The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok

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The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok
魔探偵ロキRAGNAROK
(The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok)
Genre Comedy, Fantasy, Mythological, Supernatural
TV anime
Directed by Hiroshi Watanabe
Studio Studio DEEN
Network Japan TV Tokyo
Argentina Mexico Venezuela Brazil Animax

United States Anime Network

Canada Anime Network(Video On Demand)
Original run 5 April 2003 – 27 September 2003
No. of episodes 26

The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok (魔探偵ロキRAGNAROK, Matantei Loki Ragnarok) is a manga by Sakura Kinoshita published from August 1999 to October 2004. A television anime based upon the manga series ran for 26 episodes from April 5, 2003 to September 27, 2003 in Japan.

The series originally ran in the magazine Monthly Shonen Gangan under the name The Mythical Detective Loki (魔探偵ロキ, Matantei Loki), but Ragnarok was added to the title when the series was purchased by publishing company MAG Garden and moved to Comic Blade magazine. The Mythical Detective Loki was collected in 7 volumes by Gangan Comics, which were later republished by Blade Comics; it has not been officially licensed for US distribution. The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok ran for 5 more volumes, which were published in Japan by Blade Comics, and picked up for translation and English release by ADV Manga. Chuang Yi has released an English version in Singapore. The anime has been licensed for English release by ADV Films. The anime series is also being broadcast across South America by the anime television network, Animax.

The fact that the second manga series has been licensed in North America without the first series is a source of some controversy among fans in English-speaking countries, as the second series is a direct continuation from the first and refers back to previous events frequently. Both series were licensed in Singapore.

Contents

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The main character is Loki, the Norse god of mischief. After causing boundless trouble in the land of the gods, Loki is banished to the world of humans and transformed into a childhood version of himself. To get home, he must collect "evil airs" (evil spirits), so he sets up Enjaku Detective Agency, specializing in strange and paranormal cases to make his search easier. For better or worse, he attracts Mayura Daidouji— a mystery-crazed teenage girl who quickly appoints herself a member of his detective agency.

The series is based upon Norse mythology, but with many artistic liberties taken with the source material for the manga, and many further changes made from the manga to the anime. For instance, an extra illustration at the end of the 7th volume ofThe Mythical Detective Loki is a mini-diagram of Loki's family tree, which makes reference to Sigyn, Vali, Nari, and Sleipnir, who never appear in either the manga or anime.

[edit] Primary Characters

Loki

God of mischief (and in some versions chaos) in Norse mythology. Trapped in the body of a child, he seeks a way back to the realm of the gods and his original body. He is the father of Fenrir, Yamino, and Hel. He has red-brown hair and green eyes; he also has an aversion to deep water. Loki has many romantic interests. In the anime, Freya loved him in the world of gods but he does not seem to like her that way, the Norn Sisters are also attracted to him mostly because of his kindness and beauty. Mayura seems to have romantic feelings towards him because of his courage, intelligence and concern for her. It is not clear if Loki is in love with Mayura but, in the anime, he decided not return to the world of the gods because he did not want to leave an important person behind. Loki adopted willingly his child form so Mayura could find the "Loki" she knew.

Voiced by: Yuriko Fuchizaki (Japanese), Shannon Emerick (English)
Adult Form - Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Jose Diaz (English)

Mayura Daidouji

大堂寺繭良, Daidōji Mayura; まゆら is used in place of 繭良 after her introduction.
The main human character of the series: a pink-haired, red-eyed 16-year-old high school student obsessed with mysteries and the occult. Despite her love of strange cases, she never manages to find out who Loki is-- partly due to the fact that she has absolutely no sixth sense, despite being the daughter of a Shinto priest. Mayura also seems to have romantic feelings towards Loki near the end of the anime series, mostly by saying that he is a very important person to her. When Loki "disappeared" ( actually he decided to go back to the world of the gods) Mayura looked everywhere for him, when "God" (adult Loki) granted her a wish she wished to see Loki even if it was for a last time.

Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

Ryuusuke Yamino

闇野竜介, Yamino Ryūsuke; in the manga, various characters also address and refer to him as メガネ Megane, i.e. "four-eyes"
Loki's second son takes the form of a polite, bespectacled boy in his late teens, and serves as his housekeeper, cook, and assistant. He enjoys cooking, cleaning and other domestic activities, and in the anime, he also has an amusing addiction to ordering useless items from mail-order catalogs. His real name is Jormungand, also known as the Midgard serpent, since his true form is that of a giant serpent that encircles the Earth. Loki rescued Yamino from the bottom of the sea by casting a spell on him (thus giving him a human form) so that he could accompany his father on Earth; for this, he is eternally grateful. The revelation of Yamino's true identity occurs earlier in the manga than the anime, and seems to play more of a part in his characterization for the first manga series. He probably wears glasses as a reference to the Indian cobra (眼鏡蛇 meganehebi, or "glasses snake", in Japanese).

Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki (Japanese), Illich Guardiola (English)

Fenrir

Loki's first son takes the form of a small black dog. His real identity is that of the Fenrisulfr, a giant wolf bound by the gods. Fenrir enjoys food and taunting Yamino. A running gag in both the anime and manga is how Fenrir can be very bossy and intentionally crude around Yamino, then instantly become the most affectionate and harmless puppy-son possible the moment "Daddy" walks in. (During the series, he has an almost scary Father Complex. He's very outwardly protective of Loki, spouting threats when Loki may be in danger.)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima (Japanese), John Swasey (English)

Hel

Loki's only daughter, Hel is the goddess of the underworld. Portrayed as an adolescent girl with wavey pink hair, green eyes and glasses, and a strong obsession with her father, though the nature of it differs between the manga and anime.

Voiced by: Omi Minami (Japanese), Rozie Curtis (English, ep 14), Taylor Hannah (English, eps 22+)

Narugami

Actually the Norse God of thunder, Thor, in the form of a teenage boy with brown hair and eyes. He was sent to Earth from the realm of gods to kill Loki; in the manga, he doesn't remember this at first, while in the anime, he chooses not to kill Loki because he sees no reason to. Unfortunately, he forgot how to return to the realm of the gods, so he is forced to work a wide array of part-time jobs to support himself, which becomes another one of the series' recurring jokes. He always carries around a wooden sword, which is actually Thor's hammer Mjollnir in disguise.

Voiced by: Shotaro Morikubo (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)

Reiya Ohshima

大島玲也 Ōshima Reiya, usually called レイヤ Reiya; "Reya" is a spelling adopted by ADV Manga
Reiya is a young girl with blue-violet eyes, brown hair and a cute crush on young Loki. In the anime, she is the sole survivor of a rich family killed in a car accident, and she hires Loki to solve a mystery about her mansion. In the manga, she hires Loki because she has been having unsettling dreams about her deceased sister Lisa; she lives with her aunt, uncle, and two older cousins. Reiya's true identity is the transmigrated Norse goddess Freya—unlike Loki, however, Reiya's memory was wiped by Odin, so she has no memory of her past life. Reiya becomes Freya when the necklace Brisingamen is put around her neck, but reverts back to Reiya when the necklace is removed, with no memory of what happens while wearing it. Freya, just like her alter ego, is enamoured with Loki, though she's far more aggressive about it than Reiya. Reiya is also capable of becoming Freya when extremely jealous or frightened, as well as other circumstances.

Voiced by: Rika Komatsu (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)
Freya - Junko Asami (Japanese), Shelley Calene-Black (English)

Kazumi Higashiyama

東山和実 Higashiyama Kazumi
Sent by Odin to assassinate Loki, the watchman Heimdall takes the form of a young boy as a disguise. However, due to the theft of his right eye, he is forced to have neck-length purple hair that completely covers the right side of his face. His nails are actually long, sharp claws, so he wears bulky gloves to hide them. He believes Loki to be the thief that stole his eye, so in addition to carrying out the assassination order, he intends to retrieve his eye or avenge its loss by any means necessary. Although he is one of the more serious characters in the series, Heimdall is also the butt of many jokes. The manga frequently makes fun of his serious personality and his obsession with Loki, and even though "Kazumi Higashiyama" doesn't attend school, Heimdall still has a daily schedule consisting of piano lessons, singing lessons, and cram school. In the anime, Heimdall usually gets dragged along on shopping sprees by his roommate Freyr, much to his own dismay.

His name is very similar to Kinoshita's co-author in Tactics, Kazuko Higashiyama.

Voiced by: Romi Paku (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)

Mysterious Thief Freyr

怪盗フレイ Kaitō Furei; sometimes translated as "Phantom Thief Frey" and other variants.
Freyr is Freya's older brother. He was brought to Earth to aid Heimdall in the destruction of Loki, but quickly drops that mission to search for Freya once he realizes she is there, too. Somewhere along the line, he decides to get Loki's attention by becoming a master jewel thief—the natural enemy of any great detective. Impulsive and quixotic, Freyr seems to think of everything in terms of Romantic cliche, dramatic stereotypes, and absurd non sequiturs. His primary agenda is to find Freya, or at least ensure that Loki isn't corrupting her. However, in the course of his plans, Freyr runs into Mayura, falls in love at first sight, and renames her Yamato Nadeshiko (大和撫子 Yamato nadeshiko, a name for the prototypical ideal woman; a sort of Japanese Dulcinea).

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)

The Norn Sisters

Verdandi, Urd and Skuld are the goddesses of fate. In the manga, they are a bit ambiguous in their loyalties. Though they help Loki often, such as by giving him the magical ring Draupnir (which can be used to store evil spirits), they have plans of their own, separate from those of Odin and the other gods. Urd, in particular, is implied to be manipulating events on her own. In the anime, they have been sent to earth by Odin to kill Loki. Most of their attempts fall into the "Monster of the Week" pattern familiar to Super Sentai shows and magical girl/magical boy anime.

In the anime, there are many strong hints that Loki had an affair with Skuld in Asgard-- an entire episode is even dedicated to this question --which could be the Norns' fuel for 'hating' and helping him. In the manga, Skuld certainly has a crush on Loki, but there are no hints of anything more serious.

Voiced by: Verdandi - Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Tamara Levine (English)
Urd - Mariko Suzuki (Japanese), Kaytha Coker (English)
Skuld - Mai Nakahara (Japanese), Melissa Davis (English)

Odin

King of the gods. Odin is only referred to, never seen or interacted with, in the first series of the manga. In the second series, he is hinted at for a while with silhouettes and frames containing parts of his clothing, but eventually is seen unobscured. In the anime, he is only shown as a red eye. He seeks to kill Loki, but is somehow unable to do so himself, so he sends assassins instead. He was the one who commanded Loki to take Heimdall's eye.

Spica

Spica is the reincarnation of Angrboda, the giantess who bore three of Loki's children (the ones that were a precursor to Ragnarok). She is the mother of Fenrir, Jormungand, and Hel. In her human form, Spica is a normally mute girl with a HUGE appetite.

Utgard-Loki

Utgard Loki is the "other" Loki, who held half of Loki's power. He is the King of Utgard, Land of the Giants. When Urd killed Utgard Loki in the manga, Loki got his power back. He seems to be interested in Spica.

[edit] The Mythology

Some basic information on the mythology may explain some of the less obvious reasons behind the relationships. (More detailed information can be found under Norse Mythology.)

  • There is a prophecy that at Ragnarok (the end of the world), the children of Loki by the giantess Angrboda, would cause trouble. Because of this, the gods were frightened of them, and so bound Fenrir and Jormungand and exiled Hel in order to delay the coming of Ragnarok. In the manga, Yamino is terrified of Narugami as soon as he shows up, because Thor is "a slayer of monsters", and Yamino knows from his imprisonment that the gods think of him as a monster. Also, though it is not mentioned in the manga or anime, there is a myth about Thor having once gone fishing very far at sea and ending up 'catching' the Midgardsorm instead of a whale.
  • At Ragnarok, Odin is to be killed by Fenrir, and Fenrir will be killed by Odin's son Vidar. Thor will kill Jormungand, and then die from the serpent's poison. Heimdall and Loki will battle each other and both die at each other's hands. Freyr will die at the hands of the fire giant Surtr because he gave away the sword that would have saved him in exchange for the love of a particular maiden. (There is no Surt in the manga or anime. The manga does, however, have Utgard-Loki, King of the Giants, who has his own plans in regards to Loki and the gods.)
  • According to one myth, Loki killed Odin's beloved son Baldr. All things in existence had promised never to harm Baldur, except for the mistletoe. Loki took the mistletoe, made a dart out of it, and gave it to Baldur's blind brother Hod to use in a game of "Throwing Darts At Baldur". Baldur died, and Hel refused to release him from her realm unless all creatures mourned for him. When Loki heard this he changed into a giantess and did not weep. So Baldur remained dead, and Loki was punished by being bound to a rock with the venom of a serpent dripping on him constantly.
  • Loki had two children, Vali and Nari, by his wife Sigyn of the Aesir, as well as several illegitimate children. They never appear in either the manga or show, though there are acknowledged by Kinoshita in an endpaper to one volume. Many fans also believe Mayura to be the reincarnation of Sigyn. Sigyn is known in the mythology for her loyalty to Loki; when he is punished for the death of Baldr, she remains by his side, catching the dripping venom in a bowl in an attempt to relieve his suffering.

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[edit] Publication

Japanese

  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2002). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 1. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-901926-16-0.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2003). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 2. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-901926-39-X.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2003). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 3. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-901926-80-2.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2004). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 4. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-86127-031-6.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2004). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 5. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-86127-099-5.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2003). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok Perfect Guidebook. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-901926-83-7.

Limited Editions

These were often packaged with special extras, such as audio drama CDs or collectible figurines.

  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2003). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 2 Limited Edition. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-901926-34-9.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2003). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 3 Limited Edition. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-901926-84-5.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2004). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 4 Limited Edition. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-86127-022-7.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2004). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 5 Limited Edition. Mag Garden. ISBN 4-86127-094-4.

English (North American)

  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2002). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 1. ADV Manga. ISBN 1-4139-0055-0.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2003). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 2. ADV Manga. ISBN 1-4139-0184-0.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura (2005). The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 4. ADV Manga. ISBN 1-4139-0324-X.

English (Singapore)

  • Kinoshita, Sakura. The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 1. Chuang Yi. ISBN 981-260-145-7.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura. The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 2. Chuang Yi. ISBN 981-260-210-0.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura. The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 3. Chuang Yi. ISBN 981-260-251-8.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura. The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 4. Chuang Yi. ISBN 981-260-251-8.
  • Kinoshita, Sakura. The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok 5. Chuang Yi. ISBN 981-260-394-8.

[edit] Trivia

  • The anime version has several interesting links to the anime version of Get Backers.
    • Many voice actors appear in both animes, e.g. Miki Shinichiro (Yamino in Loki, Teshimine Takeru in GB).
    • In Loki, Heimdall (Paku Romi) and Freyr (Koyasu Takehito) live together; in GB, they voiced the same character (Kakei Jubei, with Romi voicing a young Jubei).
    • In both animes, Morikubo Shotaro voices characters with powers concerning electricity (Thor in Loki and Amano Ginji in GB). Coincidently, both characters are not very smart and are also fond of food.
    • Sakurai Takahiro voices handsome gentlemen in both animes (Adult Loki, and Kagami Kyoji in GB).
  • In Episode 3, Loki makes a possible reference to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. After hearing the details of a case involving animals going berzerk for seemingly no reason, he comments, "Maybe we should call that pet detective fellow, what was his name?"
  • In Episode 10, in the coffee shop called Kacky's, the ending theme "Believe In Heaven" can be heard playing from the speakers.
  • In Episode 11, during the part where Mayura and Freyr are trying to keep the Mystery Research club, there is a parody towards "The Ring" where Heimdall starts crawling out of the TV.

[edit] External links

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