They Were Eleven

{{Short description|Japanese science fiction manga series and its adaptations}}

{{Infobox animanga/Header

| image = File:TheyWere11.png

| caption = Cover of the 2019 reissued collected edition

| ja_kanji = 11人いる！

| ja_romaji = Jūichinin Iru!

| genre = Science fiction, suspense

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Print

| type = manga

| author = Moto Hagio

| publisher = Shogakukan

| publisher_en = {{English manga publisher |NA=Denpa}}

| demographic = Shōjo manga

| magazine = Bessatsu Shōjo Comic

| first = {{start date|1975|9}}

| last = {{end date|1975|11}}

| volumes = 1

| volume_list =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Print

| type = manga

| title = {{unbulleted list|{{Transliteration|ja|Zoku Jūichinin Iru!}}|{{Transliteration|ja|Higashi no Chihei, Nishi no Towa}}}}

| author = Moto Hagio

| publisher = Shogakukan

| publisher_en = {{English manga publisher |NA=Denpa}}

| demographic = {{Transliteration|ja|Shōjo}}

| magazine = Bessatsu Shōjo Comic

| first = {{start date|1976|12}}

| last = {{end date|1977|2}}

| volumes = 1

| volume_list =

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = special

| director = Tōru Minegishi

| producer =

| writer = Mamoru Sasaki

| music = Ryōhei Hirose

| studio =

| network = NHK

| released = {{film date|1977|1|2}}

| runtime = 45 minutes

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Video

| type = film

| director = {{unbulleted list|Satoshi Dezaki|Tsuneo Tominaga}}

| producer =

| writer = {{unbulleted list|Toshiaki Imaizumi|Kazumi Koide}}

| music = Yasuhiko Fukuda

| studio = Magic Bus

| licensee = {{English anime licensee |NA=Central Park Media}} (expired)

| released = {{film date|1986|11|1}}

| runtime = 91 minutes

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Other

| title = Stage plays

| content =

They Were Eleven
Axel: June 25, 2004 – July 11, 2004
Axel: December 26, 2008 – January 12, 2009
Studio Life: February 5, 2011 – March 27, 2011
Studio Life: January 10, 2013 – January 20, 2013
Studio Life: May 18, 2019 – June 2, 2019
Sequel manga series
Studio Life: February 28, 2013 – April 7, 2013
Morning Musume '16: June 11, 2016 – June 26, 2016

}}

{{Infobox animanga/Audio

| title =

| director =

| producer = {{unbulleted list|Yoshiaki Imanishi|Shima Yoshida}}

| writer = Hikari Onodera

| music =

| studio =

| released = {{start date|2013|9|25}}

| episodes = 8

| episode_list =

}}

{{Nihongo|They Were Eleven|11人いる！|Jūichinin Iru!|lead=yes}} is a Japanese science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Moto Hagio. It was serialized in three issues of Shogakukan's Bessatsu Shōjo Comic magazine in 1975. The following year, it won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award in the combined Shōjo manga and Shōnen manga category. The series has inspired a live-action television film, an anime film, multiple stage plays, and an audio drama CD. It also inspired a sequel manga series, {{Nihongo||続・11人いる！東の地平・西の永遠|Zoku Jūichinin Iru! Higashi no Chihei, Nishi no Towa|"They Were Eleven, Continued: Horizon of the East, Eternity of the West"}}, serialized in Bessatsu Shōjo Comic magazine from 1976 to 1977. They Were Eleven was originally licensed in English by Viz Media in floppy comics format in 1995, and published in the manga anthology Four Shōjo Stories in 1996. The series and its sequel have been licensed by Denpa for a new English-language release in 2022. The anime film was originally licensed in English by Central Park Media, but it was discontinued in 2004.

Story

Ten young space cadets are put onto a decommissioned spaceship as their final test. If they pass this test, their lifelong dreams of being valued people in their respective societies will come true. Their orders are to survive as long as they can with what they have. Once they arrive at the ship, they find that their crew has gained an eleventh member—and no one can remember the original lineup well enough to recognize which of them is the newcomer.

As the days pass, the eleven cadets must deal with their suspicions of each other as well as the sudden knowledge that the spaceship is in a decaying orbit around a star, which is causing the temperature on the ship to rise. With this rise in temperature, a sickness begins to spread among the crew as they work to stabilize their orbit and determine who among them is the spy.

Media

=Manga=

They Were Eleven was serialized in the September, October, and November issues of Shogakukan's Bessatsu Shōjo Comic magazine in 1975.{{cite encyclopedia |script-title=ja:11人いる！ |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/11%E4%BA%BA%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B%21-715733 |encyclopedia=Digital Daijisen Plus |publisher=Shogakukan |access-date=December 21, 2019 |language=ja |via=Kotobank}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:萩尾望都 11人いる！：萩尾望都作品目録 |url=https://www.hagiomoto.net/works/057.html |website=Moto Hagio Works Library |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:【1970～80年代】ベツコミ作品年表 |url=https://ebookjapan.yahoo.co.jp/content/genre/nenpyo/label_betsukomi/1970_80.html |website=eBookJapan |publisher=Yahoo! Japan |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja}} Shogakukan collected the individual chapters, along with three unrelated short stories by Hagio, into a single {{Transliteration|ja|bunkoban}} volume published on July 20, 1976.{{cite web |script-title=ja:11人いる！ |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M299512 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja}}{{cite book |script-title=ja:11人いる！―SFロマン傑作選 (小学館文庫 712) |publisher=Shogakukan |id={{ASIN|4091907121|country=jp}} |language=ja}} Shogakukan has since reissued They Were Eleven several times: in 1978,{{cite web |script-title=ja:11人いる！ 1 |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M232951 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja}} 1986,{{cite web |script-title=ja:11人いる！ : 萩尾望都スペースワンダー (プチフラワーコミックススペシャル) |url=https://ndlonline.ndl.go.jp/#!/detail/R300000001-I000001820770-00 |website=NDL Online |publisher=National Diet Library |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja}} 1994,{{cite web |script-title=ja:11人いる！ 1 |url=https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09191011 |website=Shogakukan |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja}} 2007,{{cite web |script-title=ja:萩尾望都パーフェクトセレクション3：11人いる！ |url=https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09131209 |website=Shogakukan |date=August 24, 2007 |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225191404/https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09131209 |url-status=dead }} and 2019.{{cite web |script-title=ja:萩尾望都スペースワンダー：11人いる！復刻版 |url=https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09179285 |website=Shogakukan |date=March 26, 2019 |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja}} Viz Media originally licensed the series for an English-language release in North America, published in four floppy volumes in 1995, and then in the now out-of-print anthology Four Shōjo Stories in 1996.{{cite web |last1=Garrity |first1=Shaenon K. |author-link1=Shaenon K. Garrity |title=Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga Special Guest Edition: Love Song and Four Shojo Stories |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/house-of-1000-manga/2013-04-11 |website=Anime News Network |access-date=November 10, 2019 |date=April 11, 2013}} In 2021, Denpa re-licensed the series for publication, set for the second quarter of 2025.{{cite tweet|user=denpa_books|number=1375601918777589763|title=And our last new license announcement for this season is Moto Hagio's THEY WERE ELEVEN! -Complete-|date=March 26, 2021|access-date=March 26, 2021}}{{cite web |last=Hazra |first=Adriana |title=Denpa Licenses Moto Hagio's They Were Eleven Manga |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-03-27/denpa-licenses-moto-hagio-they-were-eleven-manga/.171191 |website=Anime News Network |access-date=April 2, 2021 |date=March 27, 2021}}{{cite web |title=They Were 11! (Paperback) |url=https://www.penguinbookshop.com/book/9781634428156 |website=Penguin Bookshop |access-date=27 February 2025}} They Were Eleven is also licensed by Ediciones Tomodomo in Spain{{cite web |title=¿Quién es el 11º pasajero? de Moto Hagio |url=https://www.ediciones-tomodomo.com/quien-es-el-11-pasajero |website=Ediciones Tomodomo |access-date=November 26, 2019 |language=es}} and by Japonica Polonica Fantastica in Poland.{{cite web |title=Było ich jedenaścioro |url=http://www.mangarden.pl/pl/p/Bylo-ich-jedenascioro/119 |website=mangarden.pl |access-date=November 26, 2019 |language=pl}}

==Sequel==

A sequel manga series, titled {{Nihongo||続・11人いる！東の地平・西の永遠|Zoku Jūichinin Iru! Higashi no Chihei, Nishi no Towa|"They Were Eleven, Continued: Horizon of the East, Eternity of the West"}}, was serialized in the December, January, and February issues of Bessatsu Shōjo Comic magazine in 1976 and 1977.{{cite journal |last1=Thorn |first1=Rachel |author-link1=Rachel Thorn |title=The Moto Hagio Interview |publisher=Fantagraphics Books |journal=The Comics Journal |issue=269 |date=2005 |location=Seattle |url=http://www.matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/hagio_interview.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113194502/http://www.matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/hagio_interview.php |archive-date=January 13, 2016 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:萩尾望都続・11人いる！―東の地平・西の永遠：萩尾望都作品目録 |url=https://www.hagiomoto.net/works/066.html |website=Moto Hagio Works Library |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja}} Shogakukan collected the individual chapters into a single {{Transliteration|ja|bunkoban}} volume published on August 20, 1977.{{cite web |script-title=ja:続・11人いる！ |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M299495 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja}}{{cite book |script-title=ja:11人いる！ (続) (小学館文庫 714) |publisher=Shogakukan |id={{ASIN|4091907148|country=jp}} |language=ja}} Shogakukan has since reissued {{Transliteration|ja|Zoku Jūichinin Iru!}} several times: first in 1978,{{cite web |script-title=ja:東の地平西の永遠 1 |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/M232950 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja}} and later in collected editions of They Were Eleven published in 1986, 1994, 2007, and 2019. In 2021, Denpa licensed the sequel series for an English-language release in North America, set to be published in the second quarter of 2025.

=Live-action film=

A 45-minute live-action television film adaptation of the manga was broadcast in Japan on January 2, 1977, as part of the NHK's Shōnen Drama Series.{{cite web |script-title=ja:映像化・舞台化作品 11人いる！ |url=https://www.hagiomoto.net/etc/media/eleven.html |website=Moto Hagio Works Library |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:11人いる！[DVD] |url=https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B000E0VPLE |website=Amazon Japan |date=February 24, 2006 |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |title=Amazon.co.jp }} The film's screenplay was written by Mamoru Sasaki. It starred Taizō Sayama as Tada and the Takarazuka Revue's Haruka Yamashiro as Frol.

=Anime film=

A 91-minute anime film adaptation of the manga was released in Japan on November 1, 1986.{{cite web |last1=Sevakis |first1=Justin |title=Buried Treasure – They Were 11 |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/buried-treasure/2008-02-14 |website=Anime News Network |access-date=November 10, 2019 |date=February 14, 2008}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:11人いる！ (アニメーション) |url=https://mediaarts-db.bunka.go.jp/id/C410085 |website=Media Arts Database |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |access-date=April 2, 2021 |language=ja}} It was licensed by Central Park Media in North America and released on VHS with English subtitles in the early 1990s.{{cite book |last1=Stuckmann |first1=Chris |author-link1=Chris Stuckmann |title=Anime Impact: The Movies and Shows that Changed the World of Japanese Animation |date=April 15, 2018 |publisher=Mango Publishing |location=Miami, Florida |isbn=978-1-63353-732-3 |page=87 |chapter=1986: They Were Eleven}} It was re-released on VHS with a newly produced English dub in 1996 and on DVD with dual language audio tracks in 2004.{{cite web |last1=Macdonald |first1=Christopher |title=January CPM Releases |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2003-10-20/january-cpm-releases |website=Anime News Network |access-date=November 10, 2019 |date=October 20, 2003}} Central Park Media discontinued their home video release in 2004.{{cite web |last1=Macdonald |first1=Christopher |title=Discontinued CPM Titles |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2004-08-09/discontinued-cpm-titles |website=Anime News Network |access-date=November 10, 2019 |date=August 9, 2004}} The New York company MYC & Associates liquidated the anime license in 2009.{{cite web |last1=Loo |first1=Egan |title=Central Park Media's Licenses Offered by Liquidator |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-06-08/central-park-media-licenses-offered-by-liquidator |website=Anime News Network |access-date=November 10, 2019 |date=June 8, 2009}}

==Cast==

Tadatos Lane (Tada): Akira Kamiya (Japanese), Curtis Jones (English)
Frolbericheri Frol (Frol): Michiko Kawai (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)
King Mayan Baceska (His Majesty): Hideyuki Tanaka (Japanese), Steven Blum (English)
Doricas Soldam IV (Fourth): Toshio Furukawa (Japanese), David Hayter (English)
Ganigus Gagtos (Ganga): Tesshō Genda (Japanese), Dean Elliot (English)
Amazon Carnias (Amazon): Hirotaka Suzuoki (Japanese), Steven Blum (English)
Vidminer Knume (Knu): Norio Wakamoto (Japanese), Joe Romersa (English)
Colonel Glenn Groff (Mule): Michihiro Ikemizu (Japanese), Henry Malloy (English)
Dolph Tasta (Red nose): Kōzō Shioya (Japanese), Steven Blum (English)
Toto Ni (Toto): Tarako (Japanese), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English)
Chaco Kacka (Chaco): Tsutomu Kashiwakura (Japanese), Dean Allen (English)

==Staff==

Director: Satoshi Dezaki, {{ill|Tsuneo Tominaga|ja|冨永恒雄}}
Executive Producer: {{ill|Hidenori Taga|ja|多賀英典}}
Original Story: Moto Hagio
Planning: {{ill|Shigekazu Ochiai|ja|落合茂一}}
Screenplay: Toshiaki Imaizumi, Katsumi Koide
Animation Director: Keizo Shimizu
Character Design: Akio Sugino, Keizo Shimizu
Effects Director: Kenichi Maejima
Mechanical Design: Yōichi Yajima
Art Director: {{ill|Junichi Higashi|ja|東潤一}}
Cinematography: Nobuo Koyama
Audio Director: Shigeharu Shiba
Music Director: Zen Oikawa
Music: Yasuhiko Fukuda
Theme Song: "Boku no Honesty", {{ill|Shinichirō Kawakami|ja|川上進一郎}}
Producer: Minoru Kotoku
Production: Magic Bus, Kitty Films

=Stage plays=

They Were Eleven has been adapted into several stage plays in Japan. The first, performed by the all-male acting troupe {{ill|Axel (theater troupe)|lt=Axel|ja|アクサル}}, ran from June to July 2004;{{cite web |script-title=ja:アクサル第3回公演「11人いる！」 |url=http://www.blue-shuttle.com/axle/stage03_cast.shtml |website=Axel's Official Website |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja|title=Axle official website}} the second, performed by Axel, ran from December 2008 to January 2009;{{cite web |script-title=ja:アクサル第9回公演「11人いる！」 |url=http://www.blue-shuttle.com/axle/stage09_schedule.shtml |website=Axel's Official Website |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja|title=Axle official website}} the third, performed by the all-male acting troupe {{ill|Studio Life|ja|スタジオライフ}}, ran from February to March 2011;{{cite web |script-title=ja:男優集団が萩尾望都「11人いる！」舞台化、東名阪で上演 |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/41511 |website=Comic Natalie |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |date=December 3, 2010}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:『11人いる！』舞台化決定 |url=http://flowers.shogakukan.co.jp/news/news_101127c.html |website=Monthly Flowers |access-date=November 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128034858/http://flowers.shogakukan.co.jp/news/news_101127c.html |archive-date=November 28, 2010 |language=ja |url-status=dead}} the fourth, performed by Studio Life, ran throughout January 2013;{{cite web |last1=Loo |first1=Egan |title=Moto Hagio's They Were Eleven Sequel Gets Stage Play |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-11-05/moto-hagio-they-were-eleven-sequel-gets-stage-play |website=Anime News Network |access-date=June 27, 2018 |date=November 5, 2012}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:「11人いる！」続編も舞台化、萩尾望都が田中芳樹と語る |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/79438 |website=Comic Natalie |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |date=November 5, 2012}} and the fifth, performed by Studio Life, ran from May to June 2019.{{cite web |script-title=ja:スタジオライフ×萩尾望都「音楽劇 11人いる！」に関戸博一・松本慎也ら |url=https://natalie.mu/stage/news/329108 |website=Stage Natalie |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |date=April 23, 2019}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:宇宙飛行の行方は？スタジオライフ×萩尾望都「音楽劇 11人いる！」開幕 |url=https://natalie.mu/stage/news/332004 |website=Stage Natalie |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |date=May 19, 2019}}

The sequel manga series has also been adapted into two stage plays in Japan: one performed by Studio Life, which ran from February to April 2013, and another performed by the female idol group Morning Musume '16, which ran throughout June 2016.{{cite web |last1=Ressler |first1=Karen |title=Morning Musume Idols Star in Stage Play of Moto Hagio's They Were Eleven Sequel |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-04-16/morning-musume-idols-star-in-stage-play-of-moto-hagio-they-were-eleven-sequel/.101112 |website=Anime News Network |access-date=November 10, 2019 |date=April 16, 2016}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:萩尾望都「続・11人いる！」が舞台に、モーニング娘。'16ら出演で6月上演 |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/183752 |website=Comic Natalie |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |date=April 15, 2016}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:舞台「続・11人いる！」会見、モ娘。小田さくら「原作ファンの母喜ばせたい」 |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/184906 |website=Comic Natalie |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |date=April 15, 2016}}

=Audio drama=

An audio drama adaptation of the manga was produced by the drama CD label E-Star and released in Japan on September 25, 2013. It starred Atsushi Abe as Tada, Kazutomi Yamamoto as Frol, Kōsuke Toriumi as King Mayan Baceska, and Daisuke Kishio as Doricas Soldam IV.{{cite web |script-title=ja:11人いる、パープル・アイ、やじきた学園のドラマCD同発 |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/100068 |website=Comic Natalie |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |date=September 25, 2013}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:ドラマＣＤ『 11人いる！』 |url=http://www.eigeki.jp/estar/11niniru.html |website=eigeki.jp/estar |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja}}{{cite web |script-title=ja:『11人いる！』キャストインタビュー |url=http://www.eigeki.jp/estar/interview_11ninniru.html |website=eigeki.jp/estar |access-date=November 10, 2019 |language=ja |date=September 6, 2013}}

Reception

In 1976, They Were Eleven won the 21st (1975) Shogakukan Manga Award in the combined Shōjo manga and Shōnen manga category.{{cite web |url=https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/kako/ |script-title=ja:小学館漫画賞：歴代受賞者 |website=Shogakukan |language=ja |access-date=November 10, 2019}}