Kyo Kara Maoh!

Kyo Kara Maoh! (今日から㋮王!, Kyō Kara Maō!, "Demon King from Today!") is a series of Japanese light novels written by Tomo Takabayashi and illustrated by Temari Matsumoto. The story follows the adventures of Yuri Shibuya, an average 15-year-old Japanese high school student, who is suddenly transported to another world where he is told that he is now the king of demons.

Yuri becomes the king of a nation where all of the citizens are demons, but they appear indistinguishable from humans. Their only distinguishing traits are their long lives and the ability to use magic. The people of the Demon Tribe are able to make a pact with an element after which they can then use magic of that element. Covenant Castle is in the capital of the Demon Kingdom. It is the residence of the demon king. The culture of The Great Demon Kingdom is very different from the Japanese culture Yuri is accustomed to, and the differences make for amusing mishaps with long-ranging consequences, such as an accidental proposal of marriage.

The series was adapted into an anime in 2004 by NHK and a manga in 2005 serialized in Asuka magazine. The manga was updated for release by VIZ Media and launched in North America on September 30, 2014.

Synopsis
Kyou kara Maou! revolves around Yuri Shibuya, your average Japanese teenager. One day, Yuri sees a classmate being harassed by bullies. Thanks to this intervention, his friend is able to escape, but unfortunately Yuri becomes the new target of the bullies in the process and gets his head shoved into a toilet. But instead of water, the toilet contains a swirling portal that sucks him into another world, largely resembling medieval Europe. There, he is told that he will become the next Demon King due to his black hair and black eyes, traits only possessed by the demon's royal lineage.

Yuri's arrival is met with some skepticism by some of the demons, who view him as unworthy to be their king. However, after Yuri wins a duel by utilizing his magical powers, the demons slowly begin to acknowledge him as their monarch. Yuri must now learn what it takes be a true Demon King, as he tries to keep the peace between demons and humans in this strange new realm.

Novels
Written by Tomo Takabayashi with illustrations by Temari Matsumoto. The novels are released under Kadokawa's Beans Collection. The first novel was released in November 2000. There are currently 22 books in the series. 17 are 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 Kyo Kara Maoh! manga series (Titled Kyō Kara MA no Tsuku Jiyūgyō! (今日からマのつく自由業!) in Japanese) debuted in June 2005 issue of the monthly Asuka magazine on April 23, 2005, and ended on July 23, 2016. The first volume of the manga was released on December 26, 2005 and 21 volumes total have been released.

An English-language version of the manga was licensed by Tokyopop but when Tokyopop shut down their North American branch in 2011 all of their licenses were cancelled. They released seven volumes of the manga before they shut down. After 3 years, VIZ Media licensed a digital release in North America, releasing the seven volumes in 2014.

Musical
In April 2013 the series was adapted into a musical titled ''Kyo Kara Maoh! Birth of the Maou''. It showed for 11 days during golden week at the Hakuhinkan theater. It was produced by Sōgō Vision.

Character
"I’m saying that love is not something that you’re only supposed to give to a single person and not another. Love is something you’re supposed to give equally to everyone."

- Yuri Shibuya Yuri Shibuya (渋谷 有利, Shibuya Yūri) is the protagonist of the story. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States and grew up in Saitama, Japan. He is a high school student who enjoys baseball more than textbooks. The kanji Yuri's parents chose for his name Yūri (有利) means profitable, so people make fun of him by saying Shibuya Yūri, Harajuku Furi (渋谷有利原宿不利) (roughly translated meaning "If Shibuya is profitable, then Harajuku is unprofitable"). His mother insists that he is named Yuri because he was born in July and has nothing to do with money or the fact his father is a banker. In the English dub, this became the pun "Yuri is short for urine." He later finds out that Conrad inspired his mother to use the name since while she was in labor, he said that July is called "Yūri" where he comes from.

When Yuri first arrives in The Demon Kingdom, he is told that he is the 27th King of the Demons. Throughout the series, he strives to create a world in which demons and humans can live together in peace, something that progresses slowly but surely as the series goes on.

Yuri easily gets caught up in his emotions, to the point he loses control of himself. He is quick to anger, and cannot stop himself; when he is angry, sad, or feels a strong emotion, his powers emerge. Fans call this condition "Maoh mode" (literally, "Emperor-Mode" (お上様モード, Ouesama mo-do), and as Yuri is a huge fan of Japanese period drama, his speech becomes similar to expressions from that genre. In the novel, there is no note of his appearance changing, while in the manga and anime his eyes become thinner and his hair may grow longer.

At the beginning of the series, Yuri could access his magic only at the height of his emotions. He would usually pass out after using his powers, only to wake up later and not remember what happened. Later on in the series, Yuri learns to control his abilities, summoning powerful magic even in human lands, while most demons can only perform limited magic outside their country. He is unaffected in houseki-filled areas and can wield magic in those spaces, even while full-blooded demons have difficulty standing or breathing. Yuri has a contract with water and uses his magic to alter it into various monster-like forms, notably water dragons. He has also been known to make other messy magical "creatures" from mud, food scraps, etc., much to the horror of the other demons and everyone else.

Due to a misunderstanding, Yuri ends up engaged to Wolfram von Bielefeld on first meeting. Wolfram, angry at the idea that the half-human Yuri is supposedly the king, insults his mother for being human. In anger, Yuri slaps him: the etiquette of the demon nobility dictates that a slap on the left cheek is the way to propose marriage. Wolfram considers this insulting, so he challenges Yuri to a duel by throwing his knife on the floor. Yuri mistakenly picks it up, unaware he accepted Wolfram's challenge again because he is unknowledgeable in the local culture.

It is revealed fairly early in the series that Yuri is the reincarnation of Susanna Julia von Wincott, a blind healer who died in the war against humans 20 prior. Conrad gives Yuri a tear-shaped pendant that used to belong to her. When Yuri first arrives in the Demon Kingdom, Adalbert von Grantz, who was Susanna Julia's fiancé before she died, brought out his stored language memory from his soul so he could understand spoken demon language. While this helps Yuri understand the spoken form, he is still unable to read; he later realizes he can "read" if he runs his fingers over the print, as the blind Susanna Julia read this way (much like Braille in the human world). There is a time in the novels where Julia's consciousness overpowers Yuuri's body, and he temporarily loses his eyesight. Yuri's blood is also one of the keys of the forbidden boxes, another trait he inherited from Susanna Julia. In the anime, Yuri inherits the power to open the box through Christel Wincott, the ancestor of all Demons on Earth, to which he travelled with one of the forbidden boxes to 4,000 years before. This is never mentioned in the original novels.

In the anime, Yuri is called the greatest Demon King after defeating The Originator and freeing The Original King from the dark power. Because of that, Yuri is able to transit between worlds without the help of The Original King.

Abilities
Yuuri was just a normal Japanese high school student who loved baseball until he was taken to another world and was told that he was the 27th Maou. In the beginning, Yuuri couldn't access his magic and he would became worn out and in some cases passes out and did not remember what happened afterwards. But later, Yuuri learns to control his power. He can summon powerful magic, even in the human territories, while most Mazoku can only perform limited magic outside of the country.

This is because the particles that obey their maryoku are lower in the areas where humans who worship god live. He is unaffected in houseki filled areas such as the houseki mines and can even still use his magic while full blooded Mazoku have difficulty standing and even breathing. Yuuri has a contract with water and uses his magic to create various monster like shapes, most notably he uses it to create water dragons, but he has made many other messy magical "creatures" made from mud, food scraps etc. much to the horror of the other Mazoku and every one who sees them.

TV Anime
The anime adaptation of Kyo Kara Maoh was directed by Junji Nishimura, animated by Studio Deen, and produced by NHK. It aired across Japan on NHK. The series consists of 117 episodes and 5 OVA episodes. While much the first season follows the original story from the novels, the plot in the following seasons varies drastically.

The anime was originally licensed for release in North America by Geneon under the title ''Kyo Kara Maoh! God(?) Save Our King!'', but when Geneon ceased production of their 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. Kyo Kara Maoh! was one of the titles involved in the deal.

In August 2011, Funimation announced that the license expired and that they had no plans to renew the license. On February 22, 2019, Discotek Media announced its license of the first season for an April 30, 2019 Blu-ray release.

Staff

 * Original work - Kaorin Chi
 * Character draft - Temari Matsumoto
 * Director - Junji Nishimura
 * Series composition - Akemi Mende
 * Character Design - Yuka Kudo
 * Concept Design - Chiyuki Aoki, Satoshi Kosaka, Tomoki Okazaki, Kenshi Miyawaki
 * Art Director - Toshihisa Koyama
 * Color design - Shinji Matsumoto
 * Director of Photography - Shinyo Kondo, Akira Shimozaki
 * Music - Yoichiro Yoshikawa
 * Acoustic Director - Toru Nakano, Yuu Takadera → Takeshi Takadera
 * Sound Effects - Shizuo Kurahashi
 * Producer - Yuji Shibata (3rd series is not listed)
 * Animation production - Studio Dean
 * Co-production - Comprehensive vision
 * Production work - NHK

Drama CDs

 * Kyou Kara MA no Tsuku Jiyuugyou (今日から㋮のつく自由業!)
 * Ura MA 3 part work (裏㋮3部作)
 * Ura Kondo wa MA no Tsuku Saishuu Heiki! (裏 今度は㋮のつく最終兵器!)
 * Ura Konya wa MA no Tsuku Daidassou! (裏 今夜は㋮のつく大脱走!)
 * Ura Ashita wa MA no Tsuku Kaze ga Fuku! (裏 明日は㋮のつく風が吹く!)
 * Kakka to MA no tsuku Love Nikki!? (閣下と㋮のつくラブ日記!?)
 * Ura MA DX! (裏㋮DX!)
 * MAou Koutan Special (㋮王降誕☆すぺしゃる)
 * Kyou Kara MAou! Seisakoku DX! (今日から㋮王! 聖砂国DX!)
 * Kyou Kara MAou! Seisakoku DX! (outward journey) (今日から㋮王! 聖砂国DX!（往路）)
 * Kyou Kara MAou! Seisakoku DX! (return trip (今日から㋮王! 聖砂国DX!（復路）)

Anime Fanbooks

 * Kyou Kara Maou! Daikenkyuu (今日から㋮王! 大研究) December 22, 2005 ISBN 4-04-853928-0
 * Kyou Kara Maou! Daikenkyuu 2 (今日から㋮王! 大研究2) December 20, 2006 ISBN 4-04-854073-4
 * Kyou Kara Maou! Daikenkyuu 3 (今日から㋮王! 大研究3) May 28, 2009 ISBN 978-4-04-854355-2

Illustration book

 * ㋮Illustrations April 8, 2009 ISBN 978-4-04-854297-5

Information Book

 * ㋮本 Maru-ma Series Official Fan Book April 24, 2010 ISBN 978-4-04-854464-1

Radio Show

 * Kyo Kara Maoh! Shin Makoku Housou Kyoukai (今日からマ王! 眞魔国放送協会（SHK）)
 * Theme song; First Part: BACK2BACK by Mitsuki Saiga feat. JUST // Second Part: Heart shaped killing emotion by Mitsuki Saiga feat. JUST

Games

 * Oresama Quest (おれさまクエスト)
 * Oresama Quest was a PC game released June 23, 2006.
 * Hajimari no Tabi (はじマりの旅)
 * Hajimari no Tabi was a PS2 action RPG video game developed and published by Namco Bandai. It was released in Japan on July 27, 2006. There were two versions released. The normal game and a premium box which included a drama CD and a booklet with an original story by Takabayashi Tomo.
 * Shin Makoku no Kyuujitsu (眞マ国の休日)
 * Shin Makoku no Kyuujitsu was a PS2 game released September 27, 2007. There were two versions released. The normal game and a limited box which included two figures, a script book and a drama CD.

Reception
Carlo Santos called the series "an unusual take on the fantasy genre" due to its "toilet portals between worlds" and its "same-sex engagement. Chris Beveridge. Mania called the series a mixture of fantasy, baseball, and slice of life genres, saying it works "really well.'. Danica Davidson, Graphic Novel Reporter called the manga a "fun and whimsical read" which has fascinating characters and "a strong storyline.

External Link

 * Kyo Kara Maoh! ─ Official novel site (in Japanese)
 * TV Anime "Kyo Kara Maoh! S1" Official (NHK) website (in Japanese)
 * Kyo Kara Maoh! ─ Official (FUNimation) website
 * TV Anime "Kyo Kara Maoh! OVA" Official Site - Closed. ( Archived as of July 7, 2012 )
 * TV Anime "Kyo Kara Maoh! S2" Official website [Broken Link]
 * Kyo Kara Maoh! - Maou from today! ─ NHK broadcasting history
 * TV Anime "Kyo Kara Maoh!" ─ Official (@maruma_official) - Twitter
 * Kyo Kara Maoh! ─ Official Anime Blog (in Japanese)
 * Kyo Kara Maoh! ─ Official Radio Show Website(in Japanese)
 * Kyo Kara Maoh! ─ WEB radio distribution (Animate TV) (End of distribution)-Closed. (Archived as of May 5, 2009)
 * Kyo Kara Maoh! ─ Wikipedia (in Japanese)
 * Kyo Kara Maoh! ─ Wikipedia (in English)

Trivia
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