Reincarnation 1

Reincarnation 1: The Boy Who Dances with Ghosts (幽霊と踊る男) is the 1st chapter of the Shaman King manga series.

Short Summary
Oyamada Manta sees an unknown young boy at the cemetery, hanging around with ghosts. The next day Manta encounters the same unknown boy yet again, this time at his school. The boy appears as a transfer student, his name is stated to be Asakura Yoh. Manta wants to know whether what he saw was real or if he's just being delusional. Manta stalks Yoh and eventually gets caught. Afterward Yoh reveals his secret to Manta, Yoh is a Shaman. Manta returns to the cemetery and gets beaten up by "Wooden Sword" Ryu and his gang. Yoh gets avenges Manta, because he is now Yoh's friend. Yoh asks Ryu and his gang to leave the cemetery. After Ryu refuses, Yoh bonds with the spirit of the samurai Amidamaru to defeat Ryu. Manta monologues that his adventure with Yoh regarding shaman and the spirit world has just begun.

Long Summary
The chapter begins with Oyamada Manta is seen running through the streets, because the Cram School he attends ran late and he wants to get home to watch his favorite TV show. Manta decides to take a shortcut through the local cemetery to get to the train faster. Manta is asked by an unknown voice: "Hey you over there... what's the rush?". Manta turns around to see a boy sitting on a tombstone star gazing. Manta suspects the possibility of the boy being a ghost. Manta judges the boy as strange and decides to continue to the train. The unknown boy says that Manta should "come and see them with everyone else". Manta rejects the offer and corrects his grammar by saying: "Your grammar isn't right. You shouldn't use "everyone" if it's only you. The boy responds: "No, I mean everyone...". Ghosts appear behind the boy "all the people in this cemetery!" he says. Manta is shocked, seeing ghosts for the first time in his life. The boy tells Manta not to look so startled, that the ghosts are his friends and "It's just that these guys can't pass on yet". Manta immediately screams in fear.

The next day at Shinra Private School, in the "Year 7 Group C" class, Manta states to his classmates that he saw ghosts at the cemetery and that they were star gazing, but nobody believes him. His classmates tease him. Classmate 1:"There are no such things as ghosts!". Classmate 2: "Couldn't you have made a mistake?". Classmate 3: "Maybe your brain is messed up from too much studying.". Classmate 1 then suggest maybe Manta is possessed. The teacher arrives telling the class to quiet down and introduces a new transfer student, Asakura Yoh. Manta is startled to see that he is the same boy from the cemetery, Manta claims Yoh to be the boy who was with ghosts, the class laughs at him even Yoh says that ghosts don't exist and asks who Manta is. Later, Manta talks about that he really saw ghosts, but still nobody believes him and Manta wants to talk to Yoh, but he is avast asleep. The classmates suggests he should stop and never go to the cemetery, because it's a infamous place punks from the Banshou School. Manta doesn't listen and wants to know the truth about Asakura Yoh.

Manta is stalking Yoh, but to no avail Manta is watching the whole time behind a pole to only see yoh staring off a bridge for about three hours and Manta gets annoyed. Yoh finds the breeze nice and Manta gets frustrated, screams out loud and is spotted by Yoh. They sit together by the river and talk. Yoh tells Manta his secret, Yoh is a shaman that came from Izumo to Tokyo in order to continue his training. Manta doesn't know what a shaman is and asks Yoh about it, Yoh explains that a shaman is someone who can bind this world (The Physical Realm) with the next world (The Spiritual Realm).

Manta is then seen in cram school trying to figure out what a shaman really is and finds it in the encyclopedia. Manta is shocked by the realization that ghosts exists, he shouts in the class that he can't deny this fact and gets scolded by the teacher. Manta, while waiting for the train, complains that Yoh is such a carefree person and envies him a bit. Manta takes the train to home and wonders if Yoh is star gazing tonight, Manta decides to find out and heads for the cemetery.

At the cemetery, the punks have gathered there and talks about the a boy (Asakura Yoh) who has entered their territory before. "Wooden Sword" Ryu, the leader of the gang, hears about Yoh and tramples a gravestone and wants to punish him for coming to the cemetery. Ball Boy is scared because the gravestone of Amidamaru was ruined by Ryu. Ryu wonders who this Amidamaru is, Ball Boy explains the history of the legendary samurai Amidamaru and the person who doesn't respect his grave shall be cursed. Ryu demolishes the gravestone with his wooden sword and boasts that that he isn't scared of the curse. Ryu spots Manta who was hiding and accuses him of being a trespasser. The Ryu's gang starts to beat up Manta.

Manta returns to school and is laughed by his classmates and told that he is crazy for believing in ghosts. Yoh appears and says "ghosts do exist", joining Manta's. Yoh heard about the gang and wants to help Manta. Manta doesn't want anything to do with Yoh anymore, Yoh grabs Manta and states that they are going to retaliate. Manta with disagrees and doesn't understand why Yoh is doing this, Yoh explains that he is Manta's friend and explains that people who can see spirits aren't bad people, laughs that he is Manta's friend. Manta shouts that he doesn't agree and that yoh is too weak to handle the punks at the cemetery. Yoh says that Ryu uses a wooden sword and that he knows a friend that would help him out.

Yoh arrives at the cemetery, Manta wants to leave but is tied to Yoh. Ryu is furious that Yoh would request him to leave and plans to send Yoh to the next world. Yoh says that his friends from the next world are angry at Ryu, the gang laughs at Yoh saying that ghosts don't exists. Yoh then calls out Amidamaru, the samurai appears behind him, Manta is surprised to see the ghost of the legendary samurai. Amidamaru thanks Yoh for helping him avenge for his earlier humiliation. Manta sees a chance if it's Amidamaru the legendary samurai that he can take the gang on, but since he is a ghost he can't do anything. Ryu sends out Apache and Space Shot to assault Yoh, Manta is scared and Yoh laughs at the two guys who are approaching him. Yoh changed Amidamaru into a hitodama (Spirit ball), Yoh grabs the hitodama (spirit ball) and let it enter his body using Hyou-Gattai (Over-Soul Merge). Yoh then takes the two out instantly with a single slash. Everyone is astonished to see Yoh's swordsmanship. Manta sees that Yoh can join with the next world. Yoh then ready himself to fight with Ryu, Yoh then calls Ryu pathetic, Ryu assaults Yoh for insulting him. Manta shouts that Yoh has combined with Amidamaru and can use everything that Amidamaru can. Ryu slashes Yoh, but Yoh dodges it and retaliates with a upward slash and cuts a part of Ryu's long pompadour hairstyle. Manta is astonished to see a shaman binding with the next world, the spirits appeared around Yoh and so started the adventure of Manta with Yoh regarding Shaman and the spirit world.

Characters Appearances

 * Asakura Yoh
 * Oyamada Manta
 * Amidamaru
 * "Wooden Sword" Ryu