Ryo (manga)

Ryo (manga)

The cover of the first manga volume of Ryo as published by Margaret (magazine), featuring Ryo and Benkei.
リョウ
(Ryō)
Genre Romance, Drama, Historical, Adventure, Tragedy, Gender Bender
Manga
Written by Rinko Ueda
Published by Shueisha
Demographic Shōjo
Magazine Margaret
Original run 1996 – 2000
Volumes 13

Ryo (リョウ Ryō) is a completed Japanese shōjo manga written and illustrated by Rinko Ueda starting in 1996.[1] It has 13 volumes thus far in Japan.[2]

Plot

Ryo is a girl living in Japan. She finds a monk on the street called Benkei who attacks her. She goes home and finds the monk there and they spar. After losing, he wishes to become her vassal. A man comes by the house and she later learns that she is not the real Ryo, but another young woman named Yoshitsune that had her memories forged for her. The real Ryo died when she was seven. Yoshitsune is the heir caught in a war. The parents are happy to know that she would like to stay with them regardless of who she really is. She, Benkei, Aoi who is her childhood friend, and Benkei's ex-lover, Torako, must later escape from the present world to the past after they tried to force Benkei the vassal from their lives. They travel 800 years to the past and are caught up in the drama of who she really is and what the future holds for her.

Characters

Yoshitsune Minamoto (源義 経 Minamoto Yoshitsune)

The female protagonist. She thought she was a regular high school student named Toyama Ryo, but learns that she has been living a lie for three years. She is actually the Genji heir from the Heinan era and trained in katana. Her real name before going through Genpuku is Ushiwakamaru, the one Benkei is looking for. Her grandfather replace her real memories to made-up memories of his dead granddaughter so that she can live as a normal girl in this era. She later learns that she was raised as a man which is why she always believed that she's a man, so as to not get married to the son of a Heishi.

Benkei Musashibou (武蔵坊 弁慶 Musashibou Benkei)

The male protagonist. He is Yoshitsune's vassal. He was originally a renegade monk who had collected 999 of his opponents swords and claimed that Ryo was Ushiwakamura, the 1000th opponent, but after being defeated by Yoshitsune, wanted to follow under her. He was finally allowed to be her vassal after he saved her life from a moving vehicle. He has vowed to stay by her side and protect her until he dies. He eventually falls in love with her because of her kind heart.
Aoi
The real Ryo's childhood friend. He went to high school with Yoshitsune and never knew that Ryo is dead until Yoshitsune told him. After Yoshitsune's family tried to get rid of Benkei, he went to the past with her and became her vassal.
Torako
Benkei's ex-lover. She is a very honest and attractive woman and tells Yoshitsune of Benkei's sexual exploits and how much of a womanizer he is. She helps the others escape to the past after Benkei was shot by Ryo's father's bullet.

References

  1. ↑ リョウ 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  2. ↑ リョウ 13 (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved February 3, 2012.

External links