 to December 2013, and "Blanc" was serialized from February 2018 to September 2020. "Futarigurashi" was originally published as a spin-off manga series on "Pixiv Comic" from October 2019 to January 2020 before beginning serialization in "Opera" as an ongoing series in December 2020. The series has been collected as eight "tankōbon" volumes published by Akane Shinsha. In North America, the digital distribution platform JManga released an English-language translation of the first volume of "Classmates" under  the title "Doukyusei" in April 2012. In 2014, Digital Manga published the first volume of the series as an eBook under its "yaoi" imprint Juné as "Classmates"; it also published the second and third volumes in the series as "Graduate: Winter" and "Graduate: Spring". In July 2018, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that it had acquired the North American license for "Classmates", and began publishing the series in June 2019. Internationally, the series has been translated into French by Boy's Love IDP, Spanish by Ediciones Tomodomo, Italian by Magic Press, and Polish by Waneko. Audio drama. Since 2008, a series  of audio drama CDs that adapt the manga have been produced by A+, a division of . Film. "Doukyusei: Classmates" (stylized as "Doukyusei -Classmates-"), an anime film adaptation of the first volume of "Classmates", was announced by March 14, 2015 and released in theaters on February 20, 2016. The film is produced by A-1 Pictures, with its primary production staff composed of as director, as character designer, Chieko Nakamura as art director, and Ritsuko Utagawa as color designer. The film's soundtrack is composed by guitarist Kotaro Oshio, while its closing theme is performed by Oshio and Yuuki Ozaki of the  rock band Galileo Galilei. In North America, "Doukyusei: Classmates" received a limited theatrical release through distributors Aniplex of America and Azoland Pictures, which opened on May 6, 2016. The film was released in North America on Blu-ray by Aniplex of America on September 20, 2016. Other media. , a "Classmates" art book, was published by Akane Shinsha in September 2011. A deluxe re-release was published in February 2016. "Classmates" was additionally included in a pop-up cafe run by "Opera" in Harajuku, Tokyo from March 16 to April 8, 2018. The cafe featured original merchandise and menu items inspired  by the series. Reception. Manga. "Classmates" received positive reviews from critics. Akiko Mizoguchi, a BL researcher with the National Film Archive of Japan, commended the series for its depiction of LGBT identity, and for its depiction of LGBT issues that BL readers may not otherwise encounter in the genre. Reviewing the series for "Otaku USA", Brittany Vincent called the series "a sweet little LGBTQ+-friendly love letter" and offered praise for its artwork, favorably comparing it to "xxxHolic" by Clamp and "Mars" by Fuyumi Soryo. Morgana Santilli of "Comics Beat" noted that while the series is not an "earth-shattering, genre -defying romance", she praised it as "a straightforward teenage romance about gay boys, rather than the type of fetishistic gay drama that populates much of the boys' love manga that are licensed by North American publishers." RightStuf called the plot "underwhelming" while commending Nakamura's artwork. Film. "Doukyusei: Classmates" was positively received by critics, many of whom offered extensive praise for the film's production and animation. Jacob Chapman of "Anime News Network" called the film "meticulous, careful, and almost painfully sensitive in its matchless character animation", and described the story "heartwarming and fulfilling, even if its substance isn't  one drop as unique as the movie's style." In his review for the "Los Angeles Times", Charles Solomon called the plot "rather standard", but offered praise for film's watercolor-style animation. Cody Perez of "Fandom Post" called the film a "bold attempt to bring over a rather niche anime genre to theaters across the US", noting that the "beautiful animation and believable romance help to overlook the very fast pacing and inconsistent tone." In its opening weekend, "Doukyusei: Classmates" opened in ninth place at the Japanese box office, grossing roughly ¥34 million in 30 theaters. The film  ultimately sold 135,730 tickets in Japan, amounting to a total domestic gross of ¥201 million. Outside of Japan, the film grossed a total of USD$1.38 million. In 2016, "Doukyusei: Classmates" was shortlisted for Best Soundtrack at the Newtype Anime Awards.