Oyamada Manta

Oyamada Manta (小山田まん太) is a fictional character in the manga and anime series of Shaman King. He is 13 years old and a 7th grader at Shinra Private Academy, where he goes to school with Asakura Yoh and Kyōyama Anna.

Appearance
Manta has short sandy-brown hair and large eyes with tiny black pupils. Throughout the Manga series, he is usually shown wearing his school uniform, which consists of khaki-green pants, red lace up running shoes, a white school shirt and a navy blue necktie. His casual outfit consists of white knee-length shorts, pale blue lace-up shoes and a baby blue hoodie with white angel wings on the back and a halo on the hood. He usually has his laptop with him.

He is by far the shortest of the group, measuring in at 80 cm (2 feet, 7 inches). Because of his small height, he is often mistaken for a Koropokkuru. His short stature makes him appear younger than he actually is.

Personality
Manta is very intelligent and studious, attending cram school and constantly carrying around a large book. In the Japanese versions, the book is called the Manjien (万辞苑), meaning "Manta's Book on Everything", while the English manga calls the book the "Mantannian Dictionary". "Manjien" is a portmanteau of Manta's name and the Japanese dictionary "Kōjien" (広辞苑).

He is very expressive, and he often panics in fear or gets overexcited.

Abilities and Powers
Manta can see spirits but is not trained as a shaman so he cannot use their powers like his best friend Asakura Yoh can.

Coming to Tokyo
Manta first appears trying to head home after cram school. He goes through the cemetery as a shortcut and runs into Asakura Yoh, who asks him to stargaze with "everyone". This confuses Manta since Yoh is alone, but he reveals "everyone" to be the ghosts of the hill. this makes Manta began to panic in fear and flees.

The next morning, Manta tries telling his classmates about the incident, but they don't believe him. Yoh is introduced as a transfer student and Manta freaks out after Yoh explains to him that he is a shaman. Later the next night, Manta returns to the cemetery, wondering if Yoh is watching the stars again and runs into Umemiya Ryunosuke, nicknamed "Wooden Sword" Ryu and his gang, who beat him up.

Manta, again, tries explaining the situation to his classmates, who once again laugh at him. Yoh reveals that he was told what happened by the ghosts of the cemetery, and drags Manta back there to face Ryu. Manta panics a little and asks Yoh why he is doing this to which Yoh says that is because Manta is his friend. They confront Ryu and his gang, and Amidamaru appears, wanting to get revenge on Ryu for breaking his tombstone earlier. Yoh performs Hyoui Gattai and they easily defeat Ryu and sever the end of his pompadour. As a result, Manta and Yoh became friends.

Later on, Yoh asks Amidamaru, bluntly, to be his guardian ghost, but Amidamaru declines, saying he is waiting for someone. Yoh and Manta go to the local museum to see Harusame, Amidamaru's sword, and meet Mosuke, who reveals himself to be a blacksmith and friend of Amidamaru. He tells the two the story of his and Amidamaru's past and why he is called a demon. however, Yoh performs Hyoui-Gattai with Mosuke and reforges Harusame after bringing the new sword back to Amidamaru he agrees to become Yoh's guardian ghost.

Days later Yoh is worried about a billboard that fell on him, while Manta wants him to worry about his Kendo test. Yoh, however, introduces other ghosts who help Yoh at school. Manta calls him a coward and runs away. On his way, the same billboard from fell again on Manta, though he evaded the billboard with the help of Amidamaru who then reveals the earthbound spirit that possesses the billboard. After Amidamaru protects him from the ghost again Yoh arrives telling everyone that the earthbound ghost is Kanta who died before he could finish the billboard. The earthbound spirit changes to his human form and Manta watches Yoh through finishing the billboard. Manta then revealed how he felt bad about misjudging, after realizing that being a Shaman is not easy for Yoh.

Shaman Fights in Tokyo
Since he is not a shaman, Manta does not get involved in the fights, but he is always there with Yoh to watch each round. However, upon meeting Faust for the first time before his fight with Yoh, Manta became victim to Faust's medical "research", spurring Yoh's anger and ultimately causing him to lose that round.

Invading the Plants
During this segment of the Shaman Tournament, Manta stays behind on the island while the finalists traveled to the Lost Continent, Mu. Manta expresses melancholy for the fact that he could no longer support the others. After a conversation with Anna, over the actions of the Five Warriors going after Hao, he receives the mental image of Hao being a ‘princess’ under ‘evil influences’. He later dreams of this and becomes increasingly confused about Hao’s true characterization. Manta also becomes aware that the others are still trying to save Hao, knowing that even if he is defeated the cycle won’t end. And as Manta laments over the fact that he is of no help, Anna arrives and explains he is late as everyone is prepared to travel to Mu.

Funbari no Uta
He has grown 1cm taller and is in a rich company making lots of money. He is also a college student and investigates the benefits of mixing shamanism and business. Manta then gives one last quote saying: "As long as we don't find that answer, even if we die, our journey won't end".

Anime/Manga Difference
In the manga and Japanese anime series, Manta has a personal assistant, named Tamurazaki Midori. In the English version of the 2001 anime series, Tamurazaki Midori's name was changed to "Jerry" and he was changed into being Manta's uncle instead of his assistant.

In the English version of the 2001 anime series, Manta is a fan of ghost stories and instead of an encyclopedia he often carries a large book around with him containing ghost stories.

In the 2001 anime series, Manta is also shown to possess some shamanic abilities by creating an Over Soul with Mosuke, using his laptop as a medium.

In the reboot dub version of the anime, Oliver Wyman reprises his role as Manta instead being named Morty.

Etymology

 * Oyamada means "small" (小) (o), "mountain, hill" (山) (yama) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta/da).
 * Manta's last name was based on a comic book writer Iku Oyamada.

Trivia

 * Manta is the first character to be officially introduced in both manga and anime.
 * Manta gets the first and last line in the original Manga series.
 * Manta is a playable character in the video games series of Shaman King: Spirit of Shamans and Shaman King: Funbari Spirits, treated akin to a joke character as he fights without the use of Mosuke through actions such as firing laser beams from his eyes and even enlarging his encyclopedia to smack his opponents with it.