Funbari no Uta

Funbari no Uta (ふんばりの詩 The Song/poem of Funbari) is a series of short stories written by Hiroyuki Takei relating to his manga series Shaman King; and a furyoku-inducing battle anthem-turned-jingle-turned-Japanese ballad created by the Shaman King character, Faust VIII. Funbari no Uta is set seven years later (2007) after the Shaman Tournament, and revolves around Hana Asakura, the son of Yoh and Anna. Hana and Ryunosuke Umemiya are searching for the members of Team Ren and Lyserg for the grand opening of Funbari no Onsen, which is run by Tamao in the story. The story ends with a montage of panels showing all the aforementioned characters preparing to travel to Funbari no Onsen, ending with a spread of Anna and Yoh.

Characters

Current State

• It seems that Yoh and Anna traveled during the 6 years.
• Ren lives on the top of a mountain in China, presumably alone.
• Ryunosuke Umemiya is working for Funbari no Onsen.
• Horohoro can be seen in a field of Fuki, which may be his own.
• Chocolove stayed in jail and has apparently been recognized as a murderer. He must stay in jail for 16 years (he has already served six years and must remain there for another ten years when Ryu and Hana come to see him).
• Lyserg returned to England, and now sports a classic detective attire; little else is given about his circumstances.
• Tamao Tamamura now resembles Anna, and will start her debut as an enka singer; singing Funbari Onsen's jingle, the Funbari no Uta, composed by the late Faust VIII.

Changes

• In 2007, Yoh and Anna are both twenty-one years old. Yoh's hair has grown longer so his appearance closely resembles that of Hao; readers have remarked that Yoh is actually a hybrid of himself and Hao as a result and an interview with Takei confirms this notion. Anna's hair has also grown longer and she seems to have matured both physically and mentally.
• Ryu's hairdo is still the same from his Shaman King days but it looks longer. Ryu has matured, and sports considerably more facial hair in the story.
• Tamao's hair is longer and she wears a long black dress. She looks like Anna when she was 15 years old and has apparently inherited aspects of Anna's personality as well; Hana remarks more than once that his "mother" (referring to Tamao, who is Hana's legal guardian while Yoh and Anna are traveling) is quite scary.

Trivia

• Hana's name is formed from "Ha", another pronunciation of the kanji for Yoh's name, and "Na" from Anna's name. Hana also means flower.
• In Funbari no Uta, Hana's main spirit is never seen.
• Given that Yoh and Anna are 21 years old and Hana is 6, he would have to have been born when they were 15. This is further supported by a scene in volume 9 of the manga, where it is implied that Yoh and Anna slept together before he leaves for the tournament.
• The fate of Manta is not depicted or mentioned.
• Faust VIII appears as a picture, dead and having refused to be resurrected in order to be with Eliza in the afterlife, in the Asakura's household shrine alongside Mikihisa Asakura and Tamegoro, the original owner of the onsen. Mikihisa apparently survived the Shaman King battle, but was killed by traffic collision and is now literally a 'wandering soul', much to chargin of his wife, Keiko, and Hana.