Mahōjin Guru Guru
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''Magical Circle Guru Guru'' () is a Japanese
manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
by Hiroyuki Etō, which was serialized in
Enix was a Japanese multimedia publisher who handled and oversaw video games, manga, guidebooks, and merchandise. It was founded in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima as Eidansha Boshu Service Center, initially as a tabloid publisher and later attempting t ...
's '' Monthly Shōnen Gangan'' from 1992 to 2003. It was later adapted into an
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
Mahoujin Guru Guru
/ref> series on October 13, 1994. A second manga series was serialized in '' Gangan Online'' in 2012. ''Mahōjin Guru Guru'' is a light series aimed at older children. It contains occasional toilet gags and some innuendo. It also is a parody of early
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
s (RPGs), particularly turn-based games, such as those in the ''
Dragon Quest previously published as ''Dragon Warrior'' in North America until 2005, is a series of role-playing video games created by Japanese game designer Yuji Horii (Armor Project), character designer Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio), and composer Koi ...
'' series. Information boxes are often displayed on screen with accompanying narration in the traditional RPG style. The overall goal of the two main characters, Nike and Kukuri, is to defeat Giri, the ruler of the darkness. Since the anime is based on an RPG, several side quests need to be completed before they are able to locate him. A new series based on the manga animated by Production I.G aired from July to December 2017.
Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...
streamed the anime, marking the first anime from the ''Mahoujin Guru Guru'' franchise to receive an official English release.


Characters


Main characters

Nike (pronounced Nee-kay) is the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
. Because of this, Nike is a competent but cowardly fighter. Like Kukuri, he is initially immature and inexperienced. Nike is from Jimina Mura, (which translates to Plain Old Village). Initially, Nike wants to be a Wizard as he finds the thought of casting a fireball "cool", though his parents convince him to be the Hero. He initially thinks that he is of the Hero class, as do others. It is later revealed that he is a Thief. Despite this, he can use all the abilities of the Hero class, including Gallant Pose, which only a Hero can do. Bado is Nike's father. He had always wished to be a
Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
, but due to the lack of any great evil to fight against, he had to give up on his dream. However, he made his son undergo hard training as a child in hopes that one day a great evil would arise and Nike could fight it. He received a critical hit in the form of a punch the first time he held the infant Nike. After that, he trained Nike to be a Hero. Right before he departs for Kodai Castle, Nike offers him his old helmet. The helmet is cracked, but Nike suggests he will wear it by tilting it to the side. Bado kicks Nike into the air and keeps the helmet on, saying that he looks like a gang leader. is Nike's mother. She knocks out Nike with a poison dart when he tries to flee. She cooks him a meal that resembles an adventuring
map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...
. Nike has to eat things in the proper order, which he does not, and ends up poisoned. ; ; Kukuri is a gentle-hearted magic apprentice. She had grown under the care of Jimuna Town's old witch, who received her as a baby from a wandering stranger, supposedly the last member of the Migu Migu Tribe. Being the last remaining member of the Migu Migu, Kukuri learns the dark summoning magic only the Migu Migu can use, known as Guru Guru; it consists of drawing circles on the ground with a staff. She is eager and shows great affection towards Nike, almost always calling him "Mr. Hero" (''Yusha'' in Japanese). She is extremely lucky or good in several sports and games, such as
rock-paper-scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by several other names and word orders) is an intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand. These shapes a ...
and
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
. She becomes furious when someone says anything about her appearance. Old Witch is an old woman who raised Kukuri. She is called obaba (old hag) and cow by Kukuri. She lied to Kukuri that chocolate is poison to children to keep her from eating hers.


Rivals

Ena is a beautiful Wizard who is in love with Gail. She is dressed like a belly dancer. Gaile is a Fighter that thinks he is a Hero. Despite Gail's high level, he loses most battles, even the one with Nike the first time they met. Gail and Ena reveal that they usually do not have enough money to buy food as they use it to buy equipment; it is they reason they lose all the time.


Others

;Kita Kita Oyaji Voiced by Kenichi Ogata (1994-2000),
Katsuyuki Konishi is a Japanese voice actor from Wakayama, Japan. He is affiliated with Ken Production. His debut role was Volfogg/Big Volfogg in '' GaoGaiGar''. He is most well known for portraying Kamina in '' Gurren Lagann'', Laxus Dreyar in '' Fairy Tail'' ...
(2017) Oyaji (real name Udberg Eldol), or "Old Man", used to be the mayor of Kitano, also called North Town. When the town's
traditional dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances are us ...
Kita Kita could no longer be performed because no more girls were born, he started dancing it himself. He believes that as a result of a curse, they had commercialized the dance. His dance is often regarded as creepy and disgusting by the other characters. He usually follows the duo of Nike and Kukuri around. He wears a
hula Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form expressing chant (''oli'') or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), ''mele''). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli ...
dress and usually finds some excuse to perform his Kita Kita dance, much to the duo's dismay. In "Doki Doki Legend," it is learned he accidentally developed muscles from all the dancing and is able to defeat monsters in one punch. He has 1650 Hit Points in "Pickle of Happiness" that make him nearly immortal and able to sustain extreme levels of abuse that is inflicted upon him all the time. ;Toma Voiced by Yukiyo Fujii (2017) He joins the party and meets Nike and Kukuri in North village where he pretends to be of the
Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
class. In "Doki Doki Legend" he plays a major role in Nike's party as a Magical engineer with the ability to invent magical items. He is shown to be level 12 when Nike and Kukuri were 2 and 3 respectively. Toma was interested in Migu. Migu's first encounter with Nike and Kukuri was in North Village, where she put on a front as a martial artist at the party they were attending .She tries to use sex appeal against the ratman guard at the dungeon of Mountain Saw-edge but the ratman flees as she scares him. She is Zaza's sister. Zaza joins the party and meets Nike and Kukuri in north village where he pretends to be a wizard. Zaza was interested in Kukuri. He is Migu's brother. ;Juju Voiced by Yuri Amano (Season 1 and Movie), Kae Araki (Season 2) (1994), Yō Taichi (2017) She is a Priestess of the Purato people. In "Doki Doki Legend" she joins Nike's party as a warrior priest. Her magic comes from praying to Purato's God. She proves to be a good exorcist. She appears very powerful but is impeded in her spell casting as seen when her combat Altar was broken by Gochinko's sword style. ;Gochinko Voiced by
Rikiya Koyama is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator currently affiliated with Haiyuza Theatre Company. He has done popular voicing roles in '' Hajime no Ippo'', ''Utawarerumono'', '' Kamen no Maid Guy'' and ''Yakuza'', and has become well known for vo ...
(2017) He is a sword trainer and master of 'stupid' or 'queer'
swordsmanship Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to an ...
. This unique form of sword-fighting, which he teaches wearing a rundown small hall, specializes in making the enemy laugh to distract his attention. Gochinko places flowers on parts of his body and takes strange stances to make the enemy laugh and thus inflicts great damage as he is distracted. He tries to teach Nike swordsmanship and judges that Nike is very bad at it. He is a Purato agent and serves JuJu. ;Gipple Voiced by Urara Takano (1994),
Takahiro Sakurai is a Japanese voice actor, narrator, and radio personality from Aichi Prefecture, Japan. His well-known roles include heroes such as Cloud Strife in '' Compilation of Final Fantasy VII'', Suzaku Kururugi in '' Code Geass'', X in '' Mega Man ...
(2017) He is a small wind spirit who occasionally guides the duo, though he vanishes at the first sign of trouble. He can expand his cloak into a tent and store items in it. Gipple has an
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...
body under the cloak and wears
fundoshi is a traditional Japanese undergarment for men and women, made from a length of cotton. Before World War II, the fundoshi was the main form of underwear for Japanese men and women. However, it fell out of use quickly after the war with the int ...
. Gipple seems disgusted by any emotional or dramatic demonstration and expresses this whenever possible. ;Lunlun Felmère Voiced by
Naoko Matsui is a Japanese voice actress and narrator from Hakodate, Hokkaido. Matsui was a member of Production Baobab for 20 years before becoming a freelancer. Matsui is most notable for the roles of Uru Chie in '' High School! Kimengumi'', Rem Ayano ...
(1994),
Saori Ōnishi is a Japanese voice actress who is affiliated with I'm Enterprise. She voiced La Folia Rihavein in her first main role for the anime series ''Strike the Blood''. She is known for her roles as Eriri Spencer Sawamura in '' Saekano'', Ais Wallens ...
(2017) She is a woman from a magic society who helps Nike and Kukuri from time to time. She uses snake magic and is the one who gave Gipple to Nike. In "Doki Doki Legend" she falls in love with Nike's Thief mentor Sly. Nike cannot help laughing when he hears her name and hides behind a rock to avoid being noticed. ;King Uruga XIII Voiced by Atsushi Ono He resides in Kodai castle. He is a short man with a long mustache and long black hair. He gives 800 Rin to Nike and Kukuri to aid their quest in defeating Giri. Guriel is a blonde
fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...
with a pink tutu and a ribbon on her head. She knew the secret weak point of Kisegi Gold and was imprisoned when she told about a hundred of her friends. After she was freed, she left famous rice crackers as a gift. Fairy Elder, No idea/nothingness faeries and Confusion faeries are others in the story. Beegain is a sage, who teaches Nike about Light magic and the Kira Kira sword. Wugenvillia is found in Potoma Academy in the Potoma kingdom. SteinWetts is also called Wetts. ;Ardenberg and Wanchin


Monsters

Lord Giri Voiced by: Ryūzaburō Ōtomo Giri is the series' main antagonist. After having been sealed by Guruguru magic for 300 years during the reign of King Uruga III, he returned and unleashed his army of monsters to take over the world. Since his only weakness is Guruguru magic, he tries to destroy Kukuri, the last Guruguru user in existence. He is always depicted sitting on a big armchair, completely hidden in a dark cloak with only his red eyes glowing through. In his
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...
ic-looking hand he always holds a glass of wine. ;Raid Voiced by:
Nobuhiko Okamoto is a Japanese voice actor and singer affiliated with Raccoon Dog. He won the Best New Actor Award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and Best Supporting Actor Award at the 5th Seiyu Awards. Voice acting career In an interview held at the Anime Expo, wh ...
(2017) He is a handsome demon-prince who is fond of Kukuri. His special name for her is "Pink Bomb," and he continually tries to split her away from Nike to fall in love with him. His magic attacks are powerful, but often involve complicated incantations and unusual results, such as gastric distress. Ratmen are very low-ranked type of monsters. They sometimes speak in
Prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...
. They have 3 HP. Rai Rai is a flying monster that resembles a bird. Kisegi is a monster that fights with a club or a spear, has three horns on his head and adds ''-sss'' after every sentence. He is somehow related to cats, as he is extremely affected by catnip. He has 5 HP. Kisegi Gold is a Kisegi and boss of the dungeon at Mountain Saw-edge. His weak point is to the right of the scale below the crest between the two horns on the back of his shoulders. He appears stupid and has Ratmen write his lines. He can breathe fire, inflict double damage when enraged, and is part
salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...
. He usually fights with a huge sword. Man-eating plant is found in a room in the dungeon of Mountain Saw-Edge. NG is a blue monster sorcerer in a death pool. Chikuri Demon is a teammate with Search Eye and will tell lies to her enemies to cause division until they attack each other. She loves to talk and often unwittingly reveals the plans of Giri. Search Eye will scan his opponent for weaknesses then produce an illusion to lower his or her guard. At this point Chikuri will join the attack. Mandoragora is a monster with a gourd shaped watermelon for a head and tree branches for legs and arms. Its torso is covered in leaves. The top of its head opens up to reveal stems and red petals. This monster was always unlucky with girls, so he terrorized their village and demanded girls, who he made go through hard labor. Mandoragora can shield himself with his leaves and gain protection from fire. His main attack is
Black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...
spores that launch from his head. His stems can be used as limbs or whips and his hands as claws. Yanban is a red man-like dog with intense eyebrows wearing a grey cloak. It is located in great numbers in the fairy village mountain and fights with a woodsman axe which it sometimes throws. It also wears a hat with several white feathers on top and white sandals. Its bite is venomous and deadly. The Yanban can also play with his target and lick his targets which makes them disgusted. Lovelovella is a heart-shaped creature with long hair. Her large sparkling eyes cause her opponents to laugh, so she can use her hair to smack them while their guard is down. Vacuum sucks in the surrounding area until its enemies are consumed. As he sucks in air, he expands larger and larger. He seems to be easily punctured. Gizaier, Darklings, and Dora Dora are other monsters.


Media


First anime series

The first series ''Mahoujin Guru Guru'' (produced by Nippon Animation) has 45 episodes. It covers the content of manga volumes 1 - 4 and some other adventures not in the manga. After being sealed for 300 years, the demon lord Giri reawakens and sends off his monster minions to wreak havoc in the world. King Uruga XIII thus, decides to place announcements everywhere in the kingdom in search of a legendary hero who can defeat Giri. In the king's castle a competition will be held to discover who the true hero is. Forced by his parents to go to the castle, Nike first visits the witch's house, where Kukuri joins him. Together they travel around the world defeating monsters, gaining new abilities, trying to uncover the mysteries surrounding the Migu Migu tribe and making many friends while confronting enemies.


Movie

In the movie, Nike and Kukuri learn about the "Pickle of Happiness", an item which will grant a wish to the one who eats it. With the help of old friends, they must beat the monsters to the Pickle and convince its guardian residing in ''Megalo'' mountain, the ''Megalo'' dragon to give it to them.


Doki Doki Legend

The second anime series was created in 2000, six years after the original. It covers the contents of manga volumes 5 to 11 (there are 16 manga volumes in total). Nike and Kukuri receive a message from Wanchin, the old leader of the Migu Migu, who tells them they need to find the 4 elemental swords in order to defeat Giri. Thus, a new adventure starts. At the end of the manga Nike and Kukuri seal Giri, though this is not shown in the animation.


Reboot series

A third series was announced in January 2017 and adapts the manga from the first chapter. It was animated by Production I.G and aired from July 11 to December 19, 2017 consisting 24 episodes. Hiroshi Ikehata directed the anime, with Hisaaki Okui handled the series composition and Naoyuki Asano designed the characters. ORESAMA performed the first opening theme "Trip Trip Trip" and TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND is composing the music and performed the ending theme "Round & Round & Round" alongside Bonjour Suzuki. ORESAMA also performed the second opening theme "Ryuusei Dance Floor". TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND also performed the second ending theme "Magical Circle" alongside
Shoko Nakagawa is a Japanese tarento, media personality, singer, actress, Voice acting in Japan, voice actress, illustrator, YouTuber, and cosplayer. Also known by her nickname , she is best known as the presenter of ''Pokémon Sunday'', and as the performer o ...
.


Games

Published by
Enix was a Japanese multimedia publisher who handled and oversaw video games, manga, guidebooks, and merchandise. It was founded in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima as Eidansha Boshu Service Center, initially as a tabloid publisher and later attempting t ...
, *''Mahōjin Guru Guru'' (
SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania an ...
) **''Mahōjin Guru Guru'' (
Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...
), published by
Takara was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy, Tomy Company, Ltd. to form Tomy, Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was("playing is culture"). The company focused on traditional toys and board games. They cr ...
*''Mahōjin Guru Guru 2'' (SNES) *''Doki Doki Densetsu Mahōjin Guru Guru'' (
Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...
) *'' Magical Battle Arena'' (crossover video game,
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
) ''Magical Circle Guru-Guru: Stardust Adventure'', the first Magical Circle Guru-Guru browser game is scheduled to launch on the G123 platform in 2023.


Reception

Since 1992, the manga has printed over 14 million copies in Japan.


See also

*'' Akazukin Chacha'' * List of Square Enix manga franchises


References


The anime encyclopedia: a guide to Japanese animation since 1917


External links



* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahojin Guru Guru 1992 manga 1994 anime television series debuts 1996 anime films 1996 films 2000 anime television series debuts 2017 anime television series debuts Comedy anime and manga Fantasy anime and manga Gangan Comics manga Production I.G Shōnen manga Square Enix franchises TV Asahi original programming TV Tokyo original programming Video games developed in Japan