Dragonaut: The Resonance
On November 2, 2007, a manga adaptation published by Shueisha started serialization in the Japanese shōnen manga magazine "Jump Square". It ended serialization in April 2008, publishing a total of six chapters. A bound volume containing all the chapters was released on May 2, 2008. Plot summary. Twenty years prior to the story's beginning, an asteroid headed for Earth destroys Pluto. Due to Pluto's destruction, the asteroid, which is dubbed "Thanatos", becomes temporarily stagnant in Pluto's orbit. Now, in order to avoid Earth's impending destruction, the International Solarsystem Development Agency (ISDA) works on  the "D-Project", and secretly creates weapons called "Dragons" after finding a dragon egg under the ocean. However, they soon find out that the asteroid is not their only threat, as powerful, destructive dragons from Thanatos appear on Earth. After witnessing what looks like a murder by a strange creature, Jin Kamishina, a lonely 18-year-old boy who lost his family in a shuttle accident two years ago, gets involved with the ISDA and their efforts to battle the dragons from Thanatos. Helping him is Toa, a mysterious girl who saves him from falling to his death after the  creature attacks him. As they delve deeper into the mysteries of the dragons, they encounter new friends and enemies, and also develop a closer relationship. Production. Development. The original concept of "Dragonaut: The Resonance" was developed by Nihon Ad Systems (NAS). NAS and Gonzo studios, which produced anime series such as Last Exile and Brave Story, co-produced the series, along with a subsidiary of Konami, Konami Digital Entertainment. On March 24, 2007, at the International Anime Fair in Tokyo, the first promotional image for the anime series was revealed. In addition, series' director Manabu Ono, and two of the  series' voice actors, Daisuke Ono and Minori Chihara, attended the fair in order to promote the series. At the time, the complete cast for the anime was not yet assembled as the anime was still in the development stage. In fact, Manabu Ono expected that the series would continue being developed on, even after it begins broadcast in fall 2007. While a majority of series designs are done in 2D animation, the mechanics of the dragons and their corresponding battles are done in 3D computer graphics. However, the dragon battles are the only confrontations done in CG, as character fights  are in 2D since the director believes that highspeed character movements are best expressed in that form. Broadcast. The anime series premiered on the Japanese terrestrial television network TV Tokyo on October 3, 2007. It ended its run on March 26, 2008, airing a total of twenty-five episodes. Although TV Tokyo aired the episodes first, other networks in Japan also broadcast the series, including TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TV Hokkaido, TV Setouchi, AT-X, and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co. TV Osaka aired each episode a week after TV Tokyo, while the other networks aired them one or two days  after TV Osaka. Media. Anime. "Dragonaut: The Resonance" was broadcast on TV Tokyo between October 3, 2007, and March 26, 2008. The series is directed by Manabu Ono and co-produced by Gonzo and Nihon Ad Systems (NAS). The anime contains 25 episodes; not including "Episode 00", which is an interview with the director Manabu Ono. An additional OVA series episode was produced after the series broadcast for inclusion in the DVD release. Konami Digital Entertainment released the first DVD in Japan on January 23, 2008, and the second volume was released nearly a month later on February 20. Seven  more volumes are scheduled for consecutive monthly releases, the last of which will be the ninth volume on September 9. The first three volumes will contain different autographs from cast members. All DVDs will contain extras, which each includes a video of Makoto Uno drawing original illustrations of the series. DVD distribution will be handled by Sony. North American DVD releases. Funimation Entertainment acquired the license to distribute the anime series in North America in 2009. Funimation produced English adaptations for all episodes and has released several DVD collections, beginning in 2009. All DVD release sets contain both Japanese and  English dialog versions with a selectable subtitle option. Dragonaut - The Resonance Reception. Both of the first two DVD collections released in North America by Funimation have been reviewed. The reviews have generally run from average to above average. Streaming. Funimation offers the entire 26-episode series from their streaming site for North America, both subtitled Japanese and English dubbed versions. Manga. On November 2, 2007, Shueisha began publishing a manga adaptation of the series, which is serialized in the Japanese shōnen manga magazine "Jump Square". A total of six chapters was published; the last of which was in April 2008 . Shueisha released a bound volume containing all the chapters on May 2, 2008. Though the story remains to revolve around the lives of Jin Kamishina and Toa, the severity of the Dragon threat is increased in the manga, as Earth has been publicly invaded by these "type D" alien life-forms. The situations and personalities of most of the characters, especially those of the two protagonists, are also different compared to their anime counterparts. Music. There are three pieces of theme music used in the anime series: one opening theme and two closing themes. The opening theme, "perfect blue", is  performed, composed, and written by the J-pop group Jazzin' Park. ATSUMI also performed the piece alongside Jazzin' Park, as a guest vocal. The two ending themes are "Rain Of Love", which is performed by Yukari Fukui and composed by , with the lyrics written by Shoko Fujibayashi, and "FIGHT OR FLIGHT", which is performed by Yū Kobayashi. On November 21, 2007, Jazzin' Park and Yukari Fukui each released a four track single. The titles of the theme songs are used as the titles for its corresponding single, which each contains an instrumental version of its theme song, along with at  least one different song sung by the artist. Yū Kobayashi's second single, "FIGHT OR FLIGHT", also contained four tracks, and was released on January 23, 2008. Yukari Fukui's "Rain Of Love" is also the second single she has released, while Jazzin' Park's "perfect blue" is the first single they have ever released. Internet radio. An internet radio broadcast began airing every Wednesday since September 5, 2007. The centers around three voice actors from the anime answering e-mail questions about the series. The three female voice actors are Yukari Fukui, Yū Kobayashi, and Chise Nakamura, who voices  Saki Kurata, Ryōko Kakei, and Megumi Jinguuji, respectively. Junichi Suwabe, Takuma Takewaka, Daisuke Ono, Eiji Maruyama, who voices Gio, Raina Cromwell, Jin Kamishina, and Amadeus, respectively, were guests during separate sessions. The broadcast is hosted by , an internet radio station.