Kajika
Encyclopedia
is a shōnen
manga
series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama
, the author of Dragon Ball
.
It was originally serialized in Japan by Shueisha
in its Weekly Shōnen Jump
from its 32nd to its 44th issue in 1998. All 12 chapters were collected into a single tankōbon
, released on January 8, 1999. Although it has not licensed for an official English language
release, it has been translated and published several European territories.
As a child, Kajika was very evil. His greatest known evil was chasing after a defenseless fox and smashing it with a giant rock and eating it while it was still alive. Upon being killed, the spirit of the fox's mother cursed Kajika and Kajika was turned into a fox-man (instead of a fox). Kajika was then kicked out of his village because the village hates foxes and the only way to break the curse was to save the lives of 1,000 life forms. The spirit of the dead fox, named Gigi, decided to accompany Kajika on his journey and upon saving 1,000 life forms, Kajika will go back to being a boy and Gigi will once again get its body back. After five years of saving life forms, the team only has ten more lives to save. Kajika is an extremely strong boy, but it is also revealed that being turned into a fox-man is holding down his true powers.
As the three go to Ronron island we are told why Gibachi wants the egg so badly. There is an old saying that says if you drink the blood of a baby Dragon then you will gain incredible powers. No one is sure if this is true, but the baby dragon does have Dragomin in its blood which allows it to mature extremely fast. As the three set off, though, Haya makes up an excuse as to why she can not continue, but it is really because she fears Gibachi. So, now it is up to Kajika and Giri to return the egg, but it won't be so easy now that they are being hunted down by the world famous assassin known as Isaza.
columnist Patricia Duffield stated that Kajika was regularly stocked in Japanese bookstores within the United States. She described Kajika as a highly entertaining adventure story due to Toyiyama's easy-to-follow writing and comic style and for possessing "the art of a master of action".
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga
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 Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and game artist known mostly for his creation of Dragon Ball in 1984. Toriyama admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembers for the great art...
, the author of Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
.
It was originally serialized in Japan by Shueisha
Shueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
in its Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
from its 32nd to its 44th issue in 1998. All 12 chapters were collected into a single 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...
, released on January 8, 1999. Although it has not licensed for an official English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
release, it has been translated and published several European territories.
Plot
Kajika is the story of titular protagonist and his quest to return to being a normal boy. As a Fox-man Kajika is extremely strong and has special powers. One day he runs across a girl and saves her from a gang of good guys turned bad. After defeating the good guys turned bad, Kajika then uses a special power to remove all of their evil. Kajika learns that the girl he saved is named Haya and is told that the good guys turned bad were after her because of the Dragon Egg she possesses. The Dragon egg is extremely rare and was stolen by the gang leader Gibachi from Ronron Island. Haya then went to Sumakia and stole it from Gibachi. She then went on a quest to return the egg. Haya tries to kill Gibachi and recover the egg. Upon being saved, Haya asks Kajika to help her on her quest.As a child, Kajika was very evil. His greatest known evil was chasing after a defenseless fox and smashing it with a giant rock and eating it while it was still alive. Upon being killed, the spirit of the fox's mother cursed Kajika and Kajika was turned into a fox-man (instead of a fox). Kajika was then kicked out of his village because the village hates foxes and the only way to break the curse was to save the lives of 1,000 life forms. The spirit of the dead fox, named Gigi, decided to accompany Kajika on his journey and upon saving 1,000 life forms, Kajika will go back to being a boy and Gigi will once again get its body back. After five years of saving life forms, the team only has ten more lives to save. Kajika is an extremely strong boy, but it is also revealed that being turned into a fox-man is holding down his true powers.
As the three go to Ronron island we are told why Gibachi wants the egg so badly. There is an old saying that says if you drink the blood of a baby Dragon then you will gain incredible powers. No one is sure if this is true, but the baby dragon does have Dragomin in its blood which allows it to mature extremely fast. As the three set off, though, Haya makes up an excuse as to why she can not continue, but it is really because she fears Gibachi. So, now it is up to Kajika and Giri to return the egg, but it won't be so easy now that they are being hunted down by the world famous assassin known as Isaza.
Reception
Animerica ExtraAnimerica Extra
Animerica Extra is a monthly shōjo manga magazine that was published in North America by Viz Media from 1998 until 2004. Established as a complement to its monthly review magazine Animerica, Animerica Extra was the first manga anthology to be published by Viz.The titles published in Animerica Extra...
columnist Patricia Duffield stated that Kajika was regularly stocked in Japanese bookstores within the United States. She described Kajika as a highly entertaining adventure story due to Toyiyama's easy-to-follow writing and comic style and for possessing "the art of a master of action".