Zenki (鬼神童子 ZENKI) is a Japanese manga series written by Kikuhide Tani and illustrated by Yoshihiro Kuroiwa. It was introduced and serialized in the Shueisha publication, Monthly Shōnen Jump from December 1992 to September 1996. Zenki was adapted into a fifty-one episode anime television series in 1995 and a single original video animation in 1997 by Studio Deen and also received five video games. Enoki Films handles the English language version of the anime and its distribution rights.

Synopsis

Long long ago, the great Bodhisattva of Japan, Ozunu Enno (役 小角), controlled the Demon Gods to defeat the Demon Goddess Karuma. After Karuma's defeat, he sealed away one of his Demon Gods, Zenki (前鬼), in a pillar until needed again. Centuries later, his direct descendant, a school girl named Chiaki Enno (役 小明) (or Cherry Night in some dubs) is able to free Zenki, although the fierce demon lord currently has the form of a bratty demon child. To transform this extremely defiant demon into the form that made him useful by her ancestor, she uses a bracelet that appeared on her wrist when servants of Karuma broke the seal that imprisoned a seed of Karuma. Zenki reawakens because the seeds of Karuma (which look like eyeballs) start appearing and turn people with desires into a wild people that can able to transform into monsters and Zenki is needed again to eradicate this menace.

Characters

Main characters

Supporting characters

Media

Manga

Written by Kikuhide Tani and illustrated by Yoshihiro Kuroiwa, the Kishin Dōji Zenki manga was serialized by Shueisha's Monthly Shōnen Jump from the December 1992 to the September 1996 issues. Its chapters were collected in 12 tankōbon volumes, released from June 1993 to December 1996. Takeshobo later republished the series in seven bunkoban volumes, under their Bamboo Comics label, from July 27 to October 27, 2005.

Anime

51 episodes were produced and broadcast on TV Tokyo in 1995. Studio Deen animated the series, while Kitty Films produced it. The anime was first licensed in the west by Central Park Media under their Software Sculptors label in a subtitled only release on VHS, covering only the first 13 episodes. The US licensing rights for the anime later went to Media Blasters, who released it under their Anime Works label. They released all 51 episodes split across four DVD volumes in a dubbed and subtitled format from September 25, 2001, to September 30, 2003. An original video animation (OVA) followup was released in 1997, with a runtime of 35 minutes and has a much darker tone in contrast to the TV series. Unlike the TV series, the Anki Kitan OVA was never licensed for a US release.

Video games

The Zenki series would receive five video games based on the franchise which were only released in Japan. Three games were released on the Super Famicom, one on Sega's Game Gear and one on NEC's PC-FX. The first game released was Kishin Douji Zenki: Rettou Raiden for the on August 4, 1995. The game was developed by CAProduction and published by Hudson Soft. The second action platforming game was simply titled Kishin Douji Zenki and was released on the Game Gear on September 1, 1995. The third game (and second on the Super Famicom) was Kishin Douji Zenki: Den'ei Raibu which was developed by Now Production and published by Hudson Soft on November 24, 1995. The fourth game was Kishin Dōji Zenki FX: Vajra Fight which was released on NEC's PC-FX on December 22, 1995, being published and developed by Hudson Soft.