Full Moon wo Sagashite (Searching for the Full Moon)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Full Moon o Sagashite

Japanese: 満月をさがして

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 52

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 6, 2002 to Mar 29, 2003

Premiered: Spring 2002

Broadcast: Saturdays at 07:30 (JST)

Producers: Nihon Ad Systems

Licensors: VIZ Media

Studios: Studio Deen

Source: Manga

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Supernatural

Themes: Music, Showbiz

Demographic: Shoujo

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.94¹ (scored by 47,995 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #707²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1949

Members: 109,855

Favorites: 1,848

Available At

Official Site

Resources

AniDB

ANN

Synopsis

Two years ago, Mitsuki Kouyama's friend, Eichi Sakurai, moved to America before she could confess her feelings to him. Though she cannot contact him, they made a promise to fulfill their respective dreams: Mitsuki wants to become a professional singer, and Eichi an astronomer. She hopes that one day her music will reach him across the world with a brilliance like that of the full moon.

There is just one catch: Mitsuki suffers from throat cancer, which makes her voice quiet and singing strenuous. Her grandmother, who has a hatred of music, insists that Mitsuki undergo surgery to remove the cancer, but she refuses due to the risk of losing her voice. One day, two shinigami—Meroko Yui and Takuto Kira—appear to tell her that she only has one year left to live. This sudden revelation spurs Mitsuki into action, and she decides that with Meroko and Takuto's help, she will become a professional singer in the time she has left.

Full Moon wo Sagashite follows the emotional story of Mitsuki and her shinigami friends as they discover what it means to sing—and ultimately, what it means to live.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Full Moon wo Sagashite only follows its manga source for about one episode before going down a different route.

VIZ Media had licensed the series, but released only the first 28 episodes on DVD before dropping the title. It was later streamed in its entirety in subbed-only form on Hulu before expiring from the service in August 2013.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Full Moon wo Sagashite
Side story:	Full Moon wo Sagashite: Kawaii Kawaii Daibouken

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kira, Takuto

Main

Sakurazuka, Yakkun
Japanese

Kouyama, Mitsuki

Main

Myco
Japanese

Yui, Meroko

Main

Honda, Chieko
Japanese

Rio, Izumi

Supporting

Ogata, Megumi
Japanese

Sakurai, Eichi

Supporting

Kimura, Ryouhei
Japanese

Jonathan

Supporting

Mori, Norihisa
Japanese

Wakamatsu, Madoka

Supporting

Kana
Japanese

Wakaouji, Keiichi

Supporting

Ogawa, Teruaki
Japanese

Ooshige, Masami

Supporting

Seo, Tomomi
Japanese

Koyama, Fuzuki

Supporting

Sugiyama, Kazuko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Yamakawa, Norio

Producer

Miyake, Masanori

Assistant Producer

Katou, Toshiyuki

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Hiramitsu, Takuya

Sound Director

Edit

Opening Theme

	1: "I ♥ U" by THE*SCANTY (eps 1-26)
	2: "Rock'n Roll Princess" by THE*SCANTY (eps 27-52)

Edit

Ending Theme

	1: "New Future" by Changin' My Life (eps 01-06,52)
	2: "My self" by Changin' My Life (eps 07-26)
	3: "Eternal Snow" by Changin' My Life (eps 27-42)
	4: "Love Chronicle" by Changin' My Life (eps 43-51)

Reviews

Jul 17, 2007

Ria

Recommended

Full Moon wo Sagashite was one of those animes I started on a whim. I had already read the manga, and decided to give the anime a try to see how much I liked it in comparison. To my surprise, I <i>loved</i> it, possibly even more than the manga version. The changes it makes from the manga were actually ones I (for the most part) preferred.

---Story---

While Full Moon wo Sagashite may not see like much on the surface -- little girl has a life-threatening disease, wants to sing, and becomes sixteen years old with the help of two friendly shinigami -- it ...

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Mar 29, 2013

angelsreview

Mixed Feelings

The story line is pretty flushed out but unfortunately, it falls into the magical girl story line. I say unfortunately because it was something I was hoping this would keep out. It didn’t need her turning into a 16-year-old to have the plot moving, just make her look somewhat 16 at the start of it! Another problem I had with the whole 12 to 16 aspect is that, how will her love actually know that its her when she is much older and her songs are pretty much generic to any girl in that age? It doesn’t magically work… like… *facepalm* you know what, all ... logic is thrown out the window in magical girl shows, don’t they?

Throughout the story, I was about ready to shout out, ‘JUST GET WITH TAKUTO ALREADY!’ I like how she is so dedicated to this one guy but not hearing from him in that freaken long time, I’m with Takuto on what he tells her. She should just get on with her life if she had not seen him in so long. There is also the fact that most of the episodes feel more like playing around then getting to the point. The show was pretty much mostly episodic and some didn’t even have a point to her actual goal.

The characters are fun and entertaining; I especially love the silliness of Meroko who is always getting in the way of most things. She’s most of the comedy that is given to the story I feel and you can tell a lot about her even if you can’t see her past. Actually, I would be very happy if I was able to see her past as well as Takuto’s a little earlier in the show, and not have to learn way late or look it up.

The Animation is really pretty, and showing the love and spirit the characters put into it. Studio Deen seems to always have a rather grainy look but it and it seems to fit this story. It keeps it feeling like a dream and touches the heart, even if it feels somewhat un-realistic how sweet and innocent it is.

The voices for the Japanese dub are done well, capturing the spirit of the characters. The English voices… well they are a little too high pitched for my ears, especially Mitsuki. When Mitsuki sings, she sounds different if you’re watching the English version. It’s because they still sing it in Japanese which… even if it’s good singing for that style, it makes it feel somewhat detached from the rest of the show. I am happy they didn’t try to get the English voice actor to sing because she probably would of broken my ears if she tried to match the Japanese voice but still, its jarring. The quality really feels like it’s from Sailor moon and so feels lack luster. The opening music is cute and I think works out nicely with the animation.

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Jan 5, 2019

BigSunnyBoy

Not Recommended

Spoiler

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
This a precious story that moves through love, fame, life, death, cliches, annoying characters pedophilia.

Starting this review is difficult because nobody is prepared to hear the truth. When I first saw Searching For The Full Moon's common 10\10 reviews, I was so prepared to watch it. As of course, it has all the tools to make a "heartwarming" story-- an orphaned kid with cancer who has ambitions who, did I forget to mention she's orphaned and had cancer? Wow. Heartwarming and sad.

The main character's motivation is clear--which isn't so disappointing--to reunite with her orphanage love before her time ... runs up. The shinigami who help her sure did push the plot forward, but aren't that interesting characters at all. Their designs were quirky, silly, and didn't match the original myth at all. Usually I won't complain, but of them is annoying and unreasonably clingy to the other, who is chill and literally the best character in the show.

At some point at the beginning, it shows a flashback of her orphanage love, 16, confessing his love to her, at 10. I found this dispicable because according to psychology, 16 is the youngest age to be a pedophile. I believed that the character was so cooped up in that orphanage that he went crazy and couldn't help going for a child.

Throughout the show, the main character is a star as she was able to turn into a 16 year old from her 12 year old body. I found the songs quite boring if I'll have to be honest. Sure, few were catchy but none of them were about anything but love.

There were some scenarios I personally cringed at, such as when the clingy character kept trying to kiss the other one, who she is clear of, doesn't like her. This makes the character development and because she acts like she doesn't know anything. She does.

There was a scene where a teacher of kids in early elementary describes two children As "more than like brother and sister". To note, I found this messed up and cringy. Kids around that age don't have a huge idea of what relationship and romance really is. If a teacher said that in real life, she would be in a lot of trouble.

As I kept watching while wanting to know what happened, something came up that made what happened IN ALL THE EPISODES BEFORE pointless. She doesn't get together with the pedophile, thank goodness. But, spoiler alert, ends up with.... The shinigami? Seems like they were just running out of ideas here.

I found the development of the grandma towards the end quite useless. I mean, she's gone through trauma. It made her look like she was a Disney villain returning to good and finally.... Listens to music and enjoys modern pop? Wow, a miracle.

After all, I can understand why this would intrigue someone. But after all, this whole thing is a decent animated piece of garbage. I absolutely hate it's portrayals of love. The way it showed suicide was clever, then turning into shinigami after and such, but the reasoning was dull. He realises he can't sing anymore, rides off bridge, seppuku.
And then later hooks up with a 13 year old girl.

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Poll: Full Moon wo Sagashite Episode 52 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) the_pillows - Oct 30, 2007	150 replies	by TRC_Randy »» Jan 18, 3:49 AM
Should I read the manga? El_Jiro - Oct 31, 2023	3 replies	by MewVenus »» Oct 31, 2023 6:48 PM
Poll: Full Moon wo Sagashite Episode 34 Discussion shanimebib - Jan 1, 2013	9 replies	by Atsunome »» Oct 4, 2023 6:11 AM
Poll: Full Moon wo Sagashite Episode 2 Discussion jacobpaige - Aug 20, 2009	8 replies	by Atsunome »» Sep 21, 2023 8:37 AM
Poll: Full Moon wo Sagashite Episode 27 Discussion emeraldrosary - Dec 7, 2013	8 replies	by ims-tokyo »» Jul 29, 2023 1:18 AM

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