Elemental Gelade

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Elemental Gelade


caption = English DVD cover of Elemental Gelade Vo1. 1
ja_name = エレメンタル ジェレイド
ja_name_trans = Erementar Gerad
genre = Action,Comedy,Adventure, Fantasy, RomanceInfobox animanga/Manga
title = Erementar Gerad
author = Mayumi Azuma
publisher = flagicon|Japan Mag Garden
publisher_other = flagicon|USA flagicon|Canada flagicon|United Kingdom Tokyopop
flagicon|Australia flagicon|New Zealand Madman Entertainment
flagicon|France Kami (Tournon)
flagicon|Germany Carlsen Comics
flagicon|Italy Star Comics
flagicon|Spain Editorial Ivréa
flagicon|Australia Madman Entertainment
flagicon|South Korea BB Comics
flagicon|Taiwan Tong Li Comics
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Monthly Comic Blade
first = 28 February 2002
last =
volumes = flagicon|Japan 14 (ongoing)
flagicon|USA flagicon|CAN 8 (ongoing)Infobox animanga/Manga
title = Erementar Gerad -Flag of Blue Sky-
蒼空の戦旗("aozora no senki")
author = Mayumi Azuma
publisher = flagicon|Japan Mag Garden
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Comic Blade Masamune
first = June 15 2003
last =
volumes = flagicon|Japan 5 (ongoing)Infobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Shigeru Ueda
studio = XEBEC
licensor = flagicon|USA flagicon|Canada Geneon, then Funimation flagicon|UK MVM Films
flagicon|Australia flagicon|New Zealand Madman Entertainment
network = flagicon|Japan TV Tokyo
network_other = flagicon|Philippines QTV 11, Hero TV
flagicon|USA Imaginasian
first = 5 April 2005
last = 27 September 2005
episodes = 26Infobox animanga/Novel
light = yes
title =
author = Asaka Shou
illustrator = Mayumi Azuma
publisher = flagicon|Japan Mag Garden
magazine =
first = August 29 2005
last =
volumes = 2Infobox animanga/Game
title = Erementar Gerad: Matoe, Suifu no Ken
developer = Taito Corporation
released = flagicon|Japan June 30 2005
genre = Fighting
ratings =
platforms = PlayStation 2Infobox animanga/Game
title = Erementar Gerad: Tozasareshi Uta
developer = Jupiter
released = flagicon|Japan July 7 2005
genre = Role-playing game
ratings =
platforms = Game Boy Advance

nihongo|"Elemental Gelade"|エレメンタル ジェレイド|Erementaru Jereido is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mayumi Azuma. The fantasy adventure is a tale of a group of five who are on a journey to Edel Garden, the birthplace of mystical beings called Edel Raids who are described as "living weapons".

The manga series has been adapted into a TV anime produced by XEBEC, two light novels, two video games for the PlayStation 2 and Gameboy Advance and four drama CDs. The anime ended with 26 episodes, but the original manga is still being serialized in the monthly Japanese manga magazine "Monthly Comic Blade", published by Mag Garden.

Prior to the original broadcast of the anime on TV Tokyo on April 5 2005, both the manga and anime were licensed by Tokyopop and Geneon Entertainment, respectively for North American distribution. The announcement was made even after ADV announced they acquired licensing rights for both manga and anime a year before.cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2004-02-23/adv-secures-rights-to-mag-garden's-anime|title=ADV Secures Rights to Mag Garden's Anime|accessdate=2007-09-23|publisher=Anime News Network|language=English] cite web|url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/4308.html|title=ADV Forms Alliance With Japanese Publisher|accessdate=2007-09-23|publisher=ICv2 News|language=English]

Plot

The tale of "Elemental Gelade" is set in the world of Guardia where beings called Edel Raids co-exist with humans. Edel Raids have the ability to fuse with a human and become a living weapon. The story focuses on the adventures of a young sky pirate named Coud Van Giruet, an Edel Raid named Reverie Metherlance, and three guardians of an Edel Raid protection organization called Arc Aile named Cisqua, Rowen, and Kuea. Reverie Metherlance is set on journeying to the legendary land of gold called Edel Garden, but it turns out that she is a powerful and rare Edel Raid which leads to many villains attempting to kidnap her for themselves.

Principal characters

;Coud Van Giruet:anime voices|Akira Ishida|Kristian Ayre, Naozumi Takahashi (drama CD):Coud Van Giruet, better known as Coud, is a young member of the Red Lynx sky pirates. He finds Reverie Metherlence in a coffin that was picked up as loot in a raid. He reacts and becomes her Pleasure, someone who bonds with a Edel Raid and he promises her that he will be the one to escort her to Edel Garden. He soon realizes he has deep feelings for Ren.

;Gelade Techniques:Euros Loop:Audos Sword:Wind Armor

;Reverie Metherlence:anime voices|Mikako Takahashi|Brenna O'Brien, Houko Kuwashima (drama CD):Reverie Metherlence, better known as Ren, is an Edel Raid and direct descendant of the Metherlence bloodline. She is also one of the "Seven Glittering Jewels" (or Shichiko-hoju), an Edel Raid line said to be the strongest. She recharges her powers by sleeping, which happens fairly often. As the story progresses, she realizes that she has developed feelings for Coud. Her elemental gelade is on her hair above her forehead. Her elemental power is wind, which she best uses defensively. Her weapon form is a giant sword on Coud's right arm.

;Cisqua:anime voices|Nana Mizuki|Alexandra Carter, Ikue Otani (drama CD):Cisqua is the energetic and upbeat leader of one of Arc Aile's Edel Raid Complete Protection Association squads consisting of Rowen and Kuea. She is honest and passionate about her work, but only because of her desire to be promoted and her love for money. Cisqua is modeled from a character the creator drew in middle and high school and B.B. Hood from the Darkstalkers series.cite book |last=Azuma|first=Mayumi|authorlink=Mayumi Azuma|title=Elemental Gelade|series=Volume 3|chapter=Character profile bonus|year=2007|language=English|publisher=Tokyopop|date = 2007|isbn=978-1598166002]

:Cisqua is not an Edel Raid pleasure, but she is well versed in martial arts and gunmanship. Despite having a small frame, she's physically strong and capable on taking down well trained pleasures such as the Edel Raid Hunter, Wolx Hound. Underneath her robes and hat, she keeps an arsenal of firearms, missiles, knives, and other weapons she uses to fulfill her missions. Cisqua's gun can be adjusted to become a launcher, shotgun, or machine gun.

;Rowen:anime voices|Yuji Ueda|Philip Pacaud, Shoutarou Morikubo (drama CD):Rowen is a guardian of Arc Aile, and is occasionally tasked to assist with his senior in rank, Cisqua. He is a young blond-haired man that tends to dislike conflict. In contrast to the impulsive and somewhat outrageous Cisqua, Rowen is logical, polite, and considerate of others.

:Rowen is very intelligent and seems to be well skilled in multiple areas, making it seem as if he was perfect. Whether it is cooking or fighting he seems to excel at it. However Rowen claims to not be entirely perfect and have weaknesses as well. He is an excellent cook as well, an ability that the other members appreciate. Rowen is also the only member who is consistently doing jobs to meet ends with the party's expenses.

;Gelade Techniques:Vice Lit:Three of Hearts

;Kuea / Kullweet Envatilia:anime voices|Naoko Suzuki|France Perras, Akemi Okamura (drama CD):Kuea, whose real name is Kullweet Envatilia, is a first class Edel Raid from Arc Aile and is Rowen's partner. Her garnet red elemental gelade are on the back of both her hands which she covers with arm length gloves. Out of the five main characters, Kuea wears the most revealing clothes, however the creator modeled her character from an old male character she once drew in the past. When Kuea gets hungry - which seems to be often - she can't react, so she eats enormous amounts of food at a time. It is an ongoing gag that she'll eat anything and anyone and she nibbles on Cisqua when she is extremely hungry, her hunger-induced stupor leading her to view Cisqua's head as an apple and in episode 4, she gnaws on Rowen's head, which he ignores and normaly greets Coud.

:Kuea loves to battle and often jumps into fights hastily. When reacted, she increases Rowen's fighting speed. She takes the weapon form of double blades that Rowen wields on each hand and six chained sickles on his back which can detach and attack opponents from a distance. Her attacks are designed for piercing over slicing. Kuea and Rowen can perform an Obligath, a song that is performed by both as one performing a very powerful attack.

Terminology

*Arc Aile - An organization that "aims to protect the Edel Raids, as well as provide them with happiness". Little is known of their true intentions regarding Edel Raids, especially Ren.
*Chaos Choir - A group who opposes Arc Aile. Most members are Sting Raids or Edel Raids.
*Pleasure - One who has Reacted with an Edel Raid.
*React - To merge with an Edel Raid, thus gaining their power.
*Edel Raid - An entity capable of Reacting with a human and becoming a weapon. An Edel Raid can only have one Pleasure at any time; to take a new Pleasure, the old one must first be killed. Edel Raids are also capable of using "songs" (謳), which are the equivalent of magical spells.
*Sting Raid - An imitation Edel Raid, possessing lesser powers than that of true Edel Raids. (3 Edel Raids can finish off entire armies of sting raids) They are actually created with imitation elemental gelades or elemental stones. They are generally treated as tools by the populace. Sting Raids are also different from Edel Raids in that they may have as many Pleasures as they desire.
*Edel Garden - Where Edel Raids are born.
*Elemental gelade - A gem that is embedded on the Edel Raid's body. It is proof that they are an Edel Raid.
*Shichikou-houju - The strongest of the Edel Raid bloodlines. There are seven of them.

Different translations

Many words used in "Elemental Gelade" are based on English or German words. This has caused problems in the transliteration, as it was not always clear which words were meant. Some problems occurred because mangaka Mayumi Azuma romanized words herself. Some other examples include:
* The title, which, at first, was officially transcribed as "Erementar Gerad" which was later changed to "Elemental Gelade" by both Geneon and Tokyopop to avoid confusioncite web|url=http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/8393.html|title=Geneon's 'Elemental Gelade' Anime in June|accessdate=2007-09-30|publisher=ICv2 News|language=English] , but Geneon also left the original "Erementar Gerad" title untouched in the opening credits on their DVD.cite web|url=http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/5245.php|title=Elemental Gelade Vol. #1 review|accessdate=2007-09-26|publisher=AnimeOnDVD News|language=English]
* Rasati's sister is spelled differently: Rerea (Japanese), Lillia (Geneon), Lilia (Tokyopop)
* Challo is renamed to Cheryl on the DVDs from Geneon.
* The general of Arc Aile HQ is named General Falk in the Geneon's translation but named Commissioner Faulk in Tokyopop's translation
* The name of the entities able to react. Possible Translations were Adilraid, [used in the German version of volume 2] Eden Raid, [German Translation of Volume 1] Eden Raid, [used in this article and in the English manga] Eden Raid. [proposed by many fans based on the idea that their birthplace is the Eden Garden, led by Eve. However, the Japanese spelling is different: Eden is spelled エディル, "ederu", whereas the normal Japanese transliteration for Eden is エデン, "eden". Thus, Eden Raid is not possible.]
* Artificial Edel Raids were also referred to as Stream Raids or Sting Raids, as well as Steam Raids in a few fan subs.
*Shiko-hoju comes out as Shiko-hoji in the English dub.
*Grayarts is spelled Greyarts in the ending credits on the DVD but remains the same as the original in the subtitles.

Media

Manga

The "Elemental Gelade" manga was first serialized in the Japanese shōnen/seinen manga magazine Monthly Comic Blade on February 28, 2002. The manga is written and illustrated by Mayumi Azuma. In the summer of 2003, A.D. Vision announced that they will be publishing the manga to the North American audience. However, Tokyopop is the licensor and publisher in the United Kingdom and North America. The English translation is done by Alethea and Athena Nibley and the English adaption is done by Jordon Capell. The manga has recently reached its thirteenth volume and is still ongoing. Compared to the anime adaptation, the manga has more fanservice and suggesive content then the anime involving panty shots, bath scenes and lewd talk between some of the cast.

A spin off series called "Erementar Gerad -Flag of Blue Sky-", also by Mayumi Azuma, was first serialized in the Japanese bi-monthly manga magazine Comic Blade Masamune on June 15, 2003. Flag of Blue Sky takes place two years after the original story and stars a new heroine named Acheaburca Fuajarl XIV, a princess of the Fuajarl Kingdom. A video promoting the new series was released but there are currently no plans for an anime adaptation.

Anime

The anime adaptation of Elemental Gelade was first aired in Japan on TV Tokyo. On April 5, 2005, it took the Tuesday evening at 6 PM timeslot, replacing the first season of School Rumble TV.cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-02-08/erementar-gerad|title=Erementar Gerad News|accessdate=2007-09-23|publisher=Anime News Network|language=English] XEBEC produced the animated television series which spawned 26 episodes directed by Shigeru Ueda and music by Yuki Kajiura. The production of the anime adaptation was estimated to cost $400,000. Since the anime was produced before the original story had ended, a new opposing organization called Chaos Choir and their members was created. Existing characters such as Viro were adjusted to fit the new storyline.

In April 2005, Geneon Entertainment announced they were the North American licensor at the MIP TV trade show in France, although ADV Films originally announced that they were the licensor as part of a co-production deal with Mag Garden at Anime Expo in July 2004. Geneon released six DVD volumes bi-monthly from June 2006 to April 2007 containing four to five episodes each. As of October 2007, Geneon no longer is involved in the US anime industry, so North American distribution rights of the anime have been rescued from Geneon by FUNimation Entertainment. [cite press release | title = FUNimation Entertainment and Geneon Entertainment Sign Exclusive Distribution Agreement for North America | url = http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2008-07-03/funimation-entertainment-and-geneon-entertainment-sign-exclusive-distribution-agreement-for-north-america | publisher = Anime News Network | date = July 3, 2008 | accessdate = 2008-07-03]

ImaginAsian TV, an American television network, broadcasted the series along with several other titles from Geneon Entertainment as part of their animation block "Anime EnerG". It was first aired in Japanese with English subtitles beginning January 30, 2007 and later aired with English dubs cite web|url=http://www.iatv.tv/Press/ANIMEnewsNetwork122606.pdf|title=ImaginAsian TV Launches New Anime Block (PDF)|accessdate=2007-09-21|publisher=ImaginAsian|language=English]

Music

Opening Theme
*"Forever..." :Eps. 01 - 26:Lyrics by: Aa:Composition by: takumi:Arrangement by: Hideyuki "Daichi" Suzuki:Song by: savage genius

Ending Theme : Eps. 01 - 25
*nihongo|"Promise"|約束|Yakusoku:Lyrics and composition by: Michihiro Kuroda:Arrangement by: Kazuyoshi Baba:Song by: Michihiro Kuroda

Insert Theme
*"everlasting song" Ep. 26:Lyrics, composition and arrangement by: Yuki Kajiura:Song by: FictionJunction ASUKA

Audio CDs

Three drama CDs was released by Frontier Works every eleven months for three years starting on October 24 2003. It featured different voice actors than the anime adaptation.cite web|url=http://www.amazon.co.jp/o/ASIN/B0000CBC6X|title=Erementar Gerad Drama CD|accessdate=2007-10-12|publisher=Amazon.com|language=Japanese] Three maxi singles of the opening and ending themes, two original soundtracks, and one drama CD featuring voice actors from the anime adaptation was released by Victor Entertainment between April 21 2005 and September 22 2005.cite web|url=http://www.mag-garden.co.jp/erementar-gerad/cd.html|title=Erementar Gerad CDs|accessdate=2007-10-12|publisher=Mag Garden|language=Japanese]

Video games

Three video games based on "Elemental Gelade" was released only in Japan midway through the anime season for mobile phones, PlayStation 2, and Gameboy Advance. Prior to the PS2 release, Taito released a 2D fighting game for mobile phones in May 2005.cite web|url=http://www.erementar-gerad.com/ktai.html|title=Mobile phone and Elemental Gelade|accessdate=2007-10-12|publisher=Mag Garden|language=Japanese] The PS2 version of the game called "Erementar Gerad: Matoe, Suifu no Ken" was released on June 30 2005. "Matoe, Suifu no Ken" is a 3D cel-shaded fighting game featuring seven characters/groups and two unlockable characters in four modes of play.cite web|url=http://ps2.ign.com/articles/585/585535p1.html|title=Elemental Gerad to PS2|accessdate=2007-09-23|publisher=IGN|language=English] It was re-released on June 8 2006 as part of the Taito Best lineup.cite web|url=http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-40-49-en-15-Erementar-70-1a3t-43-99.html|title=Erementar Gerad (Taito Best)|accessdate=2007-09-23|publisher=play-asia|language=English]

The GBA game called "Erementar Gerad: Tozasareshi Uta" is a 2D turn-based role-playing game released on July 7, 2005 developed by Jupiter and published by Tomy Corporation. Playing as Cou, Ren, Cisqua, Rowen, and Kuea, you journey from town to town and fight enemies through an original story and meet new original characters.cite web|url=http://gameboy.ign.com/objects/759/759339.html|title=Erementar Gerad: Tozasareshi Uta|accessdate=2007-09-23|publisher=IGN|language=English]

Footnotes and References

External links

*ja icon [http://www.mag-garden.co.jp/erementar-gerad/ "Erementar Gerad" Offical Anime Site]
*ja icon [http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/erementar_gerad/ "Erementar Gerad" TV Tokyo Site]
*ja icon [http://www.taito.co.jp/d3/cp/erementar-gerad/index.html PlayStation 2 game site]
*ja icon [http://www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/gamesoft/erementar-gerad/ Game Boy Advance game site]
*en icon [http://www.elementalgeladedvd.com/ Geneon's "Elemental Gelade" Site]
*en icon [http://www.tokyopop.com/product/1676/ElementalGelade/ Tokyopop's "Elemental Gelade" Site]
*ann anime|id=4165