Spriggan is a Japanese manga series written by Hiroshi Takashige and illustrated by Ryōji Minagawa. Spriggan takes places in the last years of the Cold War where mysterious and unknown artifacts called out-of-place artifacts are discovered in various parts of the world, leading to a secret war between various forces against the ARCAM Corporation, an organization that placed itself the guardians of the OOPArts in order to prevent them from being used as weapons. It was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazines Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Shōnen Sunday Zōkan from 1989 to 1996. The manga was adapted into an anime film by Studio 4°C in 1998. A PlayStation game called Spriggan: Lunar Verse was also based on the manga with some material created for the game. A new anime adaptation by David Production has been announced. It was initially released as Striker in the North American English translation.
Plot
Many years ago, an ancient civilization known for their advanced technology once ruled Earth, but were destroyed in the end by their misuse. So, they left messages for later generations in the form of indestructible message plates written in ancient Hebrew, informing them that if they could not find a good use for their creations, they should be destroyed. Various paramilitaries, national armies, and armed private forces began to secretly search for these "mysterious artifacts" in order to be used for their own good and against their enemies. The ARCAM Corporation and their military arm, the ARCAM Private Army, can stop these forces from destroying themselves with their elite secret agents known as Spriggans.
Media
Manga
The manga was initially published by Shogakukan in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from issue #10 on February 22, 1989 to issue #51 on December 6 of the same year. It was later published in Shōnen Sunday Zōkan from issue #8 in 1992 to issue #2 on February 5, 1996. Eleven tankōbon volumes were released from June 1991 to June 1996, with reprints in both 2001 and 2006. Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.'s licensing arm in North America, Viz Media, translated and published three out of eleven volumes as Striker after it was first serialized in Manga Vizion, before the company curtailed further translation. In Europe, two volumes were published in France and in French-speaking countries and territories by Glénat under the name Striker in the Netherlands by Big Balloon, eleven volumes in Germany by Planet Manga, and three full volume in Spain and in Spanish-speaking territories and countries by Planeta DeAgostini in 1993 followed by a reprint from 1996 to 1997. Together with Ranma ½, it was the first manga published in Portugal, by Texto Editora in 1995. In Asia, the manga was released in Hong Kong by Jade Dynasty, in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo, in Malaysia as part of an installment in a fortnightly comic magazine, Komik Remaja, in Singapore with all 11 volumes fully translated by Chuang Yi in English, in South Korea by Daiwon C.I. with the first 11 volumes followed by the 8 volume bunkoban and in Taiwan as eleven full chapters translated into Mandarin by Tong Li Comics under the Youth Comic series label.
Film
A film adaptation of the manga, using the Noah's Ark story, was produced by Studio 4°C and distributed in Japanese cinemas by Toho. The movie was directed and story boarded by Hirotsugu Kawasaki, written by Kawasaki and Yasutaka Itō, and supervised by Katsuhiro Otomo. Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa had a hand in assisting the director through production. It made around 350 million yen during its debut in Japanese theaters. A Japanese release of the film on DVD was released by Bandai Visual under their Emotion label on April 25, 1999. ADV Films released the film on DVD in all English-speaking countries outside Asia on April 23, 2002, with a special edition released on February 15, 2005, with the exception of Australia and New Zealand, where the film was distributed by Madman Entertainment. The film was distributed in Hong Kong and some other Asian countries under Neovision and released in Taiwan by Proware Multimedia International. In Europe, it was produced in German by Anime Connection of Germany, in Russian by MC Entertainment, in Dutch by Dybex, Italian by Dynit, in Polish by IDG and in Swedish by Sandrew Metronome. Spriggan was released in Japan on Blu-ray Disc format on November 11, 2007 with another release on July 25, 2008.
Video game
On June 16, 1999, FromSoftware released a video game adaptation in Japan and Asia of Spriggan for the PlayStation named Spriggan: Lunar Verse with an initial street price of ¥6,090. It can be played by either one or two players. It was a 3D action-adventure game, and it anticipated design elements which were later popularized by action games such as the Devil May Cry series and modern Ninja Gaiden games. A soundtrack of the game, composed by Keiichiro Segawa, Tsukasa Saito, and Yuji Kanda, was released by Absord Music Japan and distributed by King Records on November 26, 1999. It has a total of 27 tracks.
Anime
A new anime adaptation was announced on March 11, 2019. The series will be animated by David Production and released by Netflix. The announcement was made in the April 2019 issue of Shogakukan's Monthly Shōnen Sunday magazine. The adaptation is part of a partnership with Netflix to have the anime aired around the world.
Reception
According to Wilma Jandoc, she criticizes Spriggan for its Anti-American theme when she remarked that any other "country could have been put in its place – Russia, China, North Korea – and still it would have just been a nation's name, nothing more. If the issue were more relevant, perhaps it could have said something about America's lust for power. Instead, it comes off as a convenient plot device".
