Ahiru no Sora

Ahiru no Sora (あひるの空) is a Japanese basketball-themed manga series written and illustrated by Takeshi Hinata. It has been serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine since December 2003, with its chapters collected in 51 tankōbon volumes as of June 2019. A 50-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Diomedéa was broadcast from October 2019 to September 2020.

Plot
Sora Kurumatani made a promise to his mother, "I will dominate my first high school tournament". But as he joins the basketball club after entering Kuzuryū High School, he finds out that it's become a stomping ground for delinquents. A place where everything but basketball is done, but with Sora's genuine zeal for basketball, things begin to stir.

Characters

 * Sora Kurumatani (車谷空)


 * Momoharu Hanazono (花園百春)


 * Chiaki Hanazono (花園千秋)


 * Kenji Natsume (夏目健二)


 * Kaname Shigeyoshi (茂吉要)


 * Shinichi Yasuhara (安原真一)


 * Ryuhei Nabeshima (鍋島竜平)


 * Masahiro Saki (茶木正広)


 * Madoka Yabuchi (薮内円)


 * Nao Nanao (七尾奈緒)


 * Yuka Kurumatani (車谷由夏)


 * Shinichi Chiba (千葉真一)


 * Tokitaka Tokiwa (常盤時貴)


 * Tarō Kabachi (蒲地太郎)


 * Shingo Katori (香取真吾)


 * Yukinari Kojima (児島幸成)


 * Katsumi Takahashi (高橋克己)


 * Sei Shiraishi (白石誠)


 * Shigenobu Yakuma (八熊重信)


 * Hyou Fuwa (不破豹)


 * Yozan Kamiki (上木鷹山)


 * Shōgi Satsuki (五月正義)


 * Tomohisa Kurumatani (車谷智久)


 * Yone Kurumatani (車谷ヨネ)


 * Kamaike (鎌池)

Manga
Ahiru no Sora, written and illustrated by Takeshi Hinata, began in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine on December 10, 2003. In January 2019, Hinata announced that the manga has entered its final arc. Kodansha has compiled its chapters into individual tankōbon. The first volume was published on May 15, 2004. As of June 17, 2019, fifty-one volumes have been released.

Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on February 28, 2018. The series is directed by Shingo Tamaki, with Keizō Kusakawa serving as chief director, and written by Gō Zappa, with animation by Diomedéa. Character designs are provided by Yoshino Honda, and Hiroaki Tsutsumi is composing the music. The series aired from October 2, 2019 to September 30, 2020 on TV Tokyo, AT-X, and BS TV Tokyo. It ran for four cours. The opening theme song is "Happy Go Ducky!" by the Pillows, while the ending theme song is "Tsubasa" by saji. The second opening theme song is "Never Mind" by Flumpool, while the ending theme song is "Over" by Yuma Uchida.

Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series worldwide excluding Asia. The Dubcast premiered on November 13, 2019. Muse Communication has licensed the series in Asia-Pacific and streamed it on Muse Asia YouTube channel and Netflix.

Reception
Several volumes of the series appeared on Oricon's list of best-selling manga volumes from 2009 to 2011. It was the 23rd best-selling manga series in Japan in 2011, with 1,739,105 copies sold. By February 2018, the manga had over 24 million copies in circulation.