Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki

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Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki
Author(s) Kittyhawk
Website http://www.sgvy.com/
Current status / schedule updating irregularly
Launch date 2002
Genre(s) Magical girl Parody

Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki (SGVY) is an irregularly updated webcomic by Kittyhawk, also known for her work on The Jar. The plot largely parodies typical magical girl anime. The protagonist is a high school student named Kanazuchi Yuuki who is chosen by a typical animal mentor to be the next valkyrie (superhero–little connection to the mythological valkyries). He is transformed into one before the mentor notices that he is, in fact, male. Valkyries are by definition always female. Mayhem ensues.

The comic was launched in 2002, and was previously hosted on Comic Genesis before moving to its own server.

In 2004 it won a Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards (WCCA) award in the category Outstanding Superhero / Action Comic. It was nominated again in 2005 and a third time in 2006.

Contents

[edit] Basic Plot

The story follows the misadventures of fanboy Kanazuchi Yuuki, who after the purchase of a new and hard to find magical girl DVD had just settled down to watch it. Unbeknownst to him, this was a trick set up by the Norse messenger god Hermod who disguised himself as the DVD to find the replacement Valkyrie, whom he would endow with special powers. He never guessed that a man would be the one to purchase the DVD however, thus when he transformed Yuuki into a Valkyrie he also unwittingly turned him into a teenage girl. Hermod agreed to change him back only if Yuuki would agree to defeat a nearby monster that was rampaging through Tokyo. Reluctantly, he agreed, though only afterward did either of them realize that the spell had bonded with his body and become more difficult to reverse. With little hope of regaining his manhood, he accepted Hermod's offer to train him to become a full fledged Valkyrie and participate in the battle against the fire giant Surt and the possible coming of Ragnarok. In the meantime, Yuuki will also have to deal with his relationship with his best friend Shuzaya Chiaki, his trainer Thor, his rival Loki, and male love interest Himuro Taki. Run-ins with different monsters from Norse Mythology as well as other prominent deities are a common occurrence.

[edit] Characters

(From the character page of the main site.)

Kanazuchi Yuuki (Valkyrie Yuuki)
Yuuki is a mahou shoujo (magical girl) fanboy. Thanks to Hermod's magic, he now transforms into a magical girl himself. Yuuki is the new valkyrie and is charged with protecting Midgard and Asgard from the forces of the fire giant Surt.
He is an average student. He could make better grades, but he really doesn't put any effort into his studies. He prefers to pursue magical girl anime, manga, and merchandise. He lives alone, as his father is constantly on business trips.
Hermod
Hermod is the god of messengers in the Norse pantheon. He sides with the Aesir, which is lead by Odin. Hermod was sent to Midgard (the mortal realm) to find the new valkyrie. He decided that disguising himself as a magical girl DVD was the best way to find one.
No one is sure what kind of animal Hermod is supposed to be. He claims to be a marmoset, but some say he's "one messed up little critter, I tells ya."
Shuzaya Chiaki
Shuzaya Chiaki has only one want in life: to be in a magical girl story. While this may seem silly, magical girls are everything to Chiaki. She believes that there are magical girls in this world. There just has to be. She doesn't know how right she is though.
When Chiaki is not looking for magical girls, she is buying magical girl merchandise or taking care of her new pet, Myu Myu-chan, who she is convinced is a magical pet of a magical girl.
Loki
Loki was a giant who was found by Odin and his brothers. Despite their hatred of giants, they thought he was awesome, so Odin made Loki a blood brother, thus making him one of the Aesir.
Currently Loki is chained under the earth with a snake dripping poison into his eyes because of the whole Balder incident. Loki's whole take on the incident was that "the little snot had it coming to him." This defense didn't help him.
Loki is able to project himself into the body of a stuffed white cat, so he is able once again wander Midgard. The knife he carries is for "little children and dogs that have the stones to pick [him] up."
Loki really likes Yuuki. A good thing?
Himuro Taki
Himuro Taki is a student at Montrose Academy East, where he is an office worker some of the time. Taki likes Montrose Academy East because of its strange and varied curriculum (meaning he can study Norse mythology with no problem). He also likes girls who are strong and have something unique about them.
Myu Myu-chan
Myu Myu-chan the Auroch is the first beast that Yuuki faces. He is not so much dumb, but easily confused. As the large bull auroch, he is capable of destroying city blocks in a matter of seconds. But as a small "lawn-cow," he is capable of being run over by cars.
Myu Myu-chan is currently living as a pet with Chiaki, who named him.
Surt
Surt is the leader of the fire giants and Muspelheim. He hates the Aesir for hunting his kind and forcing them to live on the fringes of the universe. He wants to get revenge and waits patiently from the edge of Muspellheim for his chance.
Thor
The god of thunder, son of Odin and half brother of Loki. Was sent to Yuuki by his father to train Yuuki into being a more competent Valkyrie, which he intends to do no matter how much it annoys her.

[edit] References in Other Sources

  • There is a site dedicated to translating the comic into Japanese.[1]
  • Korsil rated the comic 5 stars and "One of the best."[2]
  • SGVY has been cameoes/referenced by a number of fellow webcomics, including:

[edit] Plagiarism rumors

A Direct-to-DVD series named 聖少女戦士 St.ヴァルキリー ("Holy Girl Soldier St. Valkyrie") has appeared on 2006-12-22 on AmazonJP, and it bears a striking resemblance with Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki. It features girls in the guise of Valkyries, fighting "possessed persons" in a sentai style.

  • First, there's a character named Valkyrie Yuuki. The author said "The kanji for both Yuuki are different (my Yuuki, 勇希; their Yuuki, 裕樹), granted, but the pronunciation is the same. And that's what counts".
  • Second, the uniforms (school and battle armor) are very similar to the one used by Yuuki.
  • Thirds -and perhaps the most important- St. Valkyrie's Valkyrie Yuuki starts the series out as a boy and becomes a girl after transforming into the Valkyrie, and remains so even after powering down.

This has been reported on Digg by some fans, the text is as it follows.

"First, Todd Goldman traced a David Kelly comic. Now a Japanese company have produced a direct to video series about a transgendered boy who becomes a Valkyrie. This is no less than a blatant ripoff off of the webcomic SGVY. They didn't even change the boy's name! Is copyright just for the rich? The artist explains her situation with video evidence."[14]

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • SGVY's forum is called Montrose Academy. This is a reference to KittyHawk's previous series, The Jar, which was set in Montrose Academy.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Valkyrie Yuuki（ヴァルキリーユウキ）を、超意訳するページ 表紙
  2. ^ PostNuke powered Website
  3. ^ Closetspace
  4. ^ Evil Overlords United - Monday, February 19, 2007
  5. ^ From Then On Forth - Where self has two meanings... Monday, August 29, 2005
  6. ^ The KAMics - DrunkDuck.com!
  7. ^ Magiversity
  8. ^ Mechagical Girl Lisa A.N.T - Monday, August 16, 2004 - OMFG SPARKLYPINK!
  9. ^ Okashina Okashi - Strange Candy - Sunday, December 5, 2004
  10. ^ Plugged Nickel: Canadian Content for the Masses
  11. ^ http://tashasworld.comicgenesis.com/d/20050306.html
  12. ^ Triquetra Cats - 20040616
  13. ^ Triquetra Cats - 20061006
  14. ^ Digg - More Webcomics Theft: Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki as a TV series?

[edit] External links

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