Sōten Kōro (蒼天航路), also known as Beyond the Heavens,[1] is a Japanese manga series by Hagin Yi and King Gonta. It started in Kodansha's 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 volumes.
A twenty-six episode anime television series adaptation by Madhouse was broadcast on Nippon TV from April to September 2009.
As of February 2017, the manga had over 18 million copies in circulation. 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,