Maoyū: Maō Yūsha
Cover of volume 1 featuring the title characters
まおゆう魔王勇者
GenreFantasy[1]
Light novel
Written byMamare Touno
Illustrated byKeinojou Mizutama, toi8
Published byEnterbrain
DemographicMale
Original runDecember 29, 2010 – December 22, 2012
Volumes8 (List of volumes)
Manga
Maoyū Maō Yūsha: Oka no Mukō e
Written byMamare Touno
Illustrated byHiro Touge
Published byAkita Shoten
MagazineChampion Red
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 19, 2011 – August 19, 2014
Volumes8[2]
Manga
Maoyu: Archenemy and Hero "Become mine, Hero" "I refuse!"
Written byMamare Touno
Illustrated byAkira Ishida
Published byKadokawa Shoten
English publisherKadokawa Shoten
MagazineComp Ace
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 26, 2011 – August 26, 2016
Volumes18 (List of volumes)
Manga
Written byMamare Touno
Illustrated byYou Asami
Published byEnterbrain
MagazineFamitsu Comic Clear
DemographicShōnen
Original runJune 24, 2011 – November 11, 2016
Volumes8[3]
Manga
Maoyū 4-Koma: Muitemasen yo, Maō-sama!
Written byMamare Touno
Illustrated byRonchi Nanatsumu
Published byEnterbrain
MagazineMagi-Cu Comics web
DemographicShōnen
Original runJun 29, 2011 – October 2, 2014
Volumes3[4]
Manga
Maoyū Maō Yūsha Gaiden: Madoromi no Onna Mahōtsukai
Written byMamare Touno
Illustrated byTaiki Kawakami
Published byKodansha
MagazineMonthly Shōnen Sirius
DemographicShōnen
Original runNovember 26, 2011 – March 25, 2014
Volumes7[5]
Anime television series
Directed byTakeo Takahashi
Written byNaruhisa Arakawa
Music byTakeshi Hama
StudioArms
Licensed by
Original networkTokyo MX, Mie Television, tvk, Sun TV, KBS, GBS, Animax
English network
Original run January 5, 2013 – March 30, 2013
Episodes12 (List of episodes)

Maoyū: Maō Yūsha (まおゆう魔王勇者, "Demon King and Hero"), also known as Maoyu, or Archenemy and Hero in English, is a Japanese light novel series by Mamare Touno that was initially posted in a play format on the textboard 2channel in 2009. Enterbrain published five main novels in the series, in addition to three side-story novels between 2010 and 2012, selling over 450,000 copies in total. It has received several manga adaptations. A 12-episode anime adaptation by Arms aired in Japan from January 5 to March 30, 2013. The series follows the exploits of a human hero and the queen of demons who join forces to bring peace and prosperity to their war-torn world.

Plot

See also: List of Maoyu characters

The story is set in a world embroiled by war between Humans and Demons. The Humans' greatest warrior, the Hero (勇者, Yūsha), invades the castle of the Demon King (魔王, Maō), intent on vanquishing the leader of the Demons. Inside, the Hero discovers that the Demon King is in fact a Demon Queen; and instead of battling him, the Demon Queen proposes an alliance with the Hero. She explains how a sudden end to the war can bring further chaos to the world as the Humans, once united to stand against their common enemies, would eventually begin fighting among themselves, with similar issues already occurring in the Demon Realm. Convinced by her words, the Hero joins forces with the Queen, and together they execute a plan to bring prosperity and a lasting peace to both Humans and Demons alike.

Production

Commercial releases

Game designer Shōji Masuda took note of the series and contacted the author on Twitter.[7][8] This led to the establishment of a project to publish the series commercially as a novel.[9] Masuda acted as the series' publication supervisor, with Atsushi Yamakita and Hiromi Hosoe taking on the role of setting director, Atsushi Yamakita providing extra consulting on map creation, toi8 providing illustrations, with additional character design assistance from Keinojō Mizutama. Besides the novel series, the franchise has received several manga adaptations and drama CDs and a TV anime adaptation, which was broadcast between January and March 2013.

Media

Light novels

No. Title Release date ISBN
01"Become Mine, Hero" "I Refuse!" (「この我のものとなれ、勇者よ」「断る!」)December 29, 2010978-4-04-726933-0
02Conspiracy of Kurultai (忽鄰塔(クリルタイ)の陰謀)January 31, 2011978-4-04-726994-1
03Expeditionary force of Seiken (聖鍵(せいけん)遠征軍)April 28, 2011978-4-04-727097-8
04What Can be Done With These Hands (この手でできること)July 16, 2011978-4-04-727098-5
Episode01Episode1 Female Magician from Elms country (エピソード1 楡の国の女魔法使い)October 31, 2011978-4-04-727551-5
05The other side of the hill (あの丘の向こうに)January 21, 2012978-4-04-727144-9
Episode00Episode0 Archer from Dune country (エピソード0 砂丘の国の弓使い)June 30, 2012978-4-04-728095-3
Episode02Episode2 Female Knight from Flowers country (エピソード2 花の国の女騎士)December 22, 2012978-4-04-728456-2

Manga

The manga series Maoyu: Archenemy and Hero "Become mine, Hero" "I refuse!", illustrated by Akira Ishida, was published in English digitally by Kadokawa Shoten, with the first two volumes made available on BookWalker on December 24, 2014.[10] First 16 volumes were released. Yen Press had licensed the manga and planned to release it in a digital format.[11]

No. Release date ISBN
01 August 24, 2011978-4-04-715766-8
02 December 20, 2011978-4-04-120054-4
03 April 24, 2012978-4-04-120205-0
04 August 23, 2012978-4-04-120361-3
05 December 21, 2012978-4-04-120518-1
06 February 22, 2013978-4-04-120577-8
07 May 23, 2013978-4-04-120697-3
08 August 21, 2013978-4-04-120822-9
09 December 26, 2013978-4-04-120938-7
10 March 26, 2014978-4-04-121047-5
11 July 26, 2014978-4-04-101732-6
12 October 25, 2014978-4-04-101733-3
13 January 26, 2015978-4-04-101734-0
14 April 25, 2015978-4-04-101735-7
15 July 25, 2015978-4-04-102908-4
16 October 26, 2015[12]978-4-04-102909-1
17 February 26, 2016[13]978-4-04-102910-7
18 August 26, 2016[14]978-4-04-104685-2

Anime

See also: List of Maoyu episodes

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation, directed by Takeo Takahashi and produced by Arms, aired in Japan on January 5 to March 30, 2013 on Tokyo MX.[15] The screenplay is written by Naruhisa Arakawa and the music is by Takeshi Hama. The anime is streaming by Crunchyroll with English subtitles.[16] The opening theme song is "Headwind" (向かい風, Mukaikaze) by Yohko and the ending theme song is "Unknown Vision" by Akino Arai. Sentai Filmworks has acquired the series for a release in North America, while in Australia it is licensed by Madman Entertainment.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Maoyū Maō Yūsha Fantasy Anime's 2nd Promo Reveals Voices". Anime News Network. November 6, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  2. ^ まおゆう魔王勇者~丘の向こうへ 8 (チャンピオンREDコミックス) (in Japanese). ASIN 4253236529.
  3. ^ まおゆう魔王勇者-8-ファミ通クリアコミックス-浅見-ようref=dp_ob_title_bk (in Japanese). ASIN 4047343544.
  4. ^ まおゆう4コマ 「向いてませんよ、魔王様」(3) (マジキューコミックス) (in Japanese). ASIN 4047299065.
  5. ^ まおゆう魔王勇者 外伝 まどろみの女魔法使い(7)<完> (シリウスコミックス) (in Japanese). ASIN 4063764648.
  6. ^ "Animax Asia to Start Airing MAOYU TV Anime on September 8". Anime News Network. September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  7. ^ Yo Asami, よう 浅見 (September 2011). Maoyu mao yusha. vol. 1. Tokyo: Entaburein. ISBN 978-4-04-727620-8. OCLC 813334417.
  8. ^ "@ShojiMasuda's Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  9. ^ Touno, Mamare (December 29, 2010). まおゆう魔王勇者 1「この我のものとなれ、勇者よ」「断る!」 [Maoyū Maō Yūsha 1 "Kono Ware no Mono to Nare, Yūsha yo" "Kotowaru!"] (in Japanese). Japan: Enterbrain. ISBN 978-4-04-726933-0.
  10. ^ "BOOK WALKER Global:MAOYU : Archenemy and Hero "Become mine, Hero" "I refuse!"｜ KADOKAWA eBook Store - BookWalker". eBook Store│BOOK WALKER Global. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  11. ^ "Yen Press Licenses Silver Spoon, Kemono Friends Manga, A Sister's All You Need, Reborn as a Vending Machine Light Novels, More". Anime News Network. July 6, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  12. ^ "「まおゆう魔王勇者 「この我のものとなれ、勇者よ」「断る！」 （１６）」 石田 あきら[角川コミックス・エース]" [Maoyu Demon King Hero "Become my own, hero" "Refuse!" (16) Akira Ishida]. Kadokawa Shoten (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  13. ^ "「まおゆう魔王勇者 「この我のものとなれ、勇者よ」「断る！」 （１７）」 石田 あきら[角川コミックス・エース]" [Maoyu Demon King Hero "Become my own, hero" "Refuse!" (17) Akira Ishida]. Kadokawa Shoten (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  14. ^ "「まおゆう魔王勇者 「この我のものとなれ、勇者よ」「断る！」 （１８）」 石田 あきら[角川コミックス・エース]" [Maoyu Demon King Hero "Become my own, hero" "Refuse!" (18) Akira Ishida]. Kadokawa Shoten (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Ami Koshimizu, Jun Fukuyama Lead Maoyū Maō Yūsha Anime Cast". Anime News Network. September 24, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  16. ^ "Crunchyroll to Stream "Maoyu" Anime". Crunchyroll. January 2, 2013. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  17. ^ "Sentai Filmworks Offers Maoyu - Archenemy & Hero on Home Video". Anime News Network. Retrieved 25 February 2014.

External links

Works by Takeo Takahashi
Champion Red series
Comp Ace series
Monthly Shōnen Sirius series
Works by Mamare Touno
Arms
Categories