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Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō
	First tankōbon volume cover
ケンコー全裸系水泳部ウミショー
Genre	Romantic comedy
Manga
Written by	Mitsuru Hattori
Published by	Kodansha
Imprint	Shōnen Magazine Comics
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	July 13, 2005 – April 23, 2008
Volumes	9
Anime television series
Directed by	Kōichirō Sōtome
Written by	Mamiko Ikeda
Music by	Yasumasa Satou
Studio	Artland
Original network	Tokyo MX, TVS, Chiba TV, TV Aichi, TVO
Original run	July 4, 2007 – September 26, 2007
Episodes	13

Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō (ケンコー全裸系水泳部ウミショー, lit. 'Healthy All-nude Swim Team Seacats Commerce High') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from July 2005 to April 2008, with its chapters collected in nine tankōbon volumes. A 13-episode anime television series, produced by Artland and directed by Kōichirō Sōtome, was broadcast from July to September 2007.

Plot

Within the Kanagawa prefecture lies the seaside city of Umineko. There, Kaname Okiura, a student in his second year of high school, attends Prefectural Umineko Commercial High School (県立海猫商業高等学校, Kenritsu Umineko Shōgyō Kōtō Gakkō), or Umishō (海商) for short. He is also the manager of the high school swim team though he himself does not know how to swim. In fact, he is afraid of the water stemming from an incident which occurred some years ago. While he was at the beach, he had nearly drowned when a "mermaid" pulled him under the water. He joined the school's swimming club in order to learn how to swim, but the club is filled with weirdos, who do not teach him swimming.

One day, a floating house arrives at the shores of Umishō bearing two persons. One of these is a cheerful, sunny, happy-go-lucky girl named Amuro Ninagawa, a transfer student, and the other is her father. Her incredible swimming speed makes her an instant hit with the swimming club, but Kaname is surprised, as she reminds him of the mermaid he saw only once in his early childhood. After her floating house is destroyed during a storm she moves to Kaname's house.

The fictional island of Onoshima (緒ノ島), where the series is set, is modeled on the real island of Enoshima in Fujisawa, Kanagawa.

Characters

Amuro Ninagawa (蜷川あむろ, Ninagawa Amuro): Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki; Second year student, and a new transfer student from the Daito Islands, Okinawa at Umishō. Despite her being a dedicated and skilled swimmer, she finds difficulties in performing at competitions due to her not being used to the rules and environment of professional swimming (for instance, in her first attempt at swimming in a pool, she bumped her head on the pool's edge on the opposite end from where she started, and cried for some time from the headache, since she was used to swimming in the open ocean). Among her other uncommon habits, she prefers swimming nude, and has no shame of doing so, especially around Kaname.
Kaname Okiura (沖浦要, Okiura Kaname): Voiced by: Toshiyuki Toyonaga; Second year student, and the swimming team's manager. He had a traumatic experience involving a creature he describes as a mermaid during his childhood, and after which he has been afraid of swimming ever since. However this scenario started to change after Amuro's arrival at Umishō. Always in trouble due to Amuro's unpredictable behavior, he usually denies his growing feelings for her.
Momoko Orizuka (織塚桃子, Orizuka Momoko): Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame; Third year student, and vice-captain of the swimming team. The most rational and serious character, she serves as the straight man of most characters and cannot stand the antics of Masa.
Maki Ikuta (生田蒔輝, Ikuta Maki): Voiced by: Ai Shimizu; A first year student, nicknamed Makio (マキオ). Too small for her age, she is usually mistaken as a junior high student. Despite being a member of the swimming team, she is still learning how to properly swim by taking lessons from Kaname.
Masa Ikariya (碇矢雅, Ikariya Masa): Voiced by: Makoto Yasumura; Team Captain, nicknamed Ikamasa. Third year, muscle-bound, and obsessed with shaving his and other people's body hair, and with wearing revealing Speedo bikini swim suits. He is, in fact, the most annoying character of the swim team, driving most of the characters crazy from his antics.
Mirei Shizuoka (静岡みれい, Shizuoka Mirei): Voiced by: Yukari Fukui; A second year. Admired by the boys, she is very self-conscious when people stare at her. Her secret promiscuity is a recurring gag in the series: she wears skimpy lingerie under her clothes, she has a collection of kokeshis (Japanese dolls) in her bedroom and although she does not like people looking at her, she likes to look at members of the opposite sex or anything that resembles them (ie a giant statue or a large horn). It is revealed when Kaname goes to her house that apparently she got this sexual behavior from her parents, who often engage in sexual roleplay. She is a very skilled swimmer as she almost won the Kantou Tournament in 200 meters the year before the series starts. Her grandfather is the creator of the Shizu Group. She also has feelings for Kaname, however it is uncertain.
Maaya Nanako (魚々戸真綾, Nanako Maaya): Voiced by: Sayuri Yahagi; First year student. A famous swimmer and model who transfers to Umishō in order to get close to Kaname, for whom she has had a crush since childhood. She considers Amuro as a rival and competes with her for Kaname's attention. She has a noticeable small fang and wears a swimsuit different from the rest of the team. Like Maki she has small breasts, and has a huge contempt for girls with big breasts like Amuro and Mirei. She forms an "Alliance" with Maki to help make their breasts grow.
Sanae Kise (黄瀬早苗, Kise Sayane): Voiced by: Ryōko Shintani; A third year student. A co-founder of Umisho's swimming club and Momoko's childhood friend. Usually tends to bring trouble to those around her. She also makes up stories and lies just to tease others, and to also gain other guys attention.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori, Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from July 13, 2005,^[a] to April 23, 2008.^[b] Kodansha collected its 129 chapters in nine tankōbon volumes, released from January 17, 2006,^[6] to June 17, 2008.^[7]

Anime

A 13-episode anime television series produced by Artland, directed by Kōichirō Sōtome and written by Mamiko Ikeda, aired on Tokyo MX, Television Saitama, Chiba TV, TV Aichi and TV Osaka, from July 4 to September 26, 2007.^[8]^[c] The opening theme is "Dolphin☆Jet" by Ayane, and the ending theme is "Splash Blue ~ Taiyō to Remonēdo" (Splash BLUE〜太陽とレモネード, "Splash Blue: Sun and Lemonade") by Ayumi Murata.^[8]

Episodes

No.	Title	Original air date ^[8]
1	"Churaumi!" Transliteration: "Churaumi!" (Japanese: ちゅらうみっ!)	July 4, 2007 (2007-07-04)
This introduces the characters and the setting. On the beach, Okiura Kaname and Kaname Okiura are relaxing when they discover Amuro Ninagawa boarding a houseboat. She is holding a 3-foot-long (0.91 m) shark in her hand. She comes in and offers the shark to Momoko. Momoko refuses, saying she does not like a dead shark. Amuro says the shark is still alive. It then springs to life in Amuro's hand and tries to bite Momoko, but ends up tearing Momoko's swimsuit top off. Then Amuro dives into ocean, seemingly vanishing, only to emerge some distance into the waters within seconds, impressing everyone, especially Momoko.
2	"I Might Be... Interested..." Transliteration: "Kyōmi... Aru... Kamo..." (Japanese: 興味････ある･･かも･･･)	July 11, 2007 (2007-07-11)
Amuro is introduced to the swim team after being invited to join by Orizuka. Amuro meets the rest of the Umisho swim team members; she mistakes Makio for a middle-school student, for example, and makes a note of Shizuoka's chest size (much to Shizuoka's embarrassment). Ikamasa introduces himself in typically embarrassing fashion. The next day, Amuro and a reluctant Kaname walk to school together (they are neighbors) and this causes some comment among the rest of the school. Swim practice is show to be, at best, unproductive. The normally shy Shizuoka keeps saying things to Kaname that could be misinterpreted. On the way home, Amuro discovers a new local celebrity by accident.
3	"I'll Show You!" Transliteration: "Miseru!" (Japanese: 魅せる!!!)	July 18, 2007 (2007-07-18)
The team attends the local "tri-meet" swim competition in a neighboring town, and is showing poorly (all the boys finish in last place). When it is Amuro's turn (50m Freestyle), she easily outpaces the other swimmers but is disqualified as no one had told her that she had to surface after 15 meters. Umisho ends up in last place in the meet. There is time for a break from school activities and while Kaname would like to spend the time playing video games, Amuro shows up and drags Kaname to the beach—partially to show Kaname her new string bikini. Kaname wonders whether or not they are on a date. At the beach, they meet up with Ikamasa who is busy pranking beachgoers in a realistic shark costume. He asks if Kaname and Amuro are on a date. In a postscript to the episode, Ikamasa is having trouble focusing on the upcoming swim meet as his family Japanese restaurant is experiencing competition from a trendy new eatery next door. The team tries to come up with ideas to help, eventually settling on having the female swim team members wait tables in their swimsuits -- an idea rather surprisingly suggested by Shizuoka. This goes over rather well with the male clientele (although not so much with the girls) and the restaurant is profitable as never before. The girls are roped into a second evening waiting tables but it all starts to go wrong when Ikamasa and his father get greedy.
4	"I'm Going to Show You" Transliteration: "Misete Agerunda kara" (Japanese: 見せてあげるんだから)	July 25, 2007 (2007-07-25)
After the team's poor showing at the Tri-Meet, vice-captain Orizuka decides that what the team needs to succeed is teamwork, and a training camp is just the thing. Typically, the training itself starts out like just another practice with much goofing-off and little actual practice. Orizuka becomes enraged and begins to whip the team into shape but all this changes when she is fed a "poisonous" mushroom from Ikamasa's backyard grill. She soon begins to act oddly, stripping off her swimsuit. When Ikamasa (the ostensible team captain) is told to stop her -- he joins her instead. After the practice the girls adjourn to the bath (where Orizuka claims not to remember a thing), they are not joined by Shizuoka who is hiding a secret. She goes to the bath after the girls are finished, but the boys are next in line for the bath and Shizuoka is in danger of being caught -- when the power at the school suddenly goes out due to a storm. Meanwhile, some of the girls have gone to Amuro's house for snacks and are trapped there by the same storm -- which washes Amuro's houseraft (with Amuro, Makio and Orizuka on board) out to sea.
5	"Do You Want Mine, Too?" Transliteration: "Atashi no mo hoshii" (Japanese: あたしのもほしい)	August 1, 2007 (2007-08-01)
With their houseraft wrecked by the storm, Amuro and her father are invited by Kaname's parents to stay at their house until repairs can be made. While initially interested in having a girl living at his place, Kaname soon becomes infuriated at Amuro's lack of understanding about privacy and her total lack of modesty. The next morning, Kaname and Amuro are accompanied on a morning walk to a local temple by Amuro's father who is in need of building materials. Amuro's father begins to take items from the temple itself, to Kaname's horror. We see Shizuoka in the temple itself, learning that she goes there to look at the statuary. She hides from Amuro, who barges into the temple with Kaname in tow and Amuro proceeds to eat the temple offerings. She is discovered when she overhears Amuro and Kaname and totally misunderstands their conversation. Later, Kaname tells Amuro off for being so carefree. Amuro runs away and while chasing her, Kaname runs into Amuro's father who fills Kaname in on some of Amuro's troubled background. Unable to find Amuro, Orizuka, Makio and Ikamasa accompany Kaname for support.
6	"No!" Transliteration: "Me!" (Japanese: めっ!)	August 8, 2007 (2007-08-08)
The Ninogawa houseraft reconstruction is proceeding smoothly. On the way to school, Amuro meets Maaya Nanako, a model and competitive swimmer. They are soon surrounded by a crowd which includes Kaname, who apparently was childhood friends with Maaya (although they have differing memories of said childhood). She has transferred to Umishou and will be on the swim team. It soon becomes apparent that Maaya is a master manipulator, particularly of men, although Kaname is apparently immune. At swim practice, Maaya soon has the other male members of the team wrapped around her finger. Because of her own inadequate feelings compared to the other female members of the team (who are all bustier than she is), she convinces the boys to build a new changing room for her alone. It all goes rather poorly for then entire team.
7	"Curse" Transliteration: "Noroi" (Japanese: 呪い)	August 15, 2007 (2007-08-15)
There is only one week left until the Prefectural swim tournament. But there's a problem; Amuro has lost one of the "X"s she wears on her head. Given to her by her grandmother, Amuro was warned that she was to wear them all the time and Amuro would be cursed if they were lost. Amuro is basically unable to function without it. The X was blown off her head by a gust of wind as she was diving into the pool, and a merry chase ensues as the team chases down the X so that Amuro will be able to compete. It finally lands on Maaya (who was skipping practice) and she throws it away in a fit of jealousy when informed that it belongs to Amuro. Fearing the X lost for good, the team tries many options to replace the X so that Amuro will feel better. Of course, none work so the team, prompted by Kaname, decides to resume the search. Along the way, Shizuoka finds something she really wants, Sanae finds someone she really wants, and the team must finally resort to going to a temple to ask for divine intervention.
8	"Take a Good Look" Transliteration: "Yo~ku Mitenasai" (Japanese: よ〜く見てなさい)	August 22, 2007 (2007-08-22)
The Prefectural tournament is the next day. Orizuka orders the team to have a good rest in preparation, and the team breaks for the day. However, Ikamasa requests that the boys come to a meeting that evening in the girls' club room. However, the meeting has nothing to do with swimming; Ikamasa has always dreamt of playing Mahjongg in the girls' room and since the girls will not be back until morning, now was his chance. The boys realize that they have never been in the girls' change room and, since the girls are less than kind to the boys, they decide (against Kaname's wishes) do a little exploring. This does not go over well with Orizuka, who discovers them the next morning. On the day of the tournament, Orizuka is challenged by her old rival Nanjou Karena from Shinomiya University High School who has bested Orizuka at all their previous meetings. The Shinomiya girls have a strong team, but Orizuka is convinced that Umishou is just as strong. However, the on the boys side there is somewhat less enthusiasm. As the girls' events unfold, Umishou beats Shinomiya in five straight events but with Orizuka, Amuro and Nanjou all competing in the 100m Freestyle finals, Nanjou comes up with a little bet to make things more interesting.
9	"Help Me Forget..." Transliteration: "Wasuresasete..." (Japanese: 忘れさせて...)	August 29, 2007 (2007-08-29)
The Umishou team had a good showing at the Prefectural tournament, with seven swimmers progressing to the Kantou tournament. However, Orizuka is forced to go to the student council to have the swim team's budget increased for the trip. In the meantime,on their walk home from school, Sanae explains to Makio, Amiuro and Kaname that it would be easier to increase the budget if they had an adult advisor. In her own way, Sanae tells how she, Orizuka, Ikamasa and an adult coach formed the swim team. Kaname, who has heard Sanae tell this story before, says the story has changed since the last time he heard it. However, he has not heard why the coach left, and Sanae continues with more than a bit of a yuri twist. However, Orizuka meets up with the trio (while Sanae sneaks away) and tells her own version of the story, correcting Sanae's version on more than a few points. In an episode postscript, Makio proposes that the team get an Internet homepage. After a false start it becomes wildly successful once Makio sees what people are looking for on the Internet.
10	"Breast Massage?" Transliteration: "Nyū Nyū?" (Japanese: にゅうにゅう?)	September 5, 2007 (2007-09-05)
It is time for the Ono Island Summer Festival. Amuro and Kaname are enjoying the sights when they are mey by Maaya, who insists that Kaname spend the festival with her instead of Amuro. However, Kaname still has bad recollections of Maaya bullying her as a child. His refusal is interpreted by Maaya as an insult towards her small bust size and she runs off. Kaname and Amuro are then joined by the rest of the female members of the team, while the angry Maaya is met by Makio. Makio confesses to Maaya that she is also concerned about her small bust and that she "would just once like to zip through the wind with her boobs". While she initially dismisses the idea, Maaya becomes intrigued when Makio tells her about a "secret technique" to increase bust size, and the duo retires to the ladies' room. Meanwhile, the rest of the members find Ikamasa manning his father's fishing booth at the festival. While the fish are expensive (Ikamasa's father will cook any fish caught) the games are rigged. That is for everyone except for Amuro. Through a turn of events Kaname finds himself competing against Amuro and her father at a watermelon eating contest. Back at the ladies' room, Maaya and Makio corner Shizuoka on why her bust is so large. We return to the watermelon-eating contest where Kaname is determined to win—the penalty for losing is a drop into a dunk tank. The episode post-script follows male swim team members Takeda, Tsunime and Jun through the festival on their quest to meet "cute girls". The girls they meet, however, are not who they expected.
11	"Could It Be..." Transliteration: "Masaka no..." (Japanese: まさかの････)	September 12, 2007 (2007-09-12)
It is a week to the Kantou tournament. Maaya gives the team an idea: if they win, Kaname is to do anything the swimmers tell him to do because, after all, "managers have it easy". While initially reluctant, Kaname eventually agrees as it will help with team morale. The team makes it through a weeks' training and arrives at the hotel at Kantou. They discover that the hotel has an open-air bath. The Umishou team is surprised by the appearance of Nanjou and the Shinomiya team who immediately challenge them to a contest: the first team whose members all stand up from the hot spring must shave their "under hairs" in front of the losing team. The next day is the preliminary swim meet but the female team members of both Umishou and Shinomiya are suffering somewhat from the previous night's competition -- prolonged exposure to the heat of the bath has sapped the team members of their energy and all place poorly. Most affected is Maaya, who is crushed by her seventh-place showing and runs away. However, Shizuoka finds her by accident and gives Maaya a pep talk to bring her around and show that losing is not the end of the world.
12	"Oma Oma" Transliteration: "Oma Oma~" (Japanese: おまっおま〜♪)	September 19, 2007 (2007-09-19)
It is the second day of the Kantou tournament. Renergized, the team begins to come together again and scores several victories in the preliminaries. Amuro reminds Kaname of the promise he made: if the team members win their events, he is to do whatever they tell him to. Takeda suggests to Kaname that Amuro might want a kiss. Amuro spots the members of the Tamatsuka Academy team who will be competing against Umishou in the Medley Relay preliminaries. Tamatsuka has a large contingent and Amuro is greeted warmly (very warmly) by the leader of the team. Amuro then discovers that there is free swim practice and dives straight into the pool where she collides with the Tamatsuka swimmer -- who does not seem to recognize her and runs away. Chasing the swimmer into the change room, Amuro catches her again, but this time the girl is on a mobile and ignores Amuro completely. Confused, Amuro leaves the ladies room and again collides with the Tamatsuka swimmer -- coming from the opposite direction as the one who had just left. All is revealed at the start of the Medley Relay: the Tamatsuka competitors are quadruplets. However, the Tamatsuka team has another trick up their sleeves: the cheering section is actually a choir and they begin to sing the school song to synchronize their swimmers. Ikamasa gets the wrong idea from this and just begins to sing as a way to cheer; Makio and Amuro quickly follow suit singing whatever they feel like. As the swimmers come toward the final leg, Shizuoka catches up to the Tamatsuka team, but Orizuka (swimming anchor leg) is late to leave. To make matters worse, she suffers a leg cramp. Finally, the Umishou team gets it together singing the Ono Island Dance Song. This (plus a surprise from Ikariya) is enough to throw off the Tamatsuka singers and Orizuka has a chance to catch up. It is a pyrrhic victory, however, as Orizuka's cramp turned into a pulled muscle which not only knocks her out of the medley competition but has a chance of endangering her swimming career.
13	"Mermaid" Transliteration: "Ningyo" (Japanese: 人魚)	September 26, 2007 (2007-09-26)
It is the Medley Relay Finals. Amuro has been chosen to replace Orizuka on the team. At the end of the first leg, Umishou, Tamatsuka and Shinomiya are neck and neck. Sanae, swimming breast stroke, falls behind Tamatsuka and Shinomaya into seventh place. However, Shizuoka, swimming butterfly, quickly gains several places and Amuro is set as anchor with her signature, unique "mermaid" style. Miraculously, she catches the other teams and pulls out a come-from-behind victory. With this win as the basis, several more swimmers (including Ikariya) make it to the Inter-High competition. For Sanae and Orizuka, the episode ends with them reflecting on their three years on the Umishou team. For Amuro and Kaname, however, things end differently. Amuro reminds Kaname about the bargain -- he has to do anything she wants. Kaname still believes she will want a kiss, and prepares himself. However, Amuro simply wants to go swimming with Kaname. It is revealed, when Kaname slips into the water accidentally, that Amuro is indeed the mermaid he saw several years before on Okinawa and she saved him when he slipped from the rock on which he was standing. The next day, at practice, everyone else begins to demand their own rewards, and when Amuro asks for hers, Kaname reveals that she got hers already. This causes an uproar and the accusation that the two are dating. Kaname denies it, but when asked by Makio, Amuro simply replies, "you guys found out?". An extended end-credits scene presents a series of stills (essentially scenes from the manga) showing the team traveling to Okinawa for the Inter-High Tournament.

Internet radio

An internet radio version of the anime series, Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō: Junbi Undō (ケンコー全裸系水泳部ウミショー準備運動), was first streamed on the Japanese websites Ōnsen and BEWE from May 16 to June 27, 2007. A continuation, Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō: Natsu!! Honban (ケンコー全裸系水泳部ウミショー夏!!本番), began streaming on July 4, 2007. The first version of the series featured Hitomi Nabatame, voice actor of Momoko Orizuka, while the continuation featured Nabatame and Aki Toyosaki, voice actor of Amuro Ninagawa.^[10]

Video game

A video game developed by 5pb. Inc., titled Umishō (ウミショー), was released for the PlayStation 2 on November 22, 2007.^[11]

Notes

^ The series started in the magazine's 33rd issue of 2005 (cover date July 27),^[2] released on July 13 of the same year.^[3]
^ It finished in the magazine's combined 21st–22nd issue (cover date May 14),^[4] released on April 23 of the same year.^[5]
^ Tokyo MX listed the air dates for the series on Tuesday at 26:00, which is effectively Wednesday at 2:00 a.m. JST.^[9]