三国志

"Romance of the Three Kingdoms" (Sangokushi) is an anime program that aired on Nippon TV's Wednesday Roadshow on March 20, 1985. It was produced with a budget of 150 million yen. While credited as being based on "Yokoyama Mitsuteru's 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,'" the content and character designs are entirely different from the original work. On August 22, 1986, the sequel, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms II: The Soaring Heroes" (Amakakeru Otokotachi), was broadcast (this time on the Friday Roadshow; note that the original "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was re-aired on the same program in March 1986). This entry will also cover this sequel. "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" depicts events from the Battle of Changban to the Battle of Red Cliffs, but the timeline is condensed to about a year and a half, differing from the actual historical period. Also, among the related figures in Jing Province, only Liu Biao appears at the beginning. "Romance of the Three Kingdoms II: The Soaring Heroes" (hereafter "The Soaring") portrays, in its first half, the marriage of Liu Bei and Lady Sun. The latter half depicts the struggle against Cao Cao's forces over Yizhou (Shu), during which Guan Yu and Zhang Fei perish in battle. However, after repelling Cao Cao's attack, the "Three Kingdoms Plan" is successfully established.