is a Japanese manga series by Hiromitsu Takeda. It was published by Fujimi Shobo's magazine Dragon Age Pure, and later Monthly Dragon Age, after the former magazine ceased publishing. It has been adapted into an anime series by AIC that aired on Tokyo MX in the fall of 2011. It is licensed in North America by Crunchyroll (also known as Funimation until 2022) under the title Maken-ki! Battling Venus. Two OVA episodes animated by AIC and Xebec were released at February 29, 2012 and September 25, 2013. They were bundled with the eighth and eleventh volumes of the manga respectively. A second season, titled , was animated by Xebec and aired in 2014.
Plot Takeru Ooyama has enrolled at Tenbi Academy, a private prep high school that converted from all-girls to co-ed. Hoping to have a life full of ogling pretty girls, he reunites with childhood friend Haruko Amaya, who shows him around school. However, he learns that the school is for students who possess magical and spiritual energies called Elements and who wield crafted weapons known as Makens. The students engage in school sanctioned combat matches that showcase their powers. While his own ability and Maken is not apparent at first, Takeru soon finds himself surrounded by girls, including Inaho Kushiya, an attractive girl who says she's his fiancée, and Kodama Himegami, a popular blonde who says she wants to kill him. He joins the , which is part of the student council's Leadership Committee called the , also known as Maken-ki.
Characters
Main characters
The main protagonist of the series, Takeru is a first-year high schooler who enrolls at Tenbi Academy after having attended an all-boys middle school. His childhood friend and fellow disciple, Haruko Amaya, also attends the school as does Inaho Kushiya, who claims that she is his fiancée. He ends up sharing his room with the two girls, as well as Kodama Himegami. Several years before the story, when Takeru was nine and three-quarters, his family dojo was challenged by Tesshin Kushiya. His mother, Atsuma, was killed by Tesshin before his eyes. This incident caused him to hold a deep resentment for his father and uncle due to neither of them being there to protect them. As a result, he tends to take the girl's side whenever one gets into a fight with a guy; indicating he has intense white knight syndrome. His abilities originally manifest under extreme stress, as in the case where he protected Azuki. When he defended Kodama, he used "Blood Pointer", which was later described as "absorbing Element from the people around him through his mouth". Following the battle with the Venus Unit, Takeru undergoes extra training with Minori Rokujou in order to both increase and gain better control of his powers. He later learns that he is blood related to Kodama's brother. Takeru was one of the three students that Gen's Element Detector, Keronbo, could not initially identify, but (a month later) he was given his Maken, "Overblow", which causes his target's Maken to overflow with Element and be rendered useless "like a car engine that blows out". However, if the opponent has an evolved Maken and can perfectly control/contain the surge, it can have the opposite effect and thereby empower the opponent.
A second-year student who is the student council vice president, and the head of one of the dorms. She is a childhood friend of Takeru Ooyama, whom she trained with at his family's dojo, and for whom she harbors romantic feelings for although she is unwilling to admit it. After learning that Kodama and Inaho are moving into Takeru's room, she decides to move in as well. She is very jealous of the attention Takeru gives the other girls and tends to beat him almost by reflex whenever he does anything even remotely perverted. Haruko is well-endowed and Kodama considers her to be the strongest maiden at Tenbi Academy. Haruko's Maken, , is a sword that is suspected to be one of the original Eight Legendary Maken. Murakumo cannot be unsheathed unless Haruko has strong feelings and fights an opponent with comparable power. Haruko unleashed a little of Murakumo's power when she fought a student named Kumi Amio. In her battle with Demitra Midia, she unsheathed it to reveal a blade surrounded with light. Not only are Haruko's attack big enough to destroy barriers, but they are controlled enough that she can spare the life of someone in the sword's path.
A petite, blonde-haired second-year student who is part of the of Maken-ki, which officiates the duels at school. Her Maken, "Yasakani", allows her to command three shikigami named Kaguzuchi, Ikajichi and Nojichi, a trio of doll-sized familiars who follow her around and call her "ojou-sama" (literally "my lady" or "miss" in English) and who can lift people up as well as project fire (Kaguzuchi), lightning (Ikajichi) or wood (Nojichi) attacks. She regularly steps on the boys for their annoying and lecherous antics. She initially sees Takeru as a potential enemy who stole her first kiss, but rooms with him after noticing that he bears a special mark on his chest, and has a scent very similar to her brother's. She develops feelings for Takeru, although not like the other girls as when she was asked whom she likes, she responded that she loved someone long ago. Her hobbies include shopping, especially for lingerie and rare stuffed animals. When on night patrol, she was attracted to a rare King Penguin stuffed animal, and was captured by the Finnian twins of Venus.Kodama forgives the Finnian twins when they offer her the stuffed animal. She later shows a fear of ghosts and spirits outside her own magic; in one instance, she's frightened by a ghost story that Haruto Kirishima admits he'd embellished. Kodama later reveals that she has extraordinary abilities. In the battle with Venus, Kodama uses her Maken to summon larger spirits that are as powerful as the Legendary Eight Maken, and are comparable in strength to Martha Minerva or Minori Rokujou. The Kamigari are highly interested in her as a key to unleashing the power in Amanohara. The Venus Unit kidnaps her and, later on, Ouken has the Kamigari try to capture her on the summer training island. It is revealed that Kodama is the daughter of Yatsune, the former Yamata no Orochi, and that her servants are actually Yatsune's incarnations; each of which had been able to manifest one of the original Eight Maken. Kodama inherited her mother's powers but was sealed away on top on Mount Amanohara. Many years later, after her seal was weakened by Minori, Kodama used her Element to manifest an incarnation of herself. She later realizes that Takeru Ooyama is a descendant of her brother.
The self-proclaimed fiancée of Takeru Ooyama. She feels strongly for Takeru, and although he does not remember her much, she has decided to wait until he fully does. She holds Takeru's father in high regard. Upon revealing this, Takeru gets upset and ignores her, which causes her to cry. Takeru later apologizes to her after Kengo confronts him. However, in the anime, she cries after Takeru tells her that he cannot remember a childhood promise. At first, Inaho was one of the three students that the Element detector, Keronbo, could not measure. However, she manifests her Maken when she saves Takeru and a cat from a falling boulder. She names the cat Monji and usually wears him on her head. Her Maken, "Kamudo", is a gauntlet that greatly increases her strength and speed. She is the star of the bonus four panel series of Maken-ki comics where she is presented in super deformed mode.
Students is Takeru's classmate who joins security committee of Maken-ki. He and Takeru become friends after having excused themselves from class in order to peek at girls during their physical examinations. He has a crush on Kodama. His Maken, "Point Man", lets him exchange himself or other people with an item in their place. Kengo is voiced by Satoshi Tsuruoka, and English dubbed by Scott Freeman in the first season and by Anthony Bowling in the second season. is a hot-tempered second year student who typically sports a small bandage on her nose. She is a member of Maken-ki. After Takeru Ooyama's interference in Azuki's duel with Kai Kuragasa, the latter feels humiliated and a conflict starts between them.In the anime, however, Takeru's interference leads to Azuki losing her panties, causing her further embarrassment. However, both eventually become friends when Takeru forgives Syria Ootsuka. She works at a maid café named Macaroon Mansion. Her Maken, "Hawk", is a mechanized boot which boosts her leg strength, granting her superior agility and speed. As a result, she usually fights using her legs. Azuki is voiced by Misuzu Togashi, and English dubbed by Morgan Garrett. is a Magical enforcer Committee Member of Maken-ki. She's obsessed with Haruko, and despises Takeru for spending so much time with her. When she was younger, she had made a lunch only for bullies to harass her until Haruko drove them off and offered Minaya some of her own lunch. After a student controlled by the Kamigari fights her and Takeru, she is rescued again by Haruko. Uruchi is voiced by Shizuka Furuya, and is English dubbed by Cherami Leigh. is the student council president at Tenbi Academy. She wears glasses and her hair is braided. She is shy around boys and even states that she dislikes men. In the anime, she is very attracted to Akaya from Venus, whom she falls for at their first meeting because (unlike the peeping guys) he appears like a gentleman. Despite her shyness, Furan is very strict when it comes to the duties of Maken-ki duties that need to be carried out. The anime features a recurring gag where the other female Maken-ki members expose Furan's panties in front of the guys to reveal various animal prints such as a bear, cat, and frog; this is an extension from a manga scene during the female bonding time at the summer cabin. Ouken reveals that her fear of men is because, as an advanced talent, she was chosen by Kamigari to be one of his mistresses and was ravished in place of Yuka. Furan's Maken, "Habaya", is a bow that fires homing light arrows. Furan is voiced by Aya Gōda, and she is English dubbed by Brittney Karbowski. is the student council treasurer. She is a close friend of Furan, whom she likes to tease. Yuka appears to be carefree most of the time but also very cunning and encourages Maken-ki activities that involve some kind of other work that needs to be done. For instance, she sets up a competition between Maken-ki and Venus where the players use broom sticks to push a bar of soap around an empty pool. She has a friendly personality like her sister Tomiko, who is Takeru's homeroom teacher; they sometimes coordinate activities. She later reveals that for many generations, the Amado family has been serving the Rokujou family as their oniwaban (ninja). Yuka is voiced by Natsumi Takamori, and English dubbed by Jamie Marchi. is the student council secretary. Her Maken, "Comic Star", is the result of her love of manga, as she can draw something and bring it to reality. She is close friends with Chacha, and they often work together. Kimi is voiced by Misato, and English dubbed by Alexis Tipton. is a security committee member of Maken-ki; she has a dark complexion. Her Maken, "Compressor", allows her to change the shape and density of objects allowing her to do things such as extending a small broken plank into an enormous board. Chacha is voiced by Saeko Zōgō, and English dubbed by Trina Nishimura. is a first-year student who duels Azuki early on in the series. He wagers that if he wins he will date her. His Maken, "Full Metal", allows him to harden any part of his body into steel, granting him far greater strength and endurance. Although he loses the fight because of Takeru's interference, he continues to pursue Azuki from afar, including visiting her at the maid café where she works. Kai is voiced by Go Inoue, and English dubbed by Andrew T. Chandler.