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Drifting Net Cafe

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Drifting Net Cafe
Cover from volume 1 of the manga series Drifting Net Cafe, published by Futabasha
漂流ネットカフェ
(Hyōryū Netto Kafe)
GenreScience fiction, mystery, romance
Manga
Written byShūzō Oshimi
Published byFutabasha
ImprintAction Comics
MagazineManga Action
DemographicSeinen
Original runFebruary 28, 2009June 28, 2011
Volumes7
Television drama
Directed byHajime Takezono
Takashi Fujio
Original networkTBS / MBS
Original run April 15, 2009 June 24, 2009
Episodes11

Drifting Net Cafe (漂流ネットカフェ, Hyōryū Netto Kafe) is a Japanese seinen manga by Shūzō Oshimi that was serialized in the manga magazine, Manga Action. Drifting Net Cafe is a science fiction mystery involving a group of patrons trapped in an internet café, which has become a strange universe of its own. The story focuses primarily on the relationship between Koichi Toki, a salaryman who leads a trouble-free but unexciting life, and Kaho Tono, his first love whom he never forgot.

The manga was adapted into a TBS television series on April 15, 2009, and stars Atsushi Itō as Koichi Toki.[1]

Plot

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Koichi Toki is an office worker or salaryman with a wife. He works hard to bring food home and leads a rather simple and boring life. During a work trip, he decides to spend time in an internet cafe, where he meets an ex-schoolmate after not seeing each other for a while. In the same cafe, several clients begin to have problems with their computers and the cellular signal disappears. The group of clients together with the manager of the place, Toki and his partner are trapped, to discover that they are in a mysterious place that is not Japan. The group suffers from disagreements, several escalations of anger and despair trying to survive while Toki and his friend's relationship progresses little by little.

Manga

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The manga was serialized in Futabasha's Manga Action and the 63 chapters were compiled into 7 volumes from February 28, 2009[2] to June 28, 2011.[3] The defunct American publisher JManga licensed the manga and released the first volume in August 2011.[4] The name of the manga is a reference to Kazuo Umezu's The Drifting Classroom, which it is a retelling of.[5] The manga has also been published in Spain by Milky Way Ediciones.[6]

Television series

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The series was released in a 4-disc DVD boxset on August 5, 2009. The ending theme「Brave Heart (Remix)」by MAY'S was released as a single on April 22, 2009.[7]

Cast

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Episodes

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File On Air
(Kansai Time)
On Air
(Kanto Time)
Subtitle Ratings
(Kansai)
Ratings
(Kanto)
1 Apr 10, 2009
00:00–00:30
Apr 15, 2009
00:44–01:14
Drift
(漂流)
5.0 3.3
2 Apr 17, 2009
00:15–00:45
Apr 22, 2009
00:29–00:59
To a Forest
(森へ)
3.9 3.4
3 Apr 24, 2009
00:00–00:30
Apr 29, 2009
00:29–00:59
Tom Sawyer
(トムソーヤ)
2.9 3.7
4 May 1, 2009
00:00–00:30
May 6, 2009
00:29–00:59
Toki & Tono
(土岐と遠野)
4.7 2.0
5 May 8, 2009
00:00–00:30
May 13, 2009
00:29–00:59
Seeds of Hope
(希望の種)
2.7
6 May 15, 2009
00:00–00:30
May 20, 2009
00:29–00:59
Dead World
(死んだ世界)
3.4 2.5
7 May 22, 2009
00:00–00:30
May 27, 2009
01:09–01:39
Crack
(亀裂)
3.0 1.7
8 May 29, 2009
00:00–00:30
June 3, 2009
00:29–00:59
Experimental
(実験)
3.5 2.5
9 June 5, 2009
00:00–00:30
June 10, 2009
00:29–00:59
McEnroe
(マッケンロー)
4.4 2.1
10 June 12, 2009
00:00–00:30
June 17, 2009
00:29–00:59
End of the World
(世界の終わり)
2.7
Final
(11)
June 19, 2009
00:00–00:30
June 24, 2009
00:29–00:59
I'm Home
(ただいま)
2.0

Special Rerun

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File On Air
(Kansai Time)
Ratings
(Kansai)
1 Aug 11, 2009
13:53–14:55
3.3
2 Aug 12, 2009
13:53–14:55
2.6
3 Aug 13, 2009
13:53–14:55
3.2
4 Aug 17, 2009
13:53–14:55
3.0

Reception

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Katherine Dacey of Manga Bookshelf was disappointed in how the first volume of the manga stood in comparison to The Drifting Classroom, saying the horror was not as well-executed, but felt that the manga had better pacing and artwork: "Long-time fans of Classroom are likely to find Oshimi's update slick but soulless, as it relies more heavily on low-budget disaster movies than the original source material for its characters and conflicts."[5] Sean Gaffney of A Case Suitable for Treatment felt that the horror aspect was pulled off well in the first volume, but was turned off by the excessive violence and sex: "It's as sordid as it sounds, and made me feel ill... [It] didn't take long for morality to erode, much like [The Drifting Classroom]."[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Drifting Net Cafe" becomes drama". Retrieved 2009-04-19.
  2. ^ "漂流ネットカフェ 1". Futabasha. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  3. ^ "漂流ネットカフェ 7 完". Futabasha. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Vertical Adds Flowers of Evil School Romance Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  5. ^ a b Dacey, Katherine (19 June 2012). "Drifting Net Cafe, Vol. 1". Manga Bookshelf. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  6. ^ "Cibercafé a la deriva". Milky Way Ediciones (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Horyu net cafe releases". Startchild. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  8. ^ Gaffney, Sean. "Drifting Net Café, Vol. 1". A Case Suitable for Treatment. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
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