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Shima Kōsaku Manga's Lead Character Hosts Asia Economy TV Show
posted on by Sarah Nelkin
The title salaryman character of the Shima Kōsaku manga franchise is the "navigator" host of Shima Kōsaku no Asia Risshiden (Kōsaku Shima's Asia Success Story), a new television program premiering on the NHK BS1 channel in May. Actor Toshiaki Karasawa (live-action 20th Century Boys films, live-action Casshern film) is voicing the character.
The show focuses on strategies for making Asia's economy grow. It combines live-action doumentary footage and anime sequences, making this the first full-fledged anime version of Shima. (Anime parody shorts inspired by the various Shima Kōsaku manga series had previously aired in the Yuruani? program.)
A prologue Shima Kōsaku no Asia Risshiden episode ran on March 28 with footage of original Shima Kōsaku manga creator Kenshi Hirokane collecting data in Indonesia. In addition, Hirokane will serialize a manga adaptation of the show every other month in Kodansha's Morning magazine, beginning with this year's 23rd issue on May 9.
Since 1983, Hirokane has been depicting the corporate rise of a Japanese executive named Kōsaku Shima. With every change in job title the main character receives, the manga title also changes. The manga began under the name Kachō Shima Kōsaku (Section Chief Kōsaku Shima), and the two current series are Shachō Shima Kōsaku (President Kōsaku Shima) in Morning magazine and a prequel called Kakarichō Shima Kōsaku in Morning's sibling publication, Evening. Kodansha published two bilingual volumes of Shachō Shima Kōsaku in 2010.
Source: Comic Natalie
