Neighborhood Story (Japanese: ご近所物語, Hepburn: Gokinjo Monogatari) is a manga by Ai Yazawa. It was published by Shueisha from 1995 to 1998 in the magazine Ribon. It was adapted by Toei Animation as a 50-episode anime series which aired on TV Asahi from September 10, 1995, to September 1, 1996, with merchandise created by Bandai. There was a movie made in 1996, and a drama CD and soundtrack were also produced. Starting on September 19, 2005, Gokinjo Monogatari began being republished in a deluxe edition.

Story

Mikako Kōda and Tsutomu Yamaguchi are students who attend Yazawa Art Academy, a special high school for the arts in Tokyo (named after the author, who makes a cameo appearance as the school’s principal). They reside in the same apartment building where they have built a long-standing friendship since infancy. However, as has been humorously pointed out by their apartment manager, Mikako and Tsutomu’s feelings have undergone an unmistakable metamorphosis.

Mikako and Tsutomu’s friends inside and outside of the Akindo club also detect this change and wonder one thing: Will Mikako and Tsutomu embrace what is already community discourse or will they deteriorate into leading very bitter adult lives of not-at-all-significant brevity and dysphoria?

Anime

An animated adaptation of the manga ran for 50 episodes from September 10, 1995, through September 1, 1996. Produced by Toei Animation, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and Asatsu-DK, the series is directed by Atsutoshi Umezawa, with Aya Matsui handling series composition, Yoshihiko Umakoshi designing the characters and Masahiro Kawasaki composing the music. A DVD box set containing all episodes was released on September 28, 2005. The opening theme is “He.Ro.I.Ne”, the first ending theme is “Don’t You Know?!” and the second ending theme is “NG!”, all sung by Rumi Shishido. The animated Gokinjo Monogatari movie has a 30-minute runtime and was released on March 2, 1996. It is an alternate retelling of the beginning of the series. It was released theatrically as a back-to-back presentation alongside Dragon Ball: The Path to Power. Ai Yazawa, the original author of the manga, makes a cameo appearance in the final episode, voicing a flea market customer.

The adaptation features a high amount of original episodes that don´t affect the plot since the original story was not completed at the time of the TV broadcast. The last chapter to be adapted is volume 4 chapter 17 in episode 49.

Neighborhood Story
Cover of Neighborhood Story first volume as published by Shueisha featuring Mikako Kouda
ご近所物語 (Gokinjo Monogatari)
Genre	Romance
Manga
Written by	Ai Yazawa
Published by	Shueisha
Magazine	Ribon
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	February 1995 – October 1997
Volumes	7
Anime television series
Directed by	Atsutoshi Umezawa
Produced by	Kōichirō Fujita (ABC) Yasuo Kameyama (ASATSU) Takashi Horiuchi (ASATSU) Hiromi Seki (Toei Animation)
Written by	Aya Matsui
Music by	Masahiro Kawasaki
Studio	Toei Animation
Original network	TV Asahi
Original run	September 10, 1995 – September 1, 1996
Episodes	50 (List of episodes)
Anime film
Directed by	Junji Shimizu Hiroshi Tanaka (assistant)
Produced by	Tan Takaiwa Tomio Anzai Tsutomu Tomari
Written by	Yumi Kageyama
Music by	Masahiro Kawasaki
Studio	Toei Animation
Released	March 2, 1996
Runtime	30 minutes