featuring:
_RG VEDA_ by CLAMP
[Holy Legend]
Currently running in _Wings_ magazine.
Shinshokan publishing.
Book 1-6 out. More to follow.
Continuous novel-type manga.
Heroic legend, fantasy.
3/24/93 Miho Nishida
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This review was originally written as an article for the anime and
manga fanzine _Atlantia_. It is reproduced here with permission from
the kind editors, Chet and Steven Pearl.
Since I don't have the time to look over it and make it into the
same format I've been using for Review 1 to 4, I'm just going to
send it as it was originally sent to _Atlantia_. (ergo, outdated
info: _School Special Police Duklyon_ has concluded in _Genki_)
[Complete Aside for those fans who are confused about Ashura's sex...
Six stars fall
Thus began CLAMP(*)'s RG VEDA (pronounced rig veida) where Yasha,
The word RG VEDA comes from _Rig Veda_, one of the sacred
The main story line of RG VEDA is very simple. It's your basic
First, the Six Stars; consists of Ashura, Yasha, Ryu-Oh,
Ashura is the sole survivor of the Ashura clan and heir to the
Yasha, or Yasha-Oh, is the God-King (young elder) of the Yasha
(from RG VEDA volume 3, p53-59. After finding out for the first
Ashura Yasha... Yashaaaa....
Next is Ryu-Oh. He is the God-King of the Ryu (=Dragon) clan and
Karura-Oh is a God-King(Queen) of the Karura clan and Bushinshoh
Sohma is the last surviving member of the Sohma clan. Her clan
Lastly, we have Kendappa-Oh. Called the Gakushi no Kimi, or
(from RG VEDA volume 2, p20. Kendappa-Oh welcomes Yasha and
Yasha Kendappa-Oh, why did you welcome us, we who are being
Kendappa-Oh's late mother died from the heart-wrenching dilemma
The other important characters are Kujaku and Taishaku-Ten.
Kujaku is a mysterious visitor to Yasha's group. He tells them
Taishaku-Ten is the rebel who claimed the Ten-Tei(God-Emperor)'s
One note. In RG VEDA, the "God race" have a longer life span
As can be understood from the character description alone, RG
(*) CLAMP, a manga drawing group consisting of four female artists
3/24/93 Miho Nishida, Griffin Script Manga Report
He/she was voted 6th in the "magazine for manga" _Puff_ 's 1993
"Leading Actress Award". CLAMP might decide him/her to be male
later, but at least most fans of RG VEDA thinks Ashura's a "she"!!!
-----------------* *-----------------
CLAMP's RG VEDA: Sei-Den (The Holy Legend)
------------------------------------------
article by Miho Nishida
Thou art a Dark Star that rises against the Heaven
At the tip of the destiny being woven
Thou shalt thyself foster
As the extinct blood clan dictates
Thou shalt depart with a child
Though neither good nor ill be determined
That child shall move the wheel of the destiny of the
Heavenly Kingdom
The gathering of the Six Stars forewarns the end of
Heaven
But to the side of the Darkness one will come
Who governs the orbit of the stars and rules both the Dark
Star and the Heavenly Star
That one, not even my zodiac can ascertain
The red flame that you nurture
Will burn away all evil
Together, the Six Stars shall overwhelm any and all others
and be unconquerable
And...
You[=the Six Stars] shall become the "Break" that will
destroy the Heaven
a young but matured god of the Yasha clan, takes up the burden of raising
and protecting Ashura, sole survivor and heir to the now forbidden Ashura
god clan. The two set out on a search to find the four other destined
companions, who, as six, can destroy Taishaku-Ten, the Heavenly Emperor.
With just this description, readers may think "Oh, just another god
story", but this is not so. Set in the Heavenly Kingdom of Buddhism, the
gods are no different from any warring clan leaders, except, of course,
that they are more powerful. The appeal of RG VEDA is in the combination
of a solid story-line, interesting characters (almost all gods), lots of
mysteries, powerful art style, and fantastic action scenes.
writings of Hinduism, filled with holy legends and many colorful gods.
When Buddhism was born from Hinduism, many of the old gods retained their
places in the new religion. In Buddhism, spiritual enlightenment of
one's self can be taught, and therefore, there are no "gods" that need
worshipping. These gods thus "survived" by becoming the protectors of
Buddhism. Buddhism spread from India to all of Asia, finally reaching
Japan as well. The names of the gods were Japanized and the gods and
their legends began seeping into Japanese culture. Many of the names
that appear in RG VEDA comes from Japanese Buddhism.
revenge story with an added twist that, for these six, their very
existence is denied unless they can overthrow the usurper Taishaku-Ten.
The comic novel follows Ashura and Yasha in their search and lets the
story branch out along the way. Thus, on a straight, simple tree, there
are abundant branches full of hate, love, friendship, and mysteries.
Taishaku-Ten is an extremely powerful god who had succeeded in defeating
both the late Heavenly Emperor and the till-then-most-powerful-god, the
late Ashura-Oh. Before I forget, there are many god clans within the
Heavenly Kingdom and a leader of a clan, called "elder" (or "young elder"
if that's the case), takes up the name of the clan. Thus, for Ashura
clan, there was an Ashura-Oh, and similarly, there is a Yasha-Oh for the
Yasha clan. (For those interested, Yasha had the name "Yama" when he was
younger. Ashura never had any other name than "Ashura" since she was
born after all of her clan members were annhilated.) To better help
readers grasp the world of RG VEDA, a character description is in order.
Karura-Oh, Sohma, and Kendappa-Oh.
former God-King Ashura (Ashura-Oh). Though 300 years old (which should
have given her/him an appearance of at least a 17 year old or round
about), she/he was only recently unsealed from a power barrier by Yasha
and looks and acts like a 6-7 year old. With the Japanese language being
what it is, Ashura's sex is not evident from the dialogues. In Buddhist
mythology, the god Ashura has been depicted as either a demon-god or a
youth with indeterminate sex. Add to this, The creators note him/her as
being neither female nor male (ref: CLAMP RG VEDA art book "Hi-Ten-Mu-Ma
[The Un-Emperor Dream Demon
Ashura Kings were called the "Un-Emperor", or rather, the "Not-Emperor",
to the Ten-Tei's "Emperor". Sort of like a check of power.) But since I
like to think of Ashura as female (I always like female protagonists
*sorry* and, in fact, his/her dialogues and actions lean toward the
female), I will be referring to him/her as "she" in this article. But
she should be thought of as androgynous. She is one of the Six Stars
that were prophesied to bring the downfall of the reign of Taishaku-Ten
and she is heir to the sorcerous sword, Shura-toh. By the way,
Shura-toh's scabbard is Ashura herself. There is one dark twist to the
prophecy. The prophecy given at the top of this article was given to
Yasha-Oh by Kuyoh, the Star Seer, but she prophecised at the same time
that the child, Ashura, will be his death.... ("That child was born
under a destiny to kill you") Ashura's father, the then Ashura-Oh, as the
Protector Warrior God of Heaven and Emperor, had fought the rebel,
Taishaku-Ten, in what later would be known as the Sei-Sen (Holy War).
With the betrayal of his wife, Shashi, Ashura-Oh's forces were
annihilated and the God-Emperor slain. After the birth of both Ashura
and Taishaku's son, Ten-Oh (they were twins, though with a different
father!!!!!), Shashi, who had become the wife of Taishaku-Ten, attempted
to kill the now in-the-way Ashura. As a result Ashura was sealed in a
power barrier (probably she did it out of self-preservation) until Yasha
broke it and woke her. One last note, Ashura is schizophrenic. Well,
not exactly. There are two Ashuras in one body (to represent the
male-female duality, I think). The "Black Ashura", as the creators like
to call "him", is the "real" Ashura who was woken up by Yasha and has the
mentality of a 300 year old . "He" is a rather cruel personality and can
control more power than the younger Ashura. The younger Ashura, who is
the dominant personality after Yasha woke up Ashura, is a sweet child who
suffers from the fact that her mother did not want her and even tried to
kill her.
clan and was a Bushinshoh (Warrior-Chief God) of the North. His clan was
annihilated by Taishaku-Ten after, lead by the prophecy, he breached the
power barrier that had been sealing Ashura. Currently, though only circa
500 years young, he's an adopted father to Ashura and is rumored to have
become "aged" for his years. He wields Yama-toh, which somehow resonates
with Ashura's Shura-toh. Ashura thinks she had caused the destruction of
the Yasha clan which caused Yasha to be alone as well. These two are
very deeply commited to each other: To Ashura, Yasha is the only one in
the world who says she is needed, and to Yasha, she is the only one worth
protecting. The feeling is like what a child would feel towards a father
and vice versa.
time that her mother tried to kill her when she was born, she realizes
her power of fire. She is not able to control it yet and she stands
amidst the flames of her creation, though she is not harmed by it.)
Yasha What happened, Ashura!?
Ryu-Oh Wait! Wowa ("Waaa") Yasha-Oh, you'll burn!
Ashura It ... It doesn't stop. Don't come near! You'll burn!!
(Yasha struggles to reach Ashura)
Ashura I'm an unwanted child. [Literally: I'm not a needed
child] Even my mother tried to kill me.... No one needs
me. You'll die as well if you stay with me. I ... I
wasn't supposed to be born. If ... If I wasn't of the
Ashura clan, I wonder if Mother would've liked me a
little more.
Yasha Ashura.
Ashura I won't interfere with you in any way, Mother. If you
don't want to even see my face, I won't ever again say
that I want to see you again. I'll be quiet. Even
then ... do you hate me enough to want to kill me?
Ryu-Oh Yasha....
(Yasha succeeds in reaching Ashura. He's powerful enough not to burn
in the flames)
Yasha I will protect you from any and all that may harm you.
Ashura If even my mother didn't want me, why was I born?
Who else would say I'm a wanted child?
Yasha Didn't we promise, Ashura. That we'll be together for
always.... I've sworn to protect you forever. It's a
promise between you and me. Even if everyone in the
world says they don't want you, I need you. Ashura.
(The flames die down)
Ashura I'm sorry. I've come home, Yasha.
Bushinshoh of the West. After ascending to the position due to his
grandfather's illness (his mother, the previous Bushinshoh, was killed by
demons when he was still young, and so his grandfather, once retired, had
taken back the duty of the leader of the clan), he joined Yasha and
Ashura in their journey purely because he wanted to have a fighting match
with Yasha, who is reputed to be the strongest of the Bushinshohs. One
of the few characters with no sad past, he's basically there for comic
relief. All he has to worry about is from where Ashura's meals are coming
next ("Ryu-chan. I'm hungry." "You just ate!!").
of the South. She joins forces with Yasha in their quest to destroy
Taishaku-Ten after her sister, Karyoh-Binga, was cruelly driven to death
by him and fed to his beasts. Karura-Oh has with her Garuda, a golden
sorcerous predatory bird that shares her life energy.
was destroyed by Taishaku-Ten for fear of the Sohma legend. The
legend claims that a Sohma can grant one person eternal life. She was
saved by Kendappa-Oh and is sent to help Yasha-Oh by Kissho-Ten, the late
Heavenly Emperor's only daughter and now a wife to Bishamon-Ten,
Taishaku-Ten's head huncho, when the goddess could no longer bear the
cruelty of Taishaku-Ten's reign.
Lord(Lady) of Instruments, she is an adept of the harp and is a court
player at Taishaku-Ten's palace. She is one of the more mysterious of
the characters. She serves Taishaku-Ten loyally though her father was
killed by him in the Sei-Sen. "I like strength," says she. "And you are
strong, Lord Taishaku-Ten." Though she is one of the Six Stars, she
hasn't the motive to join them yet. Though she seems soft, she does very
occasionally show an ice-cold sharpness that then disappears in a
glimpse. Even Yasha-Oh, the strongest of the Bushinshohs, becomes a toy
for her. (Yasha, being a simple man, can't understand the female
complexity that is Kendappa-Oh)
Ashura into her moving fortress)
pursued
Kendappa-Oh What.... Why, you ask? How cruel of you, Brother!
We're each the only sibling the other has.
Yasha I don't remember having a sister, while I do have a
brother....
Kendappa-Oh He's become so cynical! I guess being a concubine's
child lead to this. He's become soooo twisted!
[NOTE: by the way, Yasha is indeed a child of a concubine. This is
revealed in volume 6]
Ashura Yasha. What's a "concubine's child"?
Yasha Well, it's....
Kendappa-Oh Who's this child? Another child you've made somewhere?
[LT: Another child you've had a woman give birth to]
Yasha-Oh, you're UNCLEAN!!!
(and she pursues to strike Yasha on the head with her harp)
of falling in love with young Yasha (when he was still called Yama) while
being already married and even had a child about the same age as Yasha.
Kendappa-Oh has gotten over the anger she once felt towards Yasha (it
wasn't his fault that an elder lady found him too delicious to pass
over), but the feeling of wanting to make Yasha squirm is still there.
Thus something like the above happens from time to time.
that he is neither one of Taishaku-Ten's men nor one of the Six Stars.
Though he claims to be just a wanderer pursuing entertainment, he knows
many things that no one else knows about. He has purple eyes, a mark of
demons, and wings that are revealed later on. But he is not a demon.
What is he? The mystery remains.
seat when his forces overwhelmed and defeated the former Ten-Tei's and
Ashura-Oh's forces. He is extremely powerful and he also has four
Shitennohs to guard him. Shitennohs are higher in rank than the
Bushinshohs and each Bushinshoh is assigned under one Shitennoh to guard
the four directions of the Heavenly Kingdom. Outside the boundary of the
Heavenly Kingdom is the I-kai, the Other World, where the demons reign.
These demons are ever trying to invade the Kingdom.
than humans, but are not invincible nor deathless. They do, however,
have powers humans do not have. But since the heir of a clan king always
takes up the name of the clan when he/she accedes the position, one can
say that so-and-so god is permanent and deathless.
VEDA is a complex story within a very richly detailed world. Besides the
story, the art work is one of the best available. The use of the
zip-tone is amazing. Though the pages are in the standard
black-and-white print, the various shades and zip-tone art create color
where there is none. Most eye-catching is the action sequences. They
are extremely visual and fast-paced. The fighting sequences between the
gods are too delicious . The gods fight with swords, but the swords act
mainly as a channel to direct the internal power of the gods. Thus, they
rarely fight hand-to-hand. They swing the swords, and the power ripples
across the space between them, causing destruction and havoc. Combining
excellent art with an intriguing story-line, CLAMP has made RG VEDA one
of the more well known mangas in an industry that produces countless
mangas every month (or week, for that matter). For any manga fan, RG
VEDA is an excellent buy and even perhaps a must.
(Ookawa Nanase: script and direction; Mokona Apapa: characters,
difficult backgrounds and zip-tone art; Nekoi Mick: direction and art
assistance; Igarashi Satsuki: art assistance and cooking), has made a
name for itself with RG VEDA and is currently enjoying wide
popularity. Their works have had wide appeal and are read by both
male and female readers (Japanese mangas can be classified into 2
major categories: shonen mangas targeted for the male readers and
shohjo mangas targeted for the female readers). They're currently
busily producing several series at the same time (_RG VEDA_ in
_Wings_, _X_ in _Asuka_, _Tokyo Babylon_ in _South_, _School Special
Police Duklyon_ in _Genki_). RG VEDA, unlike mangas such as
Takahashi Rumiko's Ranma that are more familiar to the U.S. fans,
takes on the novel-style that is used by most shohjo mangas, i.e. the
story is continual and not a series of separate episodes. Like a
novel, there is a story-line and a definite conclusion. RG VEDA has
not yet concluded and appears in the monthly comic magazine _Wings_.
=============================================================================
Richard Vermaas
James Wattstraat 13
1097 DJ Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Phone: 020-6934346
Email: richardv@htsa.aha.nl
=============================================================================
--
__________(Richard Vermaas)________________(richardv@htsa.aha.nl)___________
"I have never understood why it should be necessary to become irrational in
order to prove that you care, or indeed why it should be necessary to prove
it at all." [Avon]
.