Kekkaishi
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is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe. The series is about Yoshimori Sumimura and Tokine Yukimura, heirs to rival families of ''kekkai'' (barrier magic) users, who must defend their school from the spirits drawn to the sacred land upon which it is built. It was serialized in
Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the H ...
's ''
Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...
'' from October 2003 to April 2011, with its chapters collected in thirty-five ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes. It was adapted as a fifty-two episode
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
television series by
Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...
, which was broadcast between October 2006 and February 2008. Both manga and anime series has been licensed for an English-language release in North America by
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
. The anime series was broadcast on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
from May 2010 to May 2011. The ''Kekkaishi'' manga had over 17 million copies in circulation as of June 2020. In 2007, the manga won the 52nd
Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being given since ...
for the ''shōnen'' manga category.


Plot

According to the legend, five hundred years ago, there was an insignificant lord who possessed a mysterious power that drew (supernatural creatures) to him. A demon exterminator, Tokimori Hazama, was called upon to protect the lord and his castle. The lord's power stayed on the land even when he had died. Thus, Tokimori founded the Hazama clan, who inherited his techniques, to protect the land for centuries to come. This land is . In the present day, Yoshimori Sumimura and Tokine Yukimura, heirs of the Hazama clan, are the that protect Karasumori (which is located on the grounds of the school they attend). They are ability users (people who can use supernatural powers) who use a technique called . ''Kekkai'' is a form of magical energy barrier which is primarily used to capture and destroy ''ayakashi'' that are drawn to this . Any ''ayakashi'' that stay on the land become stronger. Yoshimori and Tokine are to guard the land from the intrusion of ''ayakashi'' who try to "power-up" there. Yoshimori and Tokine suffered a lot of hardships in their responsibilities to protect Karasumori. The ''ayakashi'' they must fight are becoming more and more powerful, but they managed to protect the land with the help from Yoshimori's older brother, Masamori Sumimura, and the . The Shadow Organization itself is an organization of ability users that is governed by a council of twelve, consisting of high level ability users. All the members are not the main inheritors of their clans lands or titles, or are loners who have no place to go, and thus have become a force that controls the course of their country. Many ayakashi try to become more powerful by using Karusumori’s power, including Kokuboro (a group of ayakashi attempting to restore their leaders power), corrupt members of Urakai’s council of twelve who either were in league with Kokuboro or trying to kill another council member. Eventually a civil war begins between the leader and founder of Urakai, the leader (a powerful psychic who became a puppet of the founder) and the founder (another powerful psychic who alone with his power create Urakai, an army/intelligence agency at his disposal) who have become disembodied creatures who can possess others to act as their bodies to fool the other members into thinking the leadership of Urakai has changed hands. Over the course of the story it is revealed little by little that the legend is full of lies. The real source of Karasumori's power is , an illegitimate son of the Hazama clan's founder, Tokimori Hazama, and the Karasumori clan's heiress. Tokimori used forbidden arts to try to give his son unearthly power, but the plan backfired, and instead gave Chūshinmaru the power to draw people's life force, killing everybody around him. Tokimori was forced to seal his own son beneath Karasumori. However, being alone with no aid Tokimori was unable to completely seal off the Shinkai he created, which allowed Chūshinmaru's power to leak out, and it is this that draws ''ayakashi'' to the land. In the end, with the help of Yoshimori's mother and Tokimori, Yoshimori and Tokine find a new site for Chūshinmaru by displacing the founder of the Urakai from the domain of a land-god that the founder had taken over. To seal Chūshinmaru, Yoshimori's mother sacrifices herself by sealing the domain with herself inside. The series end with Urakai finally becoming better for all and the two families duties are finally finished ending their personal rivalry, with Yoshimori finally feeling everything was right with the world.


Production

Yellow Tanabe says that she uses reference books with pictures as inspiration for designs of ''ayakashi''. She used her own images of the appearances of kanji characters of special terms and placed the terms in a system in order to create the special powers of the ''Kekkaishi'' and the terms of magic in the series. In regards to what inspired her to create the Shadow Organization, she said "I'm not really sure. I just sort of thought that's the way organizations are."


Media


Manga

''Kekkaishi'' is written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe. Tanabe wrote a prototype of the series months before its serialization, which would be posted online in 2009. ''Kekkaishi'' was serialized in
Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the H ...
's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...
'' from October 22, 2003, to April 6, 2011, finishing with 345 chapters. Shogakukan collected its chapters in thirty-five ''
tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
'' volumes, released from February 18, 2004, to August 18, 2011. Shogakukan re-released the series in an eighteen-volume '' kanzenban'' edition, published from June 18, 2020, to February 18, 2021. The series is licensed for English release in North America by
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
. Viz Media released the 35 volumes of ''Kekkaishi'' from May 3, 2005 to December 11, 2012. It is also licensed in France by
Pika Édition Pika Édition is a French publisher headquartered in Vanves, specializing in manga. Founded as a daughter company of Media System Editions, it was taken over by Hachette Livre in 2007. Distribution ''Pika Édition'' publications are distributed ...
, in Germany by Carlsen Comics, in Hong Kong by Rightman Publishing Limited, in Indonesia by
Elex Media Komputindo Elex Media Komputindo is a publishing company in Indonesia which publishes books, comics, magazines, novels and other print media. Established on January 15, 1985, Elex Media Komputindo is a subsidiary of Kompas Gramedia Group. Elex is headquart ...
which serializes it in '' Shōnen Star'', in Italy by
Panini Comics Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectable stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hung ...
, in Malaysia by PCM Comics, in South Korea by Bookbox, in Spain by
Editorial Ivrea Editorial Ivrea is an Argentine manga and comics publisher that publishes in Argentina, Spain and Finland. They also published ''Lazer'', a magazine which was specialized in anime, comics, manga, series and other media. The magazine has an acid ...
, in Taiwan by
Tong Li Comics Tongli Publishing Co. ( Chinese: 東立出版社, Hanyu Pinyin: ''Dōng Lì Chūbǎnshè''), most known as Tong Li Comics, is a publishing company which distributes a variety of domestic and imported comics in Taiwan. History Tong Li was founde ...
, in Vietnam by Kim Dong and in Brazil by
Panini Comics Panini Comics is an Italian comic book publisher. A division of Panini Group, which also produces collectable stickers, it is headquartered in Modena, Italy. The company publishes comic books in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany, Hung ...
. A guidebook to the series, titled , was published by Shogakukan under the Shōnen Sunday Comics Special imprint on December 16, 2006.


Anime

''Kekkaishi'' was adapted by
Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...
as an
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
television series directed by Kenji Kodama with character designs by Hirotoshi Takaya and music by
Taku Iwasaki is a Japanese composer and arranger. His hometown is Tokyo, Japan. He is a graduate of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Works Anime *'' The Irresponsible Captain Tylor'' (OVA series (theme songs composition, etc.); 1995, 19 ...
. The opening theme for all episodes is by Saeka Uura. There are four different ending themes: by
Koshi Inaba (born September 23, 1964 in Tsuyama, Okayama) is a Japanese vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is best known as the singer and lyricist of the rock duo B'z, the best-selling music act in their native Japan. He has also had a su ...
(episodes 1–15, 38, 40, 48, 52), by Aiko Kitahara (episodes 16–23, 39, 44, 51), by Uura (episodes 24–30, 41, 46, 49), and by Uura (episodes 31–37, 42–43, 45, 47, 50). The series was broadcast for 52 episodes in Japan between October 16, 2006 and February 12, 2008 on
Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...
,
Yomiuri TV JOIX-DTV (channel 10), branded as , is the Kansai region flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned by the subsidiary of the eponymous Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Japan's largest media conglomer ...
, and other
Nippon Television Network System Nippon Television Network System (; NNS) is a Japanese television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides prog ...
stations. The anime was licensed in North America by
Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
. which began broadcasting episodes online through
Hulu.com Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television seri ...
in January 2010. The series premiered on TV on May 29, 2010 on Cartoon Network's block
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
.
Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles fr ...
re-licensed the series after Viz Media lost the rights. It was only confirmed for streaming, but a
home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
release was hinted at a later date. Crunchyroll added the series to its catalog in May 2021.


Video games

Namco Bandai is a Japanese multinational video game publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in Irvine, California and ...
released three "action based" games for the
Nintendo Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
and DS, on May 24, 2007 and on March 20, 2008. A Wii game was released on September 27, 2007 in Japan.


Reception

The manga had over 15 million copies in circulation as of April 2011. The manga had 17 million copies in circulation as of June 2020. Volumes 19, 20, and 21 all reached number 3 or 4 on the Tohan best-seller list. In 2007, ''Kekkaishi'' received the
Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being given since ...
for best shōnen manga. The English edition of ''Kekkaishi'' was named by the
Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...
as among the best
graphic novels A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
for teens for 2007. During its initial broadcast, episodes of the anime series were frequently among the top ten rated anime television shows, sometimes as the only original (non-sequel) show to do so.


Notes


References


External links


''Shōnen Sunday'' official manga website

Sunrise official anime website


* {{Sunrise 2003 manga 2006 anime television series debuts Adventure anime and manga Discotek Media Exorcism in anime and manga Romance anime and manga Shogakukan manga Shōnen manga Sunrise (company) Supernatural anime and manga Viz Media anime Viz Media manga Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation original programming