Do you believe in destiny? Then let there be light, because we’re reviving a podcast recorded in the past! Last year we recorded a retrospective of Hiroyuki Takei’s soulful battle manga Shaman King with Maxy Barnard to celebrate the series’ 20th anniversary. Computer problems have delayed the release of this episode for a little over half a year, but now we’re finally able to share it with you in all its glory!

We discuss the themes and philosophy that makes Shaman King a timeless classic, and highlight what makes its characters and storytelling so memorable along the way. To wrap it up, we answer over a dozen Q&As, recounting the best and worst parts of the series, what makes Shaman King stand out compared to other shonen series, and whether it should still be considered a Shonen Jump classic among many others! But the biggest question of all is...will we sing the dub opening? You won’t need to look around you or look beyond for the answer - listen to us and we’ll tell all!

Podcast Breakdown:

00:00 - Intro

01:00 - A Chat About 4Kids’ Anime Openings
03:05 - Why We’re Doing a Shaman King Podcast
04:55 - The Influences & Appeal of Shaman King
11:22 - VLord’s History with Shaman King
17:17 - What is Shaman King about?
20:18 - 4Kids’ Absurd Localization Choices
22:30 - Joco/Chocolove
26:16 - Gandhara & The Power Creep
29:57 - The Hana-Gumi & The Problem of Too Many Characters
33:57 - The Temporary Death of Tao Ren & Takei Changing His Mind
37:40 - Story Structure
46:15 - Changing Characters
51:27 - Shaman King’s Sequels & Spinoffs
57:24 - Horohoro
59:55 - Sex and Weed in Shaman King
1:04:18 - Team Ren
1:13:00 - Shaman King Flowers
1:15:25 - Anna & Manta
1:18:35 - The Ending
1:20:08 - Power Levels Are a Mistake
1:25:00 - Over Souls
1:29:08 - Lyserg & The X-Laws
1:39:10 - Themes
1:46:18 - Censorship
1:53:34 - Will Kodansha USA Ever Re-Release Shaman King?

Q&As:

1:58:00 - “Which is your favorite manga cover art?”
2:04:15 - “Which characters do you find the most interesting?”
2:09:05 - What makes Shaman King stand out compared to other shonen?
2:12:30 - Best/Worst part?
2:22:10 - What do we think about the spinoffs and sequels?
2:28:43 - How should Shaman King be released in english now that its switched publishers?
2:33:26 - Do you think Takei will ever follow-up on Shaman King Flowers?
2:34:32 - Would Shaman King have been more successful as traditional strength-meritted series?
2:38:05 - Should we still call Shaman King a Shonen Jump classic?
2:41:41 - Is Shaman King the worst offender of a Shonen Jump manga to trivialize death?
2:47:12 - Did any of you play video games like the GBA one?
2:49:29 - What Over Soul would you like to see in a fight with a JoJo’s Stand?
2:54:32 - Can you sing the dub opening?

2:55:00 - Wrap-up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @manga_mavericks, on tumblr at mangamavericks.tumblr.com,and now on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at @lumranmayasha and @VLordGTZ, and Maxy Barnard at @MaxyTheBee. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can donate to LumRanmaYasha’s Ko-fi here.Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and iTunes and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or e-mail us at mangamavericks@gmail.com! Thanks for listening!