Gokudo the Adventurer

Gokudo the Adventurer
ゴクドーくん漫遊記 (Gokudō-kun Kokoro)
Genre	Action, comedy, supernatural, fantasy
Light novel
Written by	Usagi Hikakushi
Illustrated by	Takeru Gokoro
Published by	Kadokawa Hirokama
Demographic	Female
Original run	June 1, 1991 – September 1, 2009
Volumes	109
Light novel
Gokudo-kun Man'yūki Gaiden
Written by	Usagi Nakamura
Illustrated by	Takeru Kirishima
Published by	MediaWorks
Demographic	Male
Original run	June 10, 1993 – present
Volumes	190
Manga
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Magazine	Dengeki Daioh
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	1989 – 2003
Anime television series
Directed by	Kunihisa Sugishima
Studio	Trans Arts
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	April 2, 1999 – September 24, 2003
Episodes	182 (Excluding Specials)

Gokudo (ゴクドーくん漫遊記, Gokudō-kun Man'yūki) is a light novel series created by Usagi Nakamura. The light novel was first serialized by Akir Toriyama in their light novel magazine Kadokawa Kokoro. It was later adapted into a manga in 1995 and is released in Nintendo Power magazine. An anime adaptation is then produced by Toei Animation and was aired TV Tokyo from April 2, 1999 to September 14, 2003, with a total of 182 episodes.

Enoki Films holds the European anime license under the name Bender the Adventurer. AnimeWorks translated and released the anime on DVD as Gokudo.

Story

The story focuses about an adventurer named Gokudo (full name is Gokudo Yuccot Kikansky). Unlike most main characters he is an antihero, willing to resort to violence to fulfill his agenda. He does not hesitate to abuse the needs of people, sell out his friends to save himself, run away from any dangers, or ditch others who helped him if he does not have any more interest in them. His life starts to change when he finds a magical Genie named Djinn who wants to grant him three wishes. As most people would benefit from having three wishes, in his case it leads him to a lot of trouble, and it doesn't take long before he tries to escape from Djinn, as well as every other person he meets.

Other important characters are the Old Seer (or the Queen of the Magic World) who constantly appears out of nowhere seemingly only to make Gokudo suffer more, Rubette La Lette, a noble girl with a tomboy attitude who sees Gokudo as a rival, and Prince (called Niari by the Old Seer), a mage much better at handling women than Gokudo will ever be.

Characters

Gokudo is the main character of the series. His full name is Gokudo Yuccot Kikansky. He's doesn't fit the profile of a hero and more of an anti-hero. Gokudo is rude, cowardly and lazy. He would only go on quest just for his personal gain and he is known for skipping out on paying for food and stealing or ripping people off their gold whenever he sees fit. Next to that he's always the first person to turn tail during a dangerous situation. He is voiced by Akira Ishida in the Japanese version and by Daniel Kevin Harrison in the English dub.

Rubette is another main character that appears near the end of the first episode and joins Gokudo near the end of the second. Her full name is Rubette La Lette. She has a tomboy attitude and comes from a noble family. She is quite adept at using ranged weapons and is mostly seen wielding a magic bow she received from the old seer. She is also seen to be a lousy singer. Her voice is done by Sayuri Yoshida in Japanese and Debora Rabbai in English.

Djin is a genie that Gokudo acquired by stealing a small money bag from the old seer in which Djin was contained in the form of a stone. After promising Gokudo three wishes, Djin gave him a long winded lecture about how Money, fame and girls are not responsible wishes. After this, instead of fulfilling Gokudo's wishes, Djin stayed by his side in order to teach him more about responsibility. Djin is a very upbeat character who always lectures people (mostly Gokudo) about responsibility, though he himself is prone to getting drunk and partaking in other activities that lead Gokudo into trouble. In the Japanese version, Djin is voiced by Yutaka Shimaka in his male form and by Mami Kingetsu in his female form. In the English dub, he is voiced by Chunky Mon as a male and first by Stacie Renna in episodes 1-2 and for the rest of the series by Jessica Calvello as a female.

Granny is the name Gokudo often uses to address the Seer/Queen of the Magic World. She is the first character to show up in the anime series, when she warns Gokudo about his life being in danger. Instead of listening to her, Gokudo scams the old woman into paying his bills and makes off with her money bag. After this first encounter Granny often appears again, sometimes to help out Gokudo and the gang but usually she only causes them to get into more trouble in the end. She is voiced by Junko Mori in the Japanese version and by Sonny Weil in the dub.

Prince, or Niari as his real name sounds, is the Prince of the Magic World. This makes Granny his mother. Prince has a very outgoing personality, flirting with every pretty girl he finds on his way. Next to that, he's also very vain. He has the habit of using giant robots during battles. After losing his first fight against Gokudo, Granny stripped him of his powers and forced him to join Gokudo and Rubette on their travels. His Japanese voice is done by Shinichiro Miki and his English voice is supplied by Ted Lewis.

External links

• Official website
• Gokudo the Adventurer (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia