Super Cub (novel series)

Super Cub (スーパーカブ, Sūpā Kabu) is a Japanese light novel series, written by Tone Kōken and illustrated by Hiro. Kadokawa Shoten have released seven volumes since May 2017 under their Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko label. A manga adaptation with art by Kanitan has been serialized online since December 2017 via Kadokawa Shoten's Comic Newtype manga website. It has been collected in five tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Studio Kai will premiere in April 2021.

Super Cub
First light novel volume cover
スーパーカブ
(Sūpā Kabu)
GenreSports (Motorcycle racing)
Light novel
Written byTone Kōken
Illustrated byHiro
Published byKadokawa Shoten
ImprintKadokawa Sneaker Bunko
DemographicMale
Original runMay 2017 – present
Volumes7
Manga
Written byTone Kōken
Illustrated byKanitan
Published byKadokawa Shoten
MagazineComic Newtype
DemographicSeinen
Original runDecember 2017 – present
Volumes5
Anime television series
Directed byToshiro Fujii
Written byToshizo Nemoto
Music byTomohisa Ishikawa
ZAQ
StudioStudio Kai
Original run April 2021 – scheduled

Overview

The series is set in the Mukawa area of Hokuto in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The story follows Koguma, a lone, gruff girl with no hobbies or interests. After an encounter with a Honda Super Cub 50, she begins to grow and her world expands beyond herself. The novel promotional posters and the official novel site promote the commemoration of 100 million units sold for the Honda Super Cub.[1]

Plot

The main character is Koguma, a girl without parents, hobbies, or friends. While riding her "granny bike" to school one day, Koguma decides she'd like to get a motorized bike of some sort. She then resolves to get a Honda Super Cub from a local dealer. Because of this, she eventually makes friends with Reiko and Eniwa.

Characters
Koguma (小熊)
Voiced by: Yuki Yomichi[2]
The main character. Koguma is a junior in high school in Hokuto, of medium build with short, black hair and plain features, and she gets average grades in school. Her father died when she was very young, and her mother disappeared when Koguma entered high school. As she doesn't have any relatives, she relies on a stipend for living and school expenses, and she lives by herself in an apartment building in front of Hinoharu Station.
She doesn't have any hobbies or any friends in school, where she pretty much disappears into the background in class. When she buys a Super Cub to use to commute to school, her life begins to change little by little. Because of her isolation, she has a very brusque way of speaking with others. Her name literally translates as "little bear cub".
Reiko (礼子)
Voiced by: Ayaka Nanase[2]
In the same class as Koguma, Reiko is tall, with long, black hair and a sense of style. Her father is a member of the Diet, her mother is president of a company, and they both live in Tokyo. Reiko lives by herself in a log house the Mukawa area of Hokuto, an area with many vacation homes. Her appearance is very reserved and beautiful, in contrast to Koguma's. She does very well in school and is good at sports.
Despite standing out a lot in their class, Reiko shows no interest in anything but Cubs. After seeing Koguma going out for lunch and all over on her Cub, she began forming a friendship with her. She is considered an extremely knowledgeable enthusiast regarding Cubs, and is very good at modifying them. She has a vast collection of option parts for Cubs at her log house to make sure she always has them on hand. While her favorite Cub is a restored MD90, it was wrecked during her second year summer vacation to Mount Fuji, and she subsequently acquired a CT110.
Shii Eniwa (恵庭椎, Eniwa Shii)
Voiced by: Natsumi Hioka[2]
A classmate of Koguma and Reiko, she was in charge of the annual cultural festival. She has medium-length hair that is depicted as pale bluish-gray in images from the novels and manga, but grayish in the anime. While Hiro illustrates her with a mole under her right eye, Kanitan omits this in his illustrations for the manga. She's slightly shorter than Koguma, and hasn't changed in height since junior high school.
After Koguma and Reiko helped her out of a pinch during the cultural festival by using their Cubs, their Cubs piqued her interest and she's hung out with them ever since. Her house is about halfway on Reiko's route to school. Her parents run a German-style bakery and coffee shop named Swiss Wind (スイス風, Suisu Kaze). She plans to open a shop when she grows up, and she studies hard to learn how to be a barista. She saved money so she could buy a used espresso machine to help her learn and start her own business.
Due to an accident during the winter of her junior year, where Koguma rescued her from a fall into a river, she gained great affection for Koguma and her Cub. She rode an Alex Moulton bike until the river accident, after which she purchased a light blue Little Cub.

Media

Light novels
No. Release date ISBN
1 May 1, 2017[3]978-4-04-105663-9
2 October 1, 2017[4]978-4-04-105960-9
3 May 1, 2018[5]978-4-04-106466-5
4 December 1, 2018[6]978-4-04-107081-9
5 July 1, 2019[7]978-4-04-107082-6
6 December 1, 2019[8]978-4-04-108919-4
reserve November 1, 2020[9]978-4-04-110871-0

Manga
No. Japanese release date Japanese ISBN
1 May 25, 2018[10]978-4-04-106961-5
2 December 10, 2018[11]978-4-04-107852-5
3 August 10, 2019[12]978-4-04-108468-7
4 March 10, 2020[13]978-4-04-109032-9
5 February 10, 2021[14]978-4-04-111087-4

Anime

An anime television series adaptation by Studio Kai was announced on November 20, 2019.[15] The series is directed by Toshiro Fujii, with Toshizo Nemoto handling series composition, Tōru Imanishi designing the characters, and Tomohisa Ishikawa and ZAQ composing the music.[2] It will premiere in April 2021.[16][17]

Reception

The Asahi Shimbun described the first novel as a realistic story told with simple and honest language, showing the changes in the life of Koguma as she expands and explores the world opened up to her after she buys the Super Cub.[18]

References
  1. 『スーパーカブ』角川スニーカー文庫 ["Super Cub" Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko] (in Japanese). Sneaker Bunko. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  2. "Super Cub Motorbike Anime Reveals 1st Promo Video, Cast". Anime News Network. May 8, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  3. スーパーカブ [Super Cub] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  4. スーパーカブ２ [Super Cub 2] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  5. スーパーカブ３ [Super Cub 3] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  6. スーパーカブ４ [Super Cub 4] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  7. スーパーカブ５ [Super Cub 5] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  8. スーパーカブ６ [Super Cub 6] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  9. スーパーカブ　reserve [Super Cub Reserve] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  10. スーパーカブ(1) [Super Cub 1] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  11. スーパーカブ（2） [Super Cub 2] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  12. スーパーカブ（3） [Super Cub 3] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  13. スーパーカブ（4） [Super Cub 4] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  14. スーパーカブ（5） [Super Cub 5] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  15. "Super Cub Bishōjo Motorbike Anime by Studio Kai Confirmed". Anime News Network. November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  16. キービジュアル公開 また 4月から放送開始が決定！ [Key visuals made public, broadcast to begin in April!]. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  17. "Super Cub Motorbike Anime Reveals 1st Promo Video, Cast". Anime News Network. January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  18. Maejima, Satoshi (June 25, 2017). トネ・コーケン「スーパーカブ」　まるで実直なカブのよう [Tone Kōken "Super Cub": It's completely honest about Cubs] (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.