Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, known in Japan as Samidare of the Stars (Japanese: 惑星のさみだれ, Hepburn: Hoshi no Samidare), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Satoshi Mizukami. It was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's seinen manga magazine Young King OURs from April 2005 to August 2010, with its chapters collected in ten tankōbon volumes. Seven Seas Entertainment published the series in North America.
An anime television series adaptation by NAZ aired from July to December 2022 on the Animeism programming block.
By 2022, the manga had sold 650,000 physical copies.
Contents
Plot
Yuuhi Amamiya is a young, misanthropic college student who one day wakes up to find a lizard on his bed. The lizard explains that Yuuhi has been chosen as a Beast Knight, a magical warrior destined to help a princess defeat a mage seeking to destroy the world with a giant mallet floating in space called the Biscuit Hammer. While Yuuhi initially is not interested in getting involved, he changes his mind when he meets the princess, Samidare Asahina, who tells him her intent to defeat the mage and save the world so she can destroy it herself.
Characters
The Beast Knights
Yuuhi Amamiya (雨宮 夕日, Amamiya Yūhi)
Voiced by: Junya Enoki, Kaede Hondo (young)Ep. 2 credits (Japanese); Lee George, Dani Chambers (young) (English)
Yuuhi is the Lizard Knight. A misanthropic college student, he ultimately agrees to save the Earth so Samidare can destroy it instead.
Samidare Asahina (朝日奈 さみだれ, Asahina Samidare)
Voiced by: Naomi Ōzora (Japanese); Ariel Graham, Macy Anne Johnson (young) (English)
Samidare is the princess of the Beast Knights who serves as Anima's vessel. She secretly wants to destroy the planet herself.
Hangetsu Shinonome (東雲 半月, Shinonome Hangetsu)
Voiced by: Shuuhei Iwase, Anna Kitamoto (young) (Japanese); Matt Shipman, Samantha Herek (young) (English)
Hangetsu is the Dog Knight. He is a martial arts expert who wants to be a hero of justice.
Mikazuki Shinonome (東雲 三日月, Shinonome Mikazuki)
Voiced by: Gen Satō (Japanese); Clifford Chapin, Kristin Paybe (young) (English)
Mikazuki is the Crow Knight who is a college student and Hangetsu's younger brother. While he normally has a friendly and outgoing personality, he becomes obsessed with fighting once he comes across a worthy opponent.
Souichirou Nagumo (南雲 宗一朗, Nagumo Sōichirō)
Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese); Marcus D. Stimac (English)
Familiars
Noi Crezant (ノイ=クレザント, Noi Kurezanto)
Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese); Kent Williams (English)
Noi is the lizard familiar assigned to Yuuhi. He often lectures Yuuhi and tries to steer him in the right direction.
Ludo Shubarie (ルド=シュバリエ, Rudo Shubarie)
Voiced by: Shōya Ishige (Japanese); Christopher Wehkamp (English)
Ludo is the dog familiar assigned to Hangetsu. He is intuitive and devoted to his role.
Muu (ムー, Mū)
Voiced by: Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)
Muu is the crow familiar assigned to Mikazuki. She rarely speaks.
Dance Dark (ダンス=ダーク, Dansu Dāku)
Voiced by: Kentarō Kumagai (Japanese); Michael Stimac (English)
Dance is the horse familiar assigned to Souichirou. While he takes his role seriously, he does not like to be ridden.
Shea Moon (シア=ムーン, Shia Mūn)
Voiced by: Hyo-sei (Japanese); Morgan Lauré (English)
Shea is the snake familiar assigned to Yayoi. He is supportive of Yayoi and encourages her to be more open about her hobbies and feelings.
Loki Helios (ロキ=ヘリオス, Roki Heriosu)
Others
Anima (アニマ)
Voiced by: M.A.O (Japanese); Jessica Peterson, Kristin Sutton (young) (English)
Anima is a woman who provides the knights their powers. She is trying to stop Animus from destroying the planet.
Animus (アニムス, Animusu)
Voiced by: Tatsumaru Tachibana, Hitomi Ueda (young) (Japanese); Alex Mai, Kristen McGuire (young) (English)
Animus is the mysterious mage who wants to destroy the planet with the Biscuit Hammer.
Hisame Asahina (朝日奈 氷雨, Asahina Hisame)
Voiced by: Azusa Tadokoro (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)
Hisame is Samidare's older sister who works as a college professor at Yuuhi and Mikazuki's university.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Satoshi Mizukami, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's seinen magazine Young King OURs from 28 April 2005 to 30 August 2010. Shōnen Gahōsha collected its chapters in ten tankōbon volumes, released from 27 January 2006 to 30 November 2010.
JManga began publishing the series digitally in North America in February 2012. The company published the first five volumes before they shut down in May 2013. It was subsequently licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment in November 2013. Crunchyroll added the series to their online catalog in September 2014, while BookWalker added it on 18 November 2015. Seven Seas published the series in five two-in-one omnibus volumes.
A spinoff manga written by Ichiri Seto and supervised by Satoshi Mizukami, titled Sono Ato no Hero (その後のヒーロー; "The Hero Afterwards"), was serialized in the November 2022 issue of Young King OURs, which was released on 30 September 2022. It focuses on the character Mikazuki Shinonome. Shōnen Gahōsha published one volume digitally on 10 November 2022.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on 24 January 2022. The series was produced by NAZ and directed by Nobuaki Nakanishi, with Satoshi Mizukami, the original author, and Yūichirō Momose writing the scripts, Hajime Hatakeyama designing the characters, and Takatsugu Wakabayashi composing the music. It aired from 9 July to 24 December 2022, on the Animeism programming block on MBS, TBS, and BS-TBS. The first opening theme song is "Gyōkō" (暁光; "Dawn Light") by Half time Old, while the first ending theme song is "Reflexion" by SpendyMily. The second opening theme song is "Be the Hero" by Raon. Sano Ibuki performed the second ending theme song "Zero" from Episodes 13–17 and 19–24, while the Pillows performed the third ending theme song "Poem of Babylon Angel" (バビロン天使の詩) for Episode 18.
Crunchyroll has licensed the series, and has also began streaming an English dub starting on 22 July 2022. Muse Communication licensed the series in South and Southeast Asia.
Reception
Manga
In 2011, the series was nominated for the 42nd Seiun Awards in the comics category.
Reviewing the first omnibus volume for Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman commented that the story "takes a while to hit its stride, but when it does, putting it down becomes difficult", writing that "underneath the goofy start and typically comedic devices of absurdly powerful girls and talking animals, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is hiding a very dark story" which makes it "feel very different from most of the other series currently available in English." She gave it an overall grade of B. Silverman would later list the series as the runner-up for the "Best Reworking of an Old Genre" spot on her 2015 manga retrospective article for Anime News Network. Charlie Jane Anders of io9 placed the series at number ten on her list of "10 Heroic Prophecies That Didn't Turn Out The Way the Heroes Expected".
By 2022, the manga had sold 650,000 physical copies.