Toto!: The Wonderful Adventure

Toto!: The Wonderful Adventure
トト! The Wonderful Adventure
Genre Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Manga
Written by Yuko Osada
Published by Kodansha
English publisher
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Original run April 15, 2005 – November 17, 2005
Volumes 5

ToTo!: The Wonderful Adventure (トト! The Wonderful Adventure) is a Japanese manga series which first appeared in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in March 2003. The series has gone to be published by various manga publishing houses. The series is a manga parody of the Wizard of Oz. It is a comedy /adventure /swashbuckler type story, with a young rambunctious teenage boy named Kakashi adventuring / exploring his world with his friends.

The series is licensed for an English language release in North America by Del Rey Manga, which began releasing the individual volumes in May 2008.

Plot

Kakashi is a young islander who has always dreamed of leaving his island and exploring the world; A world radically changed because of the world war from 50 years ago. His father, a famous world traveler leaves him alone at home in their Light House. After a brief period of time, Kakashi receives his father's journal which prompts him to travel the world like his father, whom many people say is dead.

He is so determined to leave his little island home behind, that he stows away on board a marvelous zeppelin. Unknown to him, this zeppelin just happens to be loaded with treasure and is hijacked by a gang of ruthless criminals known as the Man Chicken Family.[1] There he meets a small puppy which harbors magical powers. Kakashi befriends the puppy despite it being unknown to him. After being discovered by the gang that has hijacked the Zeppelin, he befriends their leader.

He arrives in the main continent of "Oz", where he begins his travels after the Zeppelin is shot down by the Nassau Imperial Army. After crashing in a field, he and his small puppy meet a teenage girl named Dorothy. She immediately falls in love with the puppy and names him ToTo. Almost immediately, they are confronted by Imperial troops whom Dorothy is able to dispatch with her unique "Tornado" martial arts moves. The three agree to travel together to Emerald City where Dorothy is heading to visit her parents during her time off from school. Kakashi, ToTo and Dorothy begin their wonderful adventure but are faced with various foes that quest for the strange dog collar that ToTo is wearing.

A Nassau officer in disguise of an old man, doops the trio into letting their guard down and he, in turn, snatches ToTo. With Kakashi and Dorothy in danger and ToTo feeling threatened, ToTo's full power is openly revealed as he turns into a gigantic magic dragon which proceeds to defeat the soldiers. Their adventures continue as they continue to Emerald City where they meet an ex-Imperial Soldier turned performer named Noil.[2] They proceed on down the transcontinental railroad line named "Yellow Brick Road".

Main Characters

Media

Written and illustrated by Yuko Osada, ToTo! premiered in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in the March 15th, 2002 issue. The series is still on-going as of January 15, 2009. As of October 2008, 10 volumes have been released in Japan.

The series is licensed for an English language release in North America by Del Rey Manga.[3] The company released the first volume of the series on May 15, 2008; as of March 2009, 5 volumes have been released. Recently, Del Ray's of ToTo, the 5th Volume appears to be last volume of the series.[4] It has not been specified if the series has ceased in Japan. The 5th Volume includes what was to be in upcoming adventures of the series. There is no specification of why the series was ended.

Manga

No.Japanese release dateJapanese ISBNEnglish release dateEnglish ISBN
1 April 15, 2005[5]ISBN 978-4-06-363519-5May 13, 2008[6]ISBN 978-0-345-50147-9
2 April 15, 2005[7]ISBN 978-4-06-363520-1July 22, 2008[8]ISBN 978-0-345-50555-2
3 July 15, 2005[9]ISBN 978-4-06-363558-4November 25, 2008[10]ISBN 978-0-345-50662-7
4 September 16, 2005[11]ISBN 978-4-06-363578-2February 24, 2009[12]ISBN 978-0-345-50663-4
5 November 17, 2005[13]ISBN 978-4-06-363599-7May 19, 2009[14]ISBN 978-0-345-50664-1

Reception

The manga's American release was favorably reviewed by Deb Aoki of About Entertainment.[15]

Notes

Since the manga is a parody of the Wizard of Oz, there are many parallels to the original story. For example, the name of the main character, Kakashi, is Japanese for "Scarecrow" and the name of the cowardly performer, Noil, is "Lion" spelled backwards.

References

  1. ↑ "Toto!: The Wonderful Adventure, Volume 1". Barnes & Noble.com. New York, NY, USA: Barnes & Noble, Inc. Archived from the original on December 12, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  2. ↑ Ellingwood, Holly (December 30, 2008). "Toto! The Wonderful Adventure Vol. 3". Active Anime. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Media Blasters, Del Rey Announce New Manga Licenses". Anime News Network. 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
  4. ↑ "Del Ray's ToTo! Series end with Volume 5". Powell's Books. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  5. ↑ "トト! The Wonderful Adventure (1)" [ToTo! The Wonderful Adventure (1)] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Toto! 1". Random House, Inc. Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  7. ↑ "トト! The Wonderful Adventure (2)" [ToTo! The Wonderful Adventure (2)] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Toto! 2". Random House, Inc. Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  9. ↑ "トト! The Wonderful Adventure (3)" [ToTo! The Wonderful Adventure (3)] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  10. ↑ "Toto! 3". Random House, Inc. Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ "トト! The Wonderful Adventure (4)" [ToTo! The Wonderful Adventure (4)] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Toto! 4". Random House, Inc. Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  13. ↑ "トト! The Wonderful Adventure (5)" [ToTo! The Wonderful Adventure (5)] (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Toto! 5". Random House, Inc. Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  15. ↑ Aoki, Deb (May 12, 2008). "Toto! The Wonderful Adventure Volume 1". About.com. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
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