Drifting Net Cafe
Drifting Net Cafe (漂流ネットカフェ, Hyōryū Netto Kafe) is a Japanese seinen manga by Shūzō Oshimi that was serialized in the manga magazine, Manga Action. Drifting Net Cafe is a science fiction mystery involving a group of patrons trapped in an internet café, which has become a strange universe of its own. The story focuses primarily on the relationship between Koichi Toki, a salaryman who leads a trouble-free but unexciting life, and Kaho Tono, his first love whom he never forgot.
| Drifting Net Cafe | |
 Cover from volume 1 of the manga series Drifting Net Cafe, published by Futabasha | |
| 漂流ネットカフェ (Hyōryū Netto Kafe) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction, mystery, romance |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Shūzō Oshimi |
| Published by | Futabasha |
| Magazine | Manga Action |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Original run | February 28, 2009 – June 28, 2011 |
| Volumes | 7 |
| Television drama | |
| Directed by | Hajime Takezono Takashi Fujio |
| Original network | TBS / MBS |
| Original run | April 15, 2009 – June 24, 2009 |
| Episodes | 11 |
The manga was adapted into a TBS television series on April 15, 2009 and stars Atsushi Itō as Koichi Toki.[1]
Plot
Manga
The manga was serialized in Futabasha's Manga Action and the 63 chapters were compiled into 7 volumes from February 28, 2009[2] to June 28, 2011.[3] The defunct American publisher JManga licensed the manga and released the first volume in August 2011.[4] The name of the manga is a reference to Kazuo Umezu's The Drifting Classroom, which it is a retelling of.[5] The manga has also been published in Spain by Milky Way Ediciones.[6]
Television series
The series was released in a 4-disc DVD boxset on August 5, 2009. The ending theme「Brave Heart (Remix)」by MAY'S was released as a single on April 22, 2009.[7]
Cast
- Atsushi Itō – Koichi Toki
- KIKI – Kaho Tono
- Reina Asami – Yukie Toki
- Shinpei Takagi – Atsushi
- Masahiro Toda – Osawa
- Mai Takahashi – Kazumi Kato
- Takahiro Hojo – Takashi Matsuda
- Reo Yoshitake – Kameda
- Kazumi Urano – Miku
- Hidekazu Nagae – Terasawa
- Yuko Mano – Sachiko Imai
- Go Riju – Kensuke Kajimachi
- Miyu Watanabe – Saori Mizuno
- Shusuke Tsumura – Satomura
Episode information
| File | On Air (Kansai Time) | On Air (Kanto Time) | Subtitle | Ratings (Kansai) | Ratings (Kanto) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 10, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | Apr 15, 2009 0.44 - 1.14 | Drift (漂流) | 5.0 | 3.3 |
| 2 | Apr 17, 2009 0.15 - 0.45 | Apr 22, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | To a Forest (森へ) | 3.9 | 3.4 |
| 3 | Apr 24, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | Apr 29, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | Tom Sawyer (トムソーヤ) | 2.9 | 3.7 |
| 4 | May 1, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | May 6, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | Toki & Tono (土岐と遠野) | 4.7 | 2.0 |
| 5 | May 8, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | May 13, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | Seeds of Hope (希望の種) | 2.7 | |
| 6 | May 15, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | May 20, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | Dead World (死んだ世界) | 3.4 | 2.5 |
| 7 | May 22, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | May 27, 2009 1.09 - 1.39 | Crack (亀裂) | 3.0 | 1.7 |
| 8 | May 29, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | June 3, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | Experimental (実験) | 3.5 | 2.5 |
| 9 | June 5, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | June 10, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | McEnroe (マッケンロー) | 4.4 | 2.1 |
| 10 | June 12, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | June 17, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | End of the World (世界の終わり) | 2.7 | |
| Final (11) | June 19, 2009 0.00 - 0.30 | June 24, 2009 0.29 - 0.59 | I'm Home (ただいま) | 2.0 |
Special Rerun
| File | On Air (Kansai Time) | Ratings (Kansai) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 11, 2009 13.53 - 14.55 | 3.3 |
| 2 | Aug 12, 2009 13.53 - 14.55 | 2.6 |
| 3 | Aug 13, 2009 13.53 - 14.55 | 3.2 |
| 4 | Aug 17, 2009 13.53 - 14.55 | 3.0 |
Reception
Katherine Dacey of Manga Bookshelf was disappointed in how the first volume of the manga stood in comparison to The Drifting Classroom, saying the horror was not as well-executed, but felt that the manga had better pacing and artwork: "Long-time fans of Classroom are likely to find Oshimi's update slick but soulless, as it relies more heavily on low-budget disaster movies than the original source material for its characters and conflicts."[5] Sean Gaffney of A Case Suitable for Treatment felt that the horror aspect was pulled off well in the first volume, but was turned off by the excessive violence and sex: "It's as sordid as it sounds, and made me feel ill... [It] didn't take long for morality to erode, much like [The Drifting Classroom]."[8]
References
- "Drifting Net Cafe" becomes drama". Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- "漂流ネットカフェ 1". Futabasha. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- "漂流ネットカフェ 7 完". Futabasha. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- "Vertical Adds Flowers of Evil School Romance Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- Dacey, Katherine. "Drifting Net Cafe, Vol. 1". Manga Bookshelf. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- "Cibercafé a la deriva". Milky Way Ediciones (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- "Horyu net cafe releases". Startchild. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
- Gaffney, Sean. "Drifting Net Café, Vol. 1". A Case Suitable for Treatment. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
External links
- Official website: TV Series (in Japanese)
- MBS website (in Japanese)
- Drifting Net Cafe (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia