July 2006
Well, as I am sure that the British (and possibly others) around here have noticed, this July is far too hot for anyone who calls themselves a Human Being to handle. So I've taken it upon myself to supply you all with something to put your minds on whilst the heat melts it away.
Why Shaman King? Well, I'm going to be honest hear and say that this is chosen purely on the basis that it was the first manga I ever bought, and I feel the need to spread the good word about it in return for the excellent use of my time!
Shaman King is a tragic case of a manga having to be cancelled in its prime, a feat that isn't too common really. The series started way back when in 1998, and ran all the way to 2004 before getting cut off abruptly, but was nicely rounded up in a way afterward with the short story 'Funbari No Uta'. But what IS Shaman King? Well, I guess I should explain it then...
Shaman King documents the tale of Manta Oyamada, a small boy with slight spiritual powers, who encounters the true main character that far-too laid back shaman Yoh Asakura. The first parts of the story explain Yoh's attitude towards certain things, such as how a spirit ally should be utilized, which created the first climactic showdown against Tao Ren. Further fights against the ill-minded Tao family eventually lead up to more of Amidamaru's past being revealed (Amidamaru being Yoh's Spirit Ally) by the lizard-like Tokagero, who later becomes the ally of the very person he possesses, Wooden Sword Ryu!
But that's just the beginning. All this leads up to the Shaman Fight, a sort of brutal competition to decide the next, you guessed it, Shaman King.
Through these adventures Yoh and Manta make many friends, enemies, and somewhere-in-between-ers. The most notable friend gained would be Tao Ren, who joined Yoh and his friends after finally fighting Yoh in the Shaman Fight, and going on to defeat his despicable father, Tao En.
Where enemies go, one springs to mind: The reincarnation of a foul being, and in turn Yoh's twin, Hao Asakura, who is out to become Shaman King, and create a Utopia for all those who side with him, albeit only Shamans.
The manga of Shaman King ended on a slightly bizarre note, with Yoh going to sleep before the final battle with Hao and then ending apparently. The last page of the last chapter featured a female Hao, the words "Owari" ("The end") and a Chinese mandarin, called "mikan", which is also the Japanese word for "incomplete". The side story "funbari no uta", set several years after Shaman King, however, seem to indicate that Yoh won his fight.
That isn't very comprehensive, but to truly understand one of the best stories created in the pages of Weekly Jump, you really have to buy it for yourself!
Images:
Yoh and his spirit ally, Amidamaru
SPECIAL! CHARACTER SECTION WITH PICS!
Yoh Asakura: The laid back protagonist of the series, Yoh desires to be the shaman king so he can lead the easy life. As the story progresses, his power continues to grow, as he discovers new moves and powers to use in the shaman fight with his three man team, which consists of him, Wooden Sword Ryu, and Faust VIII, named by Ryu as the 'Funbari Hot Springs' team.
Anna Kyoyama: The easily annoyed, yet devoted, Fiancée to Yoh. She desires Yoh to be Shaman King so she can be 'The First Lady'. Yoh Is scared of her and her violence, but they share a lot of hidden love for each other.
Tao Ren: Ren is a shaman from China who came to Japan to fight Asakura Yoh and to take part in the Shaman Fight in Tokyo. Ren starts off as a 13-year old in the manga. He is serious, logical, and emotionally aloof. Initially he fights with rage and believes that either one must kill or be killed. As he gains the friendship of Yoh and the other, he becomes more compassionate. Ren Fights with Horohoro and Chocolove on his team in the shaman fight, but doesn't get along too well with them.
(Manta was never on the cover for some reason... To make up for it, MORE INFO!)
Manta Oyamada: Manta is an intelligent child who carries a book around with him every day. In the Japanese versions, the book is called the Manjien (Íò´ÇÔ·), meaning "Manta's Book on Everything", while the English manga calls the book the "Mantannian Dictionary". "Manjien" comes from Manta's name and the Japanese word for an encyclopedia, "K¨jien" (ŽÚ´ÇÔ·). Manta is 13 years old and a 7th grader at Shinra Private Academy; Manta goes to school with Yoh and Anna. Manta can see spirits, but cannot use their powers like his best friends Yoh Asakura and Anna Ky¨yama can. He is very expressive and a bit panicky. He physically resembles a Koropokkur (known as "minutians" in the English anime), and has been mistaken for one of the shy nature spirits on several occasions. During the Shaman Tournament, Manta became a shaman; his spirit is Mosuke, Amidamaru's best friend who forged the Sword of Light. He is however not capable of maintaining spirit form because he runs out of furyoku and ends up in trouble. His ghost combines with his laptop, where he is usually at and cannot escape, and forms a hammer. In the manga and original Japanese anime, his family owns the Oyamada Company, and therefore is very rich. Manta's parents and little sister only appear in the manga.
'Bokuto No' Ryunosuke Umemiya: He was born on December 24, 1982. In the comic he is 16 years old [2 years, 5 months older than Yoh] in his first appearance. He usually wears exaggerated 1970s fashion: white suits and dark shirts with oversized collars, cuffs and lapels, plus pointy shoes (he is a fan of Elvis Presley). His battle outfit resembles that of Mikihisa and Ren, sporting a vest-styled shirt that exposes his stomach and pants that occasionally puff out above the ankles. His crowning glory is a foot-long pompadour, which keeps getting lopped off by Yoh Asakura and others. Ryu comes off as being not too bright, and really thinks more about girls and his "'do" than anything else; however, he is quite deep and philosophical and turns out to be a magnificent shaman. He later gets a spirit ally, Tokagero (Tokageroh). He is in the team with Yoh and Faust VIII.
Horohoro: Horohoro is an Ainu from Hokkaido, a prefecture in Japan. Horohoro's main goal in the Shaman Fight is to save the Koropokkur, a tiny spirit people. His guardian ghost is Kororo, a spirit who is smitten for Manta Oyamada. His younger sister, Pirka trains him harshly; similar to how Anna trains her fianc¨¨, Yoh Asakura. Horohoro's name sounds and is spelled (in Katakana) like "boroboro," which means "crap," which causes humorous problems when some characters mispronounce his name. He is in the team with Chocolove and Tao Ren.
Faust VIII: Hailing from Germany, Faust VIII is the eighth descendant of the legendary Doctor Faustus. His ancestor is the main character of the renowned German tale, "The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus", as the man who was so consumed by lust for knowledge, he made a deal with the devil to gain them, and more. For with necromancy skills, the Devil (more commonly known as Mephistopheles in Faust literature) also granted Faustus youth and riches. In the end, Faustus died a terrible death when Mephistopheles came to claim his soul. In Shaman King, his descendant; Faust VIII, has inherited both Faustus's power and insanity. Faust VIII had an isolated childhood and studied to become a doctor in order to save his only childhood companion Eliza from a deadly disease. He found a cure and she recovered, and the couple then opened a clinic and lived a happy life until Eliza was murdered. Devastated by the loss, he was driven to the verge of insanity and began to study necromancy, the same black magic Faust I had used, in order to have at least a form of her to be with. He competes in the Shaman King tournament in hopes of fully reviving her. He defeats Yoh in the preliminary fights (as well as both his other opponents), and later joins Yoh and Ryu on the team Funbari Onsen. He also has the skeleton of Eliza chained to his arm. He charges her with mana in order to allow her to fight. Faust's first name is Johann.
Lyserg Diethel: A British Shaman and a traditional "dowser", whose parents were killed by Hao. Lyserg has dramatic interactions with all of the main characters at some point, and though he travels with them for a long time, he fights against Yoh's team more than once during the series.
Pre X-Laws: When Lyserg first encounters Yoh's group, he attacks them to determine their strength, hospitalizing both Ren and Horohoro with one attack. After Yoh knocks some sense into him, Lyserg calms down and they welcome him to come along as they search for the Patch Village. Lyserg's father, Liam Diethel, wanted him to be a detective. Lyserg's mother and father were murdered when he was six years old. Lyserg's name is pronounced differently in the English anime so that it's not a recreational drug reference (lysergic acid). His spirit's Japanese name, Morphine, is also a drug reference (morphine) but called "Morphea" in the English manga and "Chloe" in the English anime. He is apparently so beautiful that Ryu could mistake him for a girl.
I won’t go into the X-Law period, as that would have too many spoilers.....
Chocolove Mcdaniel: Officially the hardest character to find an image of!
In the manga, the circumstances between Orona and Chocolove's first meeting are different. After killing a man on Christmas with his gang members from Shaft (the name of the gang, not a specific person or place), Chocolove walks alone on the streets, reflecting on the horrible murder of his parents on Christmas day years ago (this resentment of the day and humankind is why he shot the man mentioned earlier). After making a little comment, a stranger (Orona) appears and makes a pun with a sight gag using fake blood. After telling him to go away, Chocolove shoots his gun, but Orona dodges all his shots. Saying that he could not use laughter to help Chocolove, Orona uses his oversoul with Mic to punch him. The fact that Chocolove laughs at Orona's comment about using laughter to save the world and that Chocolove sees Mic forges a relationship between the two.
His goal in life is to be the Shaman King and a great comedian because he was inspired by his master. Both of them believe that laughter is the best medicine, so even if people don't think his jokes are that funny, he doesn't give up and he tries even harder to achieve his goal to give the world what it needs the most, laughter.
He is in the team with Horohoro and Tao Ren
AND FINALLY!
Hao Asakura: Hao is the main antagonist and the evil ancestor and twin brother of Yoh Asakura, the main protagonist. Their ancestor was reincarnated in Hao. A powerful shaman of the Asakura clan, he strived to become Shaman King one thousand years prior to the start of the story. He had mastered all the arts and techniques of Onmyoudou, including the ability to see the future, use reishi (soul sight), command powerful spirits and allow and control the circumstances of reincarnation. Hao had the reishi (a form of telepathy that allows the user to see the hearts of others), but he could not control the limit of the power. Because he lived in a time of war, disease, and famine (the Heian period), he attempted to help others with his powers. However, he began to see the darker side of human nature as he discovered through his reishi that those he helped thought him to be evil. His heart became consumed with hatred for humanity and began to plot the destruction of humanity by becoming Shaman King.
By: Ikkaku
