A battle is about to begin in Tokyo: the Shaman Fight, a tournament held every five hundred years where shaman—those who can command spirits—confront each other in combat. The victor of this contest becomes the Shaman King and the only one who is able to contact and control the Great Spirit, allowing them to reshape the world as they please through its immense power.
During a late night walk, Manta Oyamada runs into his classmate, the carefree You Asakura, who invites him to come stargazing with some friends, who, to Manta's horror, turn out to be ghosts from a local cemetery! However, the knowledge that Manta possesses—a rare sixth sense that allows Manta to see these spirits—endears the boy to You. So when You finds out that his new comrade has been beaten up by a local gang, he decides to avenge him with the help of Amidamaru, a samurai ghost whose tomb was broken by the gang leader.
Soon Manta uncovers more about the world of spirits, including the Shaman Fight, in which his new friend You aims to claim victory.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Hao_Asakura
For me, Shaman King is one of the best animes I've watched in a long time. The fact that every single character has its very own unique personality adds a nice feeling to the overall show. Another thing I really enjoyed in Shaman King was that there isn't always one character who dominates the battles, but all of the characters you meet in the show have their own abilities, which make them important for every single battle. Besides from battles there are also lots of funny moments. I literally had to laugh all the time throughout the whole show, because Shaman King manages the transitionfrom dramatic or serious to funny moments so well.
Overall I'd recommend this show to anyone who likes shows with awesome characters, lots of humor, awesome battles and a great storyline.
ezgihatun
i watched Shaman King in three languages, Turkish first, English then Japanese. Finally sealed it with the manga. It wasn't my first anime ever but it was the first anime that while watching I was aware it was an anime. I was a child then. Children can and do appreciate good anime though. For this review I'll consider the Japanese version. The lowest score, 8, has to go to art. As a grown-up I've seen top notch quality and you do not expect SK to demonstrate excellence in terms of art. People, spirits, places and backgrounds are moderately well designed. There are a lot of moments withgreat visual impact. Considering their immense number, action sequences are animated okay.
The dialogues and the story-line are well done until the very end of the anime and the ending may leave a lot of people unsatisfied, therefore I couldn't rate the story 10. I thoroughly enjoyed how it all moved forward, how conflicts were resolved and how the single one threat of Hao loomed closer and closer to build it all up. Characters were introduced, developed and interacted with one another beautifully. The tournament became a means to explore underlying themes of friendship, hatred, forgiveness, hard work, hope and destiny. Comedic aspects were well balanced with drama and the epic action.
The effort poured into the voice acting and soundtrack of this series is certainly not widely acknowledged, but the series include two bombs like Romi Paku and Megumi Hayashibara who are very talented, along with many other skillful actors that brought characters to life. I even fell in love with Ren Tao - seriously I made dozens of drawings, I even dreamt about him. Anyway, the music is very varied and was used purposefully, blending with various scenes in harmony. I can still recite the two openings and a few other songs from memory. 10.
Characters! Who can forget Yoh's goofy smile, Ren's fits of anger, Ryu's gigantic thumb and pompadour, Horohoro's cute spirit Kororo, Anna's scary eyes, Manta's brave soul? Nah, they and the rest are unforgettable. Each has their own unique personalities, dreams and lessons to teach us. I grew up with them as they grew up with each other. 10. 11. 12.
I remember rushing home everyday from school, telling everyone to shut up and turning on the TV to watch Shaman King. The series would glue my eyes to the screen. I remember feeling miserable when Yoh lost to his opponents. I remember falling of my seat laughing when Chocolove pissed off Ren. Enjoyable all the way. 10.
I acknowledge that this series has its own shortcomings. I know it is not perfect. Maybe the sweetness of my childhood is interfering with my judgement.
When I have a child, though, he or she is watching this.
9/10.
ItIsIDio
Shaman King is an anime that has not aged well, for multiple reasons, with some of them the series itself being to blame, and with some of them time itself is to blame. To properly criticize Shaman King, I want you to understand that Shaman King came out from an era where shounens were the determined bread winner, and there were plenty of attempts of random shounen being released. At the same time, things like Naruto, Inuyasha, Hajime no Ippo and Hunter x Hunter were airing or finished airing and plenty of other commercial shounens were being released or about to start in that craze. Iwouldn't call Shaman King succesful, as the way I have stumbled upon it I consider bizarre.
It started airing at 10 PM on a cartoon channel. What's bizarre about this is that it and Naruto, are the only two anime, that ever did that in my country. Naruto, understandably was a cashcow, it makes sense, but Shaman King was the experiment before it. No knowledge of it being an anime, aired quite late at night, signifying that it is intended to older audiences, and it did well. I stayed up every night to watch it and talked to friends about it and we enjoyed it. Outside of Dragon Ball and Yu-Gi-Oh, which aired on some random completely different channels, for most of the kids I knew, this was our first shounen experience, at an age where we could actually understand it. I expect that Shaman King was a cheap bargain for the audience my country tried to hit with it, and that it worked out quite well. Because Shaman King was really enjoyable and really enjoyed.
The reasons it was enjoyable for are that there finally was a cartoon that tried to define the characters as persons, and explain their state. It also kept all the familiar traits of other cartoons that we were seeing, which were in its humor, and had themes that weren't really explored here, but worked in other countries for their young audiences. No cartoon that I've watched at that point really attempted to create character development, or any overarching plot, and instead were mostly one offs. Shaman King did do that, maybe not that a level that I would consider commendable today, but it did do it. It was comedic, but it played off based on the personality of the characters, and also how they changed. Their actions did matter past the scope of the episode, and that really won me over. The fact that the world can get more complex, the characters can evolve, and the fact that story was going somewhere. There were pretty few examples of other shows that even managed to do an attempt at this at the time for me.
But its problem today is a simple one. Due to the competitive scene at the time, Shaman King falls short to almost every show, and pretty much any modern show, can easily outclass it. I mean, it had poor production values, with each fight having some still frames and barely enough contact was ever done between characters. Most of the budget was spent on making sure the designs and characters are consistently colorful and have enough details, but there really isn't any fighting choreography, which is a detriment of the series, and in action scenes the characters may sometimes look remarkably choppy. The story doesn't really have a pace or a clear structure, so that might mislead a lot of people into drawing conclusions about the series, which won't work in its favor, due to how laidback the attitude of its characters can be, or how many liberties it will take in its structure. It is filled with character archetypes and tropes that are across most shounen anime. And its overall theme is the power of friendship. Based on what I enjoy now, I can say for certain that if I came across Shaman King today, I would not care much for it and think it was bad. The factors that made it good at the time are that everything else didn't really have any sort of direction, when Shaman King did and I didn't really have a lot of the criterias of comparison I have to other shows now, that making Shaman King pure novelty to me.
This doesn't make Shaman King necesarily bad, it just means that it is hard for someone to determine whether they would like it or not, and that it is hard for it to get any sort of notoriety when there's far better looking options, and the fact that it is a shounen might turn off a lot of people because it is one. I personally don't consider it bad. While I think most of the fights were dull and uninteresting, with a few exceptions, what has driven the fights was the dialogue and the progression they went towards. The actual fight itself for me being dull was easy to overlook based on the fact that Shaman King knew how to properly state why what was on screen was happening, what was the goal, and where the character has to get to win. The quality of the fights in Shaman King will vary. Sometimes they can be really interesting, like a certain fight where someone led the main character into discovering a new power, and sometimes they can be really dull, which is when the characters simply win by showing their powers and doing some movements in order to meet the quota of "this is an action shounen".
I wouldn't honestly call Shaman King an action shounen as much as I would call it Final Fantasy XV. A group of guys, travelling around, getting powers, and enjoying off the road they are on is what I mean. It is often comedic and playing off the personalities of the characters, but it can also be serious whenever there's a "protecting my friends, family, morals, ideals etc" type of shounen shtick to be presented. It can be mature and well executed when the situation calls for it, but it can take its time with comedic moments insignificant for the overarching plot or simply go in a serious direction out of nowhere. Due to Shaman King bouncing too much between where it is going and where it wants to go, it can sometimes seem slice of lifey, and this made its overall pace to suffer, as the stakes were constantly being toyed with, and as a result of this, where Shaman King was moving towards wasn't 100% certain at all times. I know this is an odd thing to say when the series is titled Shaman King, in a series about people fighting each other to become Shaman King, but the story takes a lot of random detours or restructuring of how it goes about things, while mostly keeping the reward of being the Shaman King as ambiguous and potentially anything, this leading to an odd type of progression in the story, where you didn't know what the stakes were, until Hao happens.
Unfortunately, the execution of the villain, Hao, is not particularly good, as he is defeated through the power of friendship and he is portrayed as a generic edgy cartoon villain. So the series doesn't really benefit too much from having him as a villain as much outside of him being just a reason for the characters to become more serious. This villain is pretty much where Shaman King becomes a chore to suggest anyone to go through with it, since he becomes an important part of the anime, his manga counterpart is a lot more human and developed, and this counterpart doesn't really have any traits that make him that. He is a threat for the sake of being a threat. He doesn't completely weaken the series' high points, but since he's the focus, Shaman King becomes less entertaining as he becomes more and more prominent. Which doesn't really make me sell Shaman King in terms of the story, despite of having various elements well executed, and well implemented humor that plays off various character traits very well.
But still, my view of them today, with my view of them back then, isn't exactly in sync. For instance, the introduction of a major character in the series astonished me due to the fact that this was the first time I ever saw a guy being introduced by chopping a car in fucking half for absolutely no fucking reason out of nowhere. Today, the same scenes of him made me laugh my ass off, because of the fact that he gave me the impression of an edgy little troglodite upset at the fact that his parents never bought him Hot Wheels ™. The fact that he afterwards rants about he is a superior being while looking at some cars in traffic strengthened that remark. I might be more fond of the characters due to the fact that I've experienced them while being young, but I still think their personalities were executed quite well and that their motivations are quite understandable. In addition to that, the personalities they have play off each other well. While I don't think they singlehandedly are unique characters or have any particularly unique character arcs compared to other shounens, I do think they are executed well due to the fact they are simple. Partially is due to the adaptation not really adapting some of the parts that gave more depth to some characters, as the anime focuses more on making it a truer shounen.
I can't really recommend Shaman King on any other basis than curiosity. It is a story about some kids going through a tournament to become God and fighting each other with not particularly well done animation. The themes it has are common and you've probably seen something else similar to it at this point you would draw comparisons too. The only real praise I can give Shaman King is that in smaller circles, in places where its main competitors were gone, it could stand out. It managed to be a shounen and if you seek that, as long as you don't expect much in terms of fight scenes, it can do the work quite well. But note, it doesn't have any lasting impact or build anything unique of its own. It just executes the aspects of a shounen to a decent level.
SsjRav
I think this anime is really underrated even though it is an awesome anime and really addictive! This may be due to the english dub where the intros, endings, bgm etc has been changed and insert songs have been removed but the Japanese version is a must watch anime! Shaman king has alot of comedy but becomes very serious at times and the bgm suits what is going on in the anime perfectly! The story is unpredictable in many ways which creates alot of suspense at the end of episodes. Each character is unique in their own way and there are hardly any throw away characters which are justforgotten about and do not have much to do in the anime unlike Naruto which has many throw away characters such as Ten Ten
Overall i think Shaman King is one of the best anime's of all time and the japanese version is definitely the version to watch because the english dub doesn't make much sense alot of the time e.g. Tao Ren who is a character from shaman king is a Chinese shaman and has an British accent and the dub is alot more childish!
SO START WATCHING SOME SHAMAN KING NOW!
TakaCode
Shaman King was one of those anime that appeared on Jetix back in my childhood days and it's was the first shounen anime that I watched and loved from start to finish. A decade has passed and started from 2015 I started to re-watch a bunch of anime that I grew up with so I can re- visit some of those animes as well as see those shows in kinda more critical standpoint. Shaman King was one of those anime I wanted to re-watch for a really long time because I wanted to see if Shaman King holds up outside my nostalgia love for it. Does Shaman Kingstill hold up to this day or it one of those nostalgic pandering show I want to forget?
Let's find out shall we.
Story.
The story of Shaman King starts off with Asakura Yoh who is a shaman meaning Yoh can be able to see and communicate with sports. Yoh is training to become the Shaman King the strongest among all shamans.
The story of Shaman King is good for the most part. Sure the story may be basic for some but the execution was good and I got really invested in the story due to the great use of exposition.
Also, the worldbuilding in Shaman Wing is quite good.
I like how the Shaman Fight was presented, the equipment that they use for fighting, the amount of detail in each location they visit too and so on.
Shaman King is also great as shadowing as it shows a picture of a certain character that will be relevant when the series gets to the certain point.
Shaman King explore themes such as friendship, teamwork and mainly life meaning there are things that occur in life that you have no control over and character like Yoh doesn't try to control those things. He just lets it be they are where things are this are the circumstances that his in and he solves or adapts those circumstances in a mature way.
However, Shaman King has a few problems story-wise.
For starters it a couple of plot holes I won’t mention them in the review due to spoiler reasons but you will know as you watch the show.
Secondly, the pacing in Shaman King is not always constant. It wasn’t that bad in the first 3 quarters in the show but man the last quarter of the show drags way longer for its own good. Sure the last couple of episodes the pacing became constant again but last most of the last quarter was boring and draggy to watch.
Overall the story of Shaman King is good but it has flaws.
7/10
Characters.
Like with the story I really like characters for the most part.
Most of the characters very diverse from each other and also they have interesting backstories and they are just great characters in general.
First up we have Yoh Asakura who are quite the slacker offers times seen loafing around and relaxing even in Paramount situations.
What I really like about him are he is very different compared to most shounen protagonist which you usually find on a street that either generic or overpowered and have no substance.
Yoh is one of those characters that you want to see growth because in the past he couldn't really make any human friends during his childhood.
Also despite being a slacker and having an easy going person, he cares deeply for other people especially his teammates. Also not to mention Yoh are a flawed character that he has his own problems to deal with and he deals with his problems in a very mature way unlike most shonen jump protagonist
That is why Yoh Asakura is one of my favorite characters in shounen anime.
Overall I really adored Yoh
Next up we Anna Kyoyama who are Yoh fiances.
She is the one that whips Yoh's lazy ass into fighting shape and are the driving force for his dream to become Shaman King.
Now I use to hate character when I was younger due to her being an annoying tsundere but after my re-watch of the series I started to like her along with her relationship with Yoh and character development, Anna may get a bit hate people but I don't her to be one of the worst tsundere I have seen much worse tsundere's out they're with hardly any redeeming values whatsoever.
For me, Anna is a good character that gets overheated by a quite people.
Then we have Mana Oyamada and to be real honest with you I don't like him at all. In fact, he's are probably weakest thing about Shaman King my opinion. Sure he was kinda important in the first couple episodes but as the series progresses that became really irrelevant to the plot and he's just mainly they're just too have non-shaman human characters.
I wish Mana could have evolved into a better character and actually do something in the later parts of the series.
They could have done more to this character other be your typical bookworm character.
Overall I just found Manta too be a wasted potential character.
The rest of the characters, on the other hand, are great, very interesting and well developed. I like the characters such as cool but cold-hearted Tao Ren, the humorous Chocolove the cheerful Horokeu, and the passionate and delinquent Umemiya.
Not too mention all of this characters are flawed in they own ways and the developed as characters.
The rest of were good and enjoyable for what they were.
The only other character I wasn’t a fan off was Lyserg. I don’t hate this character but I have mixed feelings for this character mainly because of his ideals and character building, I won’t mention it here due to spoilers but there was one plot twist in this show that effetely made me have mixed feelings for this character.
Overall besides from Mana this character cast are very good and enjoyable.
8/10
Visuals
Visual Shaman King looks good for the most part.
The fights, for the most part, are well animated and smooth but at times it can be a bit stiff especially the fights from the last quarter of the show and also sometimes the art can be off model but it hardly happens because of the art and animation, for the most part, are constant.
The one thing I can really praise is character designs and in my opinion, the character designs for shaman king are some best character designs I have ever seen in a shounen because of they very diverse too each other and not too mention I absolutely adore Yoh character design.
I have to thank Studio Xebec for not screwing up the character designs as well as the art and animation because in recent memory Xebec is known for having character designs that don't translate well to anime. Looking at you Negima.
Overall the visuals were good but not the greatest.
8/10
Soundtrack
Now the OST for Shaman King is one of the weaker parts of Shaman King.
In fact, it is actually the weakest part of Shaman King in my opinion. Sure there were some great tracks every now and then but for the most part, it’s kinda forgettable.
The first opening theme Oversoul is honestly a good opening in my option as it fits very well for those arcs the Shaman King.
The second opening theme Northern Lights are the great song that I really liked.
Then we have the ending themes and to be honest they are not that great.
The first ending theme is a very mediocre and forgettable song while the second ending is good for what it is.
Now for dub or sub opinion
The dub for this Shaman King is passable at best. I will attempt its one of the better-dubbed anime from 4kids but man they censored a lot of things. Also, the voice acting can range from decent too bad. The only good thing to come out from the dub is the English opening. It’s so catchy and memorable.
In short, only watch the dub if you’re going for a more nostalgic experience otherwise stick with the sub which is uncut and the overall voice acting is much better.
Overall the soundtrack is good for what it is but it could have been a lot better in my opinion. The openings were great while the ending themes were decent at best and worst borderline decent at best with the subversion being a better version too watch
7/10
Final Thoughts.
Ah, Shaman King.
When I decided to re-watch this series again I thought it will age badly like Gundam Wing or Yu-Gi-On Duel Monsters due to my growing tastes in anime. Lucky Shaman King for the most has aged well in my opinion despite its flaws.
The story was good for the most part, has a well-rounded character cast, art/animation has surprising has aged well, a good soundtrack good voice acting for the Japanese version and a functional dub from 4kids. Yeah, there were was a couple of things that annoyed me such some pacing issues during the last quarter, Matt being a wasted potential character and the animation can get stiff at times.
In short Shaman, King is a good shounen and very enjoyable.
Final Score 8/10
trikoilis
I too am one of those that got to see shaman king air on TV as a kid.After remembering that i had no watched in addition to it being praised i jumped right in.Oh but what a regrettable course of action that was. Story(2/10)(spoilers) Basically there are shamans,people that can use spirits and every 500 years a tournament is held in order to crown the king of shamans.The story looked pretty classic, the good guy fighting the bad guy so i had hope, i had hope that the action might get better or that the main characters would get stronger but 25 episodes into the show isthe strongest they ever got.Even so i watched the worst ending i have ever seen in an anime unfold,watched as the bad guy practically having become god get beaten by the miraculous power called friendship???
Characters(1/10)
To be fair there was some characters development taking place,until episode 20 that is.There was a certain amount of backstory to most of the characters in it but when the actual plot cant hold its own in terms of pace and growth, watching the characters backstory only made me feel so much more bitter about the story's progression.
Art,Sound(4,3)
Not much to say about art but it being the classic year 2000 art used in most of the anime aired then.Sound,not much to say about sound, well nothing special kind of monotone even but I cant really judge the sound when im already prejudiced towards the fights and scenes.
Enjoyment(1)
As the episodes went by and nothing changed i really started getting mad at the people that gave this abomination high scores.I hate everything this anime stands for even though it has nothing to stand for.
Overall(2)
I really believed in the potential of this i really did but i got let down and that
coming from a person who accepts most anime out there and mostly hands out positive scores this is the worst rating i have ever given and this is the worst,most meaningless anime i have ever witnessed.I hate it to the point that i had to write this review in order to stop people from committing the same mistake as I.
ivanduzer
Don't get me wrong, Shaman King was really the first anime/manga combo I fell in love with. I just wish it wasn't so painful to watch. Just to be clear, I watched the first half of the series in English, the second half in Japanese. Story: 8/10 Wow is really the only thing to say about Shaman King's story. Throughout the entire series, I was constantly engaged with the twisting plot. What really struck me about the story was the way they never sacrificed the plot for side-quests of character development; they implemented it right into the plot. The only bad news for the story is thatit never really seemed to flow like the manga did. However, the anime did something the manga never did: it ended.
Art: 6/10
Not really a fair category, as the animation was surely great for its time, but is quite lackluster by today's standards. The massive combat scenes, while enjoyable, skipped at some points and seemed kind of sketchy.
Sound: 7/10
I always got the sense that every sound was used where it was supposed to. Eventually though, the same sounds of the spirit's changing forms got to be as annoying as the Wilhelm scream. In addition, the character's voices in the English dub were awful.
Character: 7/10
I really connected with each and every character. Shaman King is a long anime, with a huge cast of characters, but the 64 episodes really gives a lot of room for each character to have his spotlight. The only thing stopping me from giving this a 10/10 is inconsistencies: Ren, the Chinese Shaman suddenly became "Lenny" from Britain. This, and other character changes between versions made it really difficult for switch from the English dub to the Japanese version when I got sick of the dub's voice acting.
Enjoyment: 1/10
Honestly, I almost dropped Shaman King quite a few times. Why? Simply because for times, it lagged, the plot branching off into a direction that made no sense, the voice work on the English Dub, character changes in between versions, all really built up to really ruin this anime for me.
Overall: 5/10
There really should never be so many inconsistencies in between dubs, and that was a huge problem for me, but I wasn't about to rewatch 30 episodes in Japanese that I had just seen in English just to "get back in the loop." Shaman King was a really good anime, but in my opinion, skip the anime and just read the manga.
Cyranical
Shaman King is a decent anime, that is also very enjoyable, although it is a decent anime, it has a couple of flaws, but the flaws are not noticeable if you pay that much attention, and If you really enjoy it then you will ignore then. Pros: -Is enjoyable -Characters are enjoyable [although somewhat bland and underdeveloped] -A good villain -Has a decent storyline Cons:-Characters such as Trey, Jako are underdeveloped
-Some characters are bland
[ Should be called Filler King , as it has so much filler maybe 40%
-I feel like the story doesn't capitalize
on itself that much
-Animation is outdated
-Outdated
Anyway Shaman King is enjoyable, it's not the best anime out there and it's doesn't hold up that well, overall my personal rating of it is a 6/10, despite it being simple anime and having obvious flaws, my rating mostlyis based off my personal enjoyment of this anime.
Jemerald
Shaman king was my third anime ever. Since than I have watched numerous animes and still this is my favourite. Story(9/10) : Shaman king has a spectacular story. The storyline itself consists of not only the present but also the past. You get to not only see the story of Yoh (Main character) but also the stories of many other major characters. The main story line is also full of suspense and curiosity, you can't help but keep watching to find out what happens next. Although at time it can feel slightly stretched out and all you want is for the story to push onslightly. As well as the fact I hated the ending as it left me thinking there was another episode...
Art (7/10): I, myself thought the art was quite good for its time but comparing it to newer animes I have to give it a 7.
Sound (10/10): I have to say I am guilty of falling in love with the theme song although many found it irritable I could never grow to hate it. I also thought the voice actors where brilliant despite peoples hate for the English dub actors. I thought each voice was diffrent and distinct and suited each person. I have to say I wouldn't change anything about the sound.
Characters 10/10: Out of every anime I've seen I haven't seen a better bunch of characters. They each have there own personality's and clearly show them off. From Ryu's determination(and love interest) to Len's temperament to Yoh's easy going attitude. I also loved the way each character had a purpose to the story and each one had there own back story and were equally shown in the show than just focusing on one main character. I wouldn't change any characters for any sum of the money.
Enjoyment (9/10): Despite all the things I've just stated I loved about shaman king they we rent the reason I enjoyed Shaman king. I enjoyed the comfort in the show. It brought back child hood memories, it kept me laughing and I found I could really connect with some of the characters.
Overall 9/10: I loved this anime and to this day it remains my favourite! I would highly recommend to any anime lovers and don't lose hope after the first few episodes shaman king is the type of anime that takes time to really shine. Trust me it is truly worth it, I myself have watched it twice and considering a third!
TokuShige-kun
Ranked #779.... Rated 7,....something. I cannot comprehend this, anyway sorry for sulking like this. Lets talk about the anime, as far as the storyline is concerned it is the usual "a boy gets powers, getting stronger by the minute only to beat the s#@!t out of the strongest villain in his universe" , but its very well constructed with its character developing throughout the series. Great sense of humor (lots of laugh almost in every episode including the sad ones) and (suprisingly!!!) very dramatic as well, I have to admit for the first and last time of my lifeI almost cried in the end where .... died (dont wanna spoil). The artwork if we take in regard the year it was produced is very good (compared it with naruto, tokyo undergound etc to get what i mean).
The series in overall is one of the best animes I've seen (and I think Ive seen quite a few...). Thats why I am writing this review (my first btw) because i find it unimaginable to see Shaman King ranked so low
agus_tidona
As a person who came back to the anime because of the nostalgia of watching it on tv, I had to say that it was worth my time. I'll be short because I didn't finish the manga yet but I know that it's better than the anime (I know, while I was rewatching this adaptation came out the news that it'll be released the new anime adaptation just like Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood and have my overhyped). It hasn't spoilers. First half: The first half of the anime It's just like the manga and it's way the better part of all. It's super enjoyable and the slice of lifescenes are the best, because of the characters who are really good: Yoh it's super nice and we all love him, Anna it's super tsundere-cute, Manta is the friend we all want and Amidamaru it's the best nakama. They're also very good fights, the incorporation of HoroHoro, Ryu and Ren making a lot of chemistry between them. The fights with all the shamanic-things are very fresh and interesting, and also are incorporated some dark things like the fight with Fausto. If this goes like this, is a 10.
Second Half:
This is the part when things go down, but also happens in the manga. For a moment to another, we have that the real power makes the soul bigger, and with that, we start to have Megazord fights. Literally Megazord, just watch the soul of Ren Tao. NOT TO MENTION the three big PLOT DEVICE moments to win against Hao...
( SPOILERS AHEAD )
MANTA BEING A SHAMAN AND GIVING BIG PUNCHES, YOH RESUSCITATING, AND THE GENKIDAMA THING AT THE END
(END OF SPOILERS)
Also, I feel like the end of it was too rushed, that half-episode end with that slice of life was too hurry up... I would have preferred another chapter only for it.
In the end, it's a very nostalgic anime, with very good ideas but it went a bit down. I have to say, that with this decrease it's still better than half nowadays nekketsus out there, so give it a shot and also PLEASE read the Kanzenbang bc I love it (?
Adios
takakara_nomuro
Today we will have a review of one of the classic anime of all time. Shaman King is a manga created and illustrated by Hiroyuki Takei. The series tells the story of Yoh Asakura, a shaman boy training to develop their skills in order to win the tournament and become the Shaman King Shaman. Shamanism was chosen as the central theme of the story why Takei wanted to explore a topic that had never been addressed before in a manga. The manga was originally published in Weekly Shonen Jump of Shueisha between 1998 and 2004. In Japan, Shaman King was a popular series. The original manga has soldabout 22 million copies, making the series one of the best selling of all time in Shonen Jump Weekly, while the anime was among the ten most watched of the week several times. Critics of the area has provided positive comments about the series.
I met Shaman King in the former "Fox Kids," I was impressed when watching an episode in which the protagonist invoked a samurai spirit and put in his chest, which aroused my curiosity and led me to follow the original series in Japanese.
The Shaman King characters are so iconic, Yoh, the quiet protagonist, who does not care about anything but that in the face of danger becomes an extremely strong person, along with his Amidamaru and Manta spirit that is the "sidekick" Yoh, ordinary little boy who is super terrified of everything.
Another thing that marked much in Shaman King was his opening song, just fantastic (get goose bumps every time I hear)!
And I could not end this review without mentioning the game "Shaman King: Spirit of Shamans" which gave me hours, which together make up days of fun. A 2D fighting game for PlayStation containing the characters in the series and a very good gameplay. Well, for that you're a fan of anime I hope I have provided you a good sense of nostalgia, and you who do not know yet, here is the tip from Nomuro-senpai; watch, play, and enjoy yourselves with a classic of Glorious Nippon culture.
maawolfe36
It's not very often that I can give a TV series a perfect 10 in every category, but with Shaman King, I can happily do just that. This is not only the greatest anime I've had the pleasure of watching, but also on of the greatest TV shows overall. Story: 10 - Shaman King has a great plot that is interesting and complex, while not being overly confusing. The main story is about a kid named Manta, a short weakling who meets a boy named Yoh. Yoh is a shaman, a person with the ability to communicate with and channel the powers of ghosts. Theyhave some fun adventures and a lot of great fights, and Manta learns that there will be a shaman fight to decide who will become the Shaman King, other the shaman who can channel the Great Spirit and save the world. It might be a bit cliche, saving the world and all, but it is executed flawlessly and kept me on edge the whole time I watched the series.
Art: 10 - Everything about this show is gorgeous. The animation flows well, and the art style is very fitting to the style of the show.
Sound: 10 - With most shows, I skip past the intro after I've seen it once. I actually watched the Shaman King intro on every single episode, simply because I loved the theme music. The rest of the show is the same way: the music fits the situation perfectly, and everything sounds great.
Character: 10 - I wish I could rate this section 11. Shaman King does an amazing job of character development. The main characters, Manta (or Morty, if you're watching the English dub) and Yoh are two simple students who get caught up in a maelstrom of situations far greater than themselves. They are the kind of characters that are easy to relate with, and yet they transcend themselves and are able to overcome impossible odds. One of my favorite parts of this show is the way that some of the enemies eventually become friends, as they learn the error of their ways and join Yoh in his fight. I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, so let me just say that the characterization is top-notch.
Enjoyment: 10 - There was never a single moment where I was bored or wanted to turn the show off. Everything about this show, from start to finish, was spectacular and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I can't remember ever having as much fun as I did watching Shaman King.
Overall: 10 - Everything about Shaman King is spectacular. I plan on watching this show again, and I'm very much looking forward to it. I can't recommend this show high enough. If you like action, supernatural elements, humor, or even romance, this show has something for everyone. This is one show that I believe every anime fan should see.
IamShepherd
Watching this anime as a child brought me a great amount of joy. For its time, this short series highlighted the main aspects an anime should display for a great and successful impact. the Anime in itself has a great lore, deducing inspiration from Shaman traditions as well as other historical contexts. The plot is fundamentally conservative to the traditional shonen like structure, however what makes this anime different from a lot of other Shonen's is the Protagonists unique character and the way in which he drives the story forwards. This anime is phenomenal and I am looking forward into the remastered version (2021). Definitelyworth a watch.
enzo2123
I just finished the anime today..... Well, I have to say that it was worth the time I spent! Shaman King has that rare blend of action and comedy that you wouldn't find anywhere else. Even during tense and epic battles you can always expect one of the characters to crack a joke or two. This show also contains one of the best character development I have ever seen in an anime; characters seem to evolve throughout the show and you ( aka. the watchers) will grow attached to them. The music in the show is also one of the most exciting I have ever listenedto. I give this anime a two thumbs and definately recommend it to anyone who enjoys hearty characters, adventure and basically a great anime.
5/5 stars and two thumbs up!
Shaman KIng FTW!
ArcherSekai
Shaman King is one of those shows that uses a basic story that has been done to death yet still finds a way to make it stand out from all the other shows in its respective genre. Shaman King is the story of You Asakura a lazy slacker who recently transfered to the school of the Manta Oyamada who after first meeting You tries to convince everyone that he saw ghosts however nobody believes him. After discovering that through investigating him Manta was injured by Ryunosuke Umemiya and his gang You decides to teach the gang a lesson with the assistance of the deceased spirit of thelegendary samurai Amidamaru.
After this episode Manta and You becomes best friends and its not explained what the main plot of the show is about for a few more episodes.
That plot is that there is a tournament between Shaman known as "The Shaman King Tournament" whoever wins this tournament is able to use the king of spirits to make their one wish come true.
However not all shaman are as down to earth as You, some are actually very evil and one of these shaman Hao(also known as Zeke in the english dubbed anime) wants to use this spirit to destroy all humans so that only shaman remain.
So naturally You and his friends he meets along the way try to win the tournament and stop Zeke.
So as you can see Shaman King as a fairly generic story the very same that we see in shows like Zatch Bell and the Fate/ Series.
However what makes it stand out is the art style used.
The art style is hard to explain, its not like most anime that try to go into great detail but its not lazy either.
It has this almost cartoony look to it but not as much as like Panty & Stocking.
So like i said its hard to describe but it works for the show very well and on top of that the animation is very fluid for the budget it was given.
As for the sound i should first mention that i watched the english dub which means yes i watched the 4kids dub, however i will say this is one series that 4kids didnt completely fuck up.
Yes its a bit more child friendly than the manga but its not horrible either.
For its time even compared to the non 4kids dubs its pretty on par with everything in terms of dialogue changes and voice acting.
The changes are very minor if any were made at all, most changes are like changing Hao to Zeke or Manta to Morty.
As far as plot goes there isnt much changed from the manga just made to be more accepted for a wider audience.
Which its overall value is much better than its other shows like Sonic X or the now infamous One Piece dub.
Ok now for the many characters,
well i mean they are all kind of bland...i mean some stand out more than others but they are all pretty bland even by shonen standards at the time.
You have your pure of heart main character, his nerdy best friend and the tsundere girlfriend just to name a few.
What i mean by bland isnt that they are boring just that they are all more tropes/cliches than actual characters.
Now for the main question, did i enjoy this show?
Honestly yes, despite its generic story and bland characters it is still a very enjoyable show overall.
After rewatching when i am now 25 years old i still found it just as enjoyable as when it first came out in america.
It has aged pretty well all things considered and between its jokes and many arcs in the story its still one of the most enjoyable shows ive rewatched recently.
So now after accounting all the show does well and my personal opinion of this show i will end this review by giving Shaman King a 7 out of 10
LSSJ_Gaming
(This review is based off of the currently legally available version, which means the English dub might slightly affect some of the scoring as currently Discotek has only rereleased the 2003 dub produced by 4kids) Shaman King is a franchise that seems pretty underrated compared to a lot of other anime that came out to the West around the same time. When Shaman King was at it's peak of popularity back in November of 2004 according to Google Trends, other series like One Piece and Bleach were starting to overtake it in popularity before overshadowing it altogether. The franchise almost blew up again with the newanime adaptation and when the Netflix release came out, it hit a second overall peak, but only at about half as strong performance as that initial 2004 peak. With the rushed pacing of the newer anime, and Discotek's release of the SD-BD of the 2003 English Dub releasing in October, I decided to check out the original adaptation and it was no wonder that the series peaked in popularity all the way back in 2004 considering how great this adaptation was, even if it did diverge after about 25 episodes. Here is why I think this is
The story of the show is very solid and keeps the viewer engaged, even after the diverging point. The America arc is a bit more interesting in this adaptation as with it being stretched out a bit more, a few filler episodes are added that add more fun character interactions, and a bit more work needs to be done finding Patch/Dobie Village. Even after the anime starts to diverge some character from the manga are introduced like Joco, Boris Tepes Dracula, the X-Laws, and Nichrom. They play similar roles to their manga and 2021 counterparts, but because of the divergence of the anime itself the specifics in how and when they are introduced along with what they actually do to further the plot is modified for the new storyline. The Babylon Gate arc which was anime exclusive was also really fun and a bit tense. One of the bigger issues I do have with the modified story though is how some elements do go a bit too much against the original intent like with how Hao/Zeke is portrayed as a bit unsympathetic compared to his original depiction in the manga with him needing to be killed in the anime vs saved in the manga. The ending also really left me wanting more and while it was good, it does leave open the question of who will become the Shaman King with the viewer never getting to see the final rounds of the tournament in the show. This would have been perfect for some sort of video game or movie to fill in the gaps and have some sort of full sendoff with the characters getting closer to their dreams. The story isn't affected too much by the dub as 4kids left pretty much everything intact in the plot department, and most of the things that were removed from the manga like part of Joco's origin and Chrom's death in the Shaman Fight Initiation not being directly shown (albeit Chrom's death is later mentioned by Nichrom in the later episodes of the serous) were all changes made in the original Japanese version as well. The only case I could think of a story point getting a bit messed up by the dub was when a specific character dies, they are said to be held prisoner in the Netherworld and instead of his guardian ghost coming to be with him, he wants to save him. I'd say the story earns a solid 7/10 even with some of the issues specific from the diverge.
The characters are amazing in this version of the show and most of them keep the aspects that made them so great in the manga. Yoh is still the optimistic kid who sees the good in people with a laid-back attitude, although the dub does slightly mess up his motivations by changing his reasoning of wanting to be Shaman King from wanting an easy life to wanting to be a rockstar which runs against the notion of an easy life. Manta/Morty is still the somewhat easily scared but still loyal friend to the group who has his moments of bravery. This anime slightly changes him from the manga towards the end of the series with a little twist that changes him but still keeps him the same character overall. Ryu/Rio is the comic relief character in the group with his loud and silly nature, but he has a heartfelt story of needing a place to belong and finding his calling in life before joining the group and becoming a Shaman. His gang are also very fun supporting characters in the early story, and they all play well off of each other. Tao Len starts off as a cold and ruthless assassin who later joins the group and while still a bit rude and not wanting to show it, deeply cares about his friends. Anna is the fiancee of Yoh and is very cold and a bit controlling but she is extremely powerful as an itako and even though she doesn't do much during the America arc, shows up again in the end with an extreme power boost with the 1080 beads. HoroHoro/Trey is a Ainu from Hokkaido and joins up with the group early on, with his dream to help preserve nature and give a place for the Korropokur/Mineutians to live in peace. Hao/Zeke is the main villain of the story with a threatening aura with his goal to create a kingdom where only strong Shaman will live and humans and weaker shaman will be eliminated These are just a few of the characters that you meet early on, but some more characters enter the main cast later on like Joco and Lyserg, a surprise character from early on joins Yoh's group, and the anime also introduces fun new characters like the Lily 5 and Team Doom that are only in this adaptation. The characters all bounce off each other really well and have believable relationships with each other, and Yoh's group really feels not only like a team, but good friends. By the end you will grow to love the main cast of characters, and some of the best scenes with Yoh's group is when everyone is just hanging out talking or arguing, as we get to see everyone's personalities clash. I would give the characters a 9/10
The art style of Shaman King is very distinct. The character designs have both a bit of edge and a cartoony quality that are balanced really well so they work both in action, lighthearted, and tense scenes. The animation and composition of scenes is a lot more dynamic and feels weightier and has more effort put into it compared to the newer 2021 version, which while having some great lighting and compositing effects, lacks a bit more of the weight and feel the art and animation have in this adaptation. All the Oversouls/Spirit Controls are visually interesting and animated in a way that makes them feel powerful. The art is overall great but the one thing I do wish is that more effects were done around the characters sometimes but overall it's really good and there weren't too many moments I could think of where characters went super off model unless for a gag like Ryu/Rio's hair or just for a few in between frames. I'd probably give it an 8/10. I should also mention there weren't too many visual edits outside of the occasional distracting text removal on the talisman on the Jiang Si and a bit of kanji in early episodes, and sometimes text will be translated instead of just removed. Stuff like guns were also surprisingly not removed so this time 4kids really didn't mess with the look fo the show too much.
The Sound portion is where this review might not be the most helpful for those who are trying to watch the original Japanese version. I might make a new review when Discotek releases the subtitled version on SD-BD, but for now I have to work off of the dub. 4Kids was notorious for a lot of their changes to anime, and the sound is one of the spots they messed around with a lot. 4Kids would replace not only the openings and endings of their dubs with new songs, but the OST of the anime was also completely redone. This includes the songs sung by the band BoZ/The Flying Zen Brothers being recomposed and given new lyrics which while not too distracting for the song they use to control their Chimi Moryo spirits, but in the case of the song sending spirits to heaven, it ruins the joke by changing the lyrics from a Buddhist Prayer to a generic boy band song about "Sending you over to the other side". The song Chimi Chimi Moryo is the only insert song in the dub as Brave Heart, Ryuro, and Silent Weapon are all removed without any replacement track being created in their place. All the actual normal tracks that play in every episode are replaced with rather generic sounding music with not too many memorable tracks outside of the Unity theme which is kind of cheating since it has the leitmotif of the OP. The OP composed by 4kids is really damn good with catchy lyrics, and a backing track that is very solid and memorable. The music may be rather disappointing, but the voice cast in the dub is mostly very solid. Sebastian Arcelus does a really good voice for both Yoh and Hao that really fits both of their personalities perfectly, with Yoh sounding like the laid-back fun-loving kid he is, and Hao having a charismatic but somewhat sinister voice that fits this interpretation of the character. It's no wonder Arcelus has gone on to become succesful on Broadway. Andrew Rannells' performance as Tao Len has a few issues with it, with his voice being a bit too high pitched compared to Romi Park's interpretation in Japanese Shaman King media, and the choice for 4Kids to push the Tao family to all have British accents was very questionable. Sean Schemmel plays quite a few characters with Amidamaru having a really good masculine tone which fits the intimidating side of the character, but he can also get the more lighthearted moments to work with the character. Schemmel's version of Ryu/Rio is a bit more debatable on the quality with the Hispanic accent being a bit too much in the goofy direction, but it isn't per se bad, and is a bit better compared to DC Douglas' Elvis impersonation in the 2021 series dub. Michael Sinterniklaas, Oliver Wyman, Jay Snyder (Dan Green), Vinny Penna (Wayne Grayson), Duane Cooper, and Tara Sands are all standout performances for their portrayals of Horohoro/Trey, Manta/Morty, Silva, Tokageroh, Joco, and Anna respectively and it's no wonder that all of them with the exception of Duane Cooper reprised their role in the 2021 series dub. Erica Schroder's portrayal of Lyserg is a bit questionable to me though. The voice itself is solid, but the fact that Lyserg, a British character was given an American accent, while Len, a Chinese character was given a British accent was very questionable on the voice director's end. This issue also is present in the dub of the 2021 series. Schroder is a talented actress and has done great in roles like Mai in Yu-Gi-Oh, Nurse Joy and Wobbuffet in Pokémon, and Emma Frost in Astonishing X-Men, but the issue of the British character having an American voice kind of hinders the performance a bit. The dub cast is pretty solid overall, but the fact that the music got replaced with generic stock music that feels more like something out of 4kids' other productions like TMNT or the Yu-Gi-Oh dub, mixed with some minor direction issues bumps it down a few points. The sound for the 4kids dub specifically gets a 7/10
Overall, I really enjoyed this anime and even though it went in a different direction from the manga, which I also have been enjoying, it still was really well made and the quality of the anime itself was able to overcome a few of the minor fumbles 4kids made in voice direction and minor edits. The one thing that did get annoying with the dub was the replacement of the word death with "destroy/destruction" which sometimes came off as awkward and unnatural. I would recommend giving it a watch even in the edited format and supporting the official release by buying the SD-BD by Discotek and also reading the manga published by Kodansha to help support the series and let these companies know we want to see more content released in the West for the franchise. Discotek is reportedly also going to be releasing the subtitled version and the produced uncut dubbed episodes on SD-BD as well, but there has not been any official release date for it yet. I feel the strengths of the series still shine through in the dub but even though my enjoyment of the series is around an 8/10, due to 4Kids' edits I would probably give the official release from a critical standpoint a 7/10. Hopefully the original version is available soon as I feel that would probably be around an 8 without the issues holding 4kids back. Definitely give this version a try, especially if you found those first 13 episodes of the 2021 series a bit weak.
TheRiseofAnime
I have not been so addicted to a show in quite some time. This anime was created the year I was born yet I only began watching it in 2022. Frankly, I am sad I didn't watch this as a kid. The style of animation brought memories of me watching Digimon and some older Studio Ghibli films when I was home alone. When I began watching Shaman King I had just found out I needed an ACL surgery and was looking for a comfort show. Though far from comfort, I became engrossed in the storyline. Shaman King has a lovable protagonist that I admired anda cunning antagonist whom I detested. I did find some of the side characters quite annoying (especially in the english dub) but their friendship with the main character is a large part of what made the show so great. Strong friendships, difficulties to overcome, and epic battle scenes are all encompassed in just 64 episodes.
dante_90
The story is so great and I may rewatch it a little bit because of excitement of the episodes. The characters are fit to this anime, but the art is just good as we seen now. The effects were good too, as they fought in the scene.
