is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kou Yaginuma. The "realistic, slice-of-life science fiction series" tells the story of a group of Japanese high school students training to become astronauts in the early 21st century after the country's first human spaceflight launch ends in a disaster that causes many civilian casualties. It was serialized in the seinen manga magazine Comic Flapper from September 2001 to August 2009 and was later published in 16 volumes by Media Factory from January 2002 to October 2009.
The series is named after Spica, a binary star system and the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. In the manga, Yaginuma includes many references to historical events related to the development of human spaceflight as well as literary works such as Kenji Miyazawa's novel Night on the Galactic Railroad. American publishing company Vertical announced acquisition of the manga's license for English-language translation at the New York Anime Festival in September 2009, and the translated first volume was published in May 2010. The series was described by Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez as "technically sound" and "heartfelt" during its initial assessment.
The manga was adapted into an anime television series by animation studio Group TAC. It premiered on November 1, 2003, on Japan's NHK BS2 satellite channel. Twenty episodes of the anime aired until March 27, 2004, when the series concluded prematurely before the manga was completed. Satellite television network Animax has broadcast the anime in multiple regional language releases, including English. A live-action adaptation was produced by NHK in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and aired between June 18 and July 30, 2009.
Story Author and creator Kou Yaginuma began writing the back-story of Twin Spica in 2000 with his debut work . In it and in subsequent writings, Yaginuma constructed a future history of the development of Japan's spaceflight program. He introduces readers to a future following the launch of Japan's first crewed spaceflight mission, the , in 2010.Readers may imply from the title of Yaginuma's debut work that its story opens in 2015. The opening panels also indicate that the story occurs five years following the Lion accident, placing the mission's launch date in 2010. This is later confirmed in the first chapter of Twin Spica. The mission ends in disaster when the liquid rocket booster fuel catches fire 72 seconds after liftoff. Mission controllers are unable to activate the craft's abort sequence, and the rocket crashes into the city of Yuigahama, causing many casualties among residents.
The Lions explosion becomes one of the major accidents in spaceflight history and sets Japan's spaceflight program back by over a decade. In the years following the accident, the public accuses those involved with the Lion program of negligence. Rumors also begin to circulate about the offshore outsourcing of the rocket's production despite the government's claims that it was developed domestically. To promote recovery from the tragedy, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology establishes the Tokyo National Space School in 2014 as a vocational high school dedicated to training a new generation of students in the space sciences. Japan's spaceflight program is finally reactivated ten years later with the admission of students into the academy's astronaut training program. In the same year, the last operating module of the International Space Station is retired and destroyed by atmospheric reentry following completion of the station's long-term mission. Subsequent development projects are to be completed by individual countries with active spaceflight programs.Yaginuma's explicit use of the term "ISS" rather than a generic "international space station" ascertains its identity. Of the students in the inaugural class of the astronaut training program, one is selected to join Japan's second crewed mission in 2027.The flight occurs 17 years following the Lion accident, placing the launch date in 2027. It is the final mission toward completing a space-based solar power satellite.Development of the satellite begins the same year the Tokyo National Academy establishes its astronaut training program (2024) and takes three years to complete.
Main characters
Yaginuma's work prior to serialization introduces readers to Asumi Kamogawa and her mentor, the ghost of a Lion astronaut whom she calls Mr. Lion.Mr. Lion does not reveal his real name. Instead, he uses the alias when he meets Asumi. She attaches the honorific suffix san when calling his name, which is translated to "Mr. Lion" in the English version. Their friendship develops in several short stories in which, throughout her childhood, he nurtures Asumi's interest in space. As her interest and dreams grow, Asumi is often ridiculed by classmates, especially because she immerses herself in books about space and rarely engages in classroom activities. When she decides to apply for admission to the Tokyo Space Academy, her teachers urge her to reconsider because she is below average height. Her friendship with Mr. Lion continues to grow after Asumi successfully enters the academy, and she often consults him during periods of self-doubt.The supportive bond between the two is shown when Mr. Lion reassures Asumi that her father is not at fault in the Lion accident. In turn, she accompanies him as they watch the wedding of his former fiancée, who is also Asumi's elementary school teacher, from a distance.
Asumi's elementary and middle school classmate Shinnosuke Fuchuya also enters the academy much to her surprise. He defended Asumi from ridicule by other classmates throughout their childhood despite occasionally teasing her as well, and it has been suggested that he sees her as a romantic interest. The two eventually befriend three other students in the astronaut training program. Shu Suzuki, who is named student representative for the astronaut program, has an easygoing personality.Shu's easygoing personality is seen when he does not attend the first day of classes despite being named a student representative. He wears a distinctive face by shaving his eyebrows as a symbol of defiance against his father.Shu refuses to follow in the footsteps of his father, a politician, and shaves his eyebrows before leaving to attend the space academy. His father is concerned about Shu's appearance in public. Kei Oumi befriends Asumi during the academy's entrance examination and is portrayed with an outgoing personality and a deep sense of loyalty toward her friends.Kei becomes frustrated when Asumi does not confide in friends when she struggles with the possibility that her father caused the Lion accident. Marika Ukita initially responds coldly toward gestures of friendship, but she moves into Asumi's dormitory following an argument with her father. The five students later make a promise to complete the astronaut program together as their friendship grows stronger. After three years in the astronaut program, Asumi is chosen out of eleven remaining students to take part in Japan's second human spaceflight mission, making her, at the age of eighteen, the youngest person to go into space.
Throughout their time at the academy, astronaut candidates must overcome numerous physical and mental trials. Readers discover from a pre-serialization story that Asumi's mother dies following the Lion disaster, but this is not known to Asumi's friends until Kei discovers the obituary listing in a newspaper article. Marika is revealed to be the genetic copy of a deceased Marika Ukita despite a standing ban on human cloning. Fuchuya suffers from red-green color blindness after his eyes are exposed to an exploding firework at close range in a childhood accident. Unknown to the group, Shu suffers from hereditary hemoptysis (coughing up of blood) and dies from the condition soon after his selection as an exchange student to the American space program.Shu's condition is diagnosed in Japanese as . This tragedy reveals Kei's feelings for him, which she keeps hidden for much of the series.
Production
Writing
The series is named after Spica, a binary star system in the constellation Virgo and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. It appears as one star because of the relatively low center-to-center distance between the two component stars, estimated at an average of 11 million miles (17.7 million km). Astronomical observations also suggest that there may be additional stars in the Spica system. In the story, Asumi mentions Spica's distance to Earth as 350 light-years. This figure is also cited by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; however, other sources indicate a distance of approximately 260 light-years.
Kou Yaginuma's initial inspiration for the story came from a statement he once read describing the Hohner Little Lady harmonica as one of the first musical instruments taken into space. However, as an aspiring manga artist, Yaginuma had neither resources to conduct research on nor knowledge pertaining to spaceflight. He also hesitated to write the series because his own life experiences did not reflect the dreams of his characters. Despite these challenges, Yaginuma found comfort in the determination of his characters, especially that of Asumi Kamogawa.
Although Twin Spica began serialization in the October 2001 issue of Media Factory's Comic Flapper magazine, its lead character Asumi had appeared in Yaginuma's debut work "2015:Fireworks". This short story published in the July 2000 issue of Comic Flapper also introduced readers to Asumi's father, her elementary school teacher Yuko Suzunari, and the astronaut ghost Mr. Lion. Four additional short stories that predate the series also feature Asumi as the central character: , , , and . These slice-of-life stories eventually served as prequels to Twin Spica.
Cultural references Twin Spica and its prequel stories make various references to historical figures and events in space exploration. Throughout the manga and the anime, Mr. Lion carries with him a harmonica, one of the first musical instruments to be played in space. A harmonica and bell set was carried aboard the Gemini 6A spaceflight in December 1965 by American astronauts Wally Schirra and Thomas Patten Stafford. During the mission, the two men used these instruments to play "Jingle Bells". Asumi is nicknamed "Seagull" by Shu Suzuki in the anime. The same name was used as the call sign of Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, during her 1963 mission aboard Vostok 6. Prior to Shu's death in the live-action adaptation, he reveals to his friends that the New Horizons spacecraft destined for Pluto carries the cremated ashes of the dwarf planet's discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh. Asumi later brings Shu's ashes during her first journey into space.
There are also various references to real-world literary and musical works. The titles of two short stories in the manga, "Campanella's Forest" and , refer to the two main characters of Kenji Miyazawa's novel Night on the Galactic Railroad. It appears in the penultimate episode of the anime and is also a favorite book of the original Marika Ukita. In both the manga and the live-action adaptation, Kei makes a request for Shu to play the piano piece "Der Flohwalzer", known in Japan as , if he becomes the first in their group to go into space.
Media Manga