Suzuka

Suzuka (涼風) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Kouji Seo. The series is a character-driven romance story that uses the athletics of track and field as a subplot.

The series was first serialized in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine published by Kodansha. It was later adopted into a 26-episode anime series co-produced by Studio Comet and Marvelous Entertainment. Both the manga and the anime series are licensed in North America by Del Rey Manga and FUNimation Entertainment respectively.

Plot
Suzuka is a sports-themed romance comedy that intertwines the pursuit of love and athletics. The story is based around Yamato Akitsuki, a young man from rural Hiroshima Prefecture moving to the big city of Tokyo, and his new next-door neighbor, Suzuka Asahina, a skilled high jumper. Yamoto falls in love with Suzuka and pursuing a relationship with her he joins the track and field team hoping to impress her. After joining, Yamoto discovers that he has the potential to become a top hundred-meter sprinter.

Suzuka's character-driven plot predominantly makes use of dramatic structure to facilitate character development. Characterization is further achieved through the use of character back-story. The story in general employs a realistic tone, but occasionally uses surreal humour. Some events covered in the story are: track competitions, vacations, culture festivals, and outings to a Karaoke Box and a theme park. The manga and anime follow the same storyline, though there are minor differences. One of these changes is that the nude scenes are less graphic in the anime than the manga. Another disparity is the hair color of some of the characters such as the character Miki, who is depicted as having bright red hair on the covers of the manga, but is portrayed with red-brown hair in the anime.