Spirit Warrior


Spirit Warrior, known in Japan as Kujaku-Oh, is a manga by Makoto Ogino. It began serialization in 1985, total 17 volumes and has been spun off into anime, two live action films, Peacock King and Saga of the Phoenix, and video games.

Story

Kujaku is a Buddhist monk who specializes in exorcism and devil hunting. He is a member of Ura-Kōya, a secret organization in Japan that specializes in demon hunting. In the first 3 volumes, Ogino wrote independent short stories about Kujaku's demon hunting. But in volume 4, it evolves into an epic saga against Rikudoshu, a secret evil organization led by The Teachers of Eight Leaves. The goal of The Teachers of Eight Leaves is to revive Peacock King and Snake Queen, and allow them to fight each other to give birth to the ultimate Dark Vairocana. During the main story, The Teachers of Eight Leaves tried various methods to achieve their goal but were ultimately defeated by Kujaku and his friends.

Characters

Makoto Ogino used many religious references in Peacock king, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism. The Bible is referenced multiple times, including Jesus, The Holy Grail, Satan, 666, Lucifer. In the manga, the Holy Grail is the skull of Jesus Christ, if it is filled with blood from Peacock King or Snake Queen, it would give birth to the dark Buddha. In Christianity, the general belief is Lucifer the fallen Angel became Satan. Lucifer, Peacock King and Snake King were fallen angels. Satan was reincarnated by another demon hunter from Ura-Koya, named Hōō.

Adaptations

Films

The manga has been adapted into two live action films, Peacock King and Saga of the Phoenix, both directed by Lam Ngai Kai. The former, released in 1988, stars Hiroshi Mikami and Yuen Biao as the two monks, and Gloria Yip as Ashura. Gordon Liu and Philip Kwok appear in supporting roles.

Video games

Family Computer