Kyo Kara Maoh!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kyo Kara Maoh! | |
|---|---|
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| 今日からマ王！ (Kyō Kara Maō!) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Shoujo, Shounen-ai |
| Light novel | |
| Authored by | Tomo Takabayashi |
| Artist | Temari Matsumoto |
| Publisher | Kadokawa Beans Bunko |
| Publish date | October 2000 |
| No. of volumes | 13 |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Jinji Nishimura |
| Studio | Studio Deen |
| Network | Animax, NHK |
| Original run | 3 April 2004 – 25 February 2006 |
| No. of episodes | 78 |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Tomo Takabayashi (story) Temari Matsumoto (art) |
| Publisher | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Serialized in | Asuka (magazine) |
| Original run | June 2005 – |
| No. of volumes | 2 |
Kyo Kara Maoh! (今日からマ王! Kyō Kara Maō!?) is a Japanese series of light novels written by Tomo Takabayashi, which been adapted into an anime series, a manga and a series of audio dramas. As announced on March 10, 2007, there will also be an OVA released based on the novels. The anime series was produced by Studio Deen and aired across Japan on NHK and the anime television network, Animax, who also aired the series across its respective networks worldwide, including Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and other regions. The series has been licensed for North American distribution by Geneon under the name Kyo Kara Maoh! - Our King From Now On!(sic). The story follows the adventures of 15-year old Yuri Shibuya as he discovers his future in a world where demons and humans are fighting against one another.
Contents |
[edit] Genre
Though not explicitly shōnen-ai (boys love), the series is often mistaken for such because of its overtones (such as an early plot point that ends with two male characters becoming engaged), and calm acceptance of homosexuality in the setting, as well as because the cast is predominantly made up of good-looking young men. More accurately, the series can be called a "male harem", similarly to how one would call an anime about a young man surrounded by good-looking females a "harem anime" (ex: Love Hina) or a story about a female surrounded by good-looking males a "reverse harem" (ex: Fushigi Yūgi or Ouran High School Host Club). Romance is not a main theme of the series, though it has a flourishing fan-community dedicated to various romantic pairings.
Kyo Kara Maoh can also be accurately called shōjo - anime and manga written for a female audience.
[edit] Synopsis
Yuri Shibuya is an average high school student whose passion in life is baseball. That is, until he intervenes in the bullying of a classmate, Ken Murata, and gets his head dunked in a toilet, and gets him flushed into another world. When he reaches dry land, he sees some people dressed in medieval costume and speaking in some weird vernacular. He assumes that it is a theme park of some sort. However, the people are afraid to see him and begin to pelt him with stones. There he met Adelbert von Grantz. Conrad Weller and Günter von Christ rescued Yuri and took him to Blood Pledge Castle, the residence of the Maoh, where he soon found out about himself. He meets some key characters, his fiance Wolfram for one, and soon finds himself being called the 'Maoh', or Demon King. There, Yuri learns he is to be crowned king and rules over 'Shin Makoku' ("Real Demonic Kingdom") (眞魔国).
Throughout the series, Yuri is constantly confronted with the results of even the smallest choices he makes. With a strange power dwelling inside of him, Yuri becomes a deliverer of justice in the world of Shin Makoku.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main characters
- Yuri Shibuya (渋谷有利 Shibuya Yūri?)
Name : Yuri Shibuya
Alias : Your Majesty ("Heika" in Japanese), Wimp (Wolfram von Bielefeld's preferred nickname), Shibuya Yuri Harajuku Furi
Race : Half human, Half demon
Gender : Male
Age : 15 years old
Hair : Black
Eyes : Black
Height : 171cm.
Weight : 40kg.(??!?)
Status : Maou ("Demon King").
A high school student who enjoys baseball more than textbooks. The name Yuri means July in Shin Makoku (and short for "urine," that's why he said he gets picked a lot on when when he was younger. When Yuri arrives in Shin Makoku, he is declared the 27th Maoh of the Mazoku, the demon race. He has a strange power that suddenly transforms him into the Maoh, deliverer of justice. Throughout the story, Yuri gets dragged between worlds at inconvenient times until the end when he has the power to travel between worlds on his own. Yuri's soul was once the soul of the healer Julia von Winncott who died during the war against humans 20 years ago. The pendant Conrad gave to him belonged to her. Very close to the end, it turns out that Julia was a key to one of the four Forbidden Boxes, which makes Yuri himself the key to the final box.
Yuri has many allies and friends. His closest allies are Conrad, Wolfram, Günter, Gwendal, Murata, and Yozak. They help Yuri out throughout the series.
At his first encounter with Wolfram von Bielefeld he ends up engaged to him due to a mishap: Wolfram, angry that Yuri has been chosen as Maoh, makes the mistake of insulting Yuri's mother - which earns him a slap. Unfortunately for Yuri, slapping someone on the left cheek is the way that Mazoku (the demon race) propose marriage. Incensed by this insult, Wolfram challenges Yuuri to a duel, which is also mistakenly accepted because of Yuri's unfamiliarity with Mazoku custom (he picked up the knife that fell off the table). During the duel Yuri transforms into the true Demon King for the first time, proving that he has a right to the throne - much to his own surprise.
Yuri can transform into this true Demon King form whenever he feels great anger, usually when some great injustice or cruelty is being carried out by others. In this form he can summon powerful magic (majutsu), even in the human territories (a notable feat as most mazoku cannot perform magic outside their country). Most often Yuri's magic is manifested in the shape of a great water dragon, though this is not always the case (most of the time, it is manifested in a messy magical "creature" e.g., mud). After spending time in this form Yuri becomes worn out and in some cases passes out and doesn't remember what happened afterwards. Later in the show (after the episode when Ken and Yuri meet up with Yozak), Yuri learns to control his power and uses it to close the first of the Forbidden Boxes.
- Seiyu: Takahiro Sakurai
- Haruka (Tactics) - Shun Ukiya (Gatekeepers) - Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII Advent Children) - Kira Izuru (Bleach) - Bit Cloud (Zoids/ZERO) - Jirou Mochizuki (Black Blood Brothers)
- Voice actor: Jimmy Benedict (a.k.a. Yuri Lowenthal)
- Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto) - Keigo Asano (Bleach)
TRIVIA: The producer of Kyou Kara Maou! is Yuji Shibata, whose name is suspiciously similar to Yuri Shibuya-only three letters away.
- Conrad Weller
Name : Lord Conrad Weller
Alias : The Lion of Ruttenberg, Commander
Race : Half human, Half demon
Gender : Male
Age : approximatley 85
Hair : Brown
Eyes : Brown
Height : ?
Weight : ?
Status : Commander
A swordsman ("the best swordsman in Shin Makoku" -Wolfram)who looks after Yuri. Conrad is the second child of the previous Maou, Cecilie von Spitzberg. Conrad possesses no maryoku (demonic magic) due to his mixed heritage of human and mazoku (demon). Eventually it is discovered that Conrad's left arm is one of the keys to the 4 magical boxes that have the power to destroy the world and for a brief period Conrad betrays Yuri and Shin Makoku to join their human enemies. Later, however, it is learned that Conrad only betrayed them to learn about the whereabouts of the boxes. His plan was when the 4 boxes were gathered to steal them and return to Shin Makoku. His given name is Konrart; Yuri nicknames him Conrad, which is "closer to English" and easier to pronounce with a Japanese tongue.
His father was human (considered the greatest swordsman in the Demon Kingdom) while his mother was a demon (the Demon Queen). On his 16th birthday he decided to live as a demon instead of a human. He fought on the front lines for the demons during a war against the humans. He also was put in charge of the soul that was to be the new Maou, and brought it safely to Earth so that it could be born.
Furthermore, he was the one who was this inspiration for Yuri's name. He stated that "Where I come from, the month of July is called Yuri", which made Yuri's mother name him Yuri because he was born in July. For this reason, Yuri dubs him 'Nazukeoya', which is a person who names someone (Conrad is also known as Yuri's Godfather by his mother).
Once Yuri came back to Shin Makoku, Conrad was the one to find him and bring him safely to the castle. He acts as Yuri's bodyguard and vowed to protect Yuri with his life.
- Seiyu: Toshiyuki Morikawa
- Homura (Gensomaden Saiyuki) - Naraku (Inuyasha) - Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII Advent Children) - Isshin Kurosaki (Bleach) - Tousen Kaname (Bleach)
- Voice actor: Doug Erholtz
- Gin Ichimaru (Bleach) - Squall Leonhart(Leon) (Kingdom Hearts II) - Takeshi Momoshiro (The Prince of Tennis) - Kippei Tachibana (The Prince of Tennis)
- Wolfram von Bielefeld
Name : (Lord) Wolfram von Bielefeld
Alias : Spoiled Brat, Little Lord Brat (by Günter and Anissina), Pretty Boy
Race : Demon
Gender : Male
Age : 82 years old
Hair : Blonde
Eyes : Emerald Green
Height : 171 cm
Weight : 52 kg
Status : Fiance to Yuri
Quote : "Now listen, you think you're cute and maybe you actually are, but being cute doesn't make it okay for you to be unfaithful."
A young man who finds himself engaged to Yuri after a mistake. Wolfram possesses fire magic, as well as being adept with a sword. He is the half-brother of Conrad and Gwendal. He has extremely high pride and is hot-headed. Wolfram is obsessed with Yuuri and insists on following him everywhere as he claims it's his duty to protect his fiancé. The blond noble often hides his true feelings for Yuuri but it is obvious he loves him. There's a time when Wolfram is possessed by Shinou and temporarily died. Wolfram's heart is also a key.
Wolfram is the youngest son of the former Maou. He dislikes humans, even Konrad's father. Because of his demon pride, he doesn't like to admit that Conrad is his brother, even though he cares for Konrad.
Wolfram is an extremely 'pretty' person - Yuuri even calls him so upon first meeting him (specifically using the term 'bishonen' in the Japanese version). This image is only enhanced by his choice of nightwear - a rather frilly pink creation that contrasts violently with his rather quick temper.
When he first becomes engaged to Yuuri he is extremely upset but the idea quickly grows on him. He takes the engagement much more seriously than Yuuri does. He follows Yuuri practically everywhere so he can keep an eye on him and even sneaks into Yuuri's bedroom at night. He gets extremely jealous when Yuuri talks to a girl or good-looking guy and often accuses him of being unfaithful.
Wolfram is a very good sword fighter and also can use fire magic and even healing magic somewhat. His magic is second only to Yuuri's own in power. He is arrogant and short-tempered but can also be quite compassionate at times. A major weakness is he gets sea-sick. Wolfram's heart is one of the keys to the four Forbidden Boxes.
- Seiyu: Mitsuki Saiga
- Tsukasa (.hack//SIGN) - MakubeX (GetBackers)
- Voice actor: Mona Marshall
- Kite (.hack//INFECTION) - Toboe (Wolf's Rain) - Koushiro Izumi (Digimon Adventure)
- Gwendal von Voltaire
Name : (Lord) Gwendal von Walde
Alias : -
Race : Demon
Gender : Male
Hair : Black
Eyes : Blue
Status : Commander of the Demon Army
The eldest son of Cecilie. From the beginning, Gwendal has objections to Yuuri becoming the Maou. He is a skilled tactician and is capable using earth magic. When not otherwise busy, Gwendal indulges in his hobby of knitting and sewing but often his creatures look nothing like what they're suppose to (for example a bear got mistaken for a black pig). He is also quite fond of cute objects such as the dolphin keychain Yuuri received at the dolphin show. His childhood best friend is Anissina von Karbelnikoff, an inventor who often tests out her inventions on him, much to his displeasure. Gwendal's left eye is a key to one of the four Forbidden Boxes, the "End of the Earth".
Gwendal is a tough guy except when it comes to his childhood friend, Anissina. He is afraid of her and often hides from her so he can prevent being used in one of her crazy experiments.
Gwendal is a good sword fighter and can also use magic. He can use earth magic and can cast barriers. He is the commander of the demon army and often comes with reinforcements when Yuuri finds himself in big trouble.
- Seiyu: Akio Ohtsuka
- Shunsui Kyoraku (Bleach) - Black Jack (Black Jack) - Windom (Magic Knight Rayearth)
- Voice actor: Dan Woren (a.k.a Jackson Daniels)
- Byakuya Kuchiki (Bleach) -
- Günter von Christ
Name : Günter von Christ
Alias : --
Race : Demon
Gender : Male
Hair : Silver
Eyes : Light Purple
Status : Advisor to the Maou
A teacher and swordsman who adores Yuuri. Günter is skilled in the ways of the blade and magic, but has retired to teach Yuuri about Shin Makoku and his future duties as the Maou. When Günter accidentally travels to Earth, he becomes a model in New York City for a brief period of time so that he can earn money to find Yuuri. Günter is another test subject of Anissina.
Günter, along with the three brothers, help Yuuri run the country. He is Yuuri's advisor and mentor. He usually spends his time doing various duties for Yuuri or day dreaming about him.
Though Günter may look somewhat serious, he usually is not. If Yuuri goes missing he becomes a nervous wreck and rushes around the castle yelling for him. He also becomes very sullen when Yuuri goes back to Earth or is away on a mission.
Günter is a very good swordsman. He also has very powerful maryoku. However, he makes sure not to kill the enemy since that is what Yuuri does as well. Overall, he is a very nice and friendly person who would do anything for Yuuri.
His title, "von Christ" ("von Kleist" accurately) is German name.
- Seiyu: Kazuhiko Inoue
- Kakashi (Naruto) - Yuki Eiri (Gravitation) - Hatori Sohma (Fruits Basket)
- Voice actor: Jack Lingo
- Shuichiro Oishi (The Prince of Tennis)
- Ken Murata (村田健 Murata Ken?)
Name : Murata Ken
Alias : MuraKen, Mura-Mura, The Great Sage, The Great Wise Man of Double Black, Your Highness ("Geika" in Japanese), Soukoku
Race : Half human , Half Demon
Gender : Male
Age : 15 years
Hair : Black
Eyes : Black
An acquaintance of Yuuri's. Ken is known to smile often and keep relatively quiet. He later finds himself involved with Yuuri and the other world when it is discovered he houses the soul and memories of the Great Sage.
He was actually the reason Yuuri was given a swirly, since he was the kid the bullies had been picking on. He helps get Yuuri to and from worlds, although Yuuri does not know this for most of the anime.
He is very smart and calculating. He was the Great Sage in his past life - the right hand man to Shinou, the original king of Shin Makoku. He still remembers things from that life and other lives that he has had. He is a good friend and ally to Yuuri and helps him a lot throughout the series, though it often seems he's working on his own agenda.
- Seiyu: Kouki Miyata
- Hanataro Yamada (Bleach) - Kantarou Ichinomiya (Tactics) - Yukito (Tsubasa Chronicle)
- Voice actor: Grant George
- Josak Gurrier/Grie;
(Pronounced Yosak)
Name : Josak Grie
Alias : The Spy, Ms. Biceps
Race : Half human, Half demon
Gender : Male
Age : Unknown
Hair : Orange
Eyes : Blue
Height : ?
Weight : ?
Status : Spy of the Demon army; Maou personal guard
Introduced by Conrad to Yuuri during the episode that they are captured on a ship (episode 5). Originally doubted Yuuri, but eventually gained his trust when Yuuri left him in charge of Morgif's Jewel (his power source, which he later returned due to an attack on a human village by the holy sword stolen from its rightful owner).
He seems to have gone a long way with Conrad as shown in some episodes where he is included in Conrad's flashbacks as both a child and a warrior.
He's a kind hearted man despite his huge appearance and no matter how masculine he looks he doesn't seem bothered when his job requires him to crossdress.
- Seiyu: Masanori Takeda
- Kouzaburo (Windy Tails)
- Voice actor: Marvin Lee
[edit] Supporting characters
- Cäcilie von Spitzberg
The previous Maou and mother of Gwendal, Conrad, and Wolfram each with different fathers. Although initially, Cäcilie seems to be rather airheaded, she is actually very astute and intelligent and a very caring person. Having been replaced as the Maou by Yuuri, Cecilie takes advantage of her open schedule to hunt for men on her "free and easy quest for love." Cäcilie goes by the name Celi, which is pronounced "Cheri" in Japanese. Because of that some fans call her "Cheri" while others use "Celi" (Pronunce as "Tseri" accurately in Romanization of Japanese). Both spellings are acceptable however and just depends on personal preference.
- Seiyu: Masako Katsuki
- Voice actress: Kirsty Pape
- Anissina von Khrenikov
Anissina is an inventor and possesses powerful maryoku. She is also Gwendal's childhood friend and often uses him to test out her inventions. It is for this reason that Gwendal seems to fear Anissina. When Gwendal is not around, Günter becomes her test subject.
Her title is written in a Japanese original as "von Khrenikov" (フォンカーベルニコフ卿).
- Seiyu: Minami Takayama
- Voice actor: Michelle Ruff
- Ulrike
An 800-year old priestess with the form of a young girl. Ulrike comes from a long line of priestesses each chosen by the "Original King" to act as a channel between him and the people of Shin Makoku. She succeeds Ondine, whose final assignment after retirement was to get Yuuri to form a pact with the elements. Ulrike is the one who, at the order of and with additional powers from the Original King (Shinou), transports Yuuri to and from his world to Shin Makoku.
- Adalbert von Grantz
Adalbert is the first important character that Yuuri meets in Shin Makoku. He is Julia's former fiancé and abandons Shin Makoku upon her death, as he feels that the way of the Mazoku is wrong. He believes that the Mazoku are simply toys of the "Original King". Though in the beginning he is considered an enemy, as the series progresses he begins to protect Yuuri.
- Seiyu: Masaki Terasoma
- Voice actor: Kirk Thornton
- Susanna Julia von Wincott
Julia's soul was given to Yuri when she accepted the fate given to her by the original king. She was Adelbert's former fiancé and incredibly skilled at medical maryoku. She appears to have the same views on humans and Mazoku as Yuri, wanting both races to be at peace with each other, which signafies their similarities. Konrad was one of her close friends, and she gave him her necklace, which Konrad then gave to Yuri.
- Seiyu: Risa Mizuno
- Voice actor: Joan-Carol O'Conne
- Stuffel von Spitzberg
Cecilia's older brother; he was the former regent of the former Maou and was kicked out of the castle when Yuuri arrived for trying to forefully assert his influence on the kingdom. He got mad at Yuuri and his nephews for kicking him out of the castle, waged a war against his nephews, and tried to convince Yuuri that his 3 nephews were just using him to control Shin Makoku. Yuuri, as the Maou, made his punishment for waging war house arrest in his own castle and lands. His favourite food is sauteed Neguroki no Mayakishi.
- Seiyu: Unshou Ishizuka
- Voice actor: Terry Roberts
- Gisela
She is the adopted daughter of Günter and was a close friend of Julia von Winncot. She is usually sweet and caring, but has her 'scary' moments. During these moments, she is feared by Dorcas, Keenan, Wolfram and many others. Her nickname is sergeant, a military physician. She was with Julia when she died on the battlefield.
- Seiyu: Hiroko Taguchi
- Voice Actor: Mia Bradly
- Greta
Greta is the adopted daughter of Yuuri and Wolfram. After she tries to kill Yuuri by posing as his illegitimate daughter, he forgives her and adopts her. Wolfram also adopts Greta, reasoning that as Yuuri's fiancé he is also Greta's parent. She also meets her mother, but doesn't know who she is. She is human.
- Seiyu: Motoko Kumai
- Voice Actor: Rebecca Frostadt
- Jose Rodriguez
Associates of the Maou of Earth and also of Conrad. Transported the Great Sage's soul to Japan at the same time Conrad transported Julia's. He became Ken's pediatrician when Ken was younger and began to remember his previous lives.
- Seiyu: Keiji Fujiwara
- Bob
The Maou of Earth. A businessman who owns several prosperous companies and is even called "the Maou in the business world".
- Seiyu: Takaya Hashi
- Shouri Shibuya (渋谷勝利 Shibuya Shouri?)
Yuuri's older brother who is apparently a genius and who is very protective of Yuuri. He is to become Bob's successor as the Maou of Earth. Shouri eventually goes to Shin Makoku as well. He also has very powerful maryoku.
- Seiyu: Katsuyuki Konishi
Yuuri and Shouri's mother. She has known about Yuuri becoming Maou since before Yuuri was born. She is very energetic and sometimes easily confused. (Example: When she was first told that Shoma was Mazoku (with marriage proposal), she thought he had been born with wings...) Also Miko wanted to have a girl, so when Yuri was young she had his hair long and had him dress in girls clothes. Through the series little is learned about her, but she is known to be an excellent fencer, always ready and willing to defend her family.
- Seiyu: Yumi Kakazu
- Voice Actor: Dorothy Elias-Fahn
- Shoma Shibuya (渋谷勝馬 Shibuya Shoma?)
Yuuri and Shouri's father. He is a Mazoku from Earth. He originally knew about Yuuri becoming Maou when he met with Conrad shortly after Conrad came to Earth. Much more soft-spoken than his wife.
- Seiyu: Kōji Tsujitani
- Voice Actor: Joe Cappelletti
[edit] Media
[edit] Light novels
The novels are currently serialized in Kadokawa's Beans Collection.
- Main Story
- Kyou Kara MA no Tsuku Jiyuugyou! (ISBN 4-04-445201-6)
- Kondo wa MA no Tsuku Saishuu Heiki! (ISBN 4-04-445202-4)
- Konya wa MA no Tsuku Daidassou! (ISBN 4-04-445203-2)
- Ashita wa MA no Tsuku Kaze ga Fuku! (ISBN 4-04-445204-0)
- Kitto MA no Tsuku Taiyou ga Noboru! (ISBN 4-04-445206-7)
- Itsu ka MA no tsuku Yuugure ni! (ISBN 4-04-445207-5)
- Ten ni MA no Tsuku Yuki ga Mau! (ISBN 4-04-445208-3)
- Chi ni wa MA no Tsuku Hoshi ga Furu! (ISBN 4-04-445209-1)
- Mezase MA no Tsuku Umi no Hate! (ISBN 4-04-445211-3)
- Kore ga MA no Tsuku Daiippo! (ISBN 4-04-445213-X)
- Yagate MA no Tsuku Uta ni Naru! (ISBN 4-04-445214-8)
- Takara wa MA no tsuku Tsuchi no Naka! (ISBN 4-04-445215-6)
- Hako wa MA no tsuku Mizu no Soko! (ISBN 4-04-445216-4)
- Side Stories
- Kakka to MA no Tsuku TOSA Nikki!? (ISBN 4-04-445205-9)
- Musuko wa MA no Tsuku Jiyuugyou!? (ISBN 4-04-445212-1)
- Ojousama to wa Kari no Sugata! (ISBN 4-04-445210-5)
- Kyou Kara MAou!? (ISBN 4-04-445217-2-C0193)
[edit] Anime
- Opening theme
- Hateshinaku Tooi Sora ni (果てしなく遠い空に) In the Endlessly distant Sky by The Stand Up
- Closing themes
- Suteki no Shiwase (ステキな幸せ) Cute Happiness by The Stand Up (episodes 1-39)
- Arigatou~ (ありがとう～)"Thank You" by BON'z (episodes 40-78)
The anime series was produced by Studio Deen and aired across Japan on NHK and the anime television network, Animax. It is licensed and distributed across North America by Geneon Entertainment under the title, Kyou Kara Maoh! - God (?) Save Our King!
[edit] Manga
The manga is currently serialized in ASUKA, a monthly manga magazine. Its production started in July 2005. Only two volumes of the manga has been published in Japan.
- Kyou Kara MA no Tsuku Jiyuugyou! (ISBN 4-04-853912-4)
[edit] Drama CDs
- Kondo wa MA no Tsuku Saishuu Heiki!
- Konya wa MA no Tsuku Daidassou!
- Ashita wa MA no Tsuku Kaze ga Fuku!
[edit] External links
- Official (NHK) website (Japanese)
- Official (Geneon) website
- Official manga site (Japanese)
