Anime Lovers: Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora

Anime Review

Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora
(半分の月がのぼる空 lit. The Sky in Which a Half-Moon Rises^?), subtitled looking up at the half-moon and also known as Hantsuki

Genres: comedy, drama, romance

Themes: Tragedy

Light novel

Author

Tsumugu Hashimoto

Illustrator

Keiji Yamamoto

Publisher

Dengeki Bunko

[show]Other publishers:
Kadokawa Media Haksan Publishing

Demographic

Male

Magazine

Dengeki hp

Original run

October 10, 2003 – August 10, 2006

Volumes

Manga

Author

B.Tarō

Publisher

MediaWorks

Demographic

Seinen

Magazine

Dengeki Comic Gao!

Original run

August 27, 2005 – November 27, 2006

Volumes

TV anime

Director

Yukihiro Matsushita

Studio

Group TAC

Licensor

Bost Digital Entertainment

Network

WOWOW

Original run

January 12, 2006 – February 23, 2006

Episodes

TV drama

Studio

MediaWorks

Network

TV Tokyo

Original run

October 3, 2006 – December 26, 2006

Episodes

Anime and Manga Portal

Plot Summary:

During the winter, Yuichi was hospitalized due to hepatitis. Randomly he would try to escape from the hospital but would get beat up by the nurse. One day, he happened to meet Rika, a girl of his age, in the next building. He was fascinated by her beauty, but she was very selfish girl. Although she led him by the nose, he began to be attracted by her. However, when Rika told him about her illness, he knew why she acted so selfish; she didn't have long to live.

Characters

Yūichi (left) and Rika (right).

Hospital patients

Yūichi Ezaki (戎崎裕一, Ezaki Yūichi^?): Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura; 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, Akiba Rika^?): Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi; 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, Tada Yoshizō^?): Voiced by: Kōji Yada; 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, Tanizaki Akiko^?): Voiced by: Yuki Kodaira; 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 Misaki. 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, Natsume Gorō^?): Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata; 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, Sekoguchi Tsukasa^?): Voiced by: Nobuyuki Kobushi; 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, Yamanishi Tamotsu^?): Voiced by: Akira Sasanuma; 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, Mizutani Miyuki^?): Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka; 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.