Everything We Know About ‘Shaman King: Flowers’
It's Boss Baby Asakura's time to shine.
Kid me is pretty stoked right now. Back in the day, you could only find copies of Shaman King: Flowers if you got your hands on a Japanese copy of Shonen Jump. But now, it’s getting its very own anime—a sequel to last year’s Shaman King reboot.
The animation style is much the same, although our new hero is already showing a marked difference from the lackadaisical Yoh. Would it surprise you, then, to know that he’s Yoh’s son?
The Story
Flowers follows a post-tournament world in which Yoh’s son, Hana Asakura, finally gets a chance to prove himself as a worthy shaman. While his parents travel the world (and are we really surprised at their lackadaisical approach to parenting?), Hana is bored beyond belief under the watchful eyes of Tamao and Ryu.
Then, one day, he’s challenged by Yohane Asakura: a distant relative who seeks to take the reins as head of the Asakura family. What follows is a journey of Hana’s own, in which he tries to piece together some family mysteries while tempering his own power.
Many familiar characters will re-emerge (such as Amidamaru, who’s become Hana’s spirit), and even some new ones (including the child of Ren and Jean) will make an appearance. But the real star of the show is Hana, who seems to have run in the complete opposite direction of his parents. While he’s inherited Yoh’s lazy attitude and Anna’s snark, his dissatisfaction with his parents overall has led him down a path of violence and rage. As we can see in the trailer, Hana will be a force to be reckoned with.
And, hopefully, this will up the ante for the reboot as a whole. Because quite honestly, the reboot…was lukewarm, at best. Maybe I’m just being a nostalgic old biddy about this, but I remember the original anime being a lot easier and more fun to watch. The story arcs felt organic and well-rounded, instead of lumped into one or two episodes and rushed along. And while the original wasn’t as faithful to the manga (and a touch more problematic, in conspicuous ways), it still didn’t give me a sugar-rush headache like the new adaptation did.
Perhaps Hana’s first-ever animated debut will give the series a touch of originality, the likes of which it desperately needs.
(Featured Image: Kodansha USA)
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