Prior to the start of the “Osorezan Revoir” story arc in the Shaman King (2021) anime, a new trailer was premiered on YouTube and Twitter. This trailer kicked off several other announcements about this story arc, including an announcement of a compilation movie screening in Japan.
The story arc will be shown over 4 episodes in November 2021 from episode 30 through episode 33. A new Key Visual was also shown along with a temporary redesign of the official website’s homepage. The story covers the flashback to when Yoh and Anna first met and was originally included in Shaman King volumes 19 & 20 of the manga series.
Meaning of Osorezan Revoir
The title in Japanese, 恐山ル・ヴォワール, has a couple different layers of meanings depending on the translation and interpretation. The “Osorezan” portion represents Mount Osore. This is not a single mountain, but represents an area in the mountain range which features volcanos. As a result, the area has various gases and terrain that gives it an eerie or other-worldly feeling. Within Japanese mythology it takes on a path to the afterlife.
The “Revoir” portion of the title comes has it’s roots in the French language. “Voir” is to “see” or “view”. The “Re” prefix is to do “again.” So combined, it can take the meaning of “remembering” or “revisiting.” This title of “Osorezan Revoir” was also used on the 2 Drama CDs released in 2002 for this flashback story arc.
As the title is in Japanese, some translations use “Le Voile” instead of “Revoir.” While “Osorezan Revoir” is the title preferred by Hiroyuki Takei, as confirmed by Tashiro Hayato, “Le Voile” provides a slightly different meaning. Again coming from the French, this would translate to “the veil.” This veil can then be in reference to how Yoh meets his future wife, similar to a bride’s veil. Hiroyuki Takei does include small puns and references in some of the titles for his chapters. So this secondary meaning can be assumed to be intentional as well.
More recently within the Japanese release of the Shaman King Character Book – The Original Color Soul Book, the preferred English title, “Osorezan Revoir” is also displayed. In the recent German release of this book, it is called “Osorezan Au Revoir.”
The original Viz Media English translation for the Shaman King manga used the version of “Mt. Osore Le Voile” in the 32 volume release. As the new Kodansha 35 volume release was done in a very short time period for an English digital release, the current digital volumes use that same Viz Media title. The print Omnibus editions of the manga include updated translations and other corrections have not reached this story arc so it is unknown if it will match the preferred title for the story arc or continue with the older English translation. Shaman King Omnibus 7 (Vol. 19-21) is currently scheduled for release in North America on February 8, 2022.
The 2021 anime episode titles are also keeping the same naming structure as the original Japanese manga. The titles are contain both French and English for the chapter count. The Japanese episode 30 was titled “恐山ル・ヴォワール un1” where the “un” is “one” in French. This is continued with both the French and numerical representation for each part of the story. In the original Viz Media manga release this is condensed down to roman numerals.
Production Decisions of the Anime Arc
The entire story arc of Osorezan Revoir is widely considered to be one of the best and unique arcs within the original Shaman King series. While it wasn’t animated in the original 2001 anime series, it did later receive a 2 CD Audio Drama that covered the portions of the story. Matamune, who was introduced in this arc was included in several videogames including Shaman King: Soul Fight, Shaman King: Funbari Spirits, and Shaman King: Master of Spirits 2. Within the 2 Japanese console games, he also received spoken lines, using the same voice actor.
With this long-standing history of this story arc, when developing the 2021 anime the planning committee had several factors to consider on how to best represent it. Before the episode length of the entire series had been finalized, they considered releasing the story as a standalone movie. Due to the series having a continuous run for 52 episodes, having a standalone movie would then be impractical. With COVID-19 emergency measures in place, many Japanese movies had shifted their release dates and being able to time the movie being released while the series was ongoing with TV broadcasts would have been impossible to do on a nationwide scale.
With a standalone movie being impractical, the decisions on when and how the story arc should be presented moved back into the standard TV broadcast. They determined that it should air starting with Episode 30 based on several factors. One of the major factors was when the Opening and Ending themes would change so that they could have ones that match the tone of the story and not have is split across seasons. Another factor was that they wanted the story arc to be broadcasted during the Fall/Winter so that it matched the season the flashback took place in. Continuing from the original concept of a movie, they then kept the story set as a 4 episode arc. Once this was locked in, it would force the first 18 volumes of the manga series to be condensed into 29 episodes. A faster pace for those episodes was a direct result of this placement and length of the Osorezan Revoir story arc in the new anime.
Osorezan Revoir Compilation Movie Announced
While their original standalone movie concept was not able to be done, the idea of showing it has a movie was not abandoned. A special movie theater screening of Episodes 30 through 33 will be held on November 21, 2021 at 17:00. This special event will also be the advanced screening for episode 33 which would air later that week on the 25th for TV broadcast. No information on what changes may occur for the episodes as part of this special screening.
At the Sunshine Grand Cinema venue, as part of the movie screening there will be a live speaker presentation by several of the voice talents from the episodes. Yoko Hikasa (Yoh), Megumi Hayashibara (Anna), and Hideyuki Tanaka (Matamune) are currently scheduled to speak after the showing. For this venue tickets will cost 4300 yen per seat. A pre-order lottery was held from October 28th through November 1st, and the general ticket admission started on November 6th until sold out. Only up to 2 tickets can be purchased per transaction. The speaker portion of the presentation will be recorded, which includes recording of the fans in attendance.
Several other movie theaters in Japan will also be showing the compilation movie without the speaker presentation. These tickets will be 3800 yen each. Tickets for those 19 individual movie theaters can be found here or here.
As of November 13th, only the live showing at Sunshine Grand Cinema has sold out and the nationwide screenings still have open seats.
Currently there are no announced plans to release this compilation movie outside of this one-time movie theater screening. The recording of the speaker presentation has also not been announced if that will be released separately in the future as well. There is also no announced plans that this compilation will be streamed on any services (such as Netflix).
Changes to the Golem Arc
Following the Osorezan Revoir story arc, the next major story arc in the original Shaman King manga is the “Golem Arc.” After the original Shuiesha 32 volume manga release, Hiroyuki Takei made some small modifications to the chapter titles to remove the “Epilogue” titles. These chapters received new titles starting in the Japanese 27 volume Kang Zeng Bang release of the manga and continued with those changes in every release moving forward.
After the placement of the Osorezan Revoir story arc in the new anime adaptation, Hiroyuki Takei also requested some new changes to the Golem Arc. The exact details on what changes will be made are not known yet. In the early episodes of the 2021 anime, portions of the manga were skipped over and combined to help move through the story more quickly.
The start of the Golem story arc will begin with episode 34 on December 2, 2021 for Japanese TV stations. Typically episode titles and plot descriptions are announced about a month in advance of the episodes premiering in various publications in Japan. However no titles or descriptions were given for episodes 34 or 35 yet. As episode titles and plot descriptions are announced, we document them on our Shaman King (2021) Anime Episode Guide.
When dividing up the series into seasons, the planning committee specifically tries to not split the storylines into different seasons. As the series has many interconnected stories, this isn’t always possible to have all the loose ends nicely concluded at the end of the season. Season 3 contains episodes 28 through 39. How long the Golem story arc may be, as well as the stories that occur after that are unknown. However there may be a sort of conclusion that will be rounded out at the end episode 39 for this season. The last season will then contain episodes 40 through 52 to complete the entire Shaman King story.
Voice Case Announcements
Matamune will be voiced by Hideyuki Tanaka (田中 秀幸) who previously voiced the character in the Drama CDs after the 2001 anime series.
Hao Asakura, from his original birth before being reincarnated in the Heian era, will be voiced by Hiroki Nanami (七海 ひろき).
Voice Cast Comments
Similar to the previous voice cast announcements, they asked some of the voice cast members the same questions for their comments. We’ve included a rough English translation below.
Hideyuki Tanaka for the voice of Matamune
Can you tell us about the appeal of this series?
The human emotions of sorrow, hatred, and joy can be shown in many ways. I am fascinated by how Yoh lives in that chaotic world with clashes and battles. I think motto of “it will all work out somehow” is something we can all learn from.
Can you tell us about how you feel to play Matamune again?
I played this character in a Drama CD almost 20 years ago. I am under a lot of pressure to keep the image of the original character intact while further expanding his appeal. I’ll be happy if I can convey that charm of my favorite character, Matamune, to everyone.
Hiroki Nanami for the voice of Hao Asakura
Can you tell us about the appeal of this series?
Before Shaman King I read Hiroyuki Takei’s Butsu Zone manga. I remember that I was very excited to see the connections between the two series when they were first being published.
The protagonist Yoh Asakura, is so cool! Normally it looks powerless, but once he is determined it all changes. Plus Anna the Itako is cold but can show a softer side when needed too. I also watched the 2000 anime version, so when I heard “Over Soul” in the new anime I couldn’t help but shout at the TV. (Laughs). I think it is a really wonderful work that can be loved by many for years to come.
Can you tell us about how you feel to play Hao Asakura?
I am playing the role of the ancestor of the Asakura family, the great Hao Asakura. This is one of the heart-stopping stories in the flashback arc with Yoh and Anna. In this story, I play the role of the powerful shaman whose strength stiffens the air and creates a barrier of loneliness that is difficult to break. I am really happy that I will be able to play the role of Hao Asakura. I will be happy if people who love this series will be able to enjoy this performance. Please watch the anime! I look forward to performing for you.
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