The Shaman King Manga Explained

I read literally the entirety of Shaman King. Now I'm going to tell you the differences between the manga and the 4kids anime, while also giving my thoughts about what Hiroyuki Takei did right and wrong.
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#manga #anime #shamanking #shonen #shonenjump

[@NegativeLegend]

✦I have new merch: teespring.com/stores/negatives-store ✦I got a patreon too: www.patreon.com/NegativeLegend ✦Twitter is free, though: twitter.com/Negative_Legend Also, quick tidbit about Anna. I know that technically it was never explicitly stated that Anna would actually marry whoever became Shaman King. But, it was mentioned that Hao was going to take her as a bride, or at least said it to get under her skin. And over the course of the manga it became somewhat unclear whether or not it was still an arranged marriage with Yoh, or if it was just marrying the Shaman King. Which is probably due to the fact that Hiroyuki Takei would switch things up just a bit to keep the story interesting as it was serializing. Regardless, I still wanted to talk about it since I just really like how he set up Anna's character.

[@suorcream9529]

Hi

[@edithhernandez7403]

I think it was only a way of saying Yoh would become the Shaman King, also Yoh promised her he would be it, so it’s also a way to remind him his promess. There’s also this theory that Anna was pregnant during the Shaman Fight, cause the timeline doesn’t add up.

[@cigimon4]

37:46 who are you talking about? i'm thinking of like 5 different characters

[@marocat4749]

The dying and coming back stronger isnt that weird, even dragonballdi that with vegeta where he near died to come boack stonger.I think its the medicines journey where death becomes patron to a kid, and he becomes a famous doctor gets two bags, one to carry withhim that he can basically cheat death in certain conditions as doctor but only in the right direction, i not he , dies, which one day afte a grat career as doctor, he does, where the second little bag comes into play, because its for when he is dead, he has to solve three riddles, gain knowledge of life and death and thanks to the bag he can come back to life. And wont need neithr again. ust tht people coming back from near death and death stronger an oe wiser is really not that wild overall. Even dragonball delved into it. Reviving that much yeah, i would credit that to it being a shounen still.

[@aztecklover69]

be sure to watch the 2021 adaption of shaman king. its going to follow the manga conpletely.

[@ShinParisu]

"And then Manta shows up in a train to save them" I mean, of course he did! Dont you get it? its a SOUL TRAIN

[@idontknowwhatimdoing6543]

:O GENIUS!

[@memebrain2177]

hype train along with feels train

[@Nikk-Astyr]

It don't feel like we doing too much

[@nekosoravenchannyu]

I love how as soon as I looked at the comments I got to the part

[@ernestotorelli1209]

"Asakura" literally means "hemp leaf". It's the logo of Yoh's family, and it's derived from taking Hao's star and inserting a stem that pierces it to symbolize how their purpose is to break trhough their ancestor's legacy.

[@orcmcc]

I kind of like the idea that a human with the powers, knowledge, and experience of a true god would become innately empathetic and kind, even against their own will.

[@marocat4749]

Good ideology of the manga, i mean it only worked because hao wasnt a bad person in the beginning, an honestly, right, but yeah, good.

[@Puerco-Potter]

@@marocat4749"people that can see ghost can't be bad", is in the first chapter of the manga

[@smilinandlaughin]

You don't

[@pforgottonsoul]

@@Puerco-Potter i recently bought the omnibus of the first 3 volumes and that line is actually used a lot.

[@LunaP1]

I loved the part where everyone was in the plane headed to the battle ground. Yoh and Hoah see each other and act like nothing serious is going on between them. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 This is how you know they are truly twin brothers.

[@alfonsopayan09]

Volumen 9 to opening manga 10 yeah hahaha

[@pinkneko13]

The part where Yoh waves at Hao and Hao waves back happily is so so so funny

[@garreonlefay6703]

The reason why Anna likes Yoh so much is because he saved her from herself and her powers. Edit: Nitpick, Choco gets the spirit of the Matchu pitchu Shaman representative known as Pascal Abaf. Who also fought Hao BTW, NL, have you read the sequel to Shaman King?

[@marocat4749]

He probably left a fair bit out for the videos pacings sake, but h could do a livestream to adress all that :P But he never mentioned in either video the bruce lee insert. Thats why.

[@Kamiyoda]

"Just commenting helps the video" Your hair is majestic. WOO ENGAGEMENT

[@alicjahansen1845]

Shaman King was a huge part of my childhood, it was actually one of the first anime shows I’ve ever watched. It was huge in Poland and I’m so happy it’s finally getting a global recognition it deserves, with a remake coming up. I loved both your videos and admire your dedication! ❤️😗✌️

[@Ajzan1]

I hope the manga will be finally released in Poland thanks to new anime.

[@epicman2000]

I love Shaman King. I know you are doing this for fans and I appreciate it. I absolutely love this series and I hope this new anime and manga really captures new fans.

[@genesischaparro8954]

Any mother worth the title knows that when her child has caused a humongous amount of trouble thanks to self loathing, she needs to slap some sense into them. But with lots of love

[@L3onking]

Fun fact: Shamans use medicinal herbs to hone their spiritual senses so Yoh partakes in the Ganja since it's basically a Mario mushroom

[@attackontv9454]

He has a pot shirt on in episode 13 . 😂

[@ShadowEclipex]

Well now I am even more excited for the anime remake/reboot.

[@smilinandlaughin]

You're not

[@robloxvempor]

@@smilinandlaughin someone’s had a bad day lol 💀

[@samaccardi]

Watching this before the actual video, hearing the term "In my other video" when there is, in fact, not yet, another video XD

[@kaiser1963]

You didnt talk about Yoh's And Anna's relationship in the past those chapters are probably the best in the manga

[@KuroeNezumi]

He purposefully kept them out, pay attention to how he lightly touches over them at the end when he mentions he skipped a lot of context and stuff. And TBF it is an extremely good reason to read the manga, so not getting it completely spoiled here is a good call on his part

[@MysticRyokan]

this is my fav anime/manga and am glad you enjoyed it! it's so underrated and hope this new 2021 anime will do it justice and give the series the love and recognition it so much deserves!

[@zhaoyun255]

Man, kinda feel disappointing that you didn't talk about Matamune, Yoh and Anna since that story is basically explaining how much you love Anna.

[@CowboyPete]

There's also Horohoro's character development, there's a lot more to it, It's hard to cover all of it, the best thing would be to recommend the manga to others.

[@rinashiawase1807]

Glad you liked the manga! I personally REALLY loved the ending as well. It's just so Shaman King, you know? It's hopeful but also has a bittersweet taste to it. It's cheesy but also super unconventional by shonen standards. The sequels are shaping up to be really great too so I'm looking forward to your video on them!

[@kaiser1963]

To claim the ending is cheesy would be to denounce the nuance and significance of the ending and how it relates to the thematic of the franchise. In reality the series couldnt have ended any better

[@rinashiawase1807]

@@kaiser1963 You're right! I can't imagine a more fitting end either! It's just super Shaman King with it's themes!

[@erois6190]

The ending is perfect for Shaman King.

[@Puerco-Potter]

Shamn King is the most hippie manga out there and in a good way

[@lilysapphire3434]

Glad you enjoyed the manga! I hope it helped to flash out the characters that just overwhelmed you with numbers in the anime. Honest I loved the ending of Shaman King more than every other Shonen manga I read. And the mother slapping Hao is just the cherry on top of it.

[@MaddyM_1.0]

I'm so glad you did this series. Shaman King was one of the first anime's I've ever watched. Going on this ride back then was wild, but it was a super fun and heart-warming even when it went way off the rails.

[@saudbintalib5701]

Shaman King is pretty cool.

[@randyzack1497]

Yeah it's a neat story

[@smilinandlaughin]

It's not

[@kadshiromi4502]

@@smilinandlaughin hey if you don't like this stfu

[@smilinandlaughin]

@@kadshiromi4502 meh

[@robloxvempor]

@@kadshiromi4502 the dude just going around dropping negative comments lol. He’s just going through some stuff 🤣🤣

[@ladycanadachan]

*a very excited dance* I'm so glad you put this up early for patrons! Thank you

[@SlayerBraxusCosplay]

Amazing job with these videos. As a fan of the series from the first release, this was a great refresher and a great way to introduce it to new fans. I can't wait for the more videos. Keep up the great work.

[@SupremeKame]

They added a lot of stuff in the Anime because the anime and manga were parallel to each other in terms of release, like almost identically and the anime was way ahead of the manga so they had to pretty much improvise there That's why the reboot is going to be more authentic to the manga, to pretty much get rid of confusion through the original anime too

[@Malum09]

I was confussed about him calling Manta "Marty" in the other video until i remember that 4kids dubs were like that while the Latin Dub kept the original names for the most part (at least from what i remember)

[@kamikaze5528]

Him complaining about the name but calling Chocolove "Joco", Redseb "Ludsev" and Seyrarm "Salern" was cringe as hell.

[@mr.goblin6039]

I love your videos and it’s amazing that you got to Shaman King. This is great.

[@lelnel6242]

Well, you did say he worked with Eiichiro Oda, of course the expressions would be ridiculous...Oda is kinda known for that Edit: The leaf is a Japanese maple leaf, however, because of western audiences associating with marijuana, especially the US audience, they had to change it

[@MysticRyokan]

it actually is marijuana tho, it had a lot of that symbolism early in the manga with Yoh always listening to Bob Marley "Soul Bob" and it's still in theme with shamanism as often they use narcotics to achieve altered states for spiritualism, there are other examples like Lyserg and his guardian ghost Morphine both named after drugs

[@hana_flower875]

Sorry to say this friend but it is actually marijuana, it's a joke about Yoh constantly behaving lazily and calm like he's stoned and even his full name translated means "Cannabis leaf" so...

[@WildVoltorb]

Dude, C'MON, it IS marijuana. If Yoh isn't a stoner I don't know who is. There's a lot of drug references in Shaman King, like Lyserg (from LSD) since shamans usually get high to perform

[@marocat4749]

He is a slacker and how can it be accidental marihuana.

[@JohannesVIII]

This manga was extremely important to me as a teenager and contributed to make me a better person and I'm so happy to see more people discovering it and enjoying it thanks in part to the new anime. What a time to be alive

[@DisappearingBunny]

This is great content that is hard to find! I have been wanting to know the story but couldnt get the manga, (or have time to read it all). So thank you, thank you for this! I hope you do more content like this. For other series too.

[@snappingshrimp235]

boi two videos in a row? this day is going to be amazing!

[@smokeyalpaca1910]

When I was growing up, Shaman King was my favorite manga. I love seeing you so accurately and intelligently dissect it's great points without neglecting the humor that's basically force-fed down your throat while you read it lol. Not to mention that your own humor shines through in this video. Excellent job my friend

[@dardend4155]

Yoh's Ganja icons that show up on his clothes are meant to represent his love for his favorite musician "BOB" (a not so subtle reference to Bob Marley). A pretty perfect representation of his ethos, really. "Don't worry, be happy."

[@CRCRAZYCHICK97]

I have really been enjoying your Shaman King videos, new sub for you!! So happy to see that people are talking about this Manga/Show (I watched it on Jetix years ago and then I learned what Manga was and then enjoyed reading it, lol.) Question: Would you ever consider doing a character analysis and their history. Or their personality and how it impacts the story? I feel like some character are given less credit than what they are worth because they have impacted the story more than what is shown. Example being ?Ryu/Rio? and how his goal was finding a happy place where everyone is happy. Or Faust with his love and dedication to his dead wife while regaining his original dedicated role as the caring doctor, he doesn't care that you insult and hurt him until you insult Eliza then by all mean run for the hills if he finds out. Hope that made sense. I just want to see someone explore these characters more is all. 🤗🤗

[@hickknight]

'This is shortform entertainment' NEAR 40 MINUTES IS SHORT IS IT?! But hey, finally gotten a really good summary on Shaman King. And the way they handled this power creep at the end is great. But boy, is it an existentialist dilemma...

[@DadBodShang]

Thanks for the video, Negative Legend! Been following ya since you made force of will stuff back in the day. Well spoken, and charming as hell. can't wait for new stuff man.

[@kaiser1963]

Shaman king is an objective masterpiece in storytelling, read alot of manga and its still one of the best ,alot of people dont understand the nuance of ending when in reality the series couldn't have ended any better. Perfectly encapsulates the themes of the series How violence is "No good" and is clearly the ending Hiroyuki Takei always wanted to make for such a bitter sweet story. Reasons like this is why Takei has stated numerous times his series aint for the mainstream.

[@qilorar]

wow , amazing you did well, of course story goes more in depth in the manga. I lways wanted for these brothers to interact more and kinda talk it out versus fight it out and to know what ends up being that way is lovely.

[@shenanigans8353]

Man yeah I was pretty happy with the ending suited the messages the story was aiming to give and aligned well with yoh's character along with the whole "how do we beat this all powerful villain?" "we don't." angle

[@sarahhavillamelooliveira5825]

Shaman King is very dense and it was amazing, as a 10-year-old I just loved it, I'm planning in re-reading 📚 it because I figured out it goes way deeper in the rabbit hole than what a 10-year-old can catch up with.

[@griffca4814]

Rip in peace shaman king flowers you had an amazing idea.

[@mattiasecci4005]

Btw, great video, we need more creators to spread Shaman King knowledge like you do!

[@jen5598]

R.i.p fever dream ending short where Hao is a princess in need of saving.

[@petraleong]

I wonder is they would at least cameo princess Hao in the new anime. Cause I need that.

[@lugus9261]

That train was the train of thought getting back on track

[@alvarooverlay5405]

I really liked the ending of the manga, it was really different compared to most shonen series. Btw the editing in the vid was freaking smooth m9, nice work.

[@Floricado]

The first manga I ever read was Shaman King no. 20 of the original run. It was at a tiny bookstore where there sold only Dragon Ball and Fruits Basket basically. No. 20 was the second half of the story when Anna and Yoh met and I looooved it so much. I bought no. 19 a few month later to get the first half and basically learnt it by heart. I'm so happy you mentioned it at the end 😭 Thank you!

[@commonviewer2488]

As we approached the reboot's release, these videos started to blow up At the very least they deserve to. Good series, great analysis.

[@myunrulylife68]

FINALLY!!!!! I NEVER THOUGHT ANYONE WOULD MAKE THIS VIDEO!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

[@MonosEx]

I miss the original style of Takei, it was easier to reproduce, I remember making some money at school drawing characters from the manga for my school friends for a few bucks, then it became just too lazy complex to the eye and every female character looked almost the same (sometimes you couldn't even tell apart Tamao from Lyzerg)

[@petraleong]

lol. I never really notice it cause I actually didn't care about Tamao and Lyzerg.

[@alfonsopayan09]

14:30 yeah In the manga They actually had a night together before the gang leaving to USA in search of the patch village She’s supposedly early pregnant around time of tournament cous when the original story ends they give birth to hana (sequel hero) and they’re only like 15-16 years older than their kid Shaman king flowers OG gang are all in their 30s

[@eckoecko13]

Excellent work!!!

[@Klonoahedgehog]

That ending kinda reads like they wrote themselves into a corner and had to find some way to finish things.

[@thirdplanet4471]

This is what happens when you make god the final boss

[@tahvohck]

It seems in line with what I know of eastern mysticism and the concept of rebirth, but also possibly that, yes.

[@orcmcc]

It really was written into a bit of a corner, but they pulled off a pretty good, very humanizing ending.

[@kaiser1963]

Couldn't be further from the truth perfectly encapsulates the thematic of the series how "fighting is no good" that is plastered through the series. If you squint your eyes a tiny bit you told can maybe understand it. The series couldn't have ended any better

[@sanashi27]

I was watching the other video when this was posted so I was surprised to see it after I clicked on the sub page! I have not read the manga so this is really, really interesting. I enjoyed it a lot and if there's more of this I'd watch it. Edit: This video is new... right? Why are some of the comments from 2 months ago???

[@HickaruFire]

It's new. I guess it was early for paying members.

[@Mars1990ful]

I have already read the manga. And what I love about the ending is Hao finally finding peace and his beloved mother. All of it because of Yoh.

[@RosalineNeko]

Loved this!

[@n1hondude]

I see Shaman King, I watch and I like. I can't freaking wait for "Shaman King Brotherhood"!!!

[@TheArcSet]

Thank you for this video.

[@kireharvey6844]

This is honestly the first time a reviewer did a review like this and it makes me honestly want to read the manga. Shaman king always seemed interesting, like you'd say im skipping this but it is good like read it trust me.

[@yugiohforever8090]

Thank you for the video

[@manarayofhope2374]

I like you elf man I had forgotten huge chunks of shaman king having read it last over ten years ago I remember the big bit,s but not the alot of the little details this was a nice trip down memory lane I think i,'ll see want else you got in yah

[@DarkTruth6]

Man I seriously need to go back and reread this it's been a minute I forgot how much I really liked the show and especially since it's coming back

[@WhinyB]

Let’s hope Shaman King doesn’t get cancelled.

[@garreonlefay6703]

There is a Sequel. Gotta check out if it was updated

[@pedrohdalla]

Absolutely hyped for the anime

[@petraleong]

I want the brothers having coffee in anime!!!! also the hotspring scene!!

[@draketheduelist]

It's at times like this upcoming Shaman King sorta-reboot that I finally get to flaunt the fact that I know what's going on in this series and nobody else seems to. I first cut my teeth in fanfiction with Shaman King, and one of my most enduring original characters started out as Jeanne's older brother. It's practically my thumbprint as an author to include some kind of self-loathing silver-haired boy with a mean streak and a vaguely Catholic belief system. Including that original OC, I have *four* of them now (with the most recent two inhabiting wholly original works), and Shaman King was where it all started. I recall reading *about* this ending secondhand. (Despite my efforts, I could never locate anything from the Kang Zeng Bang edition...) In fact, I specifically remember people being really polarized by the ending. The jist of what I *heard* was that, when all the characters get together as adults, they realize... Hao was 100% right the first time. Humans suck, there's no helping them, and Hao really *should* exterminate the lot of them. Is there any truth to that ending? Is that some older printing? A mistranslation? I would be *very* happy to hear that it wasn't true at all, if only because I always felt Shaman King was above that kind of omega-level edgelord nonsense. Shaman King illustrates that, just because it's written comfortably within shonen conventions, it *can* do unique things with the formula. I think that's what I still continue to enjoy about it.

[@mattiasecci4005]

Woah, I can't believe I'm watching Faust himself talking about Shaman King!

[@legofan4409]

I'm rereading the manga now and it's kinda cool how they have people from all over the world join in, i.e. Japanese, native-american, german, british etc.

[@joaovitorfarinabraga690]

Man loving your style looks handsome as hell

[@corduroycrook]

YES shaman king content makes me so happy

[@TheLimeinacoconut]

I used to get Shaman King from the library all the time and I drew lots of fanart of Anna

[@petraleong]

Anna seriously best girl.

[@whitewing2]

Well there is a point why those chosen character can Resurrect Jun is affiliated with Jiangshi/khiong-si or chinese Zombies Faust is affiliated with both Western Zombie, and Frankenstein Sati is a Buddhist and they believe in Reincarnation or being born again on a different body Jean is some how a version of Christianity, where Resurrection was widely believed

[@megatamerernie513]

I had no idea there was a reprint. I bought the origonal run. Had to pre order the last few issues back when they released.

[@bro-ht5cy]

about yoh's marijuana leaf 麻倉 葉 = asakura yoh 麻 = asa = hemp 葉 = yoh = leaf

[@Belophen]

awesome video, but the biggest lost here is not hearing your thoughts about the ozorensan reserveoir arc, truly the best part of the manga.

[@akai3974]

I love how the art style changes I like how Anna looks more in the end and

[@envynoson]

Of course, you had to call Hao's mom and all his friends to stop him from destroying the world. That's a dirty move, but it can make any man cry.

[@JoeZanDeathKiller]

I found shamen king 2021 Japanese only, I didn't understand it but luckily the original anime gives me a good idea what they are talking about.

[@mirage54]

Remember when the X Laws Mecha spirits were actually cars?

[@Naruedyoh]

One question Did you watch the fight witht he chinese zombie in the 4kids dub? because in Spain i think we got an adaptation that extremely faithfull to the original source

[@marinehakobyan7005]

whoa whoa whoa there! Anna's and Yoh's marriage really was a promise between those two! read the prequel please

[@ZeroCGR2]

Never expected the manga was so crazy.

[@Chelsso0]

I don't know in which video you commented about colorado, but there is something amazing there that I wish to visit which is Charis bible college. 🥺

[@madhukarg8052]

Negative Legend blew my mind

[@VirtuesOfSin]

9:48 Legit thought those were his teeth, guess that just shows how stupid I am. Haha

[@PsychoMantisss]

Did...did I just see Fujiwara no Sai at 8:17? Also I would love if you did a video on Hikaru no Go.

[@gothtaku6666]

Ok deos anyone think negative legend looks like Lestat Also you should check out Ultimo it's a collaboration between the Creator of shaman king and Stanley Lee

[@LoneLionLeo]

Didn’t know the new manga orint would have new drawings 😳 those new drawings really show the Ultimo art style he developed later

[@porobotboyxxx]

Oh, so you collected the Shaman King Manga too, cool.😊👌

[@EmbalmerEmi]

I'm glad the artist is getting another chance at this.

[@red_light_3937]

9:46 **** I thought those were his teeth! Like he was doing a full toothy grin. Soooo much better now!

[@eshtifatin8114]

Please do make a video about What happened to Ben 10 and explain why did they rebooted it after so many renewal.

[@FallenKuroTaiyo]

The manga is so crazy ngl. I also read the OG German publication of the manga, so I got the first "ending" and it took me half a decade to learn that oh, there is a real ending lmao.

[@lafregaste]

I find it interesting that the Spanish dub didn't change so much as the English dub, Manta remained Manta as well as Hao, I always heard that Spanish translations are better for Japanese because the languages has the same complexity and structure and maybe that's also why it's easier for them to keep stuff when dubbing. I don't know, maybe I'm just making a wild guess. Although for a long ass time I preferred English translations (not dubs) because for Spanish it was either Mexican or Spain Spanish and they could NEVER keep it neutral. Thank God and Native in both, Spanish and English. >M> Now I'm even more interested in reading the manga, I'm checking it out. : D thou you had to skip a lot of information I loved your explanations and the quirky jokes, your videos are always funny, entertaining and nice, they feel like talking to one of my friends, discussing the anime and manga we love. You were so hyped I have ended up hyped too. XDD

[@Omnicharlizard]

I remember being a hardcore fan on finding the zang Zheng bang that was the ending because publication stoped xD xD

[@santiagotijerina6682]

Can you do a video on lego monkey kid or about sun wukong

[@cassandralyris4918]

Shaman King is legit underrated here in the US, and I'm so glad you're talking so in depth about it, and I'm so glad it's gotten a reboot, and usually I despise reboots. If only W.I.T.C.H. could get another chance on Disney+...

[@sarahhavillamelooliveira5825]

I love the coffee bit between Hao an Yoh

[@figuringitout796]

One of the things I loved about the early chapters centering on before the Shaman Tournament and the 1st round, is how when we're viewing the world of Shaman King, it's clearly through Manta's eyes. Yoh may be the main character, but it's Manta of whom we're seeing everything. He's narrating and he himself is a character growing. But then the second round came and Manta is no longer with the gang but separate and that sort of threw me off a bit ngl.

[@africkingupsidedownmountai7362]

I’m Not crying, YOU ARE!

[@katiaazizi]

I have to get the manga now. Like you i watched the 4kids anime which was awesome imo.

[@sarahhavillamelooliveira5825]

I love the end, like I loved!

[@ashleyteo1154]

Oh, I like that ending.