God(?) Save Our King

God(?) Save Our King

When I first saw the Kyo Kara Maoh teaser in Animax, they said that it was "where the hottest boys are". And since I like hot, anime boys, I tried to check it out, first in Wikipedia, then in a website. Cute enough boys, and the story sounded hilarious, so I kept awake while I was sick, and watched an episode. As with Saiyuki Reload, I got hooked too.


Kyo Kara Maoh
Kyo Kara Maoh, or God(?) Save Our King, is an anime series about a 15 year-old boy, Yuuri Shibuya who happens to be destined to rule the Great Demon Kingdom. He saved a schoolmate from bullies one day, and got flushed from a toilet into another world. As it happens, he is the second son of a demon who lives on Earth. Yuuri can let loose his terrible demon power when he's really angry, and usually metes out punishment to those who angers him by performing injustice. He has black eyes and black hair, which, in New Makoku, are signs of a high ranking Maryoku (or demon race).



Yuuri Shibuya
There are loads of cute characters who are all a bit "wimpy", but hugely endearing. Our main character, Yuuri meets the current ruling family of New Makoku or the Great Demon Kingdom. The eldest son of the previous maou is the brooding, intense Gwendal von Voltaire, a full demon who has the power to control the earth. People usually count his wrinkles and hide away from him after he shoots them with one of his Gwendal-stares. He may look intimidating and scary, but his penchant for cute things (such as Yuuri's dolphin key chain) and knitting(?) balances it out.



Gwendal von Voltaire
The second son is Conrart Weller, a half-demon who do not have any demonic powers but has an unrivaled skill with a sword. His father, Dan Hiri Weller was a human who was known as a fugitive in Big Shimaron, which is human territory. He has a calm, perpetually smiling personality and he made it a point to give up life and limb to protect Yuuri. When he was 16, he chose to live as a demon and serve New Mazoku. He was also the one who gave Yuuri his name. Out of all the characters, he's the one I have a crush on. Brown hair, dark eyes, perpetual smile. He's a demon with a sword and is sweet to his mommy. He's also brave and fiercely loyal, also known as the Ruthenburg Patriot. Only Yuuri calls him "Conrad" because it was easier to say if you're Japanese. Everybody else calls him by his given name, Conrart, except for his younger half brother, Wolfram who calls him "Weller". The only time I ever heard Wolfram say his given name is when Wolfram thought that Conrad had been killed.


Conrad Weller
The youngest brother is the blond-haired, green-eyed carbon copy of their mother, Wolfram von Bielefield. He's known as the short-tempered, "selfish loafer" and hates humans with a passion. He would not acknowledge Conrad as his brother just because he's half-human, but Wolfram cares for him very much and is proud of him, secretly, of course. By a mix of strange customs, Wolfram also finds himself engaged to Yuuri, and he gets jealous everytime Yuuri speaks with a woman, or a beautiful man. He follows Yuuri everywhere and takes their engagement seriously. He has the ability to control fire.



Wolfram von Bielefield
The funniest character has got to be Günter von Christ. He helps Yuuri run the country and acts as a teacher. He also trained soldiers and is like one of the commanders in the army. It's so silly to see him, gorgeous long locks and all, crying his heart out because Yuuri has left. He would gladly kiss Yuuri's feet if Yuuri (or Wolfram, for that matter) would let him. He's usually the butt of jokes too. His spirit got transplanted into a little freaky Japanese doll who can shoot laser from out of it's eyes when his body got poisoned. Once a coronet that would give him headaches everytime Yuuri comes close fell on his head and it only came off when Gwendal kissed it off his forehead... touching moment actually. Would have been kilig if one of them had been a girl. He's also a master swordsman and a powerful magic user.



Günter von Christ
Another eye candy character would be Yozak, who, shall I say, is an undercover agent for the Maryoku. Yozak is Conrad's childhood friend, half-human, half-demon, and had been born in Big Shimaron as well. He is completely loyal to the Great Demon Kingdom and to Yuuri. He also has a bit of a cross-dresser streak. The first time Yuuri met him, he was dressed like a girl and asked Yuuri to dance. The young maou had called him "Miss Biceps". He doesn't mind dressing in a maid's uniform for his undercover work.



Yozak
Other characters include Yuuri's friend, Ken Murata who happens to be New Mazoku's Great Sage; Cecilie von Spitzberg, the previous moau and mom to Gwendal, Conrad and Wolfram; Anissina von Khrennikov, Gwendal's childhood friend-slash-crazy-inventor-that-everyone's-scared-of; Adelbert von Grantz, the guy with a grudge; and a lot more.

I only have volumes 1 to 7, and I think they just released volume 9 a few months back so I'm waiting for that. The series is just funny, but if you're sensitive about gay jokes this isn't for you. Although they're not homosexuals as in yaoi. I believe the term though is shōnen-ai. The things I learn from Wikipedia ^_^

There is obvious love between Conrad and Yuuri, although Yuuri's soul being that of Conrad's "special person", Julia, may have something to do about it. Wolfram and Yuuri are engaged, and Wolfram obviously loves Yuuri although they're both guys. And do I have to talk about Günter? He's insane about Yuuri, I swear.

Also, there are a lot of funny moments. Yuuri's sword is called Morgif and he needs to be fed human souls to be able to function. To do so without actually killing a human, Yuuri went with Wolfram, Yozak and Conrad to a hospital to get Morgif to eat the soul of a dying person but then the dying man would open his eyes weakly, see Wolfram, and shoot up to a sitting position while saying "you're so beautiful!", having been given a new lease on life by Wolfram's beauty. I just find it really funny.

Anyway, at the start, the story was just to get Yuuri used to travelling between worlds to become a normal 15 year old school boy to the Demon King, and learning lessons on how to be a just and wise ruler. The main story actually involves the search for the four forbidden boxes where the old guardians or something of the world sealed the powers of an ancient enemy. As it turns out, Conrad's left arm, Wolfram's heart, Gwendal's left eye and Yuuri himself are the keys to these boxes. I've only gotten to episode 39 where they were looking for the 3rd box so I have to watch the rest of the series on Animax until I find a DVD with a decent copy of volumes 8 and 9.

I really like this series. It's funny, it's got demons and forbidden boxes and keys, it's got really cute-looking guys, the characters have cool, different names, there's Conrad :heart:... I can't wait to get my hands on the next volumes.

Here are some of my favorite scenes (I had to control myself and choose only five):


Baby Conrad and baby Wolfram playing with each other. Wolfram was too young to understand that Conrad was half-human, and he still didn't "hate" his brother back then.



The crew points out where Gwendal ran off too when Anissina threatened that she'd use them as her guinea pigs if they lied to her about which direction he headed for.



Big, broody and intense Gwendal's hobby - knitting. Although he says that it's how he does his "spiritual cleasing".



Yuuri wakes up and finds Wolfram in bed with him.


Gunther's usual reaction when Yuuri says something profound