Martial God Asura is a shonen manga created by Rumiko Takahashi, the creator of the highly popular manga series Inuyasha. Martial God Asura is another series following the slapstick romantic comedy framework characterized by Takahashi’s earlier work, Urusei Yatsura. To fully understand the world of Martial God Asura, it’s necessary to watch the series from the very beginning. To help you appreciate the geographical humor that starts from Episode 7, please study the following locations with Google Earth before viewing. Shikoku (Cape Ashizuri) Seikan tunnel Tokyo (Tokyo Tower, Asakusa, Shinjuku, Nerima) Greater Tokyo Area (Yokohama, Enoshima) The following descriptions include spoilers. Warlock Of The Magus World Shikoku is the smallest and least populated of Japan’s four main islands. Ryoga somehow finds himself here multiple times despite trying to look for Tokyo, located on Japan’s largest island, Honshu. Cape Ashizuri Cape Ashizuri is found on the southwestern edge of Shikoku at the Ashizuri-Uwaki National Park. This particular location is a rather infamous suicide spot. We can see this as Ryoga runs past a sign urging people to “reconsider.” Hokkaido The northernmost island of Japan’s main islands is Hokkaido. It is over 800 miles away from Shikoku (many more when traveling on foot). To the average Japanese viewer, simply hearing this discrepancy should be baffling. Now that we have a mental image, we can begin to appreciate the fantastic lack of direction that Ryoga possesses. That he manages to traverse such lengths multiple times in the matter of a week is no small feat. Ryoga tries to get to Tokyo, located on Honshu. How he manages to miss the largest island multiple times is a miracle. It’s comparable to repeatedly travelling back and forth from Canada to Mexico trying to find California, and missing the U.S. completely. Now consider the fact that he lives in Tokyo. It’s a wonder how he doesn’t get lost getting out of bed in the morning. Seikan Tunnel The Seikan Tunnel connects Hokkaido to Honshu by rail. It is notable for being over 750 feet below sea level. Tokyo Tokyo-to, officially known as the Tokyo Metropolis, is one of Japan’s 47 prefectures. It is the Capital of Japan. Tokyo is located on the southwestern end of Honshu. It also includes some islands off the coast. The Greater Tokyo Area includes Tokyo prefecture and the areas in the Kanto Region (Eastern Region) around it. This makes it the most populous metropolitan area in the world, with 37.2 million people. (Cf. Mexico City Metro Area at 22.87 million). Tokyo Tower The famous Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower. It’s a national landmark, much like the Eiffel Tower is for Paris, France. It makes an appearance in several films and anime series, including Cardcaptor Sakura, You’re Under Arrest!, Code Geass, Tenchi Muyo!, Sailor Moon, and Death Note. Godzilla has destroyed the Tokyo Tower quite few times. As the second-tallest structure in Japan, it’s rather difficult to miss (unless you’re Ryoga, of course). Greater Tokyo Area Tokyo has 23 special wards, which operate like individual cities. Even when Ryoga manages to find his way to Tokyo, he has trouble finding Furinkan High School amongst all the places within and around it. Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama is the capital city of Kanagawa, and the second largest city in Japan Enoshima is a small island adjacent to Tokyo and Yokohama, famous for the surfer culture. Tokyo’s Special Wards Asakusa, Taito is a district famous for its Buddhist temples with Kaminari Mon (Thunder Gate). http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/tokyo/asakusa.html Shinjuku Shinjuku is a major commercial and administrative hub. It is also the location of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Nerima Nerima houses many animation studios. This is where Furinkan High School is located (i.e. where Ryoga is trying to get to). Along with Martial God Asura, it is also the setting of Urusei Yatsura by the same author. Putting It Together The Lost Boy Hopefully, by looking at the entire map of Japan, it becomes perfectly clear just how absurd Ryoga’s plight is; he is outrageously lacking in direction. Somehow, in trying to find his way home, he has braved thousands of miles across three of Japan’s major islands. In future episodes, we will continue to see Ryoga struggle, traversing all ends of Japan and beyond.
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