Corpse Princess (屍姫) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshiichi Akahito. Premiering in Monthly Shōnen Gangan on April 12, 2005, the series centers on the "Corpse Princess" Makina Hoshimura, an undead girl who is hunting down 108 undead corpses in order to gain entry into heaven with the help of a secret society of anti-corpse Buddhist monks. Feel and Gainax partnered together to adapt the series into a thirteen episode anime series. The first season, Aka (赫), aired on October 2, 2008 on AT-X and finished on December 25, 2008. A second season, Kuro (玄), aired between January and March 2009. The anime is licensed for North American distribution and release by Funimation, which has released the episodes in subtitled form as Shikabane Hime through various online distribution companies and through its own website. The series made its North American television debut on the Funimation Channel on November 15, 2010.

Premise

After being murdered, Makina Hoshimura turns into a living "Shikabane Hime" ("Corpse Princess"). Armed with dual MAC-11 submachine guns, she must kill 108 other Shikabane in order to gain entry into heaven. She is assisted in this task by Keisei Tagami, a Buddhist monk with links to an anti-corpse group known as the Kougon Sect. Her ultimate goal is to avenge the death of her family, by destroying the Shikabane known as the Seven Stars.

Characters

Main

Shikabane Hime

Anime and manga

Manga only

Monks

Shikabane

Ōzei no Kegare

Ōzei no Kegare (大群) is an unusually-large and -organized group of Shikabanes dedicated to resurrecting their "King" and eventually bringing about the "Land of the Dead", where the living cannot pass on when they die but become Shikabanes. To facilitate the resurrection of their King, a ritual must be performed by five Hierarchs, the most powerful Shikabanes in existence and one of them currently being of the Seven Stars. This group serve as the primary antagonists for over the first 17 volumes of the manga.

Seven Stars

The Seven Stars are a group of seven Shikabane who work together for their common cause. They kill humans as well as other Shikabanes and even oppose the Kougon sect. Each member has seven stars of the Big Dipper constellation carved into their skin. They were responsible for killing Makina and her family.

Other characters

Terminology

Media

Manga

The manga was serialized in Japan from April 12, 2005 to August 12, 2014 in Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Individual chapters have been collected and published tankōbon volumes by Square Enix. The first volume was released on August 22, 2005; as of November 2014, twenty-three volumes have been released. A limited edition version of volume 17 including a drama CD was released in April 2012. Yen Press announced during their Anime Expo 2015 panel that they have licensed the manga in a digital format.

Anime

Produced by Feel and Gainax, Shikabane Hime: Aka (屍姫 赫) is a thirteen episode anime adaptation of the manga series. It premiered in Japan on AT-X on October 2, 2008. The episodes also air on BS11, Chiba TV, KBS Kyoto, Sun TV, Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, TV Kanagawa and TV Saitama. The opening and ending themes, "Beautiful fighter" and "My story", had a single release from angela on November 12, 2008. The series is licensed for North American distribution and release by Funimation Entertainment which is releasing the series as Shikabane Hime. On October 24, 2008, the thirteen episodes began airing online with English subtitles through Funimation's official YouTube, Joost, and Hulu.com channels, with higher end downloadable versions released on the company's own website. Funimation noted that they hope this relatively quick release through online means will help prevent piracy. Traditionally, according to the president of Funimation Entertainment Gen Fukunaga, "by the time a licensing deal is signed to bring a series from Japan to the U.S. the episodes are already available as illegal downloads." On January 18, 2011, British anime distributor Manga Entertainment announced that they will release the first season Aka, on DVD in 2011. A second season, titled Shikabane Hime: Kuro (屍姫 玄), aired in Japan between January and March 2009. Episode 26 of the series, or Kuro 13, was released as a DVD only episode in August 2009.

Other references