Ok so far all i've seen of this manga is art collections on the internet. I read up on it but it's still confusing to me. I really love the art involve with the story. It's very beautiful.
The 6 Stars
Mysterious Traveller
Sole Survivor
A King among men
RG Veda tv Review
Story & Characters
"The Prophecy:
Six Stars descend darkly against heaven
Thou stand at the vanguard of fate
As the blood of the lost clans direct
Thou shalt set forth with the infant
The child, yet unformed in good or evil
Shall spur on the wheels of destiny
Six Stars gather
To reach the pinnacle of heaven
Lo, from the darkness one comes forth
This personage holds the orbit
Of heavenly spheres within his palm,
Guiding stars both dark and light
Yet even my guides know him not
Flower of red lotus
Nurtured by thy hands,
Shall burn away all evil.
Six Stars, victorious
Will vanquish all in it path.
Six Stars descend
darkly against heaven.
Shura, UnHeaven.
Falls Heaven when in Heaven,
Sunders Earth when on Earth.
The thunder of Heaven's new lord,
Shall dose the flame of UnHeaven
To survey this land.
When the Flame burns down,
Evil shall infest the world.
The Wheel of Time turns
The Six Stars gather.
The scarlet flame of Shura
Shall burn away all evil.
Six Stars, victorious
Will vanquish all in it path.
THEREAFTER: Thou shalt become the break that topples heaven
And so begins the tale of RG Veda
[NB - RG Veda does not share direct relevance with the hindu scripture, The RG Veda.]
A little background information before the story begins: 300 years ago there was a rebellion against the reigning Ten-Tai (Heavenly Emperor of the gods) by Taishaku-Ten (The god of Thunder): that war being the Holy War. There, the strongest god-race: the Ashura clan was defeated by Taishaku-Ten's army. Ashura-Ou, protector warrior and guardian god of War, the strongest warrior in TenKai (Heavenly world) was defeated by Taishaku-Ten with the help of Ashura-Ou's conniving wife: Shashi, an ex-priestess. Taishaku-ten murders the Ten-Tai and crowns himself the new emperor, killing off all the members of the Ashura-clan.
The prophecy from the stargazer Kuyou, which tells of the future of TenKai. There are 2 versions, one for Ashura-Ou:
The Six Stars flow and fall.
They are the dark stars rising against Heaven
Shura is not of Heaven
One that destroys Heaven when in Heaven,
And one that destroys Earth when in Earth.
The thunder of the new Lord of Heaven roams the world, after he shreds the flame
Not of Heaven.
When the Flame burns down, the world will become infested with evil.
The Wheel of Time turns, the Six Stars gather.
The scarlet flame that inherits Shura
Shalt burn away all evil.
The Six Stars pressure all others
And will ultimately conquer.
Then -----
The Six Stars shalt become the "Break" that destroys Heaven.
and this one below that Kuyou is supposed to pass onto Yasha as per Ashura-Ou's instructions:
The Six Stars flow and fall.
They are the dark stars rising against Heaven.
As the way with which
Destiny should be woven
Thou shalt bring it up for thyself.
Guided by the end of the clan
Thou shalt embark on a voyage
With the infant.
The infant cannot be determined good or evil
Yet he turns Tenkai's wheel of destiny.
The gathering of the Six Stars is the will of the Gods.
However, under the Darkness,
Someone will come down.
He will put the fate of the stars in his hands
And control the dark stars as well as light.
Even under my Stargazing, this figure still remains a mystery.
The scarlet flame that thou hath raised
Shalt burn away all evil.
The Six Stars together overwhelm all others
And will ultimately conquer.
Then -----
Thou shalt become the "Break" that destroys Heaven.
So now we come to the actual story: Yasha is summoned by Taishaku-Ten to his court. Tasihaku-Ten wants Yasha to "deal" with Kuyou, who happens to be Yasha's friend. She's refused to serve Taishaku-Ten and he seems to be just plain fed-up of her obstinate behaviour, and so, true to Taishaku-Ten's twisted nature, he calls upon her friend to dispose of her - Nice guy that O_o
Yasha an upstanding guy, obviously does not "dispose" of her and listens to her reveal the prophecy that seems to end with the defeat of Taishaku-Ten. The key to all of this is finding the six warriors or "stars" as is foretold, which will spell the end of Taishaku-Ten's reign.
We follow Yasha and Ashura as they slowly but surely come upon each of the remaining warriors who unite to fight the ultimate battle.
The OVA is divided into 2 segments, the first being the "Castle of Ice, Prison of Flame,' which deals with a
nut case demon princess who should have died in the Holy War.
The second being the "Castle of Fire and Lightning,' which tales place at the Emperor's castle -
Zenmi-jou. Directly under Zenmi castle lies the Ashura-jou where Ashura will come face to face with his father's
spirit *a tearful moment indeed*
Some Characters: [do NOT read if you don't want spoilers]
Yasha-Ou: :) dammit that he doesn't exist, if he did I'd stuff him in my pocket and never let him see daylight. The strongest warrior of the Yasha-Clan, original name is Yama but upon taking the reins of leadership resumes the title of King (Ou) of the Clan (Yasha) hence -> Yasha-Ou. Strong, silent, brave, will shoulder all responsibility and bear the guilt, even if it's not his fault. [Loud whisper: I LOVE you Yasha ]
Taishaku-Ten: Bears the mark of the "Daten" which is a vertical eye -> Ten-Gan (Heaven's Eye) placed in the middle of the forehead of someone who's commited a very foul deed. Married to Shashi, bore a son from her: Ten-Ou, Ashura's twin brother. He seems to have a very cruel and twisted nature, and enjoy exercising it. I'd say a perfect match for Shashi, why I like him: probably because he's so darn handsome ;)
Ashura: Sealed in the Forest of Maya, freed by Yasha. A sexless child and the last remaining member of the Ashura Clan. Sexless, the punishment bestowed on Ashura-Ou for trying to change fate and preserve his bloodline. We see during the OVA that Ashura sometimes becomes rather dark and demonic, as if something is taking over. Split personality ??? You decide.
Kujaku: the mysterious traveller, always appearing out of thin air, giving hints and tips to Yasha and Ashura about the whereabouts of the remaining six stars. Who he is remains a mystery throughout the OVA.
Ryu-Ou: One of the 6 stars, assumes the responsibility of leadership of his clan (naughty boy made his grandfather almost cry after he continuously denied his plea of accepting the "throne") after claiming the fabled sword of the Ryu-clan from it's resting place. Travels with Yasha and co. to gain better fighting skills and experience.
Kendappa-Ou: Usually seen playing her harp, talented royal musician who sends Souma to warn Yasha of Taishaku-Ten's evil doings.
Souma: Friend of Kendappa-Ou, one of the 6 stars.
Karura-Ou: along with her bird, Garuda make a formidable team. Chosen to fight alongside Yasha for personal reasons. One of the 6 stars.
Shashi: Originally chosen with her sister to be the Miko (priestess) of the Ashura clan, she wanted more and thirsted for power. Somehow managed to snag Ashura-Ou and became his wife. Betrayed him when she realised she could get more by being the wife of an emperor and so helped Taishaku-Ten ascend the throne.
-------------------------------------------
All in all, the characters though not having much room to grow, are clearly defined. We basically can figure out who the good/bad/in-between guys are.
Rating:
Art
Beautiful characters !! I cannot stress how gorgeous the males in this OVA/manga series are. While they are a tad more taller than is normal, that's probably the last thing on your mind while admiring the beautiful artwork. Expressive eyes, gorgeous hair, the warriors (the good guys) are completely lovable. The bad guys you just want to squash.
The background is rather plain, while watching the OVA I didn't care too much focusing more on the characters and story than on the background art.
The art and design of the characters are done elegantly, one can see this is an old-ish anime but like I've already mentioned, wonderful character designs, sometimes leading a bit towards the plain side (eg. with clothing)
I think the art matches the overall mood and essence of the film well. While we know that war and bloodshed does breakout in the film, and we can certainly see the accessories nearby pointing to that, the style of elegance and strength are 2 concepts that flow throughout the story.
Rating:
Sound
The soundtrack at the beginning of the OVA was dramatic to say the least but I found that everything flowed very well together. I can't specifically remember anything aside from the opening theme, which i though rather strange but at the same time very memorable.
The dubbed in voices was interesting. I'm not sure how much I liked Yasha's voice considering I'm drooling lakes over the man himself. While it's certainly not unappealing, there is something which does not sit altogether right.
Kujaku's voice fits him perfectly, blending in with his character. the actor voicing Kujaku really utilises the scenes and overall mood of the shot, voicing anything from a teasing manner (as seen when ribbing Ryu and Ashura) to a slightly amused yet demonic air of knowing something the others don't (eg how things are coming together as foretold in the prophecy).
Rating:
Presentation
Humour is brought to the table by 3, namely Ashura, Ryu and Kujaku.
*spoiler of sorts* Usually it would be Ryu and Ashura having some kind of fight with Kujaku being the ice-breaker; teasing them both back into good temperament. Yasha on the other hand does not seem to understand or feel the need to participate in any joking around *well who cares, he's 10 men in one ;)*
The film was very enjoyable. I had to wait 4 yrs to receive hope of ever buying this dvd, and the first time I ordered it, i waited 8 months before cancelling my order since they claimed not to have it in stock. The only awful thing was that the films were too short, you're dropped into the middle and have to muddle your own way through. It really helps to have the background knowledge of the manga and yet is frustrating at the same time when you realise how much the anime missed out. I would have LOVED to have seen a proper series instead of this 'dangling' carrot. All the same, I would be entirely lying if I said that were someone to break into my house and head on over for my dvd, I would not hesitate in laying my body, not to mention foul temper in defence of my beautiful rg veda. Defintely not to be missed, especially if you love Clamp's work.
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.6667 (good)
Reviewed by fatimahj, Apr 29, 2006
Comments
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Nevnarien May 17, 2006
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U2nekofan Jun 02, 2006
I wish Clamp would allowed the this RG Veda become a 26 ep. tv show. They did it with X, so one could still hope
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Cinderalla Dec 14, 2006
Beautiful poem.CLAMP rules! RG Veda should be published in Brazil...Sniff...
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fatimahj Feb 10, 2007
lol, yeah it's taken forever to come here but i couldn't wait that long so paid a small fortune (which is why I'm living now in a cardboard box) to have the first 4 shipped over ;-O couldn't you order them from amazon ?
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