The Legend of Condor Hero (神鵰俠侶 コンドルヒーロー) is a Japanese–Hong Kong anime series adapted from the wuxia novel The Return of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. Co-produced by Nippon Animation and Jade Animation, the series was shown on BS Fuji from October 11, 2001 to May 3, 2008.
Synopsis
The Legend of Condor Hero is set in the 13th century around the Mongol conquest of China. Nearly a decade after the end of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the Mongols have conquered the Jin dynasty in northern China and are now setting their sights on the Song dynasty in the south. The Song citizens, many of whom are formidable martial artists in the jianghu, band together to defend their homeland from the impending Mongol invasion. The story culminates in the historical Battle of Xiangyang.
The story follows a young martial artist Yang Guo (Youka), who falls in love with his martial arts master, Xiaolongnü (Shouryuujo), and the trials and tribulations they go through in war-torn China.
List of episodes
There are 78 episodes released of The Legend of Condor Hero. Season I is composed of two parts—episodes 1–12 and episodes 13–26. Season II takes after the end of Season I, starting from episode 27 to 52. Season III broadcast began in Taiwan and Canada in 2008.
The Japanese version was only made for the first series.
In all three series, Taiseng released the respective DVDs months before respective television broadcasts.
Voice cast
Theme songs
- Opening theme song (Japanese version): "Yuu" by NoR
- Opening theme song (Chinese version): "True Love is Bitter" by Andy Lau
- Ending theme song: "Blása" by Yae
Production
After Nippon Animation had obtained the rights of the series, it produced the animation version with association with Jade Animation (TVB's animation studio), and decided to split the series into three parts.
Video releases
Taiseng Entertainment released the first season for English-speaking audiences. Since the show was much more popular in Chinese-speaking regions, the second season was not produced in Japanese like the first season, but in Cantonese and Mandarin.
VCD video of the series was released by Warner Bros. in Hong Kong.