Line #35 Webcomic/KaitenMutenmaru


1	''Kaiten Mutenmaru'' is a CollectibleCardGame and webcomic series by the restaurant chain Kura Sushi beginning in December 2007. It consists of 14 parts across 2 seasons in both media, plus one final part in the webcomic. [[https://twitter.com/mihira_sanpei/ Sanpei Mihira]] did the webcomic since Chapter 30 from Season 1 Part 2 and Chapter 58 from Season 1 Part 3, the latter of which ran concurrently with the former.
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3	Mutenmaru is a little samurai who lives with an old woman alongside his childhood friends, Kurara and Kurakichi, in Bikkura Village. They lead a peaceful life until Tsubukante and his four minions show up to conquer Japan with additives, leading Mutenmaru to follow in his father's footsteps and protect the taste of sincerity from the villains. In Season 2, Abominable Crystals -- initially known as disium in the game and the original serialization of the webcomic -- pose a threat to the world by turning people into monsters. Spreading it to cause chaos is Sick Valachlorophenol, a self-styled gentleman corrupted by the crystal himself. To combat the new forces of evil, Mutenmaru is joined by new companions consisting of:
4	* '''Kura Shishi no Mikoto''': A fiery lion spirit sealed in one of the cards belonging to Mutenmaru's father. He becomes Mutenmaru's partner when the boy finds his card.
5	* '''Umimi Shira''': The princess of the merfolk who's dreamed of adventuring because of her lifelong confinement at the hands of her well-intentioned father, King Ocean. Her singing has magical powers, including the ability to heal injuries.
6	* '''Tear Crown''': A female water spirit sealed in one of the cards belonging to Mutenmaru's father. She becomes Umimi's partner after the mermaid's song awakens her.
7	* '''Siam Merluza''': A simple-minded CatGirl who loves freedom and fighting the strong. She's the leader of the Cat Thieves.
8	* '''Shinobu Kajika''': An orphan and a ninja-themed aspiring hero who was raised by Father Brasse and Sister Meer in their church.
9	* '''Greenbear Salmon''': A magical young bear capable of human speech. His personality changes depending on the outfit.
10	* '''Leaf Cloud''': A leafy spirit bird sealed in one of the cards belonging to Mutenmaru's father. She appears out of her card when Grinbear struggles to save his mother from the corrupting influence of the Abominable Crystal.
11	* '''Tetsujin Granchio''': A robot chef working at the restaurant Corale in the town of Europia. Once a soldier called Tetsujin Unit Number 1, he's [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming grown beyond his programming]] thanks to a blind old woman who mistook him for her son Granchio and taught him humanity.
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13	The webcomic ran on the [[https://www.kurasushi.co.jp/mutenmaru/comic/ official website]] of the franchise until October 26, 2015, with a total of 166 chapters. Season 2 was also serialized in ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20200204041209/http://micromagazine.net/sample/mangag/mutenmaru/01/ Manga Goccha]]'' and ''[[https://comic.pixiv.net/works/3477 pixiv Comic]]'', with extra illustrations drawn specifically for the former magazine. Kura Sushi published a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4XNIksq3jo motion comic adaptation of the first chapter in Season 2]] on Website/YouTube in 2014. Micro Magazine published the first two parts of Season 2 in four books in the same year and 2015 respectively.
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15	On every April Fools' Day from 2014 until 2016, characters would take over the official Website/{{Twitter}} account and answer questions from fans. Kura Sushi published extra material taking place after the epilogue from November 11, 2015, to May 13, 2016, all of which you can find [[https://togetter.com/li/1107292 here]].
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17	A general introduction to the series can be found [[https://shinrabanshochocolate.wordpress.com/kaiten-mutenmaru-and-shamu-meruruusa/ here]].
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19	As there is no official English translation, the terms used here may ''not'' be always correct.
20	----
21	!!''Kaiten Mutenmaru'' provides examples of:
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Series as a whole]]
25	* AllThereInTheManual: Supplementary information, including the worldbuilding and the names and personalities of some characters, comes from trading cards, tweets from the official accounts, extra illustrations in the ''Manga Goccha'' serialization, and the books.
26	* ArtEvolution: Mutenmaru starts out with an oval head, thick lines, and a reflected light on his bald head. He gets a rounder head in ''The Training'' and loses the reflected light in Season 2, which uses thinner lines than before overall.
27	* ArtStyleDissonance: The cutesy art style of the series belies at least one backstory featuring social inequality, StarCrossedLovers, civil war, and the DeathOfAChild.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	%%[[folder:Season 1 as a whole]]
31	%%[[/folder]]
32
33	%%[[folder:Part 1]]
34	%%[[/folder]]
35
36	%%[[folder:''The Training'']]
37	%%[[/folder]]
38
39	%%[[folder:''Kurara and the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'']]
40	%%[[/folder]]
41
42	%%[[folder:''Nightmare in the Ghost Isle'']]
43	%%[[/folder]]
44
45	%%[[folder:''Kung Fu Tower of Trials'']]
46	%%[[/folder]]
47
48	%%[[folder:''Bikkurally GP'']]
49	%%[[/folder]]
50
51	%%[[folder:''Showdown with Tsubukante'']]
52	%%[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Season 2 as a whole]]
55	* TheCorruption: An Abominable Crystal is a mysterious material that grants the infected superhuman powers at the expense of corrupting them into monsters. The transformation in mind and body can be gradual, as implied by Orcus, Crocell, [[spoiler:Pain and Yamai]].
56	* PhenotypeStereotype: Shinobu Kajika, Shinuka To'omotta, Crocell Xylel, Mackerel, Anchor Web, Sister Meer, and Anchor Sam have blonde hair, along with blue eyes in the cases of the last five, to emphasize their American origins.
57	* PowerCrystal: An Abominable Crystal is a powerful but corrupting material that turns people into monsters.
58	* PurpleIsPowerful: An Abominable Crystal is colored purple to emphasize its ability to grant the infected superhuman powers at the expense of turning them into monsters.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:''Journey of Light'']]
62	* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: Leaf Cloud sends Grinbear to his mother's mind, allowing him to purify her of the Abominable Crystal.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:''City of Radiance'']]
66	* DownerEnding: "Princess of the Deep Sea" ends with [[spoiler:Sick]] corrupting [[spoiler:Umimi, one of Mutenmaru's companions,]] at her lowest into the monster [[spoiler:Sissela Siren]].
67	* ImpersonationExclusiveCharacter: Granchio only appears as a silhouette in a flashback, saying that he would become a chef and make everyone smile before he went to war. His role in the story is to provide the impetus for Tetsujin Unit Number 1 to reinvent himself as Tetsujin Granchio in honor of Granchio's mother who mistook the war robot for her son and ended up teaching him love.
68	* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:Not even the strongest tower in the kingdom of the merfolk can stop Sick, the monster it's meant to protect Umimi from.]]
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	%%[[folder:''Earth and Sky'']]
72	%%[[/folder]]
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74	[[folder:''Star of Hope'']]
75	* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: [[spoiler:Tear Crown]] enters [[spoiler:Sissela's]] mind [[spoiler:to bring Umimi back from the corrupting influence of the Abominable Crystal.]]
76	[[/folder]]
77
78	%%[[folder:''Wonderland'']]
79	%%[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:''Ancient Land'']]
82	* ChildrenAreInnocent: As little children, [[spoiler:Sick Solitude]] and [[spoiler:Anne Bran]] were the only good people in the town of [[spoiler:Throne]] from the start. [[spoiler:Anne]] was also the only commoner to oppose violence and to value Sick as a person rather than judge him solely based on the decadence and tyranny of his parents.
83	* PensieveFlashback: The crystals in the Ruins of Time draw [[spoiler:Tetsujin]] into [[spoiler:Astar's encounter with Sick]], whose horrific past the rest of Mutenmaru's group relive.
84	* PuppyLove: [[spoiler:Sick Solitude]] and [[spoiler:Anne Bran]] were in love with each other as little children.
85	* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The poor mob burned and looted the house of their aristocratic oppressors, [[spoiler:Pain and Yamai Solitude]], but that's not the most horrible part about their rebellion -- they also targeted [[spoiler:Sick]] as a child solely for being the son of [[spoiler:the Solitudes]] and killed a commoner girl his age in a blind rage for trying to stop them.
86	* RulingFamilyMassacre: [[spoiler:The rebels]] decided to exterminate [[spoiler:the Solitude family]], not caring that [[spoiler:Sick]] was a child with no connection to the tyranny of [[spoiler:Pain and Yamai]] over the town. Although they succeeded in killing [[spoiler:Pain and Yamai]], [[spoiler:Sick]] survived with the help of [[spoiler:Anne]] and turned into a vengeful monsters due to [[spoiler:their atrocities]].
87	* {{Tyrannicide}}: The rebels in [[spoiler:Sick's]] backstory not only planned to kill the [[spoiler:Solitude]] family and burn their house but also killed their young peer in a blind rage. This, along with their triumphant return, implies that they succeeded in killing [[spoiler:Pain and Yamai]] for their tyranny over the town of [[spoiler:Throne]], leaving [[spoiler:Sick]] an orphan and the only survivor of the family.
88	* WouldHitAGirl:
89	** [[spoiler:Sick]] beat [[spoiler:Anne when his butler caught them on a date. He's apologetic about having to hide their relationship that way, though.]]
90	** [[spoiler:One of the poverty-ridden rebels]] thrust [[spoiler:Anne]] away when they suspected her of being a spy for [[spoiler:Sick, the innocent son of their aristocratic oppressors]]. They killed her in a blind rage for trying to stop them afterward, with horrific consequences.
91	* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:The poverty-ridden rebels]] targeted [[spoiler:Sick]] as a child solely for [[spoiler:being the son of their aristocratic oppressors]], with heavy implications that they would also have killed him if [[spoiler:Anne]], [[spoiler:Sick's]] girlfriend his age whom one of them thrust away beforehand, hadn't stepped in and been killed in a blind rage.
92	* YouMonster: During the PensieveFlashback to [[spoiler:Sick's]] past, Mutenmaru fearfully calls [[spoiler:the poverty-stricken rebels]] monsters for being motivated by hate after one of them thrust [[spoiler:little Anne]] away in the belief that [[spoiler:she's a spy for the aristocrats]]. Mutenmaru often expresses compassion for the actual monsters he fights, making his reaction to the humans stand out.
93	* YoungLoveVersusOldHate: The young love between [[spoiler:Sick Solitude]] and [[spoiler:Anne Bran]] was doomed in the rebellion by the hateful commoners against their aristocratic oppressors, [[spoiler:Pain and Yamai Solitude]]. It's heavily implied that only [[spoiler:the bearded man with cat ears]] was wise enough to realize the atrocities of his peers after the murder of [[spoiler:Anne]].
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:''Island of Bonds'']]
97	* HeelFaceReincarnation: [[spoiler:Jagan, Astar, and Trishna, three of the primary villains of Season 2, reincarnate in the epilogue and extra material after their defeats. Sister Meer takes Jagan in at the request of Eryth and Ritol while Astar and Trishna work alongside Tetsujin in Corale.]]
98	[[/folder]]

Context Webcomic / KaitenMutenmaru