Manga

3x3 Eyes 1-30+: Story and art by Yuzo Takada (with Studio Palm for vol. 11+)
19cm softcover, 200+ pages, B&W, Japanese text
Yanmaga KC Special (Kodansha), 1988-present, 485 or 505 yen
(for details see the chapter list)

3x3 Eyes began as a Japanese manga (comic) series created by Yuzo Takada. The manga was first serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine Pirate Edition, and ran from Dec. 14, 1987, to Apr. 10, 1989. Beginning on Apr. 24, 1989, the manga moved to the weekly Young Magazine, where it is still being published. When enough chapters have been published, they are collected and published as a tankoubon (small paperback volume). New volumes are published about every four months. Starting with volume 18, the price was raised from 485 yen before tax to 505 yen.

The comics are very popular, and early volumes have been reprinted many times. The 41st printing of the first volume was issued on May 6, 1998, nearly ten years after the first printing on October 17, 1988. Recent editions of volumes 1-14 have completely new artwork on the back cover. The artwork is similar to that found on later volumes, replacing the original three-panel design. (I believe the change occurred after April 1, 1997, when the Japanese national sales tax was raised from 3% to 5%. The new printings have bar codes and the updated after-tax prices, and the bar code section would cover one of the three panels of original artwork.)

The manga is divided into several story arcs, described below (based on information in the back of manga volume 14):

Seima Yogeki (Divine Demon Monster Busters) Vol. 1-2: Yakumo and Pai travel to Hong Kong and have some adventures with Yogekisha. These stories were used for the first anime series.
Seima Densetsu (Divine Demon Legend) Vol. 3-5: Yakumo finds Pai after 4 years, and they seek to restore her memory. This storyline is used for the second anime series, also named Seima Densetsu.
Seima Seiki (Divine Demon Century) Vol. 6-11: The continuing adventures of Yakumo and Pai reveal the history of Kaiyanwang and the Sanjiyan Unkara.
Seima Sousei (Divine Demon Genesis) also called The Legend of Trinetra Vol. 12+: This was originally a departure from the main plotline that disappointed some fans. However, the plot is now back to Pai and Yakumo's quest to become human and defeat Kaiyanwang.

More details about the individual manga volumes are available on the Manga Translations page.

Official Translations

Several years ago, the 3x3 Eyes manga was translated into English by Studio Proteus and published by Innovation. Due to poor sales, the series was cancelled after five issues. Recently, Studio Proteus and Dark Horse Comics revived the series, starting by reprinting a collection of the first five comics as the 3x3 Eyes: House of Demons trade paperback. A new five-issue series of translations, 3x3 Eyes: Curse of the Gesu, was then published. These comics were also collected as a trade paperback, but Dark Horse decided not to continue the series beyond that point, again due to poor sales. The two trade paperbacks correspond to the first ten chapters of the Japanese manga.

Much of the 3x3 Eyes manga has been translated into other languages, such as Chinese, Italian, and Spanish. [Additional information on translations would be appreciated.]

Anime Comics

Anime Comics are comic versions of the animated videos. These comics are in color, using the actual cel art and scripts from the anime.

3x3 Eyes I - Tensei no Shou (Reincarnation): Yuzo Takada, Daisuke Nishio, Akinori Endo, Koichi Arai
19cm softcover, 175 pages, color, Japanese text
(plus 8-page B&W character sketch supplement)
Kodansha Anime Comics ANKC-73, 1991-8-23, 767 yen
ISBN4-06-174473-9
3x3 Eyes II - Yakumo no Shou (Yakumo): Yuzo Takada, Daisuke Nishio, Akinori Endo, Koichi Arai
19cm softcover, 174 pages, color, Japanese text
Kodansha Anime Comics ANKC-74, 1991-11-6, 767 yen
ISBN4-06-174474-7
3x3 Eyes III - Saisei no Shou (Accepting Life): Yuzo Takada, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Akinori Endo, Koichi Arai
19cm softcover, 175 pages, color, Japanese text
Kodansha Anime Comics ANKC-75, 1992-3-6, 767 yen
ISBN4-06-174475-5
3x3 Eyes IV - Meisou no Shou (Run Astray): Yuzo Takada, Daisuke Nishio, Akinori Endo, Koichi Arai
19cm softcover, 175 pages, color, Japanese text
Kodansha Anime Comics ANKC-76, 1992-5-6, 767 yen
ISBN4-06-174476-3
3x3 Eyes ~Seima Densetsu~ I - Matsuei no Shou (Descendant): Yuzo Takada, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Tetsuya Kumagai
19cm softcover, 192 pages, color, Japanese text
Kodansha Anime Comics ANKC-77, 1995-8-7, 922 yen
ISBN4-06-174477-1
3x3 Eyes ~Seima Densetsu~ II - Kagi no Shou (The Key): Yuzo Takada, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Tetsuya Kumagai
19cm softcover, 192 pages, color, Japanese text
Kodansha Anime Comics ANKC-78, 1996-1-17, 922 yen
ISBN4-06-174478-X
3x3 Eyes ~Seima Densetsu~ III - Kikan no Shou (Returning): Yuzo Takada, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Tetsuya Kumagai
19cm softcover, 192 pages, color, Japanese text
Kodansha Anime Comics ANKC-79, 1996-7-5, 922 yen
ISBN4-06-174479-8

The credits on the first series of comics are for original work (Yuzo Takada), director (Daisuke Nishio and Kazuhisa Takenouchi), screenplay (Akinori Endo), and animation director (Koichi Arai). For the second series, creator Yuzo Takada and director Kazuhisa Takenouchi are both given screenplay credits, and animation direction and character designs were by Tetsuya Kumagai.

Curse of the Gesu cover scanned by me. 3x3 Eyes English translation published by Dark Horse Comics, Inc. Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, and the Dark Horse logo are trademarks of Dark Horse Comics, Inc., registered in various categories and countries.

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Last updated: March 1, 2011 2:42AM UTC

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