Spriggan (manga)
Spriggan (manga)
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Spriggan (manga)

Spriggan (Japanese: スプリガン, Hepburn: Supurigan) (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written by Hiroshi Takashige and illustrated by Ryōji Minagawa. It was serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazines Weekly Shōnen Sunday and Shōnen Sunday Zōkan from 1989 to 1996, with its chapters collected in 11 tankōbon volumes. In North America, the manga was first licensed by Viz Media, under the title Striker; it was serialized in Manga Vizion and only three volumes were released in the late '90s. The manga was licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment, with its original title, in 2022.

Spriggan takes place in the last years of the Cold War where mysterious and unknown artifacts called out-of-place artifacts (OOPArt) 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 as the guardians of the OOPArts in order to prevent them from being used as weapons.

The manga was adapted into an anime film by Studio 4°C in 1998; Katsuhiro Otomo was involved in adapting. A PlayStation game called Spriggan: Lunar Verse was also based on the manga with some material created for the game. An original net animation (ONA) series adaptation by David Production was released in June 2022 on Netflix.

An ancient civilization known for their advanced technology once ruled Earth, but were destroyed in the end by their misuse. 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, aim to stop these forces from destroying themselves with their elite secret agents known as Spriggans (or Strikers).

Written by Hiroshi Takashige and illustrated by Ryōji Minagawa, Spriggan was first serialized in Shogakukan shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from February 22 to December 6, 1989. The manga was then transferred to Shōnen Sunday Zōkan (renamed Shōnen Sunday Super in 1995), where it ran from August 15, 1992, to February 5, 1996. Eleven tankōbon volumes were released from June 18, 1991, to June 18, 1996, with eight-volume reprints from April 18, 2001, to June 18, 2002, and from June 15, 2006, to January 13, 2007. The reprints included the previously unpublished stories "First Mission" and "Gold Rush" in the first and last volumes, respectively. The original volumes were republished in a three-box set edition, which includes never before published illustrations. The first box set (including the first four volumes) was released on April 18, 2022. The third box set includes a 12th volume, which features the "First Mission" and "Gold Rush" stories, and was published on June 17, 2022.

In North America, the series was first licensed by Viz Media, under the title Striker, and serialized in Manga Vizion. Three volumes were published from November 5, 1998, to May 6, 1999, before the company curtailed further translation. In February 2022, Seven Seas Entertainment announced they acquired the rights to publish the series in English, with its original title. They released the series in four volumes from June 16, 2022, to June 27, 2023.

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 with another reprint announced on July 15, 2021, via its Spanish Twitter account. Together with Ranma ½, it was the first manga published in Portugal, by Texto Editora in 1995.

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