The Law of Ueki

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Law of Ueki (Ueki no Hōsoku)
うえきの法則 (Ueki no Hōsoku)
Genre	Shōnen, Comedy, Action
Manga
Authored by	Tsubasa Fukuchi
Publisher	Shogakukan VIZ Media EMA
Serialized in	Shonen Sunday
Original run	2002 – 2004
No. of volumes	16 (154 total chapters)
TV anime
Directed by	Hiroshi Watanabe
Studio	Studio Deen
Network	Animax, TV Tokyo Animax
Original run	April 4, 2005 – March 27, 2006
No. of episodes	51

The Law of Ueki (うえきの法則, Ueki no Hōsoku^?) is a Japanese manga by Tsubasa Fukuchi and an anime series based off of the manga.

The manga was serialised in Shonen Sunday magazine. The series completed in 16 tankōbon volumes published by Shogakukan. The manga sequel, Law of Ueki Plus (うえきの法則プラス, Ueki no Hōsoku PURASU^?), continues as of September 2005 in the same magazine. An anime adaptation by Studio Deen, began airing in Japan on April 4, 2005.

The manga was licensed for North American distribution by VIZ Media, while the anime adaptation was licensed by Geneon.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Tournament 3 Characters 3.1 Main characters 3.2 Robert's Ten 3.3 Minor characters 3.4 Tournament Teams 3.4.1 Caption Team 3.4.2 Gurono Team 3.4.3 Marilyn Team 3.4.4 Balo Team 4 Sacred Weapons 5 Trivia 6 Anime episode summaries 7 Symbolism 8 Music themes 8.1 Opening 8.2 Ending 9 External links 9.1 Official sites/News

[edit] Summary

The Law of Ueki tells the story of the Battle of the Supernatural Powers, a tournament to decide who will be the next King of the Celestial World (rendered as Kami (天界人) in Japanese). Each candidate (100 in total) is required to choose a junior high school student to act as their fighter. Each student is given a unique power--the power to change one thing into something else. The winning King of the Celestial World Candidate will become King of the Celestial World and the winning student will receive the Blank Talent (blank zai), a talent that can be anything they choose. While this leads many students to thoughts of greed and selfishness, Kosuke Ueki has decided to take it upon himself to win this tournament to keep that power away from those that would abuse such a gift.

[edit] Tournament

Initially, fights in the tournament consist of a battle between two gifted - one wins by knocking the other combatant out. When a knock-out is obtained, the loser will lose their power and the winner will gain a talent (才 zai), which is a “talent” of some sort (e.g. "talent of running," "talent of studying," and so on). A gifted who has lost a fight and their power is labelled "retired."

The rules for the combatants of the tournament revolve around the talents:

• Gifted are not allowed to use their powers against non-gifted, or they lose one talent for each hit.

• If the gifted loses all their talents, then they will disappear.

There are also rules which apply to the King of the Celestial World Candidates. The punishment for breaking them is that the King of the Celestial World Candidate is sent to Hell.

• King of the Celestial World Candidates are not allowed to interfere with their gifted's fight. This means that they are not allowed to provide their gifted with more supplies to use their power (this may only apply to during a fight), or even save them from dying.

• King of the Celestial World Candidates are only allowed to grant a power to one individual. However, it is possible for two King of the Celestial World Candidates to give a power each to one person; if found out, though, it will lead to a disqualification of both King of the Celestial World Candidates.

Near the end of the tournament, gifted are allowed to form groups of five for "battle royale"-style fighting. Knock-outs during this stage do not result in losing powers. Each team is given a penalty if it loses, such as having all of the members die or losing their hair in addition to losing their powers. To decide who receives the Blank Talent among the winning team, a device is used to measure the growth in power that each participant has shown from the beginning to the end of the tournament. To decide who is to become King of the Celestial World, the winning team votes which of the King of the Celestial World Candidates is given that honor.

A level 2 power may be obtained by the gifted. The requirements are a total mastery of their original power and the powerful desire to become stronger.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

• Kosuke Ueki (植木 耕助, Ueki Kōsuke^?) Voiced by: Romi Paku

Kosuke Ueki is in Class 1-C at Hinokuni Junior High School. Kosuke is granted "the power to change trash into trees" by Kobayashi (a.k.a. Mr. K), Ueki's homeroom teacher. Ueki is a genuinely kind person who is always trying to help people out. He is a bit of a simpleton who constantly uses his ability against non-gifted, but that is because he just can't stand seeing these nasty folks defying his sense of justice. Even though he constantly loses his talents (and gains fairly useless ones when he wins), he believes that he can still make do by putting even more effort into succeeding. Ueki is actually a heavenly being sent to Earth by his father in order to take part in this tournament. Being a heavenly being allows him powers beyond his tree-making skills. He is still training in the use of these powers.

Despite his power to change trash into trees may look weak in the eyes of others, it is actually quite different from other powers. Other power-users only have the abillity to change item A to item B; for example from beads to bombs, and from water to fire. But Ueki's power is different in the sense when he changes trash into trees, part of the tree can become trash, which he can change into trees again. In other words, it is a repeatable cycle. His level 2 power; nicknamed "The Reverse" by Kobayashi is the abillity to turn other power-user's powers back into their original forms (i.e If someone turn beads into bombs, Ueki can turn those bombs back into beads). Ueki also gains the ability to use more than one of his Sacred Powers during his second battle with Robert; unlike others, who can only use one at a time.

• Ai Mori (森 あい, Mori Ai^?) Voiced by: Tomoko Kawakami

Ai Mori is one of Ueki's classmates at Hinokuni Junior High School. She discovers his power early on, coming to a rather unusual conclusion and at first believing him to be an alien. Upon learning of the competition Ueki is in, she decides to back him up, to keep him from losing all his talents and disappearing because of it. She is strict with Ueki at times, especially when he looks like he is about to do something rash. Later on in the series, she is given "the power to change (her) opponent into a glasses-lover" (any glasses) by the King of the Celestial World Candidate, Wanko. However, her power's condition is that her opponent must perform a goody-two-shoes pose (raising the right leg backwards while putting both of the fists close to the mouth region) The food she cooks tends to look rather odd and off-putting (usually with squirming octopus tentacles), but it still tastes good. On a side note, her name probably comes from Ai Morinaga, another mangaka's name.

• Kobayashi (小林, Kobayashi^?) - also known as Mr. K (Koba-sen (コバセン, Koba-sen^?) in the Japanese versions)Voiced by: Katsuji Mori

Kobayashi, nicknamed Mr. K, is a teacher at Hinokuni Junior High School. Mr. K is also a King of the Celestial World Candidate who gives Ueki his power. He is Ueki's school teacher and had been carefully studying him in order to judge his worth for the tournament. He has a very strong sense of justice, actually inspiring Ueki long ago when he saved him from falling off a building. He was sent to Hell for saving (and thus helping) Ueki in his first fight against Robert Haydn. He is now Mori's King of the Celestial World candidate.

• Seiichiro Sano (佐野 清一郎 Sano Sei'ichirō) Voiced by: Soichiro Hoshi

"The power to change towels into steel", provided he holds his breath, however as of late it now works as if it where voice activated, no longer does it show Sano holding his breath at all but rather giving out commands to the towels. Sano, a 9th grader at Inaho Junior High School, was known as the "genius of Robert's Ten" while he was part of it. But he had joined because the leader of Robert's Ten (Karlpaccho) had placed a Death Pentagon on Sano's King of the Celestial World Candidate Inumaru that would kill him by removing all his blood unless he listened to Robert. Sano can be creative with his power, creating shields, springboards (spring) and even boomerangs which he calls "boomerang cutter". He has a burn over his left eye which was caused during an accident with a hot spring. Still, he does love those hot springs and hopes to get the blank talent to obtain the talent of discovery in order to find a hot spring of his own. His Level 2 makes his steel towels into powerful magnets. Seems to possess a ridiculous amount of his necessary towels, pulling them out of his robe in rapid succession.

• Inumaru (犬丸 Inumaru) - also known as Wanko (ワンコ Wanko) Voiced by: Akira Ishida

The King of the Celestial World Candidate who gave Sano his powers. The two officially paired up for the tournament when Sano risked his life to save a child from a burning building, and Inumaru did likewise despite Sano threatening that he would not join if Inumaru did so. Inumaru had said that he could not ignore people in danger regardess of the reason, which prompted Sano to join, and to think of Inumaru as his friend rather than his Candidate. In Dogura Mansion, after being told that Sano joined Robert's Ten to save him from the Death Pentagon (a small black bug that Karlpacchio attached to Wanko's neck, that would suck all of Wanko's blood out of him on command, thus killing him), he gave Mori a power, thus breaking the most important rule of the tournament, in order to force himself to go to Hell so that the others would be saved from certain circumstances that threatened the rest of the Ueki Team.

• Rinko Jerrard (鈴子･ジェラード Rinko Jerādo)Voiced by: Mamiko Noto

"The power to change beads into bombs." She creates special accessories in order to use her beads in more constructive ways: platform shoes that are made of a special alloy and then filled with beads she can detonate to perform what she calls the "Rinko Rocket", thus blasting herself up into the air; special metal tubes she calls "Beads Cannon" that are filled with beads and then go over her fingers so that she can detonate one bead and send the rest of them rapidly at her opponents. Coming from a rich family, people had pretended to be her friends so that she would buy them things. Rinko has a crush on Robert since he treated her as a real friend, and so she joined Robert's Ten, but she eventually saw that he just wanted to use her as well and joined up with Ueki. She loves all animals, taking an immediate liking to Tenko (which she tried to change his name into "Tenki"), but her weakness for cute things makes her vulnerable to Ban's power. Her recent accessory is a special glove hidden with beads inside when used with her power, producing a force impact that claims to be as great as a missile. Also note that it is wise not to insult her no matter what, or another personality of hers will surface that will turn hell for the person who insulted her. Like Launch from the Dragon Ball series, she also has an "evil" side. She doesn't seem to realise that she has an "evil" side and fortunately, forgets whatever her "evil" side says or does. This "evil" side seems to be activated whenever someone insults her. The only example of this is when Ban called her an 'insect' which caused her to become furious and unlock her "evil" side.

• Hideyoshi Soya (宗屋 ヒデヨシ Sōya Hideyoshi) Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi

"The power to turn voices into portraits" as well as make voices come out of them. A talent user that Ueki and Mori meet. He is prone to deception, using various novelty gags and tricks in a fight such as soy sauce bomber. He looks out for a group of kids at a place called the Sun House. His first King of the Celestial World Candidate, Nero, was a kind heavenly being that did not want to become the King of the Celestial World; he simply wanted to help out humans which he did at the Sun House. Soya offered to become his gifted so that Nero could stay longer on Earth. Unfortunately, he helped Soya during a fight and was sent to Hell. Soya received a new King of the Celestial World Candidate, Zack, whom he hates for turning out to be a jerk and wanting him to join forces with a nasty bunch of gifted. He agrees to help Ueki when he hears that they can save Nero. Although kind of cowardly and weak when Soya performs his sneak attacks in conjunction with his power he can be a formidable foe. In one occasion he combined Sano's power with his to make a shock wave made out of sound. In addition his ability to use his opponent voices as well work with his tricks making it easier to deceive his foes. (Note that Soya looks somewhat like the Legendary Monkey King, Sun WuKong.)

• Tenko (テンコ Tenko)

A large fox-like creature that helps Ueki awaken his celestial powers.He can also change his shape to fit onto Ueki's wrist to give him advice. He is a heavenly beast that is something of a mutation among his kind. He was treated very poorly by heavenly beings and Ueki was the first to actually treat him with some kindness and respect. He is able to detect the power level of heavenly beings and because of his mutations has a bigger version of what is called the "awakening organ" that can awaken the hidden powers within Ueki. Unfortunately, He can only use it six times without dying for every HEAVENLY BEING. This means that he can still use it to another heavenly being. Has an ability to spit out a large, roundish bunny creature that enveloped Ueki and heals him within 12 hours. Fairly harsh with Ueki at times, but he is happy to have found someone who actually needs him. He also is very useful at giving advice in a fight (he himself can't fight or he will be sent to hell); in the jump rope fight he told Ueki when the rope was coming and against the Marilyn team he warns Ueki about their location in the smoke.

• Anon (アノン Anon)Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama

He is from a race known as the Hellions, who come from the Protector clan. Anon can swallow and absorb people within himself, thus making their bodies his, as well as gaining whatever abilities they have such as Robert's power to make the ideal thing and his sacred treasures. With a surprisingly humble nature, he has a hard time understanding humans and tends to treat them with reckless curiosity. Although it appears that Margarette is his father it is actually a Hellion who swallowed Margarette using his appearance. Later in the show, he swallows King of the Celestial World and changes up the rules of round 4. He first told Ueki that his dream is to destroy everything, but in fact, his real dream is to have someone who can beat him.

• Robert Haydn (ロベルト・ハイドン) Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga

"The power to turn thoughts into reality." Robert Haydn is a frightening person with an equally frightening power. He can boost his own natural sacred treasures by modifying them to a perfect ideal like absolute accuracy or ideal protection. The fault in this is that for every time he creates an ideal, he loses a year of his life, but once he creates this ideal he can use it any time he wants to. That is why he formed Robert's Ten. They act as his brawn, doing the fighting for him in order to save those precious years. He is a fairly nasty character, not caring who he harms and how badly they are harmed. Like Ueki, he is a heavenly being with more power than the gift given by his King of the Celestial World Candidate. But unlike Ueki, however, Robert has been training in his power for quite a long time. Robert has an unfortunate past in which he was treated as a monster by the people of his town. At the end of the series he becomes a nice person like his childhood self.

• MargaretteVoiced by: Shuuichi Ikeda

Robert's father and the King of the Celestial World Candidate who gave him his power. Margarette sent his own son to Earth so that he could choose him for the tournament. Not above sneaky tactics to ensure his son's victory. Unfortunately, his body was possessed by a Hellion with the intention of taking over Heaven. He later puts Ueki in his awakening organs (It turns out that the reason that the Protector clan is created is to protect the Heavenly Beasts, any member of the clan can transform into Heavenly Beasts whenever they want), and advances Ueki to his 9 and 10 star treasures.

[edit] Robert's Ten

The secret group of gifted students who fight for Robert Haydn.

• Kageo Kuroki (黒木影男 Kuroki Kageo) a.k.a. Black Shadow

"The power to change (his) shadows into clay men." He can create more than one clay man - even altering their appearance - which can confuse the enemy and thus keep them from finding the real Black Shadow. His favorite technique though is to create a giant clay man. If the sun disappears, so does his power. He was the captain of his school basketball team, but because of an unfair ruling that disqualified his team from entering a tournament, he became the unemotional person who joined ranks with Robert. During his fight with Ueki, he was defeated by a fellow member of Robert's Ten. Ueki luckily got through to him (with the help of Kuroki's little brother) and even though he was knocked unconscious he becomes good again.

• Kamui Rosso a.k.a. White Shadow

"The power to change (his) shadows into robots." The robots have more than one form. A pain in the neck, Kamui has little respect for anyone, adhering to the motto “I don’t need any robots that won’t listen to me.” After knocking Kageo, his fellow teammate out, Ueki knocks him out of the tournament with some cunning tree manipulation.

• Alessio Iuliano

"The power to change dirt into a scythe." Very loyal to Robert and will not stand for just anyone to join the group. He is a very short-tempered individual whom Ueki cannot help but irritate. Upon realizing his heavenly powers, Ueki puts him down for the count with Kurogane.

• Don

"The power to change (his) ring into a rocket." This can greatly amplify any attack. Don is very proud of his strength and he always has a huge smile on his face even though he has a very large mean streak to him. Don has 320 different talents (zai), all of which have to do with brute strength. Ueki retires him from the tournament with his newfound ability of Masshu.

• Marco Maldini

"The power to change tomatoes into magma." An expert chef who is in charge of cooking for Robert's Ten. He gets very angry when anyone insults his cooking (like Ueki did when he dumped the soup on Alessio's head). Marco is one of the members who considers victory all that matters, nearly killing former teammates Don and Alessio with his magma, and threatening Rinko when she defects. Again, Masshu was the method Ueki used to defeat him.

• Rinko Jerrard

She was one of Robert's Ten, but she changes allegiances to Ueki's group. See above for more information.

• Oni (鬼) / Ogre (real name unknown)

"The power to change bamboo swords into hedge clippers." Oni wears an all black outfit with horns and a forehead protector which is actually a form of chain mail. Ueki beats him with Ranma.

• Becky Wolf

"The power to change BB bullets into meteorites." The shortest member of the Ten, she hates to be ignored, called small or a child. In spite of her tough appearance, in the Japanese, she ends most of her sentences with the cute ending "desu" Ueki retires her with Masshu.

• Taro Myojin (明神太郎 Myōjin Tarō)

Actually has two powers: "the power to change his whistle (the sound, not the object) into a laser" and "the power to change fans/cards into buzzsaws". The buzzsaw can only be avoided by jumping. Dodging it will only result in it following the target. This is used in combination with the laser so that when they jump from the buzzsaw, they are easy targets for the laser. Was given powers by two King of the Celestial World Candidates who were in cahoots with each other, but changed their minds after seeing Robert in action. In the original Japanese, he has a speech impediment that often causes him to elongate his pronunciation of the consonant "s," but in the American dub he instead appends "like" to nearly each sentence he utters. He was the one who recruited Ueki to join Robert's Ten.

• Karl Paccho (or Carpaccio)

Carpaccio, Robert's second in command, has "the power to copy another person's power" (provided he spends 24 hours within 3 meters of them) which he used to acquire the powers of all of the other members of Robert's 10, and at least two powers from outside the ten: "the power to change the opponent's thoughts to a cell phone Text-message," and "Power to reverse one's position with the opponent's." He uses all of these powers in combat and may actually have had more, but it is unknown as he was knocked out by Ueki's Masshu. Carpaccio is a very sneaky type who isn't above underhanded tactics to get what he or Robert wants.

• Yunpao (ユンパオ)

A rotund youth with "the power to change electricity into sugar" when he keeps his eyes open. A replacement member of Robert's Ten. Utilises his limit, as when he closes his eyes, the sugar turns back into electricity which can make for a devastating attack. Quite acrobatic as well. Loves sweets.

• Ancho Kabara (カバラ) Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama

"The power to change cloaks into wings." A replacement member of Robert's Ten, he can also shoot out the feathers on his wings as he turns them into wing shurikens. He is an expert hunter and is able to shoot pachinko balls with as much power as a bullet (In the manga, he throws daggers instead of pachinko balls). He is very fond of showing off his marksmanship skills. Due to an exploding cossack hat during his battle with Ai at the Dogura Mansion, he is bald the second time he appears.

[edit] Minor characters

• Kami-sama (God) / King of the Celestial World

The current King of the Celestial World who sets up this whole tournament. King of the Celestial World (as shown in this anime) is a pervert who likes women and drinking. In a flashback, he was inspired to start the tournament, due to the actions of Ueki's mother (Haruko Ueki), who at the time was a high school student just before she was deceased. He started the tournament to give all beings, whether human, heavenly being, or hellion, a chance to create their own futures. Although his front is a mindless idiot who likes to slack off, he actually very wise and worthy of the title as King of the Celestial World.

• Yodogawa (淀川) a.k.a. Yotchan (よっちゃん)

Replaces Mr. K as Ueki’s King of the Celestial World candidate. Yotchan had a deal with another more promising King of the Celestial World Candidate – Margarette – to get Ueki to lose as soon as possible in order to take a cushy job as his assistant advisor. Does his best to persuade Ueki to quit the tournament, but never succeeds. He rejoins to help Ueki later and apologizes for his previous behavior when Ueki is forming his team.

• Ueki's Father / Pag (Animax Dub)

A heavenly being who sent his son, Kosuke, down to Earth as a baby with the same selfish intents as Margarette; to choose his son for the tournament so that he himself could benefit. Unfortunately for him, he was not chosen as a King of the Celestial World Candidate, as Margarette was. He does, however, seem to express regret when he meets up with Ueki and company later in the anime, not revealing his true identity to Ueki due to his shame. He also teaches Ueki a way to advance to his Level 2 power stating that it would be "the first and last time" he would aid Ueki. It is to be known in a later episode that he is Ueki's real father.

• Maruo Taira (平丸男 Taira Maruo)

"Ability to change water that he gargles in his mouth into fire." Usually likes to just blast fire, but he can manipulate by gargling, sometimes making it into an explosive fireball. He wants the talent of manipulation if he wins. He was Ueki's first gifted fight, and he lost after being hit by one tree.

• Rafati

The King of the Celestial World Candidate who gave Taira his powers. Tried to cheat during a fight by giving Taira more water and was sent to Hell for it.

• Gengoro Ueki

Ueki's adoptive father. He is a writer. He likes anything weird or unusual, and often quotes: 'Reality is Stranger than Fiction!" (japanese)

• Shoko Ueki

Ueki's adoptive sister, she is a student in a nursing school. In the manga, she likes to play video games (she owns a lot of games along with a Playstation 2, a Dreamcast and a Game Cube. She is very enthusiastic about playing video games with Ai).

• Hayao Adachi (足立駿夫 Adachi Hayao)

"Ability to change cotton into spikes." Adachi wants to obtain the talent of running because he absolutely loves track but he is not a very good runner. He loses when he meets Ueki, who Adachi is envious of for his talent to run, but promises to keep running and maybe even beat him someday.

• Li Ho (李崩 Japanese: Rihō, Chinese Pinyin: Lǐ Bēng) Voiced by: Koyasu Takehito

While he has the ability to change his hair into a telescoping bat, he prefers to fight with his own Taijutsu skills rather than his power (he never uses his power in the anime). Li Ho considers Ueki his rival and wants to become a strong fighter in honor of his father, who fell victim to the plague. Originally, he fights Ueki using a move he calls the 'Count of Monte Cristo,' but succumbs to its weakness when Ueki grabs hold of his shoulders. During the third round, Li Ho displays a distinct growth in power, utilizing his inner power to perform powerful attacks. Channeling his power into his feet, for instance, allows him rapid movement. Li Ho has developed a defense called Tai Chi Chuan which is a circular strike used to repel any attack. He also has a haircut similar to that of Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist.

• Ganju

The King of the Celestial World Candidate who gave Li Ho his powers. He is also Li Ho's coach.

• Junichi Baba (馬場淳一 Baba Jun'ichi) a.k.a. B.J. (B・J)

"The ability to change coins into whirlwinds." B.J. loves hip-hop music. He has a tendency to lie a lot, particularly about who he is when fighting other gifted. When we first meet him he convinces another gifted user that he is Robert Haydn. His defeat at the real Robert Haydn's hands spurs Ueki to challenge him the first time. He is somewhat, a pervert especially towards Ai (during Ueki's first battle with him, he maximises the speed of his whirlwinds to see her underwear and during their second meeting, he rubbed her body in which, resulting her to punch him in the face).

• Bolo T

"The ability to turn his forehead into diamond whenever he puts his hands in his pockets." Tends to just headbutt his opponents. Has many talents which he uses quite skillfully in battle. He often incorporates the word “jyan” at the end of his sentences.

• Monjiro Oniyama (鬼山紋次郎 Oniyama Monjirō) a.k.a. Onimon

" The ability to change soil into cannonballs. Believes in fair and square fights. He has a tendency to shorten words and phrases, and he has 299 talents. Loves his home village and wants the village building talent if he wins in order to build his own village back up. He teaches Ueki some basic fighting techniques to help win the fight against the black shadow, the first person Ueki meets of Robert's 10.

• Fukusuke Hibiki (manga only)

In the manga-only story, Ueki is pursued by a boy named Fukusuke Hibiki, who is convinced that Ueki is a "tree demon king" from a children's book. When Myojin holds up his card the first time he uses his power in the manga, it is a card with the title "The Tree Demon King and The Hero". (Vol.3 Chapter 23)

[edit] Tournament Teams

There are five teams that made it to the final round of the tournament to choose the next King of the Celestial World. Other than Ueki's team, there is the Caption Team, Gurono Team, Marilyn Team and Barou Team. There is also Anon (disguised as Robert) and Li Ho who made it as teams of one each. Here are the various teams and their respective members.

[edit] Caption Team

• Caption

Leader of Caption Team. Able to turn his voice into a freezing gas that encases whatever it covers. He has a level two power which is a red gas that freezes things and makes them easily shatterd by his attack alone. He wants Hideyoshi to join his group so that he could use his own power to send his freezing voice from multiple directions. Tends to get impatient.

• Mario

Able to turn his body into a giant billiard ball. Likes to give his attacks grandiose English names that sound absolutely absurd, such as calling his billiard attack "Super Dynamic Elegant Ball."

• Yugo

Able to turn rubber balls into acid. One of the gifted that is trying to get Soya to join up with them. He is quite gullible and constantly falls for Soya's tricks.

• Nico

Able to turn his hair into a high-powered drill. He likes to attack from the ground where he can surprise people. One of the gifted that is trying to get Soya to join up with them. He is very vain, especially when it comes to his hair, and also tends to use the word beautiful in his sentences.

• Zack

Soya's current King of the Celestial World Candidate who is actually a nasty guy who wants Soya to join his newly formed group to win the tournament. Zack is a total jerk that only looks out for himself.

[edit] Gurono Team

• Gurono Kuwahara

Leader of Gurono Team. He has the ability to turn a toy model into a real life working version. His level two is that he can control whatever he makes come to life. Seems to put up a nice guy front but is actually quite mean.

• Pekol

A very timid individual. He has the ability to create photos into toy models. When teamed with Gurono, Gurono is unstoppable thanks to the endless supply of models to use! He longs to be strong, but ends up being duped by Gurono. He is later inspired by Ueki to follow his own path towards finding strength.

• Gitar/Guitar

Able to turn his clothing into a barrier. His level two is to attack within the barrier he makes on his opponent, but he cannot do both at the same time. He lied about his power saying he was invulnerable and that he could send out soundwaves, but that was just to psyche out his enemies. Loves music, particularly karaoke, thus his name rhyming with a musical instrument.

• Muunin

Enjoys traditional poetry. However, when he says a bad pun and the person he told it to laughs, the pun becomes real. Able to turn the word attack on himself to attack his enemies.

• Pastello

Likes painting and expresses himself through colors ("lucky purple", happy pink"). He can make his line drawings a portal. Using his large brush, he can tickle the opponent, thus making them laugh and become exposed to Muunin's word attacks.

[edit] Marilyn Team

• Marilyn Cary (マリリン･キャリー Maririn Kyarī) Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino

Has the power to turn 1 second into ten seconds for herself. Using this power makes her look like she's using super speed. Her Level 2 is the ability to double her attack power, but it's only limited to 10 minutes. When she activates it, a gauge appears on her neck and she will collapse after the gauge empties. Claims to be proud of her upbringing and how she only feels truly alive when she is fighting, but this is a facade. She holds onto a childhood promise that forces her to keep fighting, despite her actual distaste for the act.

• Memory (メモリー Memorī )

Has the power creating traps from raw materials by sketching them. She uses her power with Puding's to make a combination attack. The first "victim" of Mori's power. A very competent field leader who acts as a spotter from higher ground.She is also the smartest and the strict of the team.

• Matthew (マシュー Mashū) Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki

His power is the ability to triple his pair of hands, making him have six arms. Matthew is something of a flirt when it comes to ladies. Like all the members of the Marilyn team, he just wants to see Marylyn smile.

• Baron (バロン Baron)

A knife user. He has the ability to move to wherever his knife is when he throws it. His level two is to immobilize himself and his opponent to the ground if he teleports within one meter of the person. An honest and naive fellow. Sometimes refers to himself in the third person. He is very loyal to Marilyn and can be quite gullible (due to the fact that he is tricked by Ueki repeatedly).

• Puding (プテｨング Putingu)

He has the power of changing his mouth into a dimensional portal. He uses his power with Memori's to transport materials above the enemy, while she uses her power to change them into traps.

[edit] Balo Team

• Balo Echalote (バロウ･エシャロット Barou Esharotto)

Has the ability to turn past visions into reality. Used in conjunction with his Sacred Treasures to create endless attacks. Largely concerned with achieving his goals, throwing aside anything that gets in the way of said objective. Bears a very sad past. He is a talented artist. His level 2 is the ability to control past visions.

• Ban Dicoot (バン･デｨクート Ban Dhikuuto)

Has the ability to turn his Sacred Treasures into Living Beings, usually with adorable faces attached to them. Likes to use the phrase "to the max" a lot. He sports a green ducktail hairdo. Like Rinko, he adores all things cute, but he is the first person to fall victim to Rinko's "evil" side. On a side note, if his name is spelled without spaces, the name will read 'bandicoot,' a small mammal.

• Diegostar (デｨエゴスター Diegosutā)

Has the ability to turn all of his Sacred Treasures invisible and colourless. He is prone to talks of manliness.

• Kilnorton (キルノートン Kirunōton)

Has an I.Q. of 179 (strangely, even though he has a high I.Q., he is constantly outsmarted by Ai). Has the zai of calculating. Has a name for his glasses (Bianca). Mori suspects he is a pervert, but he denies these claims and states that he has an I.Q of 179 as a counter. Kilnorton's ability is not revealed during the series.

[edit] Sacred Weapons

All celestial beings have the potential to master a total of ten attacks which correspond with different levels of their growth. These attacks are called Jingi, or "sacred treasures". Ueki manifests these abilities through his talent for tree growth. A heavenly being's sacred treasures with no special powers will take the form of stone(except Barou).

Note: Ueki's Level 2 Heavenly Powers allowed him to use more than one Jingi at a time, rather than limiting the use of sacred weapons to one at a time as opposed to other Heavenly Beings (His actual level 2 power is to turn his opponents B back again into A).

Note that as the number of stars in a weapon increase, so does it's capability to damage.

1. Kurogane - The first star treasure gained through consciousness. A large cannon grows out from the user's arm and fires a large ball at the opponent. For Ueki, a large cannon grows out from a tree and fires a large ball at the opponent. This roughly translates to IRON. First seen in the battle between Ueki and Alessio Iuliano.

---

2. Fudo (Hood) - The second star treasure gained through perseverance. A giant arm grows out of the ground to protect Ueki from attacks. It can also be used offensively by striking at enemies. This roughly translates to FIRMNESS/COMMANDING

---

3. Ranma(Fast Sword) - The third star treasure gained through firmness. a large bladed weapon grows from the arm of the user. Ueki's Ranma grows out from a tree to strike the opponent. This roughly translates to, CHAOS

---

4.Mashu - The fourth star treasure gained through body and strength. A big mouth appear to chomp the oppenent. Ueki's Masshu is a big walking mouth with tree legs comes from the ground to chomp the opponent.This roughly translates to MASH

---

5. Pick (Ressen) - The fifth star treasure gained through centralization. A large column shoots out very fast from the arm of the user towards the opponent. Ueki's Pick grows from a tree. It can be pointed downward to propel the user upwards.

---

6. Raika(Raika Blitz) - The sixth star treasure gained through anticipation. A pair of rollerblade like attachments show up on the user's feet allowing him rapid movement on the ground. The user cannot jump when using these. This roughly translates to FLASH OF LIGHTNING

---

7. Galiper(Traveller) - The seventh star treasure gained through speed. A grid of light appears on the ground, followed by a boxed wall that can shoot up from anywhere on the grid to capture an opponent. Any attempts to attack while inside the box are futile and can be directed back at the captured. The opponent has half a second to react, and if he or she escapes in that time, he or she can avoid imprisonment. First seen in the match between Ueki and Caption.

---

8. Namihana(Waveflower) - The eighth star treasure, gained through an unknown test. The appearance is that of a massive whip. The weapon is highly flexible and often has the characteristics of a tentacle. First seen in the match between Ueki and Gitar.

---

9. Seikuu - The ninth star treasure, gained through balance. A pair of wings will appear on the user's back, granting him flying capabilities. This roughly translates to MASTERY OF THE AIR. First appearance in the second opening theme of the series: No Regret by Kumi Koda/Tohru Watanabe (33-51), although first used in a fight between Ueki and Anon.

---

10. Maoh - The tenth star treasure, Gained through will. Translated as "demon king" or "satan". Summons a creature that varies from heavenly being to heavenly being. The power of the summon is based on the desires of the fighter, which in Ueki's case was to protect the ones he loved. Ueki's maoh takes the form of Kobayashi and is relatively weak compared to Anon's Maoh due to his low will power. Maoh can only be used six times. First mentioned in the end scenes of the battle between Robert Haydn and Anon. First appearance in the last battle between Ueki and Anon.

[edit] Trivia

• Ueki once appeared in an episode of Kappa Mikey as a portrait in the background of Dr. Takashi Katashi's office (he is noticeable by his spiky green hair, clothes and what seemed to be Tenko on his left arm).
• In a Geneon dubbed episode of the show, he named the Heavenly Beast "Tenko" because Tenko have ten eyes.
• Ueki also wears pink shoes during the fight with Robert Haydn during the air.
• It is mentioned in the show that Kobasen's least favourite food is pickled crickets.
• Besides Kilnorton, Ai is the only character in the show who loves her own glasses.

[edit] Anime episode summaries

Main article: Law of Ueki episode list

[edit] Symbolism

Robert Haydn is the most obvious symbolism in Law of Ueki. His name and personality is a refrence to the African American poet Robert Hayden (1913 - 1980). His entire childhood was fraught with traumatic events and parental abuse. One of his more famous poems "The Whipping" was about a child who was being beaten by his grandmother, with underlying symbolism of slavery.

[edit] Music themes

[edit] Opening

• Falco -ファルコ- by Hitomi Shimatani (1-32)
• No Regret by Kumi Koda(33-51)

-No Regret- Composer: Tohru Watanabe (The one who composed the song lyric No Regret)

[edit] Ending

• Kokoro no Wakusei ~Little Planets~ by Aiko Kayo (1-15)
• Earthship ~Uchuusen Chikyuugou~ by SweetS (16-32)
• Kono machi de wa dare mo ga mina jibun igai no nani ka ni naritagaru by The Ivory Brothers (33-42)
• Bokutachi ni Aru Mono by Romi Paku (43-50)
• True Blue by Hitomi Shimatani (51 finale)

[edit] External links

[edit] Official sites/News

• (Japanese) Web Sunday's Law of Ueki Plus page
• (Japanese) http://avexmode.jp/animation/ueki/ - AVEX's site
• (Japanese) [1] - TV Tokyo's site
• Anime News Network Law of Ueki (TV) (Detailed cast listing and news)
• http://www.thelawofuekidvd.com - the website from Geneon's site.