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Onmyou Taisenki (陰陽大戦記 Onmyō Taisenki) is an anime and monthly manga series. The series has two authors: Hiroyuki Kaidou (海童博行) and Yoshihiko Tomisawa (富沢義彦).
General information Onmyou Taisenki literally means 'The Chronicles of the Great Yin-Yang War'. The series makes clear references to I Ching and to the Daoist theory of the five elements: Wood (ki, 木), Gold (kin, 金), Earth (chi, 土), Fire (hi, 火) and Water (mizu, 水). Various Daoist elements are incorporated within the story: the existence of the four Kimon (鬼門, literally 'Demoniac Portals'), the use of cards that act as the Onmyoudou's amulets (toujinfu, 闘神封), 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 Onmyou Taisenki anime was produced by Bandai and Sunrise studios. 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. Story of Anime Riku Tachibana (太刀花リク Tachibana Riku) is a 12-year old Japanese boy who lives near Tokyo. 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 Shikigami (式神, literally 'Ritual Gods'), strange monsters with human owners. Riku comes to the scene and that's where he first gets in contact with his Drive (神操機), the device he uses to call and make a 'contract' (契約, keiyaku) with Byakko no Kogenta (白虎のコゲンタ), his Shikigami and, from that day on, best friend. The Shikigami needs, for special attacks, a special series of Seal (印, In), 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 Souma Asuka (飛鳥 ソーマ Asuka Sōma) and the 10-year old girl Nazuna (ナズナ) rent rooms in Riku's house. The 17-year old man, Masaomi, who teaches Riku the secrets of Onmyoudou (such as the use of Toujinfu, for example), drops by eventually. The three of them have 'contracts' with Shikigami. The main events of Onmyou Taisenki anime are related to the menace of the Chi-ryū (地流), a powerful Japanese financial group related to the Onmyoudou; attempting to open the four Taiten (Shitaiten, 四大天, literally the 'Four Great Heavens'); and freeing Utsuho (ウツホ), a boy who was born with the power to control yōkai (妖怪, demons/ghosts), and had been imprisoned for thousands of years. The Shikigami Onmyou 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 special abilities (hissatsu waza, 必殺術, literally 'certain-kill techniques') 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, Byakko no Kogenta's name means Kogenta of the Byakko (白虎 White Tiger, one of the four Japanese great Gods; the other three are Seiryuu (青龍 blue dragon), Genbu (玄武, representing the family of turtle-type shikigami), and Suzaku (朱雀, phoenix)) family. Class names are usually named after gods and flowers. The Shikigami can transform into a Daikoujin (大降神, Giant Descended God), which is a giant and extremely powerful form where they usually go berserk. Although Nazuna says that a true Daikoujin 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 Daikoujin form by forcing a Toujin stone into a Shikigami, as Isou does to his Shikigami Fuji in Episode When a Drive is activated for the first time, the Shikigami will appear behind a shoji 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 Toujinshi and Shikigami will part. However, when a contract is broken (Shikigami dies or Toujinshi tries to break the contract), the Toujinshi 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 Naraku (underworld, hell). 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 Seiyu (Voice Actors)
Manga The Onmyou Taisenki manga is published by Jump Comics and runs monthly in V-Jump magazine (2005), but has not yet ended. Each volume is nine chapters and three have been published so far: the first one (192 pages) published in October 10, 2004, the second one (200 pages) in August 04, 2005, and the third one (267 pages) in March 03, 2006. The manga has the collaboration of WiZ and Bandai. Each volume costs about 400 Yen (Price inside Japanese territory). Story 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 Kyoto. Yakumo also trains the In, with a baseball ball. In this temple, a Toujinshi (闘神士, literally 'god of war'), and Monju's former teacher, Mahoroba, is imprisioned. 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. Video games
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