Twin Spica

Twin Spica
Cover art of the first Twin Spica manga volume featuring lead character Asumi Kamogawa
ふたつのスピカ (Futatsu no Supika)
Genre	Coming-of-age, science fiction[1][2]
Manga
Written by	Kou Yaginuma
Published by	Media Factory
English publisher	NA: Vertical
Magazine	Comic Flapper
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	September 5, 2001 – August 5, 2009
Volumes	16 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Tomomi Mochizuki
Written by	Rika Nakase
Music by	Kazunori Miyake
Studio	Group TAC
Original network	NHK BS2
English network	SEA: Animax Asia
Original run	November 1, 2003 – March 27, 2004
Episodes	20 (List of episodes)
Television drama
Directed by	Takeyoshi Yamamoto Ayuko Tsukahara
Written by	Shūko Arai Daigo Matsui
Music by	Atsushi Umehori
Original network	NHK General TV, NHK BS Hi-Vision
Original run	June 18, 2009 – July 30, 2009
Episodes	7 (List of episodes)

Twin Spica (Japanese: ふたつのスピカ, Hepburn: Futatsu no Supika) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kou Yaginuma. The "realistic, slice-of-life science fiction series" tells the story of a group of Japanese high school students training to become astronauts in the early 21st century after the country's first human spaceflight launch ends in a disaster that causes many civilian casualties. It was serialized in the seinen manga magazine Comic Flapper from September 2001 to August 2009 and was later published in 16 tankōbon volumes by Media Factory from January 2002 to October 2009.

The series is named after Spica, a binary star system and the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. In the manga, Yaginuma includes many references to historical events related to the development of human spaceflight as well as literary works such as Kenji Miyazawa's novel Night on the Galactic Railroad. American publishing company Vertical announced acquisition of the manga's license for English-language translation at the New York Anime Festival in September 2009, and the translated first volume was published in May 2010. The series was described by Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez as "technically sound" and "heartfelt" during its initial assessment.

The manga was adapted into an anime television series by animation studio Group TAC. It premiered on November 1, 2003, on Japan's NHK BS2 satellite channel. Twenty episodes of the anime aired until March 27, 2004, when the series concluded prematurely before the manga was completed. Satellite television network Animax has broadcast the anime in multiple regional language releases, including English. A live-action adaptation was produced by NHK in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and aired between June 18 and July 30, 2009.