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Chagum
Chagum
Name Chagum
Katakana チャグム
Information
Gender Male
Age 11 at start of Anime
Status Alive
Eye colour Blue
Hair colour Black
Height 1.35m at start of Anime
Native country New Yogo
Occupation Second Prince of New Yogo,
Crown Prince of New Yogo (later)
Relationships
Family Mikado (father),
Second Queen (mother),
Tosa Harusuan (grandfather),
Sagum (older half-brother),
Mishuna (half-sister),
Tugum (younger half-brother in novels, younger brother in drama)
Friends Balsa, Tanda, Torogai, Toya, Saya, Shuga
Enemies Hunters (former)
Appearance
Anime Debut Episode 01: Balsa, the Female Bodyguard
Manga Seirei no Moribito
Novel Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit,
Guardian of the Dream,
Traveler of the Void,
Traveler of the Blue Road, Guardian of Heaven and Earth
Drama Debut Season 1, Episode 1'
Voice Actor
Japanese Naoto Adachi
English Mona Marshall
Live Action Drama Kai Kobayashi (Child),
Mizuki Itagaki (Teennager)

Chagum is the Second Prince of the Imperial Family (son of the Mikado and the Second Queen) and the half-brother of Sagum (the First Prince of the Imperial Family and the son of the Mikado and the First Queen), Tugum (the son of the Mikado and the Third Queen), and Mishuna (daughter of the Mikado and the Third Queen). He is a member of House Harusuan; Admiral Tosa Harusuan is his grandfather. He can speak Rotan, Kanbalese, and Sangalese in addition to his native language.

At age 11, Chagum unexpectedly becomes the nyunga ro chaga, host of the egg of the water spirit, the Nyunga Ro Im. His mother, the Second Queen, hires Balsa to protect the prince from the assassins sent by the Mikado to prevent the shame that rumors of his possession might bring upon the Imperial family. Along with Balsa, Chagum is the series's main character, featuring as the protagonist of the Tabibito ("traveler") strand of the novels in particular.

Guardian of the Spirit[]

During Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit, Chagum is introduced as the Second Prince of New Yogo, the son of the Mikado by the Second Queen. Out of concern for the strange developments affecting her son, the Second Queen consults the Star Reader Shuga and the magic weaver Torogai. When the Star Readers suspect that Chagum's body houses the reincarnation of the water demon that his ancestor, the first Mikado Torgal, defeated, the Mikado arranges for the Second Prince to be secretly assassinated to save the country.

In order to protect her son, the Second Queen hires the spearfighter Balsa to protect the prince for the rest of his life. With Balsa as Chagum's bodyguard, they manage to elude the assassins and learn the true nature of the entity within him - it is actually the egg of a water spirit that must be born to prevent a terrible drought. The actual demon his ancestor defeated was a monster, Rarunga, that sought to consume the water spirit's egg.

As Balsa, Tanda the herbalist, and Torogai the magic weaver try to find a way to remove the water spirit's egg from Chagum, the young prince lives the life of an ordinary boy and gradually matures into a sensitive and insightful person. During his time with Balsa, he becomes deeply attached to her and trusts her to protect his life. He comes to see Balsa and Tanda as his surrogate parents and even attempts to play matchmaker with them.

Later Books[]

In Guardian of the Dream, Chagum, feeling trapped in the palace and longing for the time he spent in the Hunting Hole with Tanda and Balsa, is sucked into the dream of the Flower, which attempts to trap him in a fantasy. Tanda is able to free him, but is himself trapped, so Chagum convinces the Mikado, with Shuga's help, to allow him to bring the Hunters Yun and Zen to the Royal Mountain Villa to confront the Guardian of the Flower and free Tanda. He is briefly reunited with Balsa, but by the time that Tanda recovers and wakes, Chagum has already returned to the Palace.

In Traveler of the Void, Chagum goes on a diplomatic journey with Shuga to Sangal to witness the passage of the crown from King Tafmur to his son Karnan. There he meets and befriends Princess Saruna and Prince Tarsan, thwarts the plans of the evil Magic Weaver Rasugu, saves the lives of Eshana and Surina, and creates a mini-alliance between Rota, Kanbal, and New Yogo to help prevent an assassination attempt on the Sangalese royal family. This is his first taste of politics in action.

In Traveler of the Blue Road, Chagum continues to be the victim of court politics that he would rather remove himself from. He would like to yield the position of Crown Prince to his younger brother Tugum, but this is not allowed. He is sent on a suicide mission, captured by Hugo Arayutan, and brought before Prince Raul of Talsh, who wishes to place Chagum on the throne of New Yogo as a puppet ruler.

In Guardian of Heaven and Earth, Chagum goes alone to Rota and to Kanbal, seeking to form an alliance with those countries against the invading Talsh to save New Yogo from destruction. He also attempts to warn his father of a cataclysmic flood from Nayug which will drown much of the Northern Continent, but the Mikado does not listen, choosing to drown instead. However, he orders most of his retainers to leave him and follow Chagum instead, and Chagum is able to get many to safety. He becomes the ruler of New Yogo after his father's death, but hopes to turn leadership over to Tugum when the boy comes of age.

Chagum has a servant named Ruin who is younger than him, who served Sagum before Sagum's death. Ruin is deeply loyal to Chagum. He manages to soften or attract almost everyone he meets in his travels.

Chagum is able to see Nayug after his experience as the Nyunga Ro Chaga. He can even move between Nayug and Sagu at will. This allows him to see the coming flood and warn the people of its arrival.

Appearance[]

Chagum is a young boy, approximately twelve years old at the beginning of the series. In the anime, he is depicted as having long dark hair that is cut early in the series in order to conceal his identity as the Second Prince. Throughout the year he spends with Balsa, he grows taller, which Torogai notes when she reunites with Balsa and Chagum at the end of winter before the impending birth of the water spirit.

Chagum's clothing changes several times due to the nature of his character. Upon his introduction, he wears royal garments, with long hair styled into a bun and pigtails, and a golden crown. The garments are discarded in favour of commoner's clothing, consisting of a dark blue robe and grey pants, after escaping the palace. For the final battle against the egg eater, Torogai presents Chagum with more warrior-like clothing, which also depicts motifs of the Yakoo. When he returns to the palace, Chagum wears royal clothes again, and dons a single hair bun and a new crown.

By the time that Chagum is fifteen, he is taller than his father, the Mikado.

During the course of Guardian of Heaven and Earth, Chagum is wounded in the face and acquires a permanent scar across one eye. His vision is not affected.

Relationships[]

The Second Queen[]

Back at the palace, Chagum was very close with his mother, the Second Queen.

Mikado[]

The depiction of the Mikado's relationship with Chagum varies in the anime, drama and novels.

In the anime, even after the Mikado calls for the assassination of Chagum, the boy is not ill-spirited towards him. Chagum's deep respect for his father is illustrated when he becomes infuriated at an aggressive boy from Rota for insulting the Mikado.[1] Despite his aloofness, the Mikado privately cares for his family and when it is believed the assassination has succeeded, the Mikado orders Chagum to be honoured as a hero rather than be remembered as a pariah.

In the novels, the Mikado is cast primarily as a villain and displays no signs of caring for Chagum or the rest of his family. The drama softens his character somewhat in the final season, though he and Chagum never reconcile. (However, the Mikado is worse to Chagum, in the drama, in the first two seasons than in the books.) Chagum always does his best to respect and honor his father despite repeated assassination attempts.

Sagum[]

Sagum is the older half-brother of the Chagum. In the anime, both of them were very close to each other. Chagum used to talk to his brother about different species of animals and birds he read about. After throwing rocks at a nahji bird to catch, the animal became weighed down with stones and had to be nursed back to health; Sagum kept the bird as a pet. When the news of Chagum death reached the First Prince, he was so emotionally scarred that it damaged his health.

The characterization of Sagum in the novels is very different. He is the favored son and he and Chagum are not close. In both the novel and the anime, Sagum dies of an illness.

Balsa[]

Throughout the series, Chagum develops a strong bond with Balsa. Though he sometimes rebels against her, he also holds her in high esteem, and she is like a mother to him. Chagum comes to trust her implicitly and despite the fear he holds for his fate as the host of the water spirit, believes that Balsa will find a way to save him. Chagum becomes close with many of the people he meets during his time with Balsa; these include TandaToya, Saya, and Torogai. Toya takes on an "older brother" role for Chagum and helps him adjust to life as a commoner.

Mishuna[]

Starting in Traveler of the Blue Road, Chagum is very close to his half-sister, Mishuna, who lives in the Imperial Palace of New Yogo.

Gallery[]

Anime[]

Novel[]

References[]

  1. Seirei no Moribito, "Summer Solstice Festival"
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