Mouse (manga)

Mouse (stylized as MØUSE) is a Japanese manga series written by Satoru Akahori and illustrated by Hiroshi Itaba. It was serialized in Hakusensha's manga Young Animal from 1999 and 2004, with its chapters collected in fourteen  volumes. A 12-episode anime television series, directed by Yorifusa Yamaguchi and animated by Studio Deen was broadcast in 2003. The anime series was licensed in North America by Media Blasters.

Plot
For 400 years, there was a family of thieves stealing money and priceless property, particularly those items that were originally illegally stolen. The main motivation is that anything and everything can be stolen, no matter how much they protect that item. And in those years, that thief was only known by one name, Mouse.

In the latest version, a young college art teacher named Muon Sorata is the latest to take up the name of Mouse. He is surrounded by three highly devoted and attractive assistants who help him pull off heists of art museums and landmark towers. The thieves have the power and resources to steal entire buildings and take structures out to sea but never get caught. Mouse is also known for not abandoning those who serve him, even if it means his capture.

Mouse Team

 * Sorata Muon (無音 宙太)
 * A college art teacher who is actually a thief under the name "Mouse". He follows a 400-year tradition as Mouse and will not abandon those who serve him. As Mouse, Sorata has access to a vast arsenal of vehicles and machines to help him, all of which are hidden underneath the college where he works. At school he is usually seen messing up with his teacher duties, gaining a stern lecture from Mei, Yayoi and Hazuki (with everyone unaware of their relationship with him). He is a popular teacher, gaining attraction from many of his female students. Though he usually tries to avoid having sex, after becoming drunk he obtains a limitless libido, sleeping with countless women, as well as wearing out the usually sex driven Mei, Yayoi and Kakio with no sights of slowing down; however after he sobers up, he does not remember anything he did. He is friends with Inspector Minami and his daughter Rika, who he sees like a family, though they are unaware he is Mouse.
 * A college art teacher who is actually a thief under the name "Mouse". He follows a 400-year tradition as Mouse and will not abandon those who serve him. As Mouse, Sorata has access to a vast arsenal of vehicles and machines to help him, all of which are hidden underneath the college where he works. At school he is usually seen messing up with his teacher duties, gaining a stern lecture from Mei, Yayoi and Hazuki (with everyone unaware of their relationship with him). He is a popular teacher, gaining attraction from many of his female students. Though he usually tries to avoid having sex, after becoming drunk he obtains a limitless libido, sleeping with countless women, as well as wearing out the usually sex driven Mei, Yayoi and Kakio with no sights of slowing down; however after he sobers up, he does not remember anything he did. He is friends with Inspector Minami and his daughter Rika, who he sees like a family, though they are unaware he is Mouse.


 * Mei Momozono (桃園 メイ)
 * A computer and physics expert, who works at the college's physics department as a math teacher. She had been trained since childhood to be the servant to Sorata, but decided that she would not follow Mouse blindly until she saw him herself, even planning to kill herself if she was made to follow a man she did not respect. When she was injured during a mission, she made the choice to follow Sorata with her heart when he would not abandon her, in spite of her insistence that he do. Her grandfather is the chairman of the school, though the school itself is owned by the Muon family. As the first servant to meet Sorata, she is incredibly loyal to him. As the series progressed she came to realize that she is in love with him, showing jealousy when he goes on dates and being the most worried during his more dangerous heists.
 * A computer and physics expert, who works at the college's physics department as a math teacher. She had been trained since childhood to be the servant to Sorata, but decided that she would not follow Mouse blindly until she saw him herself, even planning to kill herself if she was made to follow a man she did not respect. When she was injured during a mission, she made the choice to follow Sorata with her heart when he would not abandon her, in spite of her insistence that he do. Her grandfather is the chairman of the school, though the school itself is owned by the Muon family. As the first servant to meet Sorata, she is incredibly loyal to him. As the series progressed she came to realize that she is in love with him, showing jealousy when he goes on dates and being the most worried during his more dangerous heists.


 * Yayoi Kuribayashi (栗林 弥生)
 * A biology expert, so skilled that when she was hired on to the research team, they made sure to staff the team with only females just for her, and is also the college's nurse. When she was a college student, Yayoi was cursed with a fear of men so great that she goes into panic attacks whenever she even sees a man. So she was curious that her classmate, Mei Momozona, engaged in an intimate relationship with a student she was tutoring, Sorata Muon. But later, when a valuable sample was targeted by Mouse to be stolen, Yayoi found herself trapped when one of her panic attacks triggered a major fire in the lab she was in. It was Sorata, who was really Mouse, who had rescued her and allowed her to come out of her shell. She is one of his most devoted servants, and is always trying to make him some concoction to give him more sexual energy. Of Mouse's three servants, Yayoi is the most sexually driven, regularly showing a strong masochistic-side from various fantasies of bondage and the likes with Mouse.
 * A biology expert, so skilled that when she was hired on to the research team, they made sure to staff the team with only females just for her, and is also the college's nurse. When she was a college student, Yayoi was cursed with a fear of men so great that she goes into panic attacks whenever she even sees a man. So she was curious that her classmate, Mei Momozona, engaged in an intimate relationship with a student she was tutoring, Sorata Muon. But later, when a valuable sample was targeted by Mouse to be stolen, Yayoi found herself trapped when one of her panic attacks triggered a major fire in the lab she was in. It was Sorata, who was really Mouse, who had rescued her and allowed her to come out of her shell. She is one of his most devoted servants, and is always trying to make him some concoction to give him more sexual energy. Of Mouse's three servants, Yayoi is the most sexually driven, regularly showing a strong masochistic-side from various fantasies of bondage and the likes with Mouse.


 * Hazuki Kakio (柿生 葉月)
 * An expert martial arts fighter, who is also the college's physical education instructor. There are several personalities within her, from a mischievous child to a brave fighter. When Hazuki foolishly tested a memory-erasing machine and her many personalities were programmed into its computer, Sorata went in to save her by going in himself. While Sorata went in search of the Kakio family treasure, he discovered Hazuki in what seemed to be a debilitated, emotionally fractured, and dissociated state where she was forced to be completely cut off from the rest of the world. By gaining her trust and promising never to leave her as her family had, Sorata was about to uncover the secret and truth behind the Kakio family treasure. She has a habit of appearing in the strangest places (bathroom, washing machine, etc) while wearing only a kinbaku as well as having a penchant for cosplay.
 * An expert martial arts fighter, who is also the college's physical education instructor. There are several personalities within her, from a mischievous child to a brave fighter. When Hazuki foolishly tested a memory-erasing machine and her many personalities were programmed into its computer, Sorata went in to save her by going in himself. While Sorata went in search of the Kakio family treasure, he discovered Hazuki in what seemed to be a debilitated, emotionally fractured, and dissociated state where she was forced to be completely cut off from the rest of the world. By gaining her trust and promising never to leave her as her family had, Sorata was about to uncover the secret and truth behind the Kakio family treasure. She has a habit of appearing in the strangest places (bathroom, washing machine, etc) while wearing only a kinbaku as well as having a penchant for cosplay.

School

 * Mr. Fuyuharu
 * Principal of the school and grandfather to Mei. He is very proud to be serving the Muon family as well as taking care of the school, which the Muon family owns. He often asks Sorata if there is anything he could possibly do to be of service to him, and becomes really worried if he believes he has done something to upset him.


 * Machiko Tsukioka
 * She seems to be the leader of three girls that attend Sorata's art class and are fans of the notorious Mouse. She has obvious feelings for Sorata, getting jealous at the thought of him having a girlfriend.

Police

 * Captain Onizuka Heitaro
 * He is completely driven to capture Mouse at all cost. He gets extremely angry at how the media always poses Mouse as something of a hero figure and how Mouse always manages to escape.


 * Masatoshi Minami
 * The Captain's assistant and does his best to try to calm the Captain's outbursts when trying to capture Mouse. He has a daughter named Rika and is friends with Sorata, but he is unaware of his true identity.

Other

 * Rika Minami
 * Nine-year-old daughter of Inspector Minami and friends with Sorata. She is unaware that Sorata is Mouse though she has a crush on him, stating that she will become his bride once she grows up. She owns a golden-hair cat that Mouse stole and gave to her for her birthday after dying its hair black (though he told her in secret what it really was).


 * Natsuko Muon
 * She is Sorata's step mother that seems to have a lustful attraction to her step son not unlike his slaves. She is only four years older than he is and she revealed that before she became Sorata's stepmother, she was one of his father's slaves, sparking hope in Mei, Yayoi and Kakio at the idea to being more than a slave to him.

4S
An organization originally created to protect valuable artwork out of the hands of thieves. However, the organization has lost its way and has become the largest black market dealers of stolen artwork as well as assassins. They are the primary antagonists in the series.

Manga
Written by Satoru Akahori and illustrated by Hiroshi Itaba, Mouse was serialized in Hakusensha's manga magazine Young Animal from November 26, 1999, to September 10, 2004. Hakusensha collected its chapters in fourteen volumes, released from April 28, 2000, to October 29, 2004. An extra prequel volume, titled Mouse: Bakumatsu-den (マウス ～幕末伝～), was published on December 20, 2005.

Novel
A novel written by Gō Zappa and illustrated by Itaba was published by Fujimi Shobo on January 31, 2003.

Anime
A 12-episode anime television series, television series directed by Yorifusa Yamaguchi, written by Hiroyuki Kawasaki, produced by Media Factory and animated by Studio Deen, was broadcast on Chiba TV, TV Saitama, TV Kanagawa, MTV, and Kids Station from January 6 to March 24, 2003. The opening theme song is "Mouse Chu Mouse" (マウス Chu マウス) and the ending theme song "Intellimouse" (い・ん・て・り MOUSE), both performed by Under17.

In North America, the anime was licensed by Media Blasters. The series was released on two DVD sets on April 13 and June 15, 2004, respectively. A complete DVD set was released on December 19, 2006.

Episodes

 * Note: All episodes are labeled as "Steal".