, originally known as is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Shinichi Kuruma. It was serialized in the

Tokuma Shoten is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company’s product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, ...

magazine ''Monthly Shōnen Captain'' infrequently between the May 1986 and August 1989 issues. Originally released in four ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' (bound volumes), ''Battle Royal High School'' was later re-released in two larger volumes on December 20, 2008. The manga was adapted into an original video animation (OVA)

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

feature on December 10, 1987. It was directed by Ichirō Itano, and features character designs by Nobuteru Yūki and a musical score by

Shirō Sagisu is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer. With a career spanning over 40 years (beginning in the late 1970s), he is best known for his works as a record producer for acts including various choir members Mike Wyzgowski, Misia, Satosh ...

. The anime is considerably condensed when compared to its manga source material, making many characters seem out of place. The OVA was localized in English and released in North America by

AnimEigo AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. Founded in 1988 by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams III, the company was one of the first in North America dedicated to lic ...

on VHS July 31, 1996 and on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

September 23, 2003. The anime has been out-of-print in the region since 2011.

Plot

Riki Hyoudo is a high school karate prodigy who enjoys fighting challenges. At the same time, unbeknownst to him, he is the prophesied vessel of lord Byoudo, demon king of the Dark Realm, who learns his dark energy is empowering Hyoudo through a dimensional gate to produce a legendary warrior. Wanting to investigate this, Byoudo travels to Earth and supernaturally freezes the school to challenge Hyoudo. The boy defeats the demon's spirits, but is easily submitted himself by Byoudo, who reveals they are both the same being and, suspecting the prophecy to be a trap, fuses them together in Hyoudo's body to absorb his power. Hyoudo believes the whole ordeal to be just a dream. Shortly after, Space-Time Continuum Inspector Zankan arrives to Earth after detecting demonic activity, and he witnesses a young man with spiritual powers, Toshimitsu Yuuki, fighting and destroying man-possessing monsters. Next day, Yuuki ambushes Hyoudo, feeling the dark energy inside him and wrongly believing him to be the master of the demons, and it takes Byoudo's power to stop him. Byoudo has deduced the culprit is his own demon lieutenant, Fairy Master Kain, who has secretly betrayed him, and proposes Yuuki to team up in order to defeat her and her servants. Meanwhile, Kain deceives Megumi Koyama, a girl with an unrequited love for Hyoudo, and uses her emotions to create a demon and attack Hyoudo's close friend Ryouko Takayanagi. Zakan saves Takayanagi and interrogates her about Hyoudo, after which the latter uses his power to make her forget the encounter. Zankan meets Hyoudo and allies temporally with him after a friendly spar, while Kain visits Yuuki in his shrine and possesses him. During a school event, Hyoudo saves Megumi from demon-possessed students, but she is also infected by a demon and he is forced spend a lot of energy to destroy and resurrect her. At the same time, Zankan is attacked by Yuuki-Kain, who defeats him and is about to kill him before Hyoudo intervenes. Hyoudo and Kain face off, wrecking the school in the process, and although Kain has the upper hand, Byoudo manages to take over momentarily and destroy her. After the battle, with Zankan's memory of the events erased, everything returns to normal.

Credits

Additional voices

*English: J. David Arnold, Scott Simpson, Ralph Brownewell, Noah Shane

Crew

*Producers: Sakamoto Seiichi (TOKUMA JAPAN) and Miyashita Kenji (DAST) *Director: Itano Ichiroo *Original Story, Screenplay, Storyboards: Itano Ichiroo *Music: Sagisu Shiroo *Character Design, Animation Direction: Yuuki Nobuteru *Assistant Animation Directors: Urushibara Tomoshi, Niioka Hiromi, Oogami Hiroaki, Anno Hideaki

Ending Theme: "Medusa"

*Lyrics: Sugimoto Yuuri *Music: Matsumoto Takahiro *Arrangement: Oda Tetsuroo and Matsumoto Takahiro By Tokuma Japan Communications

Reception

References

External links

* {{anime News Network, anime, 521 1986 manga 1987 anime OVAs Martial arts anime and manga Shōnen manga