3×3 Eyes | |
Pai and Yakumo as they appear on 3×3 Eyes volume 1 published by Kodansha
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サザンアイズ (Sazan Aizu) |
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Genre | Adventure, Fantasy |
Manga | |
Written by | Yuzo Takada |
Published by | Kodansha |
English publisher | |
Demographic | Seinen |
Magazine | Young Magazine |
English magazine | |
Original run | December 1987 – October 2002 |
Volumes | 40 |
Original video animation | |
Directed by | Daisuke Nishio |
Studio | Toei Animation |
Licensed by | |
Released | July 25, 1991 – March 19, 1992 |
Runtime | 30 minutes each |
Episodes | 4 |
Original video animation | |
3×3 Eyes Seima Densetsu | |
Directed by | Kazuhisa Takenouchi |
Studio | Hal Film Maker |
Licensed by | |
Released | July 25, 1995 – June 25, 1996 |
Runtime | 45 minutes each |
Episodes | 3 |
3×3 Eyes, pronounced Sazan Eyes (Japanese: サザンアイズ Hepburn: Sazan Aizu?) in Japanese, is a manga written and illustrated by Yuzo Takada. The manga was serialized in Young Magazine from 1987 to 2002, spanning to a total of 40 volumes. In 1993, it won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen. The English-language translation was being published by Dark Horse Comics, but was discontinued before the release of volume 9 in 2005.
The manga has received two Original Video Animation series based on 3×3 Eyes and were first released in 1991 and 1995. The first consisted of four episodes averaging to half-hour of run time. The second consisted of three averaging out to 45-minutes of run time. They cover the storyline up to volume 5 of the manga. Originally published by Streamline in the US in 1995, the two OVAs were eventually re-dubbed and released in 2001 by Geneon USA in a collected set. The series has also received several companion books, Drama CDs, and video games only released in Japan.
3×3 Eyes follows the adventures of Pai, the last remaining Sanjiyan Unkara (三只眼 吽迦羅 lit. triclops?), and her new Wu (Chinese reading of 无; an immortal companion), Yakumo, as they desperately try to find a way to make Pai human so that she can forget her troubled past. Pai travelled to Tokyo searching for the artifact, but shortly after she arrived, a thief snatched her backpack and cane from her. A teenage lad, Yakumo, tackled the crook and managed to get the pack back for her, though the thief escaped with the cane. Yakumo took her to his work, where Pai was able to get cleaned up, and where she discovered that he was the son of Professor Fujii, an archaeologist she had met in Tibet four years prior. The Professor had been researching the legends of the Sanjiyans and had befriended her and offered to help her find the Ningen, only to fall ill and die. Pai had his last letter to his son in her backpack, which asked Yakumo to help Pai with her quest. Although he didn't believe his father's tales of Pai being a monster, he agreed to assist her.