- Spriggan (manga)
-
Spriggan 
Spriggan Japanese manga cover by Shogakukanスプリガン
(Supurigan)Genre Adventure, history, military Manga Written by Hiroshi Takashige Illustrated by Ryōji Minagawa Published by Shogakukan English publisher 
VIZ Media[1]
Chuang YiDemographic Shōnen Magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday
Shōnen Sunday SuperOriginal run 1989 – 1996 Volumes 11 Anime film Directed by Hirotsugu Kawasaki Produced by Kazuhiko Ikeguchi
Kazuya Hamana
Haruo Sai
Eiko Tanaka
Ayao UedaMusic by Kuniaki Haishima Studio Studio 4°C Licensed by ADV FilmsReleased 1998 Runtime 90 minutes Game Spriggan: Lunar Verse Developer From Liquid Mirror Software Publisher From Software Genre Action, adventure Platform PlayStation Released June 17, 1999[1] Spriggan (スプリガン Supurigan) is a manga series written by Hiroshi Takashige and illustrated by Ryōji Minagawa during the early 1990s. It was initially released as Striker in the North American English translation, as it is the English translation of the word Spriggan from Celtic.[2]
Spriggan takes places in the last years of the Cold War where mysterious and unknown artifacts called out-of-place artifacts (OOPArt) are discovered in various parts of the world, leading to a secret war between various forces against the ARCAM Corporation, an organization that placed itself the guardians of the OOPArts in order to prevent them from being used as weapons.
Spriggan was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazines Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Shōnen Sunday Super. The manga was adapted into an anime film by Studio 4°C in 1998. A PlayStation game called Spriggan: Lunar Verse was also based on the manga with some material created for the game.
Contents
Plot
Main article: List of Spriggan charactersMany years ago, an ancient civilization known for their advanced technology once ruled Earth, but were destroyed in the end by their misuse. So, they left messages for later generations in the form of indestructible message plates written in ancient Hebrew, informing them that if they could not find a good use for their creations, they should be destroyed.
Various paramilitaries, national armies, and armed private forces began to secretly search for these "mysterious artifacts" in order to be used for their own good and against their enemies. The ARCAM Corporation and their military arm, the ARCAM Private Army, can stop these forces from destroying themselves with their elite secret agents known as Spriggans (or Strikers).
Organizations
- ARCAM Corporation: Founded in the United States, it has branches covering all countries from across the globe. Its mission is to covertly secure and/or destroy all ancient artifacts (whether they would be items, machines, ruins, etc.) from all known enemies that may use them for their own benefit. Its breakthrough was the refinement of Orichalcum, a strong metal that was used for ARCAM's Armored Muscle Suit and on Yu Ominae's Orichalcum combat knife. MJ-12 and Trident Corporation were able to refine their own Orichalcum suits, mostly based/stolen from ARCAM's research. The spelling ARCAM is said to be a misspelling of Arkham.[3]
- ARCAM Private Army: The ARCAM Corporation's paramilitary wing, its duties vary but their main purpose is to conduct offensive and defensive operations on various out-of-place artifact locations and its aggressors, ranging from private corporate military wings to national militaries.
- Spriggans: Part of the ARCAM Private Army's divisions, consisting of special agents recruited by the ARCAM Corporation in order to do covert work in hostile areas without compromising the company.
- ARCAM Private Army: The ARCAM Corporation's paramilitary wing, its duties vary but their main purpose is to conduct offensive and defensive operations on various out-of-place artifact locations and its aggressors, ranging from private corporate military wings to national militaries.
- Trident Corporation: Originally founded by NATO as an R&D Division, it soon went rogue and broke away for unknown reasons and was soon declared as an illegal organization. It searches for ancient artifacts in order to refine them as potential military weapons. Currently, it is heavily funded by the European Campbell Company (European Corporation, possibly British), the American Clovers Heavy Industries and the Japanese Takasumi Zaibatsu. Its greatest breakthrough - apparently based on ARCAM's Armored Muscle Suit - was the Orichalcum Armored Machine Suit. One of its users was the Trident Corp. operator Iwao Akatsuki.
- COSMOS (Children Of Soldiers Machine Organic System): A black-ops unit of the US Army. Most of its operatives are child soldiers who were kidnapped by CIA agents/US Army soldiers from around the world and brainwashed.
Media
Manga
The manga was initially published in Japan by Shogakukan in eleven full volumes from July 1991 to April 1996,[4][5] with reprints in both 2001 and 2006 (including the unpublished stories "First Mission" and "Gold Rush").[6][7][8] Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.'s licensing arm in North America, VIZ Media, translated and published three out of eleven volumes as Striker after it was first serialized in Manga Vizion, before the company curtailed further translation.[9]
In Europe, two volumes were published in France and in French-speaking countries and territories by Glénat under the name Striker[10][11] in the Netherlands by Big Balloon, eleven volumes in Germany by Planet Manga,[12] and three full volume in Spain and in Spanish-speaking territories and countries by Planeta DeAgostini in 1993 followed by a reprint from 1996 to 1997.[13]
In Asia, the manga was released in Hong Kong by Jade Dynasty,[14] in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo,[15] in Malaysia as part of an installment in a fortnightly comic magazine, Komik Remaja (but was cancelled during the Noah's Ark story arc due to 'inappropriate religious elements'), in Singapore with all 11 volumes fully translated by Chuang Yi in English,[16] in South Korea by Daiwon C.I. with the first 11 volumes followed by the 8 volume bunkoban[17][18][19] and in Taiwan as eleven full chapters translated into Mandarin by Tong Li Comics under the Youth Comic series label and was released as 轟天高校生.[20][21]
Film
A film adaptation of the manga, using the Noah's Ark story, was released to Japanese audiences by Studio 4°C.[22] The movie was directed and story boarded by Hirotsugu Kawasaki,[23] written by Kawasaki and Yasutaka Itō,[23] and supervised by Katsuhiro Otomo.[24] Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa had a hand in assisting the director through production.
ADV Films released the film in all English-speaking countries on April 23, 2002 with a special edition released on February 15, 2005,[25][26] with the exception of Australia and New Zealand, where the film was distributed by Madman Entertainment.[27] A Japanese release of the film was on DVD on April 25, 1999.[28]
The film was distributed in Japan by Toho,[23] in Hong Kong and other Asian countries under Neovision.[29] The film was released in Taiwan by Proware Multimedia International.[30] In Europe, it was produced in German by Anime Connection of Germany,[31] in Russian by MC Entertainment, [32] in Dutch by Dybex,[33] Italian by Dynit,[34] in Polish by IDG[35] and in Swedish by Sandrew Metronome.[29]
Spriggan has been recently released in Japan in Blu-Ray disc format on November 11, 2007[36] with another release on July 25, 2008.[37]
Video game
Playstation cover of Spriggan: Lunar Verse.
On June 16, 1999, From Software released a video game adaptation in Japan and Asia of Spriggan for the PlayStation named Spriggan: Lunar Verse[1] with an initial street price of ¥6,090.[38] It can be played by either one or two players.[38]
A soundtrack of the game, composed by Keiichiro Segawa, Tsukasa Saito, and Yuji Kanda, was also released by Absord Music Japan on November 26, 1999.[39]
Reception
According to Wilma Jandoc, she criticizes Spriggan for its Anti-American theme when she remarked that any other "country could have been put in its place -- Russia, China, North Korea -- and still it would have just been a nation's name, nothing more. If the issue were more relevant, perhaps it could have said something about America's lust for power. Instead, it comes off as a convenient plot device."[9]
References
- ^ a b "SPRIGGAN -LUNAR VERSE-". Archived from the original on 2007-06-12. http://web.archive.org/web/20070601215138/http://www.mattsmessyroom.com/ps1anime/Spriggan_Lunar_Verse/Spriggan_Lunar_Verse.html. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
- ^ "Spriggan". Archived from the original on 2004-02-25. http://web.archive.org/web/20040225133812/http://trigun.8k.com/spriggan.html. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ Jason Thompson. "The Long Tentacle of H.P. Lovecraft in Manga (NSFW)". io9. http://io9.com/#!5439408/the-long-tentacle-of-hp-lovecraft-in-manga-nsfw. Retrieved 20M11-02-02.
- ^ "スプリガン (1)" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4091225918. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ "スプリガン (11)" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4091228364. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ "スプリガン〔保存版〕 1" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://www.shogakukan.co.jp/comics/detail/_isbn_4091267416. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ "スプリガン〔小学館文庫〕 1" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://www.shogakukan.co.jp/comics/detail/_isbn_409193661X. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ "スプリガン〔保存版〕 8" (in Japanese). Shogakukan. http://www.shogakukan.co.jp/comics/detail/_isbn_4091267483. Retrieved 2010-04-23.
- ^ a b Wilma Jandoc. "Anime tackle world conquest, order". Star Bulletin. http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/28/features/story03.html. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- ^ "Striker" (in French). Animint. http://www.animint.com/guide/manga/fiche_148.html. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "Striker" (in French). Manga Sanctuary. http://www.manga-sanctuary.com/bdd/manga/1439-striker/. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "SPRIGGAN/STRIKER" (in German). http://www.mangaguide.de/index.php?session_id=xqVJ7PDNWKUIoyU8WFd9WBYiWxthew&linkauswahl=&include=5&manga_id=583. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "Striker" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5xR5gPIji. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "Spriggan Vol.1". Yes Asia. Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5xR5x8HgQ. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "Spriggan 01" (in Bahasa Indonesian). Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5xR6ZWyuu. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "Chuang Yi's Spriggan Page". http://www.chuangyi.com.sg/new2/ecatalogtitle.php?title=Spriggan. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
- ^ "스프리건 (SPRIGGAN) 01" (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5xR9e6Um1. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "스프리건" (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5xRA6xPRY. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "스프리건 SPRIGGAN, 1991~1996 (가~하)" (in Korean). http://azamone.tistory.com/519. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "轟天高校生(一)" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5xR5KemFR. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "轟天高校生 7" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2011-03-25. http://www.webcitation.org/5xSvhvgpc. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
- ^ James Mielke (2005-10-18). "Interview with Studio 4C". 1UP. http://www.1up.com/features/interview-studio-4c. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ a b c "Spriggan". Toho. http://www.tohokingdom.com/anime/spriggan.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ^ "Katsuhiro Otomo Biography". Akira 2019. http://www.akira2019.com/katsuhiro-otomo.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
- ^ "Spriggan on Amazon.com". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000063IMS/. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "Spriggan Special Edition on Amazon.com". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000767QRW/. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "Spriggan - DVD". Madman Entertainment. http://www.madman.com.au/actions/catalogue.do?releaseId=1682&method=view. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "スプリガン【劇場版】" (in Japanese). Amazon Japan. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005EDJG/. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ a b "Spriggan". http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=3588#3. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "商品列表" (in Mandarin). http://www.prowaremedia.com.tw/shop/default.php?cPath=22_134. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "Labelinfos - OVA Films" (in German). http://www.animeaufdvd.info/label/1037081064.php. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "DVD License" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5xRBD9b7o. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "Anime". http://www.grauw.nl/anime/. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
- ^ "Spriggan" (in Italian). Dynit. http://www.dynit.it/scheda.asp?mn=3&ctl=1&iddsc=337. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "Spriggan" (in Polish). http://kino.idg.pl/film/260-Spriggan.html. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "スプリガン (First release)" (in Japanese). Amazon Japan. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B000UNWGVS/. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "スプリガン (Second release)" (in Japanese). Amazon Japan. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0018KKQCI/. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ a b "Spriggan: Lunar Verse" (in Japanese). From Software. http://www.fromsoftware.jp/main/soft/sp.html. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ "Chudah's Corner's Spriggan Lunar Verse Soundtrack Page". http://www.chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=ABCA-39. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
- Miscallaneous notes
- ^ Cancelled from serialization after 3 volumes
External links
- Spriggan (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Spriggan (film) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Categories:- Manga series
- Anime films
- 1990s science fiction films
- Action anime and manga
- ADV Films
- Adventure anime and manga
- Anime of 1998
- Manga of 1989
- Science fiction anime and manga
- Shōnen manga
- Spriggan
- Studio 4°C
- Supernatural anime and manga
- Viz Media manga
- ARCAM Corporation: Founded in the United States, it has branches covering all countries from across the globe. Its mission is to covertly secure and/or destroy all ancient artifacts (whether they would be items, machines, ruins, etc.) from all known enemies that may use them for their own benefit. Its breakthrough was the refinement of Orichalcum, a strong metal that was used for ARCAM's Armored Muscle Suit and on Yu Ominae's Orichalcum combat knife. MJ-12 and Trident Corporation were able to refine their own Orichalcum suits, mostly based/stolen from ARCAM's research. The spelling ARCAM is said to be a misspelling of Arkham.[3]
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