Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight!

Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! (がくえんゆーとぴあ まなびストレート！) is the title of a Japanese manga series set in the future concerning the lives of a group of high school girls. The manga was created by the animation studio ufotable and illustrated by Japanese artist Tartan Check and was first serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Dengeki Daioh, published by MediaWorks, on December 1 2005. An anime series broadcast in Japan started on January 7 2007 on TV Tokyo. A Playstation 2 video game based on the series will be released in Japan on March 29 2007, developed by Marvelous Interactive.

Plot
Manabi Straight! follows the lives of a group of young high school girls living in the year 2035 while they attend the all-girl Seiō Private High School (私立聖桜学園). Due to the fact that birth rate has dropped dramatically, schools are being closed down due to the sheer lack of students available to teach. Morale in schools has dropped dramatically, and Seiō is no different.

The story begins when the main heroine, Manami Amamiya, transfers to Seiō High School. Manami is an active girl with a positive personality, often shouting her personal motto Massugu Go! (まっすぐ Go!). Despite it being the day before her first day, Manami decides to go to Seiō to witness the forty-fifth swim meet where four members from six classes participate in a relay race against each other. On the way to school, Manami, or Manabi as she wants to be called, meets Mika Inamori, a shy student of Seiō who was to participate in the swim meet, despite her not knowing how to swim. After an intense ride together on Manami's futuristic scooter, they end up literally crashing the meet over the fence and into the pool. Due to Mika's inability to swim, Manami stands in for her, though is not very helpful. The next day during a meeting led by the student council in front of the entire school, Mika, the lone student council member and secretary tries to rally students to join the council, but is initially met with an apathetic audience. Suddenly, Manami bursts through the doors of the auditorium on her scooter only to be summarily punished for the disruption. Manami shows interest in becoming the student council president, but since she is a new student and has already caused trouble for the school twice, the principal is reluctant to allow Manami to become the president. To show the school how much she wants to lead the student body, Manami begins to sing the school song of Seiō after hearing it for the first time the day before. At the conclusion of the song, Manami is inducted as the student council president and received well from the entire school.

Characters

 * Manami Amamiya (天宮 学美)
 * Manami, also known as "Manabi" (まなび), has a very active personality and gives everything a lot of effort. It is mainly due to her uplifting personality that other students begin to have more vigor in their lives. After transferring to Seiō Private High School, she becomes the student council president. Her motto in life is Massugu Go! (まっすぐ Go!).


 * Mika Inamori (稲森 光香)
 * Mika, also known as "Mikan" (みかん), is a shy and clumsy girl who is constantly falling down and bumping into things. As an only child, she has taken advantage of her position and has been spoiled by her parents. After meeting Manami, Mika becomes very attached to her. At first she was the only member in the student council, taking the position of secretary, but was later joined by Manami when she became the student council president.


 * Mutsuki Uehara (上原 むつき)
 * Mutsuki, also known as "Mucchii" (むっちー), is an exceptional athlete whose reputation often precedes her. In effect, sports clubs at school have invited her to participate in several club activities as an honorary member. She has a tomboyish personality, often hitting Mei on the back very hard and sporting a short haircut for a girl.


 * Mei Etoh (衛藤 芽生)
 * Mei, also known as "Mee-chan" (めぇちゃん), usually appears to be a stubborn girl who tends to be industrious and competitive despite her standoffish nature. Mei secretly desires to be friendlier but finds it difficult to express her emotions. When greeted by other students, Mei will usually not respond and just keep walking, apparently completely ignoring them, but is in fact too shy to engage in conversation. Mei has very little school spirit and feels that school events are a waste of time. Mei and Mutsuki have known each other since childhood, though Mei does not act like it.


 * Momoha Odori (小鳥 桃葉)
 * Momoha, also known as "Momo" (もも), is a quiet girl from a rich family who may seem lazy since she tends to sleep during classtime. Her hobby is videotaping the events of the student council surrounding Manami and her friends.


 * Shimojima (下嶋)
 * Shimojima is the male teacher of Manami's class; Manami calls him Shimojii (しもじー). He has a lazy and self-depreciative personality.

Media
The series began as a manga which was later adapted into an anime and even a video game.

Manga
The Manabi Straight! manga, with story by ufotable and illustrated by Tartan Check was first serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Dengeki Daioh published by MediaWorks on December 1 2005. Currently, two volumes been released, the first of which came out on May 27 2006.

Anime
The Manabi Straight! anime starting airing in Japan on January 7 2007 on the TV Tokyo television network.

Direction
The production staff of Manabi Straight! is taking a new path in terms of direction, effectively removing the traditional "director" position. Instead, a team of studio producers and episode directors called Team Manabibeya (チームまなび部屋) share the burden together, a first for an animation production. Team Manabibeya includes:


 * Story director: Ryunosuke Kingetsu
 * Animation director/Character design: Atsushi Ogasawara
 * Layout director: Takurowo Takahashi
 * Technical director: Takayuki Hirao

Music
Before the airing of the anime, five character mini albums were released featuring the characters of Manami Amamiya, Mika Inamori, Mutsuki Uehara, Mei Etoh, and Momoha Odori sung by their respective voice actresses from the anime. On February 7 2007 the opening and ending themes, "A Happy Life" and "Lucky & Happy" respectively, were released on a single album sung by Megumi Hayashibara and produced by King Records. According to Megumi Hayashibara, she was scheduled to voice Manami Amamiya, but she chose to sing the opening and ending songs instead. It was then decided that Yui Horie would take Manami's role.

Video game
A video game developed by Marvelous Interactive for the Playstation 2 entitled Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! Kira Kira ☆ Happy Festa! (がくえんゆーとぴあ まなびストレート! キラキラ☆Happy Festa!) will be first released on March 29 2007 as a limited edition version retailing for 9,240 yen (~$76.50) including tax.

The gameplay is that of a visual novel where the player interacts with the game by making choices at key times in the story. While the game consists of several different scenarios, the main one takes place during the summer festival. In the scenario Manami needs the cooperation and comprehension of the town people in order to ensure the success of the event. Manami and her friends go through various missions in the game while they work and help the people in town get ready for the festival. As an original system built into the game, Manami has the power to give her friends "Hustle Points" that she uses to cheer her friends up during their various missions.