Date A Live

Date A Live (Japanese: デート・ア・ライブ, Hepburn: Dēto A Raibu) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kōshi Tachibana and illustrated by Tsunako. Fujimi Shobo published 22 volumes from March 2011 to March 2020 under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint.

Not to be confused with Live A Live.
Date A Live
Cover of Date A Live Volume 1 as published by Fujimi Shobo featuring Tohka Yatogami
デート・ア・ライブ
(Dēto A Raibu)
Genre
Light novel
Written byKōshi Tachibana
Illustrated byTsunako
Published byFujimi Shobo
English publisher
ImprintFujimi Fantasia Bunko
MagazineDragon Magazine
DemographicMale
Original runMarch 19, 2011 – March 19, 2020
Volumes22
Manga
Written byKōshi Tachibana
Illustrated byringo
Published byKadokawa Shoten
MagazineMonthly Shōnen Ace
DemographicShōnen
Original runApril 26, 2012 – November 26, 2012
Volumes1
Manga
Date AST Like
Illustrated byKakashi Oniyazu
Published byFujimi Shobo
MagazineMonthly Dragon Age
DemographicShōnen
Original runMarch 9, 2012 – December 9, 2013
Volumes4
Anime television series
Directed byKeitaro Motonaga
Written byHideki Shirane
Music byGo Sakabe
StudioAIC Plus+
Licensed by
Original networkAT-X, Tokyo MX, GBS, TVS, SUN, TVQ, Chiba TV, TwellV, MTV
Original run April 6, 2013 – June 22, 2013
Episodes12 + OVA
Anime television series
Date A Live II
Directed byKeitaro Motonaga
Written byHideki Shirane
Music byGo Sakabe
StudioProduction IMS
Licensed by
Madman Entertainment
Funimation
Original networkAT-X, Tokyo MX, BS11
Original run April 11, 2014 – June 13, 2014
Episodes10 + OVA
Anime television series
Date A Live III
Directed byKeitaro Motonaga
Written byHideki Shirane
Music byGo Sakabe
StudioJ.C.Staff
Licensed by
Madman Entertainment
Funimation
Original networkAT-X, Tokyo MX, KBS, TVA, SUN, TVQ, BS11
Original run January 11, 2019 – March 29, 2019
Episodes12
Anime television series
Date A Live IV
Video games
  • Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (2013)
  • Date A Live: Ars Install (2014)
  • Date A Live Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation (2015) [HD] (2017)
  • Date A Live: Ren Dystopia (2020)
  • Date A Live: Spirit Pledge - Global" (2020)
Other

Two manga adaptations were published by Kadokawa Shoten and Fujimi Shobo in Monthly Shōnen Ace and Monthly Dragon Age. An anime television series adaptation animated by AIC Plus+ aired between April and June 2013. A second season by Production IMS aired between April and June 2014. An original anime film, Date A Live Movie: Mayuri Judgement, was released in August 2015. A spin-off light novel series, Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet, began publication in March 2017. A third season by J.C.Staff aired between January and March 2019. A fourth season has been announced.

Plot
See also: List of Date A Live characters

The series begins with a strange phenomenon called a "spatial quake" devastating the center of Eurasia, resulting in at least 150 million casualties. For the next 30 years, smaller spatial quakes plague the world on an irregular basis. In the present, Shido Itsuka, a seemingly ordinary high school student comes across a mysterious girl at the ground zero of a spatial quake. He learns from his adoptive sister Kotori that the girl is one of the "Spirits" from different dimensions who are the real cause of the spatial quakes that occur when they manifest themselves in the real world. He also learns that Kotori is the commander of the airship Fraxinus, crewed by the organization Ratatoskr and its parent company Asgard Electronics, and is recruited to make use of his mysterious ability to seal the Spirits' powers thus stopping them from being a threat to mankind. However, there is a catch: to seal a Spirit's power, he must make each Spirit fall in love with him and make her kiss him. Shido's intelligent classmate, Origami Tobiichi, is a sergeant of the AST (Anti-Spirit Team), a special unit designed to suppress the threat posed by Spirits. As Shido successfully keeps sealing more and more Spirits, he gains allies to help him with his dates with other Spirits. Shido also increases the competition among them for his attention and affection, much to his chagrin.

Media

Light novels
Main article: List of Date A Live volumes

Date A Live began as a light novel series written by Kōshi Tachibana with illustrations by Tsunako. The first volume was published on March 19, 2011 under Fujimi Shobo's Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Twenty-two volumes have been released in Japan.[2] During their panel at the 2020 Crunchyroll Expo, Yen Press announced that they have licensed the light novel.[3]

Manga

A manga adaption of Date A Live with illustrations by Ringo began on April 16, 2012. Due to Ringo having health problems, the manga was cancelled after 6 chapters. The adaptation ended covering only a part of Shido's first date with Tohka. A new manga adaptation began serialisation in the January 2014 issue of Shōnen Ace, this time with illustrations done by Sekihiko Inui. The third volume of the manga was the last.

Anime
Main article: List of Date A Live episodes
See also: Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet

The anime adaptation was directed by Keitaro Motonaga and produced by AIC Plus+. The series was streamed in lower quality on Niconico, with each episode available a week before its TV premiere. The first episode was streamed on March 31 and aired on Tokyo MX on April 6, 2013.[4] The final episode was streamed on Niconico on June 16 and aired on Tokyo MX on June 22. The opening theme is titled "Date A Live" (デート・ア・ライブ, Dēto A Raibu) sung by sweet ARMS, a vocal group consisting of Iori Nomizu, Misuzu Togashi, Kaori Sadohara, and Misato. The series makes use of four ending themes: "Hatsukoi Winding Road", by Kayoko Tsumita, Risako Murai and Midori Tsukimiya; "Save The World", "Save My Heart" and "Strawberry Rain" (ストロベリーレイン), all three by Nomizu.

Following the TV broadcast of the final episode of the first season, a second season was announced, which was set to air in April 2014.[5][6] The opening theme is sung by sweet ARMS titled "Trust in You" and the ending theme is sung by Kaori Sadohara titled "Day to Story".[7] The animation production was held by Production IMS.[8] An unaired episode was bundled with the third volume of the Date A Live Encore short story collection was released on December 9, 2014.[9]

The first and second season have been licensed by Funimation for streaming and home video release in North America and by Madman Entertainment in Australia.[10][11][12]

In his Twitter account, Tachibana announced Date A Live would get a third new anime series.[13] Animation production was held by J.C.Staff, with the cast and staff reprising their respective roles from the previous seasons. The series aired from January 11 to March 29, 2019.[14][15] The opening theme is sung by sweet ARMS titled "I Swear",[16] and the ending theme is sung by Erii Yamazaki titled "Last Promise".[17] The third season ran for 12 episodes.[18] Crunchyroll simulcast the third season,[19] while Funimation produced a simuldub.[20] In Australia and New Zealand, AnimeLab simulcast the third season.[21]

On September 17, 2019, a new anime project was announced.[22] It was later announced to be an anime adaptation of the Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet spin-off novels.[23] Tachibana announced via his Twitter account that apart from the spin-off adaptation, the main series would get a new anime as well.[24]

On March 16, 2020, it was announced that the series would get a fourth season.[25]

Film
Main article: Date A Live Movie: Mayuri Judgement

An animated theatrical film was announced via the official Twitter account of the television series as the airing of the second television season concluded.[26] On the event of "Date A Live II", the staff unveiled that the movie will be titled as Date A Live Movie: Mayuri Judgement and premiered on August 22, 2015, with an original story supervised by the original light novel author, Koushi Tachibana. Nobunaga Shimazaki, the voice actor of Shido Itsuka, introduced a silhouette of the new title character, named Mayuri (万由里, Mayuri).[27] During the events of "Tohka's Birthday" on 10 April, Sora Amamiya was confirmed to be voicing Mayuri.[28]

Video games

A video game named Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (デート・ア・ライブ　凜祢ユートピア, Dēto A Raibu Rinne Yūtopia) produced by Compile Heart and Sting Entertainment released on June 27, 2013 for the PlayStation 3. A promotional video was shown at Anime Contents Expo 2013. The game features a new original character named Rinne Sonogami (園神 凜祢, Sonogami Rinne), voiced by Kana Hanazawa. A PlayStation Vita version of the game was released in on July 30, 2015, and features new characters and scenarios.[29][30]

Another video game, titled Date A Live: Ars Install (或守インストール), was released in June 2014, featuring another new character named Maria Ars (或守 鞠亜, Arusu Maria), voiced by Suzuko Mimori. A new installment for both PlayStation 3 games, named Date A Live Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation (デート・ア・ライブ Twin Edition 凜緒リンカーネイション, Dēto A Raibu Tsuin Edishon Rio Rinkāneishon) produced by Compile Heart and Sting Entertainment was released on July 30, 2015 for the PlayStation Vita. It is a de facto sequel with new characters and new scenarios. The game features the Yamai Sisters, Miku Izayoi, Rinne Sonogami, Maria Ars, as well as Marina Ars, and a new original character named Rio (凜緒, Rio), voiced by Ayane Sakura. A promotional video was shown at the events of Date A Fes II. An English version of Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation has been released on PS4 and Steam platforms.[31] The PS4 version was censored, which caused criticism.[32]

A fourth video game produced again by Compile Heart, titled Date A Live: Ren Dystopia (デート・ア・ライブ 蓮ディストピア, Dēto A Raibu: Ren Disutopia), was scheduled to be released on July 18, 2019, in Japan.[33] In addition to the standard addition, which will cost 7,776 yen at retail and yen via download, a 9,936 yen limited edition is also planned. The limited edition includes a Tsunako-designed box, special books (Koushi Tachibana-written short story, etc.), and a drama CD. Due to various reasons, the release date has been pushed back to September 24, 2020.[34][35]

A free-to-play mobile game titled Date A Live: Spirit Pledge was released in China on September 21, 2018.[36][37] A beta test of a global version started on July 26, 2020.[38]

Reception

The first volume of the first anime season placed eighth place amongst Blu-ray sales in Japan during its debut week within the Oricon charts.[39] The PS3 game Date A Live: Rinne Utopia sold 23,340 physical retail copies within the first week of release in Japan.[40] By October 2015, the series as a whole had sold over four million copies.[41]

On June 12, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture listed Date A Live II among 38 anime and manga titles banned in China.[42]

References
  1. "Iori Nomizu Sings Date A Live Anime's Ending Theme". Anime News Network. February 1, 2013. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved August 28, 2018. The Flying Dog website has revealed that Iori Nomizu will perform the ending theme song "Save the World" for the anime adaptation of Koushi Tachibana's Date A Live science-fiction romantic comedy light novel series.
  2. "Light Novel Releases". fujimishobo.co.jp. 2015-06-20. Archived from the original on 2013-05-21. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
  3. Hazra, Adriana (September 5, 2020). "Yen Press to Release Date A Live, Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse?, 7 More Manga/Novels". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  4. "Romantic Comedy Anime Date A Live Previewed in Ad". Anime News Network. 2013-03-28. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
  5. "Next "Date a Live" Game Gets a Teaser Site". Crunchyroll. December 21, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  6. "Date A Live Anime Gets 2nd Season". Otaku USA. 2013-12-16. Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  7. "「デート・ア・ライブⅡ」OP&EDテーマ発売決定！]". 2014-03-07. Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2014-03-09.
  8. "Date A Live II TV Anime's 3rd Promo Features sweet ARMS Song". Anime News Network. March 24, 2014. Archived from the original on 2018-12-07. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  9. "Date A Live Encore Book to Bundle Unaired Anime Episode". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2014-03-06. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  10. "Funimation to Stream Date A Live Romantic Comedy Anime". Anime News Network. 2013-04-09. Archived from the original on 2013-07-09. Retrieved 2013-07-24.
  11. "Funimation to Dub Date A Live, Red Data Girl, Karneval, Code:Breaker". Anime News Network. 2014-02-21. Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-03-01.
  12. "Australia's Madman Ent. Adds Date A Live, Maoyu". Anime News Network. 2013-08-12. Archived from the original on 2013-08-15. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  13. "Date A Live Light Novels Get New Anime Series". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on 2017-10-21. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  14. "Date A Live Anime's 3rd Season Reveals New Cast Member, Staff, January 2019 Premiere (Updated)". Anime News Network. October 20, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-10-21. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  15. "Date A Live III Anime Premieres on January 11". Anime News Network. December 14, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-12-15. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  16. "Date A Live III Anime's Promo Video Previews Opening Theme". Anime News Network. December 27, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-12-27. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  17. "Date A Live III Anime Previewed in TV Ad". Anime News Network. December 28, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-12-29. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  18. "Date A Live III Anime to Have 12 Episodes". Anime News Network. January 6, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-01-06. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  19. "Crunchyroll to Stream B-Project 2, Date A Live III, ENDRO!, Quintessential Quintuplets Anime". Anime News Network. January 9, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-01-10. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  20. "Funimation to Stream Dubs for Date A Live III, ENDRO!, The Quintessential Quintuplets Anime, More Star Blazers 2202". Anime News Network. January 9, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-01-10. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  21. @AnimeLab (January 11, 2019). "The spirited third season of the sci-fi comedy returns with much anticipation and intrigue! Date-A-Live III coming soon to AnimeLab! 🌏🛸💖" (Tweet). Retrieved January 18, 2019 – via Twitter.
  22. "Date A Live Franchise Gets New Anime". Anime News Network. September 17, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  23. "New Date A Live Anime Adapts Date A Bullet Spinoff Novels". Anime News Network. September 23, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  24. @KoshiTachibana (September 23, 2019). "【告知】『デート・ア・ライブ』新アニメ企画進行中！！！！『デート・ア・バレット』アニメ化企画進行中！！！！" (Tweet). Retrieved September 24, 2019 – via Twitter.
  25. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (March 16, 2020). "Date A Live Anime Gets 4th Season". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  26. "Date A Live Gets Theatrical Film". Anime News Network. June 13, 2014. Archived from the original on 2018-10-28. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  27. "Date A Live Movie to Be All-New Work Next Summer". Anime News Network. December 15, 2014. Archived from the original on 2019-01-15. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  28. "Date A Live: Mayuri Judgement Film's Teaser, TV Ad Streamed". Anime News Network. April 11, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-01-21. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  29. "Date A Live: Rinne Utopia coming to PS Vita". Gematsu. December 19, 2014. Archived from the original on 2018-09-19. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  30. "デート・ア・ライブ Twin Edition 凜緒リンカーネイション" (in Japanese). Compile Heart. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  31. "Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation Western Release Revealed in Idea Factory International Stream". Anime New Network. April 10, 2019. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
  32. "Date A Live: Rio Reincarnation, Dragon Star Varnir Censored On PS4 Due To Sony's Policy". One Angry Gamer. November 9, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  33. "Date A Live: Ren Dystopia Release Date". Gematsu. March 26, 2019. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
  34. "Date A Live Ren Dystopia Game Delayed to 2020". Anime News Network. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  35. "デート・ア・ライブ 蓮ディストピア" (in Japanese). Compile Heart. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  36. "【头条】接吻拯救世界！《约战：精灵再临》今日上" (in Chinese). September 21, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  37. "Date a Live: Spirit Pledge Global Preregistration Begins". Siliconera. May 15, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  38. "Date A Live: Spirit Pledge - Global OBT Confirmed". Hot Game Studio. July 23, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  39. "Japan's Animation Blu-ray Disc Ranking, June 24–30". Anime News Network. July 2, 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
  40. "Media Create Sales: 6/24/13 – 6/30/13". Gematsu. July 3, 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-04-25. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
  41. "Tachibana Koushi on Twitter". October 19, 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  42. "China bans 38 anime & manga titles including Attack on Titan". Special Broadcasting Service. 2015-06-12. Archived from the original on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-08-31.
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