{{Short description|Japanese manga series and its franchise}} {{Infobox animanga/Header | image = 2001 Nights Japanese Vol 1 Cover.jpg | caption = Japanese manga cover of ''2001 Nights'' volume 1 | ja_kanji = 2001夜物語 | ja_romaji = Nisen'ichi Ya Monogatari | genre = Science fiction }} {{Infobox animanga/Print | type = manga | author = Yukinobu Hoshino | publisher = Futabasha | publisher_en = {{English manga publisher|NA= Viz Media}} | magazine = Monthly Super Action | first = June 1984 | last = June 1986 | volumes = 3 | volume_list = }} {{Infobox animanga/Video | type = ova | title = Space Fantasia 2001 Nights | director = Yoshio Takeuchi | producer = Junichi Iioka<br/>Tomoko Satō<br/>Takahisa Yokomizo | writer = Chiho Katsura<br/>Ken Echigoya | music = Satoshi Kadokura | studio = Tokyo Movie Shinsha | released = July 1987 | runtime = 60 minutes }} {{Infobox animanga/Video | type = ova | title = TO | director = Fumihiko Sori | producer = Yoshito Takaya<br/>Yumiko Yoshihara | writer = Fumihiko Sori | music = Tetsuya Takahashi | studio = Oxybot | licensee = {{English anime licensee|NA= Funimation |UK=Manga Entertainment }} | released = November 2009 | runtime = | episodes = 2 | episode_list = }} {{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{Nihongo|'''''2001 Nights'''''|2001夜物語|Nisen'ichi Ya Monogatari}} is a science fiction manga series written and illustrated by Yukinobu Hoshino and originally serialized in Futabasha's ''Monthly Super Action'' starting from June 1984. It was then collected into three bound volumes by Futabasha, released between August 18, 1985<ref name="JP1"/> and October 24, 1986.<ref name="JP3"/> The series was licensed for an English-language release by Viz Media and published in North America starting in 1990.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://comicbookdb.com/title.php?ID=1142 | title=2001 Nights (1990) | publisher=Comic Book DB | access-date=2014-04-09}}</ref> ''2001 Nights'' is largely inspired by classic hard science fiction, with many visual homages to previous science fiction novels and films.
==Plot== Humanity's exploration of the cosmos, which began in the latter half of the 20th century, progressed through the milestones of manned spaceflight and the launch of space stations, eventually leading to the discovery of traces of extraterrestrial life. Attempts at interstellar travel led to the "Human Seeding Project", a mission utilizing computer-controlled spacecraft loaded with frozen sperm and ova, designed to initiate fertilization and gestation the moment a planet suitable for life was identified.
In the early 21st century, a new object dubbed "Lucifer" was discovered far beyond the orbit of Neptune, eventually found to be an antimatter star. This celestial body became a colossal energy source, enabling instantaneous interstellar travel through a form of hyperspace navigation powered by artificial black holes. The descendants of the Robinsons, who were the couple who had provided the genetic material for the "Human Seeding Project", continued to participate in space endeavors across generations. Concurrently, a "New Generation" of humans began to emerge—individuals born and raised in space, boasting IQs and lifespans far exceeding those of traditional Earth-born humans.
By the 24th century, humanity had expanded its reach across a region of space spanning a 150-light-year radius, but still no extraterrestrial life had been found. Humanity decided to launch a final initiative to locate extraterrestrial life: the "Grand SETI Project." Around the time that Adam Robinson joined the project, the "children" of the Human Seeding Project finally arrived at a planet within the Tau Ceti star system. Around this same time, a group of the "New Generation", who called themselves "Tachyonians", were preparing to embark on a journey across the galaxy.
== Media ==
=== Manga === ''2001 Nights'' consists of several loosely connected short stories, all taking place in the same timeline, with the whole series spanning several hundred years. Many of the stories are related to each other (even across books), each building upon the achievements of the previous ones. The stories are often (but not always) scientifically plausible, recalling much of the early science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s.
=== Anime ===
==== 2001 Nights ==== ''2001 Nights'' was adapted into a one-episode original video animation (OVA) under the name ''Space Fantasia 2001 Nights'' by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and released on VHS on June 21, 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=88753|script-title=ja:スペース・ファンタジア ２００１夜物語 (1987)|access-date= October 2, 2014|work= allcinema|publisher= Stingray|language= ja}}</ref>
==== TO ==== Two stories from ''2001 Nights'', Night 12 ("Symbiotic Planet") and Night 14 ("Elliptical Orbit") respectively, were adapted into ''TO'', a two-episode computer animation (CGI) original video animation (OVA). Fumihiko Sori directed. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Avex in December 2009, in Japan.<ref name="TO 1">{{cite web |url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-11-13/10-minutes-of-fumihiko-sori-to-sci-fi-cg-anime-posted|title=10 Minutes of Fumihiko Sori's To Sci-Fi CG Anime Posted|website=Anime News Network|author=Anime News Network|date=2009-11-13|access-date=2010-07-12 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100809114109/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-11-13/10-minutes-of-fumihiko-sori-to-sci-fi-cg-anime-posted| archive-date= 9 August 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> ''TO'' was released on rental DVDs on October 2, 2009, and in December 2009 as regular DVD and Blu-ray release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animax.co.jp/news/index.php?proc=detail&ID=2863 |title=10月2日レンタル開始！『TO（トゥー）』公式サイトにて 曽利文彦監督とメインキャストのコメント動画掲載中！ |date=2009-09-29 |publisher=Animax |language=ja |url-status=dead |access-date=19 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019221131/http://www.animax.co.jp/news/index.php?proc=detail&ID=2863 |archive-date=19 October 2016 }}</ref> It was scheduled to air on TBS and BS-TBS (Japanese satellite TV broadcaster) in November and December 2009,<ref name="TO 2">{{cite web |url=http://mv.avex.jp/to/news/entry/20091112_52.html|title=『TO』TBS地上波・BS-TBSで本編放送決定！|publisher=Avex|date=2009-11-12|language=ja|access-date=2011-07-17}}</ref> prior to the DVD and Blu-ray release.<ref name="TO 3">{{cite web |url=http://en.gigazine.net/?/news/comments/20091113_to_tbs/ |title=3D Sci-Fi Action Anime "TO" to be aired on TBS before the DVD and Blu-ray Release|publisher=GigaZine|author=darkhorse_logg|date=2009-11-16|access-date=2010-07-12}}</ref> A 10-minute trailer was released on YouTube by Avex on November 11, 2009.<ref name="TO 1" /><ref name="TO 2" /> Manga Entertainment a UK distributor acquired licensing in late 2010.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-10-19/manga-uk-adds-sci-fi-anime-to-from-vexille-sori | title=Manga UK Adds Sci-Fi Anime TO From Vexille's Sori | website=Anime News Network | access-date=2013-05-15}}</ref> Funimation licensed ''To'' for North American release in 2011.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-02-19/funimation-acquires-fumihiko-sori-to-sci-fi-oav | title=Funimation Adds Fumihiko Sori's To Science-Fiction Anime | website=Anime News Network | access-date=2013-05-15}}</ref>
==Stories== The stories that make up the complete manga are placed in chronological order, with two exceptions. By the technology used, Night 14 ("Elliptical Orbit") seems to belong somewhere between Nights 6 and 7 (after the invention of suspended animation and interstellar travel, but before the discovery of Lucifer). The second, Night 6 ("Discovery") is referenced in Night 4 ("Posterity") which occurs 20 years after the launch of the probe Discovery.
===Volume list=== {{Graphic novel list/header | Language = Japanese | Width = 75% }} {{Graphic novel list | VolumeNumber = 1 | RelDate = August 18, 1985<ref name="JP1">{{cite book|url=http://www.futabasha.co.jp/booksdb/book/bookview/4-575-93074-1.html|script-title=ja:2001夜物語 1(ニセンイチヤモノガタリ) |isbn=4-575-93074-1|publisher=Futabasha|language=ja|access-date=December 5, 2008|year=1985 }}</ref> | ISBN = 4-575-93074-1 | LicensedRelDate = March 22, 1996<ref name="EN1">{{cite book|title=2001 Nights, Volume 1: The Death Trilogy Overture (2001 Nights): Yukinobu Hoshino: Books|isbn=1569310564|last1=Hoshino|first1=Yukinobu|date=22 March 1996|publisher=VIZ Media LLC }}</ref> | LicensedISBN = 1-56931-056-4 | ChapterList = * 01. "Night 1: Earthglow" * 02. "Night 2: Sea of Fertility" * 03. "Night 3: Maelstrom III" * 04. "Night 4: Posterity" * 05. "Night 5: Rendezvous" * 06. "Night 6: Discovery" * 07. "Night 7: Lucifer Rising" | VolumeExtras = | Summary = }} {{Graphic novel list | VolumeNumber = 2 | RelDate = December 28, 1985<ref name="JP2">{{cite book|url=http://www.futabasha.co.jp/booksdb/book/bookview/4-575-93075-X.html|script-title=ja:2001夜物語 2(ニセンイチヤモノガタリ)|isbn=4-575-93075-X|publisher=Futabasha|language=ja|access-date=December 5, 2008|year=1985|archive-date=June 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605125652/http://www.futabasha.co.jp/booksdb/book/bookview/4-575-93075-X.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> | ISBN = 4-575-93075-X | LicensedRelDate = June 22, 1996<ref name="EN2">{{cite book|title=2001 Nights, Volume 2: Journey Beyond Tomorrow (2001 Nights): Yukinobu Hoshino: Books|isbn=1569311021|last1=Hoshino|first1=Yukinobu|date=22 June 1996|publisher=VIZ Media LLC }}</ref> | LicensedISBN = 1-56931-102-1 | ChapterList = * 08. "Night 8: The Lights of Heaven" * 09. "Night 9: Journey Beyond Tomorrow" * 10. "Night 10: Medusa's Throne" * 11. "Night 11: A Stranger's Footsteps" * 12. "Night 12: Symbiotic Planet" * 13. "Night 13: Final Evolution" * 14. "Night 14: Elliptical Orbit" | VolumeExtras = | Summary = }} {{Graphic novel list | VolumeNumber = 3 | RelDate = October 24, 1986<ref name="JP3">{{cite book|url=http://www.futabasha.co.jp/booksdb/book/bookview/4-575-93076-8.html|script-title=ja:2001夜物語 3(ニセンイチヤモノガタリ) |isbn=4-575-93076-8|publisher=Futabasha|language=ja|access-date=December 5, 2008|year=1986 }}</ref> | ISBN = 4-575-93076-8 | LicensedRelDate = February 22, 1996<ref name="EN3">{{cite book|title=Children of Earth (2001 Nights, Vol. 3): Yukinobu Hoshino: Books|isbn=1569311250|last1=Hoshino|first1=Yukinobu|date=22 February 1996|publisher=VIZ Media LLC }}</ref> | LicensedISBN = 1-56931-125-0 | ChapterList = * 15. "Night 15: An Hour's Song in a Birdless Sky" * 16. "Night 16: Colony" * 17. "Night 17: So Brief. So Lasting a Love" * 18. "Night 18: Odyssey in Green" * 19. "Final Night: Children of the Earth" | VolumeExtras = | Summary = }} {{Graphic novel list/footer}}<!--
Night 1, "Earthglow" - A space shuttle carries a special cargo.
Night 2, "Sea of Fertility" - An executive is summoned to the Moon by the death of her younger brother and shares his startling lunar discovery.
Night 3, "Maelstrom III" - A solar sail spacecraft runs into trouble in the asteroid belt.
Night 4, "Posterity" - An embryo space colonization starship is launched toward a distant planet with the help of a comet.
Night 5, "Rendezvous" - The first suspended animation tests produce a strangely spiritual result.
Night 6, "Discovery" - An interstellar probe guided by an A.I. is readied for flight.
Night 7, "Lucifer Rising, Part 1 & 2" - An expedition is sent to the remote 10th planet in the solar system.
Night 8, "The Lights of Heaven" - The test trials of the first faster than light starship.
Night 9, "Journey Beyond Tomorrow" - The probe from Night 6 makes an unexpected rendezvous, and people from Earth begin a terraforming project.
Night 10, "Medusa's Throne" - A starship explores a strange planet with three separate expeditions.
Night 11, "A Stranger's Footsteps" - A planetary intelligence observes human explorers.
Night 12, "Symbiotic Planet" - Humans must learn to live with an alien ecology.
Night 13, "Final Evolution" - A starship encounters a bizarre black hole creature.
Night 14, "Elliptical Orbit" - A long-range starship is attacked by terrorists, forcing the crew to defend itself. (Note: the cargo should be Helium 3, not hydrogen)
Night 15, "An Hour's Song in a Birdless Sky" - The strange behavior of alien birds gives a clue to a colony's ultimate fate.
Night 16, "Colony" - A man returns to a colony on an alien world to face his demons.
Night 17, "So Brief, So Lasting a Love" - A couple is separated by a black hole.
Night 18, "Odyssey in Green, Part 1 & 2" - A crew finds itself stranded on a doomed planet with a complex ecology.
Final Night, "Children of Earth" - In which the ultimate fate of spacegoing humanity is revealed.-->
==Reception==
Reviewing the manga Mark Aragona praised Hoshino's skill in striking a balance between the scientific and the fantastical elements in his stories, noting the opus of ''Lucifer Rising''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digitalsciencefiction.com/comic-book-review-2001-nights/|title=Comic Book Review 2001 Nights|last=Aragona|first=Mark|date=26 June 2011|publisher=Digital Science Fiction|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701054030/http://digitalsciencefiction.com/comic-book-review-2001-nights/|archive-date=1 July 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=19 October 2016}}</ref> Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News praised the work for its portrayal, but overcomes its inspiration ''One Thousand and One Nights'' and ''2001: A Space Odyssey'', noting "It is reminiscent of the classics and develops its science fiction well enough on its own that is not diminished by comparisons."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.aintitcool.com/node/46956 | title=AICN Anime - A Look Back at Sci-Fi Classic 2001 Nights, Redline in Theaters, ReBoot DVD Bound and More | access-date=2013-05-15}}</ref>
Anime-focus.com reviewed the ''TO'' OVA and offered a mixed review of the work.<ref name="focus">{{cite web|url=http://anime-focus.com/2011/08/16/review-to-2001-nights/|title=Review: TO – 2001 Nights|last=Hughs|first=Adam|date=16 August 2011|publisher=Anime Focus|access-date=19 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020040107/http://anime-focus.com/2011/08/16/review-to-2001-nights/|archive-date=20 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> While praising the graphics and special effects, it focused on the emotionless Funimation English dub which made all the worse by lifeless characters and the lack of attachment to the stories.<ref name=focus /> Closing with, "This should have been a gem but the flaws are too great to make this the masterpiece it could have been."<ref name=focus /> Charles Packer, found the same flaws in his review, "Whilst the disc may look eye watering spectacular, it’s difficult to get over the fact that the stories rely too heavily on clichés."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sci-fi-online.com/00_revs/r2011/blu-ray/11-09-26_to-2001nights.html|title=Blu-ray Review TO - 2001 Nights|last=Packer|first=Charles|website=Sci-Fi-Online.com|publisher=Sci-Fi Online|access-date=19 October 2016}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.tms-e.com/library/old/ova/data/m_2001.html Official ''2001 Ya Monogatari'' OVA website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927105418/http://www.tms-e.com/library/old/ova/data/m_2001.html |date=2011-09-27 }} {{in lang|ja}} * [http://mv.avex.jp/to/ TO OVA website] {{in lang|ja}} * {{anime News Network|manga|1644}}
{{TMS Entertainment OVAs}}
Category:1984 manga Category:1987 anime OVAs Category:2009 anime OVAs Category:Funimation Category:Futabasha manga Category:Hard science fiction Category:Science fiction anime and manga Category:Seinen manga Category:Viz Media manga