Shaman King - Anime Review
 

Shaman King is an interesting anime, to say the least. I would give it a PG-13 rating because it contains some swordplay, violence, and death; but otherwise is a kiddy anime series in other respects.

Shaman King follows the life of the young Yoh Asakura (age 13). Yoh is a Shaman of Japanese descent, born of the Asakura clan and trained in the ways of the spirit world since he was very young. Yoh's path to destiny is opened wide when the start of the tournament to crown the next Shaman King begins. Every Shaman who wishes to pursue the title must pair up with a powerful warrior spirit and battle using their respective spiritual talents.


Very early in the series, Yoh meets Amidamaru, the ghost of a great samurai warrior who was killed 600 years ago. Yoh demonstrates the Shaman ability called "Oversoul," which allows a Shaman to relinquish control of his body to an outside spirit (willful possession). This grants Yoh the strengths and abilities of the battle-hardened Amidamaru.

Throughout the series, Yoh and Amidamaru use their steadily growing strength to defeat one Shaman participant after another as Yoh chases his dream to become the Shaman King. Many of the Shaman he encounters become close friends, each with their own wonderul and bizarre spiritual powers and their own "guardian ghost."

I like this series ok, but it is very long for a simple series set around a single tournament. In fact, I've never seen the end of the series. The early part of the series contains great action and many suprises. There is humor at every turn and the storyline isn't too shabby. The later series gets rather boring as the same stuff becomes repetitive and the newer characters get very lame, in my opinion.

For a series though, it has everything that makes a good anime worth watching and I'd recommend this series to anyone who likes a good ghost tale or the popular demon genre.

Ah! I found the English opening for Shaman King. I dig that music! Kudos to Shonen Jump!