.gif)
Enchanter (manga)
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese manga
series written and illustrated by Izumi Kawachi. The manga was serialized in October 2002 in Square Enix
's magazine Monthly Gangan Wing. The manga is licensed in North America by Digital Manga Publishing
. The manga was adapted into 2 drama CDs.
The protagonist, Haruhiko Kanou, is a regular high school student with the gift of fixing and building mechanical and electrical appliances. His motivation comes from his secret love towards his next door neighbor and childhood friend, Yuka Fujikawa, who is a few years older and now teaches at Haruhiko's high school.
An enchanter, Fulcanelli, and his beloved contract demon Eukanaria roams the secretive world of magic and sorcery with Fulcanelli being the top. Fulcanelli, however, died a little before the start of the story, and Eukanaria wanted to revive him with the stone that contains his soul. But Fulcanelli had no wish to be revived, but didn't want to hurt Eukanaria and kept silent.
Eukanaria found the perfect body for Fulcanelli, which is the protagonist Haruhiko. To Haruhiko's surprise, Eukanaria looks exactly like Yuka, and he himself looks exactly like Fulcanelli. Eukanaria tried to seduce him into giving her his soul so she can place Fulcanelli's soul into Haruhiko's body using four different procedures. Haruhiko either has to sign a contract, die, have sex (there is a moment when the soul becomes unstable) or when he loses the will to live.
A teacher at Haruhiko's school and his childhood friend, she is 6 years older than he is and is a gentle person, placing the students welfare above her own. She is constantly the target of demon attacks, since she is the perfect type of target for them. She looks like Eukanaria and her MD player
held a demon warding stone placed by Fulcanelli, hinting at some kind of connection between them. She has a demon as a pet called Neraga to watch over her, ironically it was the first demon to attack her searching for Fulcanelli's power.
Demon who looks like Yuka (even down to her measurements) who loved Fulcanelli. She wishes to use Haruhiko's body for his soul and is willing to even sleep with him if it means getting his body. She constantly tries to seduce Haruhiko by acting like Yuka, but has shown some concern for Haruhiko. Unlike most demons she is use to the human world. She's given so much of her power up she is more human than demon. She seems to have been vicious in the past (as stated by many other characters) but Fulcanelli changed her. She hates how she was in the past and states that if Fulcanelli can't be resurrected she would lose all reason for living.
Powerful enchanter turned demon, he was admired by demons and enchanters for his power. His soul is inside a demonstone and hasn't manifest itself since he gave Haruhiko his extra power. Lover of Eukanaria and brother of Paracelsus.
An enchanter whose true body is a skeleton (He can transform into the form a young man) he is a physician and a pervert. He constantly gives Haruhiko advise and help. He seems to like Eukanaria and usually tries to touch her resulting in a hit. He also tries to help Haruhiko with Yuka and even suggests that he hurry up and sleep with her as a way to prevent her from being targeted by demons. He's actually a strong fighter and not even Fulcanelli was able to beat him. He has an assistant named Ai. He was modelled after real world alchemist and physician Paracelsus
.
A demon child who works under Paracelsus, she is good at making clothing and is combat capable. She never talks but tends to appear out of nowhere.
A blue-haired demon who knows about Eukanaria. She knows about her past and has even suggested that Haruhiko kill her to get out of giving up his body. She has an enchanter named Adolf, whom she's in love with. She doesn't know much about the Human world because she is hasn't interacted with them much and wouldn't understand thing like why Haruhiko wouldn't sleep with Eukanaria even though they share a bed, since she and Adolf do. She originally wanted to return to her own world even if it meant stealing Fulcanelli's power from Haruhiko, but has decided to stay with Adolf. She has a dislike of Eukanaria, due to the fact she was once in love with Fulcanelli.
An enchanter who serves under Ranvoa, he is flustered by women like Eukanaria but loves Ranvoa. He loves her to the extent that he drained Eukanaria's power and attempted to steal from Haruhiko, claiming that it didn't matter as long as she's happy. He's not very confident but he is actually a good enchanter. He and Haruhiko get along rather well and he's very passive and doesn't like harming others.
A classmate of Haruhiko, she has a crush
on him. She is good at fixing bikes, since her family runs a bicycle shop. She takes care of a crow she hits with her bike, which later turns out to be a demon named Navy. After being chased by Navy and defended by Haruhiko, she becomes an enchanter.
A demon who can change into a crow, he became Mana's demon contractor. He wants her to build him a method to fly since he has lost the power to do so himself. He wields an axe and chain in battle. He is somewhat of a masochist as he loves it when Mana scolds and hits him and has expressed desires to be "more" with her. He was defeated in battle by Haruhiko and sealed in a device that Mana has in case he gets troublesome, she can seal him back up.
At first she appears to be a clumsy, but cute engraver working for Yamamoto. However in truth two personalities exist inside the body. The cute and kind side being a demon and the ruthless side and original owner of the body an enchanter. The demon side is in love with Haruhiko, while the enchanter is trying to kill him to prevent him from repairing the unit holding the demon side inside her body.
in North America before the official release date, and found out that a lot of fans obtained copies of the Japanese version to read and for her to sign. She is surprised that in contrary to its popularity among males in Japan, the North American fan community consists of a larger portion of females. The favourite character is different than in Japan as well; Paracelsus (a.k.a. the skeleton man in Enchanter, modeled after the real world alchemist
, Paracelsus
) is the most popular character in North America, but in Japan, the most popular character is Haruhiko. She is also a little confused that the humour in the plot is seen differently by Americans.
Izumi Kawachi comments that she often has young boys being belittled as "useless" and "no good" due to her desire to be treated in such a way by a domineering, cute, older woman." She states Takeshi Obata
, the artist of Death Note
and Hikaru no Go
, as "one of the artists that influenced" her. Kawachi states Haruhiko Kato as the model for Fulcanelli and Haruhiko. "A music video where the singer played two very different characters, with different personalities, and that gave me the idea for the dualities of Eukanaria and Yuka, and Fulcanelli and Haruhiko in Enchanter."
released the first tankōbon
of the manga on January 27, 2003. , 19 tankōbon volumes have been released in Japan with the 19th volume released on March 27, 2009. The manga is licensed in North America by Digital Manga Publishing
. Digital Manga Publishing released the first tankōbon volume on July 1, 2006. , 10 tankōbon volumes have been released in North America with the 10th volume released on February 25, 2009.
. The first CD, named Kikou Majutsushi - Enchanter Part.1, was released on November 26, 2004, covering the first eleven chapters of the manga. The second CD, named Kikou Majutsushi - Enchanter Part.2, was released on January 28, 2005, coving chapters twelve to seventeen of the manga. Both CDs had Masumi Asano
, Yumi Toma
, Koji Tsujitani
, Shuichi Ikeda
, Ryotaro Okiayu
, Yumi Kakazu
, Takehito Koyasu
and Kyoko Hikami
as voice actors
for the characters.
's Lori Henderson criticizes the manga for having "fan service
on nearly every page". However, she commends Digital Manga Publishing
's presentation of the book with the book "printed in the oversize format, and it comes with a glossy dust sleeve, just like the Japanese editions do." Mania.com's Matthew Alexander commends the manga's artwork saying, "the characters proportions are well drawn and facial expressions are quite varied and descriptive. Not surprisingly the backgrounds are fairly sparse and a little stale when present, but monster design is fairly interesting and the girls are definitely cute, especially when the sexy nighties come out. Line work is clean and the shading is pretty good." Active Anime's Holly Ellingwood commends the manga as "one of the most energetic and comedic manga series I've come across."
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Izumi Kawachi. The manga was serialized in October 2002 in Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
's magazine Monthly Gangan Wing. The manga is licensed in North America by Digital Manga Publishing
Digital Manga Publishing
Digital Manga is a company that licenses and releases, in English, Japanese anime, manga, and related merchandise. The company has several subdivisions: Digital Manga Publishing, which publishes Japanese manga, novels and instructional and illustration books in North America with multiple imprints,...
. The manga was adapted into 2 drama CDs.
Plot
The story revolves around "Enchanters" or Kikō majutsushi ("machinist-magicians"), people who can build enchanted items with the power gained from their contracted demon. The enchanted items can then carry special effects like "hardened", "water resistance", or effects like "evil repelling".The protagonist, Haruhiko Kanou, is a regular high school student with the gift of fixing and building mechanical and electrical appliances. His motivation comes from his secret love towards his next door neighbor and childhood friend, Yuka Fujikawa, who is a few years older and now teaches at Haruhiko's high school.
An enchanter, Fulcanelli, and his beloved contract demon Eukanaria roams the secretive world of magic and sorcery with Fulcanelli being the top. Fulcanelli, however, died a little before the start of the story, and Eukanaria wanted to revive him with the stone that contains his soul. But Fulcanelli had no wish to be revived, but didn't want to hurt Eukanaria and kept silent.
Eukanaria found the perfect body for Fulcanelli, which is the protagonist Haruhiko. To Haruhiko's surprise, Eukanaria looks exactly like Yuka, and he himself looks exactly like Fulcanelli. Eukanaria tried to seduce him into giving her his soul so she can place Fulcanelli's soul into Haruhiko's body using four different procedures. Haruhiko either has to sign a contract, die, have sex (there is a moment when the soul becomes unstable) or when he loses the will to live.
Characters
A 17 year old student, Haruhiko is compatible with Fulcanelli's soul and because of this he is constantly pressured into giving up his body to Eukanaria. He's actually very good with mechanical things and may become a great enchanter. His main love interest is Yuka Fujikawa, his homeroom teacher and childhood friend. He became good with machines because he wanted to help her since she isn't good with them. He constantly has fantasies about her. A running gag is that he is constantly called impotent or spineless for his lack of progress with her and when his collection of adult magazines is found by others. He's been training to fight under Yamamoto.A teacher at Haruhiko's school and his childhood friend, she is 6 years older than he is and is a gentle person, placing the students welfare above her own. She is constantly the target of demon attacks, since she is the perfect type of target for them. She looks like Eukanaria and her MD player
MiniDisc
The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record...
held a demon warding stone placed by Fulcanelli, hinting at some kind of connection between them. She has a demon as a pet called Neraga to watch over her, ironically it was the first demon to attack her searching for Fulcanelli's power.
Demon who looks like Yuka (even down to her measurements) who loved Fulcanelli. She wishes to use Haruhiko's body for his soul and is willing to even sleep with him if it means getting his body. She constantly tries to seduce Haruhiko by acting like Yuka, but has shown some concern for Haruhiko. Unlike most demons she is use to the human world. She's given so much of her power up she is more human than demon. She seems to have been vicious in the past (as stated by many other characters) but Fulcanelli changed her. She hates how she was in the past and states that if Fulcanelli can't be resurrected she would lose all reason for living.
Powerful enchanter turned demon, he was admired by demons and enchanters for his power. His soul is inside a demonstone and hasn't manifest itself since he gave Haruhiko his extra power. Lover of Eukanaria and brother of Paracelsus.
An enchanter whose true body is a skeleton (He can transform into the form a young man) he is a physician and a pervert. He constantly gives Haruhiko advise and help. He seems to like Eukanaria and usually tries to touch her resulting in a hit. He also tries to help Haruhiko with Yuka and even suggests that he hurry up and sleep with her as a way to prevent her from being targeted by demons. He's actually a strong fighter and not even Fulcanelli was able to beat him. He has an assistant named Ai. He was modelled after real world alchemist and physician Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
.
A demon child who works under Paracelsus, she is good at making clothing and is combat capable. She never talks but tends to appear out of nowhere.
A blue-haired demon who knows about Eukanaria. She knows about her past and has even suggested that Haruhiko kill her to get out of giving up his body. She has an enchanter named Adolf, whom she's in love with. She doesn't know much about the Human world because she is hasn't interacted with them much and wouldn't understand thing like why Haruhiko wouldn't sleep with Eukanaria even though they share a bed, since she and Adolf do. She originally wanted to return to her own world even if it meant stealing Fulcanelli's power from Haruhiko, but has decided to stay with Adolf. She has a dislike of Eukanaria, due to the fact she was once in love with Fulcanelli.
An enchanter who serves under Ranvoa, he is flustered by women like Eukanaria but loves Ranvoa. He loves her to the extent that he drained Eukanaria's power and attempted to steal from Haruhiko, claiming that it didn't matter as long as she's happy. He's not very confident but he is actually a good enchanter. He and Haruhiko get along rather well and he's very passive and doesn't like harming others.
A classmate of Haruhiko, she has a crush
Puppy love
Puppy love is an informal term for feelings of love or infatuation felt by young people during childhood and adolescence, so-called for its resemblance to the adoring, worshipful affection that may be felt by a puppy. 'Simple infatuation is often called a "crush" or "puppy love"...
on him. She is good at fixing bikes, since her family runs a bicycle shop. She takes care of a crow she hits with her bike, which later turns out to be a demon named Navy. After being chased by Navy and defended by Haruhiko, she becomes an enchanter.
A demon who can change into a crow, he became Mana's demon contractor. He wants her to build him a method to fly since he has lost the power to do so himself. He wields an axe and chain in battle. He is somewhat of a masochist as he loves it when Mana scolds and hits him and has expressed desires to be "more" with her. He was defeated in battle by Haruhiko and sealed in a device that Mana has in case he gets troublesome, she can seal him back up.
At first she appears to be a clumsy, but cute engraver working for Yamamoto. However in truth two personalities exist inside the body. The cute and kind side being a demon and the ruthless side and original owner of the body an enchanter. The demon side is in love with Haruhiko, while the enchanter is trying to kill him to prevent him from repairing the unit holding the demon side inside her body.
Production
Enchanter received some attention before the official release in North America, the author was invited to an Anime ExpoAnime Expo
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation . With rare exceptions, the convention is traditionally held on the July 4th weekend and lasts for four days...
in North America before the official release date, and found out that a lot of fans obtained copies of the Japanese version to read and for her to sign. She is surprised that in contrary to its popularity among males in Japan, the North American fan community consists of a larger portion of females. The favourite character is different than in Japan as well; Paracelsus (a.k.a. the skeleton man in Enchanter, modeled after the real world alchemist
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
, Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
) is the most popular character in North America, but in Japan, the most popular character is Haruhiko. She is also a little confused that the humour in the plot is seen differently by Americans.
Izumi Kawachi comments that she often has young boys being belittled as "useless" and "no good" due to her desire to be treated in such a way by a domineering, cute, older woman." She states Takeshi Obata
Takeshi Obata
is a Japanese manga artist. He works as the artist in collaboration with a writer. He has also mentored several manga artists, including Kentaro Yabuki of Black Cat fame, Nobuhiro Watsuki of Rurouni Kenshin and Busou Renkin, and Yusuke Murata of Eyeshield 21.He originally became noticed in 1985...
, the artist of Death Note
Death Note
is a manga created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped on Earth by a god of death, or a shinigami, named Ryuk...
and Hikaru no Go
Hikaru no Go
is a manga series, a coming of age story based on the board game Go written by Yumi Hotta and illustrated by Takeshi Obata with an anime adaptation. The production of the series' Go games was supervised by Go professional Yukari Umezawa...
, as "one of the artists that influenced" her. Kawachi states Haruhiko Kato as the model for Fulcanelli and Haruhiko. "A music video where the singer played two very different characters, with different personalities, and that gave me the idea for the dualities of Eukanaria and Yuka, and Fulcanelli and Haruhiko in Enchanter."
Manga
Enchanter is written and illustrated by Izumi Kawachi. Square EnixSquare Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
released the first tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
of the manga on January 27, 2003. , 19 tankōbon volumes have been released in Japan with the 19th volume released on March 27, 2009. The manga is licensed in North America by Digital Manga Publishing
Digital Manga Publishing
Digital Manga is a company that licenses and releases, in English, Japanese anime, manga, and related merchandise. The company has several subdivisions: Digital Manga Publishing, which publishes Japanese manga, novels and instructional and illustration books in North America with multiple imprints,...
. Digital Manga Publishing released the first tankōbon volume on July 1, 2006. , 10 tankōbon volumes have been released in North America with the 10th volume released on February 25, 2009.
Drama CDs
The manga was adapted into two drama CDsRadio drama in Japan
Radio drama in Japan has a history as long as that of radio broadcasting in that country, which began in 1925. Some consider the first Japanese radio drama to have been "" which was a radio broadcast of a stage play. Others consider the Japanese translation of Richard Hughes's "Danger" or to be...
. The first CD, named Kikou Majutsushi - Enchanter Part.1, was released on November 26, 2004, covering the first eleven chapters of the manga. The second CD, named Kikou Majutsushi - Enchanter Part.2, was released on January 28, 2005, coving chapters twelve to seventeen of the manga. Both CDs had Masumi Asano
Masumi Asano
is a Japanese voice actress from Noshiro, Akita who works for Aoni Production. She is also known by her nickname, Masumin.- Notable voice roles :Anime* Saga in A Little Snow Fairy Sugar...
, Yumi Toma
Yumi Toma
is a Japanese singer and voice actresss from Chiba. She has been part of the singing group Goddess Family Club. Tōma also works for Aoni Production. Because of her mature voice, she often plays strong, beautiful women....
, Koji Tsujitani
Koji Tsujitani
is a Japanese voice actor credited for voicing many anime and video game characters. Tsujitani is formerly affiliated with Sigma Seven.-Notable voice work:*3x3 eyes *Blood+ *Bola Kampung *Bondage Queen Kate...
, Shuichi Ikeda
Shuichi Ikeda
is a veteran seiyū born on December 2, 1949 in Tokyo, Japan. Ikeda is married to Sakiko Tamagawa, although he was once married to Keiko Toda. He currently works for Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society...
, Ryotaro Okiayu
Ryotaro Okiayu
is a Japanese voice actor, who was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, and raised in Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. He has been active since 1989, and is currently affiliated with Aoni Production....
, Yumi Kakazu
Yumi Kakazu
is a female seiyū from Kamifukuoka, Saitama . She is currently affiliated with Genki Project...
, Takehito Koyasu
Takehito Koyasu
is a Japanese voice actor.-Career:Koyasu is part of the voice actor quartet Weiß consisting of Weiß Kreuz voice castmates Shinichiro Miki, Tomokazu Seki, and Yuuki Hiro...
and Kyoko Hikami
Kyoko Hikami
is a Japanese voice actress who was born in Kobe. She is part of the voice actress trio Furil which also consists of Wedding Peach voice castmates Yūko Miyamura and Yukana Nogami.-Notable voice roles:*Sudou in Atashinchi...
as voice actors
Seiyu
Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...
for the characters.
Reception
A reviewer for Pop Culture Shock commends the characterization for Eukanaria, saying, "[she] could have been depicted as a mere sexpot, is quite possibly the most complicated character in the series. True, she's frequently crass, but shows a surprisingly vulnerable side in volumes five through eight." Comics VillageComics Village
Comics Village is a UK based comics website launched in November 2007 and predominantly aimed at publicizing non-mainstream comics. Over time, it has extended its remit into other forms of pop culture, into providing a different take on the so-called mainstream than that provided by the...
's Lori Henderson criticizes the manga for having "fan service
Fan service
, fanservice, or , is a term originating from anime and manga fandom for material in a series which is intentionally added to please the audience. It is about "servicing" the fan - giving the fans "exactly what they want"...
on nearly every page". However, she commends Digital Manga Publishing
Digital Manga Publishing
Digital Manga is a company that licenses and releases, in English, Japanese anime, manga, and related merchandise. The company has several subdivisions: Digital Manga Publishing, which publishes Japanese manga, novels and instructional and illustration books in North America with multiple imprints,...
's presentation of the book with the book "printed in the oversize format, and it comes with a glossy dust sleeve, just like the Japanese editions do." Mania.com's Matthew Alexander commends the manga's artwork saying, "the characters proportions are well drawn and facial expressions are quite varied and descriptive. Not surprisingly the backgrounds are fairly sparse and a little stale when present, but monster design is fairly interesting and the girls are definitely cute, especially when the sexy nighties come out. Line work is clean and the shading is pretty good." Active Anime's Holly Ellingwood commends the manga as "one of the most energetic and comedic manga series I've come across."