TENGAI MAKYŌ II: MANJI MARU

天外魔境 II 卍MARU (てんがいまきょうつーまんじまる)

Game

Release

1992-03-26

Genre

Battle Adventure Drama Fantasy Discrim RPG

Dev.

Hudson Soft Company, Limited

Sales

Hudson Soft Company, Limited

Platform

SUPER CD-ROM²
TurboDuo
PC Engine Duo-R
PC Engine Duo-RX
GAMECUBE
PlayStation2
Nintendo DS
PlayStation Portable
PlayStation3
PC Engine mini

CERO

CERO B

Dir.

Masuda Shōji

Des.

Hiroi Ouji

Prog.

Iwasaki Hiromasa

Scenario

Masuda Shōji

Music

Tsujino Teruyoshi

Music

Hisaishi Joe Fukuda Yasuhiko

Summary

"TENGAI MAKYŌ" is a computer RPG game series for the PC Engine CD-ROM2, released by Hudson. It is commonly known as "TENGAI." It debuted as the first Japanese-style RPG series in gaming history. The unit of experience is not "level" but "dan."

The project and original concept were by Hiroi Oji, who was leading Red Company (now Red Entertainment) at the time. The "TENGAI MAKYŌ" series is set in the fictional country of "Jipang," around the 16th to 18th centuries, based on the concept of "the mistaken view of Japan from the West." It focuses on the exploits of those who inherit the blood of the "Fire Clan," who have appeared and saved the country from crises since ancient times.

"TENGAI MAKYŌ II: MANJI MARU" is the sequel to "TENGAI MAKYŌ: ZIRIA" (1989) and the second installment in the "TENGAI MAKYŌ Series", set in the fictional country of Zipangu. Players control the protagonist, "Sengoku Manjimaru", a descendant of the "Fire Clan", aiming to defeat the "Root Clan" who inhabit a subterranean land called "Dark Rand", known for its enormous flowers. Employing CD-ROM technology, the game features music by Hisaishi Joe, renowned for his work on Studio Ghibli films, and boasts a stellar cast of voice actors. Familiar elements from "TENGAI MAKYO: ZIRIA", such as animated movies and voice-overs within the game, are present, contributing to its reputation as the pinnacle of the series. Even 30 years later, it continues to be celebrated as an unparalleled masterpiece in Japanese-style RPGs, maintaining its status as an immortal classic.

Upon its release, the game was acclaimed for its completeness, narrative, and characters. It was often ranked alongside or even above popular Japanese RPGs like "Dragon Quest" and "Final Fantasy", being heralded as one of the top three RPGs of the time.

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Seichi

The setting of "TENGAI MAKYŌ: ZIRIA" is the Bando region (modern-day Kanto region).

The setting of "TENGAI MAKYŌ II: MANJI MARU" is the Yamato region (modern-day Kansai and Chugoku regions).

The setting of "TENGAI MAKYŌ III: NAMIDA" is the Kyushu direction (modern-day Kyushu region).

Trivia

The English title is "FAR EAST OF EDEN."
The name "Hida," the homeland of Manjimaru, is simply a play on the kanji characters for Hida City (Hidashi) in Gifu Prefecture. Manjimaru's village, Shirakawa, is a real village.
The "Manji" (卍) symbol in "Manjimaru" has long been recognized in Japan as a symbol signifying temples. Its history is ancient, originating from Old Sanskrit and deeply rooted in Buddhism and Japanese culture. However, in many foreign countries, the use of the "Manji" symbol is criticized because it reminds people of the Nazi swastika. Despite the differences between the Manji and the swastika, such as the direction of rotation and the swastika typically being rotated 45 degrees, their similarity has frequently led to controversy.
The characters "Kabuki Danjuro" and the lord of the jungle castle, "Kikugoro," derive their names from the "Danjuro Kikugoro" of the Japanese Kabuki industry.
At that time, it was rare for games to feature voice acting or animated movies, making it feel like playing a game while watching an anime, which led to immense popularity.
Despite universal acclaim from those who played it as a masterpiece, the game did not become widespread due to hardware limitations. At the time of its release, around 2 years after the launch of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991-1992), it was the golden age for the SNES with the release of famous titles such as "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past," "Romancing SaGa," "Contra Spirits," "Mario Kart," and "Final Fantasy V." Unlike today, the target audience for games was mostly children, and the SNES was priced at 25,000 yen, whereas the main hardware for the "TENGAI MAKYŌ" series, the "PC Engine Duo," was priced at 59,800 yen, making it unaffordable for many children. While the software itself was priced competitively with the SNES, or even cheaper in some cases, the high cost of the hardware meant that most households could not afford to play the games. With the game's existence itself going unrecognized, it's a sad part of history that many masterpieces were not seen by a lot of children as time passed.
In this Japanese-style RPG, the counter for "level" is expressed as "段(dan)".