Onmyou Taisenki
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese manga
series scripted by Yoshihiko Tomizawa and illustrated by Hiroyuki Kaidō
. It was adapted into an anime
series produced by Sunrise
.
and to the Taoist
theory of the five elements: , , , and . Various Taoist elements are incorporated within the story: the existence of the four , the use of cards that act as the , the use of trigrams to represent direction when the Drive is swung (north-south-east-west is represented as 坎-離-震-兌 instead of 北-南-東-西, respectively), the emphasis on the balance of the sekki (the 24 seasons), and the character Nazuna, who is a Taoist maiden. Also, the show itself can be split into four seasons (13 episodes each), each with its distinct story, purpose, and goals.
, a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. It has a total of 52 episodes, and was aired weekly in TV Tokyo
(from PM 6:00 to PM 6:30) from September 30, 2004 to September 29, 2005. It replaces the series Aqua Kids and then was replaced by series Kotencotenco
.
. Never having met his parents, he lives an ordinary life with his adoptive grandfather. His grandfather had taught him a series of strange hand movements, which Riku did not know the purpose of until the day his grandfather is attacked near his shrine. But it is not an ordinary attacker. The attacker is a , strange monsters with human owners. Riku comes to the scene and that's where he first gets in contact with his , the device he uses to call and make a with , his Shikigami and, from that day on, best friend. The Shikigami needs, for special attacks, a special series of , one of which happens to be the strange hand movements Riku's grandfather always taught him.
As Riku's grandfather decides to leave the house for a journey, the 10-year old boy and the 10-year old girl rent rooms in Riku's house. The 17-year old man, Masaomi, who teaches Riku the secrets of Onmyōdō (such as the use of Tōjinfu, for example), drops by eventually. The three of them have 'contracts' with Shikigami.
The main events of Onmyō Taisenki anime are related to the menace of the , a powerful Japanese financial group related to the Onmyoudou; attempting to open the four ; and freeing , a boy who was born with the power to control , and had been imprisoned for thousands of years.
Onmyō Taisenki shows monsters called Shikigami
. There are 24 families of Shikigami (three per family for a total of 72) to represent each Solar term
. These monsters are extremely powerful, and their are activated when their owners use certain sequences of In. Every Shikigami has its own In sequences and some have special weapons, which are also activated by the In. Every Shikigami has its own name and a class/family. For example, the name Byakko no Kogenta means Kogenta of the , one of the four Japanese great Gods; the other three are , , and family. Class names are usually named after gods and flowers.
The Shikigami can transform into a , which is a giant and extremely powerful form where they usually go berserk. Although Nazuna says that a true Daikōjin occurs when Mind-Technique-Body are together, Riku has been able to summon one when he is highly desperate and emotional (usually when Kogenta is about to be killed). Shikigami can also transform into Daikōjin form by forcing a Tōjin stone into a Shikigami, as Isou does to his Shikigami, Fuji, in Episode 20 (or by inserting a special chip made from the Tōjin stones into the drive). However, these methods only produce a confused and pained Daikōjin and causes the Drive to sprout coils that will eventually kill the Tōjinshi if the Daikōjin is not defeated. In addition, members of the obliterated sect Jin-ryū have been able to change their Shikigami into Daikōjin by using lengthy series of In.
Later in the series when Kogenta and Rangetsu were fighting together against Mikazuchi, both Riku and Yuuma gain the Master Drive and their partner Shikigami are able to transform into a , where the Shikigami still have their sanity but a different appearance. Later, Kibachiyo and his partner gain the Master Drive and could also transform into a Chōkōjin.
When a Drive is activated for the first time, the Shikigami will appear behind a shōji
and asks what the owner desires, and if it is to the Shikigami's liking, it will accept and a contract will be formed. Once the terms of the contract have been fulfilled, the Tōjinshi and Shikigami will part. However, when a contract is broken (Shikigami dies or Tōjinshi tries to break the contract), the Tōjinshi loses all the memories built since when he first contracted with the Shikigami and usually wanders around lost and depressed while the Shikigami is sent to . Similar events happen with Riku in Episode 23-24, as he rejects his contract with Kogenta and consequently does not remember people he only met after he formed the contract, but still remembers his childhood friend Momo.
magazine (2005). Each volume is nine chapters and three have been published: the first one (192 pages) published on October 10, 2004, the second one (200 pages) on August 4, 2005, and the third one (267 pages) on March 3, 2006. The manga has the collaboration of WiZ
and Bandai
. Each volume costs about 400 Yen (Price inside Japanese territory).
. Yakumo also trains the In, with a baseball ball. In this temple, a , and Monju's former teacher, Mahoroba, is imprisoned. The problems start when Mahoroba escapes, gains power, and transforms Monju into stone. Yakumo is called by a Zero Drive, which was one of the treasures of the temple. This Zero Drive handles Byakko no Kogenta. The story of the manga is about Yakumo's first steps with a Shikigami, training with Idzuna (Taihaku Temple's shrine maiden) and seeking Mahoroba through various Japanese historical dates. Famous Japanese historical characters such as Oda Nobunaga can be seen on the manga. The story is cited by Kogenta around episode 35 in the anime. However, not many details are given.
In the manga the names of the shikigamis are created by their Toujinshi at the time of the contract and in the anime the names of the shikigamis are always the same. For example, in the manga the name of the shikigami that once made a contract with Monju is revealed to be "Byakko no Akatsuki", and then it's revealed that is in fact the same shikigami as "Byakko no Kogenta", and the name Kogenta is the name that Yakumo gave him. In contrast the anime reveals that the name of Byakko no Kogenta has been always the same, as is revealed in the anime when the story of the contract between Byakko no Kogenta and Raihou is told.
Also, in the manga, there are no factions between the Toujinshi, and every Toujinshi is independent.
Even when in the anime almost every Toujinshi uses a Drive, in the manga almost every Toujinshi uses a Toujinki, with the exception of Yakumo who gets his Zero Drive from the Naraku in the middle of Volume 2 in order to save Kogenta because Yakumo's Toujinki is destroyed, and Tsukuyomi that summons his shikigami with Toujin-fu.
It also is revealed in the manga that the Drive is in fact a Toujinki prototype.
In the anime when the Toujinshi shikigami is defeated the Toujinshi loses his/her memories as Toujinshi and he/she can no longer be a Toujinshi. In the manga the only consequence of a Shikigami defeat is that the Toujinshi can no longer make a contract with that shikigami.
, and one for Game Boy Advance
.
The first PS2 game is called , and was released on March 31, 2005. The PlayStation 2 Eyetoy Camera is required to play this game.
The second PS2 game is called , and was released on June 26, 2005. It is a side-story with the same characters from the anime, where Kogenta and Riku train and become stronger through five , which are parallel worlds with lots of . The five Fukumaden featured in this game are Fire, Water, Tree, Earth and . The 'Gold' element from Onmyoudou is also featured in the game, but there is no Fukumaden for it.
The only game for GB Advance is called , and was released on December 12, 2004.
All the three games were released in Japan only.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese 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 scripted by Yoshihiko Tomizawa and illustrated by Hiroyuki Kaidō
Hiroyuki Kaido
Hiroyuki Kaidō 海童博行 is a manga artist and animation director.Her works include the artwork for the manga adaption of the video game Tales of Innocence, which is serialized in Jump SQ....
. It was adapted into an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series produced by Sunrise
Sunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
.
General information
Onmyō Taisenki literally means 'The Chronicles of the Great Yin-Yang War'. The series makes clear references to I ChingI Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
and to the Taoist
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
theory of the five elements: , , , and . Various Taoist elements are incorporated within the story: the existence of the four , the use of cards that act as the , the use of trigrams to represent direction when the Drive is swung (north-south-east-west is represented as 坎-離-震-兌 instead of 北-南-東-西, respectively), the emphasis on the balance of the sekki (the 24 seasons), and the character Nazuna, who is a Taoist maiden. Also, the show itself can be split into four seasons (13 episodes each), each with its distinct story, purpose, and goals.
Anime
The Onmyō Taisenki anime was produced by SunriseSunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
, a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. It has a total of 52 episodes, and was aired weekly in TV Tokyo
TV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
(from PM 6:00 to PM 6:30) from September 30, 2004 to September 29, 2005. It replaces the series Aqua Kids and then was replaced by series Kotencotenco
Kotencotenco
is a Japanese manga and anime series for young children by Atsuko Ueno. Kotencotenko replaces the previous anime series: Onmyou Taisenki on the TV Tokyo Thursdays 06:00pm – 06:30pm slot.-Story:Kotencotenco is a gag strip anime for especially younger children...
.
Storyline of Anime
is a 12-year old Japanese boy who lives near TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Never having met his parents, he lives an ordinary life with his adoptive grandfather. His grandfather had taught him a series of strange hand movements, which Riku did not know the purpose of until the day his grandfather is attacked near his shrine. But it is not an ordinary attacker. The attacker is a , strange monsters with human owners. Riku comes to the scene and that's where he first gets in contact with his , the device he uses to call and make a with , his Shikigami and, from that day on, best friend. The Shikigami needs, for special attacks, a special series of , one of which happens to be the strange hand movements Riku's grandfather always taught him.
As Riku's grandfather decides to leave the house for a journey, the 10-year old boy and the 10-year old girl rent rooms in Riku's house. The 17-year old man, Masaomi, who teaches Riku the secrets of Onmyōdō (such as the use of Tōjinfu, for example), drops by eventually. The three of them have 'contracts' with Shikigami.
The main events of Onmyō Taisenki anime are related to the menace of the , a powerful Japanese financial group related to the Onmyoudou; attempting to open the four ; and freeing , a boy who was born with the power to control , and had been imprisoned for thousands of years.
The Shikigami
For specific information, refer to the list of Shikigami.Onmyō Taisenki shows monsters called Shikigami
Shikigami
Shikigami are a kind of spirit, found in Japanese Mythology summoned to serve a practitioner of onmyōdō, much like a western familiar. Shikigami cannot be seen by most people, but according to the Heian period onmyōji who were said to control them, shikigami often looked something like a...
. There are 24 families of Shikigami (three per family for a total of 72) to represent each Solar term
Solar term
A solar term is any of 24 points in traditional East Asian lunisolar calendars that matches a particular astronomical event or signifies some natural phenomenon. The points are spaced 15° apart along the ecliptic and are used by lunisolar calendars to stay synchronized with the seasons. Solar terms...
. These monsters are extremely powerful, and their are activated when their owners use certain sequences of In. Every Shikigami has its own In sequences and some have special weapons, which are also activated by the In. Every Shikigami has its own name and a class/family. For example, the name Byakko no Kogenta means Kogenta of the , one of the four Japanese great Gods; the other three are , , and family. Class names are usually named after gods and flowers.
The Shikigami can transform into a , which is a giant and extremely powerful form where they usually go berserk. Although Nazuna says that a true Daikōjin occurs when Mind-Technique-Body are together, Riku has been able to summon one when he is highly desperate and emotional (usually when Kogenta is about to be killed). Shikigami can also transform into Daikōjin form by forcing a Tōjin stone into a Shikigami, as Isou does to his Shikigami, Fuji, in Episode 20 (or by inserting a special chip made from the Tōjin stones into the drive). However, these methods only produce a confused and pained Daikōjin and causes the Drive to sprout coils that will eventually kill the Tōjinshi if the Daikōjin is not defeated. In addition, members of the obliterated sect Jin-ryū have been able to change their Shikigami into Daikōjin by using lengthy series of In.
Later in the series when Kogenta and Rangetsu were fighting together against Mikazuchi, both Riku and Yuuma gain the Master Drive and their partner Shikigami are able to transform into a , where the Shikigami still have their sanity but a different appearance. Later, Kibachiyo and his partner gain the Master Drive and could also transform into a Chōkōjin.
When a Drive is activated for the first time, the Shikigami will appear behind a shōji
Shoji
In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo...
and asks what the owner desires, and if it is to the Shikigami's liking, it will accept and a contract will be formed. Once the terms of the contract have been fulfilled, the Tōjinshi and Shikigami will part. However, when a contract is broken (Shikigami dies or Tōjinshi tries to break the contract), the Tōjinshi loses all the memories built since when he first contracted with the Shikigami and usually wanders around lost and depressed while the Shikigami is sent to . Similar events happen with Riku in Episode 23-24, as he rejects his contract with Kogenta and consequently does not remember people he only met after he formed the contract, but still remembers his childhood friend Momo.
Episode List
(52 total)Ten-ryū
- The main character of the show, Riku was originally born in the Heian Era of JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as Youmei. His mother sent him into the future, where he was taken up by Sōtarō Tachibana, to avoid dying in the Chi-Ryū raid on the Ten-Ryuu shrine. At the start of the series, he is shy and easily scared. But when he receives the Ten-Ryū Tōjin drive containing Kogenta, Kogenta helps him to become a lot braver and stronger. He has no memory of his time in the Heian era until he goes to Naraku to reunite with Kogenta after losing him by Yūma and Rangetsu. In Naraku, he sees his memory play in front of him, and learns of his past life. He is the head of the Ten-Ryū.
- The shikigami of Riku Tachibana. Kogenta is a member of the Byakko (White Tiger) family of shikigami (leading many to the conclusion that Riku is Ten-Ryū's Head). He is typically cocky, arrogant, and quick to anger. At first he cannot believe that he's "Stuck with someone as dimwitted" as Riku, but eventually comes to terms with this and tries to improve Riku's character. He is the first Shikigami to become a Daikōjin, but he considers it an unfair advantage because, in his words, "I can't remember how I beat them and by the time I come to, the fight's already over." Later, Kogenta and Riku learned that Kogenta was the one who killed Riku's parents, but Kogenta couldn't remember as he became a Daikoujin the moment his contract was formed. However, Riku forgives Kogenta. In the finale, Kogenta willingly lets Riku terminate their contract, but in reality the contract still lingers, as Kogenta's spirit is seen over the shrine
- The first real member of the Ten-Ryū that Riku and Kogenta meet. Teru is broke, and nearly always in debt to someplace (A Hot Spring Hotel, a Beach Bar, and others). He is always happy to receive free food (on account of him being unable to buy his own), and always travels as "Training" as he calls it, normally leaving as soon as someone tells him the rent for wherever he is staying. He even develops a crush on Nazuna, who shows him the literal meaning of "crush". He consides Souma a rival (as both love Nazuna), and only enters the Fukumaden as leader of the Yōkai Extermination Squad formed by Chi-Ryū.
Seiyū (Voice actors)
| Voice Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Byakko no Kogenta's Daikoujin | |
| Demon sounds | |
| [#4] | |
| [Principal of Riku's class] | |
| [#7] | |
| Souma Asuka | |
| [Momo's friend] | |
| Gasshin [Masaomi as a boy] | |
| [Momo's friend] | |
| [Rina's demon-cat pet] | |
| [#7] | |
| [#31] | |
| [Riku's classmate] | |
| Ten-ryū Tōjinshi [#2] | |
| [#6] | |
| [Riku's mother] | |
| 秘書}} [Mikazuchi's personal secretary] | |
| [Riku's teacher] | |
| Narrator | |
| Souma's Mother | |
| [Riku's father] |
Manga
The Onmyou Taisenki manga is published by Jump Comics and runs monthly in V-JumpV-Jump
is a Japanese magazine about new manga and video games based on popular manga. The magazine's first debut was in 1993 by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines.- History :...
magazine (2005). Each volume is nine chapters and three have been published: the first one (192 pages) published on October 10, 2004, the second one (200 pages) on August 4, 2005, and the third one (267 pages) on March 3, 2006. The manga has the collaboration of WiZ
Wiz
- People :*W.I.Z., director of music videos*Wiz or Darren Brown , British musician*Wiz Kudowor , Ghanaian contemporary artist*DJ Disco Wiz , Latino Hip-Hop DJ...
and Bandai
Bandai
is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...
. Each volume costs about 400 Yen (Price inside Japanese territory).
Storyline of Manga
The Onmyou Taisenki manga does not tell the same history as the anime. The story happens years before the events in the anime. The main character, Yakumo (who also appears on the anime, as a teenager) is the son of Monju, the chief priest of the Taihaku Temple, in KyotoKyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
. Yakumo also trains the In, with a baseball ball. In this temple, a , and Monju's former teacher, Mahoroba, is imprisoned. The problems start when Mahoroba escapes, gains power, and transforms Monju into stone. Yakumo is called by a Zero Drive, which was one of the treasures of the temple. This Zero Drive handles Byakko no Kogenta. The story of the manga is about Yakumo's first steps with a Shikigami, training with Idzuna (Taihaku Temple's shrine maiden) and seeking Mahoroba through various Japanese historical dates. Famous Japanese historical characters such as Oda Nobunaga can be seen on the manga. The story is cited by Kogenta around episode 35 in the anime. However, not many details are given.
Factual differences with the anime
Even when the story of the Manga and Anime appears to be in the same universe there are some factual differences in the world of the anime and manga.In the manga the names of the shikigamis are created by their Toujinshi at the time of the contract and in the anime the names of the shikigamis are always the same. For example, in the manga the name of the shikigami that once made a contract with Monju is revealed to be "Byakko no Akatsuki", and then it's revealed that is in fact the same shikigami as "Byakko no Kogenta", and the name Kogenta is the name that Yakumo gave him. In contrast the anime reveals that the name of Byakko no Kogenta has been always the same, as is revealed in the anime when the story of the contract between Byakko no Kogenta and Raihou is told.
Also, in the manga, there are no factions between the Toujinshi, and every Toujinshi is independent.
Even when in the anime almost every Toujinshi uses a Drive, in the manga almost every Toujinshi uses a Toujinki, with the exception of Yakumo who gets his Zero Drive from the Naraku in the middle of Volume 2 in order to save Kogenta because Yakumo's Toujinki is destroyed, and Tsukuyomi that summons his shikigami with Toujin-fu.
It also is revealed in the manga that the Drive is in fact a Toujinki prototype.
In the anime when the Toujinshi shikigami is defeated the Toujinshi loses his/her memories as Toujinshi and he/she can no longer be a Toujinshi. In the manga the only consequence of a Shikigami defeat is that the Toujinshi can no longer make a contract with that shikigami.
Video games
There are three Onmyou Taisenki games, being two for PlayStation 2PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, and one for Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
.
The first PS2 game is called , and was released on March 31, 2005. The PlayStation 2 Eyetoy Camera is required to play this game.
The second PS2 game is called , and was released on June 26, 2005. It is a side-story with the same characters from the anime, where Kogenta and Riku train and become stronger through five , which are parallel worlds with lots of . The five Fukumaden featured in this game are Fire, Water, Tree, Earth and . The 'Gold' element from Onmyoudou is also featured in the game, but there is no Fukumaden for it.
The only game for GB Advance is called , and was released on December 12, 2004.
All the three games were released in Japan only.