Suzuka

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōji Seo. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from February 2004 to September 2007, with its chapters collected in 18 tankōbon volumes. The series is a character-driven romance story that uses the athletics of track and field as a subplot. The story primarily follows the life of the teenager Yamato Akitsuki, who moved to Tokyo to change himself, and his main love interest Suzuka Asahina, a talented and highly scouted high jumper who lives in Yamato's aunt's dormitory and attends his new high school. It was adapted into a 26-episode anime television series broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to December 2005. The manga was licensed for publication in North America by Del Rey Manga under their mature line; it published the first 15 volumes, before it folded and transferred its publication rights to Kodansha USA. The anime series was licensed by Funimation (currently Crunchyroll). Two light novels written by Ayuna Fujisaki based on the series have also been released. Plot Suzuka is a sports-themed romance comedy that intertwines the pursuit of love and athletics. The story is based around Yamato Akitsuki, a young man from rural Hiroshima Prefecture moving to the big city of Tokyo, and his new next-door neighbor, Suzuka Asahina, a skilled high jumper. Yamato falls in love with Suzuka and pursuing a relationship with her he joins the track and field team hoping to impress her. After joining, Yamato discovers that he has the potential to become a top hundred-meter sprinter. Suzuka's character-driven plot predominantly makes use of dramatic structure to facilitate character development. Characterization is further achieved through the use of character backstory. The story in general employs a realistic tone, but occasionally uses surreal humour. Some events covered in the story are: track competitions, vacations, culture festivals, and outings to a karaoke box and a theme park. The manga and anime follow the same storyline, though there are minor differences. One of these changes is that the nude scenes are less graphic in the anime than the manga. Another disparity is the hair color of some of the characters such as the character Miki, who is depicted as having bright red hair on the covers of the manga, but is portrayed with red-brown hair in the anime.