is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Noboru Rokuda about a country boy who fulfills his dream by racing in a Formula One car. It was serialized in Big Comic Spirits between June 15, 1985, and 1992 in the fourteenth to thirty-fifth issue of the magazine. F received the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1991 for seinen/general manga. It has been adapted into an anime series by Fuji TV and Kitty Film and was broadcast on Fuji TV between March 9, 1988, and December 23, 1988. Atsuko Nakajima of Ranma ½ fame was an animation director on the series. The anime series was also telecast in Italy under the title F - Motori in pista; the protagonist, Gunma Akagi, was renamed "Patrick" in this version. The anime version of Rokuda's earlier manga Dash Kappei, made by Tatsunoko Production in 1981–1982, had also been successful in Italy. The sequel, F Regeneration Ruri, was published by Shueisha in 12 bunkobon volumes from 2002 and June 2006. Anime Cast Toshihiko Seki as Gunma Akagi Akio Ohtsuka as Gorou Hiroshi Ito as Souichirou Akagi Hirotaka Suzuoki as Kazuto Hiziri Kazue Takahashi as Sayuri Kiyoyuki Yanada as Shouma Kouji Tsujitani as Yuuma Rei Sakuma as Ruiko Sakiko Tamagawa as Junko Komori Shigeru Chiba as Kinoshita Shinnosuke Furumoto as Tamotsu Oishi Tohru Furuya as Kishida You Yoshimura as Yasuda Youko Mizutani as Yuki Music The series uses four pieces of theme songs. The first theme opening theme is "F" by The Burst, which was used for episodes one to twenty-one; the second opening theme is "Love Affair" by Kojiro Shimizu, which was used for episodes twenty-two to thirty-one. The first ending theme is by Hiroshi, which was used for episodes one to twenty-one; the second ending theme is "You Are My Energy" by Shinji Harada, which was used for episodes twenty-two to thirty-one. References External links F at Japan Authors' Gallery 5 Ace's Official F website 1985 manga 1988 anime television series debuts Kodansha manga Motorsports in anime and manga Seinen manga Shogakukan manga Shueisha manga Animated television series about auto racing Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga