# Saikano (最終兵器彼女)
**Saikano** (最終兵器彼女), fully *Saishū Heiki Kanojo: The Last Love Song on This Little Planet*, is a Japanese seinen science-fiction romance manga by Shin Takahashi (高橋しん), serialized in Big Comic Spirits and collected in seven volumes by [Shogakukan](https://www.edgepedia.org/shogakukan)[1](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09185681) • [2](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo). Its premise joins an ordinary high-school love story with a war setting: a rural Hokkaido teenager, Chise, has been modified by the [Japan Self-Defense Forces](https://www.edgepedia.org/japan-self-defense-forces) into the "ultimate weapon," and her boyfriend Shuji discovers this when Sapporo is suddenly bombed[1](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09185681) • [3](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/). [Toei Animation](https://www.edgepedia.org/toei-animation) credits the series with 3.5 million copies in print and broad reader support for its mix of pure romance and SF warfare[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Shin Takahashi (高橋しん), story and art[2](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo) |
| Serialization | Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan); Toei dates it 2000–2001, MyAnimeList December 27, 1999 to October 29, 2001[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/) • [2](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo) |
| Collected edition | 7 tankōbon volumes, 72 chapters[5](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405) • [2](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo) |
| Sales | 3.5 million copies, still growing at the time of Toei's film page[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/) |
| Anime | 13-episode TV series by GONZO, July 2 to September 24, 2002, directed by Mitsuko Kase[3](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/) • [6](https://myanimelist.net/anime/529/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo) |
| Live-action film | 120 minutes, premiered January 28, 2006, directed by Taikan Suga, starring Aki Maeda and Shunsuke Kubozuka[7](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5828) |
| English edition | SaiKano, VIZ Media, June 16, 2004 to January 10, 2006[2](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo) |
## Publication history
The manga ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits, a seinen (young-men) magazine. Toei's official page dates the serialization 2000 to 2001[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/), while [MyAnimeList](https://www.edgepedia.org/myanimelist) records it as December 27, 1999 to October 29, 2001[2](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo). The first collected volume carries a Japanese publication date of May 30, 2000[5](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405).
**Licensed editions.** VIZ Media published the series in North America as *SaiKano* from June 16, 2004 to January 10, 2006[2](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo). Other licensed runs followed in France (January 24, 2003 to March 24, 2004), Germany (October 2003 to November 2004), and Mexico (August 14, 2006 to January 23, 2007)[5](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405). Shogakukan's catalog also lists a digital edition of volume 1[1](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09185681).
## Plot and premise
Shuji and Chise are third-year high-school students in a rural Hokkaido town who begin dating through an exchange diary, an awkward and innocent relationship[3](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/). One day Sapporo is suddenly subjected to an air raid, with bombers of unknown nationality raining bombs on the city[3](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/) • [5](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405). In the aftermath Shuji encounters Chise transformed: she reveals herself as a cyborg engineered for mass destruction, the one responsible for eliminating the enemy forces[5](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405).
The weaponization was carried out by the Japan Self-Defense Forces, which modified Chise against her will[1](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09185681) • [6](https://myanimelist.net/anime/529/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo). The publisher's synopsis describes the result concretely: wings grow from her back, she flies at Mach 2, and she carries enormous destructive power[1](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09185681). MyAnimeList's synopsis adds that the air raid on Sapporo kills one of Shuji's friends, tying the war directly into the couple's circle[6](https://myanimelist.net/anime/529/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo).
**Romance against apocalypse.** Toei attributes the work's support to exactly this mixture: an ordinary high-school pure love story combined with an SF worldview in which a girl fights as the ultimate weapon[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/). In an interview, Takahashi explained that he deliberately gave no character a surname, intending this to make them easier to relate to and more like ordinary Japanese adolescents.[8](https://www.animenation.net/blog/ask-john-what-is-saikano/)
## Adaptations
**2002 television anime.** GONZO produced a 13-episode TV series broadcast from July to October 2002 on Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting and other stations[3](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/); MyAnimeList gives the exact run as July 2 to September 24, 2002, Tuesdays at 19:00 JST[6](https://myanimelist.net/anime/529/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo). Credits are original work Shin Takahashi, direction by Mitsuko Kase (加瀬充子), series composition and screenplay by Itaru Era (江良至), character design by Hisashi Kagawa, and music by Kazuo Jitsukata[3](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/). Producers were Toei Video, Toshiba EMI, and Tohokushinsha Film Corporation[6](https://myanimelist.net/anime/529/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo). GONZO says the anime was made only after serialization ended, reportedly because the author had strongly refused to permit an adaptation before then[3](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/). The series was licensed in English by VIZ Media and later by [Sentai Filmworks](https://www.edgepedia.org/sentai-filmworks)[6](https://myanimelist.net/anime/529/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo).
**OVAs.** New OVA episodes were released in August and September 2005; the OVA is titled *Saishuu Heiki Kanojo: Another Love Song*[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/) • [6](https://myanimelist.net/anime/529/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo).
**Live-action film.** A live-action film, announced by Toei five years after serialization began, premiered in Japan on January 28, 2006[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/) • [7](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5828). It runs 120 minutes, was directed by Taikan Suga with a screenplay by Yukako Shimizu and music by Yoshihiro Ike, and stars Aki Maeda as Chise and Shunsuke Kubozuka as Shuji[7](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5828).
## By the numbers
The quantitative record of the franchise, as given by its producers and databases:
- Manga: 7 volumes, 72 chapters[5](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405) • [2](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo).
- Sales: 3.5 million copies, with Toei noting the count was still rising when the film page was published[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/).
- Anime home video: 21,679 rental videos and about 75,000 sell-through DVDs sold cumulatively[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/).
- Episodes: 13 in the TV series, plus the 2005 OVA releases[3](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/) • [4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/).
- Reader rating: [Anime News Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/anime-news-network) users rate the manga at a weighted mean of 8.596 ("Excellent−"), rank #426 of 8,358 titles[5](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405).
## Reception and assessment
The documented reception is largely quantitative and retrospective. Toei cites broad reader support for the romance-plus-SF formula and the 3.5 million copy sales figure as evidence of the work's popularity[4](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/), and ANN's user rating of 8.596 places it at rank #426 of 8,358 ranked titles in that database[5](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405). Retrospective Anglophone commentary has placed the series alongside war dramas such as *Graveyard of Fireflies* and *Ima, Soku ni Iru Boku* and tragic romances such as *Fushigi Yugi*, describing Chise's eroding control over her own body, will, and humanity as the war intensifies, and noting that GONZO's anime emulates the manga's subdued watercolor style[8](https://www.animenation.net/blog/ask-john-what-is-saikano/).
**Author context.** In an interview tied to the live-action film, Takahashi confirmed that *Ii Hito* (いいひと。) was his serialized debut and that when it ended he had no concept for a next work, having intended to squeeze everything out of that series[9](https://www.toei-anim.co.jp/movie/2006_saikano/inter/index.html). A [Konami](https://www.edgepedia.org/konami) PlayStation 2 dating-simulation adaptation of the manga was announced[8](https://www.animenation.net/blog/ask-john-what-is-saikano/).
## References
1. [最終兵器彼女 1, Shogakukan catalog](https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09185681)
2. [Saishuu Heiki Kanojo (manga), MyAnimeList](https://myanimelist.net/manga/773/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo)
3. [最終兵器彼女, GONZO works page](https://www.gonzo.co.jp/works/saikano/)
4. [ストーリー - 最終兵器彼女, Toei Animation lineup](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/2006_saikano/story/)
5. [Saikano (manga), Anime News Network Encyclopedia](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=2405)
6. [Saishuu Heiki Kanojo (TV 2002), MyAnimeList](https://myanimelist.net/anime/529/Saishuu_Heiki_Kanojo)
7. [SaiKano (live-action movie), Anime News Network Encyclopedia](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=5828)
8. [Ask John: What is SaiKano?, AnimeNation](https://www.animenation.net/blog/ask-john-what-is-saikano/)
9. [最終兵器彼女 THE LAST LOVE SONG ON THIS LITTLE PLANET, Toei interview](https://www.toei-anim.co.jp/movie/2006_saikano/inter/index.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Comics and sequential art › Comic-book series and issues › Japanese shōnen and seinen manga › Sci-fi, horror, and dark fantasy manga*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license