Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues | |
中間管理録トネガワ (Chūkan Kanriroku Tonegawa) | |
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Genre | |
Manga | |
Written by |
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Illustrated by |
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Published by | Kodansha |
Imprint | YMKC Special |
Magazine |
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Demographic | Seinen |
Original run | June 20, 2015 – June 8, 2020 |
Volumes | 10 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Keiichiro Kawaguchi |
Produced by |
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Written by | Mitsutaka Hirota |
Music by | Takahiro Yamada |
Studio | Madhouse |
Licensed by | |
Original network | Nippon TV (AnichU) |
Original run | July 4, 2018 – December 26, 2018 |
Episodes | 24 |
Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues[a] is a Japanese manga series written by Tensei Hagiwara and illustrated by Tomohiro Hashimoto and Tomoki Miyoshi. It is a spin-off of the main series Kaiji by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. It was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Young Magazine from June 2015 to January 2018, and later moved to Comic Days manga app in March 2018 and finished in June 2020. Its chapters were collected in ten tankōbon volumes. The series comically depicts the struggles and conflicts of Tonegawa, a middle manager who is an executive of the Teiai Group and leads a large number of blacksuits, but is most concerned about the mood of the tyrannical Chairman Hyōdō.
An anime television series adaptation by Madhouse aired from July to December 2018 on Nippon TV's AnichU programming block. Sentai Filmworks have licensed the anime and an English dub began streaming on Hidive in August 2018. The show is also available for viewing on Crunchyroll.
As of November 2018, the manga had over 2.9 million copies in circulation.
The story follows Yukio Tonegawa, the right-hand man of the company's chairman, Kazutaka Hyōdō, and the top executive of the Teiai Group, one of Japan's largest consumer finance conglomerates. In order to distract Chairman Hyōdō from boredom, Tonegawa gathers eleven of his blacksuit subordinates and forms Team Tonegawa in order to plan a so-called "game of death" that will keep Hyōdō pleased. Troubled by the Chairman's interference, the threat of loss of trust from Tonegawa's subordinates, illness, the members' blunders, and unplanned accidents, the team struggles in various ways to execute the project.
See also: List of Kaiji characters |
Written by Tensei Hagiwara and illustrated by Tomohiro Hashimoto and Tomoki Miyoshi, with cooperation from Nobuyuki Fukumoto, Mr. Tonegawa was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Young Magazine from June 20, 2015,[5][6] to January 23, 2018.[7] The manga was transferred to Comic Days manga app, where it was published from March 5, 2018,[8] to June 8, 2020.[9][10] Kodansha collected its chapters in ten individual tankōbon volumes, published from December 4, 2015,[11] to August 11, 2020.[12]
No. | Release date | ISBN | ||
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1 | December 4, 2015[11] | 978-4-06-382721-7 | ||
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2 | April 6, 2016[13] | 978-4-06-382774-3 | ||
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3 | August 5, 2016[14][15] | 978-4-06-382833-7 978-4-06-362337-6 (LE) | ||
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4 | December 6, 2016[16] | 978-4-06-382884-9 | ||
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5 | June 6, 2016[17] | 978-4-06-382972-3 | ||
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6 | November 6, 2017[18] | 978-4-06-510526-9 | ||
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7 | July 11, 2018[19] | 978-4-06-512033-0 | ||
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8 | February 13, 2019[20] | 978-4-06-514559-3 | ||
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9 | November 13, 2019[21] | 978-4-06-517724-2 | ||
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10 | August 11, 2020[12] | 978-4-06-520454-2 | ||
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Main article: List of Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues episodes |
An anime television series adaptation was announced in February 2018.[22] Produced by Nippon TV, VAP, Nippon Television Music Corporation and Madhouse, it is directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi, with Mitsutaka Hirota handling series composition, Haruhito Takada designing the characters and Takahiro Yamada composing the music. It ran for 24 episodes on Nippon TV's AnichU programming block from July 4 to December 26, 2018.[23][3][24][25] Jay Kabira served as the series' narrator,[3] and each episode includes different voice actresses and actors for the trademark sound effect "Zawa Zawa", among which are: Masako Nozawa, Miyuki Sawashiro, Yū Serizawa, Ari Ozawa, Kana Hanazawa, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Shiori Izawa, Megumi Han, Chō and Chiharu Sawashiro.[26][1] The series also includes segments covering a portion of chapters from 1-nichi Gaishutsuroku Hanchō, a spin-off manga about the foreman Ōtsuki.[27] The opening theme is "Sassou to Hashiru Tonegawa-kun" (颯爽と走るトネガワ君, Gallantly Running Tonegawa) by Gesu no Kiwami Otome, the first ending theme is "Oki Tegami" (隠岐手紙, Farewell Letter) by Pistol Takehara,[28] and the second ending is "Kyōgenmawashi" (狂言回し, Major Supporting Role) by NoisyCell.[29] VAP has published the series on two DVD and Blu-ray box sets between December 12, 2018 and March 27, 2019, with the second set including a drama CD that adapted chapters from Hanchō not shown in the anime. Amazon-exclusive pre-order bonuses included a Teiai blacksuit-themed Rubik's Cube and Match Up card game.[30][31] A 32-track original soundtrack was released on August 22, 2018.[32]
Sentai Filmworks have licensed the anime and an English dub began streaming on Hidive on August 3, 2018.[33][34][4] Sentai Filmworks released the series on Blu-ray on October 15, 2019.[35] The show is also available for viewing on Crunchyroll.[36]
The series topped the 2017 list of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook top 20 manga for male readers.[37] In 2018, the manga was among the top 20 best-selling Amazon Kindle books in Japan, ranked at #16, based on sales data between November 13, 2017 and October 31, 2018.[38] As of November 2018, the manga had over 2.9 million copies in circulation.[39]
Anime News Network had four editors review the first episode of the anime series. Paul Jensen wrote that the series would mainly appeal to Kaiji fans, but that "it could be amusing enough to lure in other viewers as long as it gives its humor some much-needed breathing room". Theron Martin stated that just the few minutes of recap shown at the beginning of the first episode is enough to make the series accessible to newcomers. Martin had a positive impression about the comedy of the series, and stated that it could find its "own niche and faithful following". James Beckett said that the series is aimed "exclusively at middle-aged Japanese viewers who can empathize with the highs and lows of being the middle manager of a large corporation (criminal or otherwise)". Rebecca Silverman called it "the character designs are interesting but not particularly attractive and the color palette mostly blacks and grays doesn't help,". Silverman concluded; "There's just not enough in this episode to make me want to go any further with the series – because ultimately watching the game play out is more interesting than watching someone build it".[40]
Paul Chapman of Crunchyroll recommended the anime series, stating that it is "sure to appeal to any anime fan that's ever had to put their nose to the 9-to-5 corporate grindstone".[1] Chris Beveridge of The Fandom Post, in his review of the Blu-ray release of the series, gave it a "B+" grade. Beveridge wrote; "Tonegawa's a great character to watch – just having someone like him as a lead is a wonderful change from the norm to begin with – and what we get here definitely delights". He concluded; "I do think this is a bit of an acquired taste but those that "get it" will love it so much and will want a whole lot more".[41] Amy McNulty of Anime News Network, ranked the series fourth on her list of "The Best Anime of 2018".[42] In another article, McNulty listed Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues as one of the "Best Anime of Fall 2018".[43]