Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture

Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture
Cover of the limited edition of Moyasimon volume 13, depicting (from left to right): Hazuki Oikawa, Tadayasu Sawaki and Kei Yūki. Aspergillus oryzae is shown at their feet.
もやしもん (Moyashimon)
Genre	Comedy, Educational
Manga
Written by	Masayuki Ishikawa
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	NA Del Rey Manga (discontinued)
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Evening, Morning two
Original run	August 10, 2004 – January 22, 2014
Volumes	13 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Yūichirō Yano
Written by	Natsuko Takahashi
Studio	Shirogumi Telecom Animation Film
Original network	Fuji TV (Noitamina)
Original run	October 12, 2007 – December 21, 2007
Episodes	11 (List of episodes)
Television drama
Original network	Fuji TV (Noitamina)
Original run	July 8, 2010 – September 16, 2010
Episodes	11 (List of episodes)
Anime television series
Moyasimon Returns
Directed by	Yūichirō Yano
Studio	Shirogumi Telecom Animation Film
Original network	Fuji TV (Noitamina)
Original run	July 5, 2012 – September 13, 2012
Episodes	11 (List of episodes)

Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture, known in Japan as Moyashimon (もやしもん^?), is a Japanese manga series by Masayuki Ishikawa. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen magazine Evening from August 2004 to June 2013 and moved to the magazine Morning two, where it concluded in January 2014. The series follows Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university, who has a unique ability to see and communicate with bacteria and other microorganisms. Del Rey Manga licensed the manga, but only released two volumes in English in North America. An 11-episode anime television series adaptation, animated by Shirogumi and Telecom Animation Film, aired between October and December 2007 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. An 11-episode live action adaptation was aired on Noitamina between July and September 2010. An 11-episode animated second season titled Moyasimon Returns aired from July to September 2012.

The manga, anime and live action have all been generally well received by reviewers, with praise received for the artwork and sustaining the viewer's interest through clear presentation of a difficult topic. It won the 2008 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for Grand Prize and the 2008 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.

Moyasimon follows the life of Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university, who has the unique ability to see and communicate with microorganisms. Additionally, these organisms look much different to him, and much larger, than what can be seen under a microscope by normal people. This ability has brought him a bit of fame as when he entered the university, Tadayasu discovered that one of the professors there, Keizō Itsuki, already knew about his gift via Tadayasu's grandfather. Professor Itsuki's coworker Haruka Hasegawa has trouble believing what Tadayasu claims at first, but later comes to accept it. Tadayasu enters the university with his good friend Kei Yūki whose family runs a sake brewery.