Spriggan (manga): Difference between revisions

Spriggan (manga)
File:SPRIGG.jpg Spriggan (From the Japanese Movie Poster/DVD)
Genre	Action, Adventure, History, Military, Shōnen
Manga
Spriggan
Written by	Hiroshi Takashige, Ryoji Minagawa
Published by	Shogakukan
Anime
Spriggan
Directed by	Hirotsugu Kawasaki
Studio	Studio 4°C, Toho

Spriggan (スプリガン, Supurigan) is a manga series created by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa during the early 1990s. For a short time, it was known as Striker in the North American English translation since it is the meaning of Spriggan when it is translated from Celtic.

Story

Plot

Template:Spoiler Many years ago, an ancient civilization once ruled Earth. They were known for advanced artifacts and machines, but were destroyed in the end due to the misuse of their creations. Creating indestructible message plates written in Hebrew, these people left messages for later generations, informing them that if they could not find a good use for their creations, they should be destroyed.

Various entities such as paramilitaries, national armies and armed private forces began to secretly search for these "mysterious" artifacts in order to be used for their own good and against their enemies. Only the ARCAM Corporation can stop these forces from destroying themselves with these "advanced" machines. With the help of its military arm, the ARCAM Private Army and their elite secret agents known as Spriggans (or Strikers), ARCAM plans to turn the tides of battle against those who would threaten the safety of humanity by using the dangerous artifacts.

Characters

(Not all of the characters are seen in the Striker manga series produced by VIZ Media. As of now, the list is still incomplete.)

Spriggans

Yu Ominae (御神苗優 Ominae Yū) : The main protagonist of the Spriggan manga and OVA show, he is a Japanese national and a Spriggan agent stationed at ARCAM's Japanese branch.

His shattered past began when his parents were killed in an excavation operation in Iran. His cousin, Akiha, took him to the US after learning about what happened and treated the boy like her own son after staying in an orphanage for a short time with a girl named Rie Yamabishi, who will go on to study at Cornell University. He was then kidnapped by the CIA and brainwashed as a super-soldier in its COSMOS program and was dubbed "Number 43". For a short time, Akiha did not know about Yu's US Army training after he was brought back by "unknown men" and they continued to live a normal life until burglars came into their place and Yu saved her life when memories of his commando tactics kicked in, killing two of the burglars before a third fled, scared that a child with military training could have killed his comrades.

Yu was rescued by Oboro in South America after going berserk in a military operation and brought back to Japan. His brainwashing was then removed by ARCAM. Under the supervision of Yamamoto, the chairman of ARCAM's Japanese branch, Yu went to school at an ARCAM-funded establishment. In a special chapter in Spriggan's Volume 8 (Bunko version), Yu heads off to college though he is still under ARCAM's Spriggan unit.

• His first name is sometimes translated as Yuu.

Jean Jacquemonde (ジャン・ジャックモンド)

A French Spriggan agent stationed at ARCAM's French branch. He is a lycanthrope, and one of many Spriggan agents that cannot be killed easily with firearms.

• In the OVA, his surname was translated as Jacquemondo.

Tea Flatte (ティア・フラット)

A British Spriggan agent stationed at ARCAM's British branch, called a "witch" by Yu for her unique ESP powers.

She is the only Spriggan operative to use psychic powers and techniques including teleportation, space continuum twist and the ability to summon calling beasts.

In the last story arc, it is revealed that her real name is T.F. Arcam, the founder of ARCAM Corporation. Merlin, the legendary mage, taught her the arts of magic and made her immortal in order to protect ancient artifacts from the wrong hands.

Oboro (朧)

A Japanese Spriggan agent trained in Chinese martial arts, he wears a Chinese cheongsam suit and uses disabling Qigong techniques in fighting instead of firearms.

He rescued Yu after he regained his sanity in a COSMOS-led operation in the Third World and trained him to use his martial arts in conducting Spriggan field operations.

Allies

Percup Ramdi

Western doctor who studied faith healing while in Asia. Lending his services to villages in Thailand, he assisted Yu and Oboro when they were assigned to go after an armed group that planned to harvest the use of Ambrosia as a means of making immortal nectar.

Yoshino Somei (染井芳乃 Somei Yoshino)

Expert freelance treasure hunter, had lost her mother at a young age. She was known for her necromancy training, with the ability to make contact with dead souls and make certain monsters side with her.

Using the skills taught to her by her mother, she becomes a mercenary, working to find artifacts for the highest bidder. She had crossed with Yu many times.

Rie Yamabishi (山菱理恵 Yamabishi Rie)

Close friend of Yu Ominae when they were in an orphanage in the US. At 16, she was hailed by academics for graduating from Cornell University at a young age, specializing in linguistics with a field in ancient language translations. She was targeted by the US government and once, by the Russian government in several kidnapping attempts for her knowledge.

ARCAM Personnel

Professor Mayzel

A scientist working for ARCAM, he was the man responsible for refining Omihalcon that ARCAM's Spriggan operators use in their field operations. Like Steve Foster, he also knows the true identity of Tea Flatte. He has also heard about Dr. Ramdi's faith healing expertise.

Yamamoto (山本)

Yu Ominae's superior and chairman of ARCAM's Japanese branch, he is responsible for debriefing Yu and other Japanese Spriggans on their field missions. He is known to be proficient with small arms and showed it when he fought off platoons of COSMOS soldiers from raiding the interiors of ARCAM's Japanese office. Yu calls him, "Old Man." He was an ex-Japanese Spriggan operator in his younger days.

Enemies

Kutheimer

An ex-Nazi official during WWII with the rank of Colonel. He went into hiding, leading a German corporation in Egypt while waiting for the right time to resurrect Hitler from the dead by cloning him from his DNA and using the Holy Grail.

Iwao Akatsuki (暁巌 Akatsuki Iwao)

Japanese operative of Trident, had crossed with Yu several times during Trident operations. He was one of the bearers of the Armored Machine Suit, which was a prototype of Trident's R&D Division.

Heunri Balez

Leader of the Magier Heunri Balez. He planned to use the Magical Circle of Chaos in order to summon demons from Hell into the real world, causing the apocalypse. He was killed when the Reverse Babel tower collapsed, killing him in the process.

Hans Schneider

Knife-wielding expert working for Neo-Nazis. He killed Shozo Kawahara and almost did the same with Suzuko Kawahara if Oboro did not intervene.

Organizations

ARCAM Corporation

Founded in the United States, it has branches covering all countries from across the globe. Its mission is to covertly secure and/or destroy all ancient artifacts (whether they would be items, machines, ruins, etc.) from all known enemies that may use them for their own benefit.

Its breakthrough was the refinement of Omihalcon, a strong metal that was used for ARCAM's Armored Muscle Suit and on Yu Ominae's Omihalcon combat knife. MJ-12 and Trident Corporation were able to refine their own Omihalcon suits, mostly based/stolen from ARCAM's research.

See ARCAM Corporation for more information.

Trident Corporation

Founded by NATO originally as an R&D Division, it soon went rogue and broke away for unknown reasons and was soon declared as an illegal organization. Currently, it stands as an artifact-recovering corporation and it is heavily funded by the Campbell Company (European Corporation, possibly British), the Clovers Heavy Industries (American Corporation) and the Takasumi Zaibatsu (Japanese Corporation).

Its greatest breakthrough was with the creation of the Omihalcon Armored Machine Suit. One of its users was worn by Japanese Trident Corp. operator Iwao Akatsuki, apparently based on ARCAM's Armored Muscle Suit. They use discovered ancient artifacts in order to refine them as potential military weapons.

See Trident Corporation for more information.

COSMOS (Children Of Soldier Machine Organic System)

A black-ops unit of the US Army and sponsored by the Pentagon, most of its soldiers are child soldiers who were kidnapped by CIA agents/US Army soldiers from around the world and brainwashed.

Please see COSMOS for more information.

Mystical Artifacts

(This list is incomplete)

Fire Orb

Discovered near Mount Fuji in Japan by an ARCAM archaeological expedition, it soon became the "apple" of the CIA and the KGB as it possessed extraordinary powers. ARCAM made its first move and had sent for Rie Yamabishi in order to get more details on the artifact.

The orb allows the user to control any active volcano anywhere from around the world.

After the Russians have failed, COSMOS stepped up its attempts to locate it and kidnapped Rie and Akiha during a COSMOS-led operation on ARCAM's Japanese branch in order to secure details on the location of the Fire Orb.

Instigators: U.S. (CIA), Russia (KGB and Spetsnaz)

Location: Mount Fuji, Japan

Status: Sealed by lava after Koichi Moroha had used the orb to unleash the lava from Mount Fuji.

Mask of Palenque

An ancient Mayan mask discovered by Professor Sasakura from the ruins of Palenque in Mexico, it was said that it came from an old Mayan ruler, who had came from outerspace as his coffin was depicted like a pilot on board a spaceship.

It briefly possessed Kagaho Sasakaura, which gave her psychic abilities such as levitation and fireball projection. It had 10 rings that accompanied the mask.

Instigators: Ironarm, Professor Sasakura (Under influence of Tezcatlipoca)

Location: Palenque, Mexico

Status: Destroyed after Tezcatlipoca's spirit was sealed back in the Itlachiayaque mirror by Yu Ominae and Hatsuho Sasakura.

Noah's Ark

Believed to be an ancient transport that held various lifeforms, including dinosaurs and mythical creatures like minotaurs instead of its portrayal from the Bible. It also served as a weather control device that could bring another Ice Age by using an inverted triangle message plate on its controls, which uses the message plate.

Colonel MacDougal, in an act of desperation, committed suicide by activating the Ark's self-destruct mechanism, taking the Ark and its sleeping occupants with him.

Instigators: Machiner's Platoon

Location: Mount Ararat, Turkey

Status: Destroyed after Colonel MacDougal had used the Ark's self-destruct device.

Berserker

An ancient killing robot created several centuries ago, it was known that two know Berserker robots were activated. One in India, where it killed several ARCAM employees in its Indian facility before some of its personnel activated the base's self-destruct device, killing it and its occupants.

In Britain, British military scientists had reactivated a second Berserker by applying several electric charges before it went on a rampage. Yu fought it to the death and destroyed it by slicing its head off, activating a self-destruct device that had the force of a single bomb.

Instigators: British Army scientists, British SAS, Professor Mauser

Location: Rural Britain

Status: Destroyed when Yu decapitated the robot, activating its self-destruction mechanism.

Crystal Skull

Made from an ancient substance, it uses a strong degree of power when the right amount of energy is applied to it. Used in Alexandria's Lighthouse as a source of light and as a weapon.

Yu Ominae and Oboro recovered the artifact from Kutheimer and his Neo-Nazi terrorists after overpowering them in Egypt.

Instigators: Neo-Nazis led by Kutheimer

Location: Egypt

Status: Stored in ARCAM's US Headquarters

Program YAMA

A set of computer input codes discovered by ARCAM scientists during an expedition in an ancient temple, the programming turned against the employees when it sealed off an ARCAM facility in the US and flashed the words "YAMA" at various computer screen around the world.

When Yu, Jimmy and an ARCAM Special Private Army (ASPA) tactical team proceeded to recapture the compound, they found out the virus brainwashed its occupants by flashing the words "KILL THEM ALL!" before they arrived. In fact, one of the ASPA soldiers became a YAMA pawn when he saw the words on a computer screen, turning against his comrades and firing his weapon before he was disabled by Yu with a karate chop to the neck.

During the infiltration to the facility's main computer room, the virus turned the tables against the infiltrators by using deadly steam, electrified water and extreme heat that killed an ASPA trooper when he tried to fire his Steyr TMP in a hallucination that resulted in his death from burns.

Program YAMA, before it wiped itself off the facility's mainframe, told Yu that he captured the facility in order to show the changing attitudes of humans towards their own planet from his initial intent to destroy humankind.

Instigators: YAMA Virus text codes

Location: United States

Status: None, wiped itself off facility's mainframe system

Holy Grail

Used in the Last Supper and believed to been used by Joseph of Arimathea, it was said that it had Adolf Hitler's soul in it when some of his blood was collected to the chalice before it was kept in Britain. Kutheimer and his Neo-Nazi cohorts used it to bring back Hitler's soul into one of his cloned bodies in order to access their storehouses in Britain.

Instigators: Neo-Nazis led by Kutheimer

Location: Britain

Status: Unknown, last seen in the hands of Yoshino Somei. Possibly taken away by Yu and Tea.

Vajrayana

Also known as Indra's Lightning Bolt, it was discovered by the Nazis during World War II and was sealed off in one of their safehouses in Britain after discovering its true potential.

The resurrected Hitler used it against Yu Ominae, primarily as a test subject to show off his weapon's potential before an overload killed him and most of the Neo-Nazi officials and soldiers in Kutheimer's faction. Bo Brantze was the only survivor.

The weapon was known to channel a certain amount of a person's psychic energy (If he/she has psychic powers) and changed into energy blasts.

Instigators: Neo-Nazis lead by Kutheimer

Location: Britain

Status: Destroyed when Hitler accidentally overused the artifact

Ark of the Covenant

Found in the S.S. Eugenio E by Yu Ominae and Tea Flatte after Yu went onboard the ship, infiltrating it as a Campbell Company employee.

Instigators: Trident operatives lead by Iwao Akatsuki

Location: Onboard the S.S. Eugenio E

Status: Taken away by Sidewinder, a Trident operative who was assumed to be a double agent.

Fictional Locations

(This list is incomplete)

Forest of No Return

A mystical forest in India. In Indian folklore, it was said that the god/hero Rama had cursed the forest when he found out that Sita was kidnapped by Ravana. In revenge, he uttered a curse throughout the entire forest. In the Spriggan world, the forest was still cursed and civilians would never go inside the area, fearing that something would happen to them.

Rumors have abounded that a hidden tablet was inside the forest, which detailed the "recipe" for the nectar of eternal life. Rulers have waged war against one another in order to find the so-called tablet and in modern times, Trident and ARCAM had sent their operatives to the Forest of No Return so as to locate the tablet. In a short of time, the parties have turned into zombies and lay in wait for new prey to come and find them. Iwao Akatsuki of Trident was lucky to escape after most of his squad was converted into zombies by various spirits in the forest.

Yu Ominae, Yoshino Somei and Iwao Akatsuki were forced to team up in destroying the curse by locating the center of the forest, which was the "God Tree". Destroyed by using a statue of Rama and Yu's psychic powers drawn from his Armored Muscle Suit, the curse was lifted and the forest returned to its original state.

Phantom Island

Located east of the Philippines and to the south of Japan in the Pacific, it had never showed up in any maps or in any geographic textbook due to its mystical nature. Numerous ships and planes have made their landing into the eerie island, but have been lost over time due to an anti-space/time continuum that envelopes the entire island when it disappears once in a few years.

Located on satellite by ARCAM researchers, Yu Ominae and Steve Foster manned the S.S. Rosinante in order to head to the remote island. Yoshino Somei, unfortunately, tagged along after hearing news that ARCAM had an expedition there and joined in via hangglider. Trident also got word of the appearance and has deployed one of its warships to the area so as to get ahead of ARCAM and finding the island's secret. The island was closely guarded by Curly statues, the mysterious six-armed guardians of the island that were immune to firearms, but vulnerable to brekage from martial arts.

It was probable that the authors were inspired by the case of the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon.

Reverse Babel Tower

Created in Iraq as a way of summoning demons in the old days by ancient demon worshippers, it was largely forgotten until cult members of the Magier Heunri Balez rediscovered it after one of Balez's bodyguards used a psychic cyclone to unearth the entire ruins during infighting between Iraqi and Western soldiers in northern Iraq. Inside was a pentagram called the Magical Circle of Chaos, which was the only way that demons could be contacted. American, British and French special forces have been secretly deployed to the north of Iraq, since it was a UN-controlled territory, to locate it. Unknown to them, the Iraqi army had also deployed its soldiers in order to ward off any foreign soldiers, as well as to secure the ruins of the Reverse Babel Tower. The Balez cult had tried to kidnap Kate in order to obtain the Apokryphe before traveling to Iraq to secure the tower.

Gathering the corpses of dead commandos as a catalyst for using the circle, Balez wanted to use Yu Ominae by trying to brainwash him, but resisted and injured him when he punched the cult leader in the face. He died when the tower collapsed.

Franchise

Main article: Franchise (Spriggan)

ISBN codes

Further information: Spriggan (list of ISBNs)

Translation issues

End of English translation

Many fans of Striker and Spriggan were outraged after VIZ Media had cut the translation project of Striker in North America.

There were a number of possible reason on why it was done:

• contained lots of anti-Western subjects; most of them were directed to the United States.

• Excessive violence since it has little on plot and more on fighting with scenes that have depicted blood.
• Questionable subject matter (e.g. using teenagers for the most part as Striker operatives and killing adults with firearms, psychic skills or martial arts)

But the biggest reason that the editors of VIZ Media cut the project was due to poor sales in North America, even if Spriggan was popular in Asia and Europe.

Some people were surprised that VIZ Media kept the story of Neo-Nazis and the appearance of Adolf Hitler, as well as the appearance and origin of Noah's Ark.

As such, the only English translation commercially available on the market is Chuang Yi's translation of Spriggan.

External links

• Spriggan Fansite
• Official US Website Template:En icon
• Spriggan Mailing Fan Site (No update as of 2006)
• Spriggan OVA ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Spriggan Manga ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Spriggan Volume 1-6 Manga Summary in German
• Spriggan Volume 1-11 Manga Summary in German
• Spriggan Glossary Site Template:Ja icon