Rowing Influence in Pop Culture - Regatta

The world of rowing has expanded to popular culture with a manga series about a young rower and a TV show adapted from the books. The book, pictured here, has an original Japanese title Regatta Kimi to Ita Eien. The series was published from 2001 to 2004 and has sixty-three chapters. The TV adaptation was debuted in 2006 and had nine episodes. Both the book and the TV show are about Makoto who is an oarsman on a university team with huge potential. Makoto is hoping to make the Olympic team. He loses his best friend in an accident he blames himself for. Feeling responsible for the death of his friend, Makoto decides to leave the rowing team. He eventually returns after the encouragement of his friend's girlfriend, Misao, and his teammates. He also realizes he loves the sport and has such passion for it, he couldn't stay away. He comes back more determined than ever to fulfill his dream of becoming an Olympic rower. Throughout the series, Makoto learns about facing the trials of love and friendship as well as the difficulties life brings. This series uses rowing as the backdrop to have conversations about life, love, loss, and grief. Rowing is a sport that is physically taxing and requires extreme mental toughness. A teen series that incorporates rowing as a main storyline is incredibly important for the visibility of the sport, and shows that rowing is a sport accessible to anyone (IMDb).