Dragon Voice

Dragon Voice is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuriko Nishiyama. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from January 2001 to January 2003, with its chapters collected in 11 tankōbon volumes. The manga was licensed in North America by Tokyopop; 10 volumes were released before their manga licensing contract with Kodansha had expired in 2009. The story centers on a Japanese pop-singing group called Beatmen and focuses on the life of Rin Amami, the unlikely fifth member of the group who was foretold as the bearer of a legendary unique singing vocal called "Dragon Voice".

Dragon Voice
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Rin Amami
Genre
Manga
Written byYuriko Nishiyama
Published byKodansha
English publisher
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runJanuary 17, 2001 – January 22, 2003
Volumes11

Story

14-year-old Rin Amami is a gifted street dancer. His dream was to become a singer like his mother, but he has a harsh and unpleasant-sounding voice. However, his chance encounter with the idol singing group Beatmen opens the path to the music industry to him. The head of the small idol agency called Redshoes (who manages the Beatmen) is certain that Rin's voice is the legendary "Dragon Voice".

Characters
Rin Amami
Rin is a talented and smart-mouthed street dancer. He can remember and copy any dance routine just by watching them once. He started out as a teenager who dislikes boybands. Ironically, Rin's hidden desire is to be a singer like his late mother, but decided to give up his dreams because of his bad voice, which was often referred by his schoolmates to "resemble the voice of a bullfrog".
Shino
Shino is the kind and responsible leader of the pop-singing group. Very professional, he often pushes himself hard at work even though he has an asthmatic condition. He is the most enthusiastic and optimistic member of the group. He acts as the "glue that sticks the Beatmen together".
Yuhgo Etoh
Yuhgo is the often quiet member of The Beatmen. He's been involved in the music industry since he was very young. He occasionally writes lyrics, and is the most technologically adept member of the group. His straight attitude sometimes make people think of him as being arrogant, though it is mostly because of his difficulty in expressing his own feelings.
Goh Iwaki
Goh is the "wild" member of the group. He was brought up in a family of kabuki actors and was supposed to succeed the family occupation, but rebelled in order to perform his own kind of music with the Beatmen. He has a younger brother who carries on his family's kabuki heritage in his place.
Toshio Tamura
Toshi is the delicate and flamboyant member of the group. He is a bit of a coward. Hailing from a wealthy family, he was trained as a classical pianist, but decided to throw his lot in with the Beatmen.

Publication

Written and illustrated by Yuriko Nishiyama, Dragon Voice was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from January 17, 2001,[2] to January 22, 2003.[3] Kodansha collected its chapters in eight tankōbon volumes, released from May 17, 2001,[4] to March 17, 2003.[5]

In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by Tokyopop. Ten volumes were released from October 12, 2004,[6] to February 12, 2008;[7] the 11th and final volume was first announced to be delayed from its July 2008 release,[8][9] before Tokyopop confirmed in August 2009 that their manga licensing contracts with Kodansha had expired.[10]

See also

References
  1. Thompson, Jason (July 3, 2012). Manga: The Complete Guide (Kindle). Del Rey Books. pp. 337–338. ISBN 978-0-345-53944-1.
  2. 週刊少年マガジン 2001年7号. Shōnen Magazine Website (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on January 24, 2001. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  3. 週刊少年マガジン 2003年8号. Shōnen Magazine Website (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on January 25, 2003. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  4. "Dragon Voice (1)". Kodansha. Archived from the original on May 28, 2005. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  5. "Dragon Voice (11)". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  6. "Dragon Voice Volume 1". Tokyopop. Archived from the original on August 19, 2004. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  7. "Dragon Voice Volume 10". Tokyopop. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  8. Loo, Egan (June 18, 2008). "Tokyopop Manga Volumes Pulled from July Solicitations (Updated)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  9. Loo, Egan (August 15, 2008). "Tokyopop Says Pulled Titles Are Delayed, Not Cancelled". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  10. Loo, Egan (August 31, 2009). "Tokyopop Confirms Its Kodansha Manga Licenses Will End". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2023.

Further reading
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