MAPPA's 15th anniversary event also had room for
a considerably grittier project than the rest of the announcements. Jimoto
Saiko! (Hometown is the Best!), the usagi manga that
was born directly in X, will have an anime adaptation with an exclusive world
premiere on Netflix. The announcement was accompanied by a video
with aiko's song "milk" in the
background.
The direction is in charge of Tokyo
Igarashi, with Ryo Takata handling the script. The
character design is the work of Rio. The rest of the team
includes Naoki Takada as art director, Yukiko Kakita as
color design supervisor, Yosei Sawai as director of 3DCG,
and Takahiro Ogawa as animation producer. It is the first
significant announcement since the initial reveal of the project.
The story follows Chanel and
her friends growing up in a hometown marked by violence, drugs, poverty, and
discrimination. Students in upper grades at Chanel's school are covered in
tattoos, resort to violence with ease, and drink excessively. Chanel and her
friend Chihiro must navigate and survive in this hostile
environment. It is a portrait that deliberately moves away from fantasy and
bets on a direct look at difficult realities within a small-town context.
About Jimoto Saiko!
Jimoto Saiko! is a manga by Usagi that
began by being published directly on X (formerly Twitter) before Saizusha released
the first collected volume in August 2022. The eighth volume arrived in August
2025. The series has attracted attention for its unfiltered portrayal of the
difficulties that can mark life in small towns, moving away from the more
idealized representations that the coming-of-age genre usually has within
manga.
