Natsu no Arashi! (Japanese: 夏のあらし!; lit. "Summer Storm!") is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Jin Kobayashi. The manga was serialized in Square Enix's Gangan Wing shōnen manga magazine from August 2006 to September 2010, with its chapters collected in eight bound volumes. Natsu no Arashi! was also adapted into two anime television series by Shaft under the direction of Akiyuki Shinbo, Shin Oonuma, and Kenichi Ishikura and broadcast in Japan from April 5, 2009, to December 27, 2009. Maiden Japan licensed the series for US release on November 12, 2019, on Blu-ray.
Contents
Plot
Thirteen-year-old Yasaka is a boy staying at his grandfather's house during his summer vacation. One day he entered a store and met Arashi, a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl working there. After trying to protect her from a man who claims to have been hired by her family to take her back by force, Yasaka ran away with her and now she stays at his grandpa's place with him. It didn't take much time for Yasaka to figure out that his new friend is far from an ordinary girl, as she possesses mysterious powers. The plot thickens when he finds a sixty-year-old picture of Arashi and another girl named Kaja, and to the surprise of all Kaja suddenly appears, and just like Arashi, her appearance hasn't changed at all since then.
Two other characters introduced so far are the place's owner, a woman whose name is still unrevealed and rumored to be a high level con artist, and Jun Kamigamo, a student of Yasaka's age whom he met at the store, and works there with him since then. Despite being a girl, she keeps dressing and addressing herself as a boy to the other characters. So far only Kaja and Arashi know her secret.
Characters
Hajime Yasaka (八坂 一, Yasaka Hajime)
Voiced by: Yūko Sanpei
The main male protagonist. A 13-year-old boy who is spending his summer vacation in his grandfather's house. When he met Arashi from the first time, he established a connection with her when he touched her hand, and since then the duo gained the power to travel back and forth in time. He is infatuated with Arashi's beauty and kindness, but is afraid to convey his feelings to her. He is a friend of Jun.
Sayoko Arashiyama (嵐山 小夜子, Arashiyama Sayoko; Arashi for short)
Voiced by: Ryōko Shiraishi
The main female protagonist. Despite still looking like a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl, Arashi is in fact a ghost who lived during World War II times. Since then her mission had been traveling back in time to rescue those in her community from air raids by American warplanes. However, to travel back to the past, she must do it accompanied by a living person from the present with whom she made a "connection". Her relationship with Hajime is a bit more complicated than it seems.
In the second season it is revealed that Arashi's first love was a time-tripping Hajime.
Kaja Bergmann (カヤ バーグマン, Kaya Bāguman)
Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka
Another ghost from Arashi's time and her best friend. She was an exchange student from Germany who studied at her school. Her polite and cool demeanor opposes to Arashi's lively and carefree personality. She possesses the same time travelling powers as her, but she can only make a connection with a living girl due to her shyness around boys.
Her favorite dessert is ice cream.
Jun Kamigamo (上賀茂 潤, Kamigamo Jun)
Media
Anime
In November 2008, an anime adaption of Natsu no Arashi! was announced. The anime series was produced by Shaft, directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and Shin Oonuma, with Katsuhiko Takayama acting as series composition writer and Kazuhiro Oota (Shaft) designing the characters for animation. Oota and Yoshiaki Itou (Shaft) served as chief animation directors, and Ken Sato composed the music. The series was broadcast from April 5, 2009, it had a total of 13 episodes. Of its 12 episodes, 6 were produced in-house at Shaft, while 7 were outsourced: episodes 3, 5, 9, and 11–13 to Studio Pastoral; and episode 10 to Mushi Production.
Four pieces of theme music are used during the first season—one opening theme, one closing theme and two special closing themes for episodes six and eleven. The opening theme is "Atashi dake ni kakete" (あたしだけにかけて) by Omokage Lucky Hole and the closing theme is "Kirari Futari" (キラリフタリ) by Ryōko Shiraishi. For episode six, the closing theme is "Hitonatsu no Keiken" (ひと夏の経験) by Ryōko Shiraishi and the closing theme for episode 11 is "Kassai" (喝采) by Yui Horie.
A second season, called Natsu no Arashi! Akinai-chū (夏のあらし! 春夏冬中; lit. Summer Storm! Open for Business) was announced in June 2009. Most of the main staff returned, including director Shinbo, series composition writer Takayama, character designer and chief animation director Oota, and music composer Sato. Itou did not return as Oota's co-chief animation director, and Oonuma acted as series director for only the first seven episodes. Kenichi Ishikura replaced Oonuma for the final six episodes. Only episode 8 was produced in-house at Shaft, while the rest were outsourced: episodes 1, 3, 6–7, 10–11, and 13 to Studio Pastoral; episode 2 to Studio Pastoral and Anime R; episode 4 to Studio Pastoral and Mushi Production; episode 9 to Mushi Production; and episodes 5 and 12 to Studio Izena.
Two pieces of theme music were used during its broadcast. The opening theme is "Oyasumi Paradox" (おやすみパラドックス) by Etsuko Yakushimaru and the closing theme is "Otome no Junjo" (乙女の順序) by Ryōko Shiraishi, Kaori Nazuka, Ai Nonaka and Yui Horie.
Both seasons were simulcasted to English language audiences by the video streaming website Crunchyroll.