Absolute Boy

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Absolute Boy


caption = Promotional image for "Zettai Shōnen"
ja_name = 絶対少年
ja_name_trans = Zettai Shōnen
genre = Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery, Slice of life storyInfobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Tomomi Mochizuki
studio = Ajia-do Animation Works, Bandai Visual
network = flagicon|Japan Animax, NHK
flagicon|Philippines Animax, QTV 11

first = 21 May 2005
last = 19 November 2005
episodes = 26Infobox animanga/Novel
light = yes
title =
author = Tatsuya Hamazaki
illustrator = Sunaho Tobe
publisher = flagicon|Japan Dengeki Bunko
demographic = Male
first = 10 August 2005
last = 10 December 2005
volumes = 2Nihongo|"Absolute Boy"|絶対少年|Zettai Shōnen is a 26-episode Japanese anime series produced by Ajia-do Animation Works and Bandai Visual, which premiered from May 21, 2005 to November 19, 2005, and was broadcast by the anime television network, Animax, across its respective networks worldwide, including Japan, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and other regions.

Plot

The series focuses on two major characters, in two different plot arcs, who find themselves caught up in a series of mysteries involving so-called "material fairies" and "material evils". While they are dealing with these paranormal entities, life continues around them as their friends deal with the ups and downs of life.

The plot centers around two major arcs in the storyline, the first involving Ayumu Aizawa, who is visiting his father in the small town of Tana during the summer; the second concerning Kisa Tanigawa in Yokohama, a year and a half after the events of the first arc.

ummer Arc

The first twelve episodes of the series focus on the day-to-day life of Ayumu Aizawa as he visits his father, a veterinarian, at a small town in the countryside. Ayumu has spent his visit thus far aimlessly biking across the valley, but a chance meeting with a girl named Miku sends him searching for a long-lost friend of his, Wakkun. Upon finding Wakkun, he discovers that the boy has not aged since he and Ayumu played as children. Wakkun is also wearing clothes very similar to the raincoat and galoshes that Ayumu wore habitually as a child. Wakkun introduces Ayumu to his two friends, Dosshiru (Doss) and Shisshin (Sense), mysterious flying objects that alternate between a mechanical form and a sphere of yellow light.

These lights seem to be invisible to most of the people in town, but appear in reflections in people and animals' eyes. A local reporter, Akira Sukawara, shows up, attracted by reports of kappa and other mysterious events. She follows the animals, notably a cat one of the local boys saw fighting a kappa, to the yellow lights, and grills a reluctant Ayumu for information. Unable to remember the summer he spent in Tana as a child, Ayumu, with the help of Miku and several other people from Tana, tries to understand what happened when he was a child, and the mysterious connection between him, Wakkun, Dosshiru, and Shisshin...

Winter Arc

One and a half years later, Kisa Tanigawa, a depressed high school student, routinely skips class. One evening, wandering aimlessly around the city, she stumbles upon another mysterious mechanical object. Naming it "Bun-chan" or "Ping" in the English dub, after the sound it makes, she takes it home and treats it as a pet. When she tries building a fish out of old scraps of metal, the top fin of the fish does not stay, so Bun-chan (Ping) helps glue it on. Meanwhile, Sukawara reappears, now trying to prove the existence of the mysterious objects that appeared at the Cat Dance in Tana a year and half ago, which she terms "material fairies", and hears about Bun-chan. Upon witnessing a meeting between Kisa and Ayumu, she calls Bun-chan not a material fairy, but a "material evil", as its outward appearance does not resemble those of the material fairies spotted in Tana. The material fairies and the material evils, however, seem to be at war with each other. When the three meet, Dosshiru, Shisshin and Bun-chan. Dosshiru and Shisshin start chasing Bun-chan and soon destroy it, leaving Kisa very upset that Bun-chan is gone. After a while the connection of Kisa's fish's metal fin starts glowing. One night the fish turns into a sprite form of Bun-chan. Kisa then decides to name it Po-chan.

The city's population becomes increasingly aware of the situation, as pictures of the material evils, spheres of blue light, circulate among cell-phone users, accompanied by rumors that they bring good luck. Murals appear urging people to think and trust themselves. Eventually, a giant spiral, resembling the metal construction of the material evils, appears in the sky, and the police evacuate a section of the city. Some of the same phenomena are present as in Tana, such as the failure of electronic devices.

Characters

ummer Arc

;nihongo|Ayumu Aizawa|逢沢歩|Aizawa Ayumu:*anime voices|Toshiyuki Toyonaga:

;nihongo|Miki Miyama|深山美紀|Miyama Miki:*anime voices|Kanako Mitsuhashi:

;nihongo|Miku Miyama|深山美玖|Miyama Miku:*anime voices|Chiwa Saitō:

;nihongo|Ryūsuke Sakakura|阪倉亮介|Sakakura Ryūsuke:*anime voices|Yasuo Saitō:

;nihongo|Shione Unno|海野潮音|Unno Shione:*anime voices|Ai Shimizu:

;nihongo|Takuma Kaburaki|鏑木拓馬|Kaburaki Takuma:*anime voices|Yasuyuki Kase:

;nihongo|Wakkun|わっくん|Wakkun:*anime voices|Junko Takeuchi:

;nihongo|Heigorō Suzuki|鈴木平五郎|Suzuki Heigorō:*anime voices|Katsuhisa Hōki:

;nihongo|Asako Tōdō|藤堂麻子|Tōdō Asako:*anime voices|Risa Mizuno:

;nihongo|Akira Sukawara|須河原晶|Sukawara Akira:*anime voices|Miwa Matsumoto:

;nihongo|Mika Miyama|深山美佳|Miyama Mika:*anime voices|Masami Suzuki:

;nihongo|Akiyuki Kishiro|稀代秋之|Kishiro Akiyuki:*anime voices|Kenji Hamada:

;nihongo|Junko Aizawa|逢沢淳子|Aizawa Junko:*anime voices|Kaori Yamagata:

;nihongo|Shirō Dōmaru|堂丸史郎|Dōmaru Shirō:*anime voices|Tadahisa Saizen:

;nihongo|Okaka Baba|オカカ婆|Okaka Babā:*anime voices|Yasuo Saitō:

;nihongo|Taruto|タルト|Taruto:*anime voices|Ai Shimizu:

;nihongo|Roku|ロク|Roku:*anime voices|Katsuhisa Hōki:

;nihongo|Mikoshiba-san|御子柴さん:

Winter Arc

;nihongo|Ayumu Aizawa|逢沢歩|Aizawa Ayumu:*anime voices|Toshiyuki Toyonaga:

;nihongo|Kisa Tanigawa|谷川希紗|Tanigawa Kisa:*anime voices|Akiko Kobayashi:

;nihongo|Rieko Yamato|大和理絵子|Yamato Rieko:*anime voices|Tomoko Sadohara:

;nihongo|Masaki Makabe|真壁正樹|Makabe Masaki:*anime voices|Yuki Kaida:

;nihongo|Shigeki Kobayakawa|小早川成基| Kobayakawa Shigeki:*anime voices|Takahiro Sakurai:

;nihongo|Jirō Hatori|羽鳥次郎|Hatori Jirō:*anime voices|Hozumi Gōda:

;nihongo|Mika Miyama|深山美佳|Miyama Mika:*anime voices|Masami Suzuki:

;nihongo|Akira Sukawara|須河原晶|Sukawara Akira:*anime voices|Miwa Matsumoto:

;nihongo|Hana Tokimiya|土岐宮はな|Tokimiya Hana:*anime voices|Misa Watanabe:

;nihongo|Okaka Babā|オカカ婆|Okaka Babā:

Production

The series was produced by Ajia-do Animation Works and Bandai Visual, and directed by Tomomi Mochizuki. The music for the series was composed by Masumi Itō, under her pseudonym, Hikaru Nanase.

taff

*Planning: Takao Seki, Satoshi Katō, Tarō Maki
*Original Work: "Zettai Shōnen" (Kazunori Itō, Ajiadō, Toys Works, Sōgō Vision, Genco)
*Director: Tomomi Mochizuki
*Series Composition: Kazunori Itō
*Script: Kazunori Itō, Miu Kawasaki, Tatsuya Hamazaki
*Original Character Design: Sunaho Tobe
*Plastic Art Design: Masato Satō
*Character Design and Chief Animation Director: Masayuki Sekine
*Art Director: Katsufumi Hariu
*Background Artist: Kōji Ōno
*Color Design: Miyoko Ichinose
*Director of Photography: Katsuyoshi Kishi
*Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
*Sound Director: Hozumi Gōda
*Sound Production: Jinnan Studio
*Sound Effects: Junichi Sasaki (Anime Sound Production)
*Opening Animation: Masaya Fujimori
*Ending Animation: Ryūichi Kimura
*Music: Hikaru Nanase
*Music Production: Mellow Head
*Music Producer: Shunji Inoue
*Producer: Eiza Kondō, Kōji Morimoto, Daisuke Itō, Kazuaki Morijiri, Masahiro Okamura
*Animation Production: Ajiadō
*Production Assistance: Gingaya (episodes 1-26), Artland (episodes 3, 8, 13, 21, 25), Magic Bus (ep. 4, 9, 14, 20), Studio Kuma (episodes 5, 10, 16, 22)
*Production : Genco, Zettai Shōnen Project

Theme music

;Opening theme:
*nihongo|"Hikari no Silhouette"|光のシルエット|Hikari no Shiruetto|lit. "Silhouette of Light":Performance: CooRie, lyrics and composition: rino, arrangement: Masaya Suzuki;Ending theme:
*nihongo|"Shōnen Humming"|少年ハミング|Shōnen Hamingu|lit. "Boy Humming" :Performance: Masumi Itō, lyrics: Aki Hata, composition and arrangement: Masumi Itō

External links

* [http://www.zettai-shonen.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.animax-asia.com/program/synopsis.php?i=174 Animax East Asia website for "Absolute Boy"]
* [http://www.animax-sa.com/program/synopsis.php?i=174 Animax South Asia website for "Absolute Boy"]
*ann anime|id=5093|title=Absolute Boy