List of media adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the Four Great Classical Novels, has been told in numerous forms including television series, manga and video games.

Contents 1 Chinese manhua 2 Japanese manga 3 Film and television 3.1 Films 3.2 Television 4 Video games 5 Others 6 References

Chinese manhua

• The Ravages of Time - retells the events of Romance of the Three Kingdoms with Sima Yi as the central character. The drawing style is dark and grim, and while it keeps the main plot intact, the finer details are dramatized.
• Three Kingdoms by Lee Chi Ching. Lee has also drawn a spinoff manhua series entitled Battle of Red Cliffs (赤壁之戰). He also illustrated the 13-volume manhua Zhuge Kongming.
• Wuba Sanguo (武霸三國) authored by Yongren (永仁) and Cai Jingdong (蔡景東)
• Sanguo Yanyi (三國演義) by Sun Jiayu (孫家裕)
• Jiaqingqu (嫁情曲) by Lü Xiangru (呂相儒).
• Sanguo Shenbing (三國神兵) by Ip Ming Fat (葉明發).
• Sanguo Yingxiong Zhuan (三国英雄传) by Tung Yin Ming (童彦明).
• Sanguo Wushuang (三國無雙) and Sanguo Wushuang Zhuan (三國無雙傳) - illustrated by Heui Ging-Sam (许景琛). Adapted from the video game series Dynasty Warriors by Koei.
• Sanguo Wushuang Mengjiang Zhuan (三國猛將傳) by Liu Gwong-Jou (廖光祖).
• Shuyun Canglong Ji (蜀雲藏龍記) by Lin Ming Feng (林明鋒).

Japanese manga

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has been adapted into several comic versions in Japan, varying in levels of historical accuracy and loyalty to the original novel and popular tradition.^[1][2] Some of the most widely read in Japan are:

• Sangokushi (Japanese for "Records of the Three Kingdoms") by Yokoyama Mitsuteru (Ushio Shuppansha) and the adapted anime Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi.
• Sōten Kōro by King Gonta (Kodansha)
• Ryūrōden by Yoshito Yamahara (Kodansha)
• Tenchi o Kurau by Motomiya Hiroshi (Shueisha)
• Qwan (Media Factory) and its spinoff Foreign Grass by Aki Shimizu.
• Ikki Tousen - loosely based on the novel, but the characters in the story refer to the names in the Japanese version of the book. In the series, most characters appear to have similar fates to the characters of the same name from the classic novel.
• Lord by Ryoichi Ikegami and Buronson is very loosely based on the novel. In the series, a general from the Nakoku country becomes Liu Bei.
• The novel serves as the model for SD Gundam Sangokuden: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a manga/model kit line in the long running Musha Gundam SD Gundam series.
• Dragon Sister! Sangokushi Hyakka Ryōran (DRAGON SISTER！三國志 百花繚乱) by Nini.
• Gogo Gentoku-kun!! (GOGO玄徳くん) - a gag comedy manga, and its sequels Zoku Gogo Gentoku-kun!!, Zokuzoku Gogo Gentoku-kun!! (続・GOGO玄徳くん, 続続・GOGO玄徳くん) by Shirai Eriko (白井 惠理子).
• Blade Sangokushi (ブレイド三国志) - a manga by Ichikawa Ryūnosuke (壱河 柳乃助).
• Magical Musou Tenshi Tsuki Irase!! Ryofuko-chan (まじかる無双天使 突き刺せ!! 呂布子ちゃん) by Suzuki Jiro (铃木 次郎) and its adapted anime Yawaraka Sangokushi Tsuki Isase!! Ryofuko-chan.
• Jimmu - Can Two Lords Be in the Grand Country? by Yasuhiko Yoshikazu (安彦 良和).^[3]
• Koutou no Akatsuki by Takaguchi Rinrin (滝口 琳琳).
• Sousou Moutoku Seiden by Ōnishi Kōichi (大西 巷一).
• Shin Sangokushi (新三国志) by Yamazaki Hiromi (山崎 拓味)
• Koihime†Musō^[4]
• Yawaraka Sangokushi Tsukisase!! Ryofuko-chan^[4]

Film and television

Films

• Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon - a 2008 film by Daniel Lee based on the novel. The film focused on the story of Zhao Yun (played by Andy Lau) and the plot differs from the original story. Maggie Q starred as the antagonist Cao Ying, a fictional granddaughter of Cao Cao.

• Red Cliff - a Chinese epic film by John Woo, based on the Battle of Red Cliffs. The first part was released in Asia in July 2008 while the second part was released in December. Notable stories from the novel were reenacted, along with epic battle scenes.

• The Lost Bladesman - a 2011 film directed by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, adapted from the story of Guan Yu (played by Donnie Yen) crossing five passes and slaying six generals.

Television

• SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors - is a Japanese anime television adaptation of the SD Gundam model kit series BB Senshi Sangokuden that began airing on April 3, 2010.

• Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi - a Japanese anime series that ran for 47 episodes on TV Tokyo between 1991 and 1992. It focussed on the stories before the Battle of Red Cliffs.

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms - produced by CCTV in 1994. This series is CCTV's most expensive production up-to-date.

• Sangokushi - a three part Japanese anime series. The theme song Fuushi Hanaden (風姿花伝) was performed by Shinji Tanimura.

• Koutetsu Sangokushi - a Shounen-Ai type of anime released in 2007 in Japan. It featured homosexual relationships between some of the male characters.

• Three Kingdoms - a 2010 remake of the 1994 CCTV production.

• K.O.3an Guo - a parody of the original novel. It is the third installment of the Zhongji Series. It starred several Taiwanese teen idols, including members of the bands Wu Hu Jiang and Fahrenheit.

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms - Chinese-Japanese joint product animation in 2009.

• Ikkitousen - a Japanese anime loosely based on the manga - subsequent series were subtitled Dragon Destiny, Great Guardians and Xtreme Xecutor.

• Durarara!! - a Japanese anime with a subplot that loosely references Three Kingdoms. The conflict between the color gangs (the Yellow Scarves and Blue Square) parallels the Yellow Turban rebellion against the Han (represented in the novel as the blue sky).

Video games

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms - a series of eleven computerised strategy war games produced by Koei. The PC versions of V through X were released only in Asia, along with "power-up kits" for some of them. The series is also released on other video game consoles such as PlayStation 2, Super NES, NES, Sega Saturn, and Sega Genesis outside of Asia.

• Dynasty Warriors - a series of seven tactical action video games by Koei and Omega Force. The series has been released for PlayStation 2, PlayStation3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and the PC. It has also generated the spinoff Dynasty Tactics and Warriors Orochi series.

• Kessen II - Kessen II is a battle-focused real-time strategy game released by Koei in 2001 that is loosely based on the Three Kingdoms story of China. Unlike the other Koei games, this game has a highly fantasized version of the story as a plot and also introduces magic to the series as a usable skill. Both the parent and predecessor versions of the game are set in Japan and not China.

• Sango Fighter series - portrayed the generals as characters in a two-dimensional fighting game.

• Fantasia Sango - a 2D Role-playing video game series released by UserJoy Technology. It uses the events in the novel as the backdrop for the plot. The re-telling of the story also involves traditional Chinese supernatural entities and concepts. Besides Fantasia Sango, UserJoy Technology has also developed the MMORPG The Legend of Three Kingdoms Online.

• Dynasty Wars and its sequel Warriors of Fate - video games released by Capcom. They are based on Motomiya Hiroshi's manga Tenchi o Kurau. Three installments of a similar game were released by International Games System. These are best described as side-scrolling "beat-'em-up" games, similar to the Double Dragon video games.

• Destiny of an Emperor - a role-playing video games for the NES released in North America.

• Three Kingdoms: Fate of the Dragon a real time strategy game released for the PC by Eidos Interactive in 2001. It portrays all of the events in the original story.

• Knights of Valour is a side-scrolling "beat-'em-up" action video game released by International Games System.

• Koihime Musō - a visual novel by BaseSon illustrates many heroes from the novel as female warriors and lords. It was adapted afterwards into an anime series.

• Shin Koihime Musō - a new version of Koihime Musō with many new characters. It was released on 2008 and adapted into an anime series.

• Heroes of Three Kingdoms - a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Perfect World Entertainment.

• Atlantica Online: Three Kingdoms - expansion in Tactical Battle System in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game published by Nexon Corporation.

Others

• Sangokushi Taisen a hybrid card/board/strategy game released by Sega. Players manipulate cards on a tabletop to move military units in order to take destroy enemy castles.
• Portal: Three Kingdoms is an expansion for Magic: The Gathering set in the Three Kingdoms era.
• The Chinese name for the American comedy trio, The Three Stooges, Sānge Chòu Píjiàng (Chinese: 三個臭皮匠; literally "Three Smelly Tanners"),^[5] derives from a saying in Romance of the Three Kingdoms (see the Literary analysis section above).

References