Sōten Kōro

Its chapters were collected in thirty-six tankōbon volumes. A twenty-six episode anime television series adaptation by Madhouse was broadcast on Nippon TV from April to September 2009. In 1998, Sōten Kōro won the 22nd Kodansha Manga Award in the general category.

• Portal — yes

• Type — tv series • Director — * Toyoo Ashida (chief) • Tsuneo Tominaga • Producer — * Toshio Nakatani • Manabu Tamura • Writer — Hideo Takayashiki • Music — Shūsei Murai • Studio — Madhouse • Network — Nippon TV • First — April 8, 2009 • Last — September 30, 2009 • Episodes — 26

• Type — manga • Author — * Hagin Yi (1994–1998) • King Gonta (1998–2005) • Illustrator — King Gonta • Publisher — Kodansha • Magazine — Morning • First — October 1994 • Last — November 10, 2005 • Volumes — 36 • Volume List — List of Sōten Kōro chapters

• Ja Kanji — 蒼天航路 • Genre — * Epic • Historical

Sōten Kōros story is based loosely on the events taking place in Three Kingdoms period of China during the life of the last chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, Cao Cao (155 – March 15, 220), who also serves as the main character. The Three Kingdoms period has been a popular theme in Japanese manga for decades, but Sōten Kōro differs greatly from most of the others on several points. One significant difference is its highly positive portrayal of its main character, Cao Cao, who is traditionally the antagonist in not only Japanese manga, but also most novel versions of the Three Kingdoms period, including the original 14th-century version, Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. Another significant difference from others is that the storyline primarily uses the original historical account of the era, Records of Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou, as a reference rather than the aforementioned Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. By this, the traditional hero of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei, takes on relatively less importance within the story and is portrayed in a less positive light. Yet, several aspects of the story are in fact based on the novel version, including the employment of its original characters such as Diao Chan, as well as anachronistic weapons such as Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Zhang Fei's Viper Spear. A consistent theme throughout the story is Cao Cao's perpetual desire to break China and its people away from its old systems and ways of thinking and initiate a focus on pragmatism over empty ideals. This often puts him at odds with the prevalent customs and notions of Confucianism and those that support them.

• Cao Cao (曹操, Sō Sō) • Mamoru Miyano • Liu Bei (劉備, Ryū Bi) • Tomokazu Seki • Xiahou Dun (夏侯惇, Kakō Ton) • Takeshi Kusao • Xiahou Yuan (夏侯淵, Kakō En) • Tetsu Inada • Cao Ren (曹仁, Sō Jin) • Isshin Chiba • Cao Hong (曹洪, Sō Kō) • Hisao Egawa • Yuan Shao (袁紹, En Shō) • Masaki Terasoma • Guan Yu (関羽, Kan U) • Ken'ichi Morozumi • Zhang Fei (張飛, Chō Hi) • Takaaki Seki • Cao Teng (曹騰, Sō Tō) • Nachi Nozawa • Cao Song (曹嵩, Sō Sū) • Hiroshi Yanaka • Dong Zhuo (董卓, Tō Taku) • Hōchū Ōtsuka • Zhang Rang (張譲, Chō Jō) • Kinryū Arimoto • Emperor Ling of Han (霊帝, Reitei) • Nozomu Sasaki

Sōten Kōro was originally written by Hagin Yi and illustrated by King Gonta, starting in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Morning in 1994 in its 47th issue that year (cover dated November 10, 1994). After Hagin Yi died of liver cancer in 1998, King Gonta continued the story. The series finished in November 10, 2005, in the magazine's 50th issue that year. Kodansha collected its 409 chapters in thirty-six tankōbon volumes, released from October 23, 1995, to January 23, 2006. An eighteen-volume bunkoban edition was published from December 12, 2000, to December 12, 2006. A three-in-one volume edition, consisting of twelve volumes, was published from May 5 to October 23, 2009.

An anime television series, animated by Madhouse, was announced in February 2009. The series was broadcast on Nippon TV from April 8 to September 30, 2009. The opening theme is "909" by Tribal Chair and the ending theme is "Pinhole" (ピンボール, Pinhōru) by Ogre You Asshole.