is a Japanese media franchise created by

Square Enix is a Japanese 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 franchises, among numerous ...

, consisting primarily of a series of video games. The first release was an online free-to-play

card battle A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with '' Magic: The Gathering'' in 1993. General ...

game titled , which was released for iOS 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

game titled was released in 2012, written by Kazuma Kamachi. 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-generati ...

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 terri ...

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. 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), edu ...

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 vaporizatio ...

, requiring an HTC Vive headset to play. A PlayStation VR 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 (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 b ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, 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 vi ...

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 ...

''’s developer

Team Arcana Team Arcana is a Japanese video game developer and a successor of Examu, which mostly produce fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two o ...

, originally owned by Examu 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 ''(KOF XIV)'' is a 2016 Japanese fighting game. Part of SNK's franchise ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') series, with this installment being published by Atlus USA in North America and Deep Silver in Europe. After the 13th installment that ...

'' 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 (video game company), Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Famicom. It is the seq ...

''. 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 ...

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 Nintend ...

'' 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 from '' The King of Fighters'' 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 ...

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

Anime

An ONA 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 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 and produced by Lantis. Genco 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's of comics and stickers from the ''Million Arthur'' series.

Common Elements

The series is based around Arthurian legends and the blade Excalibur. 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 th ...

. ''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 leg ...

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