| Sōten Kōro | |
 Firsttankōbon volume cover, featuring Cao Cao | |
| 蒼天航路 | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by |
|
| Illustrated by | King Gonta |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Magazine | Morning |
| Original run | 1994 –2005 |
| Volumes | 36(List of volumes) |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Hideo Takayashiki |
| Music by | Shūsei Murai |
| Studio | Madhouse |
| Original network | Nippon TV |
| Original run | April 8, 2009 – September 30, 2009 |
| Episodes | 26 |
Sōten Kōro (蒼天航路;lit. 'Blue Sky Route'), also known asBeyond the Heavens,[2] is a Japanesemanga series by Hagin Yi and King Gonta. It started inKodansha'sseinen manga magazineWeekly Morning in 1994. Following Hagin Yi's death in 1998, King Gonta continued the manga alone, until its conclusion in 2005. Its chapters were collected in thirty-sixtankōbon volumes.
A twenty-six episodeanime television series adaptation byMadhouse was broadcast onNippon TV from April to September 2009.
As of February 2017, the manga had over 18 million copies in circulation. In 1998,Sōten Kōro won the 22ndKodansha Manga Award in the general category.
Sōten Kōro's story is based loosely on the events taking place inThree Kingdoms period of China during the life of the last chancellor of theEastern Han dynasty,Cao Cao (155 – March 15, 220), who also serves as the main character.
The Three Kingdoms period has been a popular theme in Japanese manga for decades, butSōten Kōro differs greatly from most of the others on several points. One significant difference is its highly positive portrayal of its main character, Cao Cao, who is traditionally the antagonist in not only Japanese manga, but also most novel versions of the Three Kingdoms period, including the original 14th-century version,Romance of the Three Kingdoms byLuo Guanzhong. Another significant difference from others is that the storyline primarily uses the original historical account of the era,Records of Three Kingdoms byChen Shou, as a reference rather than the aforementionedRomance of the Three Kingdoms novel. By this, the traditional hero ofRomance of the Three Kingdoms,Liu Bei, takes on relatively less importance within the story and is portrayed in a less positive light. Yet, several aspects of the story are in fact based on the novel version, including the employment of its original characters such asDiao Chan, as well as anachronistic weapons such asGuan Yu’sGreen Dragon Crescent Blade andZhang Fei’s Viper Spear.
A consistent theme throughout the story is Cao Cao's perpetual desire to break China and its people away from its old systems and ways of thinking and initiate a focus on pragmatism over empty ideals. This often puts him at odds with the prevalent customs and notions ofConfucianism and those that support them.
Sōten Kōro was originally written byHagin Yi [ja] and illustrated byKing Gonta [ja], starting inKodansha'sseinen manga magazineWeekly Morning in 1994.[3] After Hagin Yi died of live cancer in 1998, King Gonta continued the story.[4] The series finished in 2005.[5] Kodansha collected its chapters in thirty-sixtankōbon volumes, released from October 23, 1995,[6] to January 23, 2006.[7] An eighteen-volumebunkoban edition was published from December 12, 2000,[8] to December 12, 2006.[9] A three-in-one volume edition, consisting of twelve volumes, was published from May 5 to October 23, 2009.[10][11]
Ananime television series, animated byMadhouse, was announced in February 2009.[1] The series was broadcast onNippon TV from April 8 to September 30, 2009.[12][a] The opening theme is "909" byTribal Chair [ja] and the ending theme is "Pinhole" (ピンボール,Pinhōru) byOgre You Asshole.[12]
In 1998, along withGambling Apocalypse: Kaiji,Sōten Kōro won the 22ndKodansha Manga Award in the general category.[13] As of February 2009, the manga had over 10 million copies in circulation.[1] As of February 2017, the manga had over 18 million copies in circulation.[14]
