Violinist of Hameln

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Violinist of Hameln


caption = 1 volume on the Violinist of Hameln
ja_kanji = ハーメルンのバイオリン弾き
ja_romji = Hamerun no Baiorin Hiki
genre = Adventure, Fantasy, DramaInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Watanabe Michiaki
publisher = flagicon|Japan Enix
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Monthly Shōnen Gangan
first = ~1991
last = ~2001
volumes = 37Infobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Junichi Nishimura
studio = Studio Deen
network = TV Tokyo
first = 2 October 1996
last = 26 March 1997
episodes = 25Infobox animanga/Movie
title =
director =
studio =
released = 20 April 1996
runtime = 30 minInfobox animanga/Game
title = Hamelin no Violin Tamaki
developer = Enix
publisher = Enix
genre = Side-scrolling Platformer
ratings =
platforms = SNES
released = 1995Infobox animanga/Manga
title = Violinist of Hameln: Shchelkunchik
author = Watanabe Michiaki
publisher = flagicon|Japan Square Enix
demographic = Seinen
magazine = Young Gangan
first = 18 January 2008
last =
volumes = 1Nihongo|"Violinist of Hameln"|ハーメルンのバイオリン弾き|Hamerun no Baiorin Hiki is an adventure/fantasy story created by Watanabe Michiaki. The story's basic premise is that a group of adventurers are traveling north to The Northern Capital (a.k.a Hameln) to prevent a catastrophe. In this world, music takes on a quality akin to magic and is a strong recurring element in the story.

The manga and the anime are radically different. The manga tends toward a lighter, more comedic tone, whereas the anime is much darker. No official English translations exist for the manga or its adaptations.

The Manga

"GanGan Comics" ran the manga for approximately ten years and 37 volumes were published.

The manga combines a serious story with an irreverent tone; characters frequently shift between heroic and pathetic as the situation warrants. The manga also contains a myriad of unconventional running gags, such as Hamel's repeated attempts to force other members of the party into costume. Each chapter is referred to as a movement.

etting

The setting resembles a medieval Europe judging by the architecture, the way people are dressed, the local environment shown in the background. The world in which the story takes place is like an alternate universes in which chronologically, many things do not makes sense. In fact, despite the medieval feeling with demons and magic, there are also technologically super advanced flying battleships and carriers, tanks and cities made completely of metal platings with siege machines much like the science fiction worlds of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, or any other mecha heavy world. Also, the pieces played by Hamel and Raiel on their instruments are actually real pieces composed by real historical composers such as Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Schubert, Mozart, Haydn, etc. despite many of these figures existing much later in history.

The world they live in is referred to as Europe, however, the map shown has absolutely no resemblance to Europe at all. Most countries and characters are named after musical themes, be they instruments, tones, beats, etc. There is presence of both fantasy and science fiction elements.

History

The world they currently live in is dominated by two races, the human race and the mazoku race. The mazoku are demonic like creatures that once ruled their world, until they were all sealed away into a tiny box by a heroic angel 500 years ago. An age of prosperity and peace arose and human civilization blossomed. Cities were built and nations were created. Science advance in some while magic became the source of power for others. One day, a woman by the name of Pandora accidentally opens the box containing all the demons, releasing them all from their imprisonment, darkening the skies and dooming human race to extinction at the hands of the mazoku. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, the Demon King Chestra, who was also released from that box, was sealed again. Pandora, who had two children were separate, one was taken by the mazoku, the other remained with her mother. In order to keep the world safe, the box that sealed the Demon King, now named Pandora's box, was sent far away, and the key that opened the box was also send far away, in hopes that even if the mazoku would ever get the hands on one part, they would not be able to make use of it. All the demons who were released then headed north, and occupied the norther most continent and called it their capital, Hameln. Now humans fight a never ending war against the demons in order to survive. Pandora's children, one who lives with the humans, and hated by all those around him, the other, living with the mazoku who have never shown her any sign of affection are destined be reunited and bring an end to the war, one way or another.

Plot

The plot for the manga revolves around the hero Hamel who travels northbound towards the continent of demons in order to avert a great disaster. Using his magical oversized violin, he plays music that would force his enemies to repent for their sins and kill themselves. Or so that was how the story should have been. The so called Hamel is instead a selfish, cowardly, heartless, and immoral fiend that seeks to take advantage of those around him, and extort from those he saves. After saving the remote village of Staccato from nearby demons, he decides to abduct an orphaned girl named Flute as payment for his services. Hamel, Flute and Oboe, Hamel's advisor who is a talking crow, head north on their long, arduous and ridicule filled journey. Along the way, they meet Raiel, the hero of Love who plays beautiful and powerful tunes that can summon spirits and manipulate people with his 500 kg solid gold piano; he is actually Hamel's childhood friend. Their first encounter results in a not so deadly battle for revenge. Next they encounter Trombone, the young prince of Dal Segno, the warrior nation renowned for their knights and their swordsmanship. Having his country burned to the ground and his parents murdered in front of his eyes, the young prince swears revenge and joins are party northwards in their quest. Adventure, hilarity, and humiliation ensues as Hamel leads the ragtag band north while performing street performances bicker with each other. Along the way, they fight dreadful enemies and eventually meet Hell Hawk King Sizer, one of the Lords of hell, the guardians of the Demons Legions. In a mostly one sided battle, Hamel's Violin is broken. It is also revealed that Hamel is actually the son of the Demon King Chestra, and that he heads north in order to defeat his father and save his mother Pandora.

As they venture further north, they eventually reach the kingdom of Sforzando, one of the most powerful nations of their world, renown for their magi-knight corps, their healing magic, and the strongest woman alive, Queen Horn. While at Sorzando, they meet the Head Priest of Sforzando, they greatest magic user in all of their kingdom, who immediately takes a dislike to Hamel. It is revealed that Flute, the victim of Hamel's humiliating antics was actually the only princess of Sforzando, who was unfortunately abandoned as a baby in order to increase her chance of survival when Sforzando was besieged in a dreadful war many years ago. Reunited with her estranged mother, Flute tries to deal with many pent up emotions while Hamel is sent out in order to Seek out a man capable of fixing his magical violin. Unfortunately, during Hamel and Raiel's absence, Sforzando is besieged yet again by the armies of Hell. Leading them are Dragon King Drum and King of the Beasts Guitar, both extremely strong and one of the 4 Lords of Hell. A fierce battle ensues, where both powerful forces collide and tens of thousands of both sides perish. In the end, Hamel and Raiel return after meeting Vi Olin and having the violin fixed in order to finish their foes off. In a last ditch effort with everyone attacking at the same time, they manage to subdue the Dragon King Drum who had turned into a 48 headed hydra.

The battle ends with the victory of Sforzando, and the revelation that the Queen had only a few years left to live, as her healing magic requires the user to pay by giving up their lifespan. Once preparations were done, Hamel, Raiel, Trombone and Oboe set off once again on their quest to the northern continent. Torn between wanting to stay with her newly reunited mother and spend the rest of her time with her mother, and rejoining her rather ungrateful companions on their journey, she eventually chooses to follow Hamel and slowly realizes her feelings for him. At this point, the party splits up. Raiel heads to Staccato to deliver the money given to Hamel should he choose to leave Flute behind in Sforzando; Trombone goes back to Dal Segno to see the wreckage at pay respects to those who perished there; Flute, Hamel and Oboe head north, and are joined by Cornet, Clarinet's younger sister.

A sequel to the series called Violinist of Hameln: Shchelkunchik started serialization in January 2008. It involves the travels of a young boy named Schel who wishes to become a wizard. Along the way he meets Hamel's son Great.

The Anime

The TV adaptation was twenty-five episodes long and suffered from budget constraints. A substantial portion of the story is told by panning over still images, with full animation reserved mainly for action-heavy scenes. Though it initially follows the basic outline of the manga's plot, the two stories completely diverge by the anime's conclusion.

Also of note is a 30-minute animated movie, whose storyline does not intersect with the TV series. The movie was released several months before the TV series, and benefits from a substantially higher animation budget. The movie is generally faithful to the manga's humorous tone.

The anime has a darker setting than the manga.

The Video Game

Overview

The game was made for SNES by Enix (which also published the GanGan Comics magazine) and is a side-scrolling platformer. It follows the manga reasonably well but changes are made so Flute is met at the beginning of the story but as the game progresses huge jumps are made in the story.The game requires you to throw Flute and put her in various costumes in order to reach the end of the level. Numerous demons from the manga appear in the game as bosses.

Costumes

Throughout the game Hamel will pick up numerous costumes that Flute will wear in order to reach the goal.

Ostrich - Allows Flute to walk on spikes
Frog - When ridden Flute will jump very high
Robot - When jumped on will destroy blocks
Duck - Can swim across water and will dive when jumped on
Penguin - Can swim across water and will dash when jumped on
Monster - Used to trick a monster to let you across a bridge
Monkey - Will climb wall when ridden
Orangutan - Used to progress the storySunfish - Floats when ridden
Frisbee - Acts like a boomerang when thrown
Curling Puck - Slides when thrown
Elephant - Shoots water when jumped on
Octopus - Allows Hamel to move in any direction under water when ridden
UFO - Hovers and follows Hamel
Eagle - Flies in the direction Hamel is facing when ridden

Characters

Protagonists

Main Party

* Hamel - The main character. A traveling hero who uses a violin- which is often mistaken for a cello- and magical music to fight his enemies (his mother Pandora herself plays the instrument held as a cello while Hamel plays it held as a violin). Fighting without the violin (a memento of his mother) is a risk for him. As a half-demon, he is the son of the Great Demon King Chestra, whose blood runs in his veins and tempts him to commit bloodshed and violence. The proof of his connection to the Great Demon King is the horn on his head. When Hamel fully transforms, he turns into a red-skinned demon with great wings and two extra horns alongside his current form. By Sizer's estimation, his power is far greater than that of Drum or even Bass. His mother is Pandora, who raised him lovingly and taught him to play violin. His twin sister is Sizer, who was kidnapped by Bass when they were infants and separated them. It also seems that Olin is actually the grandfather of both Sizer and Hamel, and the father of Pandora; Although this may seem unreliable and is not confirmed, as the situation seemed rather comical and is difficult to judge whether what Olin said was true or not.
In the anime, he grew up alongside the female lead, Flute.
In the manga, he met Flute after saving the village she lived in (Staccato). His traveling companions are often at the whims of his perverse humor. Though Hamel appears to be loud, self-centered and unruly, he is really an introvert. He shares little of himself or his true thoughts to other people, and Oboe comments many times to Flute how Hamel isn't used to having other companions. This is because as a child, he witnessed first hand as his mother Pandora was betrayed by the townsfolk, frozen and taken away by Bass, and went berzerk, killing all the surviving townspeople. His guilt and fear of hurting others haunts him making it difficult for him to get close to others and trust them. He does start opening up as the series progresses. His magic music is used in two ways playing songs that make the enemy want to repent and be forgiving for their actions or controlling others while boost their natural power during a fight.

* Oboe- Hamel's constant guardian and companion who is a crow. He is actually a former general of Chestra's - ex-Hawk King, specifically. He is usually the sole voice of reason and advice. His true form is a winged, old, strong man. His magical power was only behind Bass when he was the ex-Hawk King general, but was shown briefly to overpower Bass's immense magical powers. Chestra sent Oboe and Bass in search of a woman with holy blood, since only someone of holy blood could open the magical box that kept his vast demonic powers sealed. Oboe first met Pandora while injured in his crow form. She saved him, and Chestra found Oboe in the village and took Pandora as the sacred woman he was looking for. Oboe fought Bass to save Hamel and Pandora (but Bass took Sizer with him). He is also a regular victim to Hamel's ruthless antics in order to make money early on. He is the father of Ocarina, the guardian of Sizer.

* Flute- The female lead who grew up in the small mountain village of Staccato. When she was a child, she was sent away from her place of birth to live in Staccato. She is heir to the Sforzando throne and the Queen Horn's daughter. As a result, she is capable of healing, an ability that pops up later in the storyline, but using it shortens her lifespan. She is a sensitive and emotional girl at times, and has a big heart that cares deeply for all her friends. She becomes one of the most important characters of the story, as she is key to keeping Hamel humane when his Demon Blood takes over making him go berserk. At first, the relationship Flute and Hamel was like Master and Slave, become much more than that, when she realizes how much he means to her, even getting stabbed by Hamel in order to try and bring him back from his berserk state. She has a motherly presence as serves as the pillar of strength, trust and happiness that keeps their unlikely group together, lending support to whoever is in need. While using her healing powers to save Sizer, she learns of the latter's pain and misery as she was growing up, eventually developing a great friendship with her. She also acted much like a surrogate mother to Trombone after his parents were killed. At the beginning, she is weak useless girl that is bullied, tormented and humiliated endlessly by Hamel in order to make money. She is often dressed up in ridiculous costumes that make her look atrocious and ugly and is comically invincible, surviving severe injuries easily. Even as a mere baby, she would be involved in rather comically dangerous situations in which she should have died many times (mostly Lute's fault). Percus once noted how resilient she is to have survived so well in her youth despite all that she went through.
In the anime, she loves Hamel and has been friends with since they were children.
In the manga, she meets Hamel when he saves her village during his travels. In compensation for what he did, he took Flute with him when the village could not pay the price he asked for in return for his services. From the start, their relationship was mostly Flute and Hamel arguing with each other and Flute putting up with Hamel's antics, but eventually she does grow feelings for him. Trombone finds out about her origins, but the rest of the group (save Oboe) don't find out until they have reached Sforzando.

* Raiel- In both the anime and manga, he is a childhood friend of Hamel's. He is in fact the only human friend Hamel ever had as a child, and became the first human other than his mother that we would trust. Like Hamel, he can use magical music, as he was also taught by Pandora, but instead of a violin, his musical instrument is a golden piano weighing 500 kg, with which he can summon a magical firebird. He first shows up vowing revenge for his parents and home which Hamel destroyed in a berzerk rage after his mother Pandora was taken away by the mazoku.In both the anime and the manga, their fight end with renewed friendship, if somewhat lacking in enthusiasm on Hamel's end. Raiel forgives Hamel in the manga, but in the anime his grudge eventually comes out again. Raiel cherishes a feather from his first encounter with Sizer--a pure white feather fallen from wings stained red with blood, almost like a sign of the true heart of Hameln's "Red Witch". He is also somewhat of a comic relief character, going from hero to buffoon within a panel or two. Although he first hated Hameln and blamed him for the death of his parents, he later learns that the one in the greatest amount of pain is in fact Hamel, and vows to try and keep Hamel smiling in hopes of never having to see him broken like he was years ago. He is also prone to having huge nosebleeds upon seeing or thinking about attractive women; most notably Sizer who he admires greatly and often fantasizes about in the manga. He attempts many times to try and win Sizer's heart through rather retro means which all end in failure, despite being helped by Sizer's Valkyrie. They are later referred to as the Love Comedy Couple by all the other characters because of their comical behavior when together. Raiel has also kissed Hamel when the latter dresses himself as Sizer in order to play pranks on Raiel.

* Trombone- The prince of the country of Dal Segno that was destroyed. He is the youngest main character and is an excellent swordsman. He and Hamel are often at odds with each other, though they have very similar personalities. Trombone vows to destroy the mazoku because they devastated his country and killed his parents. He looks up to Flute, who would be the first to care for him in an almost motherly way after the death of his parents. He is initially at odds with Sizer after she had joined their group since he had not found the courage in his heart to forgive her yet after what she had done to his country while she was still the Hell Hawk King. He is also somewhat of a perv. In the anime, his parents die during a battle after the characters all meet. He carries with him the swords of his parents, his signature move being "Scissor Slash."

* Sizer- The head of the demons' airborne Hawk Army. She is an incredibly beautiful woman with long blond hair, with wings stained red from the thousands of people she has killed. She uses a huge scythe in combat and can summon Valkyries with magical music, via her scythe that she plays like a flute. Her valkyries names are Schwerletie, Waltraude, Helmwidge, Gerhilda, Rossweisse, Gringerde, Seigrune, and Ortlinda they each have their own personalities even if they all act like giddy schoolgirls which are affected by Sizer's own mood. In the anime, Sizer also has a habit of making Drum lose his temper, which she enjoys doing. Later in the story, it is revealed that she and Hamel are actually twins. She was kidnapped by the demons as a baby so she could be manipulated into opening Pandora's box to free the imprisoned Lord Chestra. Being an angel, she possesses holy blood, and thus the ability to open the box. Sizer grew up lonely, wanting her mother (who she bears a striking resemblance to) to love her because she was told that her mother abandoned her. She also feels guilty and grieves over the people she kills, often being depressed after a mission. In the manga, Guitar cuts her wings off and crucifies her. She is saved by Raiel and Flute heals her fatal injuries and even restores her angelic wings, though they are now pure-white instead of blood-red. She ends up joining Hamel's group. Her relationship with Hamel is at first strained due to her living most of her life hating him, though they do begin to open up to one another and recognize their bond as brother and sister. She also ends up being comical and is often the cause of Raiel's frequent nosebleeds. A running gag with Sizer is Hamel tricking her into wearing outfits such as a dominatrix suit and a nurse's uniform for the sake of fan service. For a while, her soul was taken away, and reduced to become a bloodthirsty agent of massacre by Vocal, before being saved by the combine efforts of Raeil and Ocarina. In the anime, she never joins up with Hamel and the other heroes.

* Ocarina- Sizer's servant who often takes the form of a bird with a scar over her right eye. However, she is actually Oboe's daughter and her true form is that of a winged woman. She was Sizer's only companion when she was growing up, taking care of her after every battle, and comforting her when she was lonely and sad. She is fiercely loyal and cares deeply for Sizer. However, it seems she feels guilty for being the reason for Sizer's misery, since she was powerless to help her, and the other generals had threatened to kill her if she ever told Sizer the truth about her existence. She possesses explosive often wind based magical powers. She is scantily clad, and her first introduction nearly made Raiel die from blood loss from his nosebleed. In the manga, she also joins Hamel's group alongside Sizer, and sacrifices herself to save Sizer from Guitar's true form.

Sforzando

* Queen Horn- The Queen of Sforzando and Flute's true mother. In the manga she tends to be a bit too motherly, much to Flute's great embarrassment, but she does so because she cares greatly for Flute, and tries to make up for the time they were separated. She is also the mother of Lute, the Demon of Sforzando who is now under the control of Hell King Bass, whom till this day, she mourns his loss. She is the strongest magic user alive and have immense healing power that comes at a great price. Her lifespan is fact reduced greatly every time she uses her healing powers, and has only a few years left to her life by the time the heroes meet her. At first, the relationship between Flute and Horn was strained because of Flute's sense of abandonment, but finally turns around in the end to accept her mother's love. In front of Flute, she hides her pain and dying body and only shows her brightest smile because she does not want to worry her daughter. In actuallity, she can be thoughtless, careless, and even participating in much of the casts comical moments, even being the victim of some of them. In the anime her personality is the complete opposite- she doesn't appear to show maternal affection for Flute at all. The only similarity between the two versions of Queen Horn is her loyalty to her country, and will to protect it.

* Clarinet- A 20-something man with long, golden hair who is the High Priest and Commander of the Magic Corps. He is currently the strongest magic user in the world, second only to the power of the Sforzando family lineage. He is well liked by the people and greatly respected by the soldiers of Sforzando. He is often called Clari. Having lost his parents as a child in the great war 15 years ago, he was saved by the Prince Lute, raised like a son by the Queen Horn. He is a powerful sorcerer and a skilled tactician. In the manga, upon meeting each other, Hamel declares that Clari is a "homo" thus leading to a running gag of Clari being called, "Homo-niichan," much to his ire. He is often the victim of Olin's perverted actions.

* Percus- One of Queen Horn's assistants. He's an old man who is not very trusting of Hamel and is a very skilled magician.

* Cornet- Clari's younger sister. In the manga she has a huge crush on Hamel and tries anything and everything to get Flute out of her way as a romantic rival. She is also spoiled rotten by Clari (who calls her Corurin), which Flute believes is the reason for her warped personality. Nonetheless, she is a skilled fighter who can use both magic and wields a giant cross as a weapon. Later in the manga, she accidentally turned herself into a mazoku due to wanting to get rid of Flute but later is purified and her personality completely reset to not have her hate against Flute anymore (though she is able to turn into her demon self in combat). This sub-plot becomes a lengthy running gag since in this form, no one, not even her brother recognizes her. Her appearance as a mazoku are all comical in nature with gag violence and exaggeration. Despite being ridiculously strong in this form, she is clumsy and is victim of the malice of her own friends, who usually ends up sending her off a cliff. Her age is a minor source of contention: she introduces herself as being 13 years old, yet she and Clari are said to have been orphaned 15 years ago. This is most likely one of several continuity errors by the author or can alternately be explained by the war lasting for at least two years, supported by the fact that Lute was fighting the Demons before his sister Flute was born and the major attack on Sforzando happened on the party for Flute's first birthday.
In the anime, Cornet is a much calmer and more serious character, and has a more stern relationship with her older brother. She is also 15 rather than 13; the age discrepancy from the manga does not exist, as she was seen to be an infant in Clari's arms at the time of their parents' death.

* Lute- Flute's older brother. He once was called the Demon of Sforzando and was greatly feared by all the mazoku and admired and loved by all the people. He would go wherever there was pain and suffering and defeat the demons that oppressed human. His appearance was angelic and had an innocent heart that loved everyone, and with those feelings, he strives to protect and help all those in need. His nickname came from the fact that he was considered the greatest human magic user to ever have existed and probably ever exist, standing at the pinnacle of power rivaling the great mazoku generals. His spells combined with his physical prowess made him a nigh invincible warrior that could wipe out entire legions of enemies in a single second.He defended Sforzando in the great war against the mazoku 15 years previously. He was Clarinet's mentor, and declared the child his successor as the future High Priest. However, in a battle against Hell King Bass in the great war, Lute became both physically and mentally enslaved by the demon general, who now possesses him. This battle is fleshed out in the manga, in which Lute rescues the baby Flute, and all but destroys Bass with a final magical blast before he succumbs to his wound and the now bodiless Bass takes over his body as his personal puppet. In the manga, the possessed Lute does not speak, while in the anime, Lute and the head of Bass that he carries speak in unison. It is revealed that Lute is not completely dead in that state, and that tears will fall from his eyes when he is sad, despite being a soulless husk.

Antagonists

The demon army that wishes to revive Demon King Chestra by opening Pandora's Box. Which is lead by the four Demon Kings so they may reach their goal. Although they appear all powerful the demons have one fatal flaw: if they change into their real forms (only high ranked demon can transform) they begin to use too much of they energy which causes their "life-span" to be cut short leading them to crumble away into dust. It is for this reason that the demons wish to free Demon King Chestra. It is said that the Demon King can save them from this flaw by granting them unlimited magical energy. If they were to acquire this power, the demonic armies would once and for all be able to wipe out the human race.It is however, worthwhile to mention that many types of demon can replenish their demonic energies by drinking the blood of other living beings, by feasting on them or by absorbing their souls. The higher purity, or higher concentration of magical energy, the more it replenishes.

* Hell King Bass- The head general of the demon armies and leader of the army of the undead. All that remains of him is his head, but he has possessed the body of Flute's brother Lute. He is extremely cold-blooded and doesn't think twice about killing failures and traitors. He is said to be the strongest of all the demons, second only to the Demon King Chestra himself. He is the one that bound Vocal with the sealing ball. He also attempted to do the same to Oboe once in the past, but Oboe proved his strength by breaking free of four shackles seemingly effortlessly. The soul of Lute which he had stolen resides in the socket for his left eye, covered by an eyepatch. Unlike Drum, Guitar or Sizer, he does not use his physical strength to fight, preferring instead to use the powerful magic that Lute could wield, and decimating armies with devastating spells and attacking others from great distances, sometimes even as far away as from the capital to the battlefield. He also has the ability to teleport himself and others.

* Dragon King Drum- The head of the Dragon Army who is a huge, arrogant, ogre-like monster with two heads. He's incredibly strong, but not very intelligent. He also has a large number of dragons in his body that can replace his arms and attack. His true form is that of a gigantic hydra with 48 heads. He is killed by Guitar while he is wounded at the battle of Sforzando.

* Warrior King Guitar- The 4th general of Hameln is a centaurian dog creature: his upper half is an anthropomorphic dog, and his lower half is a hooved greyhound (which awkwardly has its own head at the front of the upper half's torso) which is sadly mistaken for a more phallic object and is a victim of comedy derailment by Hamel, Clari and Olin. He commands the Beast Men Army, renowned for his sword skill and uses innumerable swords during combat (he has a very large collection, each with different specific abilities). He also has the ability to absorb his enemies' power (and sometimes physical traits) by drinking their blood. His true form should have been a giant two headed dog, also called Cerberus, the guardian to the gates of Hell. His true form is now a Chimera with wings and three dragon heads for a tail (since he had drank both Sizer's and Drum's blood). He is a sly and conniving villain who often plots behinds the back of the other generals, trying to gain advantages for himself.

* Orgel- (Hell's Clown) Orgel is quite ruthless and possesses a twisted sense of humor. His appearance is that of a masked jester with a very exaggerated costume. He is one of Bass' special servants in the Undead Army. His specialty is his incredible cunning and mastery of powerful illusions. He also carries a harp that looks like an ornate scythe, and he can play magical music to animate corpses and summon the deceased souls of those who carry grudges. Because he relies on indirect attacks and manipulation, Orgel prefers to refrain from direct combat. However, Orgel's body is unkillable because his body is just a corpse, Orgel's true body is actually the mask he wears which is unbreakable but it seems he doesn't know that. He is the only demon that shows concern when his fellow demons are destroyed or become uncontrollable. His strength lies if using human insecurities like hate, anger, fear, regret to sow seeds of dissention and despair amongst the enemy. He manipulates the enemy into destroying themselves and takes great pleasure in watching humans suffer. He is however, a weak and cowardly being in the face of the greater strength of the other mazoku generals, often begging for forgiveness and mercy. A manga-only character.

* Vocal- A wild, arrogant demon who rebelled against Chestra's authority. He was imprisoned for five-hundred years due to his actions, but is later released so he can provoke Hamel to awaken Chestra. Vocal is psychotic, unpredicable, murderous, extremely powerful, sado-masochistic, sexual, and nearly uncontrollable. His physical strength, durability and constitution are enormous. He also has the power to drain the life force of others to replenish his own. He is kept under control solely by the huge magical metal ball chained to a manacle around his left wrist. The ball is marked with the kanji meaning "seal"; when Bass activates it, its weight suddenly becomes so great that Vocal is forced to the ground, unable to move. He refers to himself as a "super star", though he is known among other mazoku as the legendary "sinner". It was mentioned that Vocal was also one of Cherstra's children but it could simply be a translation error. He has a mouth in his belly that allows him to swallow weapons. His true strength is much greater than that of Hamel at his strongest, easily beating him around. However, using too much of his demonic power caused him to reach the end of his lifespan, and having an arm turn to dust in the process. In that state, he is defeated by a conniving Guitar, who impales him with a myriad of magical swords. He is later forced to revert to a child like shape in order to preserve what little demonic energy he had left, and succumbing to eventual disintegration, his remaining life essence is sucked up by Orgel in order to make the Goly Grail. A manga-only character.

* Pick - A minor character, Pick was once the 3rd warlord of Hameln and commander of the Fiend Army. He carried the title of "Lord Judge of Hameln". Wearing a baroque-style frock coat, sporting two huge horns on his head (almost as tall as he is), and carrying a black book of death, he is quite reminiscent of an old world view of Satan. He wears epaulets on his shoulders that are speaking faces: one is Prosecution, and the other Defense. He "holds trial" with them on human souls and captures them within his book. He was killed by Lute in the great war 15 years ago. His true form is said to have been a three headed demon goat. A manga-only character.

* Demon King Chestra- The pun on his name comes from the Japanese word for "king", being "ou". Hence, "Ou Chestra" (Orchestra). He is Hamel and Sizer's father, and as his title suggests, he is the king of the demons. In both the anime and manga his soul (and demonic power) had been sealed long ago within Pandora's Box, and for a time was condemned to walk the earth as a human. The box could only be opened by someone of holy bloodline. In the manga he found Pandora after shadowing Oboe. He posed as a kind-hearted traveller to her, and succeeded in winning her heart. Eventually he manipulated her into opening the box, and he was able to regain his true demonic self. His freedom was short-lived, however - while Oboe held him at bay, Pandora regained the box and resealed Chestra inside, this time physically. In the anime, it is a cursed fate, and not planned manipulation on Chestra's part that leads to the tragedy of his and Pandora's separation. The demons currently seek to regain the box and free their Lord. He is eventually freed in the manga, and seeks to restore his full power and then surpass it, by taking the blood of other powerful beings into his chalice and drinking it namely Sizer, Hamel, and Vocal. It is implied that he gave birth to Hamel and Sizer only to use them as food to feed his demonic powers.

Other Characters

* Pandora - The woman who opened a box that released misery into the world. As a result, the box was named "Pandora's Box". She was a kind and caring woman who loved her children, Hamel and Sizer. In fact, it was for them she opened the box, as they were being held hostage and she had no other choice. She was looked down upon by other people, often called a 'witch' because she refused to abandon her half-demon son. She is however, an excellent musician and also had the power to play magical music. She was also the one who taught Hamel and Raiel how to play their instruments. However, the way she and her son were treated caused her to become very suspicious, even paranoid of other people's intentions. Despite this, she still preaches to her son that he should love humanity and never hate humans.
Despite what she tells her son, she would do the complete opposite of what she is saying, such as trying to burn down a house when they beat her up, stealing Raiel's stuff, and beating up Raiel thinking that he is just using Hamel. Her paranoid-psychotic personality became imprinted onto her son. This rather unseemly behavior completely shattered Sizer's view of her angelic mother.
Her efforts to defend the village she and Hamel lived in were ultimately betrayed by the villagers themselves. They gave her to Bass in an attempt to bargain for their lives. Bass imprisoned her inside a magical crystal. Despite this, she seems somewhat aware of the events that transpire outside of her prison; once shedding tears when Ocarina turns to dust, and smiling when Hamel and his group arriving on the island.

*Vi Olin (Introduced in Movement 26) - The inventor who made Hamel's giant magical violin, and the creator of Pandora's box in which was sealed the Demon King Chestra and his minions as well as the Sword That Can Cut Through Anything, which ironically was what was used to cut through the lock on Pandora's box. He is an old, insanely perverted man with an obsession with making rather useless looking inventions which he names after Pandora (such as Pandora's toilet, Pandora's fridge, Pandora's washing machine), which are sadly actually quite effective. He repairs Hamel's violin after it was broken by Sizer on their first encounter. About a thousand years ago, he was ordered by a goddess to construct a box that could seal alway all demons. He was originally a beautiful angel, but the task cost him so much of his life force that he degenerated into an ugly, old, immortal human with a raging homosexual libido. He is a bumbling fool and is around solely for the purpose of comic relief. He regularly sexually harasses all the characters especially Hamel with whom he had kissed twice. He also fondles and harasses Clarinet to his great displeasure. Disturbingly enough, he is also Pandora's father, making him Hamel and Sizer's grandfather. It seems when he lost all his divine power and became a perverted dirty old man, he eventually raped a human woman, who in turn gave birth to Pandora. Manga-only character.

Violinist of Hameln: Shchelkunchik

The sequel. The plot takes place 20 years after the war against the Mazoku. It features the children of protagonists of Violinist of Hameln.

Characters

*Shchel - A boy whom Clari saved 10 years after the war. He enters Sforzando's School of Magic hoping to learn magic.
*Piroro - A fairy accompanying Shchel. She seems to detest Great.
*Great - Hamel and Flute's son, who seems to take after his father in both looks and personality. He can play the violin with magic music like his father. He too, had entered Sforzando's School of Magic.
*Lute - Hamel and Flute's son, Great's older brother. He resembles Flute's brother, Lute. He is also the Captain of the Kuu Crusaders, the group of strongest cadets in the Magicorps.
*Bonshou Rei - A classmate of Shchel and Great, he looks like a Jiang Shi. He has a divine beast: a tiger called Kayagumu.
*Tiner Sax - A classmate of Shchel and Great, a swordsman from Dal Segno. He can summons demon dogs from his black sword.
*Blanche and Beorne - Classmates of Shchel and Great, a pair of warrior sisters. Beorne seems to have a crush on Shchel.
*Ocarina - Raiel and Sizer's daughter. She can play the flute to summon small valkyries.

Notes and references