Ex-Arm

Ex-Arm^[d] is a Japanese science fiction manga series written by HiRock and illustrated by Shinya Komi. The series is a remake of Komi's earlier manga Ex-Vita. It was serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Grand Jump from February 2015 to December 2017, and later on Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ website from December 2017 to June 2019. Shueisha compiled its chapters into fourteen tankōbon volumes. A sequel manga titled Ex-Arm EXA was serialized in Grand Jump Mucha from August 2019 to February 2021 and compiled into two volumes.

Ex-Arm
First tankōbon volume cover
EX-ARM（エクスアーム）
Genre	Action, crime, cyberpunk[1][2]
Manga
Ex-Vita
Written by	Shinya Komi
Published by	Shueisha
Magazine	Miracle Jump
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	December 13, 2011 – April 30, 2013
Volumes	2
Manga
Written by	HiRock
Illustrated by	Shinya Komi
Published by	Shueisha
Magazine	Grand Jump (2015–2017) Shōnen Jump+ (2017–2019)
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	February 18, 2015 – June 26, 2019
Volumes	14
Further information Novel Ex-Arm the Novel: Deus Ex Machina Written by Atarō Kumo Published by Shueisha Imprint Jump J-Books Demographic Male Published December 19, 2018 Manga Ex-Arm EXA Written by HiRock Illustrated by Shinya Komi Published by Shueisha Magazine Grand Jump Mucha Demographic Seinen Original run August 28, 2019 – February 27, 2021 Volumes 2 Manga Ex-Arm Another Code Written by Atarō Kumo Illustrated by Shinya Komi Published by Shueisha Magazine Ultra Jump Demographic Seinen Original run February 19, 2020 – November 19, 2020 Volumes 2 Anime television series Directed by Yoshikatsu Kimura Produced by Hiroshi Tani[a] Yūki Satō Yoshinori Suzuki[b] Hisato Usui Hidenobu Okada[c] Hiroyasu Taniguchi Kento Yoshida Shinji Ōmori Written by Tommy Morton Music by Sō Kimura Studio Visual Flight Licensed by Crunchyroll SA/SEA: Muse Communication Original network Tokyo MX, SUN, BS Fuji Original run January 11, 2021 – March 29, 2021 Episodes 12

An anime television series adaptation by Visual Flight aired from January to March 2021.

Plot

In 2014, a high school student named Akira Natsume endures a phobia of electrical devices while also being very good at diagnosing them. He leads an average, unfulfilling life, and resolves to change himself for the better and get a girlfriend after being motivated by his older brother. Soon after, he suddenly dies in an accident. 16 years later, a young policewoman named Minami Uenozono and her android partner Alma retrieve and activate a highly advanced AI superweapon known as an "Ex-Arm" and put it into full control of their ship as a last resort. The AI turns out to be Akira's brain, now in a digital form. The series revolves around the police force's attempts to suppress and defeat adversaries using Ex-Arms for their own purposes.

Characters

Akira Natsume (夏目 アキラ, Natsume Akira)

Voiced by: Soma Saito^[3]

Minami Uezono (上園 美波, Uezono Minami)

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu^[3]

Alma (アルマ, Aruma)

Voiced by: Akari Kitō^[3]

Soushi Shiga (士牙 総司, Shiga Sōshi)

Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa^[4]

Chikage Rokuoin (鹿王院 千景, Rokuōin Chikage)

Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka^[4]

Alisa Himegami (アリサ 姫神, Arisa Himegami)

Voiced by: Yui Ishikawa^[4]

Kimura (キムラ)

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro^[4]

Kondō (近藤)

Voiced by: Shōmaru Zōza^[4]

Shūichi Natsume (夏目 柊一, Natsume Shūichi)

Voiced by: Kōji Yusa^[5]

Sōma (蒼真)

Voiced by: Yū Kobayashi^[5]

Yggdrasil (ユグドラシル, Yugudorashiru)

Voiced by: Miyu Tomita^[6]

Kaori Munakata (宗像 香織, Munakata Kaori)

Voiced by: Satomi Arai^[6]

Elmira (エルミラ, Erumira)

Voiced by: Azumi Waki^[7]

Throughhand (スルーハンド, Surūhando)

Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda^[7]

Media

Manga

Ex-Arm is written by HiRock and illustrated by Shinya Komi. A first series, written and illustrated by Komi, titled Ex-Vita, was published in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Miracle Jump from December 13, 2011, to April 30, 2013.^[8][9] Shueisha collected is chapters into two tankōbon volumes, published on August 17, 2012, and June 19, 2013.^[10][11] Ex-Arm was published in Shueisha's Grand Jump from February 18, 2015 to December 6, 2017.^{[12][13][14][15]} The series was then transferred to the Shōnen Jump+ website and app, and ran from December 20, 2017 to June 26, 2019.^[16][14] Shueisha collected its chapters into fourteen tankōbon volumes, released from June 19, 2015, to August 19, 2019.^[17][18]

A sequel series, titled Ex-Arm EXA, was serialized in Grand Jump Mucha from August 28, 2019, to February 27, 2021.^{[14][19][20][21]} The first collected tankōbon volume was released on December 18, 2020.^[22] The second volume was released on March 18, 2021.^[23]

A manga adaptation of the novel Ex-Arm the Novel: Deus Ex Machina, titled Ex-Arm Another Code, was serialized in Shueisha's Ultra Jump from February 19 to November 19, 2020.^{[24][25][26][27]} The two collected tankōbon volumes were released on December 18, 2020, and January 19, 2021.^[28][29][30]

Volumes

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	June 19, 2015[17]	978-4-08-890215-9
2	September 18, 2015[31]	978-4-08-890286-9
3	December 18, 2015[32]	978-4-08-890335-4
4	April 19, 2016[33]	978-4-08-890403-0
5	August 19, 2016[34]	978-4-08-890472-6
6	November 18, 2016[35]	978-4-08-890525-9
7	April 19, 2017[36]	978-4-08-890619-5
8	July 19, 2017[37]	978-4-08-890694-2
9	December 19, 2017[38]	978-4-08-890770-3
10	April 19, 2018[39]	978-4-08-891008-6
11	August 17, 2018[40]	978-4-08-891139-7
12	December 19, 2018[41]	978-4-08-891158-8
13	April 19, 2019[42]	978-4-08-891213-4
14	August 19, 2019[18]	978-4-08-891243-1

Novel

A novel titled Ex-Arm the Novel: Deus Ex Machina, written by Atarō Kumo, was published by Shueisha under its Jump J-Books imprint on December 19, 2018.^[43]

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on the release of the manga's 12th volume on December 18, 2018.^[44] The series is produced by Visual Flight and directed by Yoshikatsu Kimura, with Tommy Morton in charge of the scripts and Sō Kimura as composer.^[45] The main staff of the series have no previous experience with working on anime.^[46] Originally set for a July 2020 release,^[47][48] the series aired from January 11 to March 29, 2021 on Tokyo MX, SUN, and BS Fuji due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[49][50][51][52]} The opening theme is "Rise Again" performed by AIRFLIP, while the ending theme is "Diamonds Shine" performed by Dizzy Sunfist.^[53][6]

Episodes

No.	Title [54][e]	Directed by [f]	Written by [f]	Original release date [56]
1	"Forbidden Weapon" Transliteration: "Kindan no Heiki" (Japanese: 禁断の兵器)	Shingo Kinoshita	Tommy Morton	January 11, 2021 (2021-01-11)
2	"Day of Judgement" Transliteration: "Shinpan no Hi" (Japanese: 審判の日)	Shingo Kinoshita	Tommy Morton	January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18)
3	"Angel of Murder" Transliteration: "Satsuriku no Tenshi" (Japanese: 殺戮の天使)	Shingo Kinoshita	Tommy Morton	January 25, 2021 (2021-01-25)
4	"Inheritor of Courage" Transliteration: "Yūki Tsugu Mono" (Japanese: 勇気　継ぐ者)	Shingo Kinoshita	Tommy Morton	February 1, 2021 (2021-02-01)
5	"Red-Hot Daydream!" Transliteration: "Tokimeki Deidorīmu!" (Japanese: ときめきデイドリーム！)	Shingo Kinoshita	Tommy Morton	February 8, 2021 (2021-02-08)
6	"Ex-Arm Auction" Transliteration: "Ekusu Āmu Ōkushon" (Japanese: EX-ARMオークション)	Shingo Kinoshita	Tommy Morton	February 15, 2021 (2021-02-15)
7	"Banquet of Fire" Transliteration: "Honō no Butōkai" (Japanese: 炎の舞踏会)	Shingo Kinoshita	Natsumi Kemuyama	February 22, 2021 (2021-02-22)
8	"βeta" Transliteration: "β 〜Bēta〜" (Japanese: β 〜ベータ〜)	Shingo Kinoshita	Shintarō Shimoi Tommy Morton	March 1, 2021 (2021-03-01)
9	"Fallen Messiah" Transliteration: ""Horobi" no Kyūseishu" (Japanese: "滅び"の救世主)	Shingo Kinoshita	Tommy Morton	March 8, 2021 (2021-03-08)
10	"Genes of the Original Sin" Transliteration: "Genzai no Idenshi" (Japanese: 原罪の遺伝子)	Shingo Kinoshita	Natsumi Kemuyama	March 15, 2021 (2021-03-15)
11	"Proof of Humanity" Transliteration: "Ningen no Akashi" (Japanese: 人間の証)	Shingo Kinoshita	Shintarō Shimoi Tommy Morton	March 22, 2021 (2021-03-22)
12	"A Giant Leap" Transliteration: "Idai na Ippo" (Japanese: 偉大な一歩)	Shingo Kinoshita	Tommy Morton	March 29, 2021 (2021-03-29)

Reception

The anime was met with backlash due to the poor quality of the computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation.^[46][57][58]

Notes

1. Unconfirmed romanization of 関谷博
2. Unconfirmed romanization of 鈴木嘉規
3. Unconfirmed romanization of 岡田秀信
4. Japanese: EX-ARM（エクスアーム）
5. All English titles are taken from Crunchyroll.^[55]
6. Information is taken from the ending credits of each episode.