Blade of the Phantom Master
Blade of the Phantom Master, translated as "New Secret Royal Agent", is a serial South Korean-Japanese manhwa and anime film created by Youn In-wan and illustrated by Yang Kyung-il. The series takes place in a world reminiscent of ancient Korea, and follows the Korean-folktale-inspired adventures of Munsu, one of the few remaining guardians against corruption and tyranny, as he seeks to find those responsible for the destruction of his country. It was serialized from 2001 to 2007 in South Korea and in Japan, and was adapted into an animated theatrical-release film in 2004 in a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Japan and South Korea. In 2007, an English-language version of the film was released in the United States by ADV Films under the title Blade of the Phantom Master. In 2008, the anime became one of over 30 ADV titles transferred to Funimation.
Plot
Blade of the Phantom Master takes place in the fictional land of Jushin, modeled after feudal Korea. In Jushin, there once lived secret government agents called the amheng osa, who traveled the countryside in disguise. They were charged by the king with finding and punishing corrupt government officials, and bringing justice to the country's citizens.At the start of the series, Jushin has been destroyed, fractured into numerous fiefdoms and kingdoms, many of which are ruled by corrupt and tyrannical warlords. Blade of the Phantom Master follows the adventures of one of the remaining amheng osa, Munsu, as he continues to wander the countryside and deals with the chaos caused by Jushin's fall.
Though initially episodic in nature, it becomes apparent as the series progresses that Munsu's travels are not random. In truth, Munsu is searching for the man responsible for assassinating his best friend, the king of Jushin, an act that led to the fall of the country.
But as Munsu grows closer to reaching his goal, he encounters old friends and comrades from his past, some who have since switched their allegiance to his enemy. Through them, it is revealed that Munsu was not always an amheng osa and is himself partly responsible for the king's death and subsequent fall of Jushin.
In addition to the overarching plotline, the series also uses the exploits of Munsu and his companions to retell various Korean folk stories.
Amheng Osa
In Blade of the Phantom Master, amheng osa bear bronze medallions, given to them by the king and emblazoned with between one and three horses. The greater the number of horses, the higher the rank of the amheng osa. Amheng osa of first mahai rank have one horse emblazoned onto their medallions, which allows them to wield basic magic to fight ordinary soldiers. The most powerful medallions feature three horses, and allow the bearers, third mahai, to perform summonings and regenerate injuries.Despite being made for use by amheng osa, the mahai medallions will also work for normal people, so long as their convictions and willpower in executing justice are sufficiently strong. Hong Gildong, for example, successfully wielded a fourth mahai medallion. After the fall of Jushin, both first and second mahai medallions were rendered useless; only third and fourth mahai medallions still functioned.
Amheng osa are also prohibited from having families, but they are allowed a single travel partner called a 'Sando', who doubles as a bodyguard. Sando tend to be individuals of great fighting prowess or intelligent beasts.
Characters
;Munsu;Sando/Chun Hyang
;Bang Ja
;Kye Wol Hyang
;Won Sul
;Aji Tae
Series origins
Much of the premise for and characters of Blade of the Phantom Master were drawn from the classic Korean tale, The Legend of Chun Hyang. Youn said many Korean readers of the comic did not like his dark portrayal of the light-hearted classic tale, and he was sometimes told he had "bad taste." He explained that Blade of the Phantom Mask used the original, lesser-known version of The Legend of Chun Hyang, which is far more tragic, as its basis. He sought to not only draw on the beauty of the original novel, but also to arrange its message to fit modern times. Youn also drew upon other classic Korean stories, such as Amhaengeosa, and historical figures like Heo Jun for inspiration.The model for Munsu was the historical figure Park Mun-su, from Korea's Joseon Dynasty period. According to Youn, he was originally a military officer in charge of training the army, and was active as an amen osa for only one year. However, his legacy was considerable, including not only seeking and punishing corrupt officials, but also stopping the invasion of the Korean peninsula by foreigners and saving the king from a coup d'état. Sando is based largely on Ju Non-gae, a figure from the Japanese-Korean Seven-Year War. Following the capture of Hanyang by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's troops in 1592, Non-gae avenged the death of her lover, a soldier, by willingly giving up her life to cause the death of a Japanese general. The holiday Uiambeolje commemorates her spirit of patriotic self-sacrifice.
When developing the idea of using a story about amen osa, Youn said he worried that Japanese readers might find the idea too foreign. He later learned that Japan had similar people, called mito koumon, in its history, and eventually found that many places around the world had individuals of similar positions in their own histories. He felt this universality of such heroes who seek out and report corrupt government officials showed that good and evil don't differentiate between countries, races, or cultures. Youn admits to being influenced his portrayal of amen osa by Richō Angyōki, a Japanese manga by Natsuki Sumeragi. While a bit embarrassed at being so affected by a foreigner's portrayal of Korean history, he was impressed and surprised by the manga's historical accuracy.
Media
Comic
The Blade of the Phantom Master comic was serialized from 2001 to 2007. In Japan, the series ran from April 2001 April to September 2007 as manga in Monthly Sunday Gene-X. It was also published as manhwa in South Korea's Young Champ. The work was collected into 17 graphic novel volumes, which were published by Shogakukan in Japan and Daiwon C.I. in South Korea. As of 2005, these collections have sold over 2 million copies between the two countries. Translation of the comic from Korean to Japanese was provided by Manabu Okazaki. Many chapters included special author's notes to give background on Korean folktales and historical figures referenced in the story, and to explain instances in which the author chose to deviate from generally accepted fact in his portrayals. For instance, in volume 4, Youn provided information on Hwanung, a sage from the Korean legend, Dangun Shinhwa. He feared his portrayal of Hwanung as a summoned creature dressed in S&M gear might cause misunderstandings among readers of the comic, and explained that his development of the character in the comic was influenced by interesting but unsupported statements from the internet, whereas the Hwanung of legend holds a very high status in Korea, on a par with "that of Jesus Christ in Western society."Japanese editions of the comic volumes also included omake-style humorous shorts detailing a variety of Youn and Yang's cross cultural and comic writing adventures, entitled "From Korea - Hello!!"
Youn and Yang maintained their residences in Incheon, South Korea throughout most of the writing and publication of the series, often requiring the services of translators for dealings with their Japanese editor, Akinobu Natsume, especially early on, and necessitating multiple business trips to Japan. Youn studied Japanese and his proficiency improved as the comic progressed. He admitted, however, that it "took two hours while staring at a dictionary" to read his first Japanese-language fan letter.
Japanese editions of volume 8 of the comic were packaged with a bonus booklet entitled Osa-logy. It contained a short side story by the series authors, plus humorous comic shorts by guest authors and artists. Contributors included Airi Kawauchi, Minoru Murao, Itō Shin, and Kazuhiko Shimamoto. Also included were interviews between author Youn and actress Yoon Son-ha, and between Youn and the manga authors CLAMP. A guidebook entitled Amenosa, This Reality and Mission was also published, containing color art galleries by artist Yang, plus story summaries and character data. A "gaiden"-style volume of two side stories was also released for sale.
Since its original releases in South Korea and Japan, the comic has been licensed and published in French as Le Nouvel Angyo Onshi by Pika Édition, in Hungarian as Árnybíró by Mangafan, in German as Shin Angyo Onshi by Carlsen Comics, in Thai as Dtòo Laa Gaan Tá-mil Chà-bàp Pí-sèt by Vibulkij, in Indonesian as Shin Angyo Onshi by Level Comics, and in Chinese by Jonesky and Sharp Point Press. No English-language adaptations have been published or announced as licensed.
Animated film
In 2004, Japanese studio Oriental Light and Magic and Korean studio Character Plan collaborated to create an animated film adaptation of the comic, entitled Phantom Master: Dark Hero from the Ruined Empire. The project represented the first time Korean and Japanese creators had ever collaborated on an animated film, and funding was shared by sources from both nations. It was distributed by The Klockworx in Japan and Cinema Service in Korea. The film was co-directed by Ahn Tae-gun and Jōji Shimura, and produced by Yang Jae-hye, Lee Sang-don, Bunsho Kajiya, Lee Don-ki, and Shukuchi Kanda. It featured a musical score from composer Kow Otani and theme songs performed by BoA. Vocal tracks were recorded in both Korean and Japanese, though Korean actor Ji Sung's narration was retained in its original language for the Japanese release and augmented with native subtitles. Character Plan president Yang Jee-hye said his company was able to learn new skills and technologies, both of which have been maintained during Japan's long history of film-making, from Oriental Light and Magic, who completed about 70% of the work on the film.Phantom Master: Dark Hero from the Ruined Empire was shown at the Sixth Bucheon International Animation Festival, 6 November 2004, in Bucheon, South Korea, at which it served as the opening film. It was released into theaters simultaneously in Japan and Korea on 26 November 2004, and had an encore run at the Seoul Ani Cinema for three weeks beginning 17 February 2005. Its North American debut was at the Fantasia Festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 15 July 2005, where it was shown in Korean with English subtitles. ADV Films released the movie to DVD in North America in 2007, with a choice of Japanese or English audio and optional English subtitles. The movie has also been locally released in Poland as Ostatni Strażnik Magii by Vision Film's Anime Gate imprint and in Russia as Povelitel' Prizrakov by MC Entertainment. The film was re-released on DVD by Funimation Entertainment on June 30, 2009 under the title Blade of the Phantom Master: Shin Angyo Onshi with the ADV movie trailer for the film as a special feature. The film features the English language track and the Japanese language track with English subtitles.
The film is an adaptation of early comic chapters, covering the stories of Munsu's desert encounter with Mong Ryong, his subsequent quest to free Sando, and one of the pair's early adventures together.