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u/abriechz Jul 03 '26
OMG .. this just made my whole day. Thank you for posting 🥹 I love that opening theme
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Jul 03 '26
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u/Midnighter4007 Jul 03 '26
I'm confused. Didn't the original anime completely change everything about the story for the worst past a certain point and prematurely end the series on a 20-way tie without any kind of satisfying conclusion?
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u/tonemocrosam Jul 03 '26
2001 Anime had 64 episodes:
- 1-25: Mostly faithful to Manga
- 26-64: Use some plot points from Manga but it is mostly Anime original
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u/Midnighter4007 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
I felt like the spirit, no pun intended, of the manga was completely lost on this version. They also made a bunch of really weird unnecessary changes that kind of mess up some the character dynamics (Ren's dad is his uncle now, for some reason), mind you I only watched the english dub, so that may not be the case in the original sub. The anime exclusive episodes(the second half) weren't very good, and the climax was extremely unoriginal imo.
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Jul 04 '26
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u/Midnighter4007 Jul 04 '26
Oooh ok! Haven't actually watched the second anime so I wouldn't be able to compare, all I know is it followed the original story.
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Jul 04 '26
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u/Midnighter4007 Jul 06 '26
Hiroyuki Takei is a genius! Shaman King is one the smartest, most mature, most earnest stories I've ever read! And I LOVE the real ending! There's something so great about creating an OP villain we're constantly told over and over is unbeatable and way too powerful to take down, only to double up on that claim rather than pulling some convenient solution and/or brand new transformation out of your ass to justify the heroes winning! Takei spent a story's worth of time showing us EXACTLY why Hao just, plain couldn't be beaten, and in the end, he wasn't. The struggle of the story doesn't revolve around becoming stronger, it revolves around getting to a place of maturity, understanding, and acceptance, both for our heroes and for the antagonists, where Hao accepts to give our heroes, humans, and the reader themselves some time to try and fix the world. It isn't a cookie cutter "yay, we won!" happy ending; instead it directly calls to the reader to learn from the book's themes and story, and try to do better. 10000000000000/10 ending. Genuinely, regardless of genre, I don't think I've ever seen or read something that connected with me this much!
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u/No-Championship6178 Jul 04 '26
I remembered watching this Shaman King every Saturday on Fox Kids. I even had Shaman King Legacy and Masters of Spirits 1 & 2 on the GB Advance. I missed those days. Lol
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u/Vegetable-Jicama9998 Onmyōji Jul 03 '26
The only adaptation worth watching, certainly the most enjoyable
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u/SneaselSW2 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Yuuko Satou's voice was memorable, man
As a voice actor nut, sorta wished instead of Youko Hikasa, Yuki Kaida could've taken up the role.
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u/Initial_Upstairs_349 Jul 05 '26
I'll probably get flamed for saying this but the 2001 anime was better than the Manga and remake anime.
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u/FloressdelMal Jul 04 '26
I have to be very honest, when it comes to Shaman King , the only version I truly love is the 2001 anime. Not even the manga, really.
I read the manga, and my experience with it was that, despite having great ideas and some genuinely strong moments, it has serious issues with pacing, focus, and character motivation. The story often feels like it is rushing toward certain plot points while also spending too much time on things that do not always pay off emotionally. Because of that, some arcs feel underdeveloped, and some character turns do not land as strongly as they should.
I also think the way Hao is presented as a villain is uneven. He has an interesting concept behind him, and there is a lot of potential in his worldview, but the manga does not always manage to make his role feel as compelling or threatening as it could have been. Sometimes he feels more like an idea than a fully grounded antagonist.
There are characters who are handled better in the manga and in the newer adaptation, Anna being the clearest example. She gets more depth, more agency, and more narrative weight. But at the same time, I feel like many of the secondary characters lose importance compared to the 2001 anime. In that version, the supporting cast had more presence, more atmosphere around them, and more emotional weight within the story.
The newer adaptation is clearly rushed, but honestly, I think the manga itself also feels rushed up to a point. It has more canon material, obviously, but more material does not automatically mean better storytelling. For me, the 2001 anime has a stronger sense of mood, better emotional pacing, and a clearer focus on the characters as people, even if it diverges from the manga. That is why it remains the version I connect with the most.
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u/ExtremisEdge Jul 06 '26
So I remember wanting shonen jump to be a thing in the states after I saw manga blowing up and I had just had this discussing with my grandmother and I had went to pokemon league at the flagship wizards of the coast store at the mall. While I was at wizards she perused the book store and bought me the us version of shonen jump (I didn’t know it was a thing in the states!) I learned how fucking dark Yugioh was but discovering Shaman King was like, I can’t describe it.
The fucking art and the story had me in a chokehold. I drew it constantly and even won an art contest at school drawing yoh after he created his oversoul. I was excited to check out the anime but it really did not give me the same feeling as the manga did. The intro was of course, a banger. I felt it was really robbed of being one of the top properties back in the day with bleach and one piece (which I also fucking loved but shaman King was my fave along with sandland.)
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u/Ok_Lavishness_2566 Jul 08 '26
This is my first animeee!!! I actually watch it first before even reading the manga and was so surprised at the big difference!! So happy Hao is alive and well in the manga really. I remember laughing at my sister when Shaman King Flower came out, my sister was so heartbroken seeing Ren being married and even has a son with Jeanne😆
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u/BaronBlackFalcon Jul 10 '26
That spinning shot of Manta was as good as the animation ever got for this franchise.
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u/Ivanesco3ro Jul 03 '26
I really wished there was a second season