Spriggan (manga)

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Spriggan
スプリガン (Spriggan)
Genre	Action, Adventure, History, Military, shōnen
Manga: Spriggan
Authored by	Hiroshi Takashige, Ryoji Minagawa
Publisher	Shogakukan VIZ Media Glenat Planet Manga Jade Dynasty Elex Media Komik Remaja Big Balloon Junior Special Comics (Original), Daiwon & Gang Dok Mok? (Collector's Edition) Youth Comic Series
Serialized in	Weekly Shonen Sunday
Original run	1989 – 1996
No. of volumes	11
OVA: Spriggan
Directed by	Hirotsugu Kawasaki
Studio	Studio 4°C, Toho
No. of episodes	1
Released	1998
Runtime	90 min.

Spriggan (スプリガン , Supurigan^?) is a manga series created by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa during the early '90s. For a short time, it was known as Striker in the english translation.

Contents 1 Story 1.1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Spriggans 2.2 Allies 2.3 ARCAM Personnel 2.4 Civilians 2.5 Enemies 3 Organizations 4 Mystical Artifacts 5 Fictional Locations 6 Franchise 6.1 Anime 6.2 Manga 6.3 Video Game 7 ISBN Codes 8 Translation issues 8.1 End of English Translation 9 External links

[edit] Story

[edit] Plot

Many years ago, an ancient civilization once ruled Earth. They were known for advanced artifacts and machines, but were destroyed in the end due to the misuse of their creations. Creating indestructible message plates written in Hebrew, these people left messages for later generations, informing them that if they could not find a good use for their creations, they should be destroyed.

Various entities such as paramilitaries, national armies and armed private forces began to secretly search for these "mysterious" artifacts in order to be used for their own good and against their enemies. Only the ARCAM Corporation can stop these forces from destroying themselves with these "advanced" machines. With the help of its military arm, the ARCAM Private Army and their elite secret agents known as Spriggans (or Strikers), ARCAM plans to turn the tides of battle against those who would threaten the safety of humanity by using the dangerous artifacts.

[edit] Characters

(Not all of the characters are seen in the Striker manga series produced by VIZ Media. As of now, the list is still incomplete.)

[edit] Spriggans

Yu Ominae (御神苗優 Ominae Yū) : The main protagonist of the Spriggan manga and OVA show, he is a Japanese national and a Spriggan agent stationed at ARCAM's Japanese branch.

His shattered past began when his parents were killed in an excavation operation in Iran. His cousin, Akiha, took him to the US after learning about what happened and treated the boy like her own son after staying in an orphanage for a short time with a girl named Rie Yamabishi, who will go on to study at Cornell University. He was then kidnapped by the CIA and brainwashed as a super-soldier in its COSMOS program and was dubbed "Number 43". For a short time, Akiha did not know about Yu's US Army training after he was brought back by "unknown men" and they continued to live a normal life until burglars came into their place and Yu saved her life when memories of his commando tactics kicked in, killing two of the burglars before a third fled, scared that a child with military training could have killed his comrades.

Yu was rescued by Oboro in South America after going berserk in a military operation and brought back to Japan. His brainwashing was then removed by ARCAM. Under the supervision of Yamamoto, the chairman of ARCAM's Japanese branch, Yu went to school at an ARCAM-funded establishment. In a special chapter in Spriggan's Volume 8 (Bunko version), Yu heads off to college though he is still under ARCAM's Spriggan unit.

• His first name is sometimes translated as Yuu.

Jean Jacquemonde (ジャン・ジャックモンド) 

A French Spriggan agent stationed at ARCAM's French branch. He is a lycanthrope, and one of many Spriggan agents that cannot be killed easily with firearms.

• In the OVA, his surname was translated as Jacquemondo.

Tea Flatte (ティア・フラット)

A British Spriggan agent stationed at ARCAM's British branch, called a "witch" by Yu for her unique ESP powers.

She is the only Spriggan operative to use psychic powers and techniques including teleportation, space continuum twist and the ability to summon calling beasts.

In the last story arc, it is revealed that her real name is T.F. Arcam, the founder of ARCAM Corporation. Merlin, the legendary mage, taught her the arts of magic and made her immortal in order to protect ancient artifacts from the wrong hands.

Oboro (朧)

A Japanese Spriggan agent trained in Chinese martial arts, he wears a Chinese cheongsam suit and uses disabling Qigong techniques in fighting instead of firearms.

He rescued Yu after he regained his sanity in a COSMOS-led operation in the Third World and trained him to use his martial arts in conducting Spriggan field operations.

[edit] Allies

Kate 

A Catholic nun who receives the Apokryphe from her dying uncle in Italy, which contains clues about the Reverse Babel, a tower which was constructed in ancient times in order to contact powerful demons via the Magical Circle of Chaos. Oboro and Yu were assigned to protect her against Maugier Heunri Balez assassins.

Maria Clemente 

A prodigy in the British Army, who graduated from MIT and commissioned in the army with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel at the age of 20. She reluctantly fought the Berserker with Yu Ominae since she detests him for killing her comrades.

Suzuko Kawahara 

Teacher and daughter of the deceased Shozo Kawahara, she teamed up with Yu and Oboro in recovering the Crystal Skull from the Neo-Nazis. She currently teaches in Yu's school and was once his substitute teacher. Like Hatsuho and Kagaho, she was the only teacher in Yu's school to know about his double life.

Akiha Ominae

Yu's actual cousin and foster mother/sister in the US, she came to Japan after she found out what happened to Yu (e.g. school got blown up). She's an expert in small arms and uses a revolver.

Percup Ramdi 

Western doctor who studied faith healing while in Asia. Lending his services to villages in Thailand, he assisted Yu and Oboro when they were assigned to go after an armed group that planned to harvest the use of Ambrosia as a means of making immortal nectar.

Hatsuho Sasakura 

Yu's classmate and sister of Kagaho. She went with Yu to Mexico in order to free Kagaho from the influence of the Mask of Palenque. She was one of Yu's friends who knew of his secret double life as a Spriggan.

Kagaho Sasakura 

Yu's classmate and sister of Hatsuho. Was possessed by the Mask of Palenque, thus wielding psychic powers like generating fireballs and levitating over air. Like her sister Hatsuho, she also knew of Yu's Spriggan life.

Yoshino Somei (染井芳乃 Somei Yoshino)

Expert freelance treasure hunter, had lost her mother at a young age. She was known for her necromancy training, with the ability to make contact with dead souls and make certain monsters side with her.

Using the skills taught to her by her mother, she becomes a mercenary, working to find artifacts for the highest bidder. She had crossed with Yu many times.

Rie Yamabishi (山菱理恵 Yamabishi Rie)

Close friend of Yu Ominae when they were in an orphanage in the US. At 16, she was hailed by academics for graduating from Cornell University at a young age, specializing in lingusitics with a field in ancient language translations. She was targeted by the US government and once, by the Russian government in several kidnapping attempts for her knowledge.

[edit] ARCAM Personnel

Steve Foster 

A.K.A. "the Captain (船長;せんちょう;senchou: ship's captain)." An ARCAM employee who operates the S.S. Rosinante, named after Don Quixote's horse. He is a friend/lover of the Spriggan Tea Flatte. Foster is one of the few people who knows of her true identity. He has a scar on his left eye.

Henry Garnum 

British ARCAM official who took control of the majority of the company's operations. He seems to have a very shade attitude in his work. Later on, it was confirmed that he had links with Rally Markson from the Trident Corporation. Gets involved in a plot to sink the entire Japanese archipelago with some artifacts discovered in the South Pole by Trident.

Miss Margaret 

Professor Mayzel's faithful assistant and confidant, she had worked with him on several occasions, especially on the refinement of the legendary metal, Omihalcon. The two have been working together ever since they were employed by the ARCAM Corporation.

Professor Mayzel 

A scientist working for ARCAM, he was the man responsible for refining Omihalcon that ARCAM's Spriggan operators use in their field operations. Like Steve Foster, he also knows the true identity of Tea Flatte. He has also heard about Dr. Ramdi's faith healing expertise.

Yamamoto (山本)

Yu Ominae's superior and chairman of ARCAM's Japanese branch, he is responsible for debriefing Yu and other Japanese Spriggans on their field missions. He is known to be proficient with small arms and showed it when he fought off platoons of COSMOS soldiers from raiding the interiors of ARCAM's Japanese office. Yu calls him, "Old Man." He was an ex-Japanese Spriggan operator in his younger days.

[edit] Civilians

Tanaka 

A character from the OVA, he was kidnapped by soldiers of the Machiner's Platoon of the US Army (In the manga, the platoon is a part of MJ-12) and brainwashed to do a suicide bombing at Yu's school. Yu was enraging at Tanaka's death, swearing to take revenge at the perpetrators.

Yayoi Okabe 

Yu's classmate at his school. Had been a bit angry when she found that Yu had to leave, though she didn't know that he had to head to Britain for an ARCAM assignment against the Berserker. She wanted Yu to participate in the annual school run.

Professor Koichi Sasakura 

Father of Hatsuko and Kagaho Sasakura and researcher of the Mask of Palenque, he was possessed by the spirit of Tezcatlipoca and hired a mercenary named Ironarm to kill Yu Ominae and his daughters.

Shozo Kawahara

Japanese archaeologist working on behalf of ARCAM. Was maimed and decapitated by Hans Schneider after refusing to surrender the Crystal Skull to him on behalf of a Neo-Nazi cell operating in Egypt.

[edit] Enemies

Colonel MacDougal 

A young boy in the Machiner's Platoon, was turned into a cyborg by MJ-12 and lead the Machiner's Platoon in raiding ARCAM's research station in Turkey in order to secure Noah's Ark.

In the OVA, the Pentagon turned him into a cyborg. His first name was Harry, though the manga does not mention this as he was addressed as Colonel.

Bowman 

American Trident operative and another bearer of the Armored Machine Suit next to Iwao Akatsuki. Formerly Yu's combat instructor when he was with COSMOS before moving to Trident.

Fatman 

A big man wearing an Omihalcon suit. He uses a 7.62 Minigun with an ammo pack on his back, looking similarly to Vulcan Raven of Metal Gear Solid. In the OVA, he was Yu's ex-commanding officer in the COSMOS unit. His name is a reference to the atomic bomb dropped on the city of Nagasaki during World War II.

Ironarm 

A supposed mercenary hired out by Hatsuho and Kagaho Sasakura's father, who was under the curse of Tezcapolitca, in order to kill Yu Ominae and the girls. His cybernetic arm includes a retractable blade and pyrokinetic weapons that operates when the target is near him and opens his robotic hand near his enemy.

Kutheimer 

An ex-Nazi official during WWII with the rank of Colonel. He went into hiding, leading a German corporation in Egypt while waiting for the right time to resurrect Hitler from the dead by cloning him from his DNA and using the Holy Grail.

Little Boy 

A veteran member of the Machiner's Platoon, he uses a mini-howitzer cannon mounted on his arm with wire cutting bands. He, with Fatman, killed hundred of ARCAM Defense Unit soldiers before Yu and Jean subdued him. His name is also a reference to one of the bombs produced by the Manhattan Project, the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

Mauser 

British scientist, was responsible for finding the Berserker. He became disgruntled towards the British army when they took the Berserker from him and had plans to use it for military research. He tolerated the robot when it attacked civilians and military personnel.

Iwao Akatsuki (暁巌 Akatsuki Iwao)

Japanese operative of Trident, had crossed with Yu several times during Trident operations. He was one of the bearers of the Armored Machine Suit, which was a prototype of Trident's R&D Division.

Heunri Balez 

Leader of the Magier Heunri Balez. He planned to use the Magical Circle of Chaos in order to summon demons from Hell into the real world, causing the apocalypse. He was killed when the Reverse Babel tower collapsed, killing him in the process.

Tony Bennett 

An American national working with Trident. He was suppoesdly killed during a Trident operation in Mali, witnessed by Yu himself. His strange survival and brush with death, as well as later association with Henry Garnum, made Yu doubt whether ARCAM was truly protecting the world from being destroying by ancient artifacts. He was burned to death in the South Pole when Jean doused him with fuel before he tossed him into a raging fire, killing him.

Bo Brantz 

A German national and Neo-Nazi operator, was known to use steroids in order to perform certain superhuman moves. When most of his comrades in a German Neo-Nazi faction were killed in an operation in Britain, he decided to join forces with Iwao Akatsuki. He died in the end of the manga when he received serious injuries from fighting knife-wielding COSMOS operatives.

• His surname can sometimes be translated as Bo Brantze.

Dary Graham 

A super-soldier operative working for Trident, had vampire-like powers and is immune to firearms and explosives. He is the only super-soldier operative of Trident who is not the bearer of the Armored Machine Suit.

Koichi Moroha 

A Japanese KGB Agent in the Far East Division, he had immense psychic powers. He is also the bearer of the Hihiirokane Sword, the only weapon aside from Omihalcon blades that could penetrate the Armored Muscle Suit, a weapon that was handed down to him by his father. He planned to use the Fire Orb in order to control all active volcanoes around the world.

Rally Markson

A Trident executive who took place in a biological project in replicating Jean's cell for Trident's biological monster project. Heading Trident's secret commandos, he worked with Henry Garnum in excavating the fire snake from the South Pole.

Hans Schneider 

Knife-wielding expert working for Neo-Nazis. He killed Shozo Kawahara and almost did the same with Suzuko Kawahara if Oboro did not intervene.

[edit] Organizations

ARCAM Corporation 

Founded in the United States, it has branches covering all countries from across the globe. Its mission is to covertly secure and/or destroy all ancient artifacts (whether they would be items, machines, ruins, etc.) from all known enemies that may use them for their own benefit.

Its breakthrough was the refinement of Omihalcon, a strong metal that was used for ARCAM's Armored Muscle Suit and on Yu Ominae's Omihalcon combat knife. MJ-12 and Trident Corporation were able to refine their own Omihalcon suits, mostly based/stolen from ARCAM's research.

See ARCAM Corporation for more information.

Trident Corporation 

Founded by NATO originally as an R&D Division, it soon went rogue and broke away for unknown reasons and was soon declared as an illegal organization. Currently, it stands as an artifact-recovering corporation and it is heavily funded by the Campbell Company (European Corporation, possibly British), the Clovers Heavy Industries (American Corporation) and the Takasumi Zaibatsu (Japanese Corporation).

Its greatest breakthrough was with the creation of the Omihalcon Armored Machine Suit. One of its users was worn by Japanese Trident Corp. operator Iwao Akatsuki, apparently based on ARCAM's Armored Muscle Suit. They use discovered ancient artifacts in order to refine them as potential military weapons.

See Trident Corporation for more information.

COSMOS (Children Of Soldier Machine Organic System) 

A black-ops unit of the US Army and sponsored by the Pentagon, most of its soldiers are child soldiers who were kidnapped by CIA agents/US Army soldiers from around the world and brainwashed.

Please see COSMOS for more information.

[edit] Mystical Artifacts

(This list is incomplete)

Fire Orb 

Discovered near Mount Fuji in Japan by an ARCAM archaeological expedition, it soon became the "apple" of the CIA and the KGB as it possessed extraordinary powers. ARCAM made its first move and had sent for Rie Yamabishi in order to get more details on the artifact.

The orb allows the user to control any active volcano anywhere from around the world.

After the Russians have failed, COSMOS stepped up its attempts to locate it and kidnapped Rie and Akiha during a COSMOS-led operation on ARCAM's Japanese branch in order to secure details on the location of the Fire Orb.

Instigators: U.S. (CIA), Russia (KGB and Spetsnaz)

Location: Mount Fuji, Japan

Status: Sealed by lava after Koichi Moroha had used the orb to unleash the lava from Mount Fuji.

Mask of Palenque 

An ancient Mayan mask discovered by Professor Sasakura from the ruins of Palenque in Mexico, it was said that it came from an old Mayan ruler, who had came from outerspace as his coffin was depicted like a pilot on board a spaceship.

It briefly possessed Kagaho Sasakaura, which gave her psychic abilities such as levitation and fireball projection. It had 10 rings that accompanied the mask.

Instigators: Ironarm, Professor Sasakura (Under influence of Tezcatlipoca)

Location: Palenque, Mexico

Status: Destroyed after Tezcatlipoca's spirit was sealed back in the Itlachiayaque mirror by Yu Ominae and Hatsuho Sasakura.

Noah's Ark 

Believed to be an ancient transport that held various lifeforms, including dinosaurs and mythical creatures like minotaurs instead of its potrayal from the Bible. It also served as a weather control device that could bring another Ice Age by using an inverted triangle message plate on its controls, which uses the message plate.

Colonel MacDougal, in an act of desperation, committed suicide by activating the Ark's self-destruct mechanism, taking the Ark and its sleeping occupants with him.

Instigators: Machiner's Platoon

Location: Mount Ararat, Turkey

Status: Destroyed after Colonel MacDougal had used the Ark's self-destruct device.

Berserker 

An ancient killing robot created several centuries ago, it was known that two know Berserker robots were activated. One in India, where it killed several ARCAM employees in its Indian facility before some of its personnel activated the base's self-destruct device, killing it and its occupants.

In Britain, British military scientists had reactivated a second Berserker by applying several electric charges before it went on a rampage. Yu fought it to the death and destroyed it by slicing its head off, activating a self-destruct device that had the force of a single bomb.

Instigators: British Army scientists, British SAS, Professor Mauser

Location: Rural Britain

Status: Destroyed when Yu decapitated the robot, activating its self-destruction mechanism.

Crystal Skull 

Made from an ancient substance, it uses a strong degree of power when the right amount of energy is applied to it. Used in Alexandria's Lighthouse as a source of light and as a weapon.

Yu Ominae and Oboro recovered the artifact from Kutheimer and his Neo-Nazi terrorists after overpowering them in Egypt.

Instigators: Neo-Nazis led by Kutheimer

Location: Egypt

Status: Stored in ARCAM's US Headquarters

Program YAMA 

A set of computer input codes discovered by ARCAM scientists during an expedition in an ancient temple, the programming turned against the employees when it sealed off an ARCAM facility in the US and flashed the words "YAMA" at various computer screen around the world.

When Yu, Jimmy and an ARCAM Special Private Army (ASPA) tactical team proceeded to recapture the compound, they found out the virus brainwashed its occupants by flashing the words "KILL THEM ALL!" before they arrived. In fact, one of the ASPA soldiers became a YAMA pawn when he saw the words on a computer screen, turning against his comrades and firing his weapon before he was disabled by Yu with a karate chop to the neck.

During the infiltration to the facility's main computer room, the virus turned the tables against the infiltrators by using deadly steam, electrified water and extreme heat that killed an ASPA trooper when he tried to fire his Steyr TMP in a hallucination that resulted in his death from burns.

Program YAMA, before it wiped itself off the facility's mainframe, told Yu that he captured the facility in order to show the changing attitudes of humans towards their own planet from his initial intent to destroy humankind.

Instigators: YAMA Virus text codes

Location: United States

Status: None, wiped itself off facility's mainframe system

Holy Grail 

Used in the Last Supper and believed to been used by Joseph of Arimathea, it was said that it had Adolf Hitler's soul in it when some of his blood was collected to the chalice before it was kept in Britain. Kutheimer and his Neo-Nazi cohorts used it to bring back Hitler's soul into one of his cloned bodies in order to access their storehouses in Britain.

Instigators: Neo-Nazis led by Kutheimer

Location: Britain

Status: Unknown, last seen in the hands of Yoshino Somei. Possibly taken away by Yu and Tea.

Vajrayana 

Also known as Indra's Lightning Bolt, it was discovered by the Nazis during World War II and was sealed off in one of their safehouses in Britain after discovering its true potential.

The resurrected Hitler used it against Yu Ominae, primarily as a test subject to show off his weapon's potential before an overload killed him and most of the Neo-Nazi officials and soldiers in Kutheimer's faction. Bo Brantze was the only survivor.

The weapon was known to channel a certain amount of a person's psychic energy (If he/she has psychic powers) and changed into energy blasts.

Instigators: Neo-Nazis lead by Kutheimer

Location: Britain

Status: Destroyed when Hitler accidentally overused the artifact

Ark of the Covenant 

Found in the S.S. Eugenio E by Yu Ominae and Tea Flatte after Yu went onboard the ship, infiltrating it as a Campbell Company employee.

Instigators: Trident operatives lead by Iwao Akatsuki

Location: Onboard the S.S. Eugenio E

Status: Taken away by Sidewinder, a Trident operative who was assumed to be a double agent.

[edit] Fictional Locations

(This list is incomplete)

Forest of No Return 

A mystical forest in India. In Indian folklore, it was said that the god/hero Rama had cursed the forest when he found out that Sita was kidnapped by Ravana. In revenge, he uttered a curse throughout the entire forest. In the Spriggan world, the forest was still cursed and civilians would never go inside the area, fearing that something would happen to them.

Rumors have abounded that a hidden tablet was inside the forest, which detailed the "recipe" for the nectar of eternal life. Rulers have waged war against one another in order to find the so-called tablet and in modern times, Trident and ARCAM had sent their operatives to the Forest of No Return so as to locate the tablet. In a short of time, the parties have turned into zombies and lay in wait for new prey to come and find them. Iwao Akatsuki of Trident was lucky to escape after most of his squad was converted into zombies by various spirits in the forest.

Yu Ominae, Yoshino Somei and Iwao Akatsuki were forced to team up in destroying the curse by locating the center of the forest, which was the "God Tree". Destroyed by using a statue of Rama and Yu's psychic powers drawn from his Armored Muscle Suit, the curse was lifted and the forest returned to its original state.

Phantom Island 

Located east of the Philippines and to the south of Japan in the Pacific, it had never showed up in any maps or in any geographic textbook due to its mystical nature. Numerous ships and planes have made their landing into the eerie island, but have been lost over time due to an anti-space/time continuum that envelopes the entire island when it disappears once in a few years.

Located on satellite by ARCAM researchers, Yu Ominae and Steve Foster manned the S.S. Rosinante in order to head to the remote island. Yoshino Somei, unfortunately, tagged along after hearing news that ARCAM had an expedition there and joined in via hangglider. Trident also got word of the appearance and has deployed one of its warships to the area so as to get ahead of ARCAM and finding the island's secret. The island was closely guarded by Curly statues, the mysterious six-armed guardians of the island that were immune to firearms, but vulnerable to brekage from martial arts.

It was probable that the authors were inspired by the case of the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon.

Reverse Babel Tower 

Created in Iraq as a way of summoning demons in the old days by ancient demon worshippers, it was largely forgotten until cult members of the Magier Heunri Balez rediscovered it after one of Balez's bodyguards used a psychic cyclone to unearth the entire ruins during infighting between Iraqi and Western soldiers in northern Iraq. Inside was a pentagram called the Magical Circle of Chaos, which was the only way that demons could be contacted. American, British and French special forces have been secretly deployed to the north of Iraq, since it was a UN-controlled territory, to locate it. Unknown to them, the Iraqi army had also deployed its soldiers in order to ward off any foreign soldiers, as well as to secure the ruins of the Reverse Babel Tower. The Balez cult had tried to kidnap Kate in order to obtain the Apokryphe before traveling to Iraq to secure the tower.

Gathering the corpses of dead commandos as a catalyst for using the circle, Balez wanted to use Yu Ominae by trying to brainwash him, but resisted and injured him when he punched the cult leader in the face. He died when the tower collapsed.

[edit] Franchise

[edit] Anime

A movie version of the manga, using the Noah's Ark story, was released to the public in 1998 for Japanese audiences. ADV Films released the film in English-speaking countries on April 23, 2002, with the exception of Madman Entertainment, which brought the OVA to Australia. In Asia, it was distributed in Hong Kong and to other Asian countries under AVP Video. In Europe, it was produced in German by ACOG, in Russian by MC Entertainment, in Dutch by Dybex and in Swedish by Sandrew Metronome.

The movie was directed by Hirotsugu Kawasaki and supervised by Katsuhiro Otomo. Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa had a hand in assisting the director in producing the OVA.

It was confirmed to be shown in the Future Film Festival in Italy on January 17, 2002. It was also shown in various premieres in the US and Canada.

[edit] Manga

Japan 

Published by Shogakukan in 11 full volumes after initially appearing in the weekly Shonen Sunday Magazine on October 1988. From July 1991 to April 1996, Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd. was responsible for publishing the Spriggan manga in to 11 volumes.

In 2001, Shogakukan has done a reprint of the Spriggan series in a collector's edition for 8 volumes. Included in the 1st volume is a lost story that neither Hiroshi Takashige nor Ryoji Minagawa were able to publish. The lost story was called First Mission. In the 8th volume, a special story called Gold Rush was published, detailing Yu's life after he graduated from high school.

Shogakukan has also recently released a special movie illustration book for the OVA version of Spriggan.

From July of 2006, Spriggan is being reprinted for sale in Japanese manga stores. Currently, Volume 5 is to be out in the Japanese market by November of 2006.

Canada/United States 

Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.'s licensing arm in North America, VIZ Media, was able to translate and publish 3 out of 11 volumes before they curtailed further translation work after it was first serialized in Manga Vizion.

France 

Glenat Corporation was responsible for publishing Spriggan's 11 volumes into French for distributing in France and in other French-speaking areas, mostly in Europe.

Germany 

Planet Manga, a division of the Italian Panini Comics, published Spriggan's 11 volumes in German, distributing it mostly in Europe.

Hong Kong 

Jade Dynasty published Spriggan for the Hong Kong market.

Indonesia 

Elex Media has so far translated up to volume 9.

Malaysia 

Was translated as part of an installment in a fortnightly comic magazine, Komik Remaja (KREKO), but was cancelled during the Noah's Ark story, with an excuse citing 'inappropriate religious elements'.

Netherlands 

Big Balloon translated the Spriggan manga volumes into Dutch.

South Korea 

Junior Special Comics has published the original 11 volume series, with the collector's edition done by Daiwon comics

Taiwan 

Full 11 chapters translated in Mandarin by Youth Comic Series, and distributed to the Asian region, especially in areas with a sizable Chinese community.

[edit] Video Game

On June 16, 1999, From Software released a Spriggan-related game for the Playstation named Spriggan: Lunar Verse. The game was developed by FROM Liquid Mirror Software. Players will assume control of another Japanese Spriggan field agent named Oshiki Tashiki.

It was only released in Japan and Asia.

A soundtrack of the game was also released by Absord Music Japan on November 26, 1999.

The game is a spin-off of the Spriggan manga storyline and is not considered to be part of the manga's official canon.

[edit] ISBN Codes

• Canada/USA
  • Volume 1: The Armored Warrior - ISBN 1-56931-286-9 (11/5/1998)
    • The Armored Warrior (Original Version) - ISBN 0-929279-84-0 (4/1/1993)
  • Volume 2: The Forest of No Return - ISBN 1-56931-290-7 (11/5/1998)
  • Volume 3: Striker vs. The Third Reich - ISBN 1-56931-353-9 (5/6/1999)

• Germany
  • Reprinted Edition
    • Volume 1 - ISBN 3-89921-304-1
    • Volume 2 - ISBN 3-89921-305-X
    • Volume 3 - ISBN 3-89921-306-8
    • Volume 4 - ISBN 3-89921-301-7
    • Volume 5 - ISBN 3-89921-308-4
    • Volume 6 - ISBN 3-89921-137-5
    • Volume 7 - ISBN 3-89921-138-3
    • Volume 8 - ISBN 3-89921-139-1
    • Volume 9 - ISBN 3-89921-140-5
    • Volume 10 - ISBN 3-89921-141-3
    • Volume 11 - ISBN 3-89921-142-1

• Hong Kong
  • Volume 1 (4/4/2002)
  • Volume 2 (4/29/2002)
  • Volume 3 (4/29/2002)
  • Volume 4 (5/20/2002)
  • Volume 5 (5/22/2002)
  • Volume 6 (6/16/2002)
  • Volume 7 (7/1/2002)
  • Volume 8
  • Volume 9
  • Volume 10
  • Volume 11 (10/22/2001?)

• Japan
  • Original (1991-1996)
    • Volume 1 - ISBN 4-09-122591-8 (6/18/1991)
    • Volume 2 - ISBN 4-09-122592-6 (8/9/1991)
    • Volume 3 - ISBN 4-09-122593-4 (9/18/1992)
    • Volume 4 - ISBN 4-09-122594-2 (3/18/1993)
    • Volume 5 - ISBN 4-09-122595-0 (8/10/1993)
    • Volume 6 - ISBN 4-09-122596-9 (5/18/1994)
    • Volume 7 - ISBN 4-09-122597-7 (8/10/1994)
    • Volume 8 - ISBN 4-09-122598-5 (3/18/1995)
    • Volume 9 - ISBN 4-09-122599-3 (8/10/1995)
    • Volume 10 - ISBN 4-09-122600-0 (3/18/1996)
    • Volume 11 - ISBN 4-09-122836-4 (6/18/1996)

• • Collector's Edition (2001-2002)
    • Volume 1 - ISBN 4-09-126741-6 (5/15/2001)
    • Volume 2 - ISBN 4-09-126742-4 (7/15/2001)
    • Volume 3 - ISBN 4-09-126743-2 (9/15/2001)
    • Volume 4 - ISBN 4-09-126744-0 (11/15/2001)
    • Volume 5 - ISBN 4-09-126745-9 (1/15/2002)
    • Volume 6 - ISBN 4-09-126746-7 (3/15/2002)
    • Volume 7 - ISBN 4-09-126747-5 (5/15/2002)
    • Volume 8 - ISBN 4-09-126748-3 (7/15/2002)

• • Reprint (July 2006-Current)
    • Volume 1 - ISBN 4-09-193661-X (6/15/2006)
    • Volume 2 - ISBN 4-09-193662-8 (7/15/2006)
    • Volume 3 - ISBN 4-09-193663-6 (8/11/2006)
    • Volume 4 - ISBN 4-09-193664-4 (9/15/2006)
    • Volume 5 - ISBN 4-09-193665-2 (10/14/2006)
    • Volume 6 - ISBN 4-09-193666-0 (11/15/2006)

• Netherlands
  • Volume 1 - De gepantserde krijger (Noah's Ark) - ISBN 90-5425-179
  • Volume 2 - Het geheim van de Razer (Berseker) - ISBN 90-5425-191

[edit] Translation issues

[edit] End of English Translation

Many fans of Striker/Spriggan were outraged after VIZ Media had cut the translation project of Striker in North America.

There were a number of possible reason on why it was done:

• Had lots of anti-Western subjects; most of them were directed to the United States.
• Excessive violence.
• Questionable subject matter (e.g. using teenagers for the most part as Striker operatives and killing adults with firearms, psychic skills or martial arts)

But mostly, the editors of VIZ Media cut the project due to poor sales in North America, even if Spriggan was popular in Asia and Europe.

Some people were surprised that VIZ Media kept the story of Neo-Nazis and the appearance of Adolf Hitler, as well as the appearance and origin of Noah's Ark.

[edit] External links

• Spriggan Fansite
• Official Spriggan Movie Website from ADV Films
• Spriggan Mailing Fan Site
• Anime News Network's Spriggan OVA Entry
• Anime News Network's Spriggan Manga Entry
• Spriggan Volume 1-6 Manga Summary in German
• Spriggan Volume 1-11 Manga Summary in German
• Spriggan Glossary Site (Japanese)

Spriggan by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa

Characters
Yu Ominae | Jean Jacquemonde | Tea Flatte | Oboro | Yamamoto | Rie Yamabishi | Yoshino Somei | Mayzel | Iwao Akatsuki | Bo Brantze | Larry Markson | Henry Garnum | Sho Kanaya | Minor Spriggan characters
Organizations
ARCAM Corporation | ARCAM Private Army | Trident Corporation | COSMOS | Spriggans | Minor Spriggan organizations
Fictional Locations
Forest of No Return | Phantom Island | Reverse Babel Tower
Mystical Artifacts
Fire Orb | Mask of Palenque | Noah's Ark | Berserker | Crystal Skull | Program YAMA | Holy Grail | Vajrayana | Ark of the Covenant | Fire Snake
Miscellaneous
Armored Machine Suit | Armored Muscle Suit | Message Plate | Omihalcon