Fantasista (manga)

Fantasista (ファンタジスタ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Michiteru Kusaba. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday from July 1999 to March 2004. Its chapters were collected and published in twenty-five tankōbon volumes. A sequel manga, Fantasista Stella (ファンタジスタステラ), was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from October 2012 to August 2015, which was collected into fourteen tankōbon volumes. A 3-episode anime OVA, produced by Xebec, was broadcast on Tokyo MX from December 8 to December 22, 2015. The episodes were released on DVD with volumes 8, 9, and 10 of the manga from September 2014 to February 2015.

Story
The story follows Teppei Sakamoto, a country boy, who is a lover of soccer. His sister teaches him all about the game, then suggests he join the Mizumoto High School Soccer team to follow his dreams.

Characters

 * Teppei Sakamoto (坂本轍平)


 * Keisuke Honda (本田圭佑)


 * Atsushi Kondo (近藤敦)


 * Ryuji Morikawa (森川竜司)


 * Kaoru Okita (沖田薫)


 * Rui Okubo (大久保塁)

Manga
Fantasista is written and illustrated by Michiteru Kusaba. The series started in issue #35 of Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday, where it ran from July 28, 1999 to March 3, 2004. The series was collected into twenty-five tankōbon volumes published by Shogakukan, released from January 18, 2000 to May 18, 2004 (which were reprinted from June 18, 2014 to May 18, 2015  ), and thirteen bunkoban volumes from November 15, 2008 to October 15, 2009. The sequel, Fantasista Stella, started in issue #45 of Weekly Shōnen Sunday, where it ran from October 10, 2012 to August 19, 2015. The series was collected into fourteen tankōbon volumes, released from January 18, 2013 to November 18, 2015.

Original video animation
A 3-episode OVA adaptation of Fantasista Stella, produced by Xebec and directed by Hideya Takahashi, was broadcast on Tokyo MX from December 8 to December 22, 2015 as part of Anime Sunday Theater. The episodes were released on DVD along with volumes 8, 9, and 10 of the manga from September 18, 2014 to February 18, 2015.