Cipher (manga)

Cipher is a shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Minako Narita.[1] It was serialized in Hakusensha's LaLa magazine from the February 1985 issue[2] to the December 1990 issue,[3] and was collected in Japan in twelve tankōbon volumes and seven bunkoban volumes.[4]

Cipher
The first volume of Cipher released by Hakusensha.
Manga
Written byMinako Narita
Published byHakusensha
English publisherCMX
ImprintHana to Yume Comics
MagazineLaLa
DemographicShōjo
Original runDecember 24, 1984 – October 24, 1990
Volumes12
Original video animation
Directed byTsuneo Tominaga
Produced byIsamu Senda
Satoshi Dezaki
Written byMachiko Kondō
Yūko Sakurai
StudioMagic Bus
ReleasedMarch 3, 1989
Runtime40 minutes

A sequel manga series titled Alexandrite was published in LaLa from 1991 to 1994, and compiled in Japan in seven tankōbon volumes and four bunkoban volumes.[5]

Cipher was also adapted into a promotional English-language OVA titled Cipher the Video in 1989, with Narita's input and involvement.[6]

Plot

The story of Cipher is set in mid-1980s America, mainly New York City. It concerns the lives of former child stars twins Shiva (Jake Lang) and Cipher (Roy Lang), who mysteriously began to trade places until the two became synonymous with each other. Anise Murphy is a classmate of Shiva's, and shortly after becoming acquainted with him ends up entangled in a bet to see if she can tell the two apart after living at their apartment for two weeks.

Characters
  • Anise Murphy
  • Jake Lang (Shiva)
  • Roy Lang (Cipher)
  • Rob
  • Jessica
  • Ruth
  • Alex Levine
  • Haru (Hal) Takeshita
  • Jean Rang (Jake & Roy's mother)

OVA Cast

The voice acting for the OVA was done entirely in English, without a Japanese version. Most of the cast consisted of bilingual Japanese actors and a few native English speakers in Japan.

Cast
Character Actor
Jake "Shiva" Lang Jay Kabira
Roy "Cipher" Lang Jay Kabira
Elly Elly Narita
Eric Laurence Mark Helgesen
Fred Williams Eugene Nomura
Isabelle Jones Jennifer Watt
Radio announcer Mark Helgesen
Radio DJ Yuko Yunokawa
Female commercial narrator Yuko Yunokawa
Male commercial narrator Mark Helgesen
Gingerman Lisa Patrick
TV narrator Hidekazu Nakamura
TV announcer Derek Siler
Interviewer 1 Yuko Yunokawa
Teammates Derek Siler

Hidekazu Nakamura

Girl Jennifer Watt
Man 1 Derek Siler
Old woman Yuko Yunokawa
Man 2 Eugene Nomura
Young girl Lisa Patrick
Interviewer 2 Yoko Narahashi
Yoko of Mescaline Drive Yoko Utsumi

Media

Manga

Cipher is written and illustrated by Minako Narita. It was serialized in the monthly magazine LaLa from December 24, 1984 to October 24, 1990. The chapters were later released in 12 bound volumes by Hakusensha under the Hana to Yume Comics imprint.

CMX licensed the series in North America in 2005.[7] It went out of print when DC Comics shut down the CMX imprint in 2010.[8]

Tankōbon editions
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 July 25, 1985978-4-592-11821-3October 1, 2005978-1-401-20802-8
2 December 25, 1985978-4-592-11822-0February 1, 2006978-1-401-20803-5
3 July 25, 1986978-4-592-11823-7April 1, 2006978-1-401-20804-2
4 November 25, 1986978-4-592-11824-4July 6, 2006978-1-401-20805-9
5 April 25, 1987978-4-592-11825-1October 4, 2006978-1-401-20806-6
6 November 25, 1987978-4-592-11826-8January 3, 2007978-1-401-20807-3
7 April 25, 1988978-4-592-11827-5April 7, 2007978-1-401-20808-0
8 November 25, 1988978-4-592-11828-2July 4, 2007978-1-401-20809-7
9 May 25, 1989978-4-592-11829-9October 10, 2007978-1-401-20810-3
10 November 25, 1989978-4-592-11830-5January 16, 2008978-1-401-20811-0
11 June 25, 1990978-4-592-12141-1April 22, 2008978-1-401-20812-7
12 December 25, 1990978-4-592-12142-8July 1, 2008978-1-401-20813-4

References
  1. Jason Thompson (2013-02-14). "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga Cipher". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  2. "LaLa1985年02月号 (Lala-1985-02)". comich.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  3. "LaLa1990年12月号 (Lala-1990-12)". comich.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  4. "CIPHER 1". hakusensha.co.jp (in Japanese). Hakusensha. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  5. "ALEXANDRITE〈アレクサンドライト〉 1". hakusensha.co.jp (in Japanese). Hakusensha. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  6. Michael Toole (2012-06-17). "The Mike Toole Show Wake Me Up Before You Shojo". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  7. Macdonald, Christopher (2005-07-15). "CMX Manga Licenses". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  8. Loo, Egan (2010-05-18). "DC Comics to Shut Down CMX Manga Imprint in July". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2019-08-06.


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