Shaman King is the story of Asakura Yoh, a shaman,
and his quest to become the Shaman King. Along the way, Yoh meets a
boy, Manta, who has the ability to see spirits, an unusual feat for
a human, attempts to find a powerful spirit that will be his main
spirit and must withstand intense training from his fiancée, Anna,
who dreams of living an easy life as the wife of the Shaman King.
He also meets numerous friends along the way.
Shamans have the ability to possess spirits and then utilize the
power and skills of the spirit to fight. One of the interesting
things, though, is that a Shamans power does not all come from the
spirit he possesses, but is a combination of the Shamans ability
and the spirits ability, hence Annas insistence on training. With
more training, the Shaman and his spirit become more comfortable
with each other and can utilize greater attacks in battle.
As humanity has developed, they have forgotten the spirits and have
acted out of desire. The Shaman King is the Shaman who can unite
with the Seirei no Ou, or King of Spirits to lead the world back to
the right path. The Shaman King will become the worlds Savior and
reinstate the harmony that once existed. Apparently, there are a
good number of Shaman out for the title of Shaman King, to the
point where there are even competitions to see who is the
strongest. Being of Asakura heritage, Yoh may be a great rival, but
he certainly isnt strong enough
at least initially.
Yoh is a great character. He is very laid back and rarely lets his
emotions get the better of him. He fights for what he believes in
and to protect his friends. The best way I can describe him is that
hes mastered Zen philosophy. He can sit for hours thinking of
absolutely nothing and believes that there is no point to worrying.
Things will happen they way they do regardless of whether he sleeps
or doesnt. Annas pretty much the same way, except that she does
worry about Yoh not that shed let him see that. The two have an
odd relationship. Yohs scared of Anna and will do what she tells
him and Anna constantly pushes Yoh to get better and better. She
doesnt seem as though shes capable of showing him how much she
cares or maybe shes just scared he will let her down if he cannot
become the Shaman King. Still, she believes strongly in him and
shows she cares in odd ways like making him new clothes.
The Shaman Fight is a tournament that takes place once every 500
years. An Oversoul is a technique whereby a shaman can shape his
spirit into form. They do this by consuming materialization energy
known as Furiyoku. During the Fight, Shamans battle one another
until their Oversouls fade and all their Furyoku is used up. The
shaman who uses all of his Furyoku first is the loser.
The Shaman Fight preliminaries and getting to Patch Village, where
the Shaman Fight will be held make up about half of this series.
The other half is the actual Shaman Fight itself. Of course, its
not quite that easy, and the Shaman Fight has other implications
that Yoh and his friends discover along the
way.
