View source for Real Drive

{{short description|Manga}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2010}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name            = Real Drive
| image           = Real Drive Title Card.png
| caption         = Title card for ''Real Drive''
| ja_kanji        = RD 潜脳調査室
| ja_romaji       = Āru Dī Sennō Chōsashitsu
| genre           = <!-- Genres should be based on what reliable sources list them as and not on personal interpretations. Limit of the three most relevant genres in accordance with [[MOS:A&M]]. -->
| creator         = [[Production I.G]]<br>[[Masamune Shirow]]
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = tv series
| director        = [[Kazuhiro Furuhashi]]
| producer        = Takeshi Wada <small>(Production I.G)</small><br>Toshio Nakatani <small>(NTV)</small><br>Yasuo Ueda <small>([[VAP (company)|VAP]])</small><br>Yousuke Kasahara
| writer          = Junichi Fujisaku
| music           = [[Yoshihisa Hirano]]<br>[[Hideki Taniuchi]]
| studio          = Production I.G
| network         = [[Nippon TV]]
| first           = April 8, 2008
| last            = October 1, 2008
| episodes        = 26
| episode_list    = List of Real Drive episodes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| author          = [[Production I.G]]<br>[[Masamune Shirow]] <small>(original work)</small>
| illustrator     = Momotarou Miyano
| publisher       = [[Kodansha]]
| demographic     = ''[[Seinen manga|Seinen]]''
| magazine        = [[Magazine Z]]
| first           = April 26, 2008
| last            = January 26, 2009
| volumes         = 2
| volume_list     = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = light novel
| title           = Real Drive: Redeemable Dream
| author          = [[Production I.G]]<br>[[Masamune Shirow]] <small>(original work)</small><br>Yoshinobu Akita
| illustrator     = 
| publisher       = [[Kodansha]]
| publisher_en    = 
| demographic     = Male
| imprint         = 
| magazine        = 
| magazine_en     = 
| published       = August 5, 2008
| volumes         = 1
| volume_list     = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{nihongo|'''''Real Drive'''''|RD 潜脳調査室|Āru Dī Sennō Chōsashitsu|literally "RD Mind-Diving Research Division"|lead=yes}} is an [[anime]] [[TV series]] created by [[Production I.G]] and [[Masamune Shirow]] (known for the ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' and ''[[Appleseed (manga)|Appleseed]]'' franchises) under the directorship of [[Kazuhiro Furuhashi]], produced in collaboration with broadcaster [[Nippon Television]] (NTV). The series revolves around an information network known as "The Metal", and the series centers on Masamichi Haru, a paraplegic old man who was in a coma for 50 years after a test dive using Meta-Real technology went horribly wrong. After awakening from his coma, he starts searching for the "answer in the sea".

The series aired on NTV and other channels from April 8, 2008, to October 1, 2008. A [[manga]] adaptation by Momotarou Miyano was serialized in ''[[Magazine Z]]'' from April 2008 to January 2009, with two volumes sold between August 22, 2008, and February 23, 2009, by [[Kodansha]]. A [[light novel]] adaptation by Yoshinobu Akita was published by Kodansha on August 5, 2008.

==Plot==
2061 AD. Fifty years have passed since mankind developed the Network society. It was anticipated that this new infrastructure would realize a utopia where people connected with each other at the level of consciousness. However, new social problems such as personal data leaks and proliferation of manipulated information began to surface. Nevertheless, people still relied on the Network to exchange information, and proved unable to opt to abandon it.

In due course, a new Network realm with more effective security measures was developed. This was called Meta-Real Network, usually abbreviated as "the Metal".

The Metal accommodated personal memory data within protected virtual stand-alone organic cyber enclaves called bubble shells and eventually pervaded the everyday lives of people.

However, people gradually learned to release and explore their instincts within the secure environment of the Metal. The unleashed instincts of each individual pushed their consciousness to drown in the sea of information and be exposed to the pressures of desire. Meanwhile, norms and regulations continued to bind their real world lives. Thus, strange friction between the two worlds began to manifest themselves as aberrations beyond the bounds of the imaginable.
Experts who challenged the deep sea of the Metal to investigate and decipher such aberrations were called cyber divers.

This is a story of a cyber diver, Masamichi Haru, who investigates the incidents that lie between Reality and the Metal.

==Characters==

===Main characters===
[[File:Real Drive Main Characters.png|thumb|left|260px|The main characters of ''Real Drive'', from left to right: Holon, Minamo Aoi, Masamichi Haru, Souta Aoi, and Eiichiro Kushima]]
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Masamichi Haru}}|波留 真理|Haru Masamichi}}
:{{Anime voices|[[Katsuji Mori]]}}
:The protagonist of the series. A diver of the Metal and longtime friend of Eiichiro Kushima. Masamichi was in a diving accident while testing an early Meta-Real technology, and was in a coma for 50 years before awakening as a paraplegic old man. Since the incident, he began searching for the "answer in the sea". Towards the end of the series, he eventually regains his ability to walk.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Minamo Aoi}}|蒼井 ミナモ|Aoi Minamo}}
:{{Anime voices|[[Kanae Oki]]}}
:An intern hired by Masamichi Haru and sister of Souta Aoi. Originally hired to replace Holon during a leave for maintenance, she became a permanent employee after she helped guide Masamichi back from a dive gone wrong. Unlike the other humans and some animals in the story, she does not possess a Cyberbrain augmentation, and requires electronic accessories to access the Metal.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Souta Aoi}}|蒼井 ソウタ|Aoi Sōta}}
:{{Anime voices|[[Hiroki Takahashi]], Aiko Aihashi (child)}}
:Employee of the EISF and brother of Minamo Aoi. He begins to have feelings for Holon towards the end of the series.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Holon}}|ホロン|Horon}}
:{{Anime voices|[[Ayako Kawasumi]]}}
:A [[Gynoid]] who helps Masamichi Haru with daily life in his old age and assists him in his search for the "answer in the sea".
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Eiichiro Kushima}}|久島 永一朗|Kushima Eīchirō}}
:{{Anime voices|[[Keiji Fujiwara]]}}
:The director of the Electronics Industry Physical and Chemical Research Institute and friend of Masamichi Haru. While as old as Masamichi, his body has the appearance of a 28-year-old man. It was revealed later in the series that Kushima chose to replace his original body with a prosthetic one, allowing him to continue his work beyond the limits allowed by the human body. He has a spare body to which he transfers his consciousness during his usual body's maintenance, one which might be modeled after the young Haru (Minamo remarked in episode 20 that his spare's appearance reminded her of Haru in his youth).

===Supporting characters===
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Erica Patricia Takanami}}|エリカ＝パトリシア＝タカナミ|Erika Patorishia Takanami}}
:{{anime voices|[[Hiromi Tsuru]]}}
:The Chairwoman and First Princess of Artificial Island, Secretary General of the Council, and Souta's love interest. It is later revealed that Holon is modeled after her.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Jenny Yen}}|ジェニー＝円|Jenī En}}
:{{anime voices|[[Naoya Uchida]]}}
:The Chairman of the Council's Advisory Committee. Like Kushima, he, too, has a prosthetic body, but it has been upgraded for military use and is armed with a [[Weapons in science fiction|stun gun]].
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Mamoru Aoi}}|蒼井 衛|Aoi Mamoru}}
:{{anime voices|[[Takashi Matsuyama (actor)|Takashi Matsuyama]]}}
:The father of the Aoi siblings and chief of the Technical Section in the Department of Management at Denriken. Following an incident that occurred when the Metal crashed in episode 9, he resigns from his post and works as one of the lab researchers.

===Other characters===
;{{visible anchor|Operators}}
:{{anime voices|[[Ayako Kawasumi]]}}
:Androids employed at Denriken who control and monitor the Divers' status, as well as sudden changes within the Metal. Like Holon, they all take the same appearance as Takanami.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Ayumu Fujiwara}}|フジワラ アユム|Fujiwara Ayumu}}
:{{anime voices|[[Kazuki Yao]]}}
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Eugene Fujiwara}}|フジワラ ユージン|Fujiwara Yūjin}}
:{{anime voices|[[Kenji Hamada]]}}
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Mizuho Aoi}}|蒼井 ミズホ|Aoi Mizuho}}
:{{anime voices|[[Yūko Mizutani]]}}
:Souta and Minamo's mother.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Yoko Aoi}}|蒼井 洋子|Aoi Yōko}}
:{{anime voices|Junko Midori}}
:Souta and Minamo's grandmother.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Sayaka Mikomoto}}|神子元 サヤカ|Mikomoto Sayaka}}
:{{anime voices|[[Akeno Watanabe]]}}
:Minamo's classmate.
;{{nihongo|{{visible anchor|Yukino Ito}}|伊東 ユキノ|Itō Yukino}}
:{{anime voices|[[Ai Nonaka]]}}
:Minamo's classmate.

==Media==
===Anime===
{{main|List of Real Drive episodes}}
''Real Drive'' is produced by [[Production I.G]] under the directorship of [[Kazuhiro Furuhashi]], with series composition by Junichi Fujisaku, music by [[Hideki Taniuchi]] and [[Yoshihisa Hirano]], characters by Tetsuo Ueyama, and produced by Takeshi Wada (Production I.G), Toshio Nakatani (NTV), Yasuo Ueda (Vap), and Yousuke Kasahara. The series aired 26 episodes on [[Nippon Television|NTV]], with subsequent broadcast runs on [[GyaO]], [[Sapporo Television Broadcasting|STV]], [[Chūkyō Television Broadcasting|CTV]], [[Animax]], [[Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation|FBS]], [[Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation|YTV]], [[TV. Shinshu]], and Tochigi TV. Thirteen [[DVD]] compilation volumes, each containing two episodes, were released by [[VAP (company)|VAP]] between August 27, 2008, and August 21, 2009,<ref name="RD_DVDs">{{cite web|url=http://www.ntv.co.jp/RD/dvd/index.html|title=''Real Drive'' DVD Volumes|publisher=[[Nippon Television|NTV]]|language=ja|access-date=July 17, 2012}}</ref> with four DVD "Collector's Boxes" released between August 27, 2009, and May 22, 2009.<ref name="RD_DVDs"/> The Collector's Boxes includes three to four disks, each containing two episodes, along with other bonus material.

The opening theme for the series is "Wanderland" by [[9mm Parabellum Bullet]], while the series' ending theme is {{nihongo|"Katahiza no Yogore"|片膝の汚れ||"Dirty Knee"}} by [[Last Alliance (band)|Last Alliance]].

===Manga===
A manga adaptation of ''Real Drive'', illustrated by Momotarou Miyano, was serialized in ''[[Magazine Z]]'' from the June 2008 issue (Published on April 26, 2008) to the March 2009 issue (Published on January 26, 2009). Two [[tankōbon|bound volumes]] were released by [[Kodansha]] between August 22, 2008, and February 23, 2009, under their Kodansha Comics Z imprint.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/product/top.php/1234597902|script-title=ja:ＲＤ 潜脳調査室（１）|publisher=[[Kodansha]]|language=ja|access-date=July 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/product/top.php/1234597902|script-title=ja:ＲＤ 潜脳調査室（２） ＜完＞|publisher=[[Kodansha]]|language=ja|access-date=July 17, 2012}}</ref>

===Light novel===
A [[light novel]] adaptation, called {{nihongo|''Real Drive: Redeemable Dream''|RD 潜脳調査室 Redeemable Dream|Āru Dī Sennō Chōsashitsu: Redīmaburu Dorīmu}}, written by Yoshinobu Akita, was published by [[Kodansha]] on August 4, 2008.<ref>{{cite book|title=RD 潜脳調査室 Redeemable Dream|language=ja|id={{ASIN|4062148498|country=jp}}}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ntv.co.jp/RD/ Official site] {{in lang|ja}}
*[http://www.production-ig.co.jp/works/rd/ Production I.G Site Worklist] {{in lang|ja}}
*[http://www.productionig.com/contents/works_sp/62_/ Production I.G Site Worklist English Translation] {{in lang|ja}}
*{{ann|anime|8941}}
*{{IMDb title|1213889|RD: Sennô chôsashitsu}}

{{Kazuhiro Furuhashi}}
{{Masamune Shirow}}
{{Production I.G}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:2008 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:2008 Japanese novels]]
[[Category:2008 Japanese television series endings]]
[[Category:2008 manga]]
[[Category:Anime with original screenplays]]
[[Category:Kodansha manga]]
[[Category:Light novels]]
[[Category:Masamune Shirow]]
[[Category:Nippon Television original programming]]
[[Category:Production I.G]]
[[Category:Seinen manga]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk anime and manga]]