Gin no Saji

Yuugo Hachiken is studious, hard-working, and tired of trying to live up to expectations he just cannot meet. With the ushering in of a brand new school year, he decides to enroll in Ooezo Agricultural High School, a boarding school located in the Hokkaido countryside, as a means to escape from the stress brought upon by his parents.

Initially convinced that he would do well at this institution, Hachiken is quickly proven wrong by his talented classmates, individuals who have been living on farms their entire lives and know just about everything when it comes to food, vegetables, and even the physiology of livestock! Whether it be waking up at five in the morning for strenuous labor or to take care of farm animals, Hachiken is a complete amateur when it comes to the harsh agricultural life.

Gin no Saji follows the comedic story of a young student as he tries to fit into a completely new environment, meeting many unique people along the way. As he struggles to appreciate his surroundings, Hachiken hopes to discover his dreams, so that he may lead a fulfilling life on his own terms.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit

Background

Gin no Saji is an anime adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa's manga of the same name that has sold over 12 million copies in Japan alone and was honored with a nomination for the 19th annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The series aired in 2013 on the famous Fuji Television noitaminA block, which has aired several prominent anime including Anohana, Nodame Cantabile and Psycho-Pass. Gin no Saji has been licensed by Aniplex of America for streaming and home video distribution in North America. The anime adaptation was followed by a live-action film adaptation, of the same source material, that premiered in 2014.

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Gin no Saji
Sequel:	Gin no Saji 2nd Season

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Hachiken, Yuugo

Main

Kimura, Ryouhei
Japanese

Mikage, Aki

Main

Miyake, Marie
Japanese

Komaba, Ichirou

Supporting

Sakurai, Tooru
Japanese

Inada, Tamako

Supporting

Takagaki, Ayahi
Japanese

Yoshino, Mayumi

Supporting

Izawa, Shiori
Japanese

Nakajima, Yoshiyuki

Supporting

Masutani, Yasunori
Japanese

Principal

Supporting

Mitsuya, Yuuji
Japanese

Tokiwa, Keiji

Supporting

Shouji, Masayuki
Japanese

Hachiken, Shingo

Supporting

Konishi, Katsuyuki
Japanese

Beppu, Tarou

Supporting

Kobushi, Nobuyuki
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Saitou, Shunsuke

Producer

Mori, Akitoshi

Producer

Odagiri, Narumi

Assistant Producer

Itou, Tomohiko

Director, Sound Director

Edit

Opening Theme

"kiss you" by miwa

Edit

Ending Theme

"Hello Especially" by Sukima Switch

Reviews

Oct 30, 2013

Darkluigi

Recommended

At the start of watching Gin no Saji, I was unsure of what to think about it. I thought it would be just a fun little slice of life anime, but what I got far exceeded my expectations.

Gin no Saji is the perfect example that we each have the ability to set our own path and believe what we want to believe. And even if we face adversity we still stand by our beliefs.

Personally I have never seen an anime in which a city boy was placed in a farming school, so kudos to the maker of the manga for doing it well. The anime ...

Open

Gift

Aug 3, 2013

pakoko

Recommended

“Because of the life they were born into, they are immediately stuck as an existence that can’t even choose their own life and death.”

Such is the life of livestock. Chickens are killed to be eaten if they don’t lay enough eggs; horses are immediately retired or put to rest if they don’t win any competitions or get injured; and pigs and cows are sold at a really cheap price if they do not eat enough. Behind the scenes of our farms and their livestock, the idea of the “survival of the fittest” is more clear-cut and harsh than it is in human society. However, humans ...

Open

Gift

Nov 11, 2015

Zaku88

Mixed Feelings

Ever wanted a taste of parenting? Try Usagi Drop. Curious about farming? Silver Spoon's got you covered. This latest noitaminA feature contains yet another interesting and unique perspective that actually provides meaningful lessons beyond how to immediately get dumped by girls. As with Usagi Drop, the show manages to take a potentially dull and boring topic and turn it into something intriguing and entertaining. While this isn't as emotionally touching as Usagi Drop, it is still a fun watch for anyone even a bit curious about farming or how a city boy will deal with the culture shock of agricultural life.

Animation:
The animation studio took a ... more conventional approach than that in Usagi Drop. For the most part, it looks like any other rural-based anime. The only major differences are the agriculture-specific tools and facilities and a bunch of farm animals. The show uses a fairly saturated palette that gives the series a bit of a lighter mood. Color shading and background details are average overall and character styling is also a bit on the simplistic side. You also have an instructor who humorously resembles Buddha.

Don't expect much here in terms of either action or fan service. There is a tiny amount of blood once and a while but nothing really significant by action standards.

Sound:
The show has a fitting guitar-based OP and ED. I'm not a fan of slow, country-ish songs of this sort though so I skipped out on them for the most part. The BGM is minimal and for the most part not really worth mentioning.

This is in part a documentary and in part a comedy so it is dialogue driven in many parts, but it wasn't very demanding character emotion-wise and no one ended up really standing out for me.

Story:
Hachiken has lived his life in his brother's shadows, so much so that his entire dreamless life consists of studying. Having no real drive or future plans, his teacher sends him to a live-in agrarian high school. To his amazement, Hachiken finds himself surrounded by people with strong goals and dreams. Will Hachiken be able to cope with his new, culturally-different classmates and five AM practicums?

This is an eye-opener of a series in many regards. In telling Hachiken's tale of learning about agriculture, the show is able to expose and confront a lot of misnomers about agriculture and even address some philosophical questions regarding livestock's transformation from respected living creature to meat. Between these conception-shattering moments, you get a bit of character development and a good deal of comic moments; a lot of these revolve around Hachiken's ignorance of the field that he's studying.

This isn't the most intense of series plot wise. Don't expect much in the way of cliffhangers or rising action, in fact the series doesn't even really end on much of a conclusion. I guess this fact is slightly mitigated by the fact that a second season has already been announced.

Character:
There are a lot of characters in this show, and while a lot of them contribute to the central plot in one way or another no one is really well developed. The focus of the show is clearly more on showing farming procedures and practices than on giving the, admittedly, bland history of farm hands. While the protagonist clearly becomes much more adept at manual labor, he still maintains a significantly different world view than that of his classmates at the end of the show. The show does occasionally tease at possible character relationships but this is used as more of a comedy gimmick than for plot progression. Overall, the show features a balanced cast that really is presented to highlight the core farming theme rather than the other way around.

Value:
My strongest takeaway from this show (at least to confirm) is that farm-fresh foods appear to be highly superior to what I, as a cheapskate consumer, can get from the local grocery store. Expect to see the protagonist literally prostrate as a reaction to tasting food. Overall, despite being an average show plot wise, the show managed to stick to its unique theme; this alone earns it a lot of kudos. Unfortunately, I don't see it becoming a hit like Usagi Drop, it just lacks the emotional and character depth. Regardless, it still stands on its own as a reasonably entertaining look at how life is as a farmer. While I have new found respect for those in agribusiness, I'll stick to my white-collar line of work thank you very much. If you're willing to ditch established anime norms (required beach scene, unreasonably cute girls everywhere, etc.) and watch something that can teach you a thing or two, give Silver Spoon a go.

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Comfort Comedies

by Mediocre_Artist

50 Entries · 202 Restacks

Less Than 12 Episodes (2)

by Gino99

50 Entries · 36 Restacks

Super thicc, gluttonous, and plump girls

by FireX

38 Entries · 81 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

View All

More news

Recent News

Q4 2016 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 12/23]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of anime and manga licensed in the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2016. Fall anime which were licensed before the ...read more

Sep 30, 2016 2:11 AM by Snow | Discuss (44 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for July

Here are the North American Anime & Manga releases for July 2014 Week 1: July 1st - 7th Anime Releases A Certain Scientific Railgun S Part 1 Cat's Eye Seaso...read more

Jul 1, 2014 4:27 PM by Snow | Discuss (26 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Gin no Saji Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Sep 12, 2013	137 replies	by DebiPS »» Jan 18, 4:22 PM
Poll: Gin no Saji Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Aug 1, 2013	171 replies	by DebiPS »» Jan 10, 4:28 PM
Poll: Gin no Saji Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jul 25, 2013	113 replies	by DebiPS »» Jan 9, 3:34 PM
Poll: Gin no Saji Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Sep 19, 2013	153 replies	by Shikkakku »» Dec 18, 2023 1:33 AM
Poll: Gin no Saji Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 5, 2013	92 replies	by Shikkakku »» Dec 17, 2023 5:18 AM

Recent Featured Articles

In Numbers: The Best Anime of the Decade

What's the #1 anime of the 2010s? Which year was the best? What studio had the most hits? We have the answers to all these questions and more!

by Shymander

624,002 views

Top 15 Best and Worst Fat Anime Characters

Anime is full of skinny, beautiful people, but once in a while a series offers a break from the usual. Discover what happens when an anime throws in a fat character.

by Littoface

572,174 views

Collection Analysis Character Analysis Editorial

Gin no Saji

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Hachiken, Yuugo

Mikage, Aki

Komaba, Ichirou

Inada, Tamako

Yoshino, Mayumi

Nakajima, Yoshiyuki

Principal

Tokiwa, Keiji

Hachiken, Shingo

Beppu, Tarou

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Gin no Saji

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-