Simoun (anime)

Simoun
Screenshot from the anime's opening sequence
シムーン (Shimūn)
Genre	Planetary romance, Yuri, Coming of age
Anime television series
Directed by	Junji Nishimura
Studio	Studio Deen
Licensed by	US AnimeWorks
Original network	TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, AT-X
Original run	3 April 2006 – 25 September 2006
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Manga
Written by	Hayase Hashiba
Published by	Ichijinsha
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Comic Yuri Hime
Original run	January 2006 – July 2006
Volumes	1
Manga
Simoun Magical Biyūden
Written by	Wataru Akiduki
Published by	Gakken
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Megami Magazine
Original run	August 2006 – December 2006
Light novel
Written by	Junko Okazaki
Illustrated by	Asako Nishida
Published by	Gakken
Demographic	Male
Imprint	Megami Bunko
Original run	August 2006 – December 2006
Volumes	2

Simoun (シムーン, Shimūn^?) is a Japanese anime television series that was broadcast in Japan in 2006. It ran for 26 weekly episodes from 3 April to 25 September.

A manga adaptation was published in three issues of Comic Yuri Hime. The manga shared the same characters and setting as the anime, but presented a different storyline. A second manga was serialised in Megami Magazine, with a radically different setting and a comic rather than serious and dramatic tone. There is also a two-volume light novel adaptation, which unlike the manga has a storyline close to that of the anime.

In May 2007, Simoun was licensed for release in North America by Media Blasters.

Simoun takes place on the earth-like planet Daikūriku (大空陸^?) ("great sky land" or "heaven's shore"). The people of Daikūriku are all born female. The theocratic nation of Simulacrum has a monopoly on the helical motor technology and as a result grew to prosperity. The two nations Argentum and Plumbum wage war against it in an attempt to steal the technology. In Simulacrum, the girls grow up until age of seventeen, when they make a pilgrimage to a holy place known as "the Spring" to select their permanent sex. Simulacrum is defended by advanced airships known as "Simoun", two-seater aircraft propelled by two helical motors. Simoun are piloted by priestesses known as sibyllae (シムーン·シヴュラ, Shimūn Shivyura^?) (plural; singular sibylla), each a girl who has not yet chosen a permanent sex; doing so renders one physically incapable of piloting a Simoun.sibyllae are organized into "choirs" or "chor" of twelve that pilot six Simoun when at full strength. The sibyllae can inscribe enormous glyphs known as Ri Mājon in the sky using the Simoun to produce powerful magical effects both for combat and ceremony.