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King Arthur (TV series)

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King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table
Cover art of the 2004 limited edition soundtrack
円卓の騎士物語 燃えろアーサー
(Entaku no Kishi Monogatari Moero Āsā)
Anime television series
Directed byMasayuki Akehi
Tomoharu Katsumata
Written byKensyo Nakano
Mitsuru Majima
Sukehiro Tomita
Tsunehisa Ito
StudioToei Animation
Original networkFuji TV
Original run September 9, 1979 – March 3, 1980
Episodes30

King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table (円卓の騎士物語 燃えろアーサー, Entaku no Kishi Monogatari Moero Āsā, lit. Story of the Knights of the Round Table: Blazing Arthur) is an anime series based on the Arthurian legend. Produced by Toei Animation, it consists of 30 half-hour episodes released between September 9, 1979 and March 3, 1980. The series achieved more widespread popularity in its non-English translations.

Plot

When Prince Arthur was a baby and his father King Uther ruled Camelot, Lavik, another king who wishes to conquer Camelot, attacked the castle. Arthur is saved by Merlin who sent him to another knight to keep Arthur in a safe place. For many years this knight brought Arthur up as his own son.

At the age of 15 Arthur attended to a tournament with his step-father. There he could pull the sword Excalibur from a stone. This action proved that Arthur is the legitimate king of England. Finally Arthur's foster father revealed him his royal lineage. Since then King Arthur and some subjects began to fight against the evil King Lavik, who is aided by the witch Medessa.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table retells the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, featuring Arthurian characters such as Lancelot, Guinevere, Tristan, Percival, Merlin, Uther, and Igraine, and other familiar items like Camelot and Excalibur. On the other hand, the series are not faithfully adjusted to the original narration of the legend. For example, new characters and stories are added and the plot became softer.

Characters

Production and release

Title card for 1981 English dub version

Isao Sasaki and Koorogi '73 sang the opening theme Kibou yo sore wa; while Ou no Naka no Ou, the ending theme, is performed by Mitsuko Horie and Koorogi '73.

In the early 1980s, a French dubbed version was released through Jacques Censtrier Productions. Titled "Le Roi Arthur", only the first 4 episodes were released onto VHS. All of the characters names remained the same, but the opening and closing theme songs were still aired and played in their original Japanese music scores. English dubbed version called, "King Arthur & the Knights of the Round Table" was produced and distributed by ZIV International, Inc. in 1981. [1]

Manga adaptation

The series was adapted into several comicizations (the principle of basing a manga on a previously existing TV series, instead of the more widespread reverse procedure) published in Telebi Magazine (テレビマガジン), Terebi Land (テレビランド) and Bōken-Ō (冒険王). The Bōken-Ō adaptation was created by Satomi Mikuriya (御厨さと美) and "Mic Mac Production"[2]

Reception

Sequel

The series was followed by King Arthur: Prince on White Horse in 1980.

References

  1. ^ "ZIV International, Inc. - Anime News Network". www.animenewsnetwork.com.
  2. ^ A page from the Bouken-Oh comicization (Japanese).
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