Urotsukidoji
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| Urotsukidoji | |
|---|---|
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| 超神伝説うろつき童子 (The Legend of the Ultra God and The Wandering Kid) |
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| Genre | Horror fiction, Thriller, Paranormal, Hentai, Mystery, Splatter, EroGuro |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Toshio Maeda |
| Publisher |   Bdérogène Manga 18, CPM Manga |
| Serialized in | |
| Original run | 1986 – |
| No. of volumes | 6 |
| OVA | |
| Directed by | Hideki Takayama |
| Studio | West Cape Productions/Team Mu |
| No. of episodes | 14 |
| Released | 1987-1995 |
Urotsukidoji (超神伝説うろつき童子 Chōjin Densetsu Urotsukidōji?, lit. "The Legend of the Ultra God and The Wandering Kid") is a series of Japanese Original Video Animation (OVA) releases.
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[edit] History
Urotsukidoji was created by Toshio Maeda in 1986 and is an early example of erotic manga and anime. Before creating Urotsukidoji, Maeda had become infamous for his clear and frank depictions of sex and violence in his work. Maeda himself claims to have grown tired of the cliché-ridden world of early erotic manga, and sought to take the genre into new directions and levels of taste. He recounts how he began developing new ideas in this interview with bigempire.com:
At that time, I was dealing with manga for an adult magazine. I really wanted to create something different, but the editor wanted me to create some regular manga for adults - like a typical type of salaryman falling in love with an office lady ... such type of boring story. But I just wanted to make something different. The chief editor - he was against my idea, but I insisted.[1]
One idea that Maeda brought to the manga world was an almost archetypal image of a tentacle, which became a staple in his later work. Below, he explains the meaning behind this idea in the same interview:
At that time, it was illegal to create a sensual scene in bed. I thought I should do something to avoid drawing such a normal sensual scene. So I just created a creature. [His tentacle] is not a [penis] as a pretext. I could say, as an excuse, this is not a [penis], this is just a part of the creature. You know, the creatures, they don't have a gender. A creature is a creature. So it is not obscene - not illegal.
Fame and fortune soon came his way after Urotsukidoji was published. His work was picked up by Central Park Media and West Cape Corporations and they adapted Urotsukidoji from page to the big screen. The film of Urotsukidoji, and its later sequels, became immediately infamous, not just in Japan, but in the rest of the world as well. Maeda also went onto create more perverse tentacle work such as Demon Beast Invasion, Adventure Kid and La Blue Girl. Urotsukidoji is regarded as Maeda's best work and is, according to The Erotic Anime and Movie Guide, the most recognized adult anime in the world.
[edit] Overview
Every 3,000 years the realm of humans (Ninjinkai) is united with the realms of the demons (Makai) and the man-beasts (Jyujinkai) by the revival of the Overfiend (the Chojin), the God of Gods. The Overfiend emerges to bring balance to these three realms, but his coming means chaos and destruction. The sagas follows Amano Jyaku - a man-beast - and his quest to find the real Overfiend and to ensure the safe future of all three realms. However, he finds his beliefs put to the test when the new world he envisaged turns out to be a realm of ultra-violence and tentacle orientated rape.
[edit] Characters
As the Urosukidōji Saga spans over a number of years it incorporates a wide variety of characters. Below is a list of the main characters, which are split into their races:
Ningen (Humans)
- Tatsuo Nagumo - The human that the Chōjin will be reborn through. He is shy and lecherous. Fated to become the Demon of Destruction who decimates the world to pave the way for the birth of his "messianic" offspring
- Akemi Itō - Young, innocent, naive and the idol at Myōjin University. She becomes Nagumo's girlfriend, and the mother of the Chōjin.
- Takeaki Kiryū - Nagumo's cousin, whom Münchhausen uses to resurrect the Kyō-Ō. Commits a series of serial rapes and murders under the control of the Nazi diabolist, who contorts his mind against those he loves. Falls for Megumi Amano - only to be felled by her in the battle against Münchhausen atop the Shinjuku skyscrapers.
- Yūichi Niki - A school nerd who likes Akemi and disapproves of Nagumo. Later used by Suikakujū as a shell to destroy the Chōjin, with the aid of a demonic phallus which he promptly substitutes for his own.
- Ozaki - The jock of Myōjin that all the girls fall for. Amano mistakes him for the Chōjin., which ultimately leads to his demise.
Jūjin (Man Beasts)
- Amano Jyaku - The antiheroic "urotsukidoji" of the saga - he has been searching for the Chojin for three hundred years. Holds to his stringent belief in the Chojin and his Land of Eternity - until events play out in a way totally contrary to what he hoped for...
- Megumi Amano - Amano's nympho sister. She believes Nagumo to be the Chojin from the start. Later falls in love with Takeaki.
- The Great Elder - One of the wisest elders in the man-beast realm. Helps Amano discover the truth behind the legend of the Chojin.
- Lady Mimi - The elder's grand daughter and lover of Amano Jyaku.
Majin (Demons)
- Suikakujū - The rival of Amano Jyaku. The queen of the Makai thinks very highly of him. His quest is to destroy the Chojin in order to keep the Makai (Demon World) intact. A lord amongst demons with a suitably noble men - especially compared to his brethren!
- Kohoki - A demon who was banished to hell for having an affair with Megumi. He later becomes Münchhausen's lackey.
- Togami - A demon sent to Earth to hunt out (and presumably destroy) the Chojin. Depsite his mission he stills find time to rape Akemi, but Amano Jyaku intervenes and destroys him.
- Yoenki - Suikakujū's brother. Using his power-knowledge-esque, memory-warping tactics, Münchhausen manipulates Yoenki into attacking Amano at Osaka.
Makemono (Demon-Beasts)
- Buju - A key character in the post-apocalyptic chapters of the saga. Starts off as a raping, pillaging marauder, only to find some semblance of purpose and redemption in becoming the Kyo-O's guardian on his long journey toward Osaka to confront the Overfiend.
- Gashim - A kindhearted, elderly makemono who accompanies Buju, Himi, Amano et al to Osaka, following his release from Caesar's captivity.
- Ruddle - Another makemono spared from the devastating effects of Kyō-Ō's Light of Judgement at Caesar's palace. Joins Amano and the other Makemono in their journey toward Osaka.
- Idaten - A pure-hearted Makemono youth who takes the high road to Osaka with his fellows. Develops a crush on Himi - which sadly never gets to bloom beyond that....
MISC.
- Kuroko - One of the Kuroko tribe. Holds deep respect for his boss, Amano Jyaku.
- Münchhausen II - The son of a Nazi scientist, hell bent on resurrecting the Kyō-Ō and dominating the world.
- The Overfiend (Chōjin) - The god of gods. His legend reveals that every three thousand years he will be reborn into the human realm and will unite the three worlds into a Land of Eternity; however, prophecy and reality seldom see eye to eye....
- The Lord of Chaos (Kyō-Ō) - The nemesis of the Chōjin, born from the congealed blood of Takeaki at the Gokumon shrine. Münchhausen desperately wants to resurrect her to take over Earth.
[edit] The Anime Saga
There are four main chapters in the original Urotsukidoji saga, along with an unfinished fifth chapter that has so far only been released in Japan and Germany, as well as a complete remake of the first chapter.
[edit] Chôjin Densetsu Urotsukidôji (1987-1989)
- "Birth of the Overfiend" (January 21, 1987)
- "Curse of the Overfiend" (March 21, 1988)
- "Final Inferno" (April 10, 1989)
The three OVAs were later edited into a western theatrical version known as Legend of the Overfiend.
Planet Earth is not all it seems. It is revealed that humans are not alone and that there are unseen realms running parallel to our own: the realms of the Demons (Makai) and the Man-Beasts (Jyujinkai). To further that, there is a 3000 year old legend that fortells the coming of the Overfiend (Chojin) - a being of unimaginable power that will unite all three realms into a land of eternity.
We follow the exploits of the protagonists - man-beast Amano Jyaku, his nympho sister Megumi and their companion Kuroko - as their 300 year search for the Overfiend takes them to a high school in Osaka, Japan. Their discoveries lead them to two students: shy, lecherous Nagumo Tatsuo and school ideal Akemi Ito. But as the film plunges deeper into the dark and macabre, Amano discovers that the Legend of the Overfiend is not what it seems and that the future of the three realms maybe strikingly different to what he is led to believe...
[edit] Shin Chōjin Densetsu Urotsukidōji: Mataiden (1990-1991)
- "A Prayer for the Resurrection of the Lord of Chaos" (December 1, 1990)
- "Battle at Shinjuku Skyscrapers" (April 10, 1991)
The second part of the saga - with an ongoing controversy amongst Urotsukidōji fans as to its whereabouts in the saga as a whole (the main theory is that the two chapters happen in between "Birth of the Overfiend" and "Curse of the Overfiend"). The two OVAs were again later edited into a theatrical version for western cinema, known as Legend of the Demon Womb.
Unbeknownst to Amano Jyaku and Megumi, in 1944 the Nazis attempted to summon the Overfiend's nemesis: the Lord of Chaos (Kyo-o). Top scientist Dr Münchhausen and his son invented a perverse death-rape machine to summon the Lord of Chaos - but the machine overloaded; and helped to destroy half of Berlin - leaving Münchhausen II alive, but psychologically scarred.
During his adolescence, Münchhausen II discovers his father's journal and tries to uncover the secrets of the Jujinkai and the Makai. He finally succeeds and reawakens Kohoki - a demon banished to hell for eternity - into the human realm and the two form an infamous partnership.
Cut to the present day and Münchhausen II is trying to fulfill his father's work - to summon the Lord of Chaos. But to make sure it'll work this time, he needs a human sacrifice. And it just so happens Nagumo's cousin Takeaki Kiryu is on the next plane to Osaka.....
[edit] Chôjin Densetsu Urotsukidôji: Mirai hen (1992-1993)
- "Birth of the True Overfiend" (October 1, 1992)
- "The Mystery of Caesar's Palace" (January 21, 1993)
- "The Collapse of Caesar's Palace" (May 21, 1993)
- "Journey to an Unknown World" (August 21, 1993)
Part three of the Urotsukidoji saga. This is where the saga begins forget the main characters and introduces other secondary characters. The four parts were edited for western audiences as Return of the Overfiend.
At the end of "Final Inferno" we discover that the Chojin is the offspring of Nagumo and Akemi and Nagumo's horrific transformation into the Demon of Destruction - who needs to "destroy the old to make way for the new."
20 years have passed and the Chojin has been prematurely born. He summons Amano Jyaku to protect him and to help to discover what has happened. Unfortunately a new race called the Makemono (Demon Beasts) have risen up to destroy the Chojin - led by the fanatical cyborg Caesar and his comrade Faust. It is apparent they are the cause behind this and want to resurrect the Kyo-O.
Amano, along with the Makemono Buju and Caesar's traitorous daughter Alector, need to stop the two dictators from ruling the land of eternity. The question is, who will succeed...?
[edit] Chôjin densetsu Urotsukidôji: Hôrô hen (1993-1995)
- "The Secret Garden" (December 21, 1993)
- "The Long Road to God" (March 21, 1994)
- "The End of the Journey" (May 20, 1995)
Forgetting plot and characters entirely for the first two OVAs, they gained such notoriety for their gratuitous and explicit nature that they were banned outright from many countries (including Britain). They were edited again for the west under the title Inferno Road.
(Urotsukidoji IV was originally to have another ending, which was fully completed but ultimately discarded. This ending was to have revealed that the apparent Chojin as seen at the start of Urotsukidoji III was not in fact the real Chojin, but yet another Makai. This alternate ending was to have set up the abandoned Urotsukidoji V.)
Continuing straight after the climax of Return of the Overfiend, Amano and the survivors head for Osaka to help the Overfiend after his climatic battle. On the way they find a kingdom where children cruely dominate adults.
As the sick and twisted plot begins to hit home, Amano's problems are furthered when an old nemesis shows up at the wrong time. All in all, the conclusion to the rousing Urotsukidoji Saga is one of great disappointment
[edit] Urotsukidoji V: The Final Chapter (1996)
(December 28, 1996)
Only one episode of this was partially completed, the released version containing numerous examples of animation that is missing in-between frames. The story as such concerned the arrival of the real Chojin as he/she (a hermaphrodite) makes moves to wipe out all life on Earth.
Interestingly, the setup for the show was far more heavily connected with the first two, more popular, chapters in the Urotsukidoji saga, with appearances by Nagumo and Akemi (unseen since the early episodes of Part III), and redesigned character models that more closely resembled the earlier episodes. Some of the less popular characters introduced in chapters III and IV, particularly Buju, were nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, such strategies did little to get this final saga off the ground and the story was shelved.
[edit] Urotsukidoji: New Saga (2004)
This 3-disc collection is a detailed retelling of the first episode in The Legend of the Overfiend. It has the same basic plot as "Birth of the Overfiend", but is more focused on the characters and story in general.
[edit] Legacy
Urotsukidoji has become one of the most infamous animes ever made and frequently given the title of the sickest animated film ever - though this is disputed quite frequently. Many see it as a turning point in anime history due to its storyline, characters and impact; though (due to its controversial nature) others immediately dismiss it as 'just another hentai'.
It is known to have brought anime as an actually recognized form of entertainment in the UK along with numerous other anime of its time (1987), but unfortunately cemented the idea in the public consciousness that it was representative of ALL anime, all but destroying the anime and manga industry in the UK until the worldwide interest in the genre beginning the late 1990s finally revived it at the turn of the century.
This film is infamous as one of the first to be released outside Japan that explored the tentacle rape theme. It is part of a genre of hentai that is best described as erotic horror, or ero-guro ("erotic grotesque").
It was released in edited form in Australia, US, UK (where parts 1 & 2 of Chapter IV were banned entirely), and numerous other western countries. It was one of the first ultra-violent hentai anime.
There is a theory among some anime fans, possibly first espoused by The Erotic Anime Guide, that the series is an elaborate cautionary tale about teenage pregnancy. Alternately, it can be seen as a cautionary tale against blind faith or, possibly, a metaphor on AIDS.
In the UK TV documentary The 100 Greatest Cartoons The Legend of the Overfiend came 72nd.
The beginning of "Thrust!" by heavy metal band White Zombie has a sample from Urotsukidoji.
In their album "Low", Testament had an instrumental piece with heavy sampling from the anime series. In fact, the piece is titled "Urotsukidoji".
Urotsukidoji is referenced in an episode of Dave Lovelace's Retarded Animal Babies.
A scene in the series is cited as having inspired the final scenes in the film adaption of Silent Hill.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Legend of the Overfiend at the Internet Movie Database
- Urotsukidoji at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Urotsukidoji fan page - Galleries, translations and discussion.
- Review of the Urotsukidoji Video Game
