Maris the Chojo

Maris the Chojo
ザ・超女
Genre	Comedy, Science Fiction
Manga
Written by	Rumiko Takahashi
Published by	Shogakukan
English publisher	Viz
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Sunday
Published	October 1980
Volumes	1 (List of volumes)
Original video animation
Directed by	Motosuke Takahashi
Produced by	Yūji Nunokawa
Written by	Tomoko Konparu, Hideo Takayashiki
Music by	Isamu Senda
Studio	Studio Pierrot, Shogakukan Production
Licensed by	Central Park Media Manga Entertainment
Released	May 21, 1986
Runtime	48 minutes
Anime and Manga Portal

Maris the Chojo (ザ・超女, Za Sūpāgyaru^?), literally translated as "The Supergirl", and originally titled Supergal in U.S. markets, is a one shot manga story by Rumiko Takahashi. It ran in the October 1980 special edition of Shōnen Sunday and was later made into an anime OVA.

In North America, it was released on VHS and laserdisc by Central Park Media under the "Rumik World" series (which also included OVAs Laughing Target, Fire Tripper, and Mermaid Forest). It was originally released under the title "Supergal", but this was changed for allegedly legal reasons.

Summary

Maris doesn't exactly have the greatest life. Her father's an alcoholic, her mother's an airhead, and to top it off, she's always broke. Why? Maris is a Thanatosian, and Thanatosians have six times the strength of a normal human being. Generally, this would not be a bad thing, except that the planet Thanatos blew up years ago, and the rest of the galaxy is not set up for people who are six times as strong as everyone else. (Thanatos blowing up is similar to Krypton's fate, except that Superman is usually the only survivor of Krypton, while the entire population of Thanatos escaped.)

So to keep the destruction her race does to a minimum, Thanatosians are made to wear harnesses that limit their strength. However, Maris accidentally destroys everything she touches and as all damages are docked from her wages, every mission she's assigned to by the Inter-Galactic Space Patrol takes her further in debt. * Note: Maris' obsession with money is demonstrated by her hair ornaments, in the shape of the symbol for Yen (Japanese money).

Traveling with Maris is Murphy, from a kitsune-like race. He can create nine copies of anything he wants with his tail and is forever teasing Maris.

However, things may be looking up. Koganemaru, the son of an intergalactic billionaire has been kidnapped. This may be the chance that Maris needed to become financially independent, as she figures that he'll be so indebted to her that he might ask for her hand in her marriage.

There's just one tiny (well, large) problem. The kidnapper is Sue, an opponent of Maris from her days as a wrestler, and she's out for revenge. After causing Maris to crash, she heads back to her highly-adored base, where she meets her fellow kidnapper.

When Maris catches up again in an even more broken-down rocketship, she and Sue engage in a wrestling match to the death, made all the more difficult by Maris having a remote-controlled chip on her that prevents her from removing her harness, leaving Maris at Sue's mercy. With Murphy's help, she gets free, and destroys Sue's base.

At the end, it is revealed that Sue's fellow kidnapper is Koganemaru, who was bored and decided to try being evil. Sadly for Maris, he chooses to comfort Sue, and even proposes to her. Naturally, Maris is furious, and the story ends as she is destroying her ship, while being restrained by Murphy.

Characters

• Maris (マリス^?), Voiced by: Mami Koyama
• Murphy (マーフィ^?), Voiced by: Jōji Yanami
• Sue (スー^?), Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto
• Koganemaru (黄金丸^?), Voiced by: Toshio Furukawa

External links

• Maris the Chojo (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Furinkan.com page on Maris the Chojo