Shadow Skill

Shadow Skillis a Japanesemangaseries written and illustrated byMegumu Okada.The series has been adapted into fouroriginal video animationsreleased from 1995 to 1996 and ananimeadaptation produced byStudio Deenaired onTV Tokyoin 1998.

Shadow Skill
Firsttankōbonvolume cover (Bamboo Comics edition)
Manga
Phantom of Shade /Black Howling /Black Wing
Written by	Megumu Okada
Published by	Takeshobo(1992–1996) Fujimi Shobo(1996–1999) Kodansha(after 1999)
Magazine	Comic Gamma (1992–1995) Monthly Dragon Jr. (1996–1998)
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	1992–1998
Volumes	4 (original) 3 (reissue)
Manga
Written by	Megumu Okada
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Afternoon Season Zōkan (2000–2002) Monthly Afternoon (2003–2014)
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	2000–2014
Volumes	11
Further information Original video animation Directed by Hiroshi Negishi(#1) Yasuhiro Kuroda(#2–4) Written by Mayori Sekijima Music by Toshiro Yabuki Studio Zero-G Room Licensed by AUS:Madman Entertainment NA:Manga Entertainment UK:Manga Entertainment Released October 25, 1995–November 21, 1996 Runtime 45 minutes (#1) 30 minutes (#2–4) Episodes 4 Anime film Shadow Skill: The Movie Directed by Yasuhiro Kuroda Produced by Laurence Guinness Written by Kaoru Mfaume Music by Toshiro Yabuki Studio Zero-G Room Licensed by NA:Manga Entertainment UK:Manga Entertainment Runtime 85 minutes Anime television series Shadow Skill: Eigi Directed by Tsukasa Sunaga Produced by Shinjiro Yokoyama Masahiro Toyosumi Written by Masashi Sogo Music by Ozamu Tezuka Studio Studio Deen Licensed by NA:ADV Films Original network TV Tokyo English network SEA:AXN US:Anime Network Original run July 2, 1998–December 24, 1998 Episodes 26 Manga Written by Megumu Okada Published by Kodansha Magazine Afternoon Season Zōkan (2000–2002) Monthly Afternoon (2003–2014) Demographic Seinen Original run 2000–2014 Volumes 11 Original video animation Shadow Skill — Kurdan Style: The Secret of the Lethal Martial Art Directed by Kazuya Ichikawa Written by Kurasumi Sunayama Music by Hidenori Chiwata Studio Tandm Released October 2, 2004 Runtime 60 minutes

In North America, the OVAs have been released byManga Entertainmentand the anime television series was distributed byADV Films.

Plot

Main article:List of Shadow Skill characters

Shadow Skilltakes place in the warrior kingdom of Kurda, where the main character Elle Regu has recently become the 59th Sevaar, a title awarded to their most elite warriors. She often leaves a trail of destruction when she fights and along with a drinking habit. Elle is constantly followed by debts and throughout the series takes on jobs to work off these debts. One of these such jobs leads her to the Green Octopus Inn on an island outside the city, which eventually becomes the protagonists' base of operation.

Throughout the series, Elle travels along with her adopted younger brother Gau Ban, who is studying Elle's fighting skills so that one day he could become the greatestSevaarin Kurda. Also in Elle and Gau's life is Faulink Maya (Faulee), a Sui Rame talisman sorceress, and Kyuo Liu, a Septia beast-catcher and grandniece of Eva Stroll, the king of Kurda.

Warriors in Kurda fight using the Kurdan-style Kōsappō ( giao sát pháp, lit. "combining kill methods",ADVdub: "annihilation techniques" ) which has two general divisions:Hyōgi( biểu kỹ, lit. "bright skills" ), which emphasize punches and throws, andEigi( ảnh kỹ, lit. "shadow skills" ), which focus on kicks and the user's footwork.

Media

Manga

TheShadow Skillmangaseries was originally created byMegumu Okadaas a self-publisheddōjinshi.In 1992, it was picked up byTakeshobofor serialization in itsshōnenmagazineComic Gamma.The magazine ceased publication in 1996; a total of fourtankōbon(bound volumes) collecting the manga's chapters were released during that time.Shadow Skillwas carried over by publisherFujimi Shoboin its magazineMonthly Dragon Jr.until 1998; another four volumes were released by that publisher.Kodanshathen gained the rights toShadow Skilland released the existing chapters in three largeaizōbanvolumes from 1999 to 2000. The following year, Okada began regularly publishing new chapters in the publisher'sseinenmagazineAfternoon Season Zōkan,and later inMonthly Afternoon.Okada took a hiatus from the manga in 2006, but continued in 2009, submitting new chapters every other month, until finishing the series in 2014.In total, the Kodansha released the entireShadow Skillmanga in threeaizōbanand an additional 11tankōbon.

Anime

Original video animations

There have been a number ofanimeproductions based on theShadow Skillmanga. It was first adapted into anoriginal video animation(OVA) by Zero-G Room and released in Japan on October 25, 1995. Three additional OVA episodes were produced and released from September 21 to November 21, 1996. The first volume was officially numbered "volume 2.5" in Japan due to its chronological place among the four episodes.All four OVAs were licensed in North America and the United Kingdom byManga Entertainment.The latter three episodes were compiled and released in English-speaking regions asShadow Skill: The Movie,while the first OVA was later released asShadow Skill: The Origin.Finally, a singlecel shaded,CGI animationOVAtitledShadow Skill — Kurdan Style: The Secret of the Lethal Martial Art(Ảnh kỹ ～クルダ lưu giao sát pháp の bí mật ～,Shadō Sukiru Kuruda-ryū Kōsatsu-hō no Himitsu)was produced by Tandm and released in Japan on October 2, 2004.

TV series

A 26-episode television series titledShadow Skill: Eigi(SHADOW SKILL— ảnh kỹ —)was produced byStudio Deenand aired onTV Tokyofrom July 2 to December 24, 1998.ADV Filmslicensed the series in the United States.

Reception

Anime News Networkpraised the series' Japanese and English voice acting, saying they did a good job capturing the light-hearted tone of the series. However, they felt the series stuck to the conventions of the martial arts genre with the plot focusing on fight scenes and the elaborate named moves being shouted aloud as they "powered up". As such, they thought thatShadow Skillappeals primarily to fans of the genre, but it was unlikely to appeal to viewers outside that fanbase.THEM Anime Reviews described the OVA series as "well executed" and "fun to watch". But they advised thatShadow Skillwould mainly appeal to fans of the martial arts genre and that it lacked the story development and characterization needed to truly become a great anime.

External links

• Shadow Skill(manga) atAnime News Network's encyclopedia