Shaman King is a story of a world filled with Shamans. Shamans are people gifted with the ability to see the spirits of the deceased, and are able to become one with them to achieve certain goals. Every 500 years, an event known as the Shaman Fight is held to determine the Shaman King in which the strongest of Shamans are to fight in a tournament.
Our main protagonist of the series is Yoh Asakura; an easy going & friendly Shaman who aspires to become the Shaman King in order to create an easy life not just for himself but also for his fiancé Anna, his friends and for the whole world. His spirit is Amidamaru, a 600 year old samurai. Our other protagonists are Yoh's friend Manta and his wife to be Anna. Manta is a rather short normal human, despite not being a Shaman, he can see spirits as well because according to Yoh any good person can see spirits. Manta is Yoh's first friend and supports him throughout the show, he regrets that he can't do more than that but manages to help out in the end. Anna is a spirit medium betrothed to Yoh, she takes responsibility in rigorously training Yoh for the Shaman Fight. She is extremely strict, dedicated, decisive and tough, she never takes crap from anybody, these qualities make her come off as cold & harsh which actually frightens the majority of characters on the show. Deep down she genuinely cares deeply about Yoh & the others.
Other characters include Ryu of the Wooden Sword, originally a gang leader whom through Yoh's actions & character decides to become a Shaman himself to serve & befriend Yoh & to fulfill his dream in creating "the Best Place". Very compassionate & loyal to his friends, he also has a huge fondness for Lyserg. Horohoro is a good natured & cheerful Shaman from Hokkaido whose goal is to create a vast field of Butterbur in order to save the Koro Pokkuru, a tiny spirit people, one of which is Horohoro's spirit. Ren Tao is a strong & determined yet hotheaded & impatient Shaman, a rival to Yoh at first but becomes his ally & friend, he's caring and compassionate, especially for his sister, but keeps hiding that side of him. Lyserg Diethel is a British Shaman who lost his parents to the menace that his Hao at the age of 6, since then he has vowed to avenge their death. He is very kind and caring of those around him but he is emotionally unstable and indecisive which is to be expecting from someone who underwent the murder of his parents. Dr. Faust, an insane necromancer at first, but later in the series becomes Yoh's ally, a skilled doctor who deeply loves his wife Eliza who also acts as his spirit. Lastly we have Chocolove, a shaman and aspiring comedian who to spread the wind of laughter across the world, his puns often annoy his friends. These characters as extremely well written, they all have aspirations, qualities, flaws & quirks. You really do care about them and want to see them succeed.
The 2 main antagonists of the series are Hao Asakura & the X-Laws. The X-Laws are an extremist group devoted to the cause of eliminating Hao and his followers. Even though they have a noble cause, their methods of killing their adversaries is received with great disapproval from other Shamans. Lyserg joins them because they share his similar disdain for Hao. They follow their leader the Iron Maiden Jeanne whom they treat as a Christ-like figure and hardly ever question her. Despite their reputation and ruthless agenda, they display huge amounts of loyalty to their cause, their leader and to each other, willing to die for them. Though you are made to loathe them and wish for Lyserg to return to his friends, by their last appearance you do feel sorry for them and even root for them. Hao Asakura is the main threat to the Shaman community, his goal is to annihilate mankind and create a world only for Shamans as he sees humans as the world's undoing. He is like a combination of Magneto & Apocalypse from X-men, he wants to do away with humans in order to advance society and he'd discard anyone he sees as weak for they are unworthy in his perspective. He wants to become Shaman King and obtain the Great Spirits to do so. He has a mysterious connection to Yoh & his family. Hao is a very amazing villain, he's calm & collective, fears no one, ruthless and likes a challenge. They do a good job in building him up to this formidable adversary that even you as a viewer should fear.
The music selection in this show is great, it has J-rock & J-pop songs that are catchy and energetic which fits the mood of this show. It has many other songs as well which range from happy to haunting.
The animation is good, while it is not as good as Full Metal Alchemist or the works of Miyazaki, it's still nice to look at, each of the characters have distinguishable features and the oversouls of the Shamans look pretty cool.
Overall, this is an awesome show; with great story & plot, excellent characters, & energetic music making this show an enjoyable viewing experience. I'd recommend the anime & manga which I heard is different. I'd go with the subtitled Japanese version because the English dub was done by 4Kids who are infamous when it comes to dubbing anime.
Our main protagonist of the series is Yoh Asakura; an easy going & friendly Shaman who aspires to become the Shaman King in order to create an easy life not just for himself but also for his fiancé Anna, his friends and for the whole world. His spirit is Amidamaru, a 600 year old samurai. Our other protagonists are Yoh's friend Manta and his wife to be Anna. Manta is a rather short normal human, despite not being a Shaman, he can see spirits as well because according to Yoh any good person can see spirits. Manta is Yoh's first friend and supports him throughout the show, he regrets that he can't do more than that but manages to help out in the end. Anna is a spirit medium betrothed to Yoh, she takes responsibility in rigorously training Yoh for the Shaman Fight. She is extremely strict, dedicated, decisive and tough, she never takes crap from anybody, these qualities make her come off as cold & harsh which actually frightens the majority of characters on the show. Deep down she genuinely cares deeply about Yoh & the others.
Other characters include Ryu of the Wooden Sword, originally a gang leader whom through Yoh's actions & character decides to become a Shaman himself to serve & befriend Yoh & to fulfill his dream in creating "the Best Place". Very compassionate & loyal to his friends, he also has a huge fondness for Lyserg. Horohoro is a good natured & cheerful Shaman from Hokkaido whose goal is to create a vast field of Butterbur in order to save the Koro Pokkuru, a tiny spirit people, one of which is Horohoro's spirit. Ren Tao is a strong & determined yet hotheaded & impatient Shaman, a rival to Yoh at first but becomes his ally & friend, he's caring and compassionate, especially for his sister, but keeps hiding that side of him. Lyserg Diethel is a British Shaman who lost his parents to the menace that his Hao at the age of 6, since then he has vowed to avenge their death. He is very kind and caring of those around him but he is emotionally unstable and indecisive which is to be expecting from someone who underwent the murder of his parents. Dr. Faust, an insane necromancer at first, but later in the series becomes Yoh's ally, a skilled doctor who deeply loves his wife Eliza who also acts as his spirit. Lastly we have Chocolove, a shaman and aspiring comedian who to spread the wind of laughter across the world, his puns often annoy his friends. These characters as extremely well written, they all have aspirations, qualities, flaws & quirks. You really do care about them and want to see them succeed.
The 2 main antagonists of the series are Hao Asakura & the X-Laws. The X-Laws are an extremist group devoted to the cause of eliminating Hao and his followers. Even though they have a noble cause, their methods of killing their adversaries is received with great disapproval from other Shamans. Lyserg joins them because they share his similar disdain for Hao. They follow their leader the Iron Maiden Jeanne whom they treat as a Christ-like figure and hardly ever question her. Despite their reputation and ruthless agenda, they display huge amounts of loyalty to their cause, their leader and to each other, willing to die for them. Though you are made to loathe them and wish for Lyserg to return to his friends, by their last appearance you do feel sorry for them and even root for them. Hao Asakura is the main threat to the Shaman community, his goal is to annihilate mankind and create a world only for Shamans as he sees humans as the world's undoing. He is like a combination of Magneto & Apocalypse from X-men, he wants to do away with humans in order to advance society and he'd discard anyone he sees as weak for they are unworthy in his perspective. He wants to become Shaman King and obtain the Great Spirits to do so. He has a mysterious connection to Yoh & his family. Hao is a very amazing villain, he's calm & collective, fears no one, ruthless and likes a challenge. They do a good job in building him up to this formidable adversary that even you as a viewer should fear.
The music selection in this show is great, it has J-rock & J-pop songs that are catchy and energetic which fits the mood of this show. It has many other songs as well which range from happy to haunting.
The animation is good, while it is not as good as Full Metal Alchemist or the works of Miyazaki, it's still nice to look at, each of the characters have distinguishable features and the oversouls of the Shamans look pretty cool.
Overall, this is an awesome show; with great story & plot, excellent characters, & energetic music making this show an enjoyable viewing experience. I'd recommend the anime & manga which I heard is different. I'd go with the subtitled Japanese version because the English dub was done by 4Kids who are infamous when it comes to dubbing anime.