Quincy (manga)

Quincy (探偵クインシー, Detective quincy) is a Japanese manga series by Ryotaro Sekizawa that ran on Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1981 to 1988. Set in the fictional realm of Durania, it tells the story of a detective named Quincy McShane who has to fight off the mobster Forrester Roland while also dealing with various other incidents in his life, including his relationship with the Duranian Princess Sophie.

The series was well recieved by Japanese and English speaking viewers and reached high posistions on various best seller lists. In 1991, a four part OVA produced by J.C.Staff was released in Japan and was later licensed in the United States by Central Park Media, however, the most famous adaptation of the manga was the 2005 animated TV series created by Garrett Fredrickson that concluded in 2012.

Story
COMING SOON

Main

 * Quincy McShane (クインシーマクシェーン): The main protagonist of the story. Unlike most detective characters, Quincy is both very straightforward and serious but can also be fairly streetwise and laid-back. He can also show emotional vulnerability and has a sometimes violent and aggressive side to his personality; he's also shown to gamble and play cards often with a couple of con men he's friends with.
 * Captain Saffron (キャプテンサフラン): The police captain who sometimes assists Quincy in his missions. He's fairly well mannered, sophisticated, and quite intellegent, even sometimes seeing through Forrester Roland's manipulations. He was also the first to know that Qunicy had a crush on Sophie, which he found "really cute".
 * Princess Sophie Williams (ソフィー・ウィリアムス王女): The kindhearted princess of Durania whom Quincy has a chance encounter with. After spending some time together, the two became good friends, and eventually she becomes Quincy's love interest and later the main couple of the manga, although Sophie tries to keep their relationship discreet from most people she knows in order to keep Quincy safe from being harmed by suitors that may also want her. Of all the characters in the manga, Captain Saffron and Chief Aarons were the first ones to know that Quincy likes her.

Antagonists

 * Forrester Roland (フォレスターローランド): One of the main recurring atagonists of the series. He is a mobster leader and is fully aware of his criminal status. Despite this, he keeps his plans secret from anyone outside his pack and is good at both manipulating his foes and escaping from prison, which has led to why Quincy doesn't like him.
 * Randy (ラスムス): Forrester's right hand partner. He is often the brains of many of Roland's schemes and also assists his boss whenever he can.
 * Daran (それ): Forrestor's other right hand partner and a master jewel thief.
 * Piercston Claytor (ピアストンクレイター): A money hungry criminal who used to own a hardware store, but after it went under, he initially joined forces with Forrester Roland, until the two had an argument and Piercston left him. He has since become a common sight at bank robberies and heists of all kinds, although he's not as good as escaping prison as Roland is.
 * The Smugglers (密輸業者): A gang of minor antagonists who often cause all sorts of havoc. Unlike the other antagonists, they aren't in any way affliated with Forrester Roland's mob, and are instead their own group.

Recurring characters

 * Zach T. Darwin (ザック・T・ダーウィン): Quincy's lawyer. Although Quincy isn't the only one he plays attorney to, he does consider him his best client. When in court, he is quick to defend Quincy in whatever reasonable way possible, many times because he knows Quincy would never do it. In the 2005 series, he's more manic and over the top in nature compared to how he was in the manga, though his character remains mostly the same.
 * Chief Aarons (チーフアーロン): The well mannered police chief who has good faith in his staff, particularly Quincy. Like with Saffron, he was also the first to find out that Quincy had feelings for Sophie, though he agreed to keep it a secret in case things didn't work out for them.
 * Baron von Frederick (フレデリック男爵): The fairly eccentric and somewhat cowardly, but goodhearted baron of Durania.
 * Annette Howard (アネットハワード): A reporter for the Durania News. She is shown to have a crush on Quincy, even showing some jealousy towards his relationship with Sophie, although she doesn't try to get in the way of their relationship.
 * Roy M. Xander (ロイ・M・ザンダー): One of the officers at the police station.
 * Klay, Vincent, Jack, and Raymond (クレイ, ビンセント, ジャック, レイモンド): A group of con men and gamblers whom Quincy is good friends with. Outside of gambling, they also sell various items for people to buy, such as scarfs.

OVA
In 1991, J.C. Staff produced a four part OVA inspired by the manga, although the OVA creates it's own original stories rather than following the manga. The OVA received mixed reviews in Japan, mostly due to the differences from the manga. Central Park Media licensed the OVA in the United States and released it on VHS in 1993 and on DVD in 2000.

2005 TV series
Main Article: The Story of Quincy

Garrett Fredrickson's production company LIVE Entertainment and the Japanese animation studio Kyoto Animation adapted the manga into the acclaimed TV series The Story of Quincy, which spanned one hundred and four episodes over four seasons. Alan Templeton and Richard Pursel, among others served as the writers for the series while David Merkin helped co-develop the series. The music for the series was composed by Michael Tavera. The series premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo and in the United States on TNT in 2005 and concluded in 2011. The series was also noted for it's recognizable voice cast, which consisted of Mark Hamill as Quincy, Joseph Gordon Levitt as Captain Saffron, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Princess Sophie, Tim Curry as Forrester Roland, Timothy Spall as Randy, John Cleese as Zach T. Darwin, and Martin Short as Baron von Frederick. Although like with the OVA the series created it's own original stories, it also adapted many of the plot arcs of the manga as part of each season, with several episodes being adaptations of the manga's stories. The series was distributed by Paramount Television in it's first season, CBS/Paramount Television in it's second and third seasons, and finally by CBS Television Distribution in the final season.