God Save our King! is a Japanese series of light novels written by Tomo Takabayashi. It has been adapted into an anime series and a manga. Geneon ceased production of all titles in late 2007, leaving three volumes of the second season unreleased on DVD in North America. On July 3, 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon Entertainment will still retain the license, Funimation Entertainment will assume exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select titles.God Save Our King! was one of several titles involved in the deal. The story follows the adventures of 15-year old Yuri Shibuya (sometimes spelt "Yuuri") (Japanese Kanji: 渋谷 有利, English Transliteration: Shibuya Yuri), an average high school student whose passion in life is baseball, as he discovers his future in a world where demons and humans are fighting against one another.
Setting
God Save Our King! takes place in an alternate world which Shibuya Yuri travels to by coming in contact with various sources of water. There are many nations in the alternate world, however, the plot centers around the nation of Shin Makoku (眞魔国, True Mazoku Land) (officially translated "Great Demon Kingdom"). The people of the kingdom are Mazoku (魔族). In the official translation, Mazoku is rendered as "demon" or "Demon Tribe", depending on context. The Demon Tribe are granted the privilege of making an agreement with an element of nature, which allows them to manipulate that element through the use of their Maryoku (魔力 Mazoku power)controlled using Majutsu (魔術, Mazoku special discipline). In the English translation, both terms are rendered as "magic". Covenant Castle (also translated as Blood Pledge Castle), in the capital of the Great Demon Kingdom (and modeled after the Alcázar of Segovia in Spain), is the residence of the Maoh (マ王 or 魔王 Maō), or "Mazoku King" (officially "Demon King"). The culture in the Great Demon Kingdom is very different from the Japanese culture Yuri is accustomed to, and the differences make for some amusing mishaps with long ranging consequences, such as an accidental proposal of marriage. The Great Demon Kingdom shows many similarities to medievalGermany. For example, the pronunciations of the names (as well as several of the names themselves) and the indications of language in the Great Demon Kingdom are derived or transliterated from the German language. Also, Conrad gives Yuri his name, which he claims means "July" in the language of the Great Demon Kingdom. In German, July is "Juli" pronounced "Yu-lee". Due to the lack of distinction between the Western sounds of the letters L and R in theJapanese language, this is rendered in Japanese as "Yuri." He also sometimes claims that he is nicknamed "Shibuya Yuri Harajuku Furi" and that Conrad is responsible for it. Also, it may be noted that the nobles of the kingdom are named using the traditional naming conventions ofGerman nobility, using the preposition "von" in their surnames to denote their fiefdom, as in Günter von Christ and Wolfram von Bielefeld.
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