is a Japanese media franchise created by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

, consisting primarily of a series of video games. The first release was an online free-to-play card battle game titled , which was released for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and Android in 2012. A sequel game titled was released in Japan in November 2014. An

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

titled was released in 2018. The TV

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, 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 Japane ...

adaptation of the game '' Operation Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur'' premiered on October 25, 2018. The TV anime series is licensed in North America by

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

Franchise

Games

Series titles

The first game, an online free-to-play card battle game titled was released in 2012, written by

Kazuma Kamachi is the pen name of a Japanese author who has published over 100 light novel volumes. He is best known for the creation of the ''A Certain Magical Index'' franchise which, as of 2019, has sold over 30 million copies worldwide and has been licensed ...

. The title was ported to the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

eShop in October 2014 with a new interface to match the systems two screens. An English language version of the game was released for Southeast Asia entitled ''Magnificent Million Arthur''. It was also ported to the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

with additional features including voice acting, gameplay changes and the ability of a player to edit their deck. Square Enix closed the game's Japanese servers in 2015. On July 14, 2015 it was released in Europe and North America by the South Korean publisher

Gamevil Com2uS Holdings (formerly as ''Gamevil Inc.'') ((주)게임빌) is a public company based in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and Torrance, California, Torrance, California, which Video game developer, develops and Video game publisher, publishes video g ...

. Servers for this release were closed on December 7 of that same year. A sequel game titled was released in Japan in November 2014. The service ended on September 30, 2020. A

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

game titled was shown at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2016. It was released in Japan on May 25, 2017, for the PC via

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

, requiring an

HTC Vive VIVE, sometimes referred to as HTC Vive, is a virtual reality brand of HTC Corporation. It consists of hardware like its titular virtual reality headsets and accessories, virtual reality software and services, and initiatives that promote appl ...

headset to play. A

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 an ...

version was released in Japan on September 28, 2017. Released in English-speaking countries as ''Million Arthur VR: Character Command RPG'', the PC version was released by Vive Studios in the United States and the

Commonwealth nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

(inc. the United Kingdom, Canada,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Australia and New Zealand) on October 12, 2017. An

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...

called ''Million Arthur: Arcana Blood'' was developed by ''

Arcana Heart is a 2D arcade fighting game series developed by Team Arcana (originally co-owned with its former parent company Examu). The first edition was released to arcades (mostly in Japan, but a few in other countries) in late 2007. The games feature a ...

''’s developer

Team Arcana Team Arcana is a Japanese video game developer and a successor of Examu, which mostly produce fighting games for arcades and home console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display dev ...

, originally owned by

Examu Examu, formerly known as Yuki Enterprise, was a Japanese video game company founded in 2000. It mostly produced fighting games for arcades and home consoles. It is known for owning Team Arcana, the developer of the original intellectual property ...

and released in Japan on November 21, 2017. A PlayStation 4 port was released on November 29, 2018, and was originally planned only for release in Japan. The game was later ported to PC and released worldwide on June 20, 2019. The plot revolves around many Arthurs armed with Excaliber blades fighting to become the true king. The roster of fighters features thirteen characters including faeries, clones, and guest fighters from other titles such as '' King of Fighters XIV'' and ''

Trials of Mana ''Trials of Mana'', also known by its Japanese title is a 1995 action role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Famicom. It is the sequel to the 1993 game ''Secret of Mana'', and is the third instal ...

''. During combat, players can have three supporting fighters at a time from a selection of thirty one. An

titled was released in China for iOS and Android in March 2018 and released in Japan in November 2018. The MMO was terminated on September 30, 2019. An

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

titled was released for iOS and Android in Japan during October 2018. Players create characters who explore 3D terrains, fight monsters, and perform special attacks with other characters within a players party. The mobile service shut down on May 12, 2020.

Character Crossovers

Million Arthur appeared in the 2015 role-playing game ''

Megadimension Neptunia VII is a 2015 role-playing game in the ''Hyperdimension Neptunia'' series. It was released in Japan on April 23, 2015, in North America on February 2, 2016, and Europe on February 12, 2016. The Windows version was released on July 5, 2016. A Ninte ...

'' as a DLC character. But the character was removed from the Steam version of the game in January 2020. Thief (Tōzoku) Arthur appears as a guest DLC character in '' SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy''. '' Gestalt Odin'' featured six characters from the series as guest fighters. Characters from others games have also appeared in the ''Million Arthur'' series, such as

Iori Yagami is a fictional character from SNK's ''The King of Fighters'' video game series. The character first appeared in ''The King of Fighters '95'' as the leader of the Rivals Team, as the initial enemy and later rival of Kyo Kusanagi. Iori is the he ...

from ''

The King of Fighters ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of ''The King of Fighters '94'' in 1994. The series was developed originally for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware. This served as the main plat ...

'' series, who is both under his Miss X disguise and also a DLC in ''Heroines'', appears as a guest character in ''Arcana Blood''.

Live-action television

A live-action television adaptation premiered on October 3, 2014.

Manga

A 4-panel

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 u ...

adaptation by Choboraunyopomi, titled , has been serialized within the ''Million Arthur'' games and via the Niconico Seiga website since 2012.

Anime

ONA Ona or ONA may refer to: Anthropology * Ona people, an indigenous people of southern Argentina and Chile ** Ona language, a language once spoken in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego * Ona, a pre-Aksumite culture in Sembel, Eritrea Geography * On ...

adaptation of the ''Jaku-San-Sei Million Arthur'' manga premiered on November 20, 2015. An

television series adaptation of the ''Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur'' MMORPG by

J.C.Staff , is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was ''Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Food ...

premiered on October 25, 2018, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

and other channels. It was announced that the series will be split-cour, with the second season airing in April 2019. The series is directed by Yōhei Suzuki and written by Tsuyoshi Tamai. Yoshinari Saito provides the character designs. The series' music is composed by

Go Shiina , known professionally as Go Shiina, is a Japanese music composer primarily known for his work in video games. He joined Namco in 1997 and was best known during his time with the company for writing music for a number of games in the '' Tales'', ...

and produced by Lantis.

Genco is a Japanese anime production enterprise, founded on March 3, 1997. Presided over by Tarō Maki, its headquarters is located in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo. It has produced numerous anime series such as ''Honey and Clover'', ''Nodame Cantabile'', ' ...

is producing the series. The opening theme song is "Highlight" by

Ayaka Ōhashi is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo, Japan. She is affiliated with the talent agency HoriPro International. As a singer, she is signed under Lantis. Originally a child actress, she appeared in many commercials, dramas, NHK Educat ...

, and the ending theme song is "KI-te MI-te HIT PARADE!" by Himika Akaneya, Rie Takahashi, Nao Tōyama, Yū Serizawa, Suzuko Mimori, and Rina Hidaka under their character names. The second opening theme song is "Open the Worlds" by ORESAMA, and the second ending theme song is "Pearly×Party" by the voice actress unit Pearly Fairy.

Merchandise

Square Enix announced that in mid-2021 they would be offering

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...

's of comics and stickers from the ''Million Arthur'' series.

Common Elements

The series is based around

Arthurian legends The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Western ...

and the blade

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

. Demons invade Britain, and while the countries eleven leaders quarrel, the protagonist Arthur draws the sword, becomes king of the dragons, and leads the countries defenses against the invaders. Other games take place in the fictional land of

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as the ...

. ''Kou-Kyou-Sei Million Arthur'' takes place in Camelots' future where evil has conquered the land, and a girl named

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

gathers new "Arthur's" to retake the kingdom.

Development and history

The original game was written by Kazuma Kamachi, creator of "A Certain Magical Index", and over fifty illustrators created 170 playing cards for the title.

Reception

Western reviews were generally unfavorable for the original ''Million Arthur'', with ''Touch Arcade'' praising the story and dialogue but blasted the passive and boring gameplay. ''Gamezebo'' applauded the art direction and the games unique premise but also criticized the battle system and the Japanese-only voiceover.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Million Arthur 2012 video games 2014 video games 2015 anime ONAs 2017 video games 2018 video games Android (operating system) games Esports games Fantasy video games Free-to-play video games Gangan Comics manga HTC Vive games IOS games Mass media franchises Monarchy in fiction Multiplayer video games PlayStation VR games Role-playing video games Seinen manga Shōnen manga Square Enix franchises Square Enix games Taito games Video games adapted into television shows Video games featuring female protagonists Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 2012 Video games related to anime and manga Yonkoma Video games developed in Japan