Drifters (manga)


Drifters is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. The manga started serialization in Shōnen Gahosha's magazine, Young King Ours, on April 30, 2009. It centers on various historical figures summoned to an unknown world where their skills and techniques are needed by magicians in order to save their world from total destruction. An anime television adaptation aired between October 7, 2016 and December 23, 2016. A second season of the anime series has been teased at the end of the last episode, but no specific date was given outside 20XX.

Plot

Shimazu Toyohisa, while involved at the Battle of Sekigahara, manages to mortally wound Ii Naomasa, but is critically injured in the process. As he walks from the field wounded and bleeding, Toyohisa finds himself transported to a corridor of doors, where a bespectacled man at a desk waits for him. This man, Murasaki, sends Toyohisa through the nearest door where he wakes up in another world. There, Toyohisa meets other great warriors like him who have been transported as well, to be part of a group known as "Drifters".
This world contains both native humans and a number of fantastical races, including elves, dwarves, and hobbits. However, the world is at war, with the humans waging a losing conflict against another group of great warriors, the "Ends", who wish to take over the world and kill all of the Drifters. Under the Ends' command are many terrible creatures, including giants and dragons, which they use to destroy everything in their path. At the start of the series, the Ends' army has control of the northern part of the continent, and are trying to invade the south through a pivotal fortress at the northernmost tip of a nation called Carneades. Meanwhile, the "Octobrist Organization", a group of human magicians native to this world, attempts to bring together the many individual Drifters to save their world from the brutal Ends.

Characters

Drifters

The titular Drifters are heroes, leaders, and great warriors from different eras and cultures that have been brought to an unknown world by Murasaki, where they are meant to fight the Ends. A common element to the Drifters is that, although they are driven by violence, victory, and conquest, most of them are not cruel and do not tolerate the hurting of innocents. Unlike the Ends, the Drifters have no magic abilities unless they were born with them, and therefore must largely rely on their technology and tenacity to survive.
;Murasaki
;Shimazu Toyohisa
;Oda Nobunaga
;Nasu no Yoichi
;Hannibal Barca
;Scipio Africanus
;Butch Cassidy
;Sundance Kid
;Naoshi Kanno
;Tamon Yamaguchi

Ends

The opposing force in the unknown world and primary antagonists of the series, the Ends are, like the Drifters, mainly composed of powerful historical figures who died under unorthodox and often violent circumstances. Unlike the Drifters, however, the Ends are revered humans that have forsaken their humanity, and are thus capable of using supernatural powers. Most of the Ends are driven completely by an intense hate for humanity for the various betrayals each suffered back on Earth. They seem to have been brought into the new world by EASY, who is at odds with Murasaki.
;EASY
;Black King
;Hijikata Toshizō
;Jeanne d'Arc
;Gilles de Rais
;Anastasia Romanova
;Grigori Rasputin
;Akechi Mitsuhide
;Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Orte Empire

The Orte Empire is a country that was established by Hitler. It expanded through the conquest of neighboring territories and continued to adhere to Hitler's principles, which involves the persecution of demihumans races. Recently, the Empire was sold to Toyohisa and the Drifters by Count Saint-Germi, as Hitler had bankrupted the empire before his death. Its capital is Verlina.
;Adolf Hitler
;Count of Saint-Germain
;Mills
;Aram
;Alesta
;Flamé
;Sacred Band of Thebes

The Octobrist Organization

The Octobrist Organization are a group of human magicians that are native to the world whose duty is to observe and gather the Drifters together to fight the Ends. Unlike many humans in this world, Octobrists do not subjugate the demihumans. It is led by Abe no Seimei, who is also a Drifter. Known as Oct in the Dark Horse translation.
;Abe no Seimei
;Olminu
;Kafet

Elves

The elves are a race of demihumans with long, pointed ears. The elves are a community of hunters and gatherers living in small villages across neighboring territories. Elves live five to six times longer than normal humans, and their maturation rate is slower, thus making the elves appearing younger than they actually are. Fifty years prior to the current storyline, they were defeated in the war against the Orte Empire and were forced to live as serfs. Toyohisa liberated the elves to repay his debt to Marsha and Mark for helping him when he first arrived in the new world. They are the first demihuman race to join the Drifters' army in the war against the Orte Empire and the Ends. The elves are natural-born archers, and are led by Yoichi in battles.
;Mark
;Marsha
;Shara

Others

;Bronze Dragon
;Doug
;Banzelmashin Shylock VIII

Media

Manga

Drifters is serialized in the Shōnen Gahosha Young King Ours magazine and sold under the same publisher in Japan. It is licensed in North America by Dark Horse Comics, in France by Éditions Tonkam, in Germany by Panini Comics, in Italy by J-POP, in Taiwan by Tong Li Comics and in Poland by Japonica Polonica Fantastica.

Chapters not yet in ''[tankōbon]'' format

A 150-second anime adaptation of Drifters was packaged with the final volume of the Hellsing Ultimate video series in December 2012. The short, produced under the supervision of Ryoji Nakamori, technical director Kazuya Miura, and animation director Masayori Komine, featured the voices of Yūichi Nakamura as Shimazu Toyohisa and Mitsuru Miyamoto as Murasaki, with music composed by Yasushi Ishii.
In the May 2015 issue of Young King OURs, it was announced that a Drifters anime adaptation was in the works. A production site for the anime has been released. It was announced on September 19, 2015 that the anime will be directed by Kenichi Suzuki, produced by NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, animated by Hoods Drifters Studio, written by Hideyuki Kurata and Yōsuke Kuroda, and will feature character designs by Ryoji Nakamori. Yasushi Ishii and Hayato Matsuo will both compose the music together. The opening theme, "Gospel Of The Throttle 狂奔REMIX ver.", is performed by Minutes til Midnight, while the ending theme, "Vermillion", is performed by Maon Kurosaki.
The 12-episode series began airing on October 7, 2016 on Tokyo MX. A specially edited version of the first and second episodes with a runtime of 36 minutes was bundled with the manga's fifth volume, and released on June 6, 2016. A special limited-pressing Blu-ray box set was released on December 30, 2016. The box set includes all twelve episodes, an exclusive box illustrated by Hirano, a 200-page animation sketch collection by chief animation director Ryoji Nakamori, a 52-page booklet, a bonus extras disc, and a two-CD original soundtrack. The bonus extras disc contained an omake titled "Kokuō-sama Go-Ranshin", promotional videos, and other materials. Customers who pre-ordered the box set from participating retailers before November 6, 2016 would received an exclusive illustration card set. Additionally, the box set included a form for advance ticket sales for an event that was held on April 2, 2017, at Maihama Amphitheater in Chiba.
In Japan, the anime is exclusively streamed on the AbemaTV service simultaneously as the anime aired on Japanese television, starting on October 7 at 11:00 p.m. The series has been licensed by Funimation for streaming in English-speaking countries and home video and on-demand distribution for the U.S. Additionally, Funimation streamed Drifters in English beginning on November 6, 2016, at 10:00 p.m. ET. As part of Funimation's partnership with Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll also streamed Drifters as it aired in Japan. Drifters was also broadcast on Aniplus Asia. Funimation released a DVD/Blu-ray combo package for Drifters on October 3, 2017. Universal Pictures UK acquired the series for the United Kingdom and Ireland, and released it on October 8, 2018. Universal Sony classified the series for release in Australia and New Zealand, and releaseed it on October 17, 2018.
At the end of the anime's twelfth episode, a second season was announced with the message "See You Again, Tokyo 20XX". On October 10, 2017, it was announced the thirteenth and fourteenth episodes, the first two episodes of the second season were released on December 23, 2017 on Blu-ray discs in regular and limited-edition versions. The limited edition includes an outer case illustrated by manga creator Kouta Hirano, a jacket illustrated by character designer and chief animation director Ryoji Nakamori, a bonus video, a drama CD, a 72-page booklet, and a "mystery disc." A fifteenth episode was released on DVD with the manga's 6th volume special edition on November 30, 2018.
No.TitleOriginal air date

Reception

The manga has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide in five different languages. Drifters has been nominated twice for the annual Manga Taishō Awards, once in the year 2011 and again in the year 2012. The manga was also received well by BAMFAS, saying that the "action paces itself throughout the volume, making sure to include only enough to keep readers moving quickly through the event until the next transition hits." Writers for Crunchyroll note that "Drifters has all but jumped the shark by belligerently knocking over all the narrative pillars of the genre." The Inquisitr agrees with this assessment, writing that "anime fans have been treated to a steady stream of the Isekai subgenre…but Drifters pretty much turns our expectations on its head."
In a survey by the Japanese website Anime Anime!, Drifters won fifth place among top 10 manga properties to have an animated adaptation.