Maken-ki! (マケン姫っ!) is a Japanese manga series by Hiromitsu Takeda. It was published by Fujimi Shobo's magazine Dragon Age Pure, and later Monthly Dragon Age, after the former magazine ceased publishing. It has been adapted into an anime series by AIC that aired on Tokyo MX in the fall of 2011. It is licensed in North America by Crunchyroll (also known as Funimation until 2022) under the title 'Maken-ki! Battling Venus'. Two OVA episodes animated by AIC and Xebec were released at February 29, 2012 and September 25, 2013. They were bundled with the eighth and eleventh volumes of the manga respectively. A second season, titled Maken-ki! Two (マケン姫っ！通), was animated by Xebec and aired in 2014.

Plot

Takeru Ooyama has enrolled at Tenbi Academy, a private prep high school that converted from all-girls to co-ed. Hoping to have a life full of ogling pretty girls, he reunites with childhood friend Haruko Amaya, who shows him around school. However, he learns that the school is for students who possess magical and spiritual energies called Elements and who wield crafted weapons known as Makens. The students engage in school sanctioned combat matches that showcase their powers. While his own ability and Maken is not apparent at first, Takeru soon finds himself surrounded by girls, including Inaho Kushiya, an attractive girl who says she's his fiancée, and Kodama Himegami, a popular blonde who says she wants to kill him. He joins the Security Committee (検警部), which is part of the student council's Leadership Committee called the Magical Security Organization (魔導検警機構), also known as Maken-ki.

Characters

Main characters

Students

Staff

Venus

Venus is a mercenary unit that joins Tenbi Academy with the mission to search for the person who is trying to revive Yamata no Orochi. It is headed by Akaya Kodai, a former member of Maken-ki, and consists mainly of high school aged girls. It is later revealed that Venus has ties to Kamigari, and thus serve as the antagonists for a storyline where they plant barrier stones throughout Tenbi Academy, capture Kodama under the pretense that she trespassed into the Amanohara, and challenge Maken-ki to rescue her. The Venus unit uses Jingu, which are equipment used by the gods of their Western homelands; they are comparable to the Maken weapons used by the gods of the East.

Kamigari

The Kamigari are a secret organization that works with the government by using the Elements and Maken. They originally gathered young people who possess special abilities to their organization, usually against their will. Those who opposed had their memories wiped. This continued until the government created Tenbi Academy to train the students. As a result, they partner with Tenbi Academy in selecting students to join their organization. After Venus leaves Tenbi Academy, they continue their experiments by possessing people and growing monsters to attack the Maken-ki members during their summer training activities. Ouken later decides to go after unlocking the secrets of Amanohara.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Hiromitsu Takeda. It was published by Fujimi Shobo's magazine Dragon Age Pure, and later Monthly Dragon Age, after the former magazine ceased publishing.

Volumes

Anime

An anime adaptation was announced on Monthly Dragon Age's official website in December 2010. In April 2011, Monthly Dragon Age confirmed that the anime series would air on television. Produced by AIC under the direction of Kōichi Ōhata with Yōsuke Kuroda as script supervisor and music by Cher Watanabe, the anime series began its first broadcast run on October 5, 2011. A second season, titled ''Maken-ki! Two'', was animated by Xebec and aired in 2014. The first season adapts the first four volumes of the manga, while the second season features completely original, self-contained story arcs. The anime series is licensed by Funimation Entertainment (now known as Crunchyroll) in North America. A cast announcement was made on August 30, 2013, and the complete first season was released on home video on November 12. The series became available on the FunimationNOW video streaming service, and from March 2022, it became available on the Crunchyroll streaming service, after AT&T divested Crunchyroll to Sony Pictures Television in August 2021.

Maken-ki!

Doki Doki! Maken-ki! Himitsu no Kunren

The series released a six-episode special from December 21, 2011, to May 25, 2012, to Blu-ray only, each lasting ten minutes long titled Doki Doki! Maken-ki! Himitsu no Kunren (ドキドキッ！マケン姫っ！秘密の訓練). The episodes feature a "personal fitness program" with the main female characters of the series. Secret training exercises include: sit-ups, squats, kendo, push-ups and hamstring stretches with Haruko Amaya; push-ups, glute raises, bridges, squats, and hip abduction and adduction with Inaho Kushiya; front lunges, leg raises, arm-leg cross raises, kneeling sit-ups and cross-legged stretches with Kodama Himegami; leg lifts while doing a plank, handstand push-ups against a wall, high kicks, squatting with a bear as a weight and leg raise stretches with Azuki Shinatsu; push-ups, squats, knee elbow lifts, reverse wrestler bridges and leg raise stretches with Syria Ootsuka; and thigh stretches lying down, shoulder and chest stretches lying down and standing up, sustained push-ups and glute raise stretches with Aki Nijou.

Maken-ki! OVA

Maken-ki! Two

Maken-ki! Two Specials

Following the second season, the series released a five-episode special from March 28, 2014, to July 25, 2014, to Blu-ray/DVD only alongside pillowcases, each lasting five minutes long titled Maken-ki! Two Specials (マケン姫っ！通 Ｐ～私事). The episodes feature "never-before-seen footage" including: Haruko Amaya continuously fantasizing about Takeru Ooyama during her morning routine; Monji temporarily giving Inaho Kushiya a cat tail and cat ears during playtime; an unknown student fantasizing about Aki Nijou while in the school infirmary; Kodama Himegami trying on different outfits with Rudolf secretly watching; and Kimi Satō desiring a bigger bust size.

Reception

Andy Hanley of UK Anime Network, in reviewing the first five episodes, found little originality in the anime series, which he called: "a cavalcade of tired old tropes and plot devices, from a visit to a hot springs to a 'date' where the couple are spied on by jealous friends, extending all the way out to the show's various characters and beyond."

Manga