<p>There's a bit of history here which puts this in perspective. In 1987, mangaka Kawahara Masatoshi first published <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shura_no_Mon" rel="nofollow">Shura no Mon</a>. This  is a pretty standard martial arts manga in terms of setting and characters. It primarily follows a single character, Mutsu Tsukumoto. He practices a martial art Mutsu Enmei Ryuu. This martial arts style has apparently never been defeated in its 1000 year history. Shura no Mon ran for 31 volumes and finished publication in 1996. It does have a sequel which began in 2010. It was never adapted as an anime.</p>

<p>In 1989, Kawahara began publishing a prequel manga <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shura_no_Toki" rel="nofollow">Shura no Toki</a>. This details the thousand-year history of Mutsu Enmei Ryuu and the Mutsu family. It has arcs for each of the major periods in Japanese history, each with different characters. This was published at a slower pace. In total, there were 15 volumes. The series ended in 2005.</p>

<p>The anime adaptation of Shura no Toki occurred in 2004. They chose to adapt Shura no Toki rather than Shura no Mon, and covered 3 story arcs. Given the timing, this made more sense. Shura no Mon hadn't been released for 8 years, but Shura no Toki was still publishing and nearing its end, which is a good time for an anime adaptation. Of course, given the nature of the work, they adapted it in arcs rather than just doing a single one.</p>

<p>It's a bit of a historical accident that Shura no Toki got an anime adaptation, while Shura no Mon didn't. I don't think there's a single really convincing reason why it happened. Partially, the timing wasn't great. Martial arts was big in the 1980s, but by the mid-90s (when an anime might have started) it had died down in popularity. Shura no Toki was better timed in that respect and also had the benefit of being more historically themed (and hence appealing to a larger group than just martial arts enthusiasts). There's plenty of other speculation as to why the prequel was the only part to be adapted as an anime, but in any event that's the fact of the matter.</p>

<p>So the reason why Shura no Toki took that approach is because it was always designed and intended as a prequel to Shura no Mon, which has the more traditional single protagonist. However, in English, the Shura no Toki anime is the only one with a sizable following since neither manga is well known. Without that context, the style of the anime seems somewhat strange.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-10T02:33:59.443Z
That is a lot of information about it. Thank you
bgrif
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-10T01:20:41.657Z
2014-07-10T01:20:41.657Z
Logan M
<p>The story focused on the martial art style, not the person. And I guess the writer wanted the reader to understand why this mutsu enmeiryuu style is "the strongest martial art" and "undefeated for a thousand year"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-19T09:29:24.927Z
2017-05-19T09:29:24.927Z
kobenoz
<p>In the series Shura no Toki it shows the different generations of the mutsu enmei and their battles. I have watch the series and think that is great and recomend it to friends. I like the way that they have done this compared to different animes. </p>

<p>But I am a little confused on why the writers decided to do different generations instead of like a lot of the other animes out there keep with one generation and follow them tell the end of the series. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-09T19:45:09.083Z
I will have to check them out. thanks for the recomendation
bgrif
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-09T19:53:35.750Z
gundam age is not any close to shura no toki neither in generation nor in genre.
Prix
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-09T20:02:35.387Z
even if it isn't im always up for new anime to watch
bgrif
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-09T20:16:51.550Z
@bgrif don't get me wrong I am not telling you not to watch just telling you not to expect any similarities to say "holy cow they are just the same thing and I identify myself with it" some seasons of gundam are nice some are oh well you know ;P. But the genres are too far apart as well as story setting to be able to compare both side by side.
Prix
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-07-09T20:20:21.973Z
lol okay thanks for the for letting me know. going in a watching differnet styles of anime I don't expect the samething in anyone of them. that way if i don't care for it to much I'm not disappointed.
bgrif
<shura-no-toki>
Why does Shura no Toki go through different generations in each season?
# Why does Shura no Toki go through different generations in each season?
Posted by: username_0 on 2014-07-09
In the series Shura no Toki it shows the different generations of the mutsu enmei and their battles. I have watch the series and think that is great and recomend it to friends. I like the way that they have done this compared to different animes.

But I am a little confused on why the writers decided to do different generations instead of like a lot of the other animes out there keep with one generation and follow them tell the end of the series.
**Tags:** shura-no-toki
> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I will have to check them out. thanks for the recomendation  
> **username_1**: gundam age is not any close to shura no toki neither in generation nor in genre.  
> **username_0**: even if it isn't im always up for new anime to watch  
> **username_1**: @bgrif don't get me wrong I am not telling you not to watch just telling you not to expect any similarities to say "holy cow they are just the same thing and I identify myself with it" some seasons of gundam are nice some are oh well you know ;P. But the genres are too far apart as well as story setting to be able to compare both side by side.  
> **username_0**: lol okay thanks for the for letting me know. going in a watching differnet styles of anime I don't expect the samething in anyone of them. that way if i don't care for it to much I'm not disappointed.  
---
## 2 answers
### Answer by username_2 on 2014-07-10. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
There's a bit of history here which puts this in perspective. In 1987, mangaka Kawahara Masatoshi first published [Shura no Mon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shura_no_Mon). This is a pretty standard martial arts manga in terms of setting and characters. It primarily follows a single character, Mutsu Tsukumoto. He practices a martial art Mutsu Enmei Ryuu. This martial arts style has apparently never been defeated in its 1000 year history. Shura no Mon ran for 31 volumes and finished publication in 1996. It does have a sequel which began in 2010. It was never adapted as an anime.

In 1989, Kawahara began publishing a prequel manga [Shura no Toki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shura_no_Toki). This details the thousand-year history of Mutsu Enmei Ryuu and the Mutsu family. It has arcs for each of the major periods in Japanese history, each with different characters. This was published at a slower pace. In total, there were 15 volumes. The series ended in 2005.

The anime adaptation of Shura no Toki occurred in 2004. They chose to adapt Shura no Toki rather than Shura no Mon, and covered 3 story arcs. Given the timing, this made more sense. Shura no Mon hadn't been released for 8 years, but Shura no Toki was still publishing and nearing its end, which is a good time for an anime adaptation. Of course, given the nature of the work, they adapted it in arcs rather than just doing a single one.

It's a bit of a historical accident that Shura no Toki got an anime adaptation, while Shura no Mon didn't. I don't think there's a single really convincing reason why it happened. Partially, the timing wasn't great. Martial arts was big in the 1980s, but by the mid-90s (when an anime might have started) it had died down in popularity. Shura no Toki was better timed in that respect and also had the benefit of being more historically themed (and hence appealing to a larger group than just martial arts enthusiasts). There's plenty of other speculation as to why the prequel was the only part to be adapted as an anime, but in any event that's the fact of the matter.

So the reason why Shura no Toki took that approach is because it was always designed and intended as a prequel to Shura no Mon, which has the more traditional single protagonist. However, in English, the Shura no Toki anime is the only one with a sizable following since neither manga is well known. Without that context, the style of the anime seems somewhat strange.
> **Comments:**
> **username_0** (2014-07-10): That is a lot of information about it. Thank you  
---
### Answer by username_3 on 2017-05-19. Score: 0
The story focused on the martial art style, not the person. And I guess the writer wanted the reader to understand why this mutsu enmeiryuu style is "the strongest martial art" and "undefeated for a thousand year"
---
