Jyu Oh Sei
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese manga
series written and illustrated by Natsumi Itsuki
. An 11-episode anime
adaptation was animated by Bones
and premiered April 13, 2006 in Japan as part of Fuji TV's Noitamina
programming block.
On May 2, 2009, the series made its North American television debut on the FUNimation Channel
.
's monthly shōjo
manga
magazine
, LaLa
in December 1993. Several chapters of the series were serialized in Hakusensha's other bi-monthly shōjo manga magazine, Melody
. The chapters released were then collected into five tankōbon
volumes and later re-released into three kanzenban volumes. It was licensed and released in English in North America by Tokyopop
.
.
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 written and illustrated by Natsumi Itsuki
Natsumi Itsuki
is a Japanese shōjo manga artist best known for writing science fiction manga. She debuted in 1979 with Megumi-chan ni Sasageru Comedy in LaLa. She won the 1993 Seiun Award for best science fiction manga for Oz and the 1997 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga for Eight Clouds Rising...
. An 11-episode 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....
adaptation was animated by Bones
Bones (studio)
is a Japanese anime studio. It has produced numerous series, including RahXephon, Wolf's Rain, Scrapped Princess, Eureka Seven, Angelic Layer, Darker than Black, Soul Eater, Ouran High School Host Club and two adaptions of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga along with Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto and...
and premiered April 13, 2006 in Japan as part of Fuji TV's Noitamina
Noitamina
– "Animation" written backwards – is a Fuji Television programming block, devoted to anime, originally broadcast each Thursday night from 24:45 to 25:15 . It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typical young male demographic...
programming block.
On May 2, 2009, the series made its North American television debut on the FUNimation Channel
FUNimation Channel
The FUNimation Channel is a 24-hour cable network which broadcasts anime series in the United States. OlympuSAT was chosen as the exclusive distributor of the network....
.
Plot
Three hundred and fifty years have passed since humans first settled the Balkan star system, located approximately 150 light years from Earth, where a number of planets have been "terraformed" to resemble Earth. Two 11-year-old twins, Thor and Rai, live on the space colony Juno until they come home to find their parents have been murdered. The unknown assassins drop Thor and Rai on Chimaera, a secret planet used as a penal colony. Thor learns about Chimaeran society's four "Rings" and how to leave Chimera by becoming the Beast King from Zagi, who rescued Thor and Rai after they immediately run into trouble on the planet. Thor proceeds to the Ochre Ring where he gets swept up into that Ring's politics and winds up defeating its Top, bringing him closer to becoming the Beast King. After several years Thor faces off with Zagi who has violently taken over the Blanc ring and is determined to rule over and change Chimaeran society. Their encounter ends with an uneasy truce and a plan to force Juno to negotiate with Thor. When Thor finally meets the President of Juno the mystery of Thor's and Chimera's secret origins are revealed. When Thor learns the planet's inhabitants are to be sacrificed for Juno's society he destroys the scientific facility attempting to terraform Chimaera.Chimaera
A secret planet used as a penal colony where day and night last 181 days each and the planet is marked by extreme weather patterns. Plants dominate the planet's ecosystem. Their varied defensive adaptions as well as carnivorous varieties are a constant hazard to the people of Chimaera. The violent seasonal bloom of muses, where the plants erupt from deep below the surface to spread their canopies to the sun, are the main source of water for Chimerans; most of the water lies deep in the planet's crust. Sap from a calypto plant is highly useful, but harvesting it is dangerous. The calypto sap erupts from punctures and inhalation can cause death. Of all the plants a verasoma is the most ferocious and formidable, a mobile carnivorous plant. It usually attacks from underground keeping its small weak point well away from any threat. Even when mortally wounded its death throes are likely to kill anything around it.Chimaeraian Society
The prisoners adopted a feudal society and divided into four groups of humans, called "Rings" that acts as governs on the planet. These Rings, the Ochre Ring, Sun Ring, Blanc Ring and Noire Ring, are based on skin color. A group of outcast children called Yado are led by Zagi with no affiliation to any ring. Each ring is led by three people: the Top, Second, and Third, with the Top as the leader. Hierarchy is maintained by winning any challenges to the position in a duel. If an individual successfully defeats the Top of all four rings they become the "Beast King" who gets to be pardoned of their crimes and allowed to reside on Hecate. Women make up only 20% of the population, they are considered extremely special, live apart from men, and are the ones who get to choose their partners during the "Mating Month", a chosen mate is generally not allowed to refuse.Characters
- (Adult)
- (Child)
- Thor, the main character of Jyu-Oh-Sei, was abandoned together with his twin brother, Rai, on Chimaera. He adapts quickly to Chimaera’s environment and fights for his survival on the planet. After many near-death experiences, he learns more about Chimaera and the myth of the Beast King (Jyu Oh). Thor becomes the Top of Ochre Ring at the age of eleven, Tiz becomes his Second, and Third remains his third. He is known as the Silver Hawk for his silver hair but he hates the name. A Top, he improves the lives of those living in Ocher Ring, even creating an air conditioning system.
- Four years after becoming Top, he meets a woman named Karim, who he immediately falls in love with after saving her life. She is killed by a man Thor assumes to be Zagi. He attacks and defeats Zagi, but doesn't kill him. Zagi tells him that he didn't kill Karim. Before losing consciousness, he warns Thor not to trust Third. After becoming the Jyu Oh and riding the Dagger Pagoda orbital elevator he learns truth about why his parents were killed: They were killed because they were attached to Thor. Their orders had been to send him to Chimaera. Having failed, Odin had them killed and sent both Thor and Rai to Chimaera himself. It is then revealed that Thor is the first child to be born naturally since leaving the Earth. He also learns that his brother, Rai, is not related to him by any means. Thor has the ability to change his appearance due to his DNA. His DNA is special in a way that has allowed him to survive all these years. He was artificially engineered from the DNA of the previous 37 Jyu Ohs in order to create a new race of humans who could thrive on Chimaera. While trying to stop the accelerated terraforming of Chimaera (which would kill all the residents), he kills the previous Jyu Ohs before they can be revived to attack him.
- Rai is Thor’s twin brother and was abandoned together with Thor at Chimaera. He is the weaker twin, and Thor must go to great lengths to protect him. He is slightly more chubby than Thor. Both Thor and Rai are noted for having blue-gray eyes and silver hair; Zagi finds this to be highly unusual, despite the colony's abilities of gene-manipulation. Rai dies early on when he is attacked by a verasona plant. Rai is actually not Thor's brother genetically.
- Tiz was originally the Second of the Sun Ring’s female clan. Immediately after meeting Thor, she takes a liking to him and tries to make him her mate, much to Thor's dismay. Tiz even left the Sun Ring shortly before Thor defeated Chen, just to be with him. Tiz is seen throughout the series trying to persuade Thor to have a child with her. She is heartbroken when Thor picks Karim over her and tells her that he thinks of her like "a little sister". After Karim's death, Thor decides that he will be the father of her child. Unfortunately, she dies in saving Zagi's life from a bullet shot by a Noire Ring survivor. At the end of the final episode, Chen is shown adopting a child that Thor names Tiz. He claims that it means "Hope".
- He is known only as ‘Third’ as he is the third in command of Ochre Ring, claiming that it has been so long since he was called by his original name that he can no longer remember it. He acts as a supporter of Thor when he declares that he intends to become the Beast King. He says that he cannot love Chen the way she wants because he is in love with another woman from Earth -- this is most likely a lie. In the last few episodes, his true intentions surface: he was using Thor to complete a mission given to him by his commander so that he could go to Earth, but much to his dismay, on a mission to save Chimaera, he discovers that Earth had been destroyed 130 years ago. He commits suicide in order to force Thor into escaping from Hecate.
- Zagi is introduced early in the series as he saves Thor and Rai from a dangerous situation. He is very pragmatic and encourages Thor to abandon his brother rather than protect him due to his weakness. He also becomes the Top of his ring at the same time Thor does. He actually had feelings for Karin but said nothing and only truly admitted it a day before she was killed. Tiz tells Zagi that he and Thor are truly good friends.
- Karin is a very beautiful woman and acts as Blanc Ring's second in command. She appears later in the series but plays an important role. At first, she hates Thor for having all of Zagi's attention and even tries killing him at one point, but she quickly falls in love with him. She is in love with both Thor and Zagi, and she even says that she wants to bear both of their children. But before she could do so, she was killed by Third. She had tried to run after Zagi when he left, but in the end she mistook Third for Zagi, seeing him wearing the same cloak. She called out Zagi's name letting Thor hear her voice, and that was when Third intentionally killed her.
- The leader of Sun Ring's clan. She is constantly hounded by Ochre Ring's leader to become his wife. Despite this, she is very enthusiastic and vocal about her love for his third in command, Third, placing both of them in danger. Further in the future, she gets into a fight to become top for the Sun Ring and wins. Due to serious injuries, however, she has to amputate her leg resulting in her losing her place as top. She did not want Third to see her in such a state, so she tried to keep away from him when he, Thor, and Tiz went to the Noire Ring. From then on she helps Thor, Third and Tiz in their adventures.
Manga
The Jyu-Oh-Sei manga was first serialized in HakusenshaHakusensha
is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....
's monthly shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
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...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, LaLa
Lala
Lala VC was an Indian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth soldiers.-Details:...
in December 1993. Several chapters of the series were serialized in Hakusensha's other bi-monthly shōjo manga magazine, Melody
Melody (magazine)
, stylized as MELODY is a Japanese shōjo manga magazine published on odd numbered months of the 28th by Hakusensha.-Current serializing titles:*Hana Yori mo Hana no Gotoku - Minako Narita*Himitsu – Top Secret - Reiko Shimizu*Kurotsubaki - Masumi Kawasō...
. The chapters released were then collected into five tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes and later re-released into three kanzenban volumes. It was licensed and released in English in North America by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
.
Anime
Jyu-Oh-Sei has been adapted into an anime which consists of 11 episodes, which began airing in Japan on April 13, 2006. The series has been licensed in North America by Funimation EntertainmentFunimation Entertainment
Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...
.
Theme Music
- Opening: "Deep in Your Heart" by Kōichi DōmotoKoichi Domotois a Japanese idol, singer, singer-songwriter, composer, lyricist, television personality, seiyū and actor. Along with Tsuyoshi Domoto , he is a member of KinKi Kids, which is a Japanese duo under the management of Johnny & Associates.- Career :Born in Ashiya, Hyōgo, Japan, Domoto joined the...
- Ending: "手をつないで" (Te wo Tsunaide) by YounhaYounhaYounha , is a South Korean pop singer who first got her start in Japan, and continues to have success today in both countries....
Episode list
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