Sōten Kōro
, also known as Beyond the Heavens, is a Japanese manga series by Hagin Yi and King Gonta. It started in Kodansha's "seinen" manga magazine "Weekly Morning" in 1994. Following Hagin Yi's death in 1998, King Gonta continued the manga alone, until its conclusion in 2005. Its chapters were collected in thirty-six "tankōbon" volumes. A twenty-six episode anime television series adaptation by Madhouse was broadcast on Nippon TV from April to September 2009. In 1998, "Sōten Kōro" won the 22nd Kodansha Manga Award in the general category. Story. "Sōten Kōro"s story is based loosely on  the events taking place in Three Kingdoms period of China during the life of the last Chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao (155 – March 15, 220), who also serves as the main character. The Three Kingdoms period has been a popular theme in Japanese manga for decades, but "Sōten Kōro" differs greatly from most of the others on several points. One significant difference is its highly positive portrayal of its main character, Cao Cao, who is traditionally the antagonist in not only Japanese manga, but also most novel versions of the Three Kingdoms period, including the original 14th -century version, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong. Another significant difference from others is that the storyline primarily uses the original historical account of the era, "Records of Three Kingdoms" by Chen Shou, as a reference rather than the aforementioned "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" novel. By this, the traditional hero of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Bei, takes on relatively less importance within the story and is portrayed in a less positive light. Yet, several aspects of the story are in fact based on the novel version, including the employment of its original characters such as  Diao Chan, as well as anachronistic weapons such as Guan Yu’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Zhang Fei’s Viper Spear. A consistent theme throughout the story is Cao Cao's perpetual desire to break China and its people away from its old systems and ways of thinking and initiate a focus on pragmatism over empty ideals. This often puts him at odds with the prevalent customs and notions of Confucianism and those that support them. Media. Manga. "Sōten Kōro" was originally written by and illustrated by , starting in Kodansha's "seinen" manga magazine "Weekly Morning" in 1994. After  Hagin Yi died of live cancer in 1998, King Gonta continued the story. The series finished in 2005. Kodansha collected its chapters in thirty-six "tankōbon" volumes, released from October 23, 1995, to January 23, 2006. An eighteen-volume "bunkoban" edition was published from December 12, 2000, to December 12, 2006. A three-in-one volume edition, consisting of twelve volumes, was published from May 5 to October 23, 2009. Anime. An anime television series, animated by Madhouse, was announced in February 2009. The series was broadcast on Nippon TV from April 8 to September 30, 2009. The opening theme  is "909" by and the ending theme is by Ogre You Asshole. Reception. In 1998, along with "Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji", "Sōten Kōro" won the 22nd Kodansha Manga Award in the general category. As of February 2009, the manga had over 10 million copies in circulation. As of February 2017, the manga had over 18 million copies in circulation.