This cheerful youth - Hiatari ryōkō

March 2 2022

This cheerful youth (Let the sunshine in - Hiatari ryōkō!) is a high school romantic manga by Mitsuru Adachi. It was published by Shogakukan in 1979–1981 in Shōjo Comic magazine and collected in five tankōbon volumes. It was later adapted into a live-action television series, an anime television series, and an anime film sequel to the television series. The title roughly translates as What a Sunny Day!

History

The story focuses on the relationships of Kasumi Kishimoto, a high school student. When she enters Myōjō High School, she moves into her aunt's boarding house, where four boys who attend high school are tenants. Despite her firm determination to remain faithful to her boyfriend, who is studying abroad, Kasumi slowly finds herself falling in love with Yūsaku, one of her four boys.

Characters

Kasumi Kishimoto (岸本かすみ, Kishimoto Kasumi)
Voiced by (anime): Yumi Morio, Played by (live): Sayaka Itō
The main character and student at Myōjō High School. Since her parents live more than an hour away, she decides to stay with her aunt Chigusa who, unbeknownst to Kasumi, has transformed her house into a boarding house for four male students from the same high school. After Yūsaku meets Kasumi while she takes a bath, she is upset because she wants to remain faithful to Katsuhiko, her boyfriend. The progress of Kasumi's feelings towards Yūsaku is the central story of the series.

Yusaku Takasugi (高杉勇作, Takasugi Yūsaku)
Voiced by (anime): Yūji Mitsuya, Played by (live): Takayuki Takemoto
Tenant in room no. 3 of the Hidamari Private Boarding House. He is in the same class as Kasumi and a member of the ōendan, or typhus. He is inspired by people who work hard at something, regardless of whether they are victorious or not, and he likes to support them. Yūsaku eventually joins the Myōjō High School baseball team, playing as a center-back, despite the fact that he doesn't know how he plays himself. He has a cat, Taisuke, which he finds in a box on the side of the road.

Takashi Ariyama (有山高志, Ariyama Takashi)
Voiced by (anime): Kobuhei Hayashiya
Tenant in room no. 2 of the Hidamari Private Boarding House. He is the goalkeeper of the soccer team until Yūsaku convinces him to join the baseball team as a catcher, so that Masato can throw at his best as a pitcher. He has a crush on Keiko, even though she considers him just a friend. He is always hungry, but he is a very generous person, willing to help anyone.

Shin Mikimoto (美樹本伸, Mikimoto Shin)
Voiced by (anime): Kaneto Shiozawa
Tenant in room no. 4 of the Hidamari Private Boarding House. Shin is a womanizer and pervert. He is madly in love with Keiko, even though she can't stand him. Shin plays as third baseman on the Myōjō High School baseball team. He has a telescope, ostensibly for stargazing, although he most often uses it to peek at neighborhood females. Shin has a deadly fear of cats.

Makoto Aido (相戸誠, Aido Makoto)
Voiced by (anime): Katsuhiro Nanba
Tenant in room no. 1 of the Hidamari private pension. He plays only a small role in the series, being used primarily for humorous effects; however, one episode of the live drama series, in which his name is changed to Makoto Nakaoka (中岡誠, Nakaoka Makoto), focuses on him as a medical prodigy.

Chigusa Mizusawa (水沢千草, Mizusawa Chigusa)
Voiced by (anime): Kazue Komiya, Played by (live): Midori Kiuchi
Kasumi's widowed aunt, landlady of Hidamari's private pension.

Katsuhiko Muraki (村木克彦 Muraki Katsuhiko)
Voiced by (anime): Kazuhiko Inoue
Kasumi's boyfriend and the son of the brother of her aunt Chigusa's deceased husband. His father works in California and attends UCLA there, although he returns to Japan once during the series.

Keiko Seki (関圭子, Seki Keiko)
Voiced by (anime): Hiromi Tsuru
A manager of the Myōjō High School baseball team. She is very reserved and has a crush on Yūsaku.

Masato Seki (関真人 Seki Masato)
Voiced by (anime): Hirotaka Suzuoki
Keiko's older brother and Myōjō High School pitching ace. His goal is to get to Kōshien before he graduates.

Taisuke (退助)
Voiced by (anime): Eriko Senbara
Yusaku's domestic cat. Since Yūsaku paid ¥ 100 for him, he was named after Itagaki Taisuke, the man found on the ¥ 100 bill.

Maria Ōta (太田まりあ, Ōta Maria)
Voiced by (anime): Miina Tominaga
Appearing for only a short time, she and her father Sakamoto move into the guesthouse. While there, the boys are infatuated with her, but she likes Yūsaku Takasugi. Kasumi is jealous of her.

Shinichiro Ōta (Ōta Shinichiro)
Voiced by (anime): Shigeru Chiba
The widowed father of Maria Ota. He is attractive, which is why Aunt Chigusa allows them to move in.

Sakamoto (坂本)
Voiced by (anime): Hideyuki Tanaka

Production

Hiatari Ryōkō completed its serialization in 1981 with five volumes. However, the television anime adaptation of Adachi's next manga, Touch, became a hit that made the series adaptation possible even after completion. Virtually all of Touch's staff, such as series director Gisaburō Sugii and composer Hiroaki Serizawa, moved to Hiatari Ryōkō as soon as Touch production wrapped up. Much of Touch's vocal cast was also in this anime, excluding Noriko Hidaka (Minami Asakura in Touch). She smoothly replaced Touch, which ran for two years in the same time slot. The anime television series consisted of 48 half-hour episodes made for Fuji TV, which aired from March 22, 1987 to March 20, 1988. It was followed by a theatrical anime film, which served as an alternate version, titled What a Sunny Day! Ka - su - mi: you were in my dreams (陽あたり良好! KA ・ SU ・ MI 夢の中に君がいた, Hiatari Ryōkō! Ka - su - mi: Yume no Naka ni Kimi ga Ita). The film ran as a double feature with Kimagure's first film Orange Road and included all three of Kimagure's opening themes as background music.

Technical data

Manga

Author Mitsuru Adachi
Editor Shogakukan
Magazine Shojo Comic
Target shoujo
1 edition 1980 – 1981
Tankōbon 5 (complete)
Italian publisher Flashbooks
Series 1st Italian edition Big comics
1st edition it. June 30, 2011 - January 21, 2012
Italian periodicity monthly

Anime TV series

Italian title This cheerful youth
Regia Gisaburō Sugii
Film script Akinori Nagaoka, Hiroko Hagita, Hiroko Naka, Michiri Shimata, Takashi Anno, Tomoko Konparu
Char. design Marisuke Eguchi, Michiri Shimata, Minoru Maeda
Music Hiroaki Serizawa
Studio Group TAC
Network Fuji TV
1st TV March 29, 1987 - March 20, 1988
Episodes 48 (complete)
Relationship 4:3
Episode duration 22 min
Italian network Italia 1
1st Italian TV 1988
Italian episodes 48 (complete)
Duration ep. it. 22 min
Double studio it. Merak Film
Double Dir. it. Maurizio Torresan