Onmyō Taisenki


Onmyō Taisenki is a Japanese manga series scripted by Yoshihiko Tomizawa and illustrated by Hiroyuki Kaidō. It was adapted into an anime series produced by Sunrise, NAS, and TV Tokyo.

General information

Onmyō Taisenki literally translates to 'The Chronicles of the Great Yin-Yang War'. The series makes clear references to I Ching and to the Taoist theory of the five elements: Wood, Metal, Earth, Fire and Water. Various Taoist elements are incorporated within the story: the existence of the four Kimon, the use of cards that act as the Onmyōdō's amulets, the use of trigrams to represent direction when the Drive is swung, the emphasis on the balance of the sekki, and the character Nazuna, who is a Taoist maiden. Also, the show itself can be split into four seasons, each with its distinct story, purpose, and goals.

Anime

The Onmyō Taisenki anime was produced by Sunrise, a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. It has a total of 52 episodes, and was aired weekly in TV Tokyo from September 30, 2004 to September 29, 2005. It replaces the series Aqua Kids and then was replaced by series Kotencotenco.

Storyline of Anime

Riku Tachibana is a 12-year-old Japanese boy who lives near Tokyo. Never having met his parents, he lives an ordinary life with his adoptive grandfather. His grandfather had taught him a series of strange hand movements, which Riku did not know the purpose of until the day his grandfather is attacked near his shrine. But it is not an ordinary attacker. The attacker is a Shikigami, strange monsters with human owners. Riku comes to the scene and that's where he first gets in contact with his Drive, the device he uses to call and make a 'contract' with Kogenta of the Byakko, his Shikigami and, from that day on, best friend. The Shikigami needs, for special attacks, a special series of Seal, one of which happens to be the strange hand movements Riku's grandfather always taught him.
As Riku's grandfather decides to leave the house for a journey, the 10-year-old boy Souma Asuka and the 10-year-old girl Nazuna rent rooms in Riku's house. The 17-year-old man, Masaomi, who teaches Riku the secrets of Onmyōdō, drops by eventually. The three of them have 'contracts' with Shikigami.
The main events of Onmyō Taisenki anime are related to the menace of the Chi-ryū, a powerful Japanese financial group related to the Onmyoudou
; attempting to open the four Taiten (Yondaiten; and freeing Utsuho, a boy who was born with the power to control yōkai, and had been imprisoned for thousands of years.

The Shikigami

Onmyō Taisenki shows monsters called Shikigami. There are 24 families of Shikigami to represent each Solar term. These monsters are extremely powerful, and their special abilities are activated when their owners use certain sequences of In. Every Shikigami has its own In sequences and some have special weapons, which are also activated by the In. Every Shikigami has its own name and a class/family. For example, the name Byakko no Kogenta means Kogenta of the Byakko, one of the four Japanese great Gods; the other three are Seiryū, Genbu, and Suzaku family. Class names are usually named after gods and flowers.
The Shikigami can transform into a Daikōjin, which is a giant and extremely powerful form where they usually go berserk. Although Nazuna says that a true Daikōjin occurs when Mind-Technique-Body are together, Riku has been able to summon one when he is highly desperate and emotional. Shikigami can also transform into Daikōjin form by forcing a Tōjin stone into a Shikigami, as Isou does to his Shikigami, Fuji, in Episode 20. However, these methods only produce a confused and pained Daikōjin and causes the Drive to sprout coils that will eventually kill the Tōjinshi if the Daikōjin is not defeated. In addition, members of the obliterated sect Jin-ryū have been able to change their Shikigami into Daikōjin by using lengthy series of In.
Later in the series when Kogenta and Rangetsu were fighting together against Mikazuchi, both Riku and Yuuma gain the Master Drive and their partner Shikigami are able to transform into a Chōkōjin, where the Shikigami still have their sanity but a different appearance. Later, Kibachiyo and his partner gain the Master Drive and could also transform into a Chōkōjin.
When a Drive is activated for the first time, the Shikigami will appear behind a shōji and asks what the owner desires, and if it is to the Shikigami's liking, it will accept and a contract will be formed. Once the terms of the contract have been fulfilled, the Tōjinshi and Shikigami will part. However, when a contract is broken, the Tōjinshi loses all the memories built since when he first contracted with the Shikigami and usually wanders around lost and depressed while the Shikigami is sent to Naraku. Similar events happen with Riku in Episode 23-24, as he rejects his contract with Kogenta and consequently does not remember people he only met after he formed the contract, but still remembers his childhood friend Momo.

Episode List

Season 1

  1. God Descend! Byakko no Kogenta
  2. Attack of the Chi-ryū
  3. Clash of the Byakko
  4. Strength of the Sword! Saikaidō Kotetsu
  5. Bight Between Dragons and Tigers
  6. Dance! Onmyōdō's amulets
  7. Invoke! Wave-Cutting Blade
  8. Yumma and Souma
  9. The Fighting Heart
  10. Battle of the Mysterious Ancient Capital
  11. Secret of The Ten-ryū Ruins
  12. Ten-ryū and Chi-ryū shock, Daikoujin
  13. The Bond Between Two People

    Season 2

  14. Demon Invasion
  15. Escape to the Kimon
  16. Return of the Assassin
  17. Byakko's Great Underwater Decisive Battle
  18. The Sealed Fortress
  19. Fight to The Death at The Secret Hot Spring
  20. The Terrifying Daikōjin
  21. That name is Yakumo
  22. Seal Engraved on the Heart
  23. White Tiger Disappears
  24. The Past, Once Again
  25. Open, Zero Drive
  26. Northeast Opens

    Season 3

  27. End of the Season Madness
  28. Quickenings of the Seal
  29. Invitation to Enemy Territory
  30. A man Racing to the 4 Kimon
  31. Build Up Emotions
  32. Gold Rush at the Beach
  33. A reunion the transcends time
  34. Dragon and Tiger, Again
  35. The price of power
  36. Stray Shikigami Koroku's Ordeal
  37. Broken Trust
  38. Falling Stars Of Calamity
  39. Climatic Battle! Ten and Chi
  40. Master Drive, Byakko Reborn

    Season 4

  41. Utsuho Revives
  42. Awakening of the Blue
  43. Dirtied Savior
  44. Red Trap
  45. Burn Up! Sōma
  46. Farewell, Yakumo
  47. Fierce Attack of the Yondaiten
  48. Qualifications to Be the Head
  49. The End of a Dream
  50. With Our Bonds At Stake
  51. Demise of the Taikyoku
  52. Among The Passing Seasons

    Characters

Ten-ryū

Manga

The Onmyou Taisenki manga is published by Jump Comics and runs monthly in V-Jump magazine. Each volume is nine chapters and three have been published: the first one published on October 10, 2004, the second one on August 4, 2005, and the third one on March 3, 2006. The manga has the collaboration of WiZ and Bandai. Each volume costs about 400 Yen.

Storyline of Manga

The Onmyou Taisenki manga does not tell the same history as the anime. The story happens years before the events in the anime. The main character, Yakumo is the son of Monju, the chief priest of the Taihaku Temple, in Kyoto. Yakumo also trains the In, with a baseball ball. In this temple, a Toujinshi, and Monju's former teacher, Mahoroba, is imprisoned. The problems start when Mahoroba escapes, gains power, and transforms Monju into stone. Yakumo is called by a Zero Drive, which was one of the treasures of the temple. This Zero Drive handles Byakko no Kogenta. The story of the manga is about Yakumo's first steps with a Shikigami, training with Idzuna and seeking Mahoroba through various Japanese historical dates. Famous Japanese historical characters such as Oda Nobunaga can be seen on the manga. The story is cited by Kogenta around episode 35 in the anime. However, not many details are given.

Factual differences with the anime

Even when the story of the Manga and Anime appears to be in the same universe there are some factual differences in the world of the anime and manga.
In the manga the names of the shikigamis are created by their Toujinshi at the time of the contract and in the anime the names of the shikigamis are always the same. For example, in the manga the name of the shikigami that once made a contract with Monju is revealed to be "Byakko no Akatsuki", and then it's revealed that is in fact the same shikigami as "Byakko no Kogenta", and the name Kogenta is the name that Yakumo gave him. In contrast the anime reveals that the name of Byakko no Kogenta has been always the same, as is revealed in the anime when the story of the contract between Byakko no Kogenta and Raihou is told.
Also, in the manga, there are no factions between the Toujinshi, and every Toujinshi is independent.
Even when in the anime almost every Toujinshi uses a Drive, in the manga almost every Toujinshi uses a Toujinki, with the exception of Yakumo who gets his Zero Drive from the Naraku in the middle of Volume 2 in order to save Kogenta because Yakumo's Toujinki is destroyed, and Tsukuyomi that summons his shikigami with Toujin-fu.
It also is revealed in the manga that the Drive is in fact a Toujinki prototype.
In the anime when the Toujinshi shikigami is defeated the Toujinshi loses his/her memories as Toujinshi and he/she can no longer be a Toujinshi. In the manga the only consequence of a Shikigami defeat is that the Toujinshi can no longer make a contract with that shikigami.

Video games

There are three Onmyou Taisenki games, being two for PlayStation 2, and one for Game Boy Advance.
The first PS2 game is called 'Onmyou Taisenki - Byakko Enbu', and was released on March 31, 2005. The PlayStation 2 EyeToy is required to play this game.
The second PS2 game is called 'Onmyou Taisenki - Hasha no In', and was released on June 26, 2005. It is a side-story with the same characters from the anime, where Kogenta and Riku train and become stronger through five Fukumaden, which are parallel worlds with lots of Youkai. The five Fukumaden featured in this game are Fire, Water, Tree, Earth and Disorder. The 'Gold' element from Onmyoudou is also featured in the game, but there is no Fukumaden for it.
The only game for GB Advance is called 'Onmyou Taisenki Zeroshiki', and was released on December 12, 2004.
All the three games were released in Japan only.

Note