Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora (半分の月がのぼる空), subtitled looking up at the half-moon and also known as Hantsuki, is a Japanese romance light novel series written by Tsumugu Hashimoto and illustrated by Keiji Yamamoto centering around two hospitalized children aged seventeen and the love they begin to share. The series was originally serialized in MediaWorks' now-defunct light novel magazine Dengeki hp and spanned eight volumes released between October 2003 and August 2006. An anime was adapted from the novels and aired in Japan on the WOWOW television network between January 12 and February 23, 2006 with a total of six episodes. A manga series by B.Tarō was serialized in MediaWorks' shōnen manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! between August 2005 and November 2006; two volumes were released. A set of five drama CDs were produced between October 2006 and August 2007 by Wayuta. Finally, a live action drama of the series was aired on TV Tokyo between October and December 2006. A live action film has been announced to premier in Japanese theaters in April 2010. Sōsuke Ikematsu, Shiori Kutsuna, and Yō Ōizumi will star as Yūichi, Rika, and Doctor Natsume, respectively.

Plot
The story of Hantsuki focuses on the budding relationship between the seventeen years old Yūichi Ezaki and Rika Akiba. Both are hospitalized in Yūichi's home town for their respective conditions. Yūichi has hepatitis A, while Rika has problems with a weak heart valve. These teens would then fall in love while they spend time with one another. The story is based in Ise, Mie prefecture as implied by the "Welcome to Ise" sign shown after the opening sequence in the first episode of the anime series.

Hospital patients

 * Yūichi Ezaki (戎崎 裕一)
 * played by: Atsushi Hashimoto (live action)
 * A seventeen-year-old high school student who is hospitalized for hepatitis A. He notices a beautiful girl, Rika, in the east wing of the hospital and is later encouraged by the nurse Akiko to befriend her. Within minutes Yūichi enrages Rika by lying about having read her favorite book, but Rika offers to forgive Yūichi if he were to obey her wishes. Eager to gain that forgiveness, he agrees. As they spend time together, Yūichi begins to fall in love with Rika.


 * Rika Akiba (秋庭 里香)
 * played by: Miku Ishida (live action)
 * Rika is a seventeen-year-old girl, but has been hospitalized throughout most of her life due to a weak heart valve that also affected her father and ultimately killed him. Due to this prolonged hospitalization, she is without friends and spends her time reading books by her favorite author, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. She has a close relationship with Dr. Natsume, which is a source of tension in her relationship with Yūichi.


 * Yoshizō Tada (多田 吉蔵)
 * A perverted old man who has an enormous pornography collection that he amassed during his stay in the hospital. He advises Yūichi to go after Rika if he loves her, because he will later regret it if he does not. Tada then says that he was stupid and lived a life of painful regret because he did not go after the person that he loved. Upon his sudden death, he offers his last will to Akiko, which is to pass his porno collection on to Yūichi.
 * A perverted old man who has an enormous pornography collection that he amassed during his stay in the hospital. He advises Yūichi to go after Rika if he loves her, because he will later regret it if he does not. Tada then says that he was stupid and lived a life of painful regret because he did not go after the person that he loved. Upon his sudden death, he offers his last will to Akiko, which is to pass his porno collection on to Yūichi.

Hospital staff

 * Akiko Tanizaki (谷崎 亜希子)
 * played by: Kimika Yoshino
 * The nurse that tends to Yūichi. She acts much like an elder sister to Yuichi and will not hesitate to hit him or make fun of him when he deserves it, and even beats him up when he is being seduced by her friend Misako. She is highly manipulative and nosey when it comes to Yuichi but has her tender moments and truly cares about her patients. She particularly cares about the relationship between Yūichi and Rika because she understands that Rika might not have much time to live anymore.


 * Gorō Natsume (夏目 吾郎)
 * played by: Kohki Okada
 * The doctor that is in charge of Rika's care. He used to take care of her at another hospital but was transferred to the one in Ise. Rika then transferred to the same hospital so that he could still be her physician. He harbors some feelings for Rika and tries to sabotage Rika and Yūichi's relationship. When he went to the hospital drunk he beat up Yuichi who said he was jealous. Natsume is doing this because his wife died from a condition similar to that of Rika, and doesn't want Yūichi to experience the same thing.

Yūichi's friends

 * Tsukasa Sekoguchi (世古口 司)
 * played by: Takuya Nakayama
 * He comes to visit him occasionally and helps him with secret missions that will help Yūichi's relationship with Rika. During these missions, he wears a Zebra Mask to hide his identity and give him a sense of strength.


 * Tamotsu Yamanishi (山西 保)
 * played by: Shingo Nakagawa
 * He visits Yūichi when he finds out about his inheritance of the porno collection. This ultimately gets Yūichi in trouble with Rika.


 * Miyuki Mizutani (水谷 みゆき)
 * played by: Takayo Kashiwagi
 * She is the one who loans the school uniform to Rika and takes her around the school. She asks Rika about her condition numerous times.

Light novels
The series began as a light novel series written by Tsumugu Takahashi with illustrations by Keiji Yamamoto that was first serialized in the Japanese light novel magazine Dengeki hp. There were eight volumes released between October 10, 2003, and August 10, 2006. The novels were published by MediaWorks under their Dengeki Bunko light novel label.

Manga
A manga illustrated by B.Tarō based on the novel was serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Dengeki Comic Gao! between August 27, 2005 and November 27, 2006, published by MediaWorks. Two bound volumes were later released, the first on February 27, 2006, and the second on December 16, 2006. The volumes are published by MediaWorks under their Dengeki Comics label.

Anime
A short anime adaptation aired in Japan between January 12 and February 23, 2006; there were six episodes. The anime was produced by the Japanese animation studio Group TAC and was aired on the WOWOW television network. Three DVDs were originally released, each containing two episodes, between April 19 and June 21, 2006. The premium DVD box set containing the six episodes was released on January 16, 2008. The anime has been licensed by Japanese-based company Bost Digital Entertainment for distribution through their video streaming website Bost TV. The episodes are available only to Australia and New Zealand for the price of US$1.99 per episode.

Music and audio CDs
The anime's opening theme was "Aoi Kōfuku" and the ending theme was "Kioku no Kakera"; both songs were sung by Nobuko and written and composed by Macado. The maxi single containing the opening and ending themes was released on February 15, 2006. The Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora Original Soundtrack for the anime version was released on March 15, 2006. The live action drama's opening theme was "Endless Loop" (エンドレス·ループ), sung by Sacra, and the ending theme was "Sunshine Of Your Love" by I-lulu. A set of five drama CDs based on the series were released between October 4, 2006 and August 24, 2007, produced by Wayuta.

TV drama
A live action television drama adaptation ran on TV Tokyo from October 3 to December 26, 2006, containing thirteen episodes. A DVD boxset was later released on February 23, 2007. Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora was the first novel series under Dengeki Bunko to receive a TV drama adaptation.

Film
A live action film was released on April 3, 2010. Directed by Yoshihiro Fukagawa, the film starred Sosuke Ikematsu and Shiori Kutsuna. It was shot on location in various places in Mie Prefecture. The theme song is "15 no Kotoba" by singer-songwriter Mao Abe.