Arata Kangatari

Every 30 years, a new princess is chosen from the Hime family to serve the Hayagami. The time has come again, but over these past years, records state not a single female has been born, save for one, the 15-year-old Arata. The only problem is, Arata is actually a male! Forced to disguise himself and take the place of the princess candidate until a formal one can be found, he attends the festival only to witness the current princess, Kokuri-hime, murdered, and his own life is forfeit as well, by the hands of the princess' personal guard, the 12 Shinshou. As he runs for his life, Kannagi of the 12 convinces everyone that Arata is the one who has murdered the princess instead, and now everyone in the Imperial Court is after his head!

(Source: MU)

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Arata Kangatari has been published in English as Arata: The Legend by VIZ Media under the Shonen Sunday imprint since March 9, 2010.

In 2014, mangaka Yuu Watase blogged that she was subject to editorial harassment while working on Arata Kangatari. She explained that her former editor would bulldoze her ideas to make room for his own and would constantly ask her to redraw scenes, which lead to immense stress and exhaustion.

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Arata Kangatari

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Characters

Hinohara, Arata

Main

Kannagi

Main

Arata

Main

Kotoha

Main

Kadowaki, Masato

Main

Kanate

Supporting

Kugura

Supporting

Seo

Supporting

Yataka

Supporting

Akachi

Supporting

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Aug 25, 2010

Messi

Recommended

Preliminary (70/? chp)

What are you looking for in a story? If your looking for action (shounen style), an adventerous tale, and some drama with a little romance then you've got Arata Kangatari.

The Story: The concept itself is rather interesting: Two boys of the same name 'Arata' (but different surnames, and differing personalities) accidently switch worlds, but the people of their world see them as 'them' even though their looks actually differ. What makes it even more interesting is that the communication from one world to the other isn't entirely cut off. Thus forcing the author to strike a balance between the characters and occurances in both worlds, ... and giving the story multilayers.

The tale starts in the fantasy world where the reader isn't certain about whos who and what's what with little time to get used to the characters when it intermingles suddenly with the 'real world' - now if it's a little confusing, or off-putting, give it a couple of chapters- it gets much better. Each 'Arata' is faced with their own challenges in the 'other world' as might be expected, but things get even more crazy when another person from the fantasy world switches places- on purpose! The action in the story follows a shounen style so to speak- meaning you get the calling out of names/techniques, the 'power-ups' and big bad enemies/bosses. The plot may seem simple enough- real world 'Arata' needs to save fantasy world's princess- but becomes a bit more complex as the story continues, and with the introduction of new characters the plots in both worlds thicken.

The Art: Anyone who knows Yuu Watase's works knows her art. Perosonally I enjoy her art style, so I suppose the 'art' side could be considered a little biased. It is clean and detailed, though from time to time during the fight/power' scenes it can be a little hard to tell what's going.

Characters: Both worlds contain characters with various personalities and motivations, and most importantly, depth. The interactions between characters are sometimes comical, sometimes serious, but always interesting. In general, real world 'Arata' is serious and introspective with a sense of justice, while otherworld 'Arata' is rather wild, boisterous and carefree. With the variety of characters that surround the 'Arata's there's bound to be one the reader sympathizes with if not one of the 'Arata's. Another nice thing about the characters is they slowly begin to grow, even the side characters. Also, the characters 'switch sides' so to speak. Not everyone who starts off as friends/enimeis remains so. But don't get too attached- one interesting aspect is the reader really doesn't know the fates of the characters. Watase isn't afraid to kill some of them off, so you if you're expecting light and fluffy 'everyone lives, yeah!' don't. There's character insights and drama enough nicely woven into the action and plot.

Arata Kangatari is an adventure story that sometimes seems to move slow, sometimes fast. New characters are often getting introduced and with their variablities begs the questions: are they allies, are they enemies and will they stay that way? The plot may seem a bit predictable at times (aka 'must beat next enemy'), but it's always fun to go along with the story and figure out how the character is going to get past the next obsticle. The story (as of this review) is unfinished so who knows where the plot will twist to next.

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Apr 21, 2013

Irenesharda

Recommended

Preliminary (123/? chp)

I don't know what it is about Yu Watase's work, as formulaic and sometimes tedious as her stories tend to be, and as annoying as some of her female protagonists are. I somehow keep coming back for more.

I think it has to be the characters of her works. ARATA is a little different than Watase's usual fare, have a male as the main character and being a shonen rather than a shoujo, however, a lot of the same elements are there as you go through this layered quest story.

Two boys from two different worlds, both named Arata, switch worlds and are both thrust into ...

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Jul 4, 2015

NightmareJupiter

Recommended

Preliminary (107/? chp)

For my first review, I choose one of my favorite mangas: Arata Kangatari, or Arata the Legend.

This manga was a surprise. I really didn't expected too much, maybe because it's a little... Unknown. And I discover it by a friend, so, yeah, that was lucky.

The story is basically about a boy, Arata Hinohara, that goes to another world, changing place with another Arata. That sounds like a cliche, right? But Yuu Watase transform the story that "we all alright know" into something really good and enjoyable - thing that I miss in a lot of mangas today. Well, at last this is what I ...

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Arata Kangatari Enters Last Arc Otaku-Aniki - Mar 17	0 replies	by Otaku-Aniki »» Mar 17, 1:19 PM
Yuu Watase start working to resume Arata Kangatari manga Otaku-Aniki - Jul 28, 2020	0 replies	by Otaku-Aniki »» Jul 28, 2020 11:32 AM
Arata Kangatari maybe come back in this year from hiatus Otaku-Aniki - May 19, 2018	3 replies	by rinsanada »» May 27, 2020 8:17 PM
Poll: Arata Kangatari Chapter 217 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 7, 2016	0 replies	by Stark700 »» Oct 7, 2016 4:05 AM
Poll: Arata Kangatari Chapter 47 Discussion Grimmm - Oct 21, 2009	2 replies	by Grimmm »» Mar 25, 2016 9:08 AM

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