| Urotsukidoji | |
| うろつき童子: 超神伝説 (Urotsukidōji: Chōjin Densetsu) |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Paranormal, Erotic |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Toshio Maeda |
| Published by | Wani Magazine |
| English publisher | Manga 18 |
| Magazine | Manga Erotopia |
| Original run | 1986 – 1990 |
| Volumes | 6 |
| Original video animation | |
| Directed by | Hideki Takayama |
| Music by | Masamichi Amano |
| Studio | West Cape, Team Mu |
| Released | 1987–1995 |
| Episodes | 6 series (16 episodes) |
Urotsukidōji (うろつき童子: 超神伝説 Urotsukidōji: Chōjin Densetsu, lit. "Wandering Kid: The Legend of the Super God") is a Japanese manga and an Original Video Animation (OVA) releases.
Urotsukidōji was created by Toshio Maeda, in 1986, and was a huge departure from his earlier works in that it mixed erotica with humor, and the supernatural. He was commissioned to do the series for Manga Erotopia, a pornographic manga magazine published by Wani Magazine that deals mostly with avant garde stories. Maeda was picked because of his artistic style which paid incredible attention to detail and for his ability to tell rather good stories with complex plots, unlike most erotic manga artists at the time.
Although the manga would grow a cult following; it was the anime which became notorious. Hideki Takayama took great artistic liberties with the Urotsukidōji story, mixing elements of horror, violence, and sadistic scenes of rape not present in the original work. Maeda himself stated in an issue of Playboy Japan that he found the anime to be repugnant, cruel and sadistic, yet brilliant, he also said he admires Takayama's take on his vision.
The anime series is most famous for being the first in the tentacle rape genre, though only one scene in the first OAV actually contains any tentacle rape. Tentacle rape was not present in the Urotsukidōji manga but was featured in a series that he would publish years later called Demon Beast Invasion. Takayama was incredibly influenced by this work of Maeda's but thought that the Urotsukidōji story was stronger.
In an interview as to why Hideki Takayama chose to tell such a violent and sadistic story he said "There is nothing that arouses a stronger response in human beings than either sex or violence. A mixture of the two is very powerful indeed." Today Urotsukidōji, as well as its later sequels, are infamous, not just in Japan, but in the rest of the world as well. According to The Erotic Anime Movie Guide, it is the most recognized adult anime in the world.
Amano (the eponymous wandering kid) is a beast/human hybrid who has been banished to Earth for his great misdeeds, mostly involving the Elder and his daughter Mimi. The Elder sends Amano to the human world to find the Chōjin: the unbeatable god of the demon world who is hiding within the body of a man.
A group of reptilian demons want to find the Chōjin and use his power on behalf of the Queen of Demons. Under the leadership of Suikakaju, the Elder's rival and lover of his estranged wife, the Queen of Demons, they hatch a series of plots to try to capture the Chōjin, most of which go horribly wrong.
Amano is sent to protect the Chōjin, but after his lecherous friend Koroko and then later his nymphomaniac sister Megumi come to find him, this proves to be more difficult.
Every 3,000 years the human world (人間界 Ningenkai) is united with the demon world (魔界 Makai) and the man-beast world (獣人界 Jūjinkai) by the revival of the Super God (超神 Chōjin), known as the Overfiend in the English version). The saga follows Amano Jyaku—a man-beast—and his quest to find the real Chōjin and to ensure the safe future of all three worlds. However, he finds his beliefs put to the test when he encounters numerous demons, who plan to destroy the Chōjin and prevent the three worlds from joining.
As the Urotsukidōji 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:
In the manga there are only two worlds: the world of demons and the world of humans. However in the anime there is a third world. The world of the ("Man-Beasts") In the manga, Amano is a half breed. Born of a human and demon. Megumi is a human who has been given powers. And The Great Elder and Lady Mimi are both considered demons. So is Koroko.
In the anime it is not explained whether or not she is possessed or a demon in disguise; a demon sent to Earth to hunt out (and presumably destroy) the Chōjin. Despite her mission, she stills find time to rape Akemi, but Amano Jyaku intervenes and destroys her.
| Character Role | Original Japanese version | English Dubbed version |
|---|---|---|
| Amano Jyaku | Tomohiro Nishimura | Christopher Courage |
| Nagumo Tatsuo | Hirotaka Suzuoki | Bill Timoney |
| Akemi Ito | Youko Asagami | Rebel Joy |
| Megumi Amano | Yumi Takada | Lucy Morales |
| Suikakujyu | Norio Wakamoto | Jurgen Offen |
| Yuichi Niki | Kouichi Yamadera | Bill Timoney |
| Münchhausen II | Demon Kogure | Bick Balse |
There are four main chapters in the original Urotsukidōji 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.
These three episodes where adapted from the original manga but skip over much of humorous sub stories and sub plots and instead shift the focus to the apocalypse and the battle between Suikakuju and Amano.
The three OVAs were later edited into a western theatrical version known as Urotsukidōji I: Legend of the Overfiend, with much of the more explicit material being removed (continued in the UK and Australia by the BBFC and OFLC, now the ACB, who also removed some of the more 'shocking' material). New animation was also added to help with the edits and some of the older animation was cleaned up.
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 foretells the coming of the Overfiend (Chōjin)—a being of unimaginable power that will unite all three realms into a land of eternity.
The story follows 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 led 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 may be strikingly different from what he is led to believe.
The Perfect Collection from Anime 18 is the only uncut version of the first OVA available outside Japan. Other versions such as the one on the "Hell on Earth" boxed set and the Australian Madman release with both Urotsukidōji I: Legend of the Overfiend and Urotsukidōji II: Legend of the Demon Womb have been cut for 45 minutes total, which included a total of 24 minutes of sexual-oriented scenes. The U.S. DVD releases are now out of print.
The second Urotsukidōji series was not based on the manga, but elements from it were used. With Nagumo's cousin Takeaki taking on a character similar to the character of Niki in the manga and Münchhausen II taking after the character of Suikakuju.
The second part of the saga created an ongoing controversy among Urotsukidōji fans as to where it fits into the saga as a whole. One main theory is that the two chapters happen between "Birth of the Overfiend" and "Curse of the Overfiend" of the first OVA. Another main theory is that since the characters and tone are fairly unfaithful to the first three OVAs, it ought not to be considered part of the canon in the first place.
The two OVAs were again later edited into a theatrical version for western cinema, known as Urotsukidōji II: Legend of the Demon Womb, again with much of the more explicit material removed and new animation created.
Unbeknownst to Amano Jyaku and Megumi, in 1944, the Nazis attempted to summon the Overfiend's nemesis: the Lord of Chaos (Kyō-Ō). 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 Jyujinkai 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 will 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...
The Perfect Collection from Anime 18 is the only uncut version of the second Urotsukidōji OVA available outside Japan. Other versions such as the one on the "Hell on Earth" boxed set and the Australian Madman release with both Legend of the Overfiend and Legend of the Demon Womb have been cut for 14 minutes total, which included a total of 7 minutes of sexual-oriented scenes. The U.S. releases are also now out of print.
Part three of the Urotsukidoji saga. This is where the saga begins to focus less on the remaining central characters and introduces other secondary characters, none of which are present in the manga. The four parts were edited for western audiences as Urotsukidōji III: Return of the Overfiend, in some cases cut into a pair of films.
At the end of "Final Inferno", we discover that the Chōjin is the offspring of Nagumo and Akemi and of Nagumo's horrific transformation into the Demon of Destruction—who needs to "destroy the old to make way for the new".
Twenty 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, sending Amano forth to search for the evil born in the east. Unfortunately a new race called the Makemono (Demon Beasts) have arisen following the apocalypse, ruled over by the fanatical cyborg Caesar and his mysterious comrade "Faust". It is apparent they are the cause behind these events and intend to resurrect the Kyō-Ō.
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?
Forgetting plot and some characters entirely for the self-contained storyline of 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 Urotsukidōji IV: 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 Chōjin as seen at the start of Urotsukidoji III was not in fact the real Chōjin, 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 cruelly dominate adults (OVAs 1 and 2). Amano's problems are furthered when an old nemesis shows up at the wrong time (OVA 3).
The third OVA in this series, "The End of the Journey", stands alone plot-wise (wrapping up the story arc from Urotsukidoji III, on which the first two OVA have no bearing), and was originally intended to be a theatrical release. It is based on the final chapters of Maeda's New Urotsukidoji.
Known as Urotsukidōji V: The Final Chapter in the west.
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 Chōjin who creates a new hermaphrodite race to wipe out all remaining life on Earth.
After giving birth to the Chōjin, Akemi reawakens in hospital, along with Amano, who had barely survived a recent confrontation with the Chōjin (whose form constantly changes between male and female). Destroyer God Nagumo also reappears (after supposedly being killed by Kyō-Ō in Urotsukidoji III) and continues his ravaging of Earth. Still in love with Nagumo, Akemi runs out to find him.
Meanwhile, Amano is confronted by some of the Chōjin's new 'children', and engages them in battle. However, his efforts prove almost futile, as they are constantly regenerated by the Chojin. Akemi eventually finds Nagumo, still in God form, and pleads with him. He clutches her in his hand (similarly to the end of the first episode) and prepares to kill her. However, she is rescued at the last minute by Amano, although she condemns him for doing so.
The episode (and the series thus far) ends with Amano making a final glance at Nagumo, and then at the Chojin's utopia, as he vows to put an end to them once and for all...
Released as New Urotsukidōji: New Saga in the west on March 9, 2004.
This series is loosely based on Maeda's New Urotsukidoji manga, and contains far more explicit and violent scenes.
This three-disc collection is a retelling of the first episode in The Legend of the Overfiend. It has the same basic plot as "Birth of the Overfiend"
After the popularity of the anime version of his work, Maeda sought to redo the Urotsukidoji series. Inspired by the post-apocalyptic story in the anime version, Maeda fleshed out the story and also took it into the realm of the post apocalyptic.
The Urotsuki video series and the Urotsukidoji Horror film are the only anime works which have borrowed from this series.