Ai Shite Knight, or Night (original title: 愛してナイト) is a shōjo manga created in the early 1980's by the late Kaoru Tada. An anime version of the story in 42 episodes was also produced in 1983-1984 by Toei Animation, and features episodes supervised by Shingo Araki (a well-known character designer who worked on many other Toei series, such as Majokko Megu-chan, Hana no Ko Lunlun, and Saint Seiya). The anime also became extremely popular in Europe with the title "Rock'n'roll kids" in Germany, "Embrasse-moi, Lucile" in France, and "Kiss me Licia" in Italy, as well as "Bésame Licia" in Spanish. In fact, the anime series was so popular in Italy that it spawned a domestically-produced live-action teen soap opera, which ran for 145 episodes through four seasons ("Love me Licia," "Licia, dolce Licia," "Teneramente Licia," and "Balliamo e cantiamo con Licia") on Italian TV from 1986 to 1988. Pop singer/actress Cristina D'Avena, who performed the Italian theme song to the anime series, played Licia (Yakko) in the live-action version. The Bee Hive in Italy and Switzerland became idols of teenagers. Thet got a few gold and platinum discs. The Bee Hive members were: vox Mirko Pasquale Finicelli, keyboards Satomi Sebastian Harrison, drum Matt Manuel De Peppe, bass Steve Marco Bellavia, guitar Paul (Luciano De Marini). The Bee Hive official website is * [1] 2nd English edition of InuYasha Vol. ... Kaoru Tada (多田かおる Tada Kaoru, September 25, 1961 - March 11, 1999) was a Japanese manga artist. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan_(bordered). ... Shueisha ) is a major publisher in Japan, headquartered in Tokyo. ... Bessatsu Margaret (magazine) Bessatsu Margaret (or Betsuma for short) is a shōjo manga magazine published monthly in Japan by Shueisha. ... Tankōbon ) is the Japanese term for a compilation volume of a particular series (such as a manga or a novel series, magazine articles, essays, craft patterns, etc. ... Braun HF 1, Germany, 1958 Casio TV-470 pocket color television (RadioShack Pocketvision 25 in the US) Television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) Anime ) (IPA pronunciation: in Japanese, but typically or in English) is an abbreviation of the word animation. Outside Japan, the term most popularly refers to animation... Toei Animation Co. ... TV Asahi building in Roppongi Hills TV Asahi Corporation (EX, 株式会社 テレビ朝日, Kabushiki Gaisha Terebi Asahi) TYO: 9409 is a television network operating in Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Shōjo or shoujo (少女 lit. ... Kaoru Tada (多田かおる Tada Kaoru, September 25, 1961 - March 11, 1999) was a Japanese manga artist. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) Anime ) (IPA pronunciation: in Japanese, but typically or in English) is an abbreviation of the word animation. Outside Japan, the term most popularly refers to animation... Toei Animation Co. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Saint Seiya also known as Knights of the Zodiac ) is a manga and anime series about a group of five mystical warriors called the Saints (or Knights) who have adopted various constellations as their guardian symbols. ... Manuel De Peppe was born in Milan, Italy, in 1970. ...

"Ai Shite Knight" is set in Osaka, and tells the story of Yaeko "Yakko" Mitamura ("Luciana" or "Licia" in the Italian and Spanish versions, "Lucile" in the French version of the anime), an 18 year old girl working in her father's Okonomiyaki restaurant. One day Yakko casually meets a little boy, Hashizo ("Andrea" in the Italian version, "Benjamin" in French, "Jorge" in Spanish), and his odd cat Juliano ("Romeo" in the French version, "Miko" in the Spanish one). Hashizo has lost both parents when still a baby and has been brought up by his elder brother. Hashizo's brother Go Kato ("Mirko" in Italy, "Joe" in Germany, "Mathias" in France, "Sergio" in Spanish) is the lead singer of the emerging rock band "Bee Hive". When Yakko meets Go and his friend and "Bee Hive" member Satomi Okawa ("Tristan" in French, "Sammy" in German) an unexpected series of events unfolds. Osaka ) is the capital of Osaka Prefecture and the third-largest city in Japan, with a population of 2. ... A man prepares modanyaki in a restaurant in Hiroshima, Japan Cheese (above) and Shrimp Okonomiyaki fully seasoned with Okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, katsuobushi and aonori in Osaka, Japan Lantern beckons customers into an okonomiyaki restaurant Okonomiyaki ) is a type of Japanese pan-fried batter cake with various ingredients. ...

Whereas the main narrative of "Ai Shite Knight" is essentially based on a love story, interesting and innovative elements were introduced by Kaoru Tada, most notably the portrayal of the Japanese music scene in the early '80s. In creating characters such as Go, Satomi and their band "Bee Hive", Tada was inspired by successful bands of the time such as "The Stalin", "Novela", "Primadonna" and "44 Magnum". Tada also plays with sexual provocation and ambiguity, mainly embodied by the character of "Kiss Relish" vocalist Katzuma Kataoka/Sheila, although these elements were considerably toned down in the anime version of the story. The Stalin were a punk rock band formed in Tokyo, Japan in 1980 by lead singer Michiro Endo. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) Anime ) (IPA pronunciation: in Japanese, but typically or in English) is an abbreviation of the word animation. Outside Japan, the term most popularly refers to animation...

The anime based on "Ai Shite Knight" also presents some changes in the storyline and modifications in the characters, and covers only one part of the story narrated by Tada in the manga. Famous voice actress and pop idol Mitsuko Horie provided the voice of Yakko in the anime. It is a widespread opinion that, although the quality of the animation is not thoroughly consistent, its quality is fairly high (reaching its peak in the episodes where Shingo Araki was involved), and it's effective in conveying to the viewer the timeframes and places in which events occur. 2nd English edition of InuYasha Vol. ... Mitsuko Horie is a seiyuu and singer famous in Taiwan. ...

One notable difference between the manga and anime is in the characters' hair colors. The hair of both Yakko and Hashizou is frequently shown as blond in Tada's colorized manga artwork. In the anime, Hashizou has blue hair and Yakko has reddish-brown hair. However, Yakko was drawn as a blonde in the anime's opening sequence, which perhaps confused some European viewers who hadn't read or heard of the original manga.

Music

The main reason why the anime version of "Ai Shite Knight" is particularly famous is because it features, for the first time ever, original songs within the episodes, performed by "Bee Hive" and the rival band "Kiss Relish". The songs were so successful to be released in an album. Joe Hisaishi, who has composed the music for Hayao Miyazaki's movies, collaborated in writing and arranging the songs. The original songs featured in the anime are: Joe Hisaishi (久石 譲 Hisaishi Jō, born December 6, 1950) is a composer and director responsible for over 100 soundtracks and conventional albums dating back to 1981. ... Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿, Miyazaki Hayao), born January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, is a director of Japanese animated films. ...

Performed by "Bee Hive"

• Rockin' all Night
• Fire
• Midnight Rock'n'Roll Star
• Lonely Boy
• Baby, I Love You
• Freeway
• Someday on Sunday
• Love Again

Performed by "Kiss Relish"

• Let Me Feel
• Boxer

Versions of the songs in several languages exist because of the popularity of "Ai Shite Knight" outside of Japan.

External links

In English

• Technical details on the "Ai Shite Knight" anime

In Italian

• Sito ufficiale dei Bee Hive
• Detailed and accurate information on both the manga and the anime, hosted by Neko BonBon
• A guide hosted by Shoujo Italia
• Noriko's pages on "Ai Shite Knight"
• The first Italian "Ai Shite Knight/Kiss Me Licia" fansite, includes MP3s of the songs
• http://italiantf.altervista.org/licia.htm - an Italian site with information on "Love Me Licia," the live-action follow-up to the anime series

In German

• A comprehensive guide to the German adaptation of "Ai Shite Knight"

In French

• "Embrasse-moi Lucile" fansite
• From the French anime encyclopedia
• Another "Embrasse-moi Lucile" fansite