is a Japanese media franchise created by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...

, consisting primarily of a series of video games. The first release was an online free-to-play card battle game titled , which was released for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Android in 2012. A sequel game titled was released in Japan in November 2014. An

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

titled was released in 2018. The TV

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

adaptation of the game '' Operation Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur'' premiered on October 25, 2018. The TV anime series is licensed in North America by

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

Franchise

Games

Series titles

The first game, an online free-to-play card battle game titled was released in 2012, written by Kazuma Kamachi. The title was ported to the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

in October 2014 with a new interface to match the system's two screens. An English language version of the game was released for Southeast Asia entitled ''Magnificent Million Arthur''. It was also ported to the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, then in other international territories on February 22, 2012, and was produced ...

with additional features including voice acting, gameplay changes and the ability of a player to edit their deck. Square Enix closed the game's Japanese servers in 2015. On July 14, 2015 it was released in Europe and North America by the South Korean publisher Gamevil. Servers for this release were closed on December 7 of that same year. A sequel game titled was released in Japan in November 2014. The service ended on September 30, 2020. A

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

game titled was shown at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2016. It was released in Japan on May 25, 2017, for the PC via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

, requiring an

HTC Vive HTC Vive is a line of Virtual reality, virtual and mixed reality Virtual reality headset, headsets produced by HTC, HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with Personal computer, personal computers as well a ...

headset to play. A

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. The headset works with the company's PlayStation 4 video game console and is forward compatible with PlaySta ...

version was released in Japan on September 28, 2017. Released in English-speaking countries as ''Million Arthur VR: Character Command RPG'', the PC version was released by Vive Studios in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

Commonwealth nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

(inc. the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

) on October 12, 2017. An

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

called ''Million Arthur: Arcana Blood'' was developed by ''

Arcana Heart is a 2D arcade game, arcade fighting game series developed by Team Arcana (originally co-owned with its former parent company Examu). The first edition was released to arcades (mostly in Japan, but a few in other countries) in late 2007. The g ...

''’s developer Team Arcana, originally owned by

Examu Examu, formerly known as Yuki Enterprise, was a Japanese video game company founded in 2000. It mostly produced fighting games for arcades and home consoles. It is known for owning Team Arcana, the developer of the original intellectual propert ...

and released in Japan on November 21, 2017. A PlayStation 4 port was released on November 29, 2018, and was originally planned only for release in Japan. The game was later ported to PC and released worldwide on June 20, 2019. The plot revolves around many Arthurs armed with Excaliber blades fighting to become the true king. The roster of fighters features thirteen characters including faeries, clones, and guest fighters from other titles such as '' King of Fighters XIV'' and '' Trials of Mana''. During combat, players can have three supporting fighters at a time from a selection of thirty one. An

titled was released in China for iOS and Android in March 2018 and released in Japan in November 2018. The MMO was terminated on September 30, 2019. An

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and Role-playing video game, role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games empha ...

titled was released for iOS and Android in Japan during October 2018. Players create characters who explore 3D terrains, fight monsters, and perform special attacks with other characters within a players party. The mobile service shut down on May 12, 2020. In 2021, Perfect World Games developed a licensed sequel codenamed "MA", it was officially unveiled as ''Kai-Ri-Sei Million Arthur: Ring'' in 2023.

Character crossovers

Million Arthur appeared in the 2015 role-playing game '' Megadimension Neptunia VII'' as a DLC character, but the character was removed from the Steam version of the game in January 2020. Thief (Tōzoku) Arthur appears as a guest DLC character in '' SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy''. ''Gestalt Odin'' featured six characters from the series as guest fighters. Characters from others games have also appeared in the ''Million Arthur'' series, such as Iori Yagami from ''

The King of Fighters ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of ''The King of Fighters '94'' in 1994. The series was initially developed for SNK's Neo Geo (system), Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware and received ...

'' series, who is both under his Miss X disguise and also a DLC in ''Heroines'', appears as a guest character in ''Arcana Blood''.

Live-action television

A live-action television adaptation premiered on October 3, 2014.

Manga

A 4-panel

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

adaptation by Choboraunyopomi, titled , has been serialized within the ''Million Arthur'' games and via the Niconico Seiga website since 2012.

Anime

An ONA adaptation of the ''Jaku-San-Sei Million Arthur'' manga premiered on November 20, 2015. An

television series adaptation of the ''Han-Gyaku-Sei Million Arthur'' MMORPG by J.C.Staff premiered on October 25, 2018, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...

and other channels. It was announced that the series will be split-cour, with the second season airing in April 2019. The series is directed by Yōhei Suzuki and written by Tsuyoshi Tamai. Yoshinari Saito provides the character designs. The series' music is composed by Go Shiina and produced by Lantis. Genco is producing the series. The opening theme song is "Highlight" by Ayaka Ōhashi, and the ending theme song is "KI-te MI-te HIT PARADE!" by Himika Akaneya,

Rie Takahashi is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with 81 Produce. A member of the musical unit Earphones, she had a leading role in the anime series '' Seiyu's Life!''. She voiced Megumin in '' KonoSuba'', Emilia in '' Re:Zero'', Takagi in ...

Nao Tōyama is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with the agency Intention. She was a member of Arts Vision. She debuted as a voice actress in 2010, and played her first leading role as Kanon Nakagawa in '' The World God Only Knows''. She is ...

, Yu Serizawa,

Suzuko Mimori is a Japanese actress and singer. She is represented by HiBiKi Cast. She voiced Umi Sonoda in ''Love Live!'', Hikari Kagura in ''Revue Starlight'', Anju Shiratori/Hakuccho in '' Kiratto Pri☆Chan'', and Asumi Fuurin/Cure Earth in ''Healin' Good ...

, and Rina Hidaka under their character names. The second opening theme song is "Open the Worlds" by ORESAMA, and the second ending theme song is "Pearly×Party" by the voice actress unit Pearly Fairy.

Merchandise

Square Enix announced that in mid-2021 they would be offering

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the blockchai ...

's of comics and stickers from the ''Million Arthur'' series.

Common elements

The series is based around Arthurian legends and the blade

Excalibur Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. E ...

. Demons invade Britain, and while the countries eleven leaders quarrel, the protagonist Arthur draws the sword, becomes king of the dragons, and leads the countries defenses against the invaders. Other games take place in the fictional land of

Camelot Camelot is a legendary castle and Royal court, court associated with King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described ...

. ''Kou-Kyou-Sei Million Arthur'' takes place in Camelot's future, where evil has conquered the land and a girl named

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

gathers new "Arthur's" to retake the kingdom.

Development and history

The original game was written by Kazuma Kamachi, creator of ''

A Certain Magical Index is a Japanese light novel series written by Kazuma Kamachi and illustrated by Kiyotaka Haimura, which has been published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint since April 2004 in a total of three sep ...

'', and over fifty illustrators created 170 playing cards for the title.

Reception

Western reviews were generally unfavorable for the original ''Million Arthur'', with ''Touch Arcade'' praising the story and dialogue but blasted the passive and boring gameplay. ''Gamezebo'' applauded the art direction and the games unique premise but also criticized the battle system and the Japanese-only voiceover.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Million Arthur 2012 video games 2014 video games 2015 anime ONAs 2017 video games 2018 video games Android (operating system) games Esports games Fantasy video games Free-to-play video games Gangan Comics manga HTC Vive games IOS games Mass media franchises Fiction about monarchy Multiplayer video games PlayStation VR games Role-playing video games Seinen manga Shōnen manga Square Enix franchises Square Enix games Taito games Video games adapted into television shows Video games featuring female protagonists Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 2012 Yonkoma Video games developed in Japan