Day 1. When and how did you discover Shaman King?
I had been buying the English Shonen Jump since it came out; so I was sort of exposed to it automatically.
Day 2. Favourite character(s)? and why?
This is a really tough question that I always have a tough time answering. I really like Yoh as a protagonist, might be up there for me as far as interesting and likeable main characters go. Horohoro has probably the best side chapters of the series for me, but we’re talking about character aren’t we?
I’ve always been impressed with Chocolove for a variety of reasons; though I can’t say he’s my favourite. Lyserg is really interesting, and very visually dynamic in his original clothes and with Morphine and his medium. Hao is an amazing Antagonist….
I also love several of the Patch members quite a bit. Tamao was under-utilized I believed…. Jeanne is awesome… Hmm…
You know, as weird as it is, Shaman King being my favourite series and all; I don’t think I have one single favourite character. I like most of em for different reasons, but none of them really jump out at me.
Day 3. Favourite Spirit character(s)? and why?
Sort of similar to the above, but surprisingly easier. I’m a sucky for fae-type creatures, so Morphine and Kororo are up there. Design-wise there’s a bunch of standouts, like SoF, Silva’s animal friends…
But for the purposes of answering a question I’ll say Pacal Avaf/Pasucal Abaj/Professor Avaf/whatever that South American ghost Chocolove befriended. From his adorable normal appearance to his human mode, I find him pretty cool. But I think what I like most is that he’s the only real non-Asakura connection we get about previous Shaman Fights. I know it’s not the theme of the series, but it would have been nice to explore more about the history of the Shaman King mythos and the bi-millenial tournaments.
His nickname “Professor” was also pretty well earned, even helping the rival to Team the Ren Lyserg when he needed help. That was a pretty cool in-world crossover in a sense.
Day 4. What made you love Shaman King? What made it stand out to you?
Well, the main thing was the spirits of course. All of these mythological, historical, and cryptozoological and paranormal references as spirit characters was all really appealing. It was so different from the other main Shonen fighting series. I remember watching Gundam Wing when it came on TV here, and being disappointed few, if any of the robots had emotions or souls. That’s what I love about Medabots and Digimon; there’s this partnership with the method the main characters use to fight and do amazing things. The weapons have personalities, and can be considered friends and enemies themselves, in addition to the human characters. That has some amazing potential; and even though original concepts were dropped in some ways (though not nearly as drastically as other series); it was always there.
Also, the lack of a true purely evil villain was a nice tough. Hao may have done evil actions, but between his affection for Opacho, his somewhat standard sad villain backstory, and the statement made early on “No one who sees spirits can be completely evil”; he made for a great main antagonist. And the X-Laws were there as well… so it was more like competing ideologies rather than “Big bad, bad. Kill big bad or make him good!”
The international spin on the series is also really fun. Bringing in Medabots again; the final season where we see worldwide teams was awesome; and even though all Medabots were made in Japan; each team still had thematic robots. Shaman King takes that to the next level, which many countries and cultures represented; both in human and spirit forms.
There are also little aesthetic touches that I really love. The design of the oracle bell for instance; I love that thing. It’s this really adorable mix of retro, modern, and ancient. And don’t get me started about the spirit ball mode, I mean look at my icon; that idea left a huge impact on me. Even the visual idea of Oversouls… Spirit integration was really fun, and it made for some great early stories, notably the Lee Bailong fight. But Oversouls are probably my favourite literary convention ever created. Considering the variety that they come in; not to mention how cool the basic “weapon with a face” thing… just, awesome stuff I guess.
All that made me love Shaman King, but while I’m here I have to give the SKU forums credit for helping to cultivate my love for it.
Did I answer the question? Probably…