Ultimate Batman

Ultimate Batman theme by myownscars

Download: UltimateBatman.p3t

Ultimate Batman Theme
(10 backgrounds)

P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon

This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!

Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip

Instructions:

Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.

The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.

The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].

For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.

Simpsons #7

Simpsons theme by lewisfish92

Download: Simpsons_7.p3t

Simpsons Theme 7
(3 backgrounds)

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Naruto #3

Naruto theme by Ianes93

Download: Naruto_3.p3t

Naruto Theme 3
(9 backgrounds)

Naruto
Naruto Uzumaki doing a hand sign while there is a scroll in his mouth.
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Naruto Uzumaki
NARUTOナルト
Genre
Manga
Written byMasashi Kishimoto
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runSeptember 21, 1999November 10, 2014
Volumes72 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Media franchise
icon Anime and manga portal

Naruto[a] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two parts: the first is set in Naruto's pre-teen years (volumes 1–27), and the second in his teens (volumes 28–72). The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in Shueisha's monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997).

Naruto was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 1999 to November 2014, with its chapters collected in 72 tankōbon volumes. Viz Media licensed the manga for North American production and serialized Naruto in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Part I of the manga was adapted into an anime television series by Pierrot and Aniplex, which ran for 220 episodes from October 2002 to February 2007 on TV Tokyo. A second series, which adapts material from Part II of the manga, is titled Naruto: Shippuden and ran on TV Tokyo for 500 episodes from February 2007 to March 2017. Pierrot also developed 11 animated films and 12 original video animations (OVAs). The franchise includes light novels, video games, and trading cards developed by several companies. The story of Naruto continues in Boruto, where Naruto's son Boruto Uzumaki creates his own ninja way instead of following his father's.

Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, having 250 million copies in circulation worldwide in 47 countries and regions, with 153 million copies in Japan alone and remaining 97 million copies elsewhere. It has become one of Viz Media's best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on USA Today and The New York Times bestseller list several times, and the seventh volume won a Quill Award in 2006. Reviewers praised the manga's character development, storylines, and action sequences, though some felt the latter slowed the story down. Critics noted that the manga, which has a coming-of-age theme, makes use of cultural references from Japanese mythology and Confucianism.

Plot[edit]

Part I[edit]

A powerful fox known as the Nine-Tails attacks Konoha, the hidden leaf village in the Land of Fire, one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries in the Ninja World. In response, the leader of Konoha and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, at the cost of his life, seals the fox inside the body of his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, making him a host of the beast.[i] The Third Hokage returns from retirement to become the leader of Konoha again. Naruto is often scorned by Konoha's villagers for being the host of the Nine-Tails. Due to a decree by the Third Hokage forbidding any mention of these events, Naruto learns nothing about the Nine-Tails until 12 years later, when Mizuki, a renegade ninja, reveals the truth to him. Naruto defeats Mizuki in combat, earning the respect of his teacher, Iruka Umino.[ii]

Shortly afterward, Naruto becomes a ninja and joins with Sasuke Uchiha, against whom he often competes, and Sakura Haruno, on whom he has a crush, to form Team 7, under an experienced sensei, the elite ninja Kakashi Hatake. Like all the ninja teams from every village, Team 7 completes missions requested by the villagers, ranging from doing chores and being bodyguards to performing assassinations.

After several missions, including a major one in the Land of Waves, Kakashi allows Team 7 to take a ninja exam, enabling them to advance to a higher rank and take on more difficult missions, known as Chunin Exams. During the exams, Orochimaru, a wanted criminal, invades Konoha and kills the Third Hokage for revenge. Jiraiya, one of the three legendary ninjas, declines the title of Fifth Hokage and searches with Naruto for Tsunade whom he chooses to become Fifth Hokage instead.

During the search, it is revealed that Orochimaru wishes to train Sasuke because of his powerful genetic heritage, the Sharingan.[iii] After Sasuke attempts and fails to kill his older brother Itachi,[iv] who had showed up in Konoha to kidnap Naruto, he joins Orochimaru, hoping to gain from him the strength needed to kill Itachi. The story takes a turn when Sasuke leaves the village: Tsunade sends a group of ninja, including Naruto, to retrieve Sasuke, but Naruto is unable to persuade or force him to come back. Naruto and Sakura do not give up on Sasuke; Naruto leaves Konoha to receive training from Jiraiya to prepare himself for the next time he encounters Sasuke, while Sakura becomes Tsunade's apprentice.

Part II[edit]

Two and a half years later, Naruto returns from his training with Jiraiya. The Akatsuki starts kidnapping the hosts of the powerful Tailed Beasts. Team 7 and other Leaf ninja fight against them and search for their teammate Sasuke. The Akatsuki succeeds in capturing and extracting seven of the Tailed Beasts, killing all the hosts except Gaara, who is now the Kazekage. Meanwhile, Sasuke betrays Orochimaru and faces Itachi to take revenge. After Itachi dies in battle, Sasuke learns from the Akatsuki founder Tobi that Itachi had been ordered by Konoha's superiors to destroy his clan to prevent a coup; he accepted, on the condition that Sasuke would be spared. Devastated by this revelation, Sasuke joins the Akatsuki to destroy Konoha in revenge. As Konoha ninjas defeat several Akatsuki members, the Akatsuki figurehead leader, Nagato, kills Jiraiya and devastates Konoha, but Naruto defeats and redeems him, earning the village's respect and admiration.

With Nagato's death, Tobi, disguised as Madara Uchiha (one of Konoha's founding fathers), announces that he wants to capture all nine Tailed Beasts to cast an illusion powerful enough to control all humanity and achieve world peace. The leaders of the five ninja villages refuse to help him and instead join forces to confront his faction and allies. That decision results in a Fourth Shinobi World War between the combined armies of the Five Great Countries (known as the Allied Shinobi Forces) and Akatsuki's forces of zombie-like ninjas. The Five Kage try to keep Naruto, unaware of the war, in a secret island turtle near Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village), but Naruto finds out and escapes from the island with Killer Bee, the host of the Eight-Tails. At that time, Naruto—along with the help of Killer Bee—gains control of his Tailed Beast and the two of them head for the battlefield.

During the conflict, it is revealed that Tobi is Obito Uchiha, a former teammate of Kakashi's who was thought to be dead. The real Madara saved Obito's life, and they have since collaborated. As Sasuke learns the history of Konoha, including the circumstances that led to his clan's downfall, he decides to protect the village and rejoins Naruto and Sakura to thwart Madara and Obito's plans. However, Madara's body ends up possessed by Kaguya Otsutsuki, an ancient princess who intends to subdue all humanity. A reformed Obito sacrifices himself to help Team 7 stop her. Once Kaguya is sealed, Madara dies as well. Sasuke takes advantage of the situation and takes control of all the Tailed Beasts, as he reveals his goal of ending the current village system. Naruto confronts Sasuke to dissuade him from his plan, and after they almost kill each other in a final battle, Sasuke admits defeat and reforms. After the war, Kakashi becomes the Sixth Hokage and pardons Sasuke for his crimes. Years later, Kakashi steps down while Naruto marries Hinata Hyuga and becomes the Seventh Hokage, raising the next generation.

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

In 1995, Shueisha released Karakuri, a one-shot manga by Masashi Kishimoto that earned an honorable mention in the Hop Step Award in 1996. Kishimoto was unsatisfied with his subsequent drafts for a follow-up, and decided to work on another project.[2] The new project was originally going to feature Naruto as a chef, but this version never made it to print. Kishimoto originally wanted to make Naruto a child who could transform into a fox, so he created a one-shot of Naruto for the summer 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump based on the idea.[3][4] Despite the positive feedback it received in a readers' poll, Kishimoto was unhappy with the art and the story, so he rewrote it as a story about ninjas.[5]

The first eight chapters of Naruto were planned before it appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump, and these chapters originally devoted many panels of intricate art to illustrating the Konoha village. By the time Naruto debuted, the background art was sparse, instead emphasizing the characters.[5] Though Kishimoto had concerns that chakra (the energy source used by the ninjas in Naruto) made the series too Japanese, he still believed it is an enjoyable read.[6] Kishimoto is a fan of Godzilla, and the tailed beasts mythology was introduced because Kishimoto wanted an excuse to draw monsters.[7] He has said that the central theme in Part I of Naruto is how people accept each other, citing Naruto's development across the series as an example.[8]

For Part II of the manga, Kishimoto tried to keep the panel layouts and the plot easy for the reader to follow, and avoid "overdo[ing] the typical manga-style".[9] He considers that his drawing style has changed from "the classic manga look to something a bit more realistic."[9] Because of wishing to end the arc involving Sasuke Uchiha's search for his brother, Itachi, in a single volume, Kishimoto decided that volume 43 should include more chapters than regular volumes. As a result, Kishimoto apologized to readers for this since volume 43 was more expensive than regular volumes.[10]

Characters[edit]

When he created Naruto, Kishimoto looked to other shōnen manga as influences for his work and tried to make his characters unique, while basing the story on Japanese culture.[11] The separation of the characters into different teams was intended to give each group a particular flavor. Kishimoto wanted each member to have a high level of aptitude in one skill and be talentless in another.[12] He found it difficult to write about romance, but emphasized it more in Part II of the manga, beginning with volume 28.[8] He introduced villains into the story to have them act as a counterpoint to his characters' moral values and clearly illustrate their differences.[13] As a result of how the younger characters were significantly weaker than the villains, Kishimoto made the ellipsis in order to have them age and become stronger during this time.[14]

Setting[edit]

Kishimoto made use of the Chinese zodiac tradition, which had a long-standing presence in Japan; the zodiac hand signs originate from this.[6] When Kishimoto was creating the primary setting of the Naruto manga, he concentrated initially on the designs for the village of Konoha. The idea of the setting came to him "pretty spontaneously without much thought", but admits that the scenery became based on his home in the Japanese prefecture of Okayama. Since the storyline does not specify when it is set, he was able to include modern elements in the series such as convenience stores.[15] He considered including automobiles, planes and simple computers, but excluded projectile weapons and vehicles from the plot.[15][16]

Conclusion[edit]

Masashi Kishimoto's home was close to Hiroshima where his grandfather lived. He would often tell his grandson stories of war and how it was related to grudges. In retrospect, Kishimoto commented he could not criticize anyone as a result of the war based on it was built.[clarification needed] Upon further researching, Kishimoto decided to create world war story arc for the manga's finale. However, unlike the stories he heard from his grandfather, Kishimoto wanted to give the war covered in Naruto a more hopeful feeling.[17] Nagato's arc paved the way for the ending of Naruto to occur. Nagato stood out as a villain due to suffering war and killing Naruto's mentor Jiraiya. Understanding the fears of war, Naruto's characterization was made more complex for him to experience the Fourth Great Shinobi War. These events end with Naruto forgiving Sasuke as he had forgiven Nagato in the final battle.[14]

Due to unknown issues, the series' finale was delayed. Once volume 66 was released, Kishimoto commented he reached a moment from the narrative involving something he always wanted to draw.[18] When serialization began, Kishimoto decided the ending would feature a fight between two characters: Naruto and Sasuke. However, the writer felt the two were not equals as the former was not a victim of war like the latter whose family was killed to stop a possible civil war.[19]

Kishimoto chose Hinata Hyuga as Naruto's romantic partner from the early stages of the manga, since Hinata had always respected and admired Naruto even before the series' beginning, and Kishimoto felt this meant the two of them could build a relationship.[20] When Hinata first appeared, Kishimoto thought of expanding romantic plotlines.[21][22] but decided to leave Naruto's maturation through romance as an idea for the film 2014 The Last: Naruto the Movie where he worked alongside screenwriter Maruo Kyozuka, a writer more skilled at the theme of romance.[23] Similarly, the title character's relationship with his first son, Boruto, was explored furthermore in the 2015 film Boruto: Naruto the Movie to end Naruto's growth as the character had become an adult, but it was briefly shown in the manga's finale.[24]

Media[edit]

Manga[edit]

Written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto was serialized for a 15-year run in Shueisha's magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 21, 1999,[25][26] to November 10, 2014.[27][28] Shueisha collected its chapters in 72 tankōbon volumes—27 for Part I, and the rest for Part II; they were released between March 3, 2000,[29] and February 4, 2015.[30] The first 238 chapters are Part I and constitute the first section of the Naruto storyline. Chapters 239 to 244 include a gaiden (side-story) focusing on Kakashi Hatake's background. The remaining chapters (245 to 700) belong to Part II, which continues the story after a 2+12-year gap in the internal timeline. Shueisha have also released several ani-manga tankōbon, each based on one of the Naruto movies,[31] and has released the series in Japanese for cell-phone download on their website Shueisha Manga Capsule.[32] A miniseries titled Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring,[b] centered on the main characters' children, began serialization in the Japanese and English editions of Weekly Shōnen Jump on April 27, 2015, and ended after ten chapters on July 6 of the same year.[33][34]

Naruto was scanlated (translated by fans) and available online before a licensed version was released in North America;[35] the rights were acquired by Viz Media, who began serializing Naruto in their anthology comic magazine Shonen Jump, starting with the January 2003 issue.[36] The schedule was accelerated at the end of 2007 to catch up with the Japanese version,[37] and again in early 2009, with 11 volumes (from 34 to 44) appearing in three months, after which it returned to a quarterly schedule.[38] All 27 volumes of Part I were released in a boxed set on November 13, 2007.[39] On May 3, 2011, Viz started selling the manga in an omnibus format with each book containing three volumes.[40]

The franchise has been licensed in 90 countries, and the manga serialized in 35 countries.[41][42] Madman Entertainment began publishing Naruto volumes in Australia and New Zealand in March 2008 after reaching a distribution deal with Viz Media.[43] Carlsen Comics has licensed the series, through its regional divisions, and released the series in German and Danish.[44] The series is also licensed for regional language releases in French and Dutch by Kana,[45] in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica,[46] in Russian by Comix-ART,[47] in Finnish by Sangatsu Manga,[48] in Swedish by Bonnier Carlsen,[49] and Italian by Panini Comics.[50]

Spin-offs[edit]

A spin-off comedy manga by Kenji Taira, titled Naruto SD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden,[c] focuses on the character Rock Lee, a character who aspires to be strong as a ninja but has no magical jutsu abilities. It ran in Shueisha's Saikyō Jump magazine from December 3, 2010, to July 4, 2014,[51][52] and was made into an anime series, produced by Studio Pierrot, and premiering on TV Tokyo on April 3, 2012.[53] Crunchyroll simulcasted the series' premiere on their website and streamed the following episodes.[54] Taira also wrote Uchiha Sasuke no Sharingan Den,[d] which released on October 3, 2014, which runs in the same magazine and features Sasuke.[55]

A monthly sequel series titled Boruto: Naruto Next Generations began in the Japanese and English editions of Weekly Shōnen Jump in early 2016, illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto and written by Ukyō Kodachi, with supervision by Kishimoto. Ikemoto was Kishimoto's chief assistant during the run of the original Naruto series, and Kodachi was his writing partner for the Boruto: Naruto the Movie film screenplay. The monthly series was preceded by a one-shot, titled Naruto: The Path Lit by the Full Moon (NARUTO-ナルト-外伝 ~満ちた月が照らす道~, Naruto Gaiden ~Michita Tsuki ga Terasu Michi~), written and illustrated by Kishimoto, and published on April 25 of that same year.[56][57][58] The staff from Shueisha asked Kishimoto if he would write a sequel to Naruto. However, Kishimoto refused the offer and offered his former assistant Mikio Ikemoto and writer Ukyō Kodachi write Boruto: Naruto Next Generations as the sequel to Naruto.[59]

Another one-shot chapter by Kishimoto, titled Naruto: The Whorl Within the Spiral (NARUTO-ナルト-外伝 ~渦の中のつむじ風~, Naruto Gaiden ~Uzu no Naka no Tsumujikaze~), centered on Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze, was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump on July 18, 2023.[60][61]

Anime[edit]

The first Naruto anime television series, directed by Hayato Date and produced by Pierrot and Aniplex, premiered on TV Tokyo in Japan on October 3, 2002, and concluded on February 8, 2007, after 220 episodes.[62][63] The first 135 episodes were adapted from Part I of the manga; the remaining 85 episodes are original and use plot elements that are not in the manga.[64] Tetsuya Nishio was the character designer for Naruto when the manga was adapted into an anime; Kishimoto had requested that Nishio be given this role.[65][66]

The second anime television series, titled Naruto: Shippuden[e], was also produced by Pierrot and directed by Hayato Date, and serves as a direct sequel to the first Naruto anime series; it corresponds to Part II of the manga.[67] It debuted on Japanese TV on February 15, 2007, on TV Tokyo, and concluded on March 23, 2017.[68][69]

A series of four "brand-new" episodes, to commemorate the original anime's 20th anniversary, were originally scheduled to premiere on September 3, 2023;[70] however, in August of that same year, it was announced that the episodes would be postponed to a later date.[71]

Films[edit]

The series was adapted into 11 theatrical films and 12 original video animations (OVAs). The first three films correspond to the first series, and the remaining eight correspond to the second. In July 2015, Lionsgate announced the development of a live-action film with Avi Arad through his production company Arad Productions.[72] The film will be directed by Michael Gracey. On December 17, 2016, Kishimoto announced that he has been asked to co-develop.[73] On November 27, 2023, it was announced that Tasha Huo will work on the script for the film.[74]

On February 23, 2024, Gracey had exited the project, and Destin Daniel Cretton had been hired to direct and co-write the film. Cretton received his blessings from Kishimoto, after a visit in Tokyo, with Kishimoto stating that when he heard that Cretton would be directing, he thought that he was the perfect choice.[75]

Novels[edit]

Twenty-six Naruto light novels, the first nine written by Masatoshi Kusakabe, have been published in Japan.[76] Of these, the first two have been released in English in North America. The first adapted novel, Naruto: Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood (2002), retells a Team 7 mission in which they encounter the assassins Zabuza and Haku;[77][78] the second, Naruto: Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village! (2003) was based on the second OVA of the anime.[79][80] Viz has also published 16 chapter books written by Tracey West with illustrations from the manga. Unlike the series, these books were aimed at children ages seven to ten.[81] Thirteen original novels have appeared in Japan;[76] eleven of these are part of a series, and the other two are independent novels unconnected to the series. The first independent novel, titled Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja (2009), is presented as an in-universe novel written by Naruto's master Jiraiya. It follows the adventures of a fictional shinobi named Naruto Musasabi, who served as Naruto's namesake.[82] The other independent novel, Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf Howled (2012), is set shortly after Sasuke's fight with Itachi.[83]

Itachi Shinden, which consists of two novels, and Sasuke Shinden, a single novel, both appeared in 2015, and both were adapted into anime arcs in Naruto: Shippuden in 2016, titled Naruto Shippūden: Itachi Shinden-hen: Hikari to Yami and Book of Sunrise respectively.[84][85] Hiden is a series of six light novels published in 2015 that explores the stories of various characters after the ending of the manga.[86]

Merchandise[edit]

Video games[edit]

Naruto video games have been released on various consoles by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. The majority of them are fighting games in which the player directly controls one of the characters from Naruto. The player pits their character against another character controlled by the game's

Shikamaru

Shikamaru theme by Shawn Arrington

Download: Shikamaru.p3t

Shikamaru Theme
(16 backgrounds)

Redirect to:

  • From a short name: This is a redirect from a title that is a shortened form of a more complete page title, such as a person's full name or the unbroken title of a written work.

Death of Captain America

Death of Captain America theme by Skywav

Download: DeathofCaptAmerica.p3t

Death of Captain America Theme
(1 background)

Death of Captain America may refer to:

Danny Phantom

Danny Phantom theme by DrZoidSpock

Download: DannyPhantom.p3t

Danny Phantom Theme
(1 background)

Danny Phantom
Genre
Created byButch Hartman
Developed bySteve Marmel
Directed byButch Hartman
Wincat Alcala
Sean Dempsey
Richard Bowman
Juli Hashiguchi
Ken Bruce
Gary Conrad
Kevin Petrilak
Daniel de la Vega
Voices of
Theme music composer
Opening theme"Danny Phantom", performed by Deric Battiste and Guy Moon
Ending theme"Danny Phantom" (instrumental)
ComposerGuy Moon
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes53 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerButch Hartman
ProducersBob Boyle (2004–05)
Steve Marmel (2004–05)
George Goodchild (2006–07)
AnimatorRough Draft Korea
Running time23 minutes
46 minutes (2-part episodes)
Production companiesBillionfold Inc.
Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseApril 3, 2004 (2004-04-03) –
August 24, 2007 (2007-08-24)

Danny Phantom is an American animated superhero action adventure television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on April 3, 2004, right after the 2004 Kids' Choice Awards, and ended on August 24, 2007. The series follows Danny Fenton, a teenage boy who, after an accident with an unpredictable portal between the human world and the "Ghost Zone", becomes a human-ghost hybrid and takes on the task of saving his town (and the world) from subsequent ghost attacks using an evolving variety of supernatural powers. Danny is aided in his quest by his two best friends, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, and later by his older sister Jazz, who for most of the series' run are among the only people who know of his double life.[2]

Throughout its run, Danny Phantom received five Annie Award nominations and positive reviews.[3] In recent years, the series, particularly its first two seasons, has received renewed attention and critical acclaim from critics and audiences, being considered by many as Hartman's best and most acclaimed work.[4][5] Additionally, Danny Phantom has spawned video games, home video releases, toys, and various other merchandise. A campaign to revive Danny Phantom called the Go Ghost Again Movement has spawned in recent years, including a petition on Change.org that has received thousands of signatures.[6]

Premise[edit]

Daniel "Danny" Fenton, a 14-year-old boy living in the small town of Amity Park, lives with his ghost hunting eccentric parents, Jack and Madeline "Maddie", and his overprotective but caring 16-year-old sister, Jasmine "Jazz". Upon pressure from his two best friends, Samantha "Sam" Manson and Tucker Foley, Danny decides to explore the Ghost Portal created by his parents in their attempt to bridge the human world and the Ghost Zone (the parallel universe in which ghosts reside), that when plugged in, failed to work. Once inside, he inadvertently presses the "On" button (which his parents naively failed to do), thus activating the Portal and infusing his DNA with ectoplasm, transforming him into a half-ghost.[7]

Danny, who calls himself "Danny Phantom" in ghost form, develops the ability to fly, become invisible, intangible, and "overshadow" (possess and control) people after first learning how to switch back and forth at will between his ghost and human forms. Over time, he develops much stronger abilities, such as his Ghost Ray (a concentrated blast of energy he fires from his hand), his Ghostly Wail (an intensely powerful scream with sonic capabilities that knocks back anything caught in its path), and even cryokinesis. Danny is initially frightened by his new abilities and has little control over them, but he soon learns to use them to protect his town from evil spirits. Danny turns to the life of a superhero, using his powers to rid his hometown of the various ghosts and mutant animals which begin to plague it and are almost always brought into the world thanks to the sporadic activation of the Fentons' Ghost Portal. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz are Danny's primary allies in his ghost-fighting activities,[8] and help him keep his ghost-half a secret.

Danny's ghost form is a polarization of what he looked like when he first entered the Ghost Portal. When he "goes ghost", his jet-black hair turns snow-white, his sky blue eyes turn neon green, and the black-and-white jumpsuit he had put on before the accident appears in negative color, with the originally white areas of the suit appearing black, and vice versa. In the premiere episode of season two, a ghost grants Sam's inadvertent wish that she and Danny had never met; in consequence, Danny loses not only memories but his ghost powers as well, as Sam had primarily been the one to persuade Danny to investigate the portal in the first place, which led to the accident. Luckily, however, Sam had been protected from the wish by the ghost-hunting technology of Danny's parents, allowing her to persuade the now fully human Danny to regain his powers by re-enacting the accident. This time, before Danny enters the portal, Sam replaces the logo of his father's face on the jumpsuit, which she also had removed the first time (if she hadn't, it would have been part of Danny's ghost form), with her recently designed "DP" fused-letter logo on the chest so that it appears when he goes ghost from then on.

Danny faces threats of many kinds, including vengeful ghost hunter Valerie Gray (voiced by Cree Summer) who, for a short period of time, becomes his love interest,[9] an enemy half-ghost Vlad Masters, an old college friend of his father's and considered to be Danny's true arch-rival,[10] and even his own parents who, as ghost hunters, view Danny Phantom (as they would and do to any ghosts) as nothing but a menace to human society. Furthermore, Danny tries to keep his secret safe from his classmates, teachers, and family.[11] Throughout the progression of the series, Danny slowly realizes his own potential and purpose, while both worlds slowly begin to accept him as their defender.[12]

Episodes[edit]

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
120April 3, 2004 (2004-04-03)June 17, 2005 (2005-06-17)
220June 24, 2005 (2005-06-24)June 9, 2006 (2006-06-09)
313October 9, 2006 (2006-10-09)August 24, 2007 (2007-08-24)

Broadcast[edit]

Danny Phantom premiered on April 3, 2004, at 9:30 p.m. with its first episode airing after the 2004 Kids' Choice Awards.[13] The final episode aired on August 24, 2007. Shortly after the series ended, reruns aired occasionally on Nicktoons until March 31, 2021. The series also aired on TeenNick's NickSplat block for the first time in January 2019.

The series aired on CBC, YTV, and Nickelodeon in Canada. Danny Phantom also appeared on CITV in the UK as part of the CITV morning block Action Stations in 2008.[14]

Merchandise[edit]

Video games[edit]

There have been two video games released for the main series. Danny Phantom: The Ultimate Enemy is a 2D platformer that adapts the events of the TV movie of the same name; it was released for the Game Boy Advance on September 8, 2005.[15] Danny Phantom: Urban Jungle is a shooter game loosely based on the episode of the same name, released for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS on September 19, 2006.[16]

Danny is one of the main heroes in the Nicktoons Unite! series, appearing in all four games: Nicktoons Unite!, Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island, Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, and SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom.[citation needed]

Danny and other characters and locations from the series have also been featured in other Nickelodeon crossover video games, including: Nicktoons: Summer Camp, Nicktoons Basketball, Nicktoons: Freeze Frame Frenzy, Nicktoons Movin', Nicktoons Winners Cup Racing, Nicktoons Nitro,[17] Nicktoons MLB, Nickelodeon Super Brawl Universe, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix,[18] Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl,[19] Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis,[20] Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2.[21]

Danny was one of several Nickelodeon-themed character skins released during a limited-time event in Smite on July 12, 2022[22]

Print media[edit]

In October 2005, Scholastic Corporation published a Nick Zone chapter book, Stage Fright, with an original Danny Phantom story written by Erica David and illustrated by Victoria Miller and Harry Moore.[23] Danny Phantom also made several appearances in Nickelodeon Magazine, including original comics "Brat's Entertainment!" (featuring Youngblood) and "Seeing Red" (featuring Undergrowth).[citation needed]

A graphic novel, titled Danny Phantom: A Glitch in Time, was released on July 18, 2023. It was written and illustrated by Gabriela Epstein and published by Abrams Books.[24] The graphic novel is set after the events of the series finale and features the return of Dark Danny. A sequel is currently in the works.[25]

Home media[edit]

Nick Picks releases[edit]

DVD name Release date Episode Ref.
Nick Picks Vol. 1 May 24, 2005 "Bitter Reunions" [26]
Nick Picks Vol. 2 October 18, 2005 "Splitting Images" [26]
Nick Picks Vol. 3 February 7, 2006 "Fright Night" [26]
Nick Picks Vol. 4 June 6, 2006 "Teacher of the Year" [27]
Nick Picks Holiday September 26, 2006 "The Fright Before Christmas" [28]
Nick Picks Vol. 5 March 13, 2007 "Fanning the Flames" [29]

CreateSpace releases[edit]

DVD name Release date Discs Episodes Ref.
Season 1 September 16, 2008 4 13 (early copies)
20 (later copies)
[30]
Season 2 September 16, 2008 4 13 (early copies)
17 (later copies)
[31]
Season 3 June 9, 2009 3 12 [32]

Shout! Factory releases[edit]

DVD name Release date Discs Episodes Ref.
Season 1 September 13, 2011 4 20 [33]
Season 2: Part 1 April 3, 2012 2 9 [34]
Season 2: Part 2 August 28, 2012 2 12 [33]
Ghost Hunter October 7, 2014 1 5 [35]
The Final Season October 14, 2014 2 12 [36]
The Complete Series January 28, 2014 9 53 [37]

Other releases[edit]

DVD name Release date Episode(s) Ref.
Classic Nickelodeon Halloween Specials October 1, 2015 "Fright Night" [38]
A Very Nickelodeon Christmas November 4, 2015 "The Fright Before Christmas" [39]
Out Of The Vault Rewind April 20, 2018 "My Brother’s Keeper"; "Fanning The Flames" [40]
Keepin’ It Nick October 2, 2018 "Mystery Meat"; "Parental Bonding" [41]
Out of the Vault Forever Favorites ???? "Memory Blank"; "Doctor's Disorders" [citation needed]

Toys[edit]

Little official merchandise has been produced for Danny Phantom.

In 2005, Burger King released a line of Danny Phantom kids' meal toys.[42][43]

In 2012, a company called Jazwares Toys released a 6-inch tall action figure of Danny Phantom as part of their Nicktoons toy line.[44]

In 2020, Funko Pop released a limited edition Danny Phantom figure for 2020 New York City Comic Con. The figure was also released in Target stores.[45]

Apparel[edit]

As of 2020, a line of Danny Phantom shirts is available at Kohl's as part of their licensed Nickelodeon merchandise collection.[46]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Danny Phantom was well received by both television critics and audiences, gathering a cult following since its original run.[47] Sean Aitchison from CBR said "Danny Phantom might have a few elements that firmly place it in the 2000s, but the storytelling and design still feel fresh and fun in modern day. The show was full of action and humor, and the characters felt real and layered. If you're looking for an old Nickelodeon cartoon to rewatch, Danny Phantom should be on your list."[48] Eric McInnis writing for Study Breaks Magazine said, "The show offered fun comedy, memorable characters, and fantastic character designs for the enemies Danny had to fight in each episode."[49] Joly Herman of Common Sense Media criticized the mature themes of Danny Phantom, saying that, "This cartoon can be funny, and the characters are unique. But, as is the case with so many contemporary cartoons, the rush to violence overshadows the good aspects of the series. Death threats, torture, knives, and violence against women are commonplace. There's no opportunity to work things out. Danny is either a coward or a hero – there's no in between. He either fights or perishes, which is a heavy choice for a sensitive guy."[50]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
2004 BMI Film/TV Awards BMI Cable Award Butch Hartman and Guy Moon Won [51]
2006 33rd Annie Awards Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production Ben Balistreri for "Identity Crisis" Nominated [52]
2007 34th Annie Awards Character Design in an Animated Television Production Ben Balistreri for "King Tuck" [53]
Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production Ben Balistreri for "Urban Jungle" [53]
Shaunt Nigoghossian for "Reality Trip" [53]
2008 35th Annie Awards Ben Balistreri for "Torrent of Terror" [54]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Danny Phantom". Metacritic.
  2. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 144–145. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. ^ Danny Phantom, retrieved 2021-04-30
  4. ^ "Cult Corner: 'Danny Phantom' Was a Nicktoon Too Ahead of Its Time". Decider. 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  5. ^ "Danny Phantom: 15 Best Episodes Of The Nickelodeon Cartoon". CBR. 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  6. ^ Kim, Brendan (13 July 2021). "Danny Phantom Petition to Bring Back Nickelodeon Show Gets over 17,000 Signatures". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  7. ^ "Memory Blank. Director: Butch Hartman, Ken Bruce, Gary Conrad; Writer: Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 21. 2005-06-24. Nicktoons.
  8. ^ "Mystery Meat. Director: Butch Hartman; Writer: Butch Hartman, Mark Banner, Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 01. 2004-04-03. Nicktoons.
  9. ^ "Shades of Gray. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 10. 2004-09-24. Nickelodeon.
  10. ^ "Bitter Reunions. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Juli Hashiguchi; Writer: Steve Marmel, Sib Ventress.". Danny Phantom. Season 1. Episode 07. 2004-05-07. Nickelodeon.
  11. ^ Perlmutter, David (2014). America toons in : a history of television animation. McFarland & Company. pp. 314–317. ISBN 978-1-4766-1488-5. OCLC 903291765.
  12. ^ "Reign Storm. Director: Butch Hartman, Wincat Alcala, Kevin Petrilak; Writer: Steve Marmel.". Danny Phantom. Season 2. Episode 24/25. 2005-07-29. Nickelodeon.
  13. ^ Nickelodeon (2004-04-03), Nickelodeon's Countdown To KCA 2004, retrieved 2023-11-04
  14. ^ "CBC.ca/kids Reviews .::. My Two Cents: Danny Phantom". Archived from the original on 2007-01-28.
  15. ^ "Search Reviews, Articles, People, Trailers and more at Metacritic - Metacritic". Metacritic.

    Initial D

    Initial D theme by shadyslim59 (ludovic59110)

    Download: InitialD.p3t

    Initial D Theme
    (3 backgrounds)

    Initial D
    First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Takumi Fujiwara and the AE86
    頭文字(イニシャル) D
    (Inisharu Dī)
    Genre
    Manga
    Written byShuichi Shigeno
    Published byKodansha
    English publisher
    ImprintYoung Magazine KC
    MagazineWeekly Young Magazine
    DemographicSeinen
    Original runJuly 17, 1995July 29, 2013
    Volumes48 (List of volumes)
    Further information
    Anime television series
    Initial D First Stage
    Directed byShin Misawa
    Produced byRen Usami
    Written byKoji Kaneda
    Music byRyuichi Katsumata
    Studio
    Licensed by
    Original networkFuji TV
    English network
    Original run April 18, 1998 December 5, 1998
    Episodes26 (List of episodes)
    Anime television series
    Initial D Second Stage
    Directed byShin'ichi Masaki
    Produced byKayo Fukuda
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byRyuichi Katsumata
    StudioPastel
    Licensed by
    • AUS: Madman Entertainment
    • NA:
      • Tokyopop (former)
      • Crunchyroll (current)
    • SEA: Medialink
    Original networkFuji TV
    English network
    • SEA: Animax Asia
    Original run October 14, 1999 January 6, 2000
    Episodes13 (List of episodes)
    Original video animation
    Initial D Extra Stage
    Directed byShishi Yamaguchi
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byRyuichi Katsumata
    StudioPastel
    Licensed by
    • AUS: Madman Entertainment
    • NA:
      • Tokyopop (former)
      • Crunchyroll (current)
    • SEA: Medialink
    Released February 22, 2000 February 29, 2000
    Runtime25 minutes (each)
    Episodes2 (List of episodes)
    Anime film
    Initial D Third Stage
    Directed byFumitsugu Yamaguchi
    Produced byTakayuki Nagasawa
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byRyuichi Katsumata
    Studio
    Licensed by
    • AUS: Madman Entertainment
    • NA: Crunchyroll
    • SEA: Medialink
    ReleasedJanuary 13, 2001
    Runtime105 minutes
    Original video animation
    Initial D Battle Stage
    Directed byShishi Yamaguchi
    Produced byTakayuki Nagasawa
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byRyuichi Katsumata
    StudioStudio Deen
    ReleasedMay 15, 2002
    Runtime45 minutes
    Anime television series
    Initial D Fourth Stage
    Directed byTsuneo Tominaga
    Produced byKayo Fukuda
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byAtsushi Umebori
    StudioA.C.G.T
    Licensed by
    • AUS: Madman Entertainment
    • NA: Crunchyroll
    • SEA: Medialink
    Original networkAnimax PPV
    Original run April 17, 2004 February 18, 2006
    Episodes24 (List of episodes)
    Original video animation
    Initial D Battle Stage 2
    Directed byTsuneo Tominaga
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byAtsushi Umebori
    StudioA.C.G.T
    ReleasedMay 30, 2007
    Runtime78 minutes
    Original video animation
    Initial D Extra Stage 2
    Directed byTsuneo Tominaga
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byAtsushi Umebori
    StudioA.C.G.T
    ReleasedOctober 3, 2008
    Runtime55 minutes
    Anime television series
    Initial D Fifth Stage
    Directed byMitsuo Hashimoto
    Produced byKayo Fukuda
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byAtsushi Umebori
    StudioSynergySP
    Original networkAnimax PPV (Perfect Choice Premier 1)
    Original run November 9, 2012 May 10, 2013
    Episodes14 (List of episodes)
    Anime television series
    Initial D Final Stage
    Directed byMitsuo Hashimoto
    Produced byKayo Fukuda
    Written by
    • Hiroshi Toda
    • Nobuaki Kishima
    Music byAtsushi Umebori
    StudioSynergySP
    Original networkAnimax PPV (Animax Plus)
    Original run May 16, 2014 June 22, 2014
    Episodes4 (List of episodes)
    Films
    Sequel
    icon Anime and manga portal

    Initial D (Japanese: 頭文字イニシャル D, Hepburn: Inisharu Dī) is a Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 tankōbon volumes. The story focuses on the world of illegal Japanese street racing, where all the action is concentrated in the mountain passes and rarely in cities or urban areas, and with the drifting racing style emphasized in particular. Professional race car driver and pioneer of drifting Keiichi Tsuchiya helped with editorial supervision. The story is centered on the prefecture of Gunma, more specifically on several mountains in the Kantō region and in their surrounding cities and towns. Although some of the names of the locations the characters race in have been fictionalized, all of the locations in the series are based on actual locations in Japan.

    Initial D has been adapted into several anime television and original video animations series by OB Studio Comet, Studio Gallop, Pastel, A.C.G.T and SynergySP. A live action film by Avex and Media Asia was released in 2005. Both the manga and anime series were initially licensed for English-language distribution in North America by Tokyopop (2002–2009). However, the anime license has since been picked up by Funimation (now Crunchyroll), while the manga was relicensed by Kodansha USA in 2019.

    As of April 2021, Initial D had over 55 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history.

    Plot[edit]

    The first battle of the series, Keisuke Takahashi (FD3S) vs. Takumi Fujiwara (AE86), as seen in the anime

    Takumi Fujiwara is a student working as a gas station attendant with his best friend Itsuki. Itsuki is enthusiastically interested in being a street racer. The team he feels closest to and hopes to join is the Akina Speed Stars, whose team leader Koichiro Iketani is also working at the same pump station. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, Takumi helps out his father Bunta as a tofu delivery driver for his father's store before sunrise each morning, passively building an impressive amount of skill of over five years behind the wheel of the family car, an aging Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE86).

    Shortly after the story begins, the Red Suns, a highly experienced racing team from Mount Akagi led by Ryosuke Takahashi, challenge the local Speed Stars team to a set of races on Mount Akina. Dispirited after watching the Red Suns' superior performance during a practice run, the Speed Stars expect to lose. Later that night, the Red Suns' #2 driver, Keisuke Takahashi, heading home after the last practice run, is defeated soundly by a mysterious Sprinter Trueno, despite driving a much more powerful Mazda RX-7 (FD3S). An investigation into the identity of the driver leads to Bunta Fujiwara, Takumi's father. While trying to do his best for the team on Mount Akina, Iketani suffers a crash and damages his car and injures himself. He is unable to take part in the race to represent his team. Iketani begs Bunta to help the Speed Stars defeat the Red Suns, and he initially refuses, later relenting to "maybe" show up at the race. At the same time, Takumi asks Bunta if he can borrow the car for a day to take a trip to the beach with a potential girlfriend who is also one of his classmates (Natsuki Mogi), and Bunta seizes the moment by granting permission (plus a full tank of fuel) on the condition that Takumi defeats Keisuke. On the night of the race, the Trueno does not show up, and the Speed Stars enlist a backup driver (Kenji) for the first run. At the last moment before the race starts, the AE86 arrives. Takumi steps out of the car to the bewilderment of the Speed Stars, who were expecting Bunta. He easily defeats Keisuke by utilizing a dangerous "gutter run" technique (putting both the left/right tires into the gutters to prevent centrifugal force from pushing the car outward) on the mountain road's hairpin corners.

    The Red Suns' embarrassing defeat sets up the plot for the rest of the series: drivers from neighboring prefectures come to challenge Takumi and the "Legendary Eight-Six of Akina" and thus prove themselves as racers. Meanwhile, Takumi, who was considered spacey and uninterested in the world around him, becomes more passionate about racing with every opponent he faces. However, soon Takumi faces a threat in the form of Emperors, a team that uses Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions. Takumi's old AE86 is no match and he loses to the team's leader, Sudo Kyoichi (Evo III), blowing his engine. The Akagi RedSuns come to the rescue and defeat both Seiji and Kyoichi, thus securing the pride of Gunma's racers. Meanwhile, Bunta replaces the AE86's blown engine with a new one. Wataru Akiyama and Koichiro Iketani help Takumi to figure out why he is unable to control his car. Takumi soon faces graduation, but continues racing, even facing off and defeating Wataru Akiyama, whose car is the other version of the AE86, the 'Levin'. He eventually defeats Kyoichi in a rematch at his home course, the Nikko Irohazaka. He also defeats the son of Bunta's old rival, who drives a Toyota MR2 (SW20). At one point, Miki, one of Natsuki's old friends, tries to kidnap her only for Takumi to come to the rescue in Lake Akina during winter time. They eventually break up, but promise to meet again soon.

    Eventually, the plot moves away from Mount Akina as Takumi becomes bored with racing and winning solely on that road. He joins an expedition racing team, Project D, formed by Ryosuke Takahashi (also including Keisuke Takahashi), former leader of the disbanded Red Suns, and challenges more difficult opponents on their home courses in the pursuit of his dream to be "the fastest driver out there". At one point, impostors in the form of Takumi and Keisuke try to defame Project D, Wataru comes to help and they dispatch the impostors, revealing them in front of the public. Also, while making tofu deliveries, Takumi is defeated by a mysterious Subaru Impreza WRX STI, but after finding out the driver is his father, he must learn the characteristics of 4WD in order to better himself. Project D races against teams like Team Seven Star Leaf, students and a graduated pro racer from Todo Racing School, Northern Saitama Alliance, a second Lancer Evolution team at Tsuchisaka who resort to cheating to win, Team Purple Shadow, Team 246, the Kanagawa Racing Alliance, Team Spiral, and Team Sidewinder. During this, Takumi falls in love with another girl named Mika Uehara, and Ryosuke deals with an old rival that he previously had a falling out with the latter's girlfriend who eventually committed suicide. The expedition of Project D ends spectacularly with a race between Takumi Fujiwara and Shinji Inui of Team Sidewinder, two evenly matched drivers, where Takumi blows his engine again, but steps on the clutch and wins the race by rolling backwards over the finish line. He then decides to put his AE86 on a complete rest from operating for the best (but in the anime he decommissioned the AE86 from racing but decides to keep it and slowly repair it with his own money). Ryosuke disbands Project D and later reveals the meaning of the Initial "D" and starts training other potential drivers under him to pursue his dream. Keisuke becomes a professional race car driver whereas Takumi continues delivering tofu in his father's Subaru Impreza. Eventually Takumi pursues rally racing as career and becomes a world champion legendary rally race car driver.

    The story of Initial D continued in another manga by Shuichi Shigeno, MF Ghost.

    Media[edit]

    The Initial D franchise logo

    Manga[edit]

    Written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno, Initial D was serialized for eighteen years by Kodansha in the seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from July 17, 1995,[4][5] to July 29, 2013.[6][7] Kodansha collected its 719 individual chapters in forty-eight tankōbon volumes, released from November 6, 1995,[8] to November 6, 2013.[9]

    In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by Tokyopop (along with the anime series) in 2001.[10][11] The company changed the names of the characters in the anime edition, and subsequently changed them in the manga to match.[12][13] These name changes matched the name changes that Sega implemented into the Western releases of the Initial D Arcade Stage video games.[12] Tokyopop also censored the brief scenes of nudity from the original manga.[1] In addition, "street slang" was interlaced in translations.[13] The company released thirty-three volumes from May 21, 2002,[14] to January 13, 2009,[15] before they announced in August 2009 that their manga licensing contracts with Kodansha had expired.[16] In April 2019, ComiXology and Kodansha USA announced that they had released volumes 1 to 38 digitally, while volumes 39 to 48 were released in July of the same year.[17][18] In August 2023, Kodansha USA announced that they would be re-releasing the manga in an omnibus format with new translation and lettering beginning in 2024.[19] The first volume was released on March 19, 2024; it has three cover variants: a new cover made by Kodansha USA, a Crunchyroll and direct market exclusive variant, and a Kinokuniya variant.[20] The second volume is set to be released on June 4, 2024.[21]

    Anime[edit]

    Avex has released the anime in several parts called Stages. A recurrent feature of the anime is its extensive usage of Eurobeat as background music in race scenes, especially by Italian singers.

    • Initial D (referred to retroactively as "First Stage"): 26 episodes (1998)
    • Initial D Second Stage: 13 episodes (1999)
    • Initial D Extra Stage: 2-episode OVA side-story focusing on Impact Blue (2000)
    • Initial D Third Stage: a 104-minute movie (2001)
    • Initial D Fourth Stage: 24 episodes (2004–2006)
    • Initial D Extra Stage 2: a 50-minute OVA side-story focusing on Mako and Iketani (2008)
    • Initial D Fifth Stage: 14 episodes (2012–2013)[22]
    • Initial D Final Stage: 4 episodes (TV), compilation movie (DVD/Blu-ray) (2014)
    • New Initial D the Movie - Legend 1: Awakening: feature movie (2014)
    • New Initial D the Movie - Legend 2: Racer: feature movie (2015)
    • New Initial D the Movie - Legend 3: Dream: feature movie (2016)

    The Battle Stages are musical films serving as a compilation of the racing action scenes in the preceding series, stripped of all but minimal character dialog and featuring new music.

    • Initial D Battle Stage: a 50-minute movie (2002)
      • Battle Stage is a compilation of races from the first three series, except for Extra Stage. The battles from First Stage have been reanimated and remastered with the more advanced CGI used in Third Stage, however the character art remains the same. A battle not featured in either the manga or the anime is featured, using the new CGI and old character art.
    • Initial D Battle Stage 2: a 1-hour movie (2007)
      • Battle Stage 2 is a compilation of races from Fourth Stage with unchanged CGI, even for the hidden battles. It features Keisuke's first two races as part of Project D, as they were not featured in Fourth Stage.
    • Initial D Battle Stage 3: (2021)
      • Battle Stage 3 features every race from Fifth Stage and Final Stage. Unlike the previous two battle stages, it does not feature any new battles, and doesn't feature any character dialogue.
    • New Initial D the Movie Battle Digest: (2022)
      • A recap of the movie trilogy with additional scenes of the characters test driving their cars.

    In 1998, Initial D was adapted into an animated television series produced by OB Planning and Prime Direction. The first episode premièred on Fuji TV on April 8, 1998. The initial series ran for 26 weekly episodes with the finale airing on December 5, 1998.

    The second series, named "Second Stage", aired from October 14, 1999, to January 20, 2000, with a one-week break over the New Year period. This was followed by animated feature film in 2001 and an OVA documenting all battles from the previous three stages, with the battles from First Stage being re-animated.

    Initial D Third Stage was a feature film covering the story arcs between the second and fourth stage, released in Japan on January 13, 2001. It earned a distribution income of ¥520 million ($6.52 million) at the Japanese box office.[23]

    In 2004, Initial D Fourth Stage aired on SkyPerfecTV's pay-per-view service, airing two episodes back-to-back every two months. 24 episodes were made until the final episodes were aired in February 2006.

    Following Second Stage in 2000, Initial D Extra Stage was aired as a spinoff to the original series. This story focused on the all-female Impact Blue team of Usui Pass and their point of view of the recent events of Second Stage and the upcoming Third Stage movie. This was followed by Extra Stage 2 in 2008, which look at the relationship between Impact Blue's Mako Sato and Iketani of the SpeedStars (following on from the original side-story in the manga).

    Eight years after the release of "Fourth Stage" in 2004, Animax aired "Initial D Fifth Stage". Animax has aired the series on a pay-per-view basis on SKY PerfecTV!'s Perfect Choice Premier 1 channel.[24] The first two episodes aired on November 9, 2012. The rest of the episodes were broadcast two per month till May 10, 2013.[24]

    In 2014, "Initial D Final Stage" became the latest installment in the anime series. Animax has aired its first two episodes on a pay-per-view basis on its own brand new ANIMAX PLUS channel, on May 16, 2014, on its new subscription VOD (Video On Demand) service, which allows subscribers to watch all the latest anime series. Initial D Final Stage will start right after where Fifth Stage left off. There are a total of four episodes that makes up this mini stage.[25] The final two episodes were broadcast on June 22, 2014.

    Since the anime's original run, Japanese musical group m.o.v.e has performed all of the opening and some ending themes of the series. This followed on from the success of one of their first hits, "Around the World", which was used as the first opening of First Stage. Their latest single to be used in the series is called "Outsoar The Rainbow" and it is used as Final Stage's opening.[26] They had another recent unreleased song, "Days". It was played in the finale of "Final Stage".

    Like in the manga, Tokyopop change elements of the anime to suit Western audiences. As well as changing the names and used western slang, the company also changed the anime's music from the series' staple eurobeat tracks to originally developed tracks of rap and hip-hop via Stu Levy (DJ Milky), the Tokyopop CEO and an in-house musician.[12]

    In 2006, Funimation announced that it would be distributing the DVDs of the anime (since Tokyopop's original distributor went bankrupt). This new distribution was marked by slightly revised packaging and two box sets corresponding to the licensed seasons Tokyopop had dubbed, although the DVDs themselves were exactly the same as the original Tokyopop release.

    Tokyopop had completed an English subtitled version of Third Stage, and screened it at the Big Apple Anime Fest on August 29, 2003.[27] This version of Third Stage reportedly retained the original Japanese soundtrack, in contrast to their treatment of the rest of the anime series. This version of the film was never released on DVD, nor was it ever mentioned by Tokyopop past the original announcement.

    At the New York Anime Festival 2009, Funimation announced that it would be re-releasing and re-dubbing Initial D: First Stage, Second Stage, Extra Stage, Third Stage, and Fourth Stage. Their release included a brand new English dub and retained the original music from the Japanese in an uncut format. Funimation released the series out of order, with the Third and Fourth Stages releasing before the First and Second Stages.[28] The first Extra Stage was included in the Second Stage box set.

    Animated feature film series[edit]

    In July 2013 it was announced that another feature film titled New Initial D the Movie and a last anime series, Initial D Final Stage, will be produced.[29] The movie is a retelling of the early Stages with a wholly new voice cast and is split into three parts, with the first part released on August 23, 2014, titled Legend 1: Awakening, the second part was released May 23, 2015, titled Legend 2: Racer, the third part released on February 6, 2016, titled Legend 3: Dream.[30]

    Games[

    Captain Tsubasa

    Captain Tsubasa theme by shadyslim59 (ludovic59110)

    Download: CaptainTsubasa.p3t

    Captain Tsubasa Theme
    (3 backgrounds)

    Captain Tsubasa
    First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Tsubasa Oozora
    キャプテン翼
    (Kyaputen Tsubasa)
    GenreSports
    Manga
    Written byYōichi Takahashi
    Published byShueisha
    English publisher
    • JP: Shueisha (bilingual)
    ImprintJump Comics
    MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
    DemographicShōnen
    Original runMarch 31, 1981May 9, 1988
    Volumes37 (List of volumes)
    Further information
    Anime television series
    Directed byHiroyoshi Mitsunobu
    Produced by
    • Hiromichi Shigegaki
    • Hyota Ezu
    • Masao Kodaira
    Music byHiromoto Tobisawa
    StudioTsuchida Production
    Licensed by
    Original networkTV Tokyo
    Original run October 13, 1983 March 27, 1986
    Episodes128 (List of episodes)
    Anime film
    Captain Tsubasa: Europe Daikessen
    Directed byHiroyoshi Mitsunobu
    Produced byHiromichi Shigegaki
    Written byYoshiyuki Suga
    Music byHiromoto Tobisawa
    StudioTsuchida Production
    ReleasedJuly 13, 1985
    Runtime41 minutes
    Anime film
    Captain Tsubasa: Ayaushi, Zen Nippon Jr.
    Directed byHiroyoshi Mitsunobu
    Produced byHiromichi Shigegaki
    Written byYoshiyuki Suga
    Music byHiromoto Tobisawa
    StudioTsuchida Production
    ReleasedDecember 21, 1985
    Runtime60 minutes
    Anime film
    Captain Tsubasa: Asu ni Mukatte Hashire
    Directed byNoriyoshi Nakamura
    Written byYoshiyuki Suga
    Music byHiromoto Tobisawa
    StudioTsuchida Production
    ReleasedMarch 15, 1986
    Runtime35 minutes
    Anime film
    Captain Tsubasa: Sekai Daikessen!! Jr. World Cup
    Directed byTatsuya Okamoto
    Written byYoshiyuki Suga
    Music byHiromoto Tobisawa
    StudioTsuchida Production
    ReleasedJuly 12, 1986
    Runtime57 minutes
    Original video animation
    Shin Captain Tsubasa
    Directed byOsamu Sekita
    Produced by
    • Kaname Sakamoto
    • Masaki Sawanobori
    Written bySatoshi Namiki
    Music byOsamu Totsuka
    StudioAnimate
    Released July 1, 1989 July 1, 1990
    Episodes13 (List of episodes)
    Manga
    Captain Tsubasa: World Youth
    Written byYōichi Takahashi
    Published byShueisha
    ImprintJump Comics
    MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
    DemographicShōnen
    Original runApril 18, 1994August 25, 1997
    Volumes18 (List of volumes)
    Original video animation
    Holland Youth
    Directed byYoriyasu Kogawa
    Produced by
    • Kyotaro Kimura
    • Michihisa Abe
    • Minoru Ohno
    Written byYoriyasu Kogawa
    Music byTakeo Miratsu
    StudioJ.C.Staff
    ReleasedNovember 6, 1994
    Runtime48 minutes
    Anime television series
    Captain Tsubasa J
    Directed byHiroshi Fukutomi
    Produced by
    • Etsuko Komatsu
    • Hidetaka Ikuta
    • Koji Kaneda
    Music byMichihiko Ohta
    StudioStudio Comet
    Original networkFuji TV
    Original run October 21, 1994 December 22, 1995
    Episodes47 (List of episodes)
    Manga
    Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002
    Written byYōichi Takahashi
    Published byShueisha
    MagazineWeekly Young Jump
    DemographicSeinen
    Original runDecember 21, 2000May 13, 2004
    Volumes15 (List of volumes)
    Anime television series
    Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002
    Directed byGisaburō Sugii
    Produced by
    Written byKaoru Kurosaki (screenplay)
    Music by
    StudioGroup TAC
    Licensed by
    Original networkTV Tokyo
    Original run October 7, 2001 October 6, 2002
    Episodes52 (List of episodes)
    Manga
    Captain Tsubasa: Golden-23
    Written byYōichi Takahashi
    Published byShueisha
    MagazineWeekly Young Jump
    DemographicSeinen
    Original runOctober 6, 2005April 24, 2008
    Volumes12 (List of volumes)
    Manga
    Captain Tsubasa: Kaigai Gekitō-hen
    Written byYōichi Takahashi
    Published byShueisha
    MagazineWeekly Young Jump
    DemographicSeinen
    Original runMay 7, 2009April 5, 2012
    Volumes8 (List of volumes)
    Manga
    Captain Tsubasa: Rising Sun
    Written byYōichi Takahashi
    Published byShueisha
    Magazine
    • Grand Jump (2013–2019)
    • Captain Tsubasa Magazine (2020–2024)
    DemographicSeinen
    Original runDecember 28, 2013April 4, 2024
    Volumes20 (List of volumes)
    Anime television series
    Directed by
    • Toshiyuki Kato (S1)
    • Katsumi Ono (S2)
    Written byAtsuhiro Tomioka
    Music byHayato Matsuo
    Studio
    Licensed by
    Original networkTV Tokyo
    English network
    Original run April 2, 2018 – present
    Episodes69 (List of episodes)
    Related media

    Captain Tsubasa (Japanese: キャプテン翼, Hepburn: Kyaputen Tsubasa) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yōichi Takahashi. The series mainly revolves around the sport of association football focusing on Tsubasa Oozora and his relationship with his friends, rivalries with his opponents, training, competition, and the action and outcome of each football match. Across the multiple Captain Tsubasa series, the plot shows Tsubasa's and his friends' growth as they face new rivals.

    The Captain Tsubasa manga series was originally serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump between 1981 and 1988, with the chapters collected in 37 tankōbon volumes. It was followed by various manga sequels. The original manga series was adapted into an anime television series by Tsuchida Production and broadcast on TV Tokyo from 1983 to 1986. Numerous movies and television series have followed with the latest one airing between 2018 and 2019; a second season premiered in 2023.

    By 2023, the overall manga had over 90 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. Captain Tsubasa became one of the most popular manga and anime series worldwide, most notably in Japan due to how it popularized association football. Multiple real life players have been inspired to become professionals after seeing the series. In a poll conducted by TV Asahi in 2005, the Captain Tsubasa anime series ranked 41st in a list of top 100 anime series.

    Plot[edit]

    Captain Tsubasa[edit]

    Tsubasa Oozora is an 11-year-old elementary school student who is deeply in love with football and dreams of one day winning the FIFA World Cup for Japan. He lives together with his mother in Japan, while his father is a seafaring captain who travels around the world. Tsubasa is known as the Soccer no Moshigo which translates as "heaven-sent child of football". When he was only barely a year old, he was almost run over by a rushing bus while playing with a ball. However, Tsubasa held the ball in front of him which served as a cushion for most of the impact. The force of the bump blew him away, but he was able to right himself with the ball. Hence, Tsubasa's motto of "The ball is my friend". Ever since he was little, he always went out with a ball. His mother concludes that he was indeed born to only play football. At a very young age, Tsubasa already had amazing speed, stamina, dribbling skills and shooting power – he astounded anyone who saw him play.

    At the beginning of the story, Tsubasa and his mom both move to the city of Nankatsu, a fictional town in Shizuoka Prefecture well known for their talented elementary school football teams and where Tsubasa meets Ryo Ishizaki, a football-loving young student who often sneaks out from his mother's public bath houses and chores to play football. He meets Sanae Nakazawa (also known as Anego) an enthusiastic girl who also loves football and helps cheer the Nankatsu high school team on and Genzo Wakabayashi, a highly talented young goalkeeper whom he soon challenges to a game in Nankatsu's annual sports festival. He also meets Roberto Hongo, one of the best Brazilian footballers in the world who is a friend of Tsubasa's father and who starts living with Tsubasa and his mother in order to train Tsubasa. Roberto becomes a mentor to Tsubasa and helps him to harness his football skills, convincing him to join Nankatsu Elementary School and its fledgling elementary school football team, which Roberto later coaches as he passes his techniques onto Tsubasa.

    Tsubasa meets Taro Misaki, who has travelled around Japan due to his father's job and soon joins Nankatsu. The two become the best of friends on the pitch and real life, forming a partnership soon to be renowned as the "Golden Duo" or "dynamic duo" of Nankatsu. Soon Tsubasa and his Nankatsu team start taking on the best of elementary school football, meeting such talented players as Kojiro Hyuga, Ken Wakashimazu, Jun Misugi, Hikaru Matsuyama and many others. Tsubasa's Nankatsu squad wins numerous youth national championships and he wins the U-17 World Championships for Japan by defeating Italy 2–1, Argentina 5–4 in the group stages, France 4–4 (5–4 p) in the semifinals and eventually defeat West Germany 3–2 in the finals before leaving the country to play in Brazil.

    World Youth[edit]

    Tsubasa leaves Japan for Brazil and starts playing, with his mentor Roberto as the manager, for São Paulo[1] (F.C. Brancos in the anime),[2] in Brazil's premier professional league, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, winning the final against Flamengo (F.C. Domingos in the anime) 4–3. While in Brazil, Tsubasa gets to meet several talented Brazilian players, such as his teammate and roommate Pepe, who comes from a humble background, as well Flamengo star striker Carlos Santana, a prodigious yet emotionless talent.

    Enthusiastic football-loving youngster Shingo Aoi, whom Tsubasa once played against while in the high school national championships, leaves Japan to play football in Italy, where he hopes to play for a major Italian professional team. After arriving in Italy, however, Shingo gets tricked by a man who gives him fraudulent promises of getting him selected for an Italian team. After Shingo is taken to a badly furnished field, the man runs away, stealing all his money. Shingo realizes that he is swindled and tries hard to get his money back, doing such jobs as shoe-shining, until his enthusiastic attitude catches the eye of one of the coaches of Inter Milan (Intina in the anime), who sign him to play for their squad as an attacking midfielder.

    The Japan's youth side plays the first phase of AFC Youth Championship without Taro Misaki, Makoto Soda, Hiroshi Jito, Shun Nitta, the Tachibana brothers Masao and Kazuo and Kojiro Hyuga. After Tsubasa, Wakabayashi and Shingo join the team, it defeats Thailand 5–4 after being 4–1 down at one stage. In the second phase, Japan beats Uzbekistan 8–1, China 6–3 and Saudi Arabia 4–1. In the semifinals, Japan beats Iraq 3–0. The Japanese win the Asia Youth title beating South Korea 2–0 and qualifying for the FIFA World Youth Championship.

    In the first phase, Japan defeats Mexico 2–1, Uruguay 6–5 and Italy 4–0. In the quarterfinals, they beat Sweden 1–0 and Netherlands 1–0 in the semifinal. The Japanese win in the "Great Final" the World Youth Championship, defeating Brazil 3–2 after extra time with Tsubasa scoring a hat-trick and the golden goal despite the fact that Brazil used a new player at the extra time called Natureza, who became the third person to score a goal on Wakabayashi from outside the goal area – the first being Karl Heinz Schneider of Germany and second being Sho Shunko of China.

    Tsubasa moves from São Paulo to FC Barcelona[3] (FC Catalunya in the anime), in the Spanish Liga, after the end of the FIFA World Youth Championship final, taking his childhood friend and now wife, Sanae. He asked her out before moving to Brazil and the couple maintained a long-distance relationship before he proposed to her after the World Youth Championship.

    Road to 2002[edit]

    While Tsubasa moves from São Paulo (Brancos in the anime) to Barcelona[3] (Catalunya in the anime), Kojiro Hyuga is bought by Juventus FC (F.C. Piemonte in the anime). Tsubasa plays very well in training, displaying all his skills, but the Dutch coach Van Saal (Edward in the anime, inspired by Louis van Gaal, who coached Barcelona at the time) demotes him to FC Barcelona B,[3] the reserve team that plays in the second division, because Tsubasa and Rivaul (inspired by Rivaldo) cannot play together whilst Rivaul holds a key position for playmaking.[2]

    Meanwhile, Kojiro Hyuga plays for his first game for Juventus (Piemonte in the anime) against Parma in the Italian Serie A, but does not score because his physical imbalance is exposed by Parma defender Thoram (inspired by Lilian Thuram). Juventus coach Carlo Monetti replaces him with David Trezeguet (David Tresaga in the anime), who scores the winning goal as Juventus beat Parma 1–0.

    In Germany, Genzo Wakabayashi[4] and his Bundesliga team, Hamburger SV (Grunwald in the anime version), play against FC Bayern Munich (Routburg in the anime version), led by Karl Heinz Schneider. Wakabayashi makes many great saves, impressing players and coaches from both teams, but in an attempt to win at the final moment despite the coach's decision to aim for a draw, Wakabayashi left the goal area to take a free kick shot that was stopped at the last second, which gave Bayern a chance to counterattack on an undefended goal, allowing them to win 2–1.

    In Spain, the Liga begins and the match between Barcelona (led by Rivaul) and Valencia CF (San Jose in the anime) (who have just bought Tsubasa's old rival Carlos Santana) ends 2–2. Tsubasa watches the match from the tribune (in the anime version, Tsubasa plays as a substitute in the match and scores a goal).

    In the second stage of the Japanese J.League, Júbilo Iwata, led by Misaki, Gon Nakayama (inspired by real player Masashi Nakayama), Ishizaki and Urabe, defeat the Urawa Red Diamonds led by Hayato Igawa and Sawada, 2–1. In other J.League matches, FC Tokyo, led by Misugi, draws 1–1 with Consadole Sapporo, led by Matsuyama.[5] In Italy, Hyuga and Aoi are bought respectively by A.C. Reggiana and A.S.D. Albese.

    In Spain, Tsubasa plays three matches with FC Barcelona B and he records 12 goals and 11 assists in three matches. Tsubasa is inserted in the Barcelona lineup because of an injury of his rival Rivaul as well as the disastrous results of the Barcelona (one point in four matches) and plays the Súper Clásico against Real Madrid C.F., who have just bought his old rival Natureza. Tsubasa ends the match with three goals and three assists and Barcelona wins 6–5.

    Go for 2006[edit]

    This is the epilogue of Captain Tsubasa Road to 2002 and it is composed of five chapters. This manga follows Kojiro Hyuga and Shingo Aoi in Italy. In this manga, Kojiro Hyuga was loaned out to Reggiana while Shingo Aoi was loaned out to Albese. Kojiro Hyuga makes a hard training and he makes his debut scoring a hat-trick.[6]

    Golden-23[edit]

    While Tsubasa plays for Barcelona against Real Valladolid, recording a goal and an assist in a 2–0 win, the 23 players of Japan's U-22 national team ("The Golden-23") are convoked to play two friendly matches against Denmark and Nigeria in preparation for Summer Olympics. Two futsal players, Kazami and Furukawa, who previously played for Japan national futsal team, join the national U-22 football team and display great skills, scoring two goals in a training match. Meanwhile, the Japan U-20 side led by Takeshi Sawada win the AFC Youth Championship, defeating South Korea 6–5 on penalty kicks in the final. In Brazil, Minato Gamo, the former coach of the U-20 national team, tries unsuccessfully to convince Soga, a Japanese player who plays in CR Vasco da Gama, to join the national team. Meanwhile, Tsubasa's wife Sanae informs him that she is pregnant. In Japan, the match with Denmark ends 4–2 with the following scorers: Misaki (J), Haas (D), Nitta (J), Nitta (J), Matsuyama (J) and Haas (D). In Germany, Hamburger SV plays a Bundesliga match and Genzo Wakabayashi is not in the line up because of the bad relationship with the coach Zeeman, starting rumors that Wakabayashi would leave Hamburger SV. A lot of teams were interested in signing Wakabayashi such as ACF Fiorentina, A.S. Roma, Bayern Munich and SV Werder Bremen.

    Meanwhile, Minato Gamo wants to convince Igawa, a player who can play in all the roles (goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward), to join the national team. Also in Spain, Barcelona plays a league match against Real Betis and Tsubasa scores two goals and makes an assist for Rikaar. In Japan, Wakabayashi joins the national team.

    The match between Japan and Nigeria begins and Nigeria plays very well, as it has two champions Ochado (who plays in Paris SG, based on Jay-Jay Okocha) and Bobang (who plays with Shingo Aoi in Albese). After some minutes from the beginning of the match, Nigeria has the first great opportunity to score the first goal in the match with a penalty kick, but the Japanese goalkeeper Genzo Wakabayashi saves in corner kick. Wakabayashi saves another shot and makes a

Captain America

Captain America theme by Julian

Download: CaptainAmerica.p3t

Captain America Theme
(1 background)

Steve Rogers
Captain America
Captain America posing while holding an American flag
Variant cover of Captain America #1 (2018),
by Adam Hughes
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics[a]
First appearanceCaptain America Comics #1 (December 20, 1940)[b]
Created byJoe Simon
Jack Kirby
In-story information
Full nameSteven Rogers
Place of originNew York City
Team affiliations
Partnerships
Notable aliasesNomad, The Captain
Abilities

Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely Comics, a corporate predecessor to Marvel. Captain America's civilian identity is Steve Rogers, a frail man enhanced to the peak of human physical perfection by an experimental "super-soldier serum" after joining the United States Army to aid the country's efforts in World War II. Equipped with an American flag–inspired costume and a virtually indestructible shield, Captain America and his sidekick Bucky Barnes clashed frequently with the villainous Red Skull and other members of the Axis powers. In the final days of the war, an accident left Captain America frozen in a state of suspended animation until he was revived in modern times. He resumes his exploits as a costumed hero and becomes leader of the superhero team the Avengers, but frequently struggles as a "man out of time" to adjust to the new era.

The character quickly emerged as Timely's most popular and commercially successful wartime creation upon his original publication, though the popularity of superheroes declined in the post-war period and Captain America Comics was discontinued in 1950. The character saw a short-lived revival in 1953 before returning to comics in 1964, and has since remained in continuous publication. Captain America's creation as an explicitly anti-Nazi figure was a deliberately political undertaking: Simon and Kirby were stridently opposed to the actions of Nazi Germany and supporters of U.S. intervention in World War II, with Simon conceiving of the character specifically in response to the American non-interventionism movement. Political messages have subsequently remained a defining feature of Captain America stories, with writers regularly using the character to comment on the state of American society and government.

Having appeared in more than ten thousand stories in more than five thousand media formats, Captain America is one of the most popular and recognized Marvel Comics characters, and has been described as an icon of American popular culture. Though Captain America was not the first United States–themed superhero, he would become the most popular and enduring of the many patriotic American superheroes created during World War II. Captain America was the first Marvel character to appear in a medium outside of comic books, in the 1944 serial film Captain America; the character has subsequently appeared in a variety of films and other media, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he was portrayed by actor Chris Evans from the character's first appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) to his final appearance in Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Publication history[edit]

Creation and development[edit]

"It was a time of deep passion. Hitler was grabbing all of Europe, we had Nazis in America, Nazis holding mass meetings in Madison Square Garden. [...] Captain America was created in that atmosphere, he was a natural outgrowth of the passionate mood of the country."

Jack Kirby[1]

In 1940, Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman responded to the growing popularity of superhero comics – particularly Superman at rival publisher National Comics Publications, the corporate predecessor to DC Comics – by hiring freelancer Joe Simon to create a new superhero for the company.[2] Simon began to develop the character by determining who their nemesis could be, noting that the most successful superheroes were defined by their relationship with a compelling villain, and eventually settled on Adolf Hitler.[3][4] He rationalized that Hitler was the "best villain of them all" as he was "hated by everyone in the free world",[4] and that it would be a unique approach for a superhero to face a real-life adversary rather than a fictional one.[3][c]

This approach was also intentionally political. Simon was stridently opposed to the actions of Nazi Germany and supported U.S. intervention in World War II, and intended the hero to be a response to the American non-interventionism movement.[5] Simon initially considered "Super American" for the hero's name, but felt there were already multiple comic book characters with "super" in their names.[6] He worked out the details of the character, who was eventually named "Captain America", after he completed sketches in consultation with Goodman.[2] The hero's civilian name "Steve Rogers" was derived from the telegraphy term "roger", meaning "message received".[2]

Goodman elected to launch Captain America with his own self-titled comic book, making him the first Timely character to debut with his own ongoing series without having first appeared in an anthology.[4] Simon sought to have Jack Kirby be the primary artist on the series: the two developed a working relationship and friendship in the late 1930s after working together at Fox Feature Syndicate, and had previously developed characters for Timely together.[7][8] Kirby also shared Simon's pro-intervention views, and was particularly drawn to the character in this regard.[4] Goodman, conversely, wanted a team of artists on the series. It was ultimately determined that Kirby would serve as penciller, with Al Avison and Al Gabriele assisting as inkers;[4] Simon additionally negotiated for himself and Kirby to receive 25 percent of the profits from the comic.[9] Simon regards Kirby as a co-creator of Captain America, stating that "if Kirby hadn't drawn it, it might not have been much of anything."[4]

Debut and early success (early 1940s)[edit]

The front page of the first Captain America comic depicts Captain America punching Adolf Hitler in the jaw. A Nazi soldier's bullet deflects from Captain America's shield, while Adolf Hitler falls onto a map of the United States of America and a document reading 'SABOTAGE PLANS FOR U.S.A.'
Cover of Captain America Comics #1 (December 1940, cover dated March 1941). Art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

Captain America Comics #1 was published on December 20, 1940,[10] with a cover date of March 1941.[11] While the front cover of the issue featured Captain America punching Hitler, the comic itself established the Red Skull as Captain America's primary adversary, and also introduced Bucky Barnes as Captain America's teenaged sidekick.[12] Simon stated that he personally regarded Captain America's origin story, in which the frail Steve Rogers becomes a supersoldier after receiving an experimental serum, as "the weakest part of the character", and that he and Kirby "didn't put too much thought into the origin. We just wanted to get to the action."[4] Kirby designed the series' action scenes with an emphasis on a sense of continuity across panels, saying that he "choreographed" the sequences as one would a ballet, with a focus on exaggerated character movement. Kirby's layouts in Captain America Comics are characterized by their distorted perspectives, irregularly shaped panels, and the heavy use of speed lines.[13]

The first issue of Captain America Comics sold out in a matter of days, and the second issue's print run was set at over one million copies.[14][15] Captain America quickly became Timely's most popular character, with the publisher creating an official Captain America fan club called the "Sentinels of Liberty".[5][d] Circulation figures remained close to a million copies per month after the debut issue, which outstripped even the circulation of news magazines such as Time during the same period.[17] Captain America Comics was additionally one of 189 periodicals that the US Department of War deemed appropriate to distribute to its soldiers without prior screening.[18] The character would also make appearances in several of Timely's other comic titles, including All Winners Comics, Marvel Mystery Comics, U.S.A. Comics, and All Select Comics.[19]

Though Captain America was not the first United States-themed superhero – a distinction that belongs to The Shield at MLJ Comics[20] – he would become the most popular patriotic American superhero of those created during World War II.[21] Captain America's popularity drew a complaint from MLJ that the character's triangular heater shield too closely resembled the chest symbol of The Shield. This prompted Goodman to direct Simon and Kirby to change the design beginning with Captain America Comics #2. The revised round shield went on to become an iconic element of the character;[20] its use as a discus-like throwing weapon originated in a short prose story in Captain America Comics #3, written by Stan Lee in his professional debut as a writer.[22][23] Timely's publication of Captain America Comics led the company to be targeted with threatening letters and phone calls from the German American Bund, an American Nazi organization. When members began loitering on the streets outside the company's office, police protection was posted and New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia personally contacted Simon and Kirby to guarantee the safety of the publisher's employees.[24]

Simon wrote the first two issues of Captain America Comics before becoming the editor for the series; they were the only Captain America stories he would ever directly write.[25] While Captain America generated acclaim and industry fame for Simon and Kirby, the pair believed that Goodman was withholding the promised percentage of profits for the series, prompting Simon to seek employment for himself and Kirby at National Comics Publications.[9] When Goodman learned of Simon and Kirby's intentions, he effectively fired them from Timely Comics, telling them they were to leave the company after they completed work on Captain America Comics #10.[26] The authorship of Captain America Comics was subsequently assumed by a variety of individuals, including Otto Binder, Bill Finger, and Manly Wade Wellman as writers, and Al Avison, Vince Alascia, and Syd Shores as pencilers.[16]

Decline in popularity (mid-1940s and 1950s)[edit]

Superhero comics began to decline in popularity in the post-war period.[27] This prompted a variety of attempts to reposition Captain America, including having the character fight gangsters rather than wartime enemies in Captain America Comics #42 (October 1944), appearing as a high school teacher in Captain America Comics #59 (August 1946), and joining Timely's first superhero team, the All-Winners Squad, in All Winners Comics #19 (Fall 1946).[16] The series nevertheless continued to face dwindling sales, and Captain America Comics ended with its 75th issue in February 1950.[16] Horror comics were ascendant as a popular comic genre during this period; in keeping with the trend, the final two issues of Captain America Comics were published under the title Captain America's Weird Tales.[16]

Timely's corporate successor Atlas Comics relaunched the character in 1953 in Young Men #24, where Captain America appears alongside the wartime heroes Human Torch and Toro, which was followed by a revival of Captain America Comics in 1954 written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita.[28] In the spirit of the Cold War and McCarthyism, the character was billed as "Captain America, Commie Smasher" and faced enemies associated with the Soviet Union.[29] The series was a commercial failure, and was cancelled after just three issues.[29] Romita attributed the series' failure to the changing political climate, particularly the public opposition to the Korean War; the character subsequently fell out of active publication for nearly a decade, with Romita noting that "for a while, 'Captain America' was a dirty word".[30]

Return to comics (1960s)[edit]

The front page of The Avengers #4, depicting Captain America leading Avengers members Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp under the subtitle "CAPTAIN AMERICA LIVES AGAIN!". An inset image indicates that Namor the Sub-Mariner also appears in the issue.
Cover of The Avengers #4 (March 1964). Art by Jack Kirby and George Roussos.

Captain America made his ostensible return in the anthology Strange Tales #114 (November 1963), published by Atlas' corporate successor Marvel Comics. In an 18-page story written by Lee and illustrated by Kirby,[e] Captain America reemerges following years of apparent retirement, though he is revealed as an impostor who is defeated by Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four. A caption in the final panel indicates that the story was a "test" to gauge interest in a potential return for Captain America;[32] the reader response to the story was enthusiastic,[33] and the character was formally reintroduced in The Avengers #4 (March 1964).[34]

The Avengers #4 retroactively established that Captain America had fallen into the Atlantic Ocean in the final days of World War II, where he spent decades frozen in ice in a state of suspended animation before being found and recovered.[34][f] Captain America solo stories written by Lee with Kirby as the primary penciller were published in the anthology Tales of Suspense alongside solo stories focused on fellow Avengers member Iron Man beginning in November 1964; the character also appeared in Lee and Kirby's World War II-set Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos beginning in December same year. These runs introduced and retroactively established several new companions of Captain America, including Nick Fury, Peggy Carter, and Sharon Carter.[36]

In 1966, Joe Simon sued Marvel Comics, asserting that he was legally entitled to renew the copyright on the character upon the expiration of the original 28-year term. The two parties settled out of court, with Simon agreeing to a statement that the character had been created under terms of employment by the publisher, and was therefore work for hire owned by the company.[37] Captain America's self-titled ongoing series was relaunched in April 1968, with Lee as writer and Kirby as penciller; Kirby later departed the series, and was replaced by Gene Colan.[38] In 1969, writer and artist Jim Steranko authored a three-issue run of Captain America. Despite the brevity of Steranko's time on the series, his contributions significantly influenced how Captain America was represented in post-war comics, reestablishing the character's secret identity and introducing a more experimental art style to the series.[39][40]

Political shifts (1970s)[edit]

"This was the '70s – prime anti-war years – and here was a guy with a flag on his chest who was supposed to represent what most people distrusted. No one knew what to do with him."

Steve Englehart[41]

In contrast to the character's enthusiastic participation in World War II, comics featuring Captain America rarely broached the topic of the Vietnam War,[42] though the subject of Captain America's potential participation was frequently debated by readers in the letters to the editor section in Captain America.[43] Marvel maintained a position of neutrality on Vietnam; in 1971, Stan Lee wrote in an editorial that a poll indicated that a majority of readers did not want Captain America to be involved in Vietnam, adding that he believed the character "simply doesn't lend himself to the John Wayne-type character he once was" and that he could not "see any of our characters taking on a role of super-patriotism in the world as it is today".[43]

Captain America stories in the 1970s began to increasingly focus on domestic American political issues, such as poverty, racism, pollution, and political corruption.[44][g] Captain America #117 (September 1969) introduced The Falcon as the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books[46] and who would become Captain America's partner; the series was cover titled as Captain America and the Falcon beginning February 1971, which it would maintain for the next seven and a half years.[47] These political shifts were significantly shaped by comics created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Sal Buscema, who joined the series in 1972.[48][41] In a 1974 storyline written by Englehart directly inspired by the Watergate scandal, Captain America is framed for murder by the fascistic Secret Empire, whose leader is ultimately revealed to be the president of the United States.[49] The incident causes a disillusioned Steve Rogers to briefly drop the moniker of Captain America to become "Nomad, the man without a country", though he later vowed to "reclaim the ideals of America, which its leaders have trampled upon" and again assumed the role of Captain America.[44] Englehart and Buscema's run was highly acclaimed, bringing Captain America from one of Marvel's lowest-selling titles to its top-selling comic,[48][41] and the conflict between America as it idealizes itself to be and America in reality would recur frequently as a theme in Captain America comics in the subsequent decades.[50]

In 1975, Roy Thomas created the comic book series The Invaders. Set during World War II, the comic focuses on a superhero team composed of Timely's wartime-era superheroes, with Captain America as its leader; Thomas, a fan of stories from the Golden Age of Comic Books, drew inspiration for the series from Timely's All-Winners Squad.[51] Jack Kirby wrote and illustrated run on Captain America and the Falcon from 1975 to 1977.[52] This was followed by issues authored by a number of writers and artists, including Roy Thomas, Donald F. Glut, Roger McKenzie, and Sal Buscema; the series was also re-titled Captain America beginning with issue 223 in 1978.[53]

Post-Vietnam and "Heroes Reborn" (1980s and 1990s)[edit]

Owing to the series' lack of a regular writer, Captain America editor Roger Stern and artist John Byrne authored the series from 1980 to 1981. Their run that saw a storyline in which Captain America declines an offer to run for president of the United States.[54][55] Following Stern and Byrne, Captain America was authored by writer J.M. Dematteis and artist Mike Zeck from 1981 to 1984.[56] Their run featured a year-long storyline in which Captain America faced a crisis of confidence in the face of what Dematteis described as "Reagan Cold War rhetoric".[56] The story was originally planned culminate in Captain America #300 with Captain America renunciating violence to become a pacifist; when that ending was rejected by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, Dematteis resigned from Captain America in protest.[57]

Writer Mark Gruenwald, editor of Captain America from 1982 to 1985, served as writer on the series from 1985 to 1995. Various artists illustrated the series over the course of Gruenwald's decade-long run, including Paul Neary from 1985 to 1987, and Kieron Dwyer from 1988 to 1990.[56] In contrast to DeMatteis, Gruenwald placed less emphasis on Steve Rogers' life as a civilian, wishing to show "that Steve Rogers is Captain America first [...] he has no greater needs than being Captain America."[58] Among the most significant storylines appearing in Gruenwald's run was "The Choice" in 1987, in which Steve Rogers renounces the identity of Captain America to briefly become simply "The Captain" after the United States government orders him to continue his superheroic activities directly under their control.[59]

After Gruenwald departed the series, writer Mark Waid and artist Ron Garney began to author Captain America in 1995. Despite early acclaim, including the reintroduction of Captain America's love interest Sharon Carter, their run was terminated after ten issues as a result of Marvel's "Heroes Reborn" rebranding in 1996.[60] The rebrand saw artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld, who had left the company in the early 1990s to establish Image Comics, return to Marvel to re-imagine several of the company's characters.[61] Marvel faced various financial difficulties in the 1990s, culminating in the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996,[62] and "Heroes Reborn" was introduced as part of an effort to increase sales.[63] As part of the rebrand, Liefeld illustrated and co-wrote with Jeph Loeb a run on Captain America that was ultimately cancelled after six issues.[63] Marvel stated that the series was cancelled due to low sales,[63] though Liefeld has contended that he was fired after he refused to take a lower pay rate amid Marvel's bankruptcy proceedings.[64] Waid would return to Captain America in 1998, initially with Garney as arist and later with Andy Kubert.[60]

In 1999, Joe Simon filed to claim the copyright to Captain America under a provision of the Copyright Act of 1976 that allows the original creators of works that have been sold to corporations to reclaim them after the original 56-year copyright term has expired. Marvel challenged the claim, arguing that Simon's 1966 settlement made the character ineligible for copyright transfer. Simon and Marvel settled out of court in 2003, in a deal that paid Simon royalties for merchandising and licensing of the character.

Zone of the Enders

Zone of the Enders theme by m0dus

Download: ZoneoftheEnders.p3t

Zone of the Enders Theme
(5 backgrounds)

Zone of the Enders
Genre(s)Third-person shooter, tactical role-playing
Developer(s)Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Sunrise Interactive
High Voltage Software
HexaDrive
Cygames
Publisher(s)Konami
Creator(s)Hideo Kojima
Platform(s)PlayStation 2
Game Boy Advance
PlayStation 3
Xbox 360
Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 4
First releaseZone of the Enders
  • JP: March 1, 2001
  • EU: March 23, 2001
  • NA: March 26, 2001
Latest releaseZone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
  • WW: September 6, 2018

Zone of the Enders[a] is a video game franchise created by Hideo Kojima and Konami[1] that focused around combat in space with mecha called Orbital Frames. The original Zone of the Enders was released for the PlayStation 2 in March 2001. A sequel, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner was released for the same system in 2003. In 2012, the two games were re-released in high-definition for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as Zone of the Enders HD Collection. Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars was released for Game Boy Advance in 2001. Zone of the Enders: 2167 Idolo, an original video animation, was released in March 2001. A twenty-six episode anime television series Z.O.E. Dolores, I ran from April to September 2001.

Common themes[edit]

Setting[edit]

The Zone of the Enders series is set in the late 22nd century. Mankind has colonized Mars, and space colonies are set up in orbit around Jupiter. Fueling this expansion are two scientific advances: the development of the Laborious Extra-Orbital Vehicle, or LEV, a mecha used for labor and military use, and the discovery of Metatron, a high-energy ore found on Callisto. Those in power on Earth begin to take a dim view of the colonists of Mars and Jupiter, calling them "Enders", and imposing harsh and exploitative laws and taxes against them. Eventually, different groups on Mars begin to rise up in opposition to Earth, the most well known of these called Bahram. A new weapon given to these rebels is the Orbital Frame, a mecha which makes extensive use of Metatron-based technology. These Orbital Frames come to shape the destiny of Earth and its colonies, for both good and evil.

Plot[edit]

Throughout the Zone of the Enders series, a number of themes and dramatic devices show up prominently. The story usually revolves around two specific Orbital Frames: Jehuty and Anubis created as the two "keys" of a superweapon called Aumaan. In the first game, Bahram forces attack Jupiter's colony Antilia to secure the two Frames, killing several civilians in the process. One of the few survivors, Leo Stenbuck, finds Jehuty and uses it to stop the Bahram soldiers. Leo is hired by the Space Force to deliver Jehuty back to their ship. On his way to the Space Force, Leo rescues several civilians; and often talks with Jehuty's artificial intelligence, A.D.A., regarding the value of life. When succeeding, Leo is requested to work for the Space Force to protect the colony from a terrorist attack. Although Leo succeeds in saving the colony, he is saddened by the revelation that A.D.A. is programmed to self-destruct Jehuty in Bahram's fortress Aumann. Shortly before the release of the sequel, Konami released a side story that explores Leo training in the Space Force and hiding Jehuty.

The sequel, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, is set two years after the first game. The story introduces the player to an ex-Bahram operative named Dingo Egret, who stumbles upon the hidden Jehuty. Bahram soon finds Dingo; Nohman, the leader of Bahram, wishes to have Dingo back on his side. Dingo's reluctance to go back to Bahram results in Nohman shooting him. However, Nohman's minion, Ken Marinaris, saves Dingo's life by connecting his body to Jehuty and requests his help to defeat him. Dingo agrees to defeat Nohman after learning from Leo that Jehuty will self-destruct in Aumann. Dingo joins with Leo and the Space Force to defeat the Bahram forces. In Aumann, Dingo defeats Nohman and Anubis and then uses the remains of the two Frames to stop Aumann.

Games[edit]

Zone of the Enders (2001)[edit]

The first game in the series details the story of a boy named Leo Stenbuck, a colonist from Jupiter who accidentally finds himself piloting the Orbital Frame Jehuty.

Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars (2001)[edit]

This is a side-story released for the Game Boy Advance, about a conspiracy involving the construction of Orbital Frames for Earth. The protagonist, a young man named Cage Midwell, finds himself getting involved with a resistance organization known as BIS.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (2003)[edit]

A new pilot, Dingo Egret, finds Jehuty on the Moon of Callisto two years after the events of the first game and travels to the superweapon Aumaan in order to defeat Colonel Nohman of the Bahram army, who pilots Jehuty's sister craft, Anubis.

Zone of the Enders HD Collection (2012)[edit]

At E3 2011, Konami announced a re-release of Zone of the Enders and Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It includes updated interfaces for the HD resolutions, redrawn art, Trophy/Achievement support, improved audio, rumble support and a new opening animation produced by Sunrise, set to the theme song of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, "Beyond the Bounds".[2] It includes a demo for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, mirroring the first game's inclusion of the Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty demo. A PlayStation Vita version was announced but was later canceled.[3] At an event in May 2012, the HD Collection was given a release date in Japan for October 25. At the same event, Kojima confirmed that work on the next installment in the Zone of the Enders series had begun.

Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Mars (2018)[edit]

At Tokyo Game Show 2017, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Mars[b] was announced, featuring enhanced graphics, 4K resolution support, VR headset support, new sound design and "next-gen surround sound".[4]

Future[edit]

Since 2008, Zone of the Enders 3 has been in concept development by Hideo Kojima, but was kept away from game development until all the big titles were completed. On May 25, 2012, Kojima confirmed that work on the next installment in the Zone of the Enders series had begun.[5] However, the project was cancelled after Kojima Productions acknowledged issues within the HD Collection.[6]

Anime[edit]

Zone of the Enders: 2167 Idolo (released 21 February 2001) is a prequel for the entire series, telling the story of Radium Lavans, the pilot of the first Orbital Frame.

Zone of the Enders: Dolores, i (released April to September 2001) is a followup to Idolo, following the exploits of James Links, an alcoholic trucker, who, while trying to reunite with his estranged family, discovers an Orbital Frame hidden in one of his shipping containers. The frame, calling itself Dolores, seems to consider James her prince.

Reception[edit]

Aggregate review scores
Game Metacritic
Zone of the Enders (PS2) 78/100[7]
Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars (GBA) 71/100[8]
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (PS2) 82/100[9]
Zone of the Enders HD Collection (X360) 75/100[10]
(PS3) 73/100[11]

Zone of the Enders achieved moderate success. While the first game obtained good sales in North America as a result of including the demo for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty,[12] Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, received mediocre sales. Hideo Kojima cites "errors in setting the release time frame" and being overshadowed by other major titles as the reason it did not achieve high sales.[13]

Critical reception to the two PlayStation 2 titles has been positive. The action elements and graphics generated good response.[14][15] The sequel was found to have improved several elements from the first game to the point GameSpot called it "what the original Zone of the Enders should have been."[16][17] Both games have also been criticized for their story modes' short length and mixed views were offered regarding their replay value.[16][18][19] The voice acting and script translation has been panned by most writers as it made the character unappealing and the dialogue repetitive, respectively.[14][18][20]

The HD Collection ported by High Voltage Software received mixed reviews, citing that the games' graphics have been improved but suffering from an inconsistent framerate not seen in the PS2 titles as well as suffering from technical issues and lack of special content for all console versions. A patch was worked on by HexaDrive and released which improved textures, anti-aliasing, and framerate, as well as restored other visual effects, but only for the PS3 version and only affected The 2nd Runner HD Edition.[21][22]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Zone of the Enders (ZONE OF THE ENDERS(ゾーン オブ エンダーズ), Zōn obu Endāzu, ZONE OF ENDERS)
  2. ^ Known in Japan as ANUBIS ZONE OF ENDERS M∀RS (アヌビス ゾーン オブ エンダーズ M∀RS)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "shmuplations.com".
  2. ^ "Metal Gear and Zone of the Enders HD Collection". IGN. 2011-06-02.
  3. ^ "Zone of the Enders HD Collection". Metacritic.
  4. ^ Skrebels, Joe (September 19, 2017). "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner remaster with VR support announced". IGN. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "Kojima Productions Begins Zone of the Enders Sequel Project". Andriasang. 2012-05-25. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  6. ^ Gaston, Martin (May 3, 2013). "Kojima axes Zone of the Enders sequel". GameSpot. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  7. ^ "Zone of the Enders Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  8. ^ "Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  9. ^ "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  10. ^ "Zone of the Enders HD Collection Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  11. ^ "Zone of the Enders HD Collection Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  12. ^ Pavlacka, Adam (November 25, 2001). "Video Games - 'Metal Gear Solid 2' is a must-have". Courier News. Sun-Times Media Group: D3.
  13. ^ Welsh, Oil (October 20, 2009). "Kojima promises Zone of the Enders 3". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  14. ^ a b Smith, David (March 26, 2001). "Zone of the Enders". IGN. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
  15. ^ Sanders, Shawn (March 1, 2003). "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner review". GameRevolution. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  16. ^ a b Varanini, Giancarlo. "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner review". GameSpot. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  17. ^ Dunham, Jeremy (March 10, 2003). "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner review". IGN. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  18. ^ a b Satterfield, Shane (March 28, 2001). "Zone of the Enders". GameSpot. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
  19. ^ Fahey, Rob (October 13, 2003). "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  20. ^ "Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner". Electronic Gaming Monthly. May 1 – September 2, 2003. Archived from the original on March 1, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2010.
  21. ^ Linneman, John (18 August 2013). "Zone of the Enders: how Konami remade its own HD remake". Eurogamer. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  22. ^ "ZONE OF THE ENDERS HD EDITION -はいだらクオリティへの道- For quality and performance improvement.: ヘキサドライブ日記" (in Japanese). HexaDrive. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2016.

External links[edit]