Urotsukidōji

Synopsis

Manga

Amano Jyaku, a mischievous, sociopathic demon/human hybrid, is banished to Earth and ordered by The Great Elder to find the Chōjin: the unbeatable god of the demon world who is hiding within the body of a man. He eventually turns on the Chojin in the fifth installment, after the Chojin reveals his true plans to exterminate the humans, demons and man-beasts.

A group of reptilian/amphibian/insectoid demons want to find the Chōjin and use his power on behalf of the Queen of Demons. Under the leadership of Suikakuju, the Elder's rival and lover of his estranged wife, the Queen of Demons, they hatch a series of plots to try to capture the Chōjin, most of which go horribly wrong.

Amano is sent to protect the Chōjin, but after his lecherous friend Koroko and then later his nymphomaniac sister Megumi come to find him, this proves to be more difficult.

Anime

Every 3,000 years the human world (人間界, Ningenkai) is united with the demon world (魔界, Makai) and the man-beast world (獣人界, Jūjinkai) by the revival of the Overgod (超神, Chōjin, known as the Overfiend in the English version). The saga follows Jyaku Amano—a man-beast—and his quest to find the Chōjin and to ensure the safe future of all three worlds. However, he finds his beliefs put to the test when he encounters numerous demons, who plan to destroy the Chōjin and prevent the three worlds from joining.

Characters

As the Urotsukidōji saga spans over a number of years it incorporates a wide variety of characters. Below is a list of the main characters, which are split into their races:

Ningen (Humans)

Tatsuo Nagumo (南雲 辰夫, Nagumo Tatsuo)

The human through which the Chōjin would be reborn. He is shy and lecherous. Fated to mutate into the Demon of Destruction who decimates the world to pave the way for the birth of his "messianic" offspring.

Akemi Itō (伊藤 明美, Itō Akemi)

In the anime, she is presented as a young, innocent, naive girl, and the idol at Myōjin University. In the manga, she is sometimes shown as more sexually adventurous. She becomes Nagumo's girlfriend, and the mother of the Chōjin.

Takeaki Kiryū (桐生 武明, Kiryū Takeaki)

An anime-only character; Nagumo's cousin, whom Münchhausen II uses to resurrect the Kyō-Ō. He commits a series of rapes and murders under the control of the German diabolist, who contorts his mind against those he loves. He falls for Megumi Amano, only to be killed by her in the battle against Münchhausen II atop the Shinjuku skyscrapers.

Yūichi Niki (仁木 勇一, Niki Yūichi)

A school nerd who loves Akemi and jealously hates Nagumo. He is later used by Suikakujū as a vessel to destroy the Chōjin, with the aid of a demonic phallus which he promptly substitutes for his own. He meets his end at the hands of Nagumo, who tears out his organs.

Norikazu Ozaki (尾崎 則一, Ozaki Norikazu)

The jock all the girls fall for in Myōjin University. He is a major character in the manga, though is only seen in the first volume of the OVA series. Jyaku mistakes him for the Chōjin, which ultimately leads to his demise.

Yoichi Oba (大場洋一, Oba Yoichi)

A character who only appears in the manga, he is Niki's bodyguard and childhood friend. Although he appears to be morbidly obese, he is very strong and attacks anyone who bullies Niki. He later befriends Nagumo and Akemi after Niki ditches him.

Jūjin (Beast-men)

Jyaku Amano (天邪鬼, Amano Jaku)

The male protagonist of the saga, he has been searching for the Chōjin for three hundred years. He holds to his belief in the Chōjin and his Land of Eternity, until events play out in a way totally contrary to what he hoped for.

Megumi Amano (天野 恵, Amano Megumi)

Jyaku's nymphomaniac sister, she believes Tatsuo to be the Chōjin from the start. In the manga, her character is noticeably more malicious and antagonistic, where she tricks men into having sex with her only so she can either accuse them of rape and frame them for it, or eat them alive in her true monster form (which isn't in the anime) and develops a petty grudge towards Akemi all because Nagumo chose her over Megumi, even going as far as to summon the demon king of the sea to try and kill Akemi (albeit, unsuccessfully) while they are at the beach. Although sharing the same hair cut and love for sex, her personality in the anime has been changed where she is much more kind-hearted and empathetic, with none of her sociopathic traits from the manga being present and also given much more screentime compared to her role in the manga, where she only appears in two chapters. She also falls in love with Nagumo's cousin, Takeaki, in the anime.

The Great Elder (長老, Chōrō; Eldest)

An anime-only character. One of the wisest elders in the Man-Beast realm. In the anime, he helps Jyaku discover the truth behind the legend of the Chōjin. According to his own words in the second episode of the first OVA, The Great Elder has lived in the Man-Beast world for 993 years.

Mimi Tenno (ミミ, Mimi)

The Elder's granddaughter and lover of Jyaku Amano. Her orgasm has the power to project visions of the future.

Majin (Demons)

Suikakujū (水角獣)

Jyaku Amano's rival, and the Demon Queen's champion. His quest is to destroy the Chōjin in order to keep Makai (the "Demon World") intact.

Kohōki (虎鵬鬼)

A demon who was banished to Hell for having an affair with Megumi a century ago, he later becomes Münchhausen II's lackey. He is mortally wounded in battle with Amano and dies after rescuing Megumi. He is not featured in the manga.

Togami (栂見)

In the manga, Ms. Togami is a nymphomaniac teacher who gets possessed by an iguana-like demon. The demon then tries to seduce Akemi, until Jyaku manages to drive the iguana-like demon out. He later tricks her into having sex, so that his magical sperm can protect her from the lizardlike demons. In the anime it is not explained whether or not she is possessed or a demon in disguise; a demon sent to Earth to hunt (and presumably destroy) the Chōjin. Despite her mission, she still finds time to rape Akemi, but Amano Jyaku intervenes and destroys her.

Yoenki

An anime-only character. The sister of Suikakujū, she survives the merging of the three worlds, but is manipulated by Münchhausen II into believing that Amano Jyaku is responsible for her brother's death.

Goki, Yoki, and Sekki

Three demons searching for the Chōjin, who are later killed by Tatsuo. They appear only in the manga.

Makemono (Demon-Beasts) (anime only)

Buju

A key character in the post-apocalyptic chapters of the saga. Starts off as a raping, pillaging marauder, only to find some semblance of purpose and redemption in becoming the Kyō-Ō's guardian on his long journey toward Osaka to confront the Chōjin.

Gashim

A kindhearted, elderly makemono who accompanies Buju, Himi, Jyaku et al. to Osaka, following his release from Caesar's captivity.

Ruddle

Another makemono spared from the devastating effects of Kyō-Ō's Light of Judgment at Caesar's palace. Joins Jyaku and the other makemono in their journey toward Osaka.

Idaten

A pure-hearted makemono youth who takes the high road to Osaka with his fellows. He develops an unrequited crush on Himi. He is killed by Münchhausen II while attempting to defend Himi.

Other characters

Kuroko (黒子, Kuroko)

A member of the Kuroko, a tribe of diminutive gray humanoids capable of flight. He holds deep respect for his boss, Amano Jyaku.

Münchhausen II (ミュンヒハウゼン二世, Myunhihauzen-nisei)

An anime-only character. He is a sorcerer following the footsteps of his father, a member of the Vril Society who died in the service of Adolf Hitler, hell-bent on resurrecting the Kyō-Ō and dominating the world. He carries an orb which grants him the ability to control demons and counter Amano Jyaku's attacks. He initially tries to bend Takeaki to his will, but is defeated after Amano Jyaku mutilates him, forcing him to replace his lost body parts with mechanical prosthetics. He later adopts the pseudonym Faust and becomes an ally of Caesar. After Caesar is defeated, Münchhausen II finds Yoenki and uses her power to restore his body. He is finally killed by Himi when she unleashes her power.

Caesar

An anime-only character; a former businessman and leader of a hedonistic cult, he discovers the legend of the Chōjin and attempts to summon it prematurely, resulting in the death of his daughter Alector. He vows revenge and turns himself into a cyborg. After Nagumo destroys the three worlds, Caesar allies himself with Münchhausen II and becomes a dictator leading a mixed army of humans and Makai, using Makemono as slave labor. He attempts to summon the Kyō-Ō, but is sidetracked by Buju kidnapping his daughter, now resurrected as an android. He ultimately sees the error of his ways and leaves Earth with Alector on a space shuttle.

Mizuchi (蛟, Mizuchi)

An anime-only character. A supernatural being created by the Chōjin as part of a new race to both replace and exterminate the humans, Man-Beasts and demons. It has the ability to change its own gender whenever it wants, and it can also create other living beings and control the minds of other living beings into doing what it pleases. It appears in Urotsukidōji: The Final Chapter.

The Overfiend (超神, Chōjin; lit. The Overgod)

Media

Manga

Urotsukidōji was first serialized in four special editions of the erotic manga magazine Manga Erotopia from 25 July 1985 to 24 July 1986. It was later released into six tankōbon volumes from 1 December 1986 to 1 April 1987.

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend was first published in English with the launch of the adult label of CPM Manga in July 1998. It ran in a black-and-white 32-page format priced at $2.95 per issue. It was later released into six volumes from 1 September 2002 to 15 October 2003.

On 12 December 2014 English-language hentai publisher Fakku announced plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign to publish a remastered edition of the manga, which would include color pages and chapters omitted from the previous English versions. The campaign was launched on 20 June 2016. The campaign met its goal, and the first of four volumes was released on 8 December 2016.

Anime

There are four main arcs in the original Urotsukidōji saga, along with an unfinished fifth arc that has so far only been released in Japan and Germany, as well as a complete remake of the first chapter.

"Birth of the Overfiend" (超神誕生編, Chōjin Tanjō-hen) (21 January 1987) Penthouse: Volume 3

"Curse of the Overfiend" (超神呪殺篇, Chōjin Jusatsu-hen) (21 March 1988) Penthouse: Volume 44

"Final Inferno" (完結地獄篇, Kanketsu Jigoku-hen) (10 April 1989) Penthouse: Volume 58

The first series was released as part of an anthology video series distributed by JAVN (Japan Audio Visual Network). The anthology series was part of the international Penthouse Magazine brand and featured international and domestic pornographic movies (such as The Devil in Miss Jones, Behind the Green Door and The Opening of Misty Beethoven to name a few).

The first three-volume series within the larger Penthouse series was named Legend of the Overgod Urotsukidōji (超神伝説うろつき童子, Chōjin Densetsu Urotsukidōji), known outside Japan as Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend. These three episodes were adapted from the original manga but skip over much of the comedic sub-stories and subplots and instead shift the focus to the apocalypse and the battle between Suikakuju and Jyaku.

The three OVAs were later edited into a theatrical film. The removal of certain explicit material resulted in the film being given a Limited General Film (R) (一般映画制限付, Ippan Eiga Seigen-tsuki; currently known as "R15+") rating from Japan's Film Classification and Rating Organization. Shochiku-Fuji distributed the film to theaters while Shochiku Home Video distributed the film to VHS with the tagline Original Theatrical Version (オリジナル劇場公開版, Orijinaru Gekijō Kōkai-ban).

Legend of the Over-Fiend was shown at the Toronto Festival of Festivals on 16 September 1989. A critic credited as "Suze." wrote in Variety the film was a "sci-fi-horror schlock extravaganza verging on porno. Films like this are why the word misogynist was invented."

New Urotsukidoji manga

After the popularity of the anime version of his work, Maeda would create a new Urotsukidoji manga in the early 90s that is a reboot of the original manga with a completely new story and characters. The protagonist of the story is Honoo Shishizawa, a young delinquent gang leader who obtains superhuman powers and discovers that the Chojin plans on remaking the world in his image, causing Honoo to make it his mission to destroy the Chojin and protect his world. Along the way, he meets Amano, Megumi and Kuroko, who are also after the Chojin.

The manga ran from 1991 to 1993.