Date A Live

Date A Live
Cover of Date A Live Volume 1 as published by Fujimi Shobo featuring Tohka Yatogami
デート・ア・ライブ (Dēto A Raibu)
Genre	Science fantasy
Light novel
Written by	Kōshi Tachibana
Illustrated by	Tsunako
Published by	Fujimi Shobo
Imprint	Fujimi Fantasia Bunko
Magazine	Dragon Magazine
Demographic	Male
Original run	March 19, 2011 – present
Volumes	17
Manga
Date AST Like
Illustrated by	Kakashi Oniyazu
Published by	Fujimi Shobo
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	March 9, 2012 – December 9, 2013
Volumes	4
Anime television series
Directed by	Keitaro Motonaga
Produced by	Chiaki Kurakane
Written by	Hideki Shirane
Music by	Go Sakabe
Studio	AIC Plus+ (season 1) Production IMS (season 2)
Licensed by	AUS: Madman Entertainment NA: Funimation
Original network	JAITS, Tokyo MX, AT-X, TwellV, Animax
Original run	March 31, 2013 – present
Episodes	22 + 2 OVAs
Video games
Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (2013) Date A Live: Ars Install (2014) Date A Live Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation (2015)
Anime film
Date A Live Movie: Mayuri Judgement
Directed by	Keitaro Motonaga
Written by	Hideki Shirane
Studio	Production IMS
Released	August 22, 2015

Date A Live (Japanese: デート・ア・ライブ, Hepburn: Dēto A Raibu) is a Japanese light novel series written by Kōshi Tachibana and illustrated by Tsunako. An anime adaptation series was broadcast on AT-X throughout April–June 2013. Each episode was streamed in lower quality on Niconico a week before its TV premiere. The series continued its broadcast run with Date A Live II from April–June 2014. A film adaptation premiered on August 22, 2015. A new anime series announced.

Plot

See also: List of Date A Live characters

The series begins with a strange phenomenon called a "spatial quake" devastating the center of Eurasia, resulting in at least 150 million casualties. For the next 30 years, smaller spatial quakes plague the world on an irregular basis. In the present, Shido Itsuka, a seemingly ordinary high school student comes across a mysterious girl at the ground zero of a spatial quake. He learns from his adoptive sister Kotori that the girl is one of the "Spirits" from different dimensions who are the real cause of the spatial quakes that occur when they manifest themselves in the real world. He also learns that Kotori is the commander of the airship Fraxinus, crewed by the organization Ratatoskr, and is recruited to make use of his mysterious ability to seal the Spirits' powers thus stopping them from being a threat to mankind. However, there is a catch: to seal a Spirit's power, he must make her fall in love with him and make her kiss him. Shido's intelligent classmate, Origami Tobiichi, is a sergeant of the AST (Anti-Spirit Team), a special unit designed to suppress the threat posed by Spirits. As Shido successfully keeps sealing more and more Spirits, he gains allies to help him with his dates with other Spirits. Shido also increases the competition among them for his attention and affection, much to his chagrin.

Media

Light novels

Date A Live was originally released as a light novel. It is a light novel series written by Kōshi Tachibana with illustrations by Tsunako. The first volume was published on March 19, 2011 under Fujimi Shobo's Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Seventeen volumes have been released in Japan.

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	March 19, 2011	978-4-0407-1045-7
2	August 20, 2011	978-4-0407-1046-4
3	November 19, 2011	978-4-0407-1050-1
4	March 17, 2012	978-4-0407-1047-1
5	August 17, 2012	978-4-0407-1048-8
6	December 20, 2012	978-4-0407-1049-5
7	March 19, 2013	978-4-0407-1030-3
8	September 20, 2013	978-4-0407-1044-0
9	December 20, 2013	978-4-0471-2974-0
10	March 20, 2014	978-4-0407-0066-3
11	September 20, 2014	978-4-0407-0143-1
12	June 20, 2015	978-4-0407-0151-6
13	October 20, 2015	978-4-0407-0694-8
14	March 19, 2016	978-4-0407-0695-5
15	September 17, 2016	978-4-0407-0927-7
16	March 18, 2017	978-4-0407-0928-4
17	August 19, 2017	978-4-0407-0929-1

Manga

A manga adaption of Date A Live with illustrations by Ringo began on April 16 of 2012. Due to Ringo having health problems, the manga was cancelled after 6 chapters. The adaptation ended covering only a part of Shido's first date with Tohka.

A new manga adaptation began serialisation in the January 2014 issue of Shōnen Ace, this time with illustrations done by Sekihiko Inui. It was recently announced that the third volume of the manga will be the last. The third volume will be shipped by Kadokawa throughout Japan this winter.

Anime

Main article: List of Date A Live episodes

The anime adaptation is directed by Keitaro Motonaga and produced by AIC PLUS+. The series was streamed in lower quality on Niconico, with each episode available a week before its TV premiere. The first episode was streamed on March 31 and aired on Tokyo MX on April 6, 2013. The final, 12th episode was streamed on Niconico on June 16 and aired on Tokyo MX on June 22.

The opening theme is titled "Date A Live" (デート・ア・ライブ, Dēto A Raibu) sung by sweet ARMS, a vocal group consisting Iori Nomizu, Misuzu Togashi, Kaori Sadohara, and Misato. The series makes use of four ending themes: "Hatsukoi Winding Road", by Kayoko Tsumita, Risako Murai and Midori Tsukimiya; "Save The World", "Save My Heart" and "Strawberry Rain" (ストロベリーレイン), all three by Iori Nomizu.

Following the TV broadcast of the final episode of the first season, a second season was set for April 2014. The opening theme is sung by sweet ARMS titled "Trust in You" and the ending theme is sung by Kaori Sadohara titled "Day to Story". The animation production was held by Production IMS. An unaired episode will be bundled with the third volume of the Date A Live Encore short story collection to be released on December 9, 2014.

The anime has been licensed by Funimation for streaming and home video release in North America and by Madman Entertainment for home video release in Australia. In his Twitter account, Tachibana announced Date A Live would get a new anime series.

Film

An animated theatrical film was announced via the official Twitter account of the television series as the airing of the second television season concluded.

On the event of "Date A Live II", the staff unveiled that the movie will be titled as Date a Live The Movie: Mayuri Judgement (劇場版 デート ア ライブ 万由里ジャッジメント, Gekijōban Dēto A Raibu: Mayuri Jajjimento) and will premiere in August 22, with an original story supervised by the original light novel author, Koushi Tachibana. Nobunaga Shimazaki, the voice actor of Shido Itsuka, introduced a silhouette of the new title character, named Mayuri (万由里, Mayuri). During the events of "Tohka's Birthday" on 10 April, Sora Amamiya was confirmed to be voicing Mayuri.

Video games

A video game named Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (デート・ア・ライブ　凜祢ユートピア, Dēto A Raibu Rinne Yūtopia) produced by Compile Heart and Sting Entertainment released on June 27, 2013 for the PlayStation 3. A promotional video was shown at Anime Contents Expo 2013. The game features a new original character named Rinne Sonogami (園神 凜祢, Sonogami Rinne), voiced by Kana Hanazawa. A PlayStation Vita version of the game was released in Summer 2015, and features new characters and scenarios.

Another video game, titled Date A Live: Ars Install (或守インストール), was released in June 2014, featuring another new character named Maria Ars (或守 鞠亜, Arusu Maria), voiced by Suzuko Mimori. A new installment for both PlayStation 3 games, named Date A Live Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation (デート・ア・ライブ Twin Edition 凜緒リンカーネイション, Dēto A Raibu Tsuin Edishon Rio Rinkāneishon) produced by Compile Heart and Sting Entertainment was released on July 30, 2015 for the PlayStation Vita. It is a de facto sequel with new characters and new scenarios. The game will features the Yamai Sisters, Miku Izayoi, Rinne Sonogami, Maria Ars, as well as Marina Ars, and a new original character named Rio (凜緒, Rio), voiced by Ayane Sakura. A promotional video was shown at the events of Date A Fes II.

Reception

The first volume of the first anime season placed eighth place amongst Blu-ray sales in Japan during its debut week within the Oricon charts. The PS3 game Date A Live: Rinne Utopia sold 23,340 physical retail copies within the first week of release in Japan. Until October 2015, the series reached a total of 4 million copies sold.

External links

• Official website
• Date A Live at Fujimi Shobo Template:Ja icon
• Date A Live (light novel) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia