Setting
editKyo Kara Maoh! takes place in an alternate world which Yuri travels to through contact with various sources of water. The clothing of this world is similar to the clothing of medeival Europe. There are many nations in the alternate world, however, the plot centers around the nation of Shin Makoku (眞魔国, True Mazoku Land) (officially translated "Great Demon Kingdom"). The people of the kingdom are Mazoku (魔族), a type of Japanese mythological creature similar to a demon. In the official translation, Mazoku is rendered as "demon" or "Demon Tribe", depending on context. The Demon Tribe are granted the privelege of making an agreement with an element of nature, which allows them to manipulate that element through the use of Majutsu (魔術, Mazoku special discipline). In the English translation, Majutsu is rendered as "magic". The capital of the Great Demon Kingdom is Covenant Castle, the residence of the Maoh (マ王 or 魔王, Maō), or "Mazoku King" (officially "Demon King"). The culture in the Great Demon Kingdom is very different from the Japanese culture Yuri is accustomed to, and the differences make for some amusing mishaps with long ranging consequences, such as an accidental proposal of marriage. The Great Demon Kingdom shows many similarities to medeival Germany. For example, the pronunciations of the names (as well as several of the names theselves) and the indications of language in the Great Demon Kingdom are derived or transliterated from the German language. Also, Conrart gives Yuri his name, which he claims means "July" in the language of the Great Demon Kingdom. In German, July is "Juli" pronounced "Yuli". Due to the lack of distinction between the Western sounds of the letters L and R in the Japanese language, this is rendered in Japanese as "Yuri." Also, it may be noted that the nobles of the kingdom are named using the traditional naming conventions of German nobility, using the preposition "von" in their surnames to denote their fiefdom, as in Günter von Christ and Wolfram von Bielefeld.
Synopsis
editSeason One
editThe first season of Kyo Kara Maoh! begins when Yuri intervenes upon finding his classmate, Ken Murata (村田 健, Murata Ken), being bullied, and gets his head dunked in a toilet by the bullies. When his head enters the water, he is sucked into the toilet, and ends up in another world. Waking on dry land, he initially assumes that he is at a theme park, because of the medeival-style clothes the inhabitants wear. He encounters Adalbert von Grantz, who uses some form of magic to unlock the local language hidden in Yuri's spirit. Conrart Weller and Günter von Christ then rescue Yuri and take him to Covenant Castle, where he is informed that he is the new heir to the throne of the Great Demon Kingdom. While spending his first night at the castle, Yuri encounters Wolfram von Bielefeld, who immediately marks Yuri as an unworthy heir to the throne, and claims that Yuri's mother was of poor breeding, as well as being human. Yuri reacts to the insult by slapping Wolfram across the left cheek, which, unbeknownst to Yuri, is the traditional way to propose marriage among the nobles of the Great Demon Kingdom. Though Yuri insists that he is not interested in men, Wolfram takes the proposal very seriously, becoming a jealous, critical fiancee, constantly complaining about how Yuri is a wimp of a fiancee, to great comic effect. Though initially hesitant to claim the throne of a nation he has never heard of at age 15, Yuri has a change of heart upon learning that the humans of the world are at odds with the Demon Tribe, and that the kingdom is on the brink of war with the humans. Yuri feels the bitterness of war firsthand when visiting a town that was burned by enemies, and he feels compelled to bring peace to the land. Just as Yuri is beginning to accept his responsibility as Demon King, another being within his soul manifests itself. This other being is known as "the Demon King" proper, and has longer hair, and more adult features as well as a deeper voice. He is extremely powerful with magic. He is brought forth when Yuri is angered, hurt, or otherwise distressed. The Demon King is always eloquent and direct when he appears, always promoting the idea of justice; in fact, whenever he punishes wrongdoers, he always creates an image of the kanji meaning "justice" (正義, seegi) somewhere within the scene. The Demon King often appears at crucial moments to help out and to insure justice prevails. Yuri slowly becomes the champion of peace and justice, and becomes iconic of a new era of understanding as he rules with a strict policy of peace and negotiation. He even encounters Prince Heathcrife of Cavalcade on a ship, and inadvertantly forms an alliance for the Great Demon Kingdom by helping out who he believes is just a stranger in need. On one instance, Ken Murata tries to save Yuri from drowning as he is "flushed" to the other world, and is accidentally brought along. After some initial ackward caution between the friends, Ken reveals to Yuri that he is the reincarnated soul of the Great Wise Man (大賢者, daikenja), the close friend and advisor of the original Demon King, known as the Great One (眞王, shin'ō, True King). The Great Wise Man always remembers his past lives. After this encounter, Ken usually travels with Yuri to and from the kingdom, and the boys become closer in both worlds. Later in the season, Yuri learns that in ancient times, the Great One sealed up his greatest enemy, the Originator (宗主, sōshu), in four wooden boxes named End of the Wind, End of the Earth, Hell's Fire on Frozen Tudra and Bottom of the Mirror, collectively known as the Four Forbidden Boxes. According to Ken, peace cannot prevail until all four boxes, which can be used as powerful weapons of destruction, are brought back into the control of the Demon Tribe. Yuri begins searching for the boxes, and subsequently clashes with King Belar of Big Cimarron, who is also seeking the boxes to use as weapons against his human enemies, as well as the Demon Tribe.
Season Two
editThe second season begins with Yuri and his companions in Franzia with End of the Wind in their possession. While travelling back to the Great Demon Kingdom, however, they are confronted by a group of soldiers lead by Conrart. He openly declares his new allegience to Big Cimarron, and takes the group and the box into custody. When King Belar orders Conrart to exectute Yuri, however, he reveals that he has always remained faithful to Yuri, and had been attempting to gain access to the boxes controlled by Big Cimarron. The companions escape when the armies of Cavalcade and of a newly-allied Franzia arrive and order Belar out of of Franzia, but not before Conrart is pierces by two arrows protecting Yuri. End of the Wind is successfully secured, but Yuri and Ken get pulled back to Japan before reaching the Great Demon Kingdom. Through a series of side stories, it becomes clear that Yuri's brother, Shori Shibuya (勝利 渋谷, Shibuya Shōri)is being trained to take over the role of Demon King for the small population of Demon Tribe living in secret in our world. Throughout the progression of the early second season, viewers are presented with a slow accumulation of information about a mysterious character who apparantly died three years before Yuri's birth, named Suzanna Julia von Wincott. Both Conrart and Adelbert were very close to Julia, and Adalbert was her lover. As the season continues, it is eventually revealed that Suzanna Julia volunteered to give her life to the Great One, and was subsequently reincarnated as Yuri. Julia was chosen to become the next Demon King because she was a gentle, caring soul, and she abhorred war in every sense. Like Yuri, she did not understand what she felt was the needless sacrifice of war. It is also later revealed that the soul of the Great Wise Man was deliberately brought to Earth along with Yuri's, so that Ken Murata could be raised with the future Demon King. It is difficult to draw a broad line accross the plot progressions of the beginning of the second season, as most many episodes present isolated side-stories including chasing a baby around Covenant Castle, a villain attempting to take Yuri hostage but giving up when he tastes soup similar to a recipe made by his mother, and Yuri traveling to the past to encounter Suzanna Julia. Meanwhile, the fourth box, the Bottom of the Mirror, becomes increasingly elusive, until the Great One informs Ulrike that the box was hidden away on Earth in ancient times. Yuri, Gwendal, Conrart, Wolfram, and Ken travel to Earth and meet Yuri's parents, then begin searching for the Demon King of Earth, Bob. Bob turns away the demons, telling them to return home, and setting various obstacles in their way, which the companions overcome to finally meet with Bob in Switzerland. Bob and Yuri (as the original Demon King) battle with magic, and Bob is eventually defeated, yielding the box to Yuri, and also explaining that his ancestors had made an oath never to allow the box to return to the Great Demon Kingdom. The obstacles had been a test of Yuri's strength and worthiness. Upon returning the Bottom of the Mirror to the Great Demon Kingdom, and thus collecting all four boxes, strange things begin to happen, such as the Fly-Bone Tribe becoming uneasy and flocking en masse to Covenant Castle, and travel between worlds becoming more difficult and less predictable. Finally, Conrart and Gwendal discover that the Originator is beginning to leak out of the boxes as the seals weaken. Yuri comes forward to help reseal the boxes, but Wolfram, possessed by the spirit of the Originator, leaps forward and distracts Yuri, who releases his hold on the Originator. Suddenly, the spirit of the Great One appears and takes Gwendals's eyes, Conrart's arm and Wolfram's heart, three of the four keys to the boxes, and realeases the trapped parts of the Originator in those three boxes, but later gives back the original body parts. Ken reveals that, before his death, the Great One had accidentally absorbed part of the Originator, and that his spirit had now combined with the Originator. The Great One takes over Yuri's body, and Ken sits aside to see who will win out. Gwendal and Conrart take Morgif back to the island where he was found, and throw him into the volcano to renew his power. The Great One tries to use Yuri's blood as the key to the fourth box, but Julia's pendant reacts to the act and transmits a vision of Julia into Yuri's soul, where she tells him that he is strong and can save everyone. Just then, Gwendal, Conrart and Morgif arrive, and Morgif rips the Great One out of Yuri's body. In the crucial moment, Ken reveals the Great One's final plan to use his soul as a vessel in which to ultimately destroy the Originator. Yuri was chosen to be the only Demon King stronger than the Great One. Yuri vanquishes the Great One and the Originator, and becomes strong enough to travel between worlds at will.
Season Three
editThe third season of the series, consisting of 39 episodes, is said to be in production and to be released in April.
Themes
editThroughout the series, Yuri is constantly confronted with the results of even the smallest choices he makes. With a strange power dwelling inside of him, Yuri becomes a deliverer of justice in the world of the Great Demon Kingdom.