Drifting Net Cafe

• Name — Drifting Net Cafe • Ja Kanji — 漂流ネットカフェ • Ja Romaji — Hyōryū Netto Kafe • Genre — Science fiction, mystery, romance

• Type — manga • Author — Shūzō Oshimi • Publisher — Futabasha • Imprint — Action Comics • Magazine — Manga Action • First — February 28, 2009 • Last — June 28, 2011 • Volumes — 7

• Type — drama • Director — Hajime Takezono Takashi Fujio • Network — TBS / MBS • First — April 15, 2009 • Last — June 24, 2009 • Episodes — 11 Drifting Net Cafe is a Japanese seinen manga illustrated and written by Shūzō Oshimi that was serialized in the manga magazine, Manga Action. Drifting Net Cafe is a science fiction mystery involving a group of patrons trapped in an internet café, which has become a strange universe of its own. The story focuses primarily on the relationship between Koichi Toki, a salaryman who leads a trouble-free but unexciting life, and Kaho Tono, his first love whom he never forgot. Like many of Oshimi's works, the plot and message of this manga reflects the author's unforgettable experiences of his own, particularly with his first love. Drifting Net Cafe also explores themes such as morality around human instinctive behavior, and features explicit themes. The manga was adapted into a TBS television series on April 15, 2009, and stars Atsushi Itō as Koichi Toki.

Koichi Toki is an office worker or salaryman with a wife. He works hard to bring food home and leads a rather simple and boring life. During a work trip, he decides to spend time in an internet cafe, where he meets an ex-schoolmate after not seeing each other for a while. In the same cafe, several clients begin to have problems with their computers and the cellular signal disappears. The group of clients together with the manager of the place, Toki and his partner are trapped, to discover that they are in a mysterious place that is not Japan. The group suffers from disagreements, several escalations of anger and despair trying to survive while Toki and his friend's relationship progresses little by little.

The manga was serialized in Futabasha's Manga Action and the 63 chapters were compiled into 7 volumes from February 28, 2009 to June 28, 2011. The defunct American publisher JManga licensed the manga and released the first volume in August 2011. The name of the manga is a reference to Kazuo Umezu's The Drifting Classroom, which it is a retelling of. The manga has also been published in Spain by Milky Way Ediciones.

The series was released in a 4-disc DVD boxset on August 5, 2009. The ending theme「Brave Heart (Remix)」by MAY'S was released as a single on April 22, 2009.

• Atsushi Itō – Koichi Toki • KIKI – Kaho Tono • Reina Asami – Yukie Toki • Shinpei Takagi – Atsushi • Masahiro Toda – Osawa • Mai Takahashi – Kazumi Kato • Takahiro Hojo – Takashi Matsuda • Reo Yoshitake – Kameda • Kazumi Urano – Miku • Hidekazu Nagae – Terasawa • Yuko Mano – Sachiko Imai • Go Riju – Kensuke Kajimachi • Miyu Watanabe – Saori Mizuno • Shusuke Tsumura – Satomura

• File — On Air (Kansai Time) — On Air (Kanto Time) — Subtitle — Ratings (Kansai) — Ratings (Kanto) • 1 — Apr 10, 2009 00:00–00:30 — Apr 15, 2009 00:44–01:14 — Drift (漂流) — 5.0 — 3.3 • 2 — Apr 17, 2009 00:15–00:45 — Apr 22, 2009 00:29–00:59 — To a Forest (森へ) — 3.9 — 3.4 • 3 — Apr 24, 2009 00:00–00:30 — Apr 29, 2009 00:29–00:59 — Tom Sawyer (トムソーヤ) — 2.9 — 3.7 • 4 — May 1, 2009 00:00–00:30 — May 6, 2009 00:29–00:59 — Toki & Tono (土岐と遠野) — 4.7 — 2.0 • 5 — May 8, 2009 00:00–00:30 — May 13, 2009 00:29–00:59 — Seeds of Hope (希望の種) — 2.7 • 6 — May 15, 2009 00:00–00:30 — May 20, 2009 00:29–00:59 — Dead World (死んだ世界) — 3.4 — 2.5 • 7 — May 22, 2009 00:00–00:30 — May 27, 2009 01:09–01:39 — Crack (亀裂) — 3.0 — 1.7 • 8 — May 29, 2009 00:00–00:30 — June 3, 2009 00:29–00:59 — Experimental (実験) — 3.5 — 2.5 • 9 — June 5, 2009 00:00–00:30 — June 10, 2009 00:29–00:59 — McEnroe (マッケンロー) — 4.4 — 2.1 • 10 — June 12, 2009 00:00–00:30 — June 17, 2009 00:29–00:59 — End of the World (世界の終わり) — 2.7 • Final (11) — June 19, 2009 00:00–00:30 — June 24, 2009 00:29–00:59 — I'm Home (ただいま) — 2.0

• File — On Air (Kansai Time) — Ratings (Kansai) • 1 — Aug 11, 2009 13:53–14:55 — 3.3 • 2 — Aug 12, 2009 13:53–14:55 — 2.6 • 3 — Aug 13, 2009 13:53–14:55 — 3.2 • 4 — Aug 17, 2009 13:53–14:55 — 3.0