Hikari no Densetsu (光の伝説,lit. Legend of Light) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Izumi Aso about a girl named Hikari Kamijou who dreams of becoming a national rhythmic gymnastics champion. The manga series title translates into English as "Legend of Light" (the female lead character's name,Hikari,means "light" in Japanese). In the mid-1980s,the manga series was adapted into a nineteen episode anime series produced by Tatsunoko Productions,directed by Tomomi Mochizuki and broadcast on ABC.
Hikari no Densetsu is a love story that it is set in the late-1980s junior high school atmosphere,one of the few sports anime and manga to have dealt mainly with rhythmic gymnastics as the main subject matter. Hikari Kamijou is a young,naïve,and care-free young woman who dreams of becoming an Olympic Champion in the sport of rhythmic gymnastics ever since she witnessed a performance of the young Diliana Gueorguieva (a champion Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast). Although she was unconfident in her skills as a rhythmic gymnastics,she gradually shows brilliance,achieving her dreams.
# | Song title | Episodes | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Haato no kisetsu" (ハートの季節) | 1-19 | 1986 - Japanese
|
2 | "Kataomoi no hamingo" (片思いのハミング) | 1-19 | 1986 - Japanese
|
3 | "Hilary" | 1-19 | 1988 - Italian
|
4 | "Se stai con me" | n/a | 1988 - Italian
|
5 | "Il vento" | n/a | 1988 - Italian
|
6 | "Quando tornerai" | n/a | 1988 - Italian [7]
|
7 | "Cynthia ou le rythme de la vie" | 1-19 | 1988 - French (translated from the original Italian song)
|
8 | "Quand tu reviendras" | 1-19 | 1988 - French
|
9 | "le vent" | 1-19 | 1988 - French
|
10 | "Si tu parles avec moi" | 1-19 | 1988 - French
|
11 | "Piruetas" | 1-19 | 1991 - Spanish (translated from the original Italian song)
|
12 | "Die kleinen Superstars" | 1-19 | 1994 - German (translated from the original Italian song)
|
System | Episodes | Discs or Cassettes | Features | |
---|---|---|---|---|
First released | ||||
VHS | 16 - 18 | 1 |
| Germany: 1994 [8] |
VHS | 1 - 19 | 4 |
| Italy: Late August 2001 |
DVD | 1 - 19 | 5 |
| France: June 15, 2006 |
DVD | 1 - 19 | 4 |
| France: October 24, 2006 |
In Japan, the manga series by Izumi Aso was very popular when it was beginning to be published by Shueisha and serialized through Margaret magazine in late 1985. This gave Aso the ability to continue the storyline for a long serialization. In mid-1986 Tatsunoko Productions picked up the series to turn it into an anime series in hopes to take advantage of the shōjo genre popularity in the mid-1980s. The anime, produced by Tatsunoko Productions was one of the few ventures of the company into the shōjo genre.
The anime was not very successful in Japan and it was taken off the air sooner than expected due to its low ratings in the country . [9] (the anime series stalled at the count of only 19 episodes, as opposed to 26 episodes that had been planned by the producers). The manga series remained popular among loyal fans and continued to be serialized through Margaret magazine until Aso ended the series at 16 volumes.
The anime series would have probably never have been released outside Japan had not been for the 1988 Olympics which were to be held at Seoul, South Korea. The 1988 Olympics featured national rhythmic gymnastic competitions, and because of that the anime series was re-aired during the Olympics in 1988. [3] During this time Tatsunoko Productions decided to release the series in Europe were rhythmic gymnastics is popular. And in an instant the anime became a huge success in every European country that it was dubbed and aired.[ citation needed ]
The anime series was criticized in Europe for its inability to properly show movement and for the fact that the rhythmic gymnastic performances were too short compare to real performances that can last for as far as five minutes. [10] But despite this criticism, the anime became very successful in Europe and it is still popular to this day[ citation needed ].
For a number of years during the late 1980s and 90s there have been rumors of a hentai version of Hikari no Densetsu. These rumors were proven to be untrue; there is no evidence that proves that there has been a hentai version of the anime series. However, there is an anime series that has parodied the Hikari no Densetsu series in the past (It is believed that this is where the rumors have come from). The anime series was parodied by Cream Lemon , an anthology OVA series from the mid and late 80s which is known for its emphasis on the story and its plot. In the second installment of the OVA series, the second episode called "White Shadow", [11] it tells the story of an aspiring gymnast that resembles the character the anime character Hikari in design. The episode also contains two male characters that resemble Mao and Takaaki. This episode was mostly ignored by fans of the manga and anime series as a parody due to its lack of reference of the series and its poor quality, texture and design. [12] The episode was released in the United States by Excalibur Films on both VHS and DVD with the alternate name "Black Widow" with other episodes of the Cream lemon series as part of a trilogy titled: "Pandora An Erotic Trilogy - Brothers Grime Adult Cartoon Volume 3." The episode was in English and uncensored.
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