Kyo Kara Maoh!, takes place in an alternate world that Yuri Shibuya travels to by coming in contact with water. There are many nations in the alternate world, however, the plot centers around the The Great Demon Kingdom (眞魔国 Shin Makoku, True Mazoku Land). The people of the kingdom are Demons (魔族 Mazoku), but appear indistinguishable from human. Their only distinguishing traits are their long lives and the ability to use magic. The people of the Demon Tribe are able to make a pact with an element which they can then use magic of that element. Covenant Castle is in the capital of the Demon Kingdom. It is the residence of the Demon King (魔王 Maoh, Mazoku King). The culture of The Great Demon Kingdom is very different from the Japanese culture Yuri is accustomed to, and the differences make for some amusing mishaps with long ranging consequences, such as an accidental proposal of marriage.
Yuri Shibuya was living a pretty normal life. That changed the day he was dunked into a toilet after an attempt to save a classmate from a gang of bullies. Instead of just getting a good soaking, he's pulled in. The next thing he knows, he's in a world that vaguely resembles medieval Europe. If that's not odd enough, he's told that he is the next Demon King. The Demon King is the King of the demon tribe, who are coexisting not-so-peacefully with the humans in this world. Now, Yuri has to deal with trying to become a good King, while at the same time attempting to adapt to this land's customs and culture, all in a world where the tension between the humans and demon tribe is reaching its peak.
YURI SHIBUYA
Yuri Shibuya (渋谷有利 Shibuya Yūri) is the protagonist of the story. He was born in Boston, USA and grew up in Saitama, Japan. He is a high school student who enjoys baseball more than textbooks. The kanji Yuri's parents chose for his name name Yūri (有利) means profitable, so many people make fun of him by saying Shibuya Yūri, Harajuku Furi (渋谷有利原宿不利) (roughly translated meaning "if Shibuya is profitable then Harajuku is unprofitable"). His mother insists that he is named Yuri because he was born in July and it has nothing to do with money or the fact that his father is a banker. In the English dub, this became the pun "Yuri is short for urine." He later finds out that Conrad inspired his mother to use the name since he mentioned while she was in labor that where he comes from, July is called Yūri.
When Yuri first arrives in The Great Demon Kingdom, he is told that he is the 27th King of the Demons.Throughout the series, he strives to create a world in which demons and humans can live together in peace, something that progresses slowly but surely as the series goes on.
Yuri easily gets caught up in his emotions, to the point he loses control of himself. He is quick to anger, and once he's angry he can not stop himself. When he is angry or sad or feels a strong emotion his powers emerge. Yuri is a huge fan of Japanese historical dramas and so when he is in this mode he uses expressions from historical dramas. Fans call this condition Maou mode (or emperor mode (お上様モード okamisama mo-do) in Japanese). In the novel there is no note of his appearance changing while in the manga his eyes become slit and in the anime his hair becomes longer and his eyes becomes slit.
At the beginning of the series this was the only way Yuri could access his magic and he would became worn out and in some cases passes out and did not remember what happened afterwards. But later in the series, Yuri learns to control his power. He can summon powerful magic, even in the human territories, while most demons can only perform limited magic outside of the country. This is because the demons have removed all souseki from The Great Demon Kingdom but souseki stones are scattered throughout the human lands. He is unaffected in souseki filled areas such as the souseki mines and can even still use his magic while full blooded demons have difficulty standing and even breathing. Yuri has a contract with water and uses his magic to create various monster like shapes, most notably he uses it to create water dragons, but he has made many other messy magical "creatures" made from mud, food scraps etc. much to the horror of the other demons and every one who sees them.
Yuri ends up engaged to Wolfram von Bielefelt when he first meets him through a mishap. Wolfram, angry at the idea that Yuri, a half blood demon, is supposedly the king, insults Yuri's mother for being human which earns him a slap. According to noble demon culture slapping another noble on his or her left cheek is the way in which noble demons propose marriageWolfram, considering this insult, challenges Yuri to a duel (by throwing his knife on the floor) which Yuri also mistakenly accepts because of his unfamiliarity with a demon custom of when someone throws a knife on the ground it is a challenge to a duel and picking up said knife is accepting the duel.
It is revealed fairly early in the series that Yuri is in fact the reincarnation of Susanna Julia von Wincott who was a blind healer died during the war against humans 20 years before the present story line.Conrad gives Yuri a pendant that used to belonged to her. When Yuri first arrived in the other world Adalbert brought out his stored language memory in his soul so he can understand the spoken demon language but because Suzanna Julia was blind he was unable to read the language. Although, he can read raised letters with a finger. There is a time in the novels where he panics Julia's influence takes over and he temporarily loses his eyesight. Yuri's blood is also one of the key's of the forbidden boxes. He inherited this from Julia.
In the anime, Yuri is said to be the greatest Demon King after defeating The Originator and freeing The Original King from the dark power. Because of that, Yuri is able to travel between worlds even without the help of The Original King.
Wolfram von Bielefelt
Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese), Mona Marshall (English)
Lord Wolfram von Bielefelt (フォンビ－レフェルト卿ヴォルフラム fon bi-ruferuto kyou worufuramu) is the youngest son of the former Demon Queen, Cecilie von Spitzweg. He is the only one of the previous queen's three sons who inherited her emerald green eyes and blonde hair and he bears a striking resemblance to her. Ceri said he inherited his selfishness from his father, but he can be very manly and reliable. His handsome appearance is so influential, that several dying people in the hospital have a miraculous recovery after laying eyes on him. Wolfram possesses fire magic, as well as being adept with a sword. He is the half-brother of Conrad and Gwendal.The original author of this story, Tomo Takabayashi has said that Wolfram is her favorite character.
He finds himself engaged to Yuri after a misunderstanding. When he first becomes engaged to Yuri he is extremely upset, but the idea quickly grows on him. He takes the engagement much more seriously than Yuri does. He follows Yuri practically everywhere so he can keep an eye on him and even sneaks into Yuri's bedroom at night. He gets extremely jealous when Yuri talks to a girl or good-looking guy and often accuses him of being unfaithful which is sometimes used as comic relief.
He initially dislikes humans, even Conrad's father. Because of his demon pride, he does not like to admit that Conrad is his brother, even though he cares for Conrad. In the novels, it is hinted that this hatred towards humans stems from his late father's prejudice against humans. His attitude towards humans improves throughout the series, progressing to the point that he adopts the human girl Greta as his daughter, starts acknowledging Yuri's parents as his future "in-laws" and also runs into a raging fire to save a human child.
A major weakness is that he gets sea-sick. Yuri also says that Wolfram cannot paint well, even though he insists on painting. For example, he tries to paint Yuri, although it turns out unintentionally impressionistic. He also sometimes got low-blood-pressure from Yuri's observance in the novel
Near the end of the second season, there is a time when Wolfram is possessed by The Original King, who in turn was possessed by The Originator. The key he possesses, his heart, is ripped out by The Original King in order to open one of the four forbidden boxes, "Hellfire in Frozen Land". Because of this, Wolfram temporarily dies, and Anissina puts him in a special box to keep him alive. He is revived when The Original King returns the keys to their owners.
His ancestor, Rufus Bielefelt, fought alongside The Original King.
In a story original to the anime at the beginning of season three, Wolfram is chosen by the Ten Noble Families of The Great Demon Kingdom to become the next Demon King, due to the belief that Yuri would not be able to return to The Great Demon Kingdom at the time. When Yuri does return Wolfram's uncle, Waltorana, places pressure on Wolfram to obtain the throne. Because of this, Wolfram dissolves the engagement with Yuri and travels back to his homeland, in hopes that he would not be used to sabotage Yuri. When Yuri hears of Wolfram's predicament, he and his retainers travel to the Bielefelt lands in the hopes of persuading Wolfram to return to Blood Pledge Castle, only to be forced into a formal duel by Wolfram himself. In the process of aiming a strong attack at Wolfram, Yuri realizes that Wolfram seems to be preparing himself for his last moments and gives his final words to Yuri: "Yuri. Be a good king." Realizing that Wolfram had planned the whole thing from the beginning so Yuri could remain the Demon King, Yuri absorbed the attack onto himself at the last moment, sparing Wolfram from damage. The Ten Noble Families then changed their decision to keep Yuri as their king and Waltorana steps down from forcing Wolfram onto the throne. After a reconciliation between the two, Wolfram happily decides to annul their disengagement to a comically shocked Yuri and proceeds to return to his normal attitude towards their engagement.
Conrad/Conrart Weller
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), Doug Erholtz (English)
Sir Conrad/Conrart Weller (コンラッド/ウェラー卿コンラート Konraddo/Wera- kyou konra-to) is the second son of the previous Demon Queen, Cecilie von Spitzweig. His given name is "Conrart" though Yuri, and a few other people, call him "Conrad" since it is closer to English. Conrad is only half demon and because of this he is unable to use demon magic. His father was a human named Dunheely Weller who was famous for his swordsmanship. As Conrad's father was not a demon noble, he does not have "von" in his name. Conrad is Yuri's bodyguard. When Yuri first came to The Great Demon Kingdom, Conrad found him and brought him to the castle. There is a demon custom that on their16th birthday they decide something important. On his 16th birthday he decided to live as a demon instead of a human.
He fought on the front lines for the demons during the war against the humans. He and Jozak were in a all half blood platoon named the Lütenburg platoon and are famous for being the only two survivors of the from the Battle of Arnold.
17 years before the present time, after the war had ended, he was put in charge of Julia's soul at her request since it was going to be the new Demon King, and he took it to Earth so that it could be born.
Conrad loses his arm in a battle but later he reappears with a new arm. It is explained in the novels that this "new" is the arm of his ancestor Robert Belal who was transported to Earth in 1798 and that since the arm never rotted it was handed down through the generations of his family to Richard Dueter. When Conrad's arm was cut off The Original King took the arm and gave it to Conrad. This arm is the key to the forbidden box named "The End of the Wind".
His ancestor, Lawrence Weller, fought along side The Original King.
Gwendal von Voltaire
Voiced by: Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese), Dan Woren (a.k.a Jackson Daniels) (English)
Lord Gwendal von Voltaire (フォンヴォルテール卿グウェンダル fon vorute-ru kyou guwendaru) is the eldest son of Cecilie. He is the current lord of Voltaire. He is a skilled tactician and is capable of using earth magic and can cast barriers. Gwendal is a tough guy except when it comes to his childhood friend, Anissina, and his brothers. He is afraid of Anissina and often hides from her so he can prevent being used in one of her crazy experiments. He is even seen sweating in panic at the thought of her. While he does not outwardly show much affection towards his brothers, he shows in times of great stress that he does care. When not otherwise busy, Gwendal indulges in his hobby of knitting but often his creatures look nothing like what they're supposed to (for example a bear got mistaken for a black pig or a cat that looks like a raccoon). He is adamant that knitting helps him sharpen his concentration but actually its a stress reliever for him since childhood. He is also quite fond of cute animals or cute objects such as the dolphin key chain (Bandou-kun) Yuri received at the dolphin show and later gave to him. His childhood best friend is Anissina von Karbelnikoff, an inventor who often tests out her inventions on him, much to his displeasure. Anissina is also the one who taught Gwendal how to knit.Gwendal's left eye is a key to one of the four Forbidden Boxes, the "End of the Earth".
When he and Yuri were alone in the desert following a sand trap that sucked in Wolfram and Conrad, Gwendal showed certain care he tried to hide towards Yuri. It was at that time Yuri later commented to Conrad that all of the siblings have similar kind smiles, even though Gwendal's is covered up by his "scary face". He is the commander of the demon army and often comes with reinforcements when Yuri finds himself in big trouble. He is also the one who does the paperwork and essentially runs the kingdom for Yuri. Often enough, when Yuri leaves the castle, Gunter is seen barging into Gwendal's office, demanding where Yuri is. Gwendal would usually look tired and suggest an idea which sounds appealing to Gunter, for example locking Yuri up in a room where no one will interfere.
When he was younger, Gwendal despised humans, a habit called the Demon Pride by Dunheely Weller. On Dunheely's last journey to a nameless village, he told Gwendal to enjoy the ride before their last duel. Upon arriving in the village, Gwendal is shocked that the village is not recognized by The Great Demon Kingdom, and leads the attack on the bandits which targeted the village. In this duel, Gwendal sees Dunheely for who he really was, an old man, not the agile man he knew when he was younger. Dunheely later dies of old age, and Gwendal buries him near the tree where Dunheely told Gwendal what he was looking for. Years later while on a picnic with his family and Yuri, Gwendal admits that Dunheely was a larger existence than anyone else within him, because he hated that man.
Gwendal has no interest in love affairs, and even points out that issues coming from love affairs are beyond his abilities to influence. He does occasionally show care towards Greta, often being in charge of her while Yuri and Wolfram are in one of their adventures. Gwendal knows how to bake, as he does so for Greta when Günter, who would usually bake cookies for Greta, leaves the castle for a short journey. Greta comments that Gwendal's cookies look cute while Yuri comments Gwendal is good at baking as Gwendal's cookies are made into animal shapes, similar to the ones he knits. When Greta asks Gwendal if she is disturbing him while he is doing work, Gwendal says "Since it's you, I don't mind".
His name may be derived from that of Gwendal Peizerat, Marina Anissina's skating partner.[citation needed]
His ancestor, Siegbert Voltaire, fought along side The Original King.
Günter von Christ
Voiced by: Kazuhiko Inoue (Japanese), Jack Lingo (English)
Lord Günter von Christ (フォンクライスト卿ギュンター fon kuraisuto kyou gyunta-) is Yuri's adviser and teacher. Günter is a skilled swordsman and magician. He is a very whimsical person and poetic in his thoughts. He is Anissina's number 2 test subject. He has an extremely strong attachment to Yuri and tends to pine for Yuri when has been gone from The Great Demon Kingdom for any amount of time. 20 years ago he was an instructor at a military academy.
When Gunter was shot with a poisoned arrow containing the Wincott poison, his soul was temporarily housed in an Okiku Doll that flies, shoots lasers from its eyes and has hair that grows naturally. During this time he referred to his body as Snow Gunter and it could be controlled by or released from the effects of the Wincott Poison by anyone of the direct line of the von Wincotts like Julia's father and nephew.
When Günter accidentally travels to Earth, he becomes a model in New York City for a brief period of time so that he can earn money to find Yuri. He is very popular among females and males because of his good looks.
Gunter is an odd mixture of manly fighting skills and stereotypical feminine personality, and as such is a comic presence in most episodes.
Günter's only family seems to be his adopted daughter Gisela.
Ken Murata
Voiced by: Kouki Miyata (Japanese), Grant George (English)
Ken Murata (村田健 Murata Ken) was born in Hong Kong and raised in Japan. Murata Ken met Yuri in middle school, where they were in the same class for two years. He now goes to a famous private school. Yuri states that his name is similar to his favorite historical drama actor Matsudaira Ken, so he is the only one of Yuri's former classmates that he actually remembers the name and face of other than baseball club members. Murata is known to smile often and keep relatively quiet. He often tells jokes which don't suit his age.
He is the reincarnation of the Great Sage. The double black tactician and strategist to the Original King of The Great Demon Kingdom. He remembers parts of the past lives he has had over the past 4000 years. Other people in the story don't seem to remember any of their past lives, so his remembering some seems to be very special. He describes the memories as like watching a movie. Because of his past lives he is able to speak many languages such as The Great Demon Kingdom's language, English and French. His parents are always busy with work so he is home alone a lot. He also spends a lot of time with Yuri's family. Since Yuri saved him from getting mugged, they have become very close. Murata is now the co-owner and manager of Yuri's grass lot baseball team in the novels.
In Murata Ken's last life before this one he was an adult film actress named Christine who lived in Hong Kong. The life before that he was a French doctor named Henry Régent who appears in the extra story novel "Ojyousama to wa Kari no Sugata!" Murata's other past lives include a Spanish bread maker, a Venetian bakery worker, an ancient Egyptian mummy maker, and a knight in the crusades.
While in the novels, 4000 years ago, right after The Originator was sealed in the boxes they took two of them to earth and he was reincarnated there, in the anime it seems like he and The Original King were closer and around 2000 years ago he was reincarnated as Jeneus and made an organization in The Original King's memory called the white crows.
It was established in a drama CD that he Placed 2nd in the country on the trial entrance exam to get into the University of Tokyo. Also, even though he's still a high school student he's developing software and trading stocks.
Dr. Rodriguez was responsible for handling his soul, during the time that Conrad transported Julia's soul to Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment