Wish (manga)
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| Wish | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Fantasy |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Clamp |
| Publisher |  Kadokawa Shoten Tonkam Éditions Carlsen Comics Tokyopop Japonica Polonica Fantastica |
| Serialized in | Asuka Comics DX |
| Original run | 1996-06-01 – 1998-08-01 |
| No. of volumes | 4 (complete) |
| OVA | |
| Directed by | Shiro Sasaki Yoshimoto Ishikawa |
| Studio | Clamp |
| No. of episodes | 1 |
| Released | 1998 |
Wish is a shōjo manga series created by Clamp. It is published in English by TOKYOPOP, and it retains its right to left format. The American translation is imported to Australia by Madman Entertainment. Despite technicalities (see below) it is usually cited as a shounen-ai story.
Contents |
[edit] Story
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The story centres around the lives of Kohaku, an angel, and Shuichiro Kudo, a mortal doctor. One day while walking home from work, Shuichiro notices Kohaku stuck on a tree and being attacked by a crow. He gets rid of the crow and pulls Kohaku free of the tree.
In return, Kohaku offers to grant Shuichiro a wish. However, Shuichiro is pretty happy with things as they are (he has a decent home, money, looks and job), so he doesn't want anything. Still, Kohaku is honour-bound to grant the wish, so she stays with him.
The story then charts on how their relationship develops with the help or hindrance of other angelic/demonic/mortal characters subsequently met.
The story runs for four volumes, and by the end Shuichiro wishes for Kohaku to be with him. However, he dies shortly after making this wish (the cause is unknown) so Kohaku goes into a deep sleep for 100 years to wait for his reincarnation, and she and the new Shuichiro live happily ever after. There is a music video in existence with the Wish characters, released by a fansuber group.
[edit] Characters
Although most resemble stereotypical bishounen, the angels in Wish are genderless. However, in the English translation, they are assigned male or female genders, to avoid calling them "it". In the original Japanese, the demons refer to themselves using gender-specific personal pronouns and physically resemble one sex or the other.
- Kohaku: Kohaku is a rather accident-prone angel who has come to Earth in search of her mentor, Hisui. When she gets trapped in a tree and attacked by a crow, she is rescued by Shuichirou, a young doctor. As a result, she feels indebted to grant him one wish but finds the kind doctor is satisfied with all aspects of his life. Thus, she remains with him in hopes of repaying him somehow (subsequently getting in other sticky situations as a result).
Because she is only a trainee angel, Kohaku can only maintain a full-size form during the day - at night she shrinks and is only about a foot tall, looking rather like a chibi character. As an angel, she cannot consume anything that came directly from a living organism (ie meat, vegetables, bread) with the sole exception being milk and occasionally honey.
Eventually, God forces Kohaku to return to Heaven, despite her debt to Shuichiro, because she is the only angel capable of singing to the Tree of Life, from which new angels will hatch from. However, her affection for Shuichiro grown so strong that she returns to Earth without God's permission. As a result, God strips away her powers for 100 years.
This is not a punishment; Shuichiro dies shortly afterwards and the loss of Kohaku's powers means she can sleep for the 100 years it will take for Shuichiro to be reborn. At the end of these 100 years she reawakens and live happily ever after with the new Shuichiro.
Kohaku is rumored to be modeled after Noriaki Kakyoin from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
- Shuichiro Kudo I: The first Shuichiro Kudo is a young doctor who rescues Kohaku from the tree where she is trapped. For this he is granted a wish, but isn't interested as he has everything he wants.
Shuichiro is generally kind and trusting, but isn't one to seek other people's company - something that is remedied throughout the course of the story by the two angels, two demons and two assistant demons who all move into his house.
However, when Kohaku is called back to Heaven he realises how much he is in love with her, and when she comes back he makes his wish - for her to stay with him. Shortly afterward, he dies unexpectedly (cause unknown).
He is rumored to be modeled after Jotaro Kujo from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
- Shuichiro Kudo II: The other Shuichiro Kudo is born 100 years after the last one was, and has the same soul as the previous one.
This Shuichiro is a student at the time he appears in the story, and comes across the house where his previous self lived. Kohaku then appears, offers to grant him a wish in place of the one she couldn't fulfil for his past self, and asks to be with him. Despite having no memory of his old self and hence no memory of Kohaku, he quickly gets back into the swing of things and asks to be with Kohaku. And so they live happily ever after.
- Hisui: Hisui is one of four Angel Masters of the four natural elements (fire, water, earth, and wind), her element being wind.
Hisui is the original reason Kohaku comes to Earth the first time, as the Angel Master disappeared during a meeting at the bridge between Heaven and Hell. She eventually reveals herself to Kohaku, and also reveals that she has made love with Kokuyo and states that she and Kokuyo cannot return to Heaven or Hell because of it.
Shuichiro offers to let Hisui and Kokuyo stay in his house, and this is where they stay for the next 100 years after pledging to look after the sleeping Kohaku.
- Koryu: Koryu is the demon equivalent of Kohaku - he can only maintain a full-size form at night, and at daytime is only about a foot tall. Koryu's attitude toward Kohaku is a bit of a mystery, as he (or she) in turns helps and hinders Kohaku. One of Kouryuu's favorite pastimes is making Kohaku's day utterly miserable, and he derives great pleasure from seeing Kohaku sad. However, his attitude is later revealed to be a crush and he picks on Kohaku needlessly because of it (much like how adolescent boys do with crushes). This is made more apparent when Kohaku is stripped of all powers he's furious over Kohaku's fate, especially after Shuichiro dies.
- Kokuyo: Koukyou is one of the sons of Satan, and falls in love with Hisui.As stated in Hisui's entry, he and Hisui start living at Shuichiro's house, and watch over Kohaku when she sleeps. Kokuyo is also aware of the first Shuichiro's impending death, but God keeps stopping him from telling anyone else so as to make sure things go as they should.
- Ruri and Hari: Ruri and Hari are identical twin cat-demon underlings of Koryu. They can transform into ordinary housecats to hide from the world(during the day they must stay in their cat form, similar to the way Kohaku and Koryu turn small), and will do anything he asks of them to get gifts and/or souls. They deeply enjoy kisses from their master. You can tell them apart only by their jewelry - Ruri wears circles on her earring and necklace (earring and tail when in cat form), and Hari wears bars on hers.
- Touki: The Angel of water in Heaven. Touki has a reputation for being cold-hearted, mostly because of the hardened look that's always on her face. She first appears to see why Usyagi hadn't returned to Heaven and ends up bringing Kohaku back with her. She's very fond of Kohaku and protective of her in her silent way. She has a very discreet relationship with Ransho and though she's very shy with her feelings for him she does genuinely care about him.
- Ransho: The Angel of earth in Heaven. He comes off as one of the most easy-going Angels in all of Heaven despite his status. He loves to tease Kohaku and he's open with his affection for Touki. Like Touki he's very discreet about their relationship but he can admit he loves her. But his loyalty to God is unwavering and he's not hesitant in delivering punishments handed out (as with the cases of Hisui and Kohaku).
- Ryuuki: The Angel of fire in Heaven. He's got a very hotheaded personality and is quick to act before thinking. He's madly in love with Hisui and is convinced she was kidnapped out of Heaven. He often goes on rants about Hisui in the presence of the other Angel Masters, and Ransho often leaves Touki to deal with it. When he finds out Hisui left of her own volition and is deeply in love with Kokuyo he's very hurt by it. But he wants Hisui to be happy and lets her go, though he vows to hate Kokuyo forever.
- Usyagi/Usagi: Usyagi, though it says nothing within the four-volume manga, plays a very important role. Usyagi is a small white rabbit with wings. It relays messages from God - if it visits you, you are getting a message from God himself. The messages it delivers look like flowers, that dissolve and automatically implant themselves in the receiver's mind. Usyagi relays messages from Kohaku to God and back throughout the series.
[edit] Manga (Books)
| Name | Publisher | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Wish Volume 1 (English) | Tokyopop | ISBN 1-59182-034-0 |
| Wish Volume 1 (Japanese) | 講談社 (Kōdansha) | ISBN 4-04-852771-1 |
| Wish Volume 2 (English) | Tokyopop | ISBN 1-59182-060-X |
| Wish Volume 2 (Japanese) | 講談社 (Kōdansha) | ISBN 4-04-852771-1 |
| Wish Volume 3 (English) | Tokyopop | ISBN 1-59182-061-8 |
| Wish Volume 3 (Japanese) | 講談社 (Kōdansha) | ISBN 4-04-852859-9 |
| Wish Volume 4 (English) | Tokyopop | ISBN 1-59182-080-4 |
| Wish Volume 4 (Japanese) | 講談社 (Kōdansha) | ISBN 4-04-852948-X |
| Wish Memorial Illustration
Collection (Japanese) |
講談社 (Kōdansha) | ISBN 4-04-853386-X |
[edit] Drama CD
Voice cast for the drama CD:
- Kohaku: Hiroko Konishi
- Shūichirō Kudō : Kazuya Ichijō
- Kōryū: Yuka Imai
- Hisui: Kikuko Inoue
- Kokuyō: Jūrōta Kosugi
- Ruri: Ikue Ōtani
- Hari: Chinami Nishimura
[edit] Miscellanaeous
Most of the characters in Wish bear the Japanese names of gemstones.
- Kohaku - amber
- Hisui - jade
- Koryu - red garnet
- Kokuyo - obsidian
- Ranshou (the Master Angel of Earth) - blue quartz
- Ryuuki (the Master Angel of Fire) - lapis lazuli
- Sango (a cat befriended by Kohaku) - coral
- Shinju (the cat Sango, renamed by Kohaku) - pearl
- Ruri - blue glass
- Hari - glass
As of Jan. 2007, Wish is the only Clamp series to not have a crossover with either xxxHOLiC or Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles.
