Hero Tales
manga and anime

Hero Tales (Japanese: 獣神演武, Hepburn: Jūshin Enbu) is a Japanese manga and anime series created by Huang Jin Zhou, a unit composed of Hiromu Arakawa, Genco, and Studio Flag. The manga series, illustrated by Arakawa, was serialized in Square Enix's Gangan Powered (2006–2009) and Monthly Shōnen Gangan (2009–2010), with its chapters collected in five tankōbon volumes. The 26-episode anime television series, produced by Studio Flag, was broadcast on TV Tokyo from 2007 to 2008. The series' setting is rooted in Chinese folklore and history, as well as having an element of fantasy.
Plot
Manga
The series follows Taitou, a young man who resents the ruling empire, and his sister Laila. The story begins with the revelation that Taitou unknowingly harbors a mysterious power—he is the incarnation of Hagun, a celestial star that grants him immense but uncontrolled strength. They are joined by Ryuukou, a warrior with abilities similar to Taitou's but more refined. After Taitou's coming-of-age ceremony, which involves a ritualized defeat by Ryuukou, he is given the Kenkaranpu, a legendary conqueror's sword he cannot yet wield. Their lives are disrupted when a man named Shimei arrives, seeking the sword. During their confrontation, Shimei reveals Taitou's connection to Hagun, one of the Hokushin-Tenkun, celestial beings of great power.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hero Tales” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.