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is a Japanese
light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
series written by Kōhei Azano and illustrated by Sumihei. It was adapted into a
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 ...
series in 2010. It received an
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 ...
series on October 9, 2013 and ended on March 26, 2014.
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 ...
simulcasted the series on their website.


Plot

Onmyodou magic was a powerful technique which was used by the Japanese during World War I. Later, infamous Yakou Tsuchimikado performed a ritual known as the 'Taizan Fukun Ritual', which will eventually bring out Japan as a formidable force. However, the ritual goes horribly wrong and the result of this becomes what is now known as the "Great Spiritual Disaster", an incident which haunts the entire Japanese continent to date. In addition to this, the Onmyo Agency was established to monitor supernatural activity in the area and to combat any spirits or demons that would make their way into the real world. In the present day, onmyodou has become more refined, simplified and modernised, even finding its use in the fields of medicine and technology. But not everyone is capable of affording this power, as can be seen in the case of Harutora, a member of one of the Tsuchimikado's branch families, who was born with no spiritual power. Despite being born to a distinguished onmyoji family, his life has become meaningless as he can accomplish nothing without any spiritual power. But he does remember the fact about him making a promise with his engaged childhood friend Natsume, the Tsuchimikado's family heir and Yakou's supposed reincarnation. Despite his background, living a normal and peaceful life is all Harutora ever wanted. But when a group of people from the Onmyo Agency attempt to recreate the same tragedy that led to Japan's downfall two years ago, he decides to take matters into his own hands by fighting alongside Natsume as her
shikigami (also read as ) is the term for a being from Japanese folklore. According to the Shinto scholar Inoue Nobutaka, it is thought to be some sort of , represented by a small ghost. The belief of ''shikigami'' originates from ''Onmyōdō''. Accord ...
(supporter).


Media


Light novels

''Tokyo Ravens'' began as a series of light novels by Kōhei Azano, author of ''
Black Blood Brothers ''Black Blood Brothers'', also known as ''BBB'', is a light novel series written by Kōhei Azano and illustrated by Yuuya Kusaka. In 2006, Studio Live and Group TAC produced an anime based on the series. It is directed by Hiroaki Yoshikawa. ...
'', with illustrations by Sumihei; 16 volumes have been released as of October 2018. The first volume of a side-story series titled ''Tokyo Ravens EX'' was published on July 20, 2013; four volumes have been released as of October 2016.


Volume list


Manga

''Tokyo Ravens'' inspired the creation of six manga series based on the light novels. The first one, ''Tokyo Ravens'', was illustrated by Atsushi Suzumi. It was serialsed from April 26, 2010 to July 26, 2017 in ''
Monthly Shōnen Ace is a monthly shōnen manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 1994. Unlike the big shōnen weeklies with circulation figures in the millions, ''Ace'' is aimed at a less mainstream audience, and has a particular emphasis on ...
''. The chapters have been collected into fiveteen
volumes Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The defi ...
. It follows the main story of the light novels. In 2014 and 2015 , Kadokawa published eleven English volumes of the manga adaptation on BookWalker, their official eBook store. The second manga series, ''Tokyo Ravens: Tokyo Fox'' was illustrated by COMTA and published in Fujimi Shobo's ''Age premium'' in 2011. It features an original story focused on Kon. The third series, ''Tokyo Ravens: Red and White'', is a manga spinoff by Azumi Mochizuki. It was serialized in Kadokawa's ''
Monthly Dragon Age is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by Fujimi Shobo. The magazine began as a combination between ''Monthly Comic Dragon'' and ''Monthly Dragon Junior'', two former magazines published by Fujimi Shobo. The first issue was published in ...
'' and concluded in the November 2013 issue. The fourth series, ''Tokyo Ravens: Sword of Song'', is a manga spinoff by Ran Kuze. Its serialization began in the November 2013 issue of
Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
's ''
Monthly Shōnen Rival was a Japanese monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine by Kodansha that ran from April 4, 2008 to June 4, 2014. It was issued on the 4th of every month. As with Shueisha's '' Jump SQ.'' and Shogakukan's ''Monthly Shōnen Sunday'', it is aimed at la ...
''. The fifth series, ''Tokyo Ravens -Girls Photograph-'', started serialization in Kadokawa's ''
Monthly Dragon Age is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by Fujimi Shobo. The magazine began as a combination between ''Monthly Comic Dragon'' and ''Monthly Dragon Junior'', two former magazines published by Fujimi Shobo. The first issue was published in ...
'' in the January 2014 issue. It focuses on the female characters of the series. The sixth and the latest series, ''Tokyo Ravens AnotherXHoliday'' started in Kadokawa's shojo magazine '' Millefeui'' in the February 2014 issue. It focuses on the male characters of the series.


Anime

An anime adaption aired in Japan from October 6, 2013 to March 26, 2014, animated by Eight Bit, directed by Takaomi Kansaki, and with screenplay by
Hideyuki Kurata is a Japanese anime screenwriter, light novelist, and manga artist, noted for authoring the series composition of such works as ''Read or Die'', ''Now and Then, Here and There'', ''Kamichu!'', and ''Gun Sword''. He has been a member of Yōsuke Kuro ...
.
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 ...
has licensed the series for English release.
Medialink Medialink Group Limited is a content distributor and licensor based in Kowloon, Hong Kong specializing in the distribution of Japanese anime and brand licensing. Its offices are located at Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Registered from Hong Kong ...
licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia and streaming this anime in their YouTube channel. The first opening theme is "X-encounter" by
Maon Kurosaki is a Japanese singer and songwriter signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. After being discovered while working as a performer in Akihabara, Tokyo, she made her major debut in 2010, performing ending themes to the anime television series ...
and the first ending theme is by
Yoshino Nanjō is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is affiliated with Voice Kit. Among her most popular roles is Eli Ayase from ''Love Live! School Idol Project'' series. She became the lead singer of the Japanese pop and trance duo fripSide in 2009 un ...
. The second opening theme is "Outgrow" by
Gero Gero I ( – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great ( la, magnus),Thompson, 486. Also se was a German nobleman who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he expande ...
and the second ending theme is "Break a spell" by
Mami Kawada is a former Japanese pop singer and lyricist who was signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan and also a member of I've Sound, a musical group which produces soundtracks for ''eroge'' (erotic games) and anime. Born and raised in Sapporo, Ja ...
.


Episode list


Reception

In
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
's Fall 2013 Anime Preview Guide, reviewers Rebecca Silverman and Theron Martin gave the series an initial rating of 2 out of 5 stars, while reviewers Carlo Santos and Carl Kimlinger gave the series an initial rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars. Martin commented that "the artistic effort is wholly unimpressive beyond the yukata that Hokuto wears and the CG creations stand out too starkly against the regular animation. Director Takaomki Kanasaki is quite capable of producing fun, stylish fare (as he proved with ''
Is This a Zombie? , also known as for short, is a Japanese light novel series by Shinichi Kimura, with illustrations by Kobuichi and Muririn. Since January 2009, 19 volumes have been published by Fujimi Shobo under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint. There ...
''), but this definitely does not qualify. Only some decent early character development saves this one from the garbage pile," while Santos gave a slightly more positive review, stating that "''Tokyo Ravens'' is nothing special, but it isn't horrible, either. This supernatural adventure series employs all the usual trappings of the genre, but does so without making a mess of the story or throwing too many ideas in. In fact, it even spends a good amount of time on the characters' day-to-day lives, instead of rushing them into the action." Silverman praised the series' art and character designs, as well as the series' use of both 2D and 3D CGI graphics, but concludes that "right now it feels like a hodgepodge of ideas that hasn't quite gotten itself grounded yet," while Kimlinger criticized the series' poor start and use of clichés, stating that "watching ''Tokyo Ravens'' is probably the closest you'll get to experiencing precognition. In a show that gets the desired effect from its tropes, that wouldn't be a problem. But ''Ravens'' only does its tropes half-right."


China ban

On June 12, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture listed ''Tokyo Ravens'' among 38 anime and manga titles banned in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.


References


External links


Official Novel Website



''Tokyo Ravens''
at
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 Kadokawa F ...
* {{Eight Bit (studio) Eight Bit (studio) 2010 Japanese novels 2010 manga 2013 anime television series debuts Action anime and manga Anime and manga based on light novels Tokyo MX original programming Fujimi Fantasia Bunko Funimation Medialink Kadokawa Shoten manga Kadokawa Dwango franchises Fictional ravens Light novels NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan Shōnen manga Supernatural anime and manga Yen Press titles Censored television series Works banned in China Television censorship in China