xxxHolic is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. The series, which crosses over with another Clamp work, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, revolves around Kimihiro Watanuki, a high school student who is disturbed by his ability to see the supernatural, and Yūko Ichihara, a powerful witch who owns a wish-granting shop. When Watanuki asks Ichihara to remove his ability to see spirits, she grants it on the condition that he pay for his wish by working for her. Clamp created xxxHolic to link the supernatural and fantasy series.
Kujibiki Unbalance is a three-episode original video animation spin-off of Genshiken series, as well as a series of three light novels by Genshiken anime collaborator Michiko Yokote. Within the world of Genshiken, however, Kujibiki Unbalance is a popular manga and 26-episode anime adaptation, which is eagerly watched and discussed by the main characters. These same characters also purchase associated products and adult-oriented dojinshi based on the series, which constitute the motivation for some of the "club activities" held by the Genshiken. Genshiken characters who are fans of Kujibiki Unbalance tend to refer to it by the shorthand name of Kuji-Un.
Minori was a Japanese visual novel company. Their most successful game is Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two., which has had a manga and two anime television series based on it, and was ported to the PlayStation 2 in April 2010. They use Musica as their main engine. A few of their earlier games' opening movies were animated by Makoto Shinkai. Minori is known for its stance against fan-translations and piracy and has garnered some infamy for its actions against fan translation group No Name Losers and TLWiki, due to the controversy regarding the video game Rapelay by Illusion Soft. As a result, its main webpage is blocked for people outside Japan. In 2010, Minori, MangaGamer, and No Name Losers announced a partnership to make commercial English versions of Minori's visual novels available. On February 28, 2019, Minori announced the cessation of operations.
Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu is a Japanese sci-fi light novel series written by Mizuhito Akiyama with illustrations by Eeji Komatsu that centers on the relationship between Kana Iriya, a high school girl who has to fight alien invaders, and Naoyuki Asaba, a member of the school newspaper club and one of her few friends. There were four light novels published by MediaWorks under their Dengeki Bunko imprint; the series was once nominated for the Seiun Award. Later, a six-episode original video animation adaptation was created based on the novels; the DVDs were released in Japan between February 25 and July 29, 2005. Two sound novel video games for the Nintendo DS were released in Japan; the first in January 2007 and the second in October 2007. A manga series illustrated by Tōko Kanno was serialized in ASCII Media Works' seinen manga magazine Dengeki Maoh between the October 2007 and March 2009 issues.
Ballad of a Shinigami, subtitled Momo: The Girl God of Death, is a Japanese light novel series written by K-Ske Hasegawa, with illustrations by Nanakusa. The series includes twelve novels released between June 10, 2003 and April 10, 2009, published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. The novels were licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment for release in English with the first novel released in March 2008. The series revolves around Momo, a shinigami, and her familiar Daniel, a talking black cat, as they interfere with the world of the living.
Strawberry Panic! is a series of Japanese illustrated short stories written by Sakurako Kimino, which focus on a group of teenage girls attending three affiliated all-girl schools on Astraea Hill. A common theme throughout the stories is the intimate lesbian relationships between the characters. The original artist was Chitose Maki, who was succeeded by Namuchi Takumi when production of the manga and light novels began.
Inukami! is a Japanese light novel series written by Mamizu Arisawa, with illustrations by Kanna Wakatsuki. The series originally started serialization in volume seventeen of ASCII Media Works' now-defunct light novel magazine Dengeki hp on April 18, 2002. Four more chapters were published until the first bound novel of the series was released, though more chapters were later serialized in the magazine. Fourteen main novels, plus two additional bonus novels with illustrations by Mari Matsuzawa, were published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko label between January 10, 2003 and December 10, 2008. The series revolves around a dog goddess named Yōko and her master Keita Kawahira as they fight against various troublesome spirits. Several more inukami besides Yōko also play an important role, most notably the inukami of Kaoru Kawahira.
Fairy Tail is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from August 2006 to July 2017, with the individual chapters collected and published into 63 tankōbon volumes. The story follows the adventures of Natsu Dragneel, a member of the popular wizard guild Fairy Tail, as he searches the fictional world of Earth-land for the dragon Igneel.
Kujibiki♥Unbalance is a 2006 anime series produced by Ajia-do Animation Works, initially based on the story within a story Kujibiki Unbalance that originated from Shimoku Kio's manga Genshiken. It is directed by Tsutomu Mizushima and written by Michiko Yokote. It aired in Kids Station in Japan from October 6 to December 22, 2006.
S.A is a shōjo manga by Maki Minami. The series started serialization in the bimonthly magazine The Hana to Yume in 2003, and moved to the biweekly magazine Hana to Yume in 2004, after running for four chapters. The series ended after 99 chapters on March 19, 2009.
Naru Nanao is the pseudonym of a Japanese artist from Okinawa, Japan. Nanao's choice of her pseudonym stems from Circus' game Aries, in which one of the characters was named Runa Nanao. She is a free illustrator and thus is not affiliated with one single company; she is primarily a character designer. She began working with video game developers in 2000, but she is most well known for providing original character design for three heroines in the original D.C.: Da Capo visual novel by Circus released in 2002. Other works include Canvas 2: Niji Iro no Sketch, Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two, and Sola. At one point, she only went by her given name Naru. She is the supervisor of her dōjinshi circle known as "Ice and Chocolate". She often collaborates with another circle named "Poteneko" (ぽてねこ). She even provided the front-cover illustration for the Comiket 70 catalog for August 2006.
Haruhi Suzumiya is a Japanese light novel series written by Nagaru Tanigawa and illustrated by Noizi Ito. It was first published in 2003 by Kadokawa Shoten in Japan with the novel The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and has since been followed by 11 additional novel volumes, an anime television series adaptation produced by Kyoto Animation, four manga series, an animated film, two original net animation series and several video games.
Toradora! is a Japanese light novel series by Yuyuko Takemiya, with illustrations by Yasu. The series includes ten novels released between March 10, 2006, and March 10, 2009, published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. Three volumes of a spin-off light novel series were also created, aptly titled Toradora Spin-off!. A manga adaptation by Zekkyō started serialization in the September 2007 issue of the shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao!, published by MediaWorks. The manga ended serialization in Dengeki Comic Gao! with the March 2008 issue, but continued serialization in ASCII Media Works' manga magazine Dengeki Daioh with the May 2008 issue.
Ohime-sama Navigation, with the subtitles Otogibanashi Uranai and Which Girl do you Trust?, is a reader-participation game in the Japanese bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine, published by ASCII Media Works, which ran between the February 2008 and May 2011 issues. The project had been first announced in the two-hundredth issue of Dengeki G's Magazine released in the October 2007 issue, and the project itself is a form of commemoration for the achievement. Ohime-sama Navigation's premise is written by Satz, and the character design is by Naru Nanao, known for her artistry on D.C.: Da Capo by Circus and Ef: A Fairy Tale of the Two by Minori. A manga adaptation entitled Hime Navi was serialized between the June 2008 and June 2010 issues of Dengeki G's Magazine illustrated by Raina, and a second manga using the original title was serialized in the same magazine between the November 2008 and June 2010 issues illustrated by Yūki Takami.
Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture, known in Japan as Moyashimon (もやしもん), is a Japanese manga series by Masayuki Ishikawa. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen magazine Evening from July 2004 to June 2013 and moved to the magazine Monthly Morning Two, where it concluded in January 2014. The series follows Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university, who has a unique ability to see and communicate with microorganisms. Del Rey Manga licensed the manga, but only released two volumes in English in North America. An 11-episode anime television series adaptation, animated by Shirogumi and Telecom Animation Film, aired between October and December 2007 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. An 11-episode live action adaptation was aired on Noitamina between July and September 2010. An 11-episode animated second season titled Moyasimon Returns aired from July to September 2012.
Heaven's Memo Pad is a Japanese light novel series written by Hikaru Sugii, with illustrations by Mel Kishida. ASCII Media Works published nine volumes between January 2007 and September 2014 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation illustrated by Tiv was serialized between the August 2010 and September 2012 issues of ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Daioh magazine. A 12-episode anime adaptation aired in Japan between July and September 2011.
Kino's Journey —the Beautiful World—, shortened to Kino's Journey, is a Japanese light novel series written by Keiichi Sigsawa, with illustrations by Kouhaku Kuroboshi. The series follows a traveler named Kino and her talking motorcycle named Hermes, as they explore countries with unique customs and people around a mysterious world, only spending three days at each location. The series originally started serialization in volume five of MediaWorks' now-defunct light novel magazine Dengeki hp on March 17, 2000. The first volume of the series was published on July 10, 2000 by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko publishing imprint. As of November 2020, 23 volumes have been published.
Natsu "Salamander" Dragneel is a fictional character and protagonist of the Fairy Tail manga series created by Hiro Mashima. First making his debut in Fairy Tail chapter #1, "The Fairy's Tail", originally published in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Magazine on August 2, 2006, Natsu is depicted throughout the story as a member of the eponymous wizards' guild, who are notorious in the fictional Kingdom of Fiore for their numerous accounts of causing unintentional property damage with their magic. Being a Dragon Slayer, Natsu possesses the same abilities as his foster father, the dragon Igneel, namely the ability to consume and envelop himself in fire. Natsu's predominant role in the series is to reunite with Igneel, who has been missing for seven years by the story's outset. He appears in most Fairy Tail media, including both feature films, all original video animations (OVAs), light novels, and video games. He is voiced by Tetsuya Kakihara in Japanese, while Todd Haberkorn voices him in the English dub.
Lucy Heartfilia is a fictional character from Hiro Mashima's manga series Fairy Tail. Lucy first makes her debut in Fairy Tail chapter #1, "The Fairy's Tail", originally published in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Magazine on August 2, 2006, as a teenage wizard and aspiring novelist who joins the titular guild because of its popularity, despite its members' tendency to cause unintentional property damage. As a celestial wizard, Lucy uses magical objects known as Gatekeys to summon celestial spirits, beings from another world that possess various abilities, such as powerful zodiac spirits that she summons with rare golden keys. Lucy's initial weapon is a whip with a heart-shaped extremity, which is later switched to an extendable celestial whip. Lucy appears in most Fairy Tail media, including both feature films, all original video animations (OVAs), light novels and video games. She is voiced by Aya Hirano in Japanese, while Cherami Leigh voices her in the English dub.
