[From March Issue 2014]

Gin no Saji (Silver Spoon)
Set at an agricultural high school and portraying the development of high school boys, “Gin no Saji” (Silver Spoon) has been serialized in Shukan Shonen Sunday since 2011. Only ten volumes of this comic have been released, but it has already become a hot topic with sales totaling more than 13 million copies. The animated TV adaptation was broadcast from July to September 2013. The second season has been broadcast since January, 2014.
The story begins when the main character of the story HACHIKEN Yugo enters Ooezo Agricultural High School in Hokkaido. Hachiken attended a top-class junior high school in Sapporo City. However, after graduating, rather than going on to the associated high school, he chose to enroll at an agricultural high school in the middle of nowhere.
During junior high school, Hachiken did not participate in any club activities, but only thought of getting better grades on his tests. Having an older brother who achieved top grades, Hachiken was under a lot of pressure due to the expectations of his parents. However, his grades failed to improve and Hachiken was completely exhausted in both mind and body. Recognizing that Hachiken was in such a state, his junior high school teacher recommended that he enroll at a more easy going agricultural high school. Without any other motive in mind other than the desire to get away from his parents, Hachiken enrolled at an agricultural high school which had dormitories.
However, Hachiken is shocked to find out that most of his classmates have clear dreams for the future. He tries to preserve his identity by getting top scores on tests, but fails to achieve even that. Each student has an area of expertise; a classmate who cannot keep up in mathematics scores 100 in animal husbandry. Moreover, unlike Hachiken, whose goal was to get good grades, they excel at something in order to make their dreams for the future come true. Overall, Hachiken achieves top marks, but he is not satisfied with that at all.
He not only gets a shock from the tests. Having been raised by office workers, it is the first time he has come into contact with livestock. The adorable piglets kept in the school are destined to become pork several months later. Once they stop laying eggs, or cease to produce milk, the chickens and cows are slaughtered for their meat. Hachiken learns through experience the difference between pets and livestock.
The author ARAKAWA Hiromu is a comic writer known for other works, including “Hagane no Renkinjyutsushi” (Fullmetal Alchemist). Her family are dairy farmers and she graduated from an agricultural high school. This is why the descriptions of the classes and dormitory life are so lively and detailed. The work also mentions subjects, including biotechnology, that are taught at agricultural high schools at the same level as at a university.
The work is filled with comic elements unique to agricultural high schools, including a club to appreciate the beauty of Holstein cows, and a female student, Tamako who is particularly fussy about not letting anything go to waste. In addition, the work also brings up the realities of farming and the problems of agriculture. Readers can laugh while finding out about the various aspects of agriculture with Hachiken.
Text：ICHIMURA Masayo[2014年3月号掲載記事]

銀の匙
農業高校を舞台に、男子高校生の成長を描いた「銀の匙-Silver Spoon-」は2011年から週刊少年サンデーで連載中です。コミックスは10巻まで発売されていますが、販売累計は1,300万冊を超える話題作です。2013年7～9月はテレビアニメも放送。第2期が2014年1月から放送されています。
物語は主人公の八軒勇吾が北海道の大蝦夷農業高校に入学するところから始まります。中学時代、八軒は札幌市にある進学校に通っていました。しかし卒業後は内部進学せずに、家から遠い農業高校を選んだのです。
中学での八軒は部活動もせずにテストの点数を上げることだけを考えていました。成績優秀な兄の存在と親の期待がプレッシャーとなっていたのです。しかし成績は伸び悩み、八軒は心身ともに疲れきってしまいました。そんな八軒を見た中学の先生が、のんびりした農業高校への進学を勧めたのです。八軒はなんの目的もなく、親元を離れたい一心で寮のある農業高校に入学しました。
しかし八軒は、同級生の多くがはっきりとした将来の夢を持っていることを知ってショックを受けます。テストで一番になることでアイデンティティーを保とうとしますが、それにも失敗します。数学では落ちこぼれの同級生が畜産で100点を取るなど、それぞれが得意分野を持っていたのです。しかも点数を取ることが目的だった八軒と違い、彼らの得意分野は彼らの将来の夢につながっていました。八軒は総合得点では一位になりますが、全く喜べませんでした。
ショックを受けたのはテストのことだけではありません。サラリーマン家庭に育った八軒は、家畜と接するのも初めてでした。学内で飼われているかわいい子豚は数ヵ月後には豚肉になる運命です。鶏や牛も、卵を産まなくなったりミルクの出が悪くなれば食用の肉になります。ペットと経済動物の違いを八軒は肌で学んでいきます。
作者の荒川弘は「鋼の錬金術師」などの作品でも知られるまんが家ですが、酪農家の出身で農業高校を卒業しています。そのため物語では授業内容や寮生活が詳細に、そして生き生きと描かれています。バイオテクノロジーなど大学並みの研究が農業高校で行われていることにもふれています。
作品中には、ホルスタイン牛の美を追求する部活動や、農業の経済性にとことんこだわる女子学生、タマコも登場し、農業高校ならではのコメディー要素も満載です。その一方で農家の実情や農業の問題点にもふれています。読者は笑いながら読み進むうちに八軒と一緒に農業の様々な側面を知るようになります。
文：市村雅代