SHAMAN King
Genre: Adventure; supernatural
Studio: Xebec
Hello my friends.
Indeed, 2020 has been a very strange year. I still trying to come to terms with the events of the last twelve months; however… it is impossible, for I was unable to bring all the reviews that I wanted to do in this year. Don’t worry, I will come back to bring you more reviews in 2021.
Until. let’s take opportunity of the last two days of life of 2020.
Let’s see how much I can do.
And now, I want to start with another series that brought me a lot of fond memories, especially because every time I though about this anime, it remained me of one of the best times of my life – University life.
I mean…
And, of course, because there is going to be a remake in 2021.
But before I start, I must ask you the right questions:
Are you guys ok? Staying safe?
If the answer is yes, then I am happy. Now, let’s go with Shaman King.
PREMISE
Based on the manga written by Hiroyuki Takei, Shaman King tells the the story of Yoh Asakura, a very laid-back shaman, or medium that becomes a «bridge» between the living and the dead, who lives a very simple life. The goal of Yoh, however, is to become the Shaman King, who is able to contact the Great Spirit, allow himself to acquire great power over the world, and especially the power of making his dream come true. Yoh has two very close companions that will help him to achieve his goal; Amidamaru, the spirit of a 600 years-old samurai, and Yoh’s fiancee, Anna Kyoyama, a very blunt young woman who puts Yoh through a very brutal regime.
Also, Yoh befriends a normal high school student, Manta Oyadama, who accompanies him to the Shaman Fight, a tournament held every 500 years between shamans for the title of Shamana King. However, during the fight, Yoh must face his «twin brother» called Hao, a really powerful shaman who has his own dark agenda.
There are other great characters, but I will talk about them later.
The manga of Shaman King was published by Shonen Jump, and was released between 1998 and 2004, for a total of 32 volumes (35 in the complete edition), while the first anime was broadcasted between July 2001 and September 2002.
Before I continue any further, the first anime fo Shaman King run through 64 episodes; and since it was released before the original manga was finished, there were some deviations from the story. I won’t go into detail, especially since I am reading the manga. For now, I will go…
STORY
At plain sight, Shaman King looks like your typical shonen story, in which a very simple, yet noble protagonist, attempts to live in peace and enjoy life, but he also sets a goal, to become a better version of himself, or herself for that matter, (sometimes without his/her knowledge) and face many challenges as new friendships are made and new powers are acquired… and of course, more characters are developed.
In other words, Shaman King solidified, inside me, what I indirectly learnt from Shonen genre. I don’t know if Inuyasha counts, for I see more Inuyasha like a mix of adventure, and romance, or a shonen with a big influence from shojo, but Shaman King helped me to understand that shonen genre has bigger, more powerful tropes than I thought, even before Naruto came out. And yes, anime like Dragon Ball Z, Ronin Warriors and Saint Seiya were the first shonen anime that I meet in my life, but by then, I thought that anime was just handsome boys, and girls, fighting great battles, and that’s it, regardless the weapon. All the same, despite Sailor Moon introduced me to magical girl genre, Pokemon to gacha, and Captain Tsubasa to sports anime.
My point is that I stopped being simple-minded regarding shonen anime with Shaman King. Furthermore, I learned that, for the most part, anime can help you to be creative and unique with what you do, especially if you pay attention to detail. And this is one of the things about the story. Shaman King constructs a pretty interesting concept and making it bigger, in this case, spirits. Pretty much like Bleach, Shaman King creates its own world by developing the concept it is based on, and establishes characters who unfolds according to the mythos of the world they live in, in terms of story and character’s evolution. In other words, it knows how to tell its own story without forgetting the other elements of the series.
The battles are really exciting, and despite the animation looks a but grainy and dated, it is visually wonderful. My issue with this is that, when we see the night scenes, sometimes the scene feels sloppy and lazy, because it doesn’t truly feel like night, more like a bad lightning.
I think, at least in the background, a lack of balance in colour background. Now pay attention to this still from Bleach.
I don’t know. That is how I feel. You can disagree with me. It is a minor detail anyway.
Finally, if you have read all the manga from Shaman King, and see the first anime, you might not like it, because, like I said, the manga was ongoing by the time the anime was released. Unless you think that it is the case from 2003’s Full Metal Alchemist, in which they closed the story in a decent way, you will find that the anime from Shaman King is pretty unsatisfying.
Does it make the story bad? Of course not. I don’t feel it that way.
I guess that, what I am trying to say, is that take a look to the anime of Shaman King and make your mind.
CHARACTERS
Now… What can I say about the characters?
I love them all!
If there is anything that you will remember Shaman King for… is its character roster. Seriously, personally, I remember them with more detail and fond memories than anything that Naruto has ever created. Aside from Yoh, Anna, Manta and Amidamaru; we have really colourful characters that are as relatable as the main protagonists, including the street-smart Ryo; the ice shaman, Horohoro; the enigmatic, yet sympathetic Faust VIII; the young Lyserg, and of course… one of my favourite characters:
Honestly. Len Tao nails it at being the rival of our protagonist, and, for a while, an antagonist. Every time I saw him, I thought I would wet my pants. I found Len Tao frightening, and a really worthy foil of Yoh; and sometimes I thought Len Tao would be this close to kill our protagonist. So… when I watched subsequent episodes, I was surprised of what kind of story arc and role was reserved for him, which made me love Len Tao even more.
One last detail… I think… Len Tao is much interesting and catchy than… than… Sasuke.
Finally, we got… Hao Asakura… as a great antagonist.
Again. Shaman King is as great as its characters.
CONCLUSION
For me, it is no wonder why Shaman King is so good. It has great characters; great story, if not perfect; good story arcs; memorable moments; exciting battles. In other words, a really worthy shonen anime.
I think the best we can do is re-watch the 2001 series, and then the remake. I have my faith, because Shaman King, to this day, is a series that I remember with love.
Now, if you excuse me… I need to write my testament. Because I will be killed. By who, you ask? Simple…
The lesson is… Never… Ever… disrespect Sasuke… Sakura’s ears hear… everything.
Jainituos Presents 