Hanayamata is a manga by Sou Hamayumiba about girls who practice yosakoi dancing. It began its run in 2011. In 2014, it was adapted into a twelve-episode anime series.
(Machi (back left), Tami (back right), Naru (center), Yaya (front left), Hana (front right))
Image courtesy of Crunchyroll.
Sekiya Naru was a shy girl who loved fairy tales and dreamed of becoming a dazzling person. One night, she sees a mysterious blonde girl dancing on top of an arch and spontaneously asks the girl to take her away.
The blonde girl is Hana N. Fountainstand, an American from Princeton, New Jersey, who has dreams of doing yosakoi, a type of traditional Japanese dancing. Naru eventually joins her in creating the Yosakoi Club, and also recruits her best friend Sasame Yaya and her childhood playmate and idol Nishimikado Tami. Later, Tami's friend and Student Council President Tokiwa Machi also joins the club, and the five of them deal with interpersonal conflicts, disapproving parents, and their own self-doubt as they struggle to achieve their goal: to dance together.
The original manga Hanayamata is by Sou Hamayumiba and is carried by Manga Time Kirara Forward in Japan. Six tankoubon have been released. In 2014, a twelve-episode anime by Madhouse was shown in Japan and simulcast by Crunchyroll.
