Nagasarete Airantō

Nagasarete Airantō (ながされて藍蘭島) is a Japanese manga series created by Japanese author Takeshi Fujishiro. It was first serialized in the manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan in January 2002, published by Square Enix. Currently, sixteen volumes have been released in Japan. A few years later, a couple of drama CDs were released based on the manga version. An anime adaptation by the animation studio Feel aired in Japan between April 4 and September 26, 2007, containing twenty-six episodes.

Plot
Nagasarete Airantō revolves around Ikuto Tōhōin, the main protagonist, who ran away from home because of a fight with his father. Due to a life-long dream of wanting to board a ship, Ikuto decides to take a vacation on a cruise ship; the ship is suddenly hit by a huge storm, throwing Ikuto overboard. He wakes up the next day to discover he is on an uncharted island populated by girls. Ikuto finds himself to be extremely popular on the island, due to the fact that no other men currently live there. As a result, nearly the entire island starts pressuring Ikuto to become their husband — all except a young girl named Suzu and her extremely old grandmother. Suzu's grandmother decides that Ikuto will live with Suzu for the time being, but Ikuto initially finds it difficult to adjust, especially with the entire island population after him night and day. Meanwhile, Suzu does her best to protect Ikuto from the masses. However, Ikuto still does not want to stay on the island, and soon after arriving, he attempts to leave by boat, but discovers the island is completely surrounded by whirlpools and tornadoes, eliminating escape by sea or air, thus impossible to leave. With no other choice, Ikuto starts to settle into life on the island.

Characters

 * Ikuto Tōhōin (東方院 行人)
 * (drama CD), Hiro Shimono (anime)
 * Ikuto, a fourteen-year-old boy, is the main character of the story and is currently stranded on Airan Island. At extreme odds with his father, he ran away from home on a cruise liner, resulting in his arrival on the island due to a storm. Exceedingly kind and helpful, Ikuto's physical ability pales in comparison to that of the women on the island, in the beginning he also couldn't understand any of the animals on the Island whereas the women could (he is able to understand them later on however). Nonetheless, he has inherited his grandfather's ideal of determination; the words "It's impossible!" send him into a state of berserk strength and tenacity. Once in this state, he usually either accomplishes his goal or is struck unconscious trying. He has a younger sister named Misaki back home in Japan. Owing to the conservative attitude with which he was raised, Ikuto finds it difficult to accept Airan's freer customs. This also makes it difficult for Ikuto to accept anything supernatural which, unfortunately, is abundant on the island (e.g. he refuses to accept that Tohno is a kappa and persistently insists that she is actually a turtle). Due to the Island's girls inexperience with boys they'll often try to seduce him, which results most of the time in failure or Ikuto having an exaggerated nosebleed and passing out. Suzu seems to be the only one who has genuine feelings for Ikuto from the start though she does not realize it until later, and he develops feelings for her due to her kindness. On occasion, Ikuto demonstrates his aptitude in kendo, which he points out to be something he learned from his grandfather.


 * Suzu (すず)
 * (drama CD/anime)
 * Suzu is the main female character of the story. She is an honest girl and can be very spontaneous when excited. She is the first person that Ikuto meets on the island and possibly the closest one to him. As the series progresses, Suzu develops feelings for Ikuto, but at first she has trouble realizing it due to her inexperience with boys. Later on, she gets very jealous whenever another girl gets close to him. She doesn't mind being naked around Ikuto and doesn't understand why Ikuto always gets nosebleeds and passes out whenever this happens. She is still very happy to have him in her life, since she had been living alone with her pet piglet Tonkatsu (lit. "breaded pork cutlet") due to that her mother (Suzuran) disappeared three years ago and her father (Takatora) was outside of the island due to a big tide wave. Suzu loves sweets to the point where she can be easily bribed with them, especially with the special "Mame Daifuku" treats made by Ayane's and Machi's mother. Suzu is one of the best players of shogi and other strategy games on the island, to the point that she could easily beat Ikuto. She claims this is because she learned how to play from her mother on rainy days. She is also good at jujutsu, and was trained by the Southern Leader due to the fact she once threw Ayane on top of a tree; although her mother was even stronger than the current Western Leader, she did not teach Suzu Jujutsu, probably due to that she wants Suzu to be more feminine. However, Suzu lacks the intelligence compared to most of the girls on Airan as she cannot comprehend simple mathematics and tries to skip school as much as she can.


 * Ayane (あやね)
 * (drama CD), Saeko Chiba (anime)
 * Ayane is Suzu's rival, always being defeated by her and wanting to win at least once. The fact that she constantly loses makes Suzu somewhat doubtful of her ability as an individual. Despite her appearance, she is actually 16 years old, and being underdeveloped she is also jealous of Suzu's sudden growth. She is deathly afraid of Machi, her older sister, and uses anesthetic darts as her main weapon. She hopes to take Ikuto captive and trump Suzu. She is a miko at the local shrine along with Machi and their mother Chizuru (whom Ikuto mistook for her sister at first). She also frequently uses a giant ostrich named Monjiro as transportation. After accidentally kissing Ikuto, she finds that she cannot approach him without getting flustered as she developed real feelings for him.


 * Machi (まち)
 * (drama CD), Mikako Takahashi (anime)
 * Machi is Ayane's elder sister and despite her appearance is smaller than Ayane; she is actually eighteen-years-old. Despite her innocent looks, Machi is something of a sadist: she often tortures Ayane with her voodoo doll, finding beauty in their pained, frightened expressions. She also tends to take the most dangerous methods to getting things done. In her childhood she often doted on her baby sister, but at some point transition into terrorizing her.  She alludes to the fact that she tortures people the more she likes them, suggestion her sadistic acts may be their own sign of affection. She sees herself as well past the appropriate marrying age and pursues a romance with Ikuto to avoid becoming an old maid. Because of this, her age is her biggest insecurity and she becomes depressed whenever someone calls her old.  She has a talent for magic, such as summoning shikigami, though she usually ditches all other cleaning and cooking duties at the shrine. Like her sister Ayane, she is quite proficient with using the blowgun.


 * Rin (りん)
 * (drama CD), Ryōko Shiraishi (anime)
 * Rin is an apprentice carpenter who is popular on Airan due to her somewhat tomboyish outfit and attitude, she was the subject of a lot of attention and romantic interest from other women before Ikuto's arrival. She found this situation so uncomfortable that she developed a tendency to bathe alone. Despite her masculine mannerisms, Rin is shown to be appallingly bad at her hard labor job of carpentry and quite skilled with domestic chores such as cooking and sewing. Initially, Rin propositions Ikuto to be her husband to prove her heterosexuality (and so end the advances made on her by the other girls); however, she soon develops real feelings for him. She calls Ikuto "danna" ("hubby" or husband), much to Ikuto's chagrin.


 * Mikoto (みこと)
 * Mikoto is a kunoichi and an apprentice carpenter who is obsessed with Rin (Mikoto is so far the only girl identified as not developing any feelings for Ikuto) and always attempts to peek at or touch her body, particularly when she is bathing. She is about the same age as Suzu. She is often jealous of Ikuto to the point that she would either threaten to hurt him or outright throw shurikens and/or heavy objects at him, but in response Rin will often make short work of her. Her family, of which she is the youngest human member, consists entirely of practitioners of Ninpo and Bushido. In the beginning of volume 12, Chikage explains that she, Yukino, Kunai, Shinobu and Mikoto are cousins.
 * Mikoto is a kunoichi and an apprentice carpenter who is obsessed with Rin (Mikoto is so far the only girl identified as not developing any feelings for Ikuto) and always attempts to peek at or touch her body, particularly when she is bathing. She is about the same age as Suzu. She is often jealous of Ikuto to the point that she would either threaten to hurt him or outright throw shurikens and/or heavy objects at him, but in response Rin will often make short work of her. Her family, of which she is the youngest human member, consists entirely of practitioners of Ninpo and Bushido. In the beginning of volume 12, Chikage explains that she, Yukino, Kunai, Shinobu and Mikoto are cousins.


 * Shinobu (しのぶ)
 * Shinobu is Mikoto's sister, but unlike her more of a practitioner of Bushido than a kunoichi, who first appears in episode eighteen of the anime. After her first meeting with Ikuto and Suzu, she determines that Ikuto is troubling Mikoto and decides to challenge him to a duel, much to his reluctance. Despite being a ninja, she's a bit on the clumsy side (she trips on her own sword, then later stumbles off the edge of a cliff), and has a horrible sense of direction. Takes many things as training when actually when it has little to do with training in the long run. After Ikuto unexpectedly defeats her in a match, to his exasperation, she decides to become his apprentice. It is hinted that she has feelings for Ikuto but, like Suzu, she lacks experience with the opposite sex. She ends her sentences with the phrase "-de gozaru", similar to the phrase "-desu" but in an archaic form used by samurais in the past. In the beginning of volume 12, Chikage explains that she, Yukino, Kunai, Shinobu and Mikoto are cousins. In volume 9, it is shown that working with Rin will create a very bad combination, which will always make things worse. In volume 11, it is shown that her ninja skills have decreased greatly, when she threw shuriken they returned back to her.
 * Shinobu is Mikoto's sister, but unlike her more of a practitioner of Bushido than a kunoichi, who first appears in episode eighteen of the anime. After her first meeting with Ikuto and Suzu, she determines that Ikuto is troubling Mikoto and decides to challenge him to a duel, much to his reluctance. Despite being a ninja, she's a bit on the clumsy side (she trips on her own sword, then later stumbles off the edge of a cliff), and has a horrible sense of direction. Takes many things as training when actually when it has little to do with training in the long run. After Ikuto unexpectedly defeats her in a match, to his exasperation, she decides to become his apprentice. It is hinted that she has feelings for Ikuto but, like Suzu, she lacks experience with the opposite sex. She ends her sentences with the phrase "-de gozaru", similar to the phrase "-desu" but in an archaic form used by samurais in the past. In the beginning of volume 12, Chikage explains that she, Yukino, Kunai, Shinobu and Mikoto are cousins. In volume 9, it is shown that working with Rin will create a very bad combination, which will always make things worse. In volume 11, it is shown that her ninja skills have decreased greatly, when she threw shuriken they returned back to her.


 * Kunai (くない)
 * She is the older sister of Shinobu and Mikoto and like her sister's, she is also a kunoichi. She happens to be a teacher in the island and she fonds of using smoke bombs to get away normally. She did not appeared in the anime series in episode 23 only to be mentioned. In the beginning of volume 12, Chikage explains that she, Yukino, Kunai, Shinobu and Mikoto are cousins.


 * Chikage (ちかげ)
 * (drama CD), Shizuka Itō (anime)
 * Chikage is obsessed with scientific research, and wants Ikuto for the sole purpose of examining a real male and learning about the world beyond the island from him. She collects things that drift in from the modern world and plans on adding Ikuto to her collection, seeing him as a potentially invaluable source of information. Chikage lives in the only English-style house on Airan with her elephant maid, Panako. She has a habit of reading mature magazines and gets misguided ideas from them to use against Ikuto. Although Ikuto believes her to be a calm, well-behaved girl, Yukino has noted that Chikage tends to perform strange experiments and questionable research. In the manga, and episode 17, she proves the truth of this statement when she briefly gains access to magic and causes havoc around the island until it is taken away by an angry Panako. In the beginning of volume 12, she explains that she, Yukino, Kunai, Shinobu and Mikoto are cousins.


 * Yukino (ゆきの)
 * (drama CD), Shizuka Hasegawa (anime)
 * Yukino is the youngest girl on the island, being eleven years old, and is sensitive about her age. She has an affinity for animals and is usually seen riding one, most often a giant bear named Kuma Kuma. Her connection to nature dates back to when she was too young to help with farm work, and was often left to play with the woodland creatures. Her habit of riding everywhere would suggest that she should tire easily, but in the anime she is quite athletic, being able to race with her animal friends and win. She has a habit of referring to herself in the third person. In the beginning of volume 12, Chikage explains that she, Yukino, Kunai, Shinobu and Mikoto are cousins.


 * Kagami (かがみ)
 * Kagami is Yukino's mother. Even at her full adult height, she stands little more than a head above her daughter, and has a childish personality to match her small stature. Kagami loves games and often steals the attention of Yukino's animal friends for playtime.  However, she seems to possess a hidden maturity, and commands of her own right a loyal hawk named Taka-Taka.
 * Kagami is Yukino's mother. Even at her full adult height, she stands little more than a head above her daughter, and has a childish personality to match her small stature. Kagami loves games and often steals the attention of Yukino's animal friends for playtime.  However, she seems to possess a hidden maturity, and commands of her own right a loyal hawk named Taka-Taka.


 * Mei Mei (梅梅 (メイメイ))
 * Mei Mei is an outsider just like Ikuto. Her family worked as traveling performers, but she kept messing up and embarked on a journey that got her to the island. She is very shy and reclusive, to the point where she is forced to illustrate her thoughts through drawings and she cannot talk to a stranger unless she is wearing a disguise (usually a large tree costume). She befriended the kappa, Tohno, during her travels, and the creature has accompanied her to the island. She develops feelings for Ikuto after he fought for her so she wouldn't get taken away by Tiger, who wanted her to become the North Leader.
 * Mei Mei is an outsider just like Ikuto. Her family worked as traveling performers, but she kept messing up and embarked on a journey that got her to the island. She is very shy and reclusive, to the point where she is forced to illustrate her thoughts through drawings and she cannot talk to a stranger unless she is wearing a disguise (usually a large tree costume). She befriended the kappa, Tohno, during her travels, and the creature has accompanied her to the island. She develops feelings for Ikuto after he fought for her so she wouldn't get taken away by Tiger, who wanted her to become the North Leader.


 * Michiru (みちる)
 * Michiru is the 16-year-old descendant of Obaba. She is a half-yōkai; her mother is a yuki-onna. She is weak against the heat resulting in her staying indoors most of the time, though she can go out. After completing a task she is given a snow spirit allowing her to go outside for longer periods of time. However, a running gag is that since she previously could not interact with the villagers, they now often forget or mistaken her name, much to her annoyance. She is in love with Ikuto, stating that she was the first to have romantic feelings for him since the beginning when he arrived. She has noticed him staring at her since they first met (when his stares were actually due to her resemblance to his sister). She is very skilled with the bow and arrow.


 * Tohno (遠野)
 * Tohno is a kappa who, a thousand years before the events of the story, caused so much trouble that a monk sealed her away. Mei Mei freed her when she left the circus. Tohno is supposedly a skilled enough warrior to defeat Pandaro, the Eastern Leader.
 * Tohno is a kappa who, a thousand years before the events of the story, caused so much trouble that a monk sealed her away. Mei Mei freed her when she left the circus. Tohno is supposedly a skilled enough warrior to defeat Pandaro, the Eastern Leader.


 * Obaba (オババ)
 * Obaba, originally named "Koto", is the village chief, the village doctor, and probably the oldest person surviving on Airan — as depicted in the manga and the anime, she had survived since the shipwreck and is probably over 148 years old. Despite her age, she is still quite spry and strong, capable of inflicting physical punishment on the disrespectful or simply intimidating them back in line. While she mostly plays a minor role in the story, there are certain events that revolve around her. She has a descendant Michiru (みちる), who appears in episode twenty-six of the anime for a moment.
 * Obaba, originally named "Koto", is the village chief, the village doctor, and probably the oldest person surviving on Airan — as depicted in the manga and the anime, she had survived since the shipwreck and is probably over 148 years old. Despite her age, she is still quite spry and strong, capable of inflicting physical punishment on the disrespectful or simply intimidating them back in line. While she mostly plays a minor role in the story, there are certain events that revolve around her. She has a descendant Michiru (みちる), who appears in episode twenty-six of the anime for a moment.


 * Panako (ぱな子)
 * Panako is Chikage's maid who first appears in episode eight of the anime. She is a pink elephant who is very kind to others, if a bit clumsy. The citizens of Airan, animal and human alike, refer to her as the most beautiful creature on the island.
 * Panako is Chikage's maid who first appears in episode eight of the anime. She is a pink elephant who is very kind to others, if a bit clumsy. The citizens of Airan, animal and human alike, refer to her as the most beautiful creature on the island.


 * Misaki Tōhōin (東方院 美咲)
 * Misaki is Ikuto's little sister. Although it was not explored as much, in the letter Misaki sends to Ikuto, it can be assumed that she is very talkative. She has a bad sense of direction as she needed guidance from Ikuto to always go home. She loves fortune telling. She is introduced when Suzu and the others (aside from Mei Mei) saw a picture of her with Ikuto and mistook her for his lover. When Ikuto finally met with Misaki in the final episode of the anime, she reveals to him she also ended up on an island after looking for Ikuto, although in her letter, she states that she ended up being lost first and then finding herself on the island. The irony is the events she went through parallel to Ikuto's, but instead with an island with the men who were separated with the women from Airan Island. However, in the original manga, she is still in Japan. The day when Ikuto left the island was Misaki's birthday.
 * Misaki is Ikuto's little sister. Although it was not explored as much, in the letter Misaki sends to Ikuto, it can be assumed that she is very talkative. She has a bad sense of direction as she needed guidance from Ikuto to always go home. She loves fortune telling. She is introduced when Suzu and the others (aside from Mei Mei) saw a picture of her with Ikuto and mistook her for his lover. When Ikuto finally met with Misaki in the final episode of the anime, she reveals to him she also ended up on an island after looking for Ikuto, although in her letter, she states that she ended up being lost first and then finding herself on the island. The irony is the events she went through parallel to Ikuto's, but instead with an island with the men who were separated with the women from Airan Island. However, in the original manga, she is still in Japan. The day when Ikuto left the island was Misaki's birthday.


 * Sakuya (さくや)
 * (drama CD), Yuki Matsuoka (anime)
 * Sakuya is a female mechanical doll who was built about 130 years ago on Airan by an unknown creator. She might have been created by the aliens that came to the island long ago. She owns and runs a hot spring and hotel resort at one end of the island. At times, her body parts fall off; she needs only reassemble herself to resume perfect working order. Her utmost and constant concern is the well-being of her customers, which she is programmed to protect using an arsenal of built-in weapons and surveillance equipment.


 * Kiyomasa (清正)
 * He happens to Chikage's father and older brother to Kagami. When he was young, he had influenced his wife Shizuka on doing a mystery novel which came into the Benyasha novel series. His current location is unknown and rumored to be deceased. He appears to be in the anime series in episode 20. He also appears in Karaage's flashbacks in chapters 76-77 while having a small conversation with Ikuto, about Suzu's parents, Suzuran and Takatora.
 * He happens to Chikage's father and older brother to Kagami. When he was young, he had influenced his wife Shizuka on doing a mystery novel which came into the Benyasha novel series. His current location is unknown and rumored to be deceased. He appears to be in the anime series in episode 20. He also appears in Karaage's flashbacks in chapters 76-77 while having a small conversation with Ikuto, about Suzu's parents, Suzuran and Takatora.


 * Suzuran (すずらん)
 * Suzu's mother who went missing three years prior to the story's start. Though Suzu has depicted her mother to Ikuto as something of a calm and gentle woman, Karaage has mentioned that it was simply a facade to convince Suzu to be a lot more like a girl than her mother was. Karaage's flashbacks in chapters 76-77 reveal a lot about Suzuran and her husband, Takatora. Suzuran looks and for the most part, acts exactly like Suzu does in the present, albeit slightly more violent and with a smaller chest. She also shows jealousy about her future husband much in the same way Suzu does for Ikuto, though Suzuran is a bit less oblivious than Suzu, as she is able to, at least to herself, admit that she has feelings for Takatora. However, she is extremely slow to realise that Takatora had confessed to her, but eventually does and accepts his feelings. Apparently, he had actually confessed to her before, but Suzuran was too oblivious to realise. Matching the date of the Karaage's flashback with her age reason's that Suzu was born when Suzuran was 14, the same year she got married to Takatora. Her and Takatora also built the house that Suzu lives in which is on top of a hot spring that Takatora dug up. Takatora looks very similar to Ikuto, except more muscular.

Leaders

 * Airan is divided into four sections, five if the surrounding waterways are included: North, South, East, and West, but also includes the surround water. Each section has its own Leader who maintains the law and order of the area. The main mission of the leaders is to not only protect their area but also the Sea Dragon God who is the Great Lord of the island and has the power to protect those from large storms. He was responsible for bringing Ikuto safely into Airantō. The leaders are as follows: The Northern Leader is a two-tailed oddly bipedal tiger with a prominent scar on his face named Taiga and is equally matched with the Southern Leader in strength. The Southern Leader is a two-tailed cat named Shima-Tora, who was Suzu's master in the martial arts and shapeshifting, and is said to have lived for over one hundred years. In manga, he has a wife named Myaa. The Eastern Leader is a panda named Pandaro, who seems to fear the other Leaders, implying that he is the weakest of the Leaders; he rules over the eastern forest which is feared for the fact that it is home to carnivorous plants, he was also the first Leader whom Ikuto encountered. The Western Leader is a rooster named Karaage, who lives very close to Suzu and Ikuto's house; he even has a wife living with them. He is also the strongest fighter on the Island. In addition, a female orca named Sashimi dwells in the waters that surround the island. Though she does not speak, Suzu seems able to communicate with her. Sashimi's duty is to stop those who wander too close to the dangerous whirlpools that surround Airan.

Manga
The Nagasarete Airantō manga began serialization in the January 2002 issue of Monthly Shōnen Gangan, published by Square Enix. Additional chapters were serialized in the magazine Gangan Powered, but transferred to Monthly Shōnen Gangan after Gangan Powered was discontinued in early 2009. So far, sixteen bound volumes and one "guide book" containing various background information have been released in Japan.

Drama CDs
There have been two drama CDs released based on the series. After the airing of the anime adaptation, several drama CDs has also been released, with the anime cast voicing their respective characters.
 * Comic CD Collection 30 Nagasarete Airantō Vol.1, ISBN 4-7575-1154-X, released February 20, 2004
 * Comic CD Collection 32 Nagasarete Airantō Vol.2, ISBN 4-7575-1380-1, released February 10, 2005

Light novels
There have been two light novels based on the manga version of Nagasarete Airantō written by Shōgo Mukai and illustrated by Ken Fujiyo. The first went on sale on November 30, 2004 and the second went on sale on March 22, 2007.

Anime
The anime adaption of Nagasarete Airantō aired between April 4 and September 26, 2007, containing twenty-six episodes. It was produced by the animation studio Feel, directed by Hideki Okamoto and written by Mamiko Ikeda.

Theme songs

 * Opening theme: "Days" by Yui Horie
 * Ending themes:
 * 1) "Say cheese" by Yui Horie (episodes 1-12)
 * 2) "Pu~!" by Akeno Watanabe (episode 13)
 * 3) "Koisuru Tenkizu" (恋する天気図) by Yui Horie (episode 14 onwards)
 * 4) "Days" by Yui Horie (episode 26)