RG Veda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| RG Veda | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 聖伝 (Sei-den) |
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| Genre | Fantasy, drama, adventure, shoujo |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Clamp |
| Publisher |  Shinshokan Tokyopop Editons Tonkam Planet Manga Carlsen Comics |
| Serialized in | Wings |
| Original run | 1990 – 1996 |
| No. of volumes | 10 |
| OVA | |
| Directed by | Hiroyuki Ebata Takamasa Ikegami |
| Studio | ANIMATE |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| Released | 1991 |
- This page refers to the manga. See Rigveda for the collection of Vedic hymns.
RG Veda (聖伝 Seiden?) (which can be translated as 'Holy Legend') is an epic manga created by Clamp, consisting of ten graphic novels in all. It was first published in Japan in 1989 as Clamp's debut manga. The story features elements of Vedic mythology; the title itself is an alteration of Rigveda, the earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas. The series is known for its extravagant and richly detailed art. It was popular enough to inspire a 2 episode anime OVA (which can be found on DVD).
The RG Veda graphic novels have been translated and released in many different languages. Tokyopop is currently releasing English versions in the United States.
[edit] Plot
Three hundred years ago, the god of thunder, Taishakuten, rebelled against the Heavenly Emperor, killing both him and the guardian god Ashura-ō. With the help of Ashura-ō's wife Shashi, he usurped the throne and began his cruel reign as the new Emperor. However, a prophecy was made:
"Six stars will strike the earth. You are the dark star that goes against heaven. Your journey begins when you find the child of a vanished race. I cannot see if the child is good or evil, but I know only this child can spin the wheel of heaven's destiny..."
Following this prophecy, the Guardian Warrior of the northland, Yasha-ō, awakens the genderless child of Ashura-ō, Ashura, who has slept the last three hundred years under a magical seal. Believing the prophecy to mean that the "Six Stars" together can overthrow Taishakuten, he and Ashura set out to find the "Six Stars". They are joined over time by Sōma, Ryu-ō and Karura-ō, three of the Six Stars of prophecy, of which Yasha-ō and Ashura are as well. A mysterious character who appears and disappears quite regularly, Kujaku, gives them helpful advice, but his nature and intentions are unclear.
The gentle and childlike Ashura (who is usually referred to as "he" out of convenience, though some translations use a female pronoun) soon reveals a deadly alter-ego, a youth who delights in death and destruction, but this side remains for the longest time more or less suppressed, also by Ashura's affection for Yasha-ō.
Seeking to bring Taishakuten's reign to an end, the Six Stars finally enter Zenmi-jō, Taishakuten's palace. They are met there by the three remaining (one was killed by Yasha-ō before) "Four Generals" (Shitennō) who are sworn to protect Taishakuten and discover to their shock that the sixth Star, Kendappa-ō, who is a friend to almost all of them and has helped them in the past, is among them as Jikokuten, the last and previously unknown of the four generals. By the meeting of all the Six Stars, Ashura's dark nature is brought to the surface. He kills his mother, the traitorous Shashi, and by placing the seal on her forehead in his sword Shura-tō, awakens as the true Ashura, the god of flame, blood and war, whose aim it is to destroy heaven, earth, and hell.
He proceeds to complete his awakening by killing all of the Six Stars (who did not already die by others' hands), whose power then becomes his, until only Yasha-ō is left. Surprisingly, Taishakuten stands against him, and it turns out that his cruel reign was really a plot by him and the deceased Ashura-ō to prevent the gathering of the Six Stars and so the true Ashura's awakening. However, it is not Taishakuten who finally stops Ashura, but on the move to kill Yasha-ō, Ashura in the last moment stabs himself instead. He is then enveloped in a cocoon and again falls asleep, to awake only hundreds of years later by Kujaku's sacrifice of his own life, on Yasha-ō's promise that he will not let Ashura become the God of Destruction again.
