Hikari no Densetsu

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Hikari no Densetsu

光の伝説 (Legend of Light)
Genre	Sports (Gymnastics), Shōjo, Romance, music, slice of life
Manga: Hikari no Densetsu
Authored by	Izumi Aso
Publisher	Shueisha Star Comics
Serialized in	Margaret Starlight
Original run	1985 – December 1988 May 2003 – August 2004
No. of volumes	16
TV anime : Hikari no Densetsu
Directed by	Tomomi Mochizuki
Studio	Tatsunoko Productions
Network	TV Asahi Déclic-Images RTL 2 Italia 1 Telecinco
Original run	3 May 1986 – 20 September 1986
No. of episodes	19

Hikari no Densetsu (光の伝説, Hikari no Densetsu^?) is an anime and manga series by Izumi Aso about a girl named Hikari Kamijou who dreams of becoming a national rhythmic gymnastics champion. The series title translates into English as "Legend of Light" (the female lead's name, Hikari, means "light" in Japanese). The anime, produced by Tatsunoko, was not successful in Japan and was taken off the air sooner than expected due to its low ratings in the country (hence the count of only 19 episodes, as opposed to 26 episodes as had been planned by the producers), but it was a huge hit in European countries (particularly in France, Italy, Germany, and Spain). First it was aired in Italy in 1988 as Hilary on Italia Uno, then, in the same year, it was broadcast in France as Cynthia ou le rythme de la vie on La Cinq. In 1991 it was shown in Spain as Piruetas (here Hikari's name is Valentina) on Tele Cinco and finally in 1994 it was aired in Germany as Die Kleinen Superstars on Tele Funf (the anime series has not been aired since, along with other anime series of the 80s). The anime series was never released in the United States of America, likely due to the perceived lack of interest of the subject matter in which the anime and the manga are based on. The manga series has also not been released in the United States as well (probably due to the same reasons why the anime series has not been released) and as of 2007 it has only been released in Japan and Italy. In fact, even in Japan, the Hikari no Densetsu manga and anime series are one of the few sports anime and manga to have dealt mainly with rhythmic gymnastics as the main subject matter of an anime and manga series.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story is about Hikari Uenaga, a fifteen-year-old junior-high-school girl who develops a passion for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics ever since she saw her idol, Diliana Gueorguiva perform and win a contest of rhythmic gymnastics at a young age. When she meets her idol, she proposes to train Hikari in Bulgaria when she is professional rhythmic gymnast. Hikari accepts and quickly began to train in the sport. Many years later, Hikari is training very hard to become the best rhythmic gymnast in her school. She soon becomes a member of her school's rhythmic gymnastics team.

Hikari wishes to be with him.

At first Hikari does not seem to be very good, but this soon changes when Hikari meets Takaaki Ooishi, a schoolmate who helps her to improve her abilities as a rhythmic gymnast. Ooishi is the most popular guy in school and the best gymnast of the entire school body. With the help and support of Takaaki Ooishi, Hikari's true talents in rhythmic gymnastics come to light in one of the local tournaments between high schools. This new sign of talent that Uenaga shows on this tournament quickly put her on the map of popularity along with the best rhythmic gymnast of her school, Hazuki Shiina in the national level of competition.

Hikari begins to admire and respect Ooishi for his help and soon develops feelings for Ooishi. During this time she has also become friends with Hazuki. A healthy rivalry develops between the two and soon they begin to admire the strengths that they each have. While Hazuki represents the tranquility, elegance, grace, and sobriety of the sport; Hikari is the explosiveness of colorful, fresh, and energetic part of the sport. As Hikari begins to form a friendship with Shiina she begins to wish she could have Shiina's flexibility, aesthetics, and the gracefulness of Hazuki. Also Hazuki begins to wish she could have the potential, power, and colorfulness of Hikari.

Shiina is seen as the athlete with the most potential for the Olympics.

Though Hikari doesn't show her strength in her performances, she has a natural sense of knowledge and observation when it comes to gymnastics and is able to learn the techniques better than Hazuki and with time is able to surpass her. However, there is something that Hikari needs to work on: she needs to add more grace and elegance to her performances. She is able to achieve this with the help of Mao Natsukawa.

Natsukawa is a childhood friend of Uenaga who is the lead singer of a Rock band called Mr. D. Mao, like Hikari, has dreams of his own. He dreams of becoming a world-renowned rock'n'roll idol. Meanwhile as he is working on his dreams, he helps Hikari achieve her dream by creating the music that Hikari uses in her performances. Together they form a very impressive duo that is able to receive the respect of the music and gymnast judges, and the admiration of the viewers who watch them perform. Although he constantly teases Hikari, he is always there for her when she needs him.

Over the years, Mao has come to love Hikari very deeply although he has a hard time expressing his feelings for her. When there is tension between them, it can be seen in the way Hikari performs, but when they are united and on good terms they are invincible. Even though they have a close relationship, Hikari is in love with Ooishi, and this causes hard times in Hikari and Mao's friendship. He knows of her feelings for him, but remains by her side no matter what.

This love triangle soon becomes a love square when Hikari discovers that Hazuki also has feelings for Takaaki Ooishi. Now they are not only friends, but also rivals in sport and love. Hikari does not know how Ooishi feels about her, and she is always a bit nervous when he is around. She feels that, because she has yet to be the best rhythmic gymnast, Ooishi might fall for Shiina because of her gymnastic skills and talent. Hikari begins to perfect her skills, and is soon competing at the national and international level, where she meets new rivals.

Mao constantly teases Hikari.

This is where the manga and the anime series differ. In the TV series, Hikari wins Ooishi's heart and we are shown a little flash forward: Hikari is a Olympic champion, Ooishi is recovering from a lesion but with Olympic expectations, Mao is working on his career and Hazuki has retired and is working with children.

[edit] The end in the manga version

The manga story, however, follows a very different path. The rivalry between Hikari and Hazuki comes to an end when Hikari wins a national competition, giving her the opportunity to compete at the Seoul 1988 Summer Olympics. This means that Hikari has finally matured as an athlete and that she has finally become a better gymnast than Hazuki. Hikari has finally surpassed Hazuki in terms of ability as a rhythmic gymnast, but their rivalry for Ooishi's affection is still going strong, especially when it is revealed that Ooishi has been developing feelings for both of them for some time. This is where the story of "Hikari no Densetsu --In Seoul" begins. Hikari, Mao, Hazuki, Ooishi and rest of the athletes competing in the 1988 Summer Olympics travel to Seoul. There Hikari finds out that Ooishi and Hazuki are in love and that they are set to be married.

Mao hides his feeling for Hikari.

This information brings a lot of emotional turmoil for Hikari even more when she goes to Mao Natsukawa for support and he turns her back on her, tired of always coming to sloppy seconds to Ooishi. Natsukawa is frustrated with her, since Hikari is always focusing herself on Ooishi even though she always knew deep inside that Ooishi (while he was developing feelings for her at first) he always thought of her as a friend or a little sister.

When Mao leaves Hikari, she begins to see how important he is to her and how much she misses him, and realizes that she has feelings for him too. Even while he is not there to watch her compete, Hikari is determined to prove to Natsukawa that he is a very important part of her life and her success, and that he is more important to her than any gymnastic competition. And together Hikari and Mao will show the world that their new found love for each other is what makes them true champions.

At the end of the manga, Hikari is competing at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. While she is performing, Mao begins to sing an Italian love song even if it is against the rules to use vocal music during competitions. The Judges would probably disqualify her from the competition, but despite this Hikari and Mao finished their performance which is applauded from the crowd and their friends, Ooishi and Shiina, who have come to see them perform. Before the announcements from the judges or anybody else can be made, both Hikari and Mao exit the competition arena and are quickly seen exiting the building. While they are leaving Ooishi and Shiina run towards them, calling out to them with smiles on their faces. As they continue to towards the exit both Mao and Hikari look behind them. The manga concludes with Hikari smiling, hinting that in the end she may have not won a medal, but that she will have a bright future with Mao.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Characters

Main article: Hikari no Densetsu characters

Hikari from the anime.

The plot of the manga and anime series is mainly about Hikari and her dream to become one of the world's best gymnasts. As both the anime and manga continued to develop, the story revolves around Hikari, Ooishi and Shiina and the incidents, mishaps, and life learning adventures they experience as they work hard for their dreams to reach Olympic stardom. In the anime series Mao, a young musician is introduced quickly and goes from a secondary character to a primary character within a matter of a few episodes (he appears later as a part of the manga cast in volume 4). The television show would occasionally give more attention to the lives of the antagonists (Mao's manager), minor characters (Hikari's family) or average-everyday people as a way of setting up a plot, or clarifying a point (a common method among anime series of the 1980s and today). Flashbacks were also used occasionally in the show for similar reasons. Some other minor characters were a bit underdeveloped or received very little character development due to the fact that some of them were only used as part of visual quality of the anime and manga series in general or due to the anime being concluded after only nineteen episodes. The producers had to limit the appearances and character development of some characters in order to focus on the main characters in order to give the anime series a decent ending in the little amount of episodes the anime series had left to conclude the story as well as possible.

[edit] Manga

Mao Natsukawa.

The manga was serialized in Japan in the weekly publication Margaret Magazine by Shueisha, with the first installment issued on February 1986. The manga series finished in 1988 collected in 16 small volumes. Recently in 2000 the manga series was reissued in Japan, collected in 8 volumes in bound tankōbon form, with less volumes, but with more chapters inside them and larger pages. The new reissued version of the manga also featured different covers from the original. These new covers feature a mixture of photos in black and white of rhythmic gymnasts performing, and black and white drawings of Hikari. The manga series was also released in Italy by Edizioni Star Comics and serialized through Starlight (a publishing branch of Star Comics). The Italian version of the manga was titled "La leggenda di Hikari" (which literally means The Legend of Hikari) and collected in 16 small volumes with slightly altered covers from the original. Edizioni Star Comics re-released the manga series in Italy starting with the first volume released on May 2003 for the price of 3,10 Euro. The manga series was finished being released in 16 volumes in August 2004. The manga has yet to be released in Germany, France, and Spain, where the TV series was also very popular. Manga series are becoming more and more popular in these countries so it could be a possible that the manga series will be released in these countries in the near future.

[edit] Anime

[edit] Japanese production

The anime series which was produced by Tatsunoko Production with Tomomi Mochizuki Series director originally aired in Japan from May 3, 1986 to September 20, 1986. It was aired on TV as another mainstream Saturday night anime series from 7:00-7:30 pm (19:00-19:30). The anime series was molded with information from the original story given by Izumi Aso, scripted with the participation of Hideki Sonoda, Mami Watanabe, Yasushi Hirano. While the anime had a lot to do with gymnastics it also had a good amount of music which was directed and arranged by Eiji Kawamura with lyrics from Goro Matsui who provided both opening and ending themes. Character Design was done by Michitaka Kikuchi, and Toyoko Hashimoto. Hisato Otaki was the art director. The Animation directors were Chuuichi Iguchi, Matsuri Okuda, Naoyuki Onda, Takayuki Goto, and Yumiko Suda. The Director of Photography was Kazunori Hashimoto and background artist was Kumiko Tada. All these people were assisted by Aso who was used as an adviser to maintain certain plot ideas and character development in the right direction.

[edit] Episode list

Hazuki Shiina, the best female gymnast of the school.

Main article: Hikari no Densetsu episodes

Like many popular manga series of the time (this is still done today), Legend of Light was turned into an anime series. At the time the producers of Tatsunoko Productions had picked the manga series to produce it into an anime series. It was first aired in Japan in early 1986. At the time the manga series was still unfinished so the producers of the anime were not sure how long the anime would last since the manga was not finished. Finally they settled at 26 episodes (the average number of episodes done per anime series, at the time highest amount of episodes was 52). Due to poor ratings in Japan the series was left unfinished at only 19 episodes with the last couple of episodes wrapping up the series in a hurry and left in an open ending in late 1986. The series was aired again abroad during the 1988 Olympics that were happening in Seoul, Korea in hopes that it would help boost the ratings of the anime series. Later on in 1988 the series was released in Europe were it was extremely successful, especially in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. It is believed by many fans that had the series been released earlier in Europe, the producers would have considered ending the series to a series of OVAs and released them in Europe. In every country where the series was released the titles of the anime episodes were changed. The episode titles of the English version are translations of the original Japanese episodes titles. In more recent news there have been talks about some television networks such as telecinco who are thinking about redubbing the series and airing it in Spain and other European countries. These rumors were confirmed by the Spanish manga mangazine Minami, and it is believed that Telecinco is negotiating the deal to re-air the anime series. It is also believed that Hikari no Densetsu is being redubbed in Spanish at the Musigrama Studios, of Madrid, Spain, although Telecinco has not confirmed this.

For a long time there was an urban legend of a possible twentieth episode that was produced, but was never aired on TV. This rumor is regarded as false since there has been no information about such an episode. And more recently the entire anime serie has been released on DVD and VHS on some European countries and non of those releases have included a twentieth episode.