Kekkaishi (Japanese: 結界師, lit. 'Barrier Master') is a supernaturalmanga series written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe. It was serialized in Japan by Shogakukan in the manga magazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday from 2003 to 2011, and licensed for an English-language release in North America by Viz Media. It was adapted as a fifty-two episode anime series by Sunrise, which was broadcast between October 2006 and February 2008. 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. Kekkaishi received the 2007 Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga.^[2]

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Plot[edit]

According to the legend, five hundred years ago, there was an insignificant lord who possessed a mysterious power that drew ayakashi (妖) (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 Karasumori (烏森).

In the present day, Yoshimori Sumimura and Tokine Yukimura, heirs of the Hazama clan, are the kekkaishi(結界師) 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(結界). Kekkai is a form of magical energy barrier which is primarily used to capture and destroy ayakashi that are drawn to this shin'yūchi(神佑地, 'sacred land'). 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 Urakai(裏会, 'Shadow Organization'). 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 Chūshinmaru (宙心丸), 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[edit]

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.'^[3]

Media[edit]

Manga[edit]

Kekkaishi was written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe. It was serialized in Japan by Shogakukan in the shōnen (aimed at teenaged boys) manga magazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday in 345 chapters from 2003 issue 47 to 2011 issue 19. Serial chapters have all collected in 35 tankōbon volumes, with the last volume published on 18 August 2011. The series is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media. It is also licensed in France by Pika Édition,^[4] in Germany by Carlsen Comics,^[5] in Hong Kong by Rightman Publishing Limited,^[6] in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo which serializes it in Shōnen Star,^[7] in Italy by Panini Comics,^[8] in Malaysia by PCM Comics, in South Korea by Bookbox,^[9] in Spain by Editorial Ivrea,^[10] in Taiwan by Tong Li Comics,^[11] in Vietnam by Kim Dong.^[12] and in Brazil by Panini Comics.^[13]

A guidebook to the series called a 'teacher's guide' (結界師 指南之書) was published as a Shōnen Sunday special on December 16, 2006.^[14]

Anime[edit]

Kekkaishi was adapted by Sunrise as an anime television series directed by Kenji Kodama with character designs by Hirotoshi Takaya and music by Taku Iwasaki. The opening theme for all episodes is 'Sha la la -Ayakashi NIGHT-' (Sha la la -アヤカシNIGHT-) by Saeka Uura. There are four different ending themes: 'Akai Ito' (赤い糸, 'Red Thread') by Koshi Inaba (episodes 1–15, 38, 40, 48, 52), 'Sekaijuu Dokowo Sagashitemo' (世界中どこを探してもSekaijū Doko o Sagashite mo, 'Looking for Another World') by Aiko Kitahara (episodes 16–23, 39, 44, 51), 'My Mirai' (マイミライMai Mirai, 'My Future') by Uura (episodes 24–30, 41, 46, 49), and 'Kyukei Jikan 10pun' (休憩時間10分Kyūkei Jikan Jippun, '10 Minute Break') by Uura (episodes 31–37, 42–43, 45, 47, 50). The series was broadcast for 52 episodes in Japan between 16 October 2006 and 12 February 2008 on Nippon TV, Yomiuri TV, and other Nippon Television Network System stations, in the 'golden' timeslot of 7 p.m. Monday.^[15]

The anime has been licensed in North America by Viz Media.^[16] which began broadcasting episodes online through Hulu.com in January 2010.^[17] The series premiered on TV on May 29, 2010 on Cartoon Network's block Adult Swim.^[18]

Video games[edit]

Namco Bandai released two 'action based' games for the Nintendo DS, Kekkaishi Karasumori Ayakashi Kidan(結界師 烏森妖奇談) on May 24, 2007^[19] and Kekkaishi Kokuboro Shurai(結界師 黒芒楼襲来) on March 20, 2008.^[20] A Wii game (結界師 黒芒楼の影, Kekkaishi Kokuboro no Kage) Kekkaishi: Shadow of the Kokuboro was released on September 27, 2007 in Japan.^[21][22]

Reception[edit]

In 2007, Kekkaishi received the Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen manga.^[2] The series is among the best-selling manga in Japan. Volumes 19, 20, and 21 all reached number 3 or 4 on the Tohan best-seller list.^[23][24][25]

The English edition of Kekkaishi was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as among the best graphic novels for teens for 2007.^[26]

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.^[27][28][29]

References[edit]

1. ^'The Official Website for Kekkaishi'. Viz Media. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
2. ^ ^ab'Shogakukan Awards Page' (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
3. ^'Yellow Tanabe Interview.' (Archive) Shonen Sunday website. VIZ Media. Retrieved on March 15, 2012.
4. ^'Kekkaishi - PIKA Édition' (in French). Pika Édition. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
5. ^'Kekkaishi - CARLSEN Verlag' (in German). Carlsen Verlag GmbH. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
6. ^正文社出版有限公司 (in Chinese). Rightman Publishing Ltd. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
7. ^'SHONEN STAR' (in Indonesian). Elex Media Komputindo. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
8. ^'KEKKAISHI 1' (in Italian). Panini Comics. Archived from the original on 9 August 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
9. ^결계사 1 By TANABE YELLOW. Google Books. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
10. ^'KEKKAISHI' (in Spanish). Editorial Ivrea. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
11. ^東立漫遊網 書籍查詢-書資料清單 (in Chinese). Tong Li Comics. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
12. ^'Kết giới sư (Kekkaishi)' (in Vietnamese). Kim Dong Publishing House. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
13. ^'Panini Comics: Planet Manga: Kekkaishi' (in Portuguese). Panini Comics. Retrieved 5 Apr 2011.
14. ^小学館: コミック 「結界師 指南之書 (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
15. ^'Yatterman Remake to Take Kekkaishi's 'Golden' Timeslot (Updated)'. Anime News Network. 9 October 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
16. ^'Viz Adds Inuyasha the Final Act, Kekkaishi Anime (Updated)'. Anime News Network. 24 July 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
17. ^'Viz Media to Debut Kekkaishi Anime Series on Hulu'. Anime News Network. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
18. ^'Adult Swim Lists Kekkaishi U.S. TV Premiere'. Anime News Network. 2010-03-29.
19. ^'結界師 烏森妖奇談' [Kekkaishi Karasumori Ayakashi Kidan]. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Japan: Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
20. ^'結界師 黒芒楼襲来' [Kekkaishi Kokuboro Shurai]. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Japan: Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
21. ^'結界師 黒芒楼の影' [Kekkaishi Kokuboro no Kage]. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Japan: Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
22. ^'Wiiリモコンで'妖'を倒せ! 「結界師 黒芒楼の影」 / ファミ通.com' (in Japanese).
23. ^'Japanese Comic Ranking, January 15–21'. Anime News Network. 2008-01-24. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
24. ^'Japanese Comic Ranking, April 22–28 (Updated)'. Anime News Network. 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
25. ^'Japanese Comic Ranking, July 8–14'. Anime News Network. 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
26. ^'Manga Named to Librarians' Great Graphic Novels List'. Anime News Network. 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
27. ^'Japanese Anime TV Ranking, April 16–22'. Anime News Network. 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2008-08-28. Kekkaishi continues to shine as the only (relatively) new, non-sequel series on the list.
28. ^'Japanese Anime TV Ranking: April 30-May 20'. Anime News Network. 2007-05-24. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
29. ^'Japanese Anime TV Ranking: May 21-May 27'. Anime News Network. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2008-08-28. [T]he only 'new' series is Fall 2006's Kekkaishi from the pages of Weekly Shōnen Sunday.

External links[edit]

• Shōnen Sunday official manga website(in Japanese)
• Sunrise official anime website(in Japanese)
• Yomiuri TV official anime site(in Japanese)
• Namco Bandai official DS game site(in Japanese)
• Kekkaishi Episodes, Downloads and More from Adult Swim
• Kekkaishi (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Kekkaishi (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia