Ben-To

Ben-To (ベン・トー, Ben Tō) is a Japanese light novel series written by Asaura, with illustrations by Kaito Shibano. The first volume was published in February 2008, and 10 volumes have been released by Shueisha as of December 2011. Shibano also illustrates two manga adaptations titled Ben-To Zero: Road to Witch and Ben-To Another: Ripper's Night. A 12-episode anime TV series adaptation produced by David Production aired in Japan between October and December 2011.

Ben-To
Cover of Ben-To volume 1.
ベン・トー (Ben Tō)
Genre	Action, Comedy
Light novel
Written by	Asaura
Illustrated by	Kaito Shibano
Published by	Shueisha
Imprint	Super Dash Bunko
Demographic	Male
Original run	February 22, 2008 – present
Volumes	10
Manga
Ben-To Zero: Road to Witch
Written by	Asaura
Illustrated by	Kaito Shibano
Published by	Shueisha
Magazine	Super Dash Manga Program (Jump Square)
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	April 21, 2011 – October 2011
Anime television series
Directed by	Shin Itagaki
Music by	Taku Iwasaki
Studio	David Production
Original network	TV Aichi
Original run	October 9, 2011 – December 25, 2011
Episodes	12
Manga
Ben-To Another: Ripper's Night
Written by	Asaura
Illustrated by	Kaito Shibano
Published by	Shueisha
Magazine	Super Dash & Go!
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	December 2011 – present

Plot

While innocently reaching for some half-priced bento, Yō Satō finds himself beaten up on the floor of a supermarket. He soon learns that getting half-priced bento is an all-out brawl between customers. Yō is invited to the Half-Priced Food Lovers Club by one of the top fighters, Sen Yarizui, in order to train to compete in these battles.

Bento brawls

Bento brawls are big, all-out, free for all battles for half-priced bento boxes, where victors are decided by who claims the bento first. The brawls are governed by a set of unspoken rules among the brawlers, mainly to keep each brawl fair and even.

• Every brawler must wait away from the bento area until the God of Discounts, the ones who put the half-priced sticker on the bento boxes, put the sticker on the bento boxes and leave to the break room before beginning to battle. To take one beforehand and to harass the God of Discounts is disrespectful as the last thing they need at the end of their shift are people harassing them for their discount.
• If another brawler manages to get a bento for themselves, they cannot be attacked. If two or more brawlers get their hands on the same bento, then they fight among themselves until the other lets go of the bento.
• A brawler can only take one bento, to take another would be greedy and would spoil the victory for another.
• Brawlers should never do anything to cause a bento to spill, doing that would mean one less bento for someone to get.

Asides from that, whatever methods one can use in obtaining a bento can be used from simply brawling to using baskets and chopsticks as weapons, even running around avoiding fights altogether are valid strategies. Sometimes brawlers fight in groups, such as the Half-Priced Food Lovers Club (Yō, Sen and sometimes Hana) and the Orthros pair who will often fight with each other while going after separate bento or team up to take out a threat before brawling with each other.

Those that fight for bento boxes are often known as "wolves". Inexperienced bento brawlers are considered "dogs", usually considered as such when they do not understand the essence of bento brawls and use tactics that are looked down upon. Those that go against the rules and will selfishly go after bento and harass the staff are known "boars" and have no respect among brawlers. Bento brawlers will often do everything in their power to stop boars from obtaining bento as they go against everything brawlers stand for and thus do not deserve the bento. Strong and notable brawlers are often given titles (which are usually associated with personality or appearance), though how they get their title (and in the case of Yō, the title itself) are usually less than impressive.

Characters

Yō Satō (佐藤 洋, Satō Yō)

Voiced by: Hiro Shimono

The main character, a high school freshman who finds himself dragged into the battle for half-priced bento. He enjoys playing retro video games, particularly Sega games. Though at first shown not able to even hold his ground in a bento brawl, he soon shows remarkable strength, enough to be recognized as an equal by Yū, the Wizard, and win a one-on-one fight against Ayame. Following a particularly embarrassing incident, he ends up stuck with the title of Pervert (変態, Hentai), which, ironically, fits his own personality; Ayame reveals several porn magazines in his room (given to him by a fellow classmate named Uchimoto), and hints that this habit of reading them started at a young age. Therefore, he often fantasizes about girls (usually Sen, whom he has a crush on), but despite his perverted behaviour, most of the female characters seem to have developed feelings for him (Ayame, the older Sawagi twin, Asabi, and even Sen), even if it is somewhat comedic (like Hana or Asebi). Nonetheless, he is able to focus on the task at hand and do what he is asked to do (again, usually by Sen).

Sen Yarizui (槍水 仙, Yarizui Sen)

Voiced by: Mariya Ise

A second year student who is the current president (and initially, the only remaining member) of the Half Priced Food Lovers Club. She is one of the strongest wolves of the west, leading her to be known as the Ice Witch (氷結の魔女, Hyōketsu no Majo). Her title comes from her accidentally almost buying a beer called Ice Cold (氷結, Hyōketsu) because she liked the design and assumed it was a normal drink, in addition to it being on sale. While usually calm, she's very innocent and does not particularly know a lot outside of bento brawls and can sometimes be pretty clumsy. She can be very stubborn as well, especially when it involves a challenge from another wolf. Sen, however, does have a good heart, preferring not to judge people by appearances or hold any grudges. She doesn't seem to have any dislikes, besides bento brawlers who do not follow the rules and boys who ignore girls that have been hurt. Despite Yō having many fantasies of Sen, she appears to be oblivious to this particular side of him. Regardless, she cares for his well-being and often shares bento with him, hinting that she may like him.

Ayame Shaga (著莪 あやめ, Shaga Ayame)

Voiced by: Emiri Katō

Yō's half-Italian first cousin. Like Yō, she is an avid gamer, and enjoys flirting with him and occasionally Hana. She is also a wolf known as the Beauty by the Lake (湖の麗人, Mizūmi no Reijin), named so after eating a bento on a bench at a park next to a lake and ended up falling asleep there. She is well known for using chopsticks in battle. Her personality varies depending on her mood; normally, she is very out-going, and loves toying with Yō, but if she is hurt, she becomes very sensitive and harsh against him and Sen, much preferring to have Yō eat with her or be alone at that point. She often goes scouting out other wolves and usually hangs out with Yō and Sen, with whom she shares a friendly rivalry with.

Hana Oshiroi (白粉 花, Oshiroi Hana)

Voiced by: Aoi Yūki

An easily excitable girl who joins the Half Priced Food Lovers Club. Her hobby is writing yaoi erotic novels, having its characters inspired on other wolves. Not a fighter type at all, Hana usually resorts to sneaking past the other wolves while they are fighting to grab a bento for herself, which ironically, works most of the time. People used to bully her and get mad if she even touched them, saying that she has germs and will infect them, until she began to frantically apologize to anyone she touches and try to clean them up after the "contamination". Since meeting Sen and Yō, that behaviour has gradually changed and eventually, it no longer occurred.

Ume Shiraume (白梅 梅, Shiraume Ume)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano

The student council president of Yō's school who is interested in girls in general and is especially obsessed with Hana. She constantly abuses and slaps Yō out of jealousy for getting along with Hana, despite also being prone to flirt with other girls, like Ayame. She has a tendency to ask if it is okay for her to get angry or hit someone immediately after already doing so.

Yū Kaneshiro (金城 優, Kaneshiro Yū)

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano

A third year student and a veteran wolf who is known as the Wizard (ウィザード, Wizādo). A year before the events of the story, he was the president of the Half Priced Food Lovers Club, and personally taught Sen the rules of bento brawling.

Asebi Inoue (井ノ上 あせび, Inoue Asebi)

Voiced by: Ayana Taketatsu

A schoolmate of Ayame who is also in the gaming club at their school. She is cursed with extreme bad luck which spreads to anybody she touches (usually Yō), though she is oblivious to her curse and has a happy-go-lucky and childlike personality otherwise. She always has a cold so she is often seen wearing a scarf and hat. It is hinted she might have feelings for Yō, making him cookies and a bento (with unlucky results).

Ren Nikaidou (二階堂 連, Nikaidō Ren)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu

A wolf who was once the head of a group known as the Gabriel Ratchet. After a strong showing from Yō, he declared him as his rival, though has a lot of problems when associating with him, especially because of the incident where Yō got the nickname of pervert which he personally helped spread. Despite being unwilling to have anything to do with Yō, he is somewhat similar to him in personality and preference; he has a crush on Matsuba (as Yō does with Sen) and often blushes whenever an awkward situation is presented to him (just as Yō does when he starts fantasizing). He often associates himself with Ayame as they are from the same area and will usually work with her to gather information about other wolves. Despite being a noteworthy wolf, he has yet to gain a proper nickname.

Kyō Sawagi (沢桔 梗, Sawagi Kyō) and Kyō Sawagi (沢桔 鏡, Sawagi Kyō)

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura and Yui Horie

A pair of twin sisters who are the respective Student Council President and Vice President of Ayame's school. Their names sound identical but spelled with different kanji; the elder twin is named with the kanji in 'bellflower' while the younger twin is named with the kanji for 'mirror'. Together, they form a fearsome bento brawling combo known as Orthrus (オルトロス, Orutorusu), using shopping baskets to overwhelm their opponents with darkness and beat them so badly that they don't remember who attacked them. Before the start of the story, they were inspired to become bento brawlers after witnessing one at such a young age and became one of the strongest bento brawlers until a manipulative brawler known as the Club of Hercules made a deal with the other local wolves to simply let them pass by, thus taking the fun out of the brawls. Due to this, they lost all desire to continue until three years later, after they try to get a look of Sen in the hospital, when it was Yō who was hospitalized, not Sen.

Media

Light novels

Ben-To began as a light novel series written by Asaura, with illustrations by Kaito Shibano. The first volume was published on February 22, 2008 under Shueisha's Super Dash Bunko imprint. As of December 27, 2011, eight main novels in the series have been released, as well as two additional short story collections. Other short stories are published online on Super Dash Bunko's official website and in Super Dash Manga Program, a separate volume included with Shueisha's Jump Square manga magazine.

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Kaito Shibano titled Ben-To Zero: Road to Witch serialized five chapters between the first issue of Super Dash Manga Program, included with the combined May/June 2011 issue of Jump Square sold on April 21, 2011, and the issue included with the October 2011 issue of Jump Square. A single tankōbon volume was released on October 25, 2011. Another manga also illustrated by Shibano titled Ben-To Another: Rippers Night started serialization in the debut December 2011 issue of Shueisha's Super Dash & Go! magazine.

Anime

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation produced by David Production and directed by Shin Itagaki aired in Japan between October 9, 2011 December 25, 2011 on TV Aichi. The main opening theme is "Live for Life: Ōkamitachi no Yoru" (LIVE for LIFE 〜狼たちの夜〜, LIVE for LIFE ~Night of the Wolves~) by Aimi, while the ending theme is "Egao no Hōsoku" (笑顔の法則, The Rules of Smiling) by Mariya Ise. The opening theme for episode four is "Treasure!" by Emiri Katō.

Episode list

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No.	Title	Original airdate

Reception

The Mainichi Shimbun reported that as of March 2011, over 550,000 copies of the light novels have been sold in Japan. The light novel series has ranked three times in Takarajimasha's light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! published yearly: eighth in 2010, fifth in 2011, and third in 2012.

External links

• Ben-To at Shueisha Template:Ja icon
• Anime official website Template:Ja icon
• Ben-To (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia