Kamasutra (manga)

Kamasutra (カーマスートラ, Kāmasūtora) is originally a four tankōbon manga (inspired by the homonymous book) created by Go Nagai and Kunio Nagatani and published by Tokuma Shoten in 1990. It was later adapted into an OVA, Kamasutra: The Ultimate Sex Adventure (究極のSEXアドベンチャー カーマスートラ, Kyūkyoku no Sekkusu Adobenchā Kāmasūtora), known in the United Kingdom as Kamasutra and in the United States as Kama Sutra and considered a hentai anime in the West.

Plot

Dr. Aikawa is researching the location of an ancient Indian princess. An ancient Indian cult, the Naga tribe, is also looking for her. Dr. Aikawa's grandson, Ryu, becomes involved when the cult ransacks his grandfather's apartment in search for information about the princess, attacking Ryu and his girlfriend Yukari in the process. Ryu goes to India to help his grandfather. There he finds his grandfather's assistant, Shakty, who introduces him to some of the techniques found in the Kamasutra. While both fly towards Dr. Aikawa locations they are kidnapped by the Mali Clan. Ryu is sexually drained and physically debilitated while in captivity, but his grandfather and Indy Yakko manage to save them.

After that, Dr. Aikawa's group manages to find the holy grail and with it they are able to locate and retrieve the frozen princess Surya, who was resting at the Himalayas, and the revive Surya with the holy grail. Meanwhile, having failed at obtaining the holy grail, the person behind the attacks, the old mentor, dies and the prince assumes the leadership of the tribe, killing the woman physician of the mentor in the process. He then personally kidnaps Shurya with the intention of obtaining her love juices to be used with the grail. The prince then tries to obtain the holy grail and succeeds by deceiving Ryu into an exchange of the princess for the grail. After obtaining the grail (kidnapping Ryu in the process), he sends Hige Godzilla to trick Yukari into abducting Surya for them. Yukari does so and is also captured and is jailed along Ryu. Yakko, however, is able to track them down and rescues them before they are crushed by a trap. While trying to escape, they are confronted by the prince of Naga, who gives them a glimpse of his mystical power. Despite this, they still escape.

The prince, now in possession of Surya and the holy grail, is about to be married to Surya, but he's interrupted by the attack of Austin, a military man and the father of Jodie, the woman whom the prince killed. The prince manages to escape with Surya and the grail, but is soon followed by Austin, Yakko, Ryu and Dr. Aikawa. With the help of the grail, the prince opens a portal to Shambhala and enters it. He is soon followed by Ryu and Yakko, who find a space egg floating like a sun. During this time, Dr. Aikawa finds another way of entering Shambhala, by using the holy grail counterpart, a death cup, and a foursome sexual position in a wall of a Lakshmana temple. As the prince is about to enter the egg with princess Shurya and the grail, Dr. Aikawa, Shakty, Yukari and Hige appear before him. Soon after, Ryu and Yakko also arrive and Ryu manages to catch up to the prince just as he enters the egg with Shurya. The prince and Ryu engage in a battle, in which the holy grail falls outside the egg. They are stopped by the angels that protect the egg, just as the egg elevates itself towards the space.

The angels test both the prince and Ryu in the Kamasutra, as only one can be together with princess Surya. Ryu decides that he wants to do it with the princess, and so the prince is killed by a Hydra-like creature who also takes him out of the egg. The angels leave Shurya and Ryu alone and they both engage in sex. Having fulfilled its purpose, the egg divides in two. One takes Shurya and the other Ryu.

By this time, Dr. Aikawa manages to get all of them back to Earth with the help of the Holy Grail. As they return, the egg containing Ryu returns while the other floats in the sky. Shurya's egg gets smaller and attaches itself to the holy grail. The grail is then returned to its original place, with Shurya (and Ryu's DNA) inside.

Differences between the manga and anime

• The OVA presents a shortened and slightly modified version of the story. The main story starts when Princess Surya's frozen body is discovered, leaving out all the first volume of the manga.
• In the anime, Ryu is already helping his grandfather, who find Surya without the need of the holy grail.
• The holy grail is also referred as the sex cup in the anime.
• The prince is called Rudracin in the anime, whereas in the manga, that name is barely mentioned.
• There is no mention in the anime to the Navy background of the prince.
• The old mentor is already about to die in the anime.
• The constant sexual relationships between Shakty and Dr. Aikawa are not touched in the anime.
• In the anime, Ryu is the reincarnation of a knight who protected Shurya in the past.
• Jodi and her father Austin don't appear in the anime. Austin's attack is changed into a police raid.
• In the anime, the method with which Surya is kidnapped the second time, is different and Yukari has a less active participation in it.
• Only the prince, Surya, Yakko and Ryu enter Shambhala in the anime.
• The angels do not test the prince in the anime. They only help Ryu to cross a lagoon that it's in the way to the temple above which the egg floats. They are 48, a reference to the 48 positions of the Shijuhatte (四十八手), the Japanese Kamasutra.
• In the anime, instead of being killed by a Hydra-like monster, Ryu and the Prince engage in weapon combat outside the egg, in which Ryu is remained of his ancient life and kills the prince after the prince takes the form of a monster.
• In the anime, the Hindu gods save Surya in the ancient past and entrust her the mission of saving humanity after the world is destroyed. In the manga, Surya is already a divine being.
• The Hindu gods have a prominent role in the anime, almost non-existent in the manga.
• After Surya has sex with Ryu, only she travels inside the space egg and this remains floating in the space instead of attaching itself to the holy grail.

Characters

• Ryu Aikawa (阿井川 竜, aikawa ryū, played by Yasunori Matsumoto): The hero of the story, a handsome but sexually inexperienced young man. During the course of the story he is taught in the Kamasutra so that he can conquer the final test. In the anime, he is the reincarnation of Gopal, a knight that protected princess Surya.
• Princess Surya (スーリャ姫, sūrya hime, played by Sakiko Tamagawa): A mysterious princess who holds the secret of eternal life. In the anime, she knows Ryu from his previous life.
• Shakty (シャクティ, shakutei, played by Naoko Matsui): Dr. Aikawa assistant and lover. She is the first to introduce Ryu into the art of the Kamasutra.
• Hige Godzilla (ヒゲゴジラ, higegojira, played by Naoki Tatsuta): The character from the Yadamon manga and Harenchi Gakuen. In this story, he is helping the Naga tribe and acts as the main henchman of the prince.
• Dr. Takeshi Aikawa (阿井川猛博士, aikawa takeshi hakase, played by Kenichi Ogata): Ryu's grandfather and the archaeologist behind the discovery of princess Surya. In the manga he constantly engages in sexual acts with Shakty.
• Old mentor (老師, rōshi, played by Ikuya Sawaki): An old man with snake-like features seeking the secret of the holy grail and Surya, and the leader of the Naga tribe. He is the father of the prince and is called also Beshuma.
• Yukari Tsuji (辻ユカリ, tsuji yukari, alternatively written 辻ゆかり in the OVA, played by Chieko Honda) The nominal girlfriend of Ryu.
• Indy Yakko (インディやっこ, indei yakko, played by) Masami Kikuchi: A parody of Indiana Jones and comic relief. He successfully helps Ryu during the course of the story.
• Prince of Naga (ナーガのプリンス, nāga no purinsu), also known as Rudran (ルドラン, rudoran) or Rudracin (ルドラシン, rudorashin, played by Jurota Kusogi): The main antagonist after the death of the old mentor, he seeks to make Surya his in order to achieve eternal life. He was a navy Lieutenant until he assumes the role of leader of the Naga tribe. In the anime, it is implied that he is the reincarnation of Ryu's killer.

Production

Anime staff

• Studio: Toho video
• Original work: Go Nagai, Kunio Nagatani
• Executive producer: Masamichi Fujiwara (Toho)
• Producer: Seiji Tani (Toho)
• Director: Masayuki Ozeki
• Scenario: Seiji Matsuoka
• Character design/animation supervisor: Shinsuke Terasawa
• Art Director: Yoken Ko
• Director of Photography: Chiho Miyakazi
• Music: Ken Yajima
• Sound Director: Hideyuki Tamaka
• Animation production: Animate Film
• Co-production: EG Film
• Voice cast: Yasunori Matsumoto, Sakiko Tamagawa, Naoko Matsui, Naoki Tatsuta, Kenichi Ogata, Ikuya Sawaki, Chieko Honda, Masami Kikuchi, Jurota Kusogi

Source(s)^[1][2]

USA staff

• Translation: Tokyo Rose
• Executive producer: Gary Sierra
• 3D animation: Michael Fenimore
• Additional music: Ivan Woolfe
• Production supervision: Simon Li
• English language script adaptation: Chris Norman
• Adr director: T-Bone Wang
• Audio engineer: Elvis Herbert
• Audio mix consultant: Kobe Nagoya
• Recording studio: Planet 2 Planet Studios
• Executive producer of English version: John Sirabella
• Production manager: Scott Marchfield
• Production supervison: Sean Molyneaux
• Production assistant: Anna Yamamoto
• Editor: Khalid Mills
• Art director: Meredith Mulroney
• English packaging & design: Anime Works
• Voice cast: Savanna Blu (Princess Surya), Fred Felt (Ryu), George Malios (Dr. Aikawa), Don Carlo (Hige/Vishnu), Pablo Paratha (Rudra), T. Bone Wang (Rudra's father), Evelyn Jones (Reporter/Shiva), O. Dear (Shakty), Chrissie Squirt (Sky Maidens), Mark. Z Wolf (Yakko), Mayblissa Cummings (Yukari), Bobby Ballsack (Detective/other voices)

Source(s)^[3][4]

Media

Manga

The manga was published in four volumes by Tokuma Shoten.^[5][6][7]

Anime

The OVA adaptation, titled Kyukioku no Sex Adventure Kamasutra (究極のSEXアドベンチャー カーマスートラ, Kyūkyoku no Sekkusu Adobenchā Kāmasūtora, translated as Kamasutra: The Ultimate Sex Adventure), was released on April 24, 1992 (1992-04-24) by Toho Video in VHS format, with standard number TA-4347 and JAN 4988104210319.

Releases outside Japan

The anime was released in a subtitled version VHS in the United Kingdom on April 11, 1994 (1994-04-11) by Western Connection, EAN 5021904001004.^[8] Western Connection also released it in DVD.

In the United States, it was originally released by Kitty Media on May 5, 1998 (1998-05-05) in two versions, an edited "general release"(catalog number KVVS-9818, UPC 631595981834)^[9][10] and an unedited version (catalog version KVVS-9815, UPC 631595981537.^[4][10][11] Kitty Media also released the OVA in DVD on January 28, 2003 (2003-01-28) (catalog number KVDVD-0228, UPC 631595022865), this time including English dubbed audio.^[4][12]

Yamato Video released the anime in Italy in VHS with an Italian dubbed version. The OVA was also released in VHS in Spain, dubbed in Spanish.

References

External links

• Kamasutra at the World of Go Nagai website (Japanese)
• Kama Sutra (OVA) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Kyukioku no Sex Adventure Kamasutra at allcinema (Japanese)
• Kama Sutra at the Internet Movie Database