Spirit Warrior

Kujaku Ō (孔雀王) is a manga by Makoto Ogino. It began serialization in 1985, total 17 volumes and has been spun off into anime, two live action movies, Peacock King and Saga of the Phoenix, and video games. The anime has been released on DVD in the U.S. as Spirit Warrior.

Story
Kujaku is a Buddhist monk who speciallize in exorcism, devil hunting. He is a member of Ura-Kouya, a secret organization in Japan that specialize in demon hunting. In the first 3 volumes, Ogino wrote independent short stories about Kujaku's demon hunting. But in volume 4, it evolves into an epic saga against 六道众, a secret evil organization lead by The Teachers of Eight Leaves. The goal of The Teachers of Eight Leaves is to revive Peacock King and Snake King, and allow them to fight each other to give birth to the ultimate Dark Buddha, 黑暗大日如来. During the main story, The Teachers of Eight Leaves tried various methods to achieve their goal but ultimately defeated by Kujaku and his friends.

Characters

 * Kujaku (孔雀)
 * A young Kōya Hijiri monk of Ura-Kōya. Real name is Akira (明), the son of a monk named Jikaku and Ksitigarbha (地蔵菩薩).  He is the reincarnation of Lucifer and Mahamayuri (孔雀明王) is his guardian god.  Uses a Vajra in exorcisms.

Kujaku is protraited as non-conventional monk, he likes porn, seafood, etc.


 * Played by: Toshihiko Seki (OVA 1-3), Kōji Tsujitani (OVA 4-5), Hiroshi Mikami (Movie 1), Hiroshi Abe (Movie 2), Yuen Biao (Movies, character Kǒng-Què)


 * Onimaru (王仁丸)
 * Half-demon half-human Jukondō master. His guardian god is Mahakala (大暗黒天).
 * Played by: Hiroya Ishimaru (OVA 1), Tesshō Genda (OVA 2-3), Yūsaku Yara (OVA 4-5)


 * Ashura (阿修羅)
 * A girl who can control fire. Her guardian god is Asura King (阿修羅王).
 * Played by: Arisa Andō (OVA 1-3), Miki Itō (OVA 4-5), Gloria Yip (Movies)


 * Jikū Acarya (慈空阿闍梨)
 * Kujaku's master.
 * Played by: Gorō Naya (OVA 1-3), Ichirō Nagai (OVA 4-5), Ken Ogata (Movie 1), Shintaro Katsu (Movie 2)


 * Huáng Hǎi-Fēng (黄海峰)
 * Master of Huáng-jiā Xiāndào (黄家仙道).
 * Played by: Kazuhiko Inoue (OVA 2), Norio Wakamoto (OVA 4-5)


 * Nikkō (日光)
 * Head priest of Ura-Kōya. His guardian god is Mahāvairocana (大日如来).
 * Played by: Akira Kamiya (OVA 2), Ken Yamaguchi (OVA 4-5)


 * Tsukuyomi (月読)
 * The blind mistress of the women's prayer room at Ura-Kōya. Loves Kujaku.  Her guardian god is Candra-prabha (月光菩薩)
 * Played by: Miina Tominaga (OVA 2), Hiromi Tsuru (OVA 4-5)


 * Tomoko (朋子)
 * Kujaku's sister. Incarnation of the Heaven Snake Lord (天蛇王)
 * Played by: Noriko Hidaka

Religious Reference
Makoto Ogino used many religious references in Peacock king, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism. The Bible is referenced multiple times, including Jesus, The Holy Grail, Satan, 666, Lucifer. In the manga, the Holy Grail is the skull of Jesus Christ, if it is filled with blood from Peacock King or Snake King, it would give birth to the dark Buddha. In Christianity, the general belief is Lucifer the fallen Angel became Satan. However in the manga, Lucifer is Peacock King, both Peacock King and Snake King were fallen angels. Satan was reincarnated by another demon hunter from Ura-Koya, named Phoenix.

Nintendo

 * Kujaku Ō (孔雀王)
 * The first of two Famicom adventure games. In it the player takes the role of a band of heroes fighting against evil demons. The player interacts with the story by selecting actions from a list of options on screen (look, take, talk etc) and by a simple 'point-and-click interface. The game was released only in Japan for the Famicom on September 21, 1988 by Pony Canyon.


 * Kujaku Ō (孔雀王Ⅱ)
 * A graphic/point-and-click adventure. The player interacts with the story by selecting actions from a list of options on screen (look, take, talk etc) and by a simple 'point-and-click interface. The graphics have been improved over its predecessor. Its also available on the MSX Japanese computer.  Released on the Nintendo Famicom by Pony Canyon in Japan on August 21, 1990.

Sega

 * Kujaku Ō (孔雀王)
 * Sega Mark III, September 23, 1988 (Released as Spellcaster in western markets)


 * Kujaku Ō 2: Gen'eijō (孔雀王２ 幻影城)
 * Mega Drive, November 25, 1989 (Released as Mystic Defender in western markets)

Game links


孔雀王 Kujaku-Ō