"Wooden Sword" Ryu
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Ryunosuke Umemiya (梅宮 竜之介 Umemiya Ryūnosuke), usually called "Wooden Sword" Ryu (木刀の 竜 Bokutō no Ryū), is a character in the anime and manga Shaman King. In the English anime, his name is Rio. A direct translation of his nickname reads "Dragon of the Wooden Sword".
He was born on December 24, 1982. In the manga he is 16 years old in his first appearance (2 years, 5 months older than Yoh). He is a Capricorn and has the blood type "O".
He usually wears exaggerated 1970s fashion: white suits and dark shirts with oversized collars, cuffs and lapels, plus pointy shoes (he is a fan of Elvis Presley). His battle outfit resembles that of Mikihisa and Ren, sporting a vest-styled shirt that exposes his stomach and pants that occasionally puff out above the ankles. His crowning glory is a foot-long pompadour, which keeps getting lopped off by Yoh Asakura and others.
Ryu in the beginning of Shaman King is a gang leader who is always on the lookout for the "Best Place" (The "Sacred Hang" in the English anime; His gang is known as the "Dead Enders" in the English anime).
Ryu comes off as being not too bright, and really thinks more about girls and his "'do" than anything else; however, he is quite deep and philosophical and turns out to be a magnificent shaman after awakening his latent abilities. He later gets a spirit ally, Tokagero (Tokageroh). Rio's goal in the English anime is to be Shaman King so he can get a 'First Lady' or 'Shaman Queen' to call his own. In the manga and the Japanese anime, Ryu's goal is simply to support Yoh Asakura in becoming the Shaman King. He also has a big affection for young Lyserg Diethel, always looking out for him even after he leaves Yoh's group to join the X-Laws.
Ryu's nickname comes from the fact he carries a wooden sword, or bokutō. In the English anime, Rio has a Hispanic accent.
Ryu gets a new bokuto carved from the god wood shin-boku in volume 12 this is revealed and he defeats Boris Tepes Dracula. It is named Ame no murakumo.
In the sequel manga Funbari no Uta, he accompanies Hana Asakura (the son of Yoh and Anna) to look for legendary warriors.
[edit] Techniques
So far Ryu has shown only one move, a powerful sword attack named "Hell Dragon, Crimson Lizard".
| Shaman King |
|---|
| Techniques |
| Over Soul (Spirit Control)| Giant Over Soul (Giant Spirit Control) |Techniques of Shaman King |
| Characters |
| Asakura Family:Yoh Asakura | Anna Kyōyama | Kino Asakura | Yohmei Asakura | Hana Asakura | Yohken Asakura |
| Allies/Teammates: Horohoro (Trey Racer) | Manta Oyamada (Morty) | Chocolove McDaniel (Joco) | Faust VIII | "Wooden Sword" Ryu (Rio) | Tamao Tamamura (Tamara) |
| Spirits: Amidamaru | Bason | Lee Bailong | Tokagero |
| Native American Shamans: Silva | Kalim |
| Tao Family: Tao Jun (Jun) | Tao Ren (Len) | Tao Yúan (En) |
| X-Laws: Iron Maiden Jeanne | Lyserg Diethel | Marco |
| Enemies: Hao Asakura (Zeke) | The Hanagumi | Opacho |
