Makai Senki Disgaea
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| Makai Senki Disgaea | |
|---|---|
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| 魔界戦記ディスガイア | |
| Genre | Fantasy, Comedy |
| TV anime | |
| Director | Kiyotaka Isako |
| Studio |  Oriental Light and Magic |
| Licensor |  Geneon |
| Network | CBC |
| Original run | April 4, 2006 – June 20, 2006 |
| Episodes | 12 |
| Related works | |
Makai Senki Disgaea (魔界戦記 ディスガイア?), or Netherworld Battle Chronicle Disgaea, is an anime based on the video game Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Makai Senki Disgaea follows the same general plot as the game, although some roles and the timing of events have been altered. New merchandise for the anime is also being produced. The anime is licensed by Geneon with NISA in the United States.
Originally, a special DVD, and then a bonus feature of Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, showed a trailer of what the Disgaea anime would look like. The trailer showed mainly scenes from episode 1 of the game where Laharl is awakened by Etna and he challenges Mid Boss in his castle. Also shown were Flonne's decent into the Netherworld, Gordon piloting his ship through space, and a peculiar battle between Laharl and Baal (who is visibly absent in the current anime). However, the anime turned out to be much different from what was shown in the trailer. A preview of Disgaea was also available on another Geneon anime DVD, Hellsing Ultimate OVA 1.
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[edit] Plot
Two years ago, the Angel Trainee Flonne was sent to the Netherworld to assassinate King Krichevskoy. However, when she arrived at the Overlord's Castle, it was covered in flames. For the next two years, Flonne searched for her target, narrowing her search to a local dump. She found a coffin with Krichevskoy's emblem on it and tried to carry out the assassination. However, it turned out that it was not Krichevskoy, but his son Laharl. Learning that his father has died, Laharl set out to claim the title of Overlord for himself. Flonne and another demon by the name of Etna followed after him.
[edit] Main characters
- Laharl
- Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (Japanese), Barbara Goodson (English)
- Two years after the death of his father, King Krichevskoy, Laharl was awakened with the ambition to become the next Overlord of the Netherworld. Laharl is an extremely self-centered individual, and insists that he is evil with great fervor, but he occasionally fails to hide his compassion, invariably leading to much teasing on the part of his vassals, Etna in particular. Laharl is very insecure with his emotions, and believes that they are signs of a weakness that Demons should not have. As such, he always responds to his vassal's taunts with adamant refusal of any kindness in his heart, usually accompanied by a rather unneeded show of force. Despite his rather slim frame, Laharl possesses immense physical strength, as well as powerful magic, and often displays his power in excess to enforce his authority over his vassals. He is ruthless in battle, and thinks nothing of the life of his opponent until they are at his mercy. He also has an irrational fear of sexy women.
- Etna
- Voiced by: Tomoe Hanba (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English), Kate Higgins (English trailer)
- Etna is Laharl's subordinate. Though she seems to serve him faithfully, she has her own secret agenda. She previously served the late King Krichevskoy. She made a promise to the king to protect Laharl, though she doesn't respect him as a superior. She herself desires to be the Overlord.
- Flonne
- Voiced by: Yuko Sasamoto (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English)
- An angel trainee and strong believer of love who is sent to the Netherworld to assassinate King Krichevskoy, only to find out that he is already deceased. When she learns of Laharl's refusal to believe in love, she becomes Laharl's follower in order to find good in him. She is very naive and can go on the same topic for a while. She worries about everyone, but doesn't seem too hesitant to take down a necessary opponent.
- Vyers/Mid Boss
- Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese), Grant George (English)
- Self-proclaimed "rival" of Laharl. He calls himself "The Count of Beauty" or "Dark Adonis", but Laharl and others refer to him simply as "Mid-Boss", much to his chagrin. He seems to know when and where to appear whenever Laharl is in a jam or when he simply wants to challenge Laharl.
- Prinnies
- Voiced by: Junji Majima
- Prinnies are human souls sewn into penguin-like beings with demon wings and pouches. They slave hard labor for very little pay as punishment for their evil deeds they have done on earth. Etna hires an army of Prinnies who tend not to listen to her until she threatens to hurt them (which she often does anyway).
- Seraph Lamington
- Voiced by: Junji Majima (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English)
- Seraph Lamington is the leader of Celestia. He is the angel responsible for sending Flonne down to the Netherworld to assassinate King Krichevskoy.
- Captain Gordon
- Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English), Jamieson Price (English trailer)
- Captain Gordon is the 37th Defender of Earth. He has an assistant named Jennifer and a robot named Thursday with whom he explores space and assaults evil doers. He is very loyal to angels even going as far as bowing and kneeling for them, but demons are automatically targets by him.
- Jennifer
- Voiced by: Chiwa Saito
- Jennifer is Captain Gordon's assistant. Despite her sexy appearance, she is a scientist with a Ph. D. She is Thursday's creator.
- Thursday
- Voiced by: Yurika Ochiai
- Thursday is the robotic member of Captain Gordon's team. It is the information station of the group, responsible for analysing and fixing things. It is the lesser member of the team. He can also transform into various weapons.
[edit] Notable game differences
- All episodes (excluding episodes 10-12) take place in various regions of the Netherworld as Laharl attempts to get back to the Overlord's Castle. In the game, all episodes begin from the Overlord's Castle and Laharl travels to the different regions for various reasons (ie. crushing opposing demons).
- In the games, the person who woke Laharl from his two-year slumber was Etna. In the anime, Flonne takes Etna's place in attempting to destroy his coffin using numerous means (first with her bow and arrow, then dynamite, a sledgehammer, axes, a steamroller, and finally a rocket launcher).
- In the anime, Laharl's scarf can shape-shift in various ways, grab objects at long distances, and conceal his sword. These properties are not in the game, though Takehito Harada's concept art did show that Laharl's scarf could at least form wings.
- In the anime, Laharl uses his scarf for flight and appears to not possess wings of his own. In the game series, however, Laharl's wings are actually just very small and are rarely visible. Again, some concept art in the original game, however, did show that he could transform his scarf into wings, though it is not seen in the first game nor in Laharl's later appearances.
- Gordon, Jennifer, and Thursday appear much earlier in the anime than in the game. They are also reduced to a role similar to Team Rocket from the Pokémon series. In the game, they are part of Laharl's party until the final episode, but they leave at the end of the Human arc in the anime .
- The two monsters that attacked Laharl in the first episode never appeared in the game. It was sketched by Takehito Harada, but was never included.
- In the anime, Laharl and Flonne learn that King Krichevskoy died by choking on a dark meatbun (translated as Dumpling of the Damned in the U.S. dub). When the game was localized by Atlus, this was changed to a black pretzel.
- In the anime, there is a special book known as the Demonic Tome (no relation to Sacred Tome in Makai Kingdom). If used correctly, the book grants the holder the title of the Overlord of the Netherworld. The Tome is actually the cover itself, but its contents contain perverted images. Although it does not exist in the original game, it is possible that this book is a reference to the book Vulcanus discovered before he took Flonne's pendant. The Demonic Tome does make an appearance in the added "Etna Mode" storyline of the PSP version (Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness).
- In the anime, a girl by the name of Maharl claims to be Laharl's sister and wishes to claim the title of Overlord just like her older brother. This character was originally designed by Takehito Harada to be Laharl's sister, but she does not exist in the game series.
- In episode 5, Laharl, Etna, and Flonne encounter a demon slaying knight by the name of Sardia. Sardia has a running gag in which she says something only to follow up with an uncertain answer (ie. I hath slain over 2000 demons...or is that under 2000?) In the game, she only appears once when Laharl begins to eliminate his competition. After the battle with her, she never appears again except during a brief appearance near the end of the anime.
- Maderas, the demon who had stolen Etna's memories, was drastically different. In the game, Maderas was a conniving demon who used Etna's stolen memories, an embarrassing picture of Laharl, and Laharl's various other weaknesses against the trio to gain the title of the Overlord. In the anime, however, Maderas acts very effeminate, often swaying his hips or flashing a peace sign. Maderas' is one of the few characters to have a different voice actor. However, his conniving nature is still intact. Much of the plot for the Maderas episode was changed as well. Only Etna's embarrassing memories were stolen and Laharl and Flonne are trapped in a game board for half of the episode.
- The Astro Cannon in the anime is completely different from the game. Whereas the game's Astro Cannon was a giant Dark Cannon, the anime's Astro Cannon looked more high tech and used angelic energy provided by Vulcanus.
- Kurtis' Prinny form is only shown as a cameo on a poster for the War of the Netherworld movie. His Prinny form now looks more like a normal Prinny with Kurtis' hair rather than the green Prinny from the game.
- While the good ending of the game is accepted as the official canon for Nippon Ichi, the anime instead uses the normal ending, although Laharl spares Seraph Lamington. Also, while it was never revealed what form Flonne took after Laharl sacrificed his life, Flonne is in her Fallen Angel form at the end of the anime. Laharl's Prinny-form is actually shown at the end of the anime, refusing to work. He still possesses his red eyes and Flonne's pendant, which she gave him, shortly before her "death"
- Episode 8 revolved around the event that all the Prinnies in the Netherworld congregating on an island to escape their servitude. Although this did not occur in the game, the island is thought to be an homage to Prinny Land, the place where Prinnies who are fed up with their servitude escape to. The baseball stadium where all the Prinnies reside toward the end of the episode is likely a reference to the original game, in which the Prinnies challenged Laharl and company to a game of baseball. The Prinnies' guardian is Pringer X, who is referenced throughout the game series and was first mentioned by Etna during a Next Episode skit. The Prinnies fight with fish in the anime, rather than the daggers and bombs used in the game.
- Unlike in the game, King Krichevskoy makes several appearances through Laharl's flashbacks. While Laharl did not love and even detested his father, his flashbacks show that he may have had held much respect for him. His voice is also different from in the game series and is possibly voiced by Chihiro Suzuki, the voice actor of Mid Boss.
- The demon world treasure house from Episode 3 in the anime, (in which Etna and Flonne exchange not only personalities, but clothing as well), does not exist in the game series.
[edit] Theme songs
Opening theme : "Aishitageru" (愛したげる)
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- Performed by: LOVERIN TAMBURIN
- Lyrics and composition by: aya.
- Arrangement by: Akihiro
Ending theme : "Kusari" (鎖り)
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- Vocals and composition by: Akiko Kawakami
- Lyrics by: Hiiro Misaki
- Arrangement by: Katsu Takahashi
[edit] Episodes
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | "The Sleeping Prince in the Garbage Dump" (眠れるゴミ捨て場の王子) |
4 April 2006 |
| An angel apprentice, Flonne, descends from the heavens and awakens Laharl, the demon prince who then sets on a journey to reclaim his rightful position as the Overlord of the Netherworld. | ||
| 02 | "Scratch 1 Mid-boss, Add 1 Vassal" (中ボス落ちてケライがふえた) |
11 April 2006 |
| As Flonne lays weakened without her pendant. Laharl, Etna, and her Prinny Squad make their way toward the Overlord's Castle. | ||
| 03 | "Welcome to the Netherworld Hall of Treasures" (おいでませ魔界秘宝館) |
18 April 2006 |
| The trio stay at a museum for the night. However, strange things begin to happen when one of the artifacts begin to resonate. | ||
| 04 | "A Solomon-style Judgement at the Dinero Castle?!" (成金城の大岡裁き!?) |
25 April 2006 |
| The Prinnies refuse to work unless they are paid and Laharl sets out to raid the castle of the richest demon around, who happens to be his late father's vassal! | ||
| 05 | "A Dungeon of Temptation…Maybe" (魅惑のダンジョン…かもしれない) |
2 May 2006 |
| Someone is looking to assassinate Laharl and she won't give up without a fight...maybe. | ||
| 06 | "Etna’s Embarrassing Secret" (エトナの恥ずかしいヒ・ミ・ツ) |
9 May 2006 |
| The demon responsible for all the recent trouble appears before the three, but it turns out Etna has other plans in store. | ||
| 07 | "Netherworld Siblings" (魔界兄妹) |
16 May 2006 |
| A young demon girl appears and claims to be Laharl's little sister, Maharl, but something seems fishy and Laharl is set to find out, not without playing the role of an older brother first, though. | ||
| 08 | "The Prinnies Longest Day" (プリニーの一番長い日ッス!) |
23 May 2006 |
| The prinnies start a rebellion and escape to a floating island with the main characters hot on their trail. Big Sis Prinny makes her first appearance in this episode.The pringer X also appears. | ||
| 09 | "Space Battleship Gargantua" (宇宙戦艦ガルガンチュワ) |
30 May 2006 |
| Laharl is officially the Overlord now, but the celebration is stopped short when the Earth Defense Force launches a surprise attack on the Netherworld, led by the galactic battleship Gargantua. | ||
| 10 | "The Defender of Tomorrow Is You" (明日の勇者はキミだ!) |
6 June 2006 |
| The battle between our young Overlord and the EDF continues, while Kurtis' past is revealed. A third party is also revealed to be involved in the invasion of the Netherworld. | ||
| 11 | "A Night Lit Up by the Red Moon" (赤い月が照らす夜) |
13 June 2006 |
| While on the way to Celestia, Gargantua ends up at a snowfield that crosses over to the red moon and the Prinnies start acting strangely. | ||
| 12 | "Love... After the Fighting Is Over" (愛…戦いの果てに) |
20 June 2006 |
| Now that the trio has arrived in Celestia, it is time to settle things with the Seraph himself. What will become of Laharl, Flonne, and Etna once this is all over and what exactly is Seraph Lamington planning? | ||
[edit] Other Disgaea media
- Disgaea novels- A set of novels written by Sow Kanimiso and illustrated by Chou Niku (although they were aided by Takehito Harada in the beginning) These novels begin with a novelization of the first game and then continues the story ten years later. The novels introduce many new characters including Laharl's relatives, Flonne's family, and Gordon and Jennifer's daughter. While it is unknown if the novels are considered canon, it can fit alongside Disgaea and Disgaea 2 in the canon due to the placement of the novel's plot (Disgaea 2 takes place only three years after the game, whereas the Disgaea novels are placed ten years after the first game.) Currently, there are six novels: Enter the Maoh, Revelation, Returned, On Love part 1 and part 2, and Battle of the Maoh (which also feature appearances by Zetta, Pram, Salome, and King Drake from Makai Kingdom) Laharl, Etna, and Flonne also appear in all other Nippon Ichi novels. This includes the Phantom Brave and Makai Kingdom novels. Recently, a novel for Disgaea 2 has been released.
- Disgaea manga- While not necessarily canon, the Disgaea manga illustrated by Arashi Shindo follows the basic storyline. Many events in the manga, while similar, have been altered completely and the humor is a lot more random. (ie. Laharl, Etna, and Flonne begin to believe that Mid Boss is a pedophile due to his recurring presence among the three) Many characters also appear to have different personalities (ie. on occasion, Lamington will be seen baking a cake). The art style is also very different as many of the characters appear somewhat more mature and the art is very shōjo-like. Broccoli Books released the manga in September 2006. Disgaea 2 Volume 1 was released February 2007, and the subsequent Volume 2 is expected in July 2007.
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Official Japanese Page
- (English) Official English Website
- Makai Senki Disgaea (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
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