There Beyond the Beyond



""Everything's going to be just fine... probably!""

- Futaba Kudo

There Beyond the Beyond (Japanese: Sono Mukou no Mukougawa) is a six-volume Shonen manga by Yoshitomo Watanabe. The first four volumes were translated into English by Tokyo Pop as Beyond the Beyond, but the series was then dropped due to lack of sales. Chuang-Yi in Singapore translated the first five volumes into English using the translated Japanese title, but they ran into licensing problems and were unable to release the last book.

The story starts when twelve-year-old Futaba Kudo is transported to another world by Kiara the Amaranthine, a "flower from the Beyond" that wields supreme magic power, when she mistakes him for her master. Because she cannot perform magic without him, Futaba promises that he will help her to find her true master, and in return she will use his power to send him home.

During their travels, the two gain the companionship of Lord/Lady Belbel (depending on the translation) and the "Mad Prince" Virid Viridian. Belbel is a powerful magician in the form of a bejewelled bunny-creature, who acts as Futaba and Kiara's Mr. Exposition and guide. Prince Virid rebels against his fate after befriending Futaba, and is avoiding his identically-named, sane twin brother who he is destined to Duel to the Death to become king. Both act to protect Futaba and Kiara from those bent on capturing or killing the Amaranthine for her power.

Not to be confused with the Playstation RPG Beyond the Beyond.

""I want to sleep with Futaba!"
 * Actual Pacifist: Futaba is somewhere between genuinely not wanting to hurt anyone and not being able to.
 * Added Alliterative Appeal: Virid Visette Viridian, times two.
 * Ambiguous Gender: Belbel doesn't have any defining gender traits, which was problematic for translators, especially given the lack of gender-specific pronouns. In the Tokyopop translation, Belbel changes between female and male between books.
 * Animated Adaptation: A convincingly-anime-styled promotional video for the manga was released, but as of yet, no anime adaptation is in the works.
 * Berserk Button: Don't call Futaba short, or confuse Belbel's species.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Kiara, at times.
 * Combat Sadomasochist: The Mad Prince
 * Cross Dresser: Futaba. When Kiara has him put on a dress, he tells her that wearing it wouldn't upset him, because his older sister dressed him up as a girl all the time.
 * Different As Night and Day: The two Virids.
 * Evil Twin: Subverted; Virid the Mad Prince lives up to his name, but he's not really evil. In the same vein, the sane prince seems like a nice guy, but comes across sometimes as a Manipulative Bastard.
 * Ho Yay: Invoking this is Virid's favourite pastime.

"You want Futaba and me to kiss, right?""


 * Insufferable Genius: Belbel
 * The Klutz: Kiara
 * Mistaken Identity: Kiara mistakes Futaba for her master, because their auras are the same.
 * Non-Action Guy: Futaba, who depends on Virid and Belbel to do all of the fighting. Justified in that he's a twelve-year-old from Earth with no magic powers or homicidal tendencies.
 * Non-Human Sidekick: Belbel
 * Pettanko: Kiara, Rosette, Keeya... even the sluttish mermaid. The closest this manga has to a character with average-sized breasts is Futaba's older sister.
 * Pinky Swear: How Futaba seals his promise to find Kiara's master. Played for Laughs when Kiara doesn't understand the gesture and chooses to suck on his pinky.
 * Psycho Sidekick: Virid the Mad Prince, though after he joins the party this aspect of his personality is mostly used to set up gags.
 * Sacred First Kiss: Futaba is reluctant to kiss the mermaid seer because it would be his "first kiss", but he relents when he realizes that his real first kiss was with his older brother.
 * Screw Destiny: Virid the Mad Prince and his twin are destined to Duel to the Death for the crown, but he is resigned to the prospect of dying because he couldn't care less about becoming king.
 * By the time the two Virids confront each other, the Mad Prince has found purpose in life in the form of protecting Futaba. He tries to avoid facing off with his brother by telling him to claim that he is already dead.
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Tokyopop changed translators between volumes, resulting in a change of spelling for several character and place names. Some other translations spell Virid "Vidit".
 * Summon Magic: In order to be the master of a flower from the Beyond, you must summon it.
 * In the first chapter, a magician summons a monster to attack Kiara and Futaba.
 * Talking Animal: Belbel
 * The Team Normal: Futaba
 * Theme Naming: The names of countries are all minerals and precious stones.
 * Trapped in Another World
 * The Unfavorite: Virid the Mad Prince to his sane brother, though he is assured otherwise.
 * Witch Species: Flowers of the Beyond (like the Amaranthine and Elutri), though they are by no means the only people who are capable of performing magic.
 * Zettai Ryouiki: Kiara