Excalibur

Excalibur (Japanese: エクスカリバー Hepburn: Ekusukaribā) is a Japanese fantasy manga series published by Shogakukan in their Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine since February 14, 2013. The series is set in a fictional fantasy world and is heavily based on the legend of King Arthur. An English translation of the manga was published by Viz Media since May 9, 2015.

An anime based on the manga produced by Ufotable was announced and eventually premiered on July 18, 2016. A second season premiered on September 20, 2017, followed by a third on August 24, 2018, and a fourth on November 16, 2019. The fifth season originally predicted to air in September of 2020, but it eventually aired on January 5 of 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A sixth and final season aired on May 9, 2022.

There were also two films made that were based on the series. The first was Excalibur: Demon God Zaziria, released on December 20, 2018, with the second, Excalibur: Malice Awoken, being released on July 16, 2020.

Plot
Main article: List of Excalibur Characters

The series is set in a fictional fantasy world and mostly takes place on the fictional continent of Camelot (キャメロット, Kyamerotto) which is based on the kingdom from Arthurian legend. The continent is ruled by King Arthur who is the wielder of the magic sword Excalibur, which was forged by goddesses. The protagonist of the series is a young merchant named Gawain, who sells food in order to support his aging grandmother and sick brother, though he struggles to do so. However, one day, he learns from a mysterious old man that he may actually be the son of King Arthur and heads out to confront him, hoping to get money to help his family. While Arthur doesn't believe Gawain's claims, he is forced to raise him as his heir regardless due to the fact Arthur's wife cannot bear him children. However, when another young man, known as Mordred, also claims to be Arthur's son, both Gawain and Mordred are forced to climb the ladder of Arthur's knights in order to become members of the Knights of the Round Table and, eventually, prove themselves the worthy heirs of Arthur's throne.

Manga
Main article: List of Excalibur Chapters

Excalibur, like many other mangas, started off as a one-shot, then referred to by the slightly longer title Excalibur: The Story of Camelot (エクスカリバー：キャメロットの物語), which was published by Shogakukan and was later picked up for a full series. As of today, the manga has been collected into around 40 tankōban volumes, collected since July 15. An English translation of the manga was also released by Viz Media on May 9, 2015.

Anime
Main article: List of Excalibur Episodes

It was announced on November 4, 2015, that an anime based on the manga produced by Ufotable was in the works. A few months later, on July 18, 2016, the anime made its premiere on MBS. The series features Yusuke Kobayashi as Gawain, Yuki Kaji as Mordred la Fay, Tomokazu Sugita as Arthur Pendragon, Tanekazi Atsumi as Guinevere, Shinichiro Miki as Lancelot, Mutsumi Tamura as Dinadan, Daisuke Namikawa as Feirefiz, Maria Naganawa as Percival, Kensho Ono as Galahad, Matsouka Yoshitsugu as Gareth, and Tomoaki Maeno as Galehaut. Each season of the anime stuck with the same bands to perform their opening and endings, with the band Cool Joke covering the openings and Uverworld covering the ending themes.

Shortly after the first season's finale, Funimation picked the series up for a dub. The dub features Todd Haberkorn as Gawain, Daman Mills as Mordred, Liam O'Brien as Arthur Pendragon, Erika Harlacher as Guinevere, Ian Sinclair as Lancelot, Erica Lindbeck as Dinadan, Zeno Robinson as Feirefiz, Erica Mendez as Percival, David Matranga as Galahad, Billy Kametz as Gareth, and J. Michael Tatum as Galehaut.

Film
Main articles: Excalibur: Demon God Zaziria and Excalibur: Malice Awoken 

Mid-way through the third season, it was announced that Ufotable had been working on a film since the end of season two and that it would premiere in December. On December 20, the film, Excalibur: Demon God Zaziria (エクスカリバー:鬼神ザジリア, Ekusukaribā: Kishin Zajiria) was released to the public. Sometime later, on July 16, 2020, a second film called Excalibur: Malice Awoken (エクスカリバー：悪意の目覚め, Ekusukaribā: Akui no Mezame) was released.

Both films were also dubbed by Funimation, with the dub of Demon God Zaziria being released on February 13, 2019, and the Malice Awoken dub being released on October 2, 2020. Both the Japanese and English dubs feature the series' original cast reprising their roles for the films.