is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by

Ryūsuke Mita is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known as the creator of ''Dragon Half'', which was adapted into an OVA series animated by Production I.G by the same name. He also illustrates Futabasha game books under the pen name . Mita's father is Munesu ...

. The manga was serialized in

Fujimi Shobo , formerly , was a Japanese publisher that specialized in light novels, manga, role-playing games and collectible card games. Founded in 1972 and reorganized three times, it was at times an independent company and at times an imprint of Kadokaw ...

‘s ''

Dragon Magazine Dragon Magazine may refer to: * ''Dragon'' (magazine), an American magazine for ''Dungeons & Dragons'' players * ''Dragon Magazine'' (Fujimi Shobo), a Japanese light novel magazine {{disambig ...

'' from January 30, 1988 to April 30, 1994 and the chapters collected into 7 ''

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 ...

'' volumes. It was adapted into a 2-episode OVA series animated by Production I.G in 1993.

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt G ...

had previously licensed the anime series in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. Discotek Media has since re-licensed the OVAs for a DVD release in 2014. The manga has been licensed in North America by

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as w ...

. The story follows Mink, a half

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

/half

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

teenage girl on a quest for a potion which will turn her into a full human so that she can win the love of the legendary dragon slayer/crooner Dick Saucer. In the manga, in order to get the potion, she must slay Azetodeth, the greatest demon in the land. The story is very

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

, and pokes fun at a number of anime

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

s, including the overuse of super deformation, across a wide range of

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

s, similar to anime such as ''

Excel Saga is a manga series written and illustrated by Kōshi Rikudō. It was serialized in '' Young King OURs'' from 1996 to 2011, and its individual chapters were collected and published in 27 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shōnen Gahōsha. The series fo ...

''. Much of the manga contains references to

role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

and occasionally either other manga, or anything that begins with the word ''dragon''. Ryūsuke Mita's favorite animal is the dragon. As a result, several dragons play an important role in the manga, most notably Mana and her father, Titan.

Plot

Mink was born to a man who used to be a skilled swordsman and a female imperial red dragon. At age fifteen, she falls in love with a singer named Dick Saucer; but because he is also a dragonslayer, she has no choice but to get a potion that can change her into a pure human. She can only get the potion, however, if she can slay the most powerful Demon Lord in the land, Azetodeth, and go to his palace known as the Demon King's island. Not only does she have to reconstruct the Gourd of the Saints, an item that can seal Azetodeth, she also has to be aware of Princess Vina, her rival for Saucer's affections. Mink is aided by her friends Lufa, Pia, and a fairy mouse named Mappy on her quest. After a number of adventures, mainly a conflict with a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

and her four handmaidens and discovering Dick Saucer's past, Mink finally comes face to face with Azetodeth. She manages to seal the Demon Lord away with the Gourd of Saints, and although she gains the potion, she chooses to remain half-human, half-imperial red dragon forever. Instead of using the potion herself, she gives the potion to her friend Lufa, who had been turned into a toad by the Demon Lord's magic.

Terminology

Locations

;The Demon King's island :An island where Azetodeth and his three sons live. This island has tall rugged rocks and is surrounded by a wall that prevents anything that goes through unless it goes into the main entrance which is difficult to find or a gate guarded by a receptionist named Suzuki who is beaten by Mink and runs off. The island is first seen at the end of Chapter 13. After making several more cameos, Mink finally gets on the island in Chapter 50. There is also a castle which is completely destroyed by Azetodeth in Chapter 64. ;Village of the Red Lightning :The village where Mink and her family and friends live. It is shown in the beginning having a river flowing through it and mountains surrounding it, and is shown again in the credits.

Items

;The Gourd of the Saints :The Gourd of the Saints is a bottle that took 200 years for Mink's dragon great-grandfather to make. It was broken into three pieces which transformed into three holy artifacts 2000 years ago. The artifacts were Parza's holy grail (a goblet), Lorelo's Ball (a black ball that "provides super-screw") and Gill's crown. The Gourd of the Saints is extremely important as it is the only one that can seal Azetodeth away.

The three holy artifacts

There are three sacred treasures required to resurrect the gourd known as the three holy artifacts (Sango no Jingi in the Japanese version). They are loosely based on the

Imperial Regalia of Japan The are the imperial regalia of Japan and consist of the sword , the mirror , and the jewel . They represent the three primary virtues: valour (the sword), wisdom (the mirror), and benevolence (the jewel).

. Parza's holy grail represents the mirror of wisdom, Lorelo's ball represents the Jewel of Benevolence and Gil's crown represents the sword of valor. However, only Lorelo's ball and the jewel of benevolence correspond to each other in the story.

Media

Manga

''Dragon Half'' was released in two versions. The first was as seven standard ''

'', and the second was a wideban release comprising three volumes which included extra galleries and interviews with Mita not found in the original releases.Mita Ryūsuke English Fan page
(English)October 20, 2007 The manga consists of 65 chapters. After ''Dragon Half'' ended, Ryūsuke Mita created a sequel one-shot called ''Dragon Half Z'' about Mink's seven-year-old daughter Pink. The manga has been licensed in North America by

Anime and Video Game

A 2-episode OVA series adaptation was animated by Production I.G in 1993. It was written and directed by Shin'ya Sadamitsu, with character designs by Masahiro Koyama and music by Kōhei Tanaka. The first OVA, , was released on March 26, 1993. The second, , was released two months later on May 28, 1993. The OVA series is based on sections of the first two volumes. There were originally going to be 4 OVA episodes but there was not enough interest so only two episodes were produced. The ending theme song, ''My Omelette'', was written to the music of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

( Symphony No. 7, 4th movement) and sung by Kotono Mitsuishi while in character. The OVA has also inspired a game for the

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...

, also called Dragon Half, released by

Microcabin , sometimes written as Micro Cabin, is a Japan-based video game developer and publisher incorporated in 1982, which grew from the Ōyachi Electrics Microcomputer Club. Known for their ''Xak'' series and its spinoff ''Fray in Magical Adventure'', ...

Xak is the first game in the fantasy role-playing video game series ''Xak'' developed and published by Micro Cabin. It was originally released for the NEC PC-8801 computer system, with subsequent versions being developed for the NEC PC-9801, Sharp X6 ...

series fame. The game is an RPG and roughly follows the plot of the OVA. The OVA's voice actors returned to voice roles in the game. A PC-98 and FM-Towns RPG were developed by Micro Cabin Corp.

References

External links

* {{Production I.G OVAs 1988 manga 1993 anime OVAs ADV Films Dragons in popular culture Discotek Media Fujimi Shobo manga Kemonomimi Production I.G Seven Seas Entertainment titles Shōnen manga Sword and sorcery anime and manga