Shaman King (2021)

Shamans are extraordinary individuals with the ability to communicate with ghosts, spirits, and gods, which are invisible to ordinary people. The Shaman Fight—a prestigious tournament pitting shamans from all over the world against each other—is held every five hundred years, where the winner is crowned Shaman King. This title allows the current incumbent to call upon the Great Spirit and shape the world as they see fit.

Finding himself late for class one night, Manta Oyamada, an ordinary middle school student, decides to take a shortcut through the local cemetery. Noticing him, a lone boy sitting on a gravestone invites Manta to stargaze with "them." Realizing that "them" refers to the boy and his ghostly friends, Manta flees in terror. Later, the boy introduces himself as You Asakura, a Shaman-in-training, and demonstrates his powers by teaming up with the ghost of six-hundred-year-old samurai Amidamaru to save Manta from a group of thugs. You befriends Manta due to his ability to see spirits, and with the help of Amidamaru, they set out to accomplish You's goal of becoming the next Shaman King.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Asakura, You Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Asakura, Hao Main

Takayama, Minami Japanese

Kyouyama, Anna Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Tao, Ren Main

Park, Romi Japanese

Amidamaru Main

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Oyamada, Manta Main

Inuyama, Inuko Japanese

Faust VIII, Johann Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Usui, Horokeu Supporting

Ueda, Yuuji Japanese

Umemiya, Ryuunosuke Supporting

Tanaka, Masahiko Japanese

Diethel, Lyserg Supporting

Soumi, Youko Japanese

Beniya, Yoshikazu Producer

Iijima, Hiroshi Producer

Nakayama, Koutarou Producer

Furuta, Jouji Director, Script, Storyboard

Reviews

Apr 21, 2022

hey77

Recommended

I really loved this adaptation! I had a blast watching it every week and was always excited for each new episode. Of course, it's not perfect, it does have some flaws which, depending on your preferences, may affect your opinion really negatively, but I personally had an overwhelmingly positive experience!

I loved the story, though that's kind of a given, since I'm a fan of the manga in the first place. Nevertheless, it's worth mentioning that this anime does a great job adapting the whole story of the manga and very faithfully at that. There are very few things that have been changed or cut, but ... they're really inconsequential. I absolutely adored the "Osorezan revoir" arc in particular (which shows Yoh and Anna's backstory), easily the best part of the anime for me and one I've wanted to see animated for years! And it did deliver beautifully, it actually made me cry. Another thing I adore is the ending - not gonna spoil anything, but I love how the main conflict gets resolved and how different of an approach it takes compared to other shounen that people are used to. The story has some very interesting themes and lessons that it wants to showcase and Yoh's catchphrase "Everything will work out" is really soothing and definitely something I needed to be reminded of.

The pacing was a bit of a problem at times, it was rushed during the first 12 episodes (because they were adapting things which were already done in the first anime adaptation) but after that I had no issues with it, except for some of the episodes closer to the end. It does have a faster pace than usual, but it genuinely didn't bother me - I prefer a faster pace to having to slog through filler episodes.

Something I definitely need to mention is the soundtrack - the music of the show is absolutely phenomenal! Yuki Hayashi did an amazing job with this, the music is original and very memorable, I listen to it all the time and it's quickly become one of my favourite soundtracks ever! I literally can't praise it enough, the show would not be what it is without it!

Speaking of sound, let's also mention the VAs - they were all amazing, they really fleshed out the characters and conveyed their emotions beautifully. The show even managed to bring back some of the VAs from the first anime, which was great and really took advantage of the nostalgia aspect. Overall great performances! The characters themself have always been my favourite part of the story - each of them having a distinct personality and motivation, and each of them being given their time to shine. Unlike some other shows, this one does not focus solely on the main character while sidelining everyone else, it gives opportunity for each character to have their own moments. I also love the relationships between all of them.

I really liked the art and the colour scheme they used. The animation, though, is admittedly a bit of a problem. It's nowhere near as good as one would expect from an anime from recent years and the fights don't look as good as they should. This and the pacing are, in my opinion, this anime's biggest issues. Other than that, though, I think the adaptation did a great job!

It's inevitable that a lot of people will try to compare this to the original anime from 2001 and, while I'm sure that nostalgia is a factor and a lot of people will prefer the old one based solely on that, I can say that I definitely think this one is better. It tells the story the way it was intended to be, unlike the old one which had a good beginning while following the manga and later got bogged down with fillers and ended in the most typical shounen fashion.

Overall, I had a great time watching this, it reminded me how much I love this story and these characters and I'm really happy it exists in the first place. I may be really biased but it is what it is - this anime brought me immense joy, flaws and all, and I'm really going to miss it! Thank God they've already announced a sequel!

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Aug 3, 2022

feikufa

Mixed Feelings

Shaman King is a very peculiar topic. So many things were done well while others felt severely underwhelming.

To start, the plot and overall story is very run-of-the-mill. The first half has a clear and solid goal, but it's just so boring! Things are uneventful for the most part and there's only a few moments that are memorable. It almost seemed like there wasn't anything going on in the first place. As the series goes on, the plot takes a complete 180 and it does end up getting more interesting with more action, but the "end-goal" completely falls apart. The story just gets more and more ... convoluted and random as time goes on, but at least there's actually stuff happening that can capture attention. If you piece together your own interpretation, it's honestly not that bad.

It's extremely worth mentioning that the one thing that kept me coming back and not dropping this series as a whole were the characters! They were all so investing, and easily the best aspect of the anime. Each of the main characters feels fleshed out and developed well enough to really get to know them. Watching their development is great, especially seeing how their morality changes. Additionally, the dynamics and interactions between different characters are extremely entertaining, most notably Ren and Horohoro. The dynamic between the Asakura brothers was very unique, too. At the end of the day, if it weren't for these characters, I most likely wouldn't have finished this show.

As for the other elements of Shaman King, they do well for themselves. Simple, watchable art and animation, good soundtrack, and an understandable combat system. Overall, if you're looking for something new to watch, Shaman King is worth considering, but not completely worth prioritizing if you have a pre-existing watch list.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Apr 21, 2022

Wosee

Not Recommended

The story starts meh, becomes kinda interesting and then gets worse and worse, thats both due to messy pacing and the core of story itself being bad.

The story its simple enough and moves fast, which is even more amazing on how it got this bad, it cannot even keep its tone consistent, DEM and lack of any consequences as well.

The characters themselves are not that interesting either, a lot of them are annoying as well and there is a lot of them, pointless additions overall but on the bright side the villain is fleshed out well, if not for the tone thing i mentioned which ... you cannot take him seriously despite being OP.

Art is on the good side which is a first for Bridge but since its Bridge after all the animation is a slideshow, the music is the only decent part of it.

I have not watched the other anime version of it but i can say this series was not worth it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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