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Shaman King

Shaman King (シャーマンキング Shāman Kingu) is both an anime series and a manga series by Hiroyuki Takei.

The Shaman King manga started in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan, and in the same country it aired on TV Tokyo. In North America, the manga is currently being printed in Viz's Shonen Jump, with edits to a few chapters. The Shaman King anime in 2003 was licensed by 4Kids Entertainment for American television broadcasting and is currently airing on 4Kids TV, formerly the Fox Box. Shaman King airs on JETIX (formerly Fox Kids) in the United Kingdom.

A shaman is a link between this world and the next, and team up with ghosts and spirits to achieve their goals. A shaman's greatest dream is to become Shaman King, and be able to contact the Great Spirit in order to be the savior of the world. It is religious in a sense but not religious at all in a way that could be only described as this is how Japanese see the often literally explosive topic of religions. Various magical and religious terms are spread through out the story but they seemed to merge into something explainable.

The process of the spirit ally merging with the shamanic focus to create a more powerful over soul is known as "integration" in the English manga, and "unity" in the English anime.

Many fans of the series abbreviate its name to "Mankin".

The Shaman King trading card game is available in Japan and North America.

Contents

Characters

The other characters' names are in Western order, with the given name before the family name. The names of the Taos and other Chinese characters are in Chinese order, with the family name before the given name. The English anime name is to the right of the Japanese name. The English manga uses the Japanese names.

Humans

  • Yoh Asakura (麻倉 葉) - Main character and fiancé to Anna Kyōyama. He is laid back and carefree, which makes him a perfect candidate to become Shaman King.
  • Anna Kyōyama (恐山アンナ) / Anna - Fiancée of Yoh Asakura, and an Itako, a traditional shamaness from northern Japan (she is called a "spirit medium" in the English anime). Anna is Yoh's personal trainer and will stop at nothing to become the wife of the Shaman King, although she does indeed hold affection for Yoh. She later obtains the necklace of 1,080 beads and mastery over Hao's Shikigami. Anna also appears in two of Takei's other works, Butsu Zone and Itako no Anna .
  • Manta Oyamada (小山田まん太) / Mortimer "Morty" - Intelligent child who carries a dictionary, and can see ghosts, but cannot use their powers like Yoh and Anna 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.
  • Tao Ren (道 蓮) / Len Tao - One of Yoh's rival shamans, Ren is from China. Ren, though younger, is dominant over his sister and is determined to be the Shaman King. His spirit ally is Bason, the ghost of a Chinese warlord. In the English anime, Len has a British accent.
  • Tao Jun (道 潤) / Jun Tao - Ren's older sister, a Dao-shi (A Daoist spellcaster) that re-animates corpses and commands Jiang-shi. Jun only wanted to keep peace and wishes only what is right for her brother (whom she calls "Lian" - Or "Lenny" in the English anime). In the English anime, Jun has a British accent.
  • Ryunosuke Umemiya (梅宮 竜之介), aka "Wooden Sword" Ryu (木刀の 竜) / Rio of the Wooden Sword - A gang leader who is always on the lookout for the "Happy Place" or "Best Place" (The "Sacred Hang" in the English anime; His gang is known as the "Dead Enders" in the English anime.) He 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 who gains Tokagero.
  • Faust VIII (ファウストⅧ世) - A necromancer whose shamanic focus is a skeleton of his lost love, Eliza. Faust is a descendent of the legendary Faustus, who made a deal with the devil for the knowledge of necromancy. At first, Faust (like his family) wanted nothing to do with his ancestor's black magic and became a doctor. The death of Eliza drove the man insane and he took up the mantle of a necromancer. Using his power to manuplate Eliza's skeletal body which weilded a scythe as its weapon. Faust first meets Yoh and Manta in a cemetery in Chokohama (spelled Chocohama in the actual artwork); Yoh gets angry at Faust after he slices Manta open (in the English anime, Faust is draining Morty's life force); the injury is a tactic to get Yoh angry. During the match, Yoh returns the favor by mocking Faust's plan to ressurect Eliza. Yoh loses to Faust in the match but Ren prevents Faust from killing Yoh out of blind rage. Faust eventually joins Yoh's group and is truly reunited with Eliza. Faust' first name is Johann.
  • Horokeu Usui "Horohoro" (ホロホロ) / Horohoro "Trey Racer" - An Ainu from Hokkaido (called the "North Woodlands" in the English anime) who wants to save the Koropokkur from extinction. His spirit ally is Kororo (Corey). His sister, Pirka (Pilika) trains him harshly like Yoh's trainer Anna does. Horohoro's name sounds like "boroboro", which means "crap", which causes problems when some characters mispronounce his name.
  • Tamao Tamamura (玉村たまお Tamamura Tamao) / Tamera "Tammy" - A shy girl who has a crush on Yoh. Tamao's specialty is her use of a kokkuri board, which is similar to an ouija board. She is also an ascetic, like Mikihisa; her spirits are Conchi, a fox, and Ponchi, a tanuki.
  • Hao Asakura (麻倉葉王 Asakura Hao, ハオ Hao) / Zeke Asakura - Yoh's evil ancestor and twin brother who wants to destroy humanity. In his first life, he was the greatest shaman of the Asakura Clan. But after mastering the five elements to become the ultimate Shaman, he came to believe that every single non-shaman must be destroyed. He intended to do such an act as Shaman King, but he was asassinated by his clansmen, including Asakura Yohken (麻倉葉賢 Asakura Yōken) and Matamune, before that happened. But because he mastered the five elements, Hao defied death and incarnated as a member of Silva's Tribe five centuries later. Hao stole the Patch Tribe's Fire Spirit and attempted again to become Shaman King, only to be killed again. Now 500 years after that, Hao is in his third incarnation. Hao has a host of shamans who either share his views on humanity or out of personal gain. Yoh is another instrument in his plan to suceed.
  • Silva (シルバ) - A Native American from the Patch tribe that qualified Yoh for the Shaman fight. He has issues with Hao because of the Hao's previous life as a member of the Patch Tribe and thief of the tribe's sacred spirit.
  • Lyserg Diethel (リゼルグ ダイゼル) - A British Shaman, whose parents were killed by Hao. When he is looking for 'strong partners', he comes across Yoh's group. After he is defeated, Lyserg is welcomed. Later he joins the X-Laws, as they have a score to settle with Hao too. His spirit is Morphine (Chloe in the English anime). His name is pronounced differently in the English anime so that his name is not a recreational drug reference (lysergic acid). His spirit's name is also a drug reference (morphine).
  • Pirka (ピリカ Pirika) / Pilika - Pirka is Horohoro's sister, who trains him in a similar manner to Anna's training of Yoh. Pirka originally calls Yoh a jerk for defeating her brother, giving Yoh a heartache over people hating him. Pirka later becomes friends with Anna.
  • Marco: A principal member of the X-Laws, which is a group that aims to rid the world of Hao. His spirit is angelic enity called Michael.
  • Iron Maiden Jeanne: The founder of the X-Laws. She hates Hao with a passsion and will go to great lengths to see him dead, no matter who dies in the process. She earned the nick-name Iron Maiden as she spend most of her time in a Iron Maiden{which gather all her strentgh}, only to come for short times well needed until the day injustice no longer exists.
  • Chocolove (チョコラブ) / Joco - An African-American Shaman who aspires to be Shaman King so he can give the world what it needs the most, laughter. He's a comedian by trade, though his jokes annoy people sometimes. His spirit is a jaguar ghost named Mic Jaguar (a takeoff on Mick Jagger), who belonged to Chocolove's mentor.
  • Yohmei Asakura (麻倉葉明 Asakura Yōmei) - Yohmei is Yoh's grandfather and an onmyouji who utilizes leaf shikigami. He is the husband of Kino Asakura, Anna's teacher.
  • Kino Asakura - A master itako who trains young girls in the art at Osorezan. She is short tempered and pratical like her apprentice, Anna (or perhaps the other way around). Kino is Yoh's grandmother.
  • Mikihisa Asakura - Mikihisa is Yoh's father. He is an ascetic monk who is frequently away from home. Mikihisa is also the one who brought Tamao to the Asakuras and trained Rio to become a shaman. He wears a mask to cover his face as a result of severe burns courtesy of the Spirit of Fire. He is married to Keiko Asakura, a miko.
  • Kalim - A Patch tribe member and one of Silva's friends who is an organizer for the Shaman Fight. He qualified Horohoro to be a part of the Shaman Fight.
  • Goldva - A Patch tribe member who is the organizer of the Shaman Fight.
  • Lip and Rap - Two little girls who accompany Goldva. They are only seen in the manga.

Spirits

  • Bason (馬 孫) - Bason is the ghost of an ancient Chinese warrior who serves Ren faithfully and obeys him without question.
  • Li Bailong (李白竜) / Lee Bailong (manga) / Lee Pai-Long (anime) - "The White Dragon"; he was a kung fu movie star who was murdered by the Tao clan to be Jun's Jiangshi bodyguard. He is a thinly-veiled reference to Bruce Lee, who died under suspicious circumstances.
  • Kororo / Corey - Kororo is a Koropokkur (known as Minutians in the English anime) and Horohoro's spirit ally. She has a crush on Manta Oyamada, even though he is human.
  • Tokagero (蜥蜴郎 Togakerō) / Tokageroh - A lizard spirit that was killed by Amidamaru. Tokagero always talks about being a nasty villian, but he is actually a big softie. His attacks and his "Giant Over Soul" form are reminiscent of the ancient river spirit Yamata no Orochi
  • Ponchi and Conchi - A tanuki with, in the original Japanese, large testicles, or in the English manga, a large stomach, and a fox or kitsune who are the familiars of Tamao Tamamura. Ponchi and Conchi are parodies of Ren and Stimpy. Ponchi's testicles are never seen in any versions of the anime. Conchi's name is sometimes spelled as "Konchi".
  • Eliza - Eliza was Faust VIII's wife, she worked as a nurse until she was murdered by robbers who broke into Faust's house. Her death led her husband to dig up her skeleton from her casket and go on the Shaman's path. But when Faust joined Yoh's group, Anna brought the spirit of Eliza to be reunited with her husand as his Guardian Ghost. Her "Giant Over Soul" form is a giant bat-winged version of herself called Mephisto-E.
  • Mosuke - A master swordsmith whose ability to create swords matched Amidamaru's ability to wield them. He and Amidamaru were best friends; their deaths resulted from Amidamaru's refusal to kill Mosuke when their lord ordered the samurai to. Mosuke later becomes Manta's guardian ghost, semi-trapped in Manta's laptop.
  • Morphine / Chloe - A pixie-like spirit who is Lyserg's spirit ally. She loves eating sweet-tasting things.
  • Mic Jaguar / Jaguar - A jaguar spirit who is Chocolove's spirit ally. He used to belong to Chocolove's mentor. The name is a takeoff of "Mick Jagger".
  • Fire Spirit: Hao's spirit guardian, formerly was the sacred symbol of the Patch Tribe until Hao took it for his own. The spirit's flames served as Hao's way of killing off shamans who failed him or those who refused to rally for his cause. The Spirit of Fire can increase its own power by eating other spirits.
  • Syamasu: Jeanne's god-class spirit. With Syamasu's power, Jeanne is able to open the Gate of Babylon in an attempt to seal away Hao.
  • Ernie L. Cake - Ernie is a dirty old ghost who haunts Yoh's toilet. The name sounds a little like "urinal cake". He is called Mr. Grimes in the English translation.

Terminology

  • Furyoku / Mana (English manga only) - "Furyoku" is a Japanese word that is used to refer to the amount of energy that a Shaman has. The English manga translates the term to "mana" while the English anime does not translate the word.
  • Manjien (万辞苑) / Mantannian Dictionary (English manga only) - The "Mantannian Dictionary" is a book that Manta frequently consults to find information on people, cultures, and other subjects. The book's Japanese name is formed from "Manta" and "Hyakkajiten" (百科事典), meaning encyclopedia. In the English anime, the book is either not given a name or it is called a "ghost story book" that Morty carries around.

Techniques

These are the different techniques (in order of power) used in the Shaman Fight :

  • Hyoi Gattai / Integration (English manga) / Unity (English anime): the simplest technique, it involves a mental link between the fighter and his spirit. Integration uses little or no mana a.k.a. furyoku.
  • Over Soul (manga, Japanese anime) / Spirit Control (English anime) : when a shaman uses his or her over soul, he places his spirit inside the shaman's shamanic focus, i.e. the weapon he is wielding. Depending on the shamanic focus used, this techniques' power can vary a lot.
  • Giant Over Soul (manga, Japanese anime) / Giant Spirit Control: the Giant Over soul is a sign of power in a shaman. The spirit is given a gigantic body with matching power. This technique can be learnt from the Book of Shamans written by the original Hao Asakura (Zeke Asakura).
  • Double Medium: A difficult but highly powerful technique, it involves invoking the spirit inside one weapon and concentrating one's strength inside another weapon. The weapons are then combined into one huge weapon capable of dealing very heavy damage.
  • Genma Choboku: A spell written by Hao to capture the two Shikigami spirits. Anna is quickly able to learn this technique after obtaining the 1080 beads. She indirectly injures Hao after sealing away his Shikigami.
  • The Great Spirit's powers / The King of Spirits' powers: The one who wields the power of the Great Spirit is capable of defeating any known Shaman. However, the will of the Great Spirit must not be forced or he will not grant one his full powers (which is how Yoh defeats Hao in the anime).

External links

English

Japanese

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