Kyou Kara Maou!
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Kyou Kara Maou! (今日から㋮王!, Kyou Kara Maou!, lit. "Starting Today I'm the Demon King!"), is a series of Japanese light novels written by Takabayashi Tomo and illustrated by Matsumoto Temari. The first light novel was published in 2000 by Kadokawa Shoten and to date 22 novels have been released. The story follows the adventures of, Shibuya Yuuri, an average 15-year old baseball loving high school student, who suddenly discovers he is the king of demons in another world.

The series was adapted into an 117 Episode anime by Studio Deen and NHK. It debuted in Japan on April 3, 2004 on NHK's BS-2. The final episode aired on February 19, 2009. The series is also being adapted into a manga series. The manga has been in serialization since 2005 in Asuka magazine and to date 12 volumes have been published.

Tokyopop originally licensed the manga series for English-language publication in North America. They released 7 volumes before they shut down their North American branch. Geneon originally licensed the anime English-language release who later transferred distribution rights to Funimation. The license has currently expired and there are no plans to re-license the series.

Novels[]

Main article: Novels

The first novel was released on September 29, 2001 and so far there are 22 books in the series.[1] 17 are considered to be main story novels and the other 5 are extras and side stories which provide background and other information to the story.

Manga[]

Drawn by Temari Matsumoto, the Kyou Kara Maou! manga series (Titled Kyou Kara MA no Tsuku Jiyuugyou! in Japanese) debuted in June, 2005 and are being serialized monthly in Asuka magazine.[2] The chapters are later collected into tankoubon volumes by Kadokawa. The first volume was released on December 26, 2005. So far 16 volumes have been released.[3]

An English language version of the manga was licensed by Tokyopop but when Tokyopop shut down in 2011 all licenses went back to the original holders. They released 7 volumes before they shut down their North American branch. Viz Media has released Tokyopop's 7 volumes as part of Viz Media's digital manga library.

Anime[]

Main article: Episodes

The anime adaptation of Kyou Kara Maou, directed by Junji Nishimura, animated by Studio Deen, and produced by NHK aired across Japan on NHK .[4] It consist of 117 episodes and 5 OVA episodes.[5][6] While the first season follows the original story from the novels faithfully after that the plot varies drastically.

The anime was originally licensed for release in North America by Geneon but when Geneon ceased production of all titles in late 2007, it left three volumes of the second season unreleased on DVD in North America. On July 3, 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon Entertainment will still retain the license, Funimation Entertainment will assume exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select titles. Kyou Kara Maou! was one of several titles involved in the deal. In August 2011, Funimation announced that the license expired and that they had no plans to renew the license.[7]

References[]

  1. kadokawa Novel (Japanese). Kadokawa. Retrieved on 2011-09-05.
  2. Asuka magazine (Japanese). Kadokawa. Retrieved on 2011-09-05.
  3. kadokawa manga (Japanese). Kadokawa. Retrieved on 2011-09-05.
  4. Mao Staff (Japanese). NHK. Retrieved on 2011-09-05.
  5. Story Until Now (Japanese). NHK. Retrieved on 2011-09-05.
  6. OVA Release dates (Japanese). NHK. Retrieved on 2011-09-05.
  7. FUNimation/Geneon licenses expire on Paradise Kiss, When They Cry. animemaki (August 16, 2011). Retrieved on August 17, 2011.


External links[]

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