Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well guys we made it, we’re in the final week of Shaman month. How does this series end? Let’s continue.
Episodes 41-42
Okay multiple stories in episode 41. First up is the remaining members of the X-Laws doing a surprise attack on Hao in the hopes of killing him (we tried this before, it doesn’t work). While getting into position one of them sees Hao cry (so he is human) and he has sealed his death as he saw something he shouldn’t have seen. Hao easily kills the members of the X-Laws one by one. Not even their satellite attack could touch him (it’s like he put all of his stats into strength, defense and magic). In our second story Marco, Lyserg, and Jeanne get attacked by Anetal whose brother was by Jeanne when they fought Team Nile in the tournament (this tournament has really gone off the rails with its outside battles, killings, and attempts at revenge). Marco gets a hole through the chest (well he dead) and Jeanne is too shocked with guilt to do anything (oh now she cares. Didn’t seem that way when she ruthlessly executed them). As for Yoh, he gets approached by Sati the leader of Ganhara who sends him to Hell to gain the power of one of the five warriors. While in Hell he comes across the demon he fought in the past who is now serving Sati and sends him to his first trial. Yoh comes face to face with his ancestor Yohken the one who defeated Hao 500 years ago (hasn’t aged a day. Nice to see where Yoh gets his looks and name from). The two fight where Yoh loses his arms but gets them back by will power as he realizes that Hell is within the Great Spirit and unleashes his new oversoul Spirit of Sword: Byakko.
Alright, episode 42 is all over the place. First up is Yoh who manages to defeat Yohken which calms him down only for his spirit to get smashed by a demon and Yoh is now fighting against demons to get stronger. Back in the world of the living, Sati gets stabbed by Hao’s minions right the hell out of nowhere. Ren, Trey, Choco and Lyserg get killed (with Ren, Choco and Trey dying butt naked) as they’ve been chosen to gain the power of the 5 great spirits and must conquer their own personal Hell to come back stronger than ever (an interesting concept that takes the phase what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, literally).
Episodes 43-46
A lot happens in episode 43 but there’s not a whole lot to say. Yoh, Ren, Trey, and Choco return from Hell stronger than ever while Lyserg still struggles but is starting to get a grasp of what he needs to do to win. Other nations start making their way to the island thanks to the satellite attack from a few episodes back which means a bunch of normal people are about to die (they know too much). Hao’s followers implode on each other, and they all die. Anna fights Hao where she doesn’t do a bad job holding her own against him (but something tells me he’s not really trying. Hao still wants a piece of that Anna pie. Scene here: https://youtu.be/ls_vO7daaZg).
In episode 44 Hao absorbs one of Anna’s shikigamis to perform an oversoul and get stronger (like he wasn’t stronger already). Yoh shows up to stop the fight and the two brothers go to get coffee together (I just love how this anime has villains and heroes chilling and relaxing with each other). Yoh knows Hao won’t kill him (yet. You need to keep marinating. Like a fine wine you get better with time), but when the time is right, Hao will consume Yoh and become the most powerful shaman imaginable. After chatting for a little bit, Hao takes his leave a little disappointed in what happened to his followers though he kind of knew something like this was going to happen and he knew they were all afraid of him (scene here: https://youtu.be/jjw_3mb5kSA). The next day the shaman tournament continues (damn, with everything going on I forgot that was still happening) where we get the biggest fight in the tournament so far, Yoh’s team vs Ren’s team who have returned from Hell and are pissed about Yoh’s Starbucks date with Hao (jealous much?). We finally get to see Yoh reveal the new power he got from Hell, Na-Avidya, a power that nullifies furyoku and spiritual power. However, this doesn’t work against the powers of nature which is what Ren and Trey are good at.
The fight between Yoh, Ren and Trey comes to an abrupt end with the arrival of Lyserg. He’s returned from Hell and has gotten stronger. Sati also announces that her team and Mikihisa’s team are dropping out of the tournament leaving two positions which are going to be filled up by Yoh’s team, Ren’s team, and the returning X-Laws (or whatever remains of them). With this announcement, the fight is a draw and both teams advance to the next round of the tournament. That night, as everyone relaxes in the hot springs, Hao comes to join them (they can’t kill him and he knows it) where he tells them about the Navy investigating the army and the continent of Mu, an advanced country that sank to the sea 12,000 years ago (scene here: https://youtu.be/F-p_j8q89o0). Usually, the next round of the tournament is held there, but that’s going to be a problem with the huge fleet of battleships heading toward the island and they’re being led by Morty’s dad. The next morning the remaining teams gather to take out the fleet even if it means having to kill (we can resurrect them. Go wild).
At the start of episode 46 Hao easily takes care of the battleships all by himself without breaking a sweat (if anything he seems to be having fun like a kid shooting off a bunch of fireworks. Scene here: https://youtu.be/GaVtZ7uAtCg). However, he holds back on killing Morty’s dad showing us that there may be some shred of humanity in his body. After this everybody goes to Mu (too bad they didn’t take the yellow submarine) where Yoh’s team along with the X-Laws and Ren’s team drop out to deal with Hao in their own way (by mercilessly beating him until he gives up. Assuming everything goes as planned). With everyone dropping out along with Hao’s team forfeiting as well, Hao is declared the winner and the ceremony to begin the union between Hao and the Great Spirit begins with the Patch Tribe protecting him as it is their law to protect the winner of the tournament (even if that person is trying to destroy the world). We get a short rematch between Luchist and Marco (oh God he’s back in the shorts. Why!?) where they kill each other, and the others keep advancing (now you know this is a shonen series when the side characters start dying in the final battle). After this, the group runs into Silva and Yoh wants to take him on himself (rematch bitch).
Episodes 47-49
Episode 47 begins with Yoh fighting Silva. As the two fight we see two other Patch Tribe members show up to observe and not fight because this isn’t their level (or Plant as they call it). There are 10 Plants total meaning the group will have to fight all of them in order to reach Hao. After that exposition, Silva and the other members leave. The group gets told they have about 15 hours before the ritual is complete which doesn’t give them much time to save the world. They make it to the first Plant where the challenger is Namari. Ren fights him where he has a disadvantage as they’re fighting in the desert (no clouds. No water. No lightning). Ryu jumps in to fight where he loses but shows Ren and Trey the way to beat him. Trey manages to find water buried in the sand, and Ren uses that water to make his lightning and shock Namari for the win. And they resurrect Ryu to continue on their path. Actually, speaking of resurrection, everybody who died on the island gets brought back to life as well (man, death has less meaning in this series than Dragonball Z). Back with Yoh and the others, they make it to the second Plant which is a valley. Their opponent this time is Bron who was Lyserg’s tester during the tournament. His spirit is a spider and he uses the spider’s web fluid to catch the others except for Lyserg, Ren, and Trey. Bron kills Ren and Trey, and then it comes down to him and Lyserg.
In episode 48 Lyserg fights Bron in a short fight and wins. From there we see a few more fights but unfortunately due to only having a few episodes left they don’t draw these fights out as well as they should (throw in the fact that everyone keeps dying only to be resurrected again and all the emotional investment goes out the window). We see Hao make it through the final Plant and reach the king’s court to begin the ritual.
We see Faust die in episode 49 but still continue to travel with the others in spirit form (at least he can finally hold Eliza). The others make it to the Highland Plant where they lose and decide to rest for the night to regain their furyoku. The next morning Trey fights for the group. We also see Redseb and Seyram attempt a sneak attack on Hao only to fail and get killed for their problems. The Golem also gets killed in the battle. Hao gives up the Spirit of Fire to begin the ritual and falls into a deep sleep. When he awakes, he will be the Shaman King.
Episodes 50-52
Trey gets the win in episode 50. We also learn that Kokoro is his girlfriend. In the past Kokoro’s family moved to the boonies to build a dam and she became friends with Trey. Trey’s family told him to leave her alone and so he did. While trying to follow Trey in the snow, she got lost and died where she became a spirit in the hopes of one day reuniting with him (first Faust, now Trey. What is with you guys having dead girlfriends?). We get a good flashback between Hao and Yoh where Hao explains that every shaman has the potential to read minds. It all comes down to loneliness. The group finally reaches Chrome and Ren fights him. At first Ren dominates, but when Chrome finally unleashes his second spirit and stops suppressing his hatred for Ren, the fight moves in his favor but Ren manages to beat him in the end and they continue to the next Plant where Choco gets the win for everyone against a shaman who uses plants to fight.
Episode 51 gives us the much-anticipated fight against Silva and its anti-climactic (again, because of the time limit they have, they had to rush through these scenes and as a result, we get what should be hard hitting and emotional fights turn into underwhelming battles that end way too quickly). Back on the island, Morty wakes up from having a weird dream about Hao being a princess (what kind of dreams are you having, boy?). He then boards a sphinx with everyone else to deliver the five grand elemental spirits to Yoh and the others. Back down below, they make it to the final Plant, Space (the final frontier) where they fight an alien. Actually, it’s a human, but still (that’s some Scooby-Doo shit right there). They manage to beat the shaman and just in time for Hao to wake up (and we’re all screwed). Just making eye contact with him is enough for him to rip out your soul and absorb it (that is so OP it should be illegal). Everyone gets absorbed into the Great Spirit where Yoh and Hao talk. Ren, Trey, Choco, and Lyserg show up with the grand elemental spirits which they were able to get after they died. They all attack Hao and hand Yoh the Spirit of Earth so that they fight Hao and set him straight (he has been acting like a spoiled brat).
In the final episode, we get the battle between Hao and everyone. And if you think this was going to be an epic battle with punches and kicks being thrown think again. Seeing as how we’re technically in the afterlife everybody shows up (from enemies to allies to dead family members. Everyone is here). Even Hao’s mom shows up which is who he’s been trying to find this whole time (so he’s a momma’s boy). Being reunited with his mom serves as the final nail in the coffin to end his rage and sorrow and he admits defeat (also, why does she look a little like Anna? Scene here: https://youtu.be/lLMEBH2xPgs, well this confirms the Asakara fetish theory). Seven years passed, everyone grows up and life goes on. Ren married Jeanne, Choco changed the most and wound up in prison (so much for your stand-up career), and Yoh and Anna had a little boy named Hana (violent little bastard). What they learned through all these years is that changing the world isn’t easy, but hey, you have to try (nothing in this life worth having comes easy and if it does, it’s not real. Scene here: https://youtu.be/vDMnrxgVu1w).
Final Thoughts
In the end Shaman King makes a number of mistakes but isn’t bad. The first part started off shaking, but parts 2 and 3 are good and it was nice seeing them follow the manga. Part 4 is where things start to go downhill. Again, not because it’s bad but because it’s rushed. That’s the major problem with this series, it’s rushed. If they had more episodes I think the series would have been better, but unfortunately those 52 episodes just weren’t enough and the anime suffers for it. Now, while the first anime had better fights, this anime does a better job of diving into the characters. And I don’t just mean the main characters. We dive into the side characters and villains to get a better understanding of them and why they’re doing what they’re doing. This actually helps make the characters better. Hell, Lyserg gets an improvement in this anime as opposed to the first anime. Yoh’s past with Anna was great and shows us why she loves him so much and how Yoh also loves her.
The animation does a good job of looking like the first anime’s animation only bringing it more up to date and the soundtrack was good as well. Like I said, I do wish the battles were better, but this season did improve on developing the characters and following the story of the manga from beginning to end better.
Final Thoughts
My final score for Shaman King is a 5.5/10. I did enjoy both animes and would recommend you watch them both. If you’re looking for better fights and comedy, then the first one is what you’re looking for. It strays away from the manga and doesn’t have much character study, but I think you’ll still enjoy it. If you want to see the manga told in anime form from beginning to end then the second anime is for you. It does a good job exploring all the characters. The only downside is it’s rushed at some parts and the battles aren’t as great as the first anime. Now, another season is in the works that will focus on Yoh’s son. I’m interested in seeing what they do with that story and I hope they don’t rush it like this season. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.