I am excited to tell you about another Japanese Manga series known as “Shaman King“. It follows Yoh Asakura as he tries to develop his shaman talents in order to win the Shaman Fight and become the Shaman King.

It is another Manga series like Slam Dunk– which is based on the basketball Dragon Ball Super Season– Which chronicles Goku's experiences after the ten-year time jump following Majin Buu's defeat.

Between June 1998 and August 2004, the Shaman King manga was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump. In 32 tankōbon volumes, the various chapters were compiled and released. Kodansha bought the rights to the series in 2017 and relaunched it in 2018 on 35 e-book volumes, with print editions following in 2020.

What is in the series?

Shaman King is about Yoh Asakura, a shaman who serves as a link between the living and the dead worlds. Yoh wants to be the Shaman King, the one who can communicate with the Great Spirit and alter the universe in any manner they choose, and in order to do so, he must win the Shaman Fight, a war between rivals shamans that takes place once every 500 years.

Yoh's fiancée, Anna Kyoyama, arrives shortly after and recommends a rigorous training programme to prepare him for the competition. Yoh's journey begins here, with encounters with Ryu, Tao Ren, Horohoro, Faust VIII, Lyserg Diethel, and Joco McDonnell (known as Chocolove McDonnell).

During the Shaman Fight, Yoh runs across his estranged twin brother Hao Asakura, a powerful shaman who wants to rid the world of humans and build a society for shamans. The remaining teams after the end of the shaman fights are Yoh and his companions, the X-Laws, and Hao's team.

The other teams decide to surrender the competition, and Hao is crowned Shaman King. Yoh and his companions plan to assault Hao when he is combining with the Great Spirit, who is in a coma, while he is being carried away. To beat Hao, Yoh and his companions must battle members of The Patch Tribe who are obliged to serve the new Shaman King.

Interesting Things to Know About this Manga series

• Takei, who worked as an assistant on Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin, discussed the series with the other assistants, who included Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece.
•  Nobuhiro Watsuki worked mostly as a manga assistant as a Watsuki coworker, solely focused on his own projects on his days off.  He was influenced by hip-hop and rap culture's street art, as seen through his manga artwork.
• Nobuhiro Watsuki utilised calligraphy inks and pen nibs to create his drawings. He used Copic brand colour markers when drawing.
• The first 275 chapters were compiled into 31 tankōbon volumes, with the first being issued on December 3, 1998, and the last on October 4, 2004.
• Volume 32, which was supposed to be released on December 3, 2004, was postponed, and Shueisha stated that they would only publish volume 32 if they received evidence of demand from 50,000 individuals.  On January 5, 2005, the final ten chapters were released in tankōbon format.
• Funbari Poem, a spin-off of Shaman King, lasted five chapters and was featured in volume 32. Hana Asakura, the son of Yoh and Anna, and Ryu's mission to find the Five Elemental Warriors for a reunion before the Funbari Hot Springs Inn opens takes place seven years after the manga series finishes.
• The original manga series, which consists of 32 volumes, has sold over 26 million copies in Japan as of November 2011. As of March 2020, the manga had sold over 35 million copies. The manga had over 38 million copies in circulation as of March 2021.
• From March 2003 until August 2007, Viz Media in North America secured the English-language licence for the manga and published chapters of Shaman King in its Shonen Jump magazine.

The Reason Behind the Discontinuation of the Series

Takei stated that the cancellation was not due to a drop in the series' profitability but rather to a “weariness” he had experienced as a result of no longer being able to satisfy his fans' desires. Shaman King, according to the author, was “normalised” by the wish of his audience by including ordinary shonen elements and losing its individuality.

He announced in 2007 that he intended to conclude the series with the finale he had envisioned, which would be published in another Shueisha magazine at the end of the year or the beginning of 2008, in another Shueisha magazine.

Wrapping Up

So Are you all excited to watch the series? If yes, then we are on the same page. This is not the end; you can read about more Japanese series and movies on our website that will win your heart.