| Majinden | |
 Cover of the first manga volume | |
| 魔神伝 | |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Shin'ichi Kuruma |
| Published by | Tokuma Shoten |
| Magazine | Monthly Shōnen Captain |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | May 18, 1986 – August 18, 1989 |
| Volumes | 4 |
| Original video animation | |
| Battle Royal High School | |
| Directed by | Ichirō Itano |
| Produced by | Makoto Sakamoto Kenji Miyashita |
| Written by | Ichirō Itano |
| Music by | Shirō Sagisu |
| Studio | DAST |
| Licensed by | |
| Released | December 10, 1987 |
| Runtime | 60 minutes |
 Anime and manga portal | |
Majinden (Japanese: 魔神伝, lit. "Legend of the Demons") is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Shin'ichi Kuruma. It was serialized in the Tokuma Shoten magazine Monthly Shōnen Captain infrequently between the May 1986 and August 1989 issues. Originally released in four tankōbon (bound volumes), Majinden was later re-released in two larger volumes on December 20, 2008.
The manga was adapted into a single-episode anime titled Battle Royal High School (バトルロイヤルハイスクール, Batoru Roiyaru Haisukūru) released direct-to-video on December 10, 1987. It was directed by Ichirō Itano, and features character designs by Nobuteru Yūki and a musical score by Shirō Sagisu. The anime is considerably condensed when compared to its manga source material, making many characters seem out of place. The OVA was localized in English and released in North America by AnimEigo on VHS July 31, 1996 and on DVD September 23, 2003. The anime has been out-of-print in the region since 2011.
Plot
Riki Hyōdo is a high school karate prodigy who enjoys fighting challenges. At the same time, unbeknownst to him, he is the prophesied vessel of Lord Byōdo, demon king of the Dark Realm, who learns his dark energy is empowering Hyōdo through a dimensional gate to produce a legendary warrior. Wanting to investigate this, Byōdo travels to Earth and supernaturally freezes the school to challenge Hyōdo. The boy defeats the demon's spirits, but is easily submitted himself by Byōdo, who reveals they are both the same being and, suspecting the prophecy to be a trap, fuses them together in Hyōdo's body to absorb his power. Hyōdo believes the whole ordeal to be just a dream.
Shortly after, Space-Time Continuum Inspector Zankan arrives to Earth after detecting demonic activity, and he witnesses a young man with spiritual powers, Toshimitsu Yūki, fighting and destroying man-possessing monsters. Next day, Yūki ambushes Hyōdo, feeling the dark energy inside him and wrongly believing him to be the master of the demons, and it takes Byōdo's power to stop him. Byōdo has deduced the culprit is his own demon lieutenant, Fairy Master Kain, who has secretly betrayed him, and proposes Yūki to team up in order to defeat her and her servants. Meanwhile, Kain deceives Megumi Koyama, a girl with an unrequited love for Hyōdo, and uses her emotions to create a demon and attack Hyōdo's close friend Ryōko Takayanagi. Zankan saves Takayanagi and interrogates her about Hyōdo, after which the latter uses his power to make her forget the encounter.
Zankan meets Hyōdo and allies temporally with him after a friendly spar, while Kain visits Yūki in his shrine and possesses him. During a school event, Hyōdo saves Megumi from demon-possessed students, but she is also infected by a demon and he is forced spend a lot of energy to destroy and resurrect her. At the same time, Zankan is attacked by Yūki-Kain, who defeats him and is about to kill him before Hyōdo intervenes. Hyōdo and Kain face off, wrecking the school in the process, and although Kain has the upper hand, Byōdo manages to take over momentarily and destroy her. After the battle, with Zankan's memory of the events erased, everything returns to normal.
Credits
| Character | Japanese | English |
|---|---|---|
| Riki Hyōdo | Kazuki Yao | Michael Granberry |
| Byōdo | Kazuki Yao | Michael Granberry |
| Toshihiro Yūki | Kazuhiko Inoue | Michael Granberry (as G. Briahn Realmercy) |
| Zankan | Hideyuki Tanaka | Paul Sincoff |
| Youko Takayanagi | Sakiko Tamagawa | Susan Grillo |
| Megumi Koyama | Chieko Hondo | Kristen Graf |
| Fairy Master Kain | Mari Yokoo | Hadley Eure |
| Baba | Shin Aomori | Pierre Brulatour |
| Nakano | Emi Shinohara | Shelby Reynolds |
| Mr. Toyokura | Hideyuki Umezu | Patt Noday |
| Byōdo's Servant | Daisuke Gōri | Eric Paisley |
| Sandy | Michie Tomizawa | Korbi Dean (as Deann Korbutt) |
| Sakamoto | Tomohiro Nishimura | |
| Junko | Yoshino Takamori | |
| Misaka | Satoru Inagaki | |
| Tōru | Junji Kitajima | |
| Suguru | Hiroki Nakamura | |
| Fairy | Natsumi Sasaki |
Additional voices
- English: J. David Arnold, Scott Simpson, Ralph Brownewell, Noah Shane
Crew
- Producers: Seiichi Sakamoto (Tokuma Japan) and Kenji Miyashita (DAST)
- Director: Ichirō Itano
- Original Story, Screenplay, Storyboards: Ichirō Itano
- Music: Shirō Sagisu
- Character Design, Animation Direction: Nobuteru Yūki
- Assistant Animation Directors: Satoshi Urushihara, Hiromi Niioka, Hiroaki Ōgami, Hideaki Anno
Ending Theme: "Medusa"
- Lyrics: Yūri Sugimoto
- Music: Takahiro Matsumoto
- Arrangement: Tetsurō Oda and Takahiro Matsumoto By Tokuma Japan Communications
Reception
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References
- ^ "Battle Royal High School Liner Notes". AnimEigo. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- 魔神伝. Monthly Shōnen Captain (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. May 18, 1986.
- 魔神伝. Monthly Shōnen Captain (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. August 18, 1989.
- 魔神伝 (1) (リュウコミックス) (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- 魔神伝 (2) (リュウコミックス) (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- 真魔神伝 バトルロイヤル・ハイスクール [Legend of the True Devils Battle Royal High School] (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- Battle Royal High School. ASIN 6304060645.
- "Battle Royal High School". Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- "AnimEigo's Battle Royal High School License Expires". Anime News Network. 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
- ^ "Battle Royal High School Liner Notes | AnimEigo". archive.animeigo.com. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
External links
- Battle Royal High School (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia