Shōkan

Shōkan (しょうかん Shōkan), stylized as S·H·Ō·K·A·N, is a Japanese media franchise owned by Drillimation Studios. The franchise began with the video game of the same name.

Overview
The majority of the franchise's works center around the Shōkan, an interchangeable team of warriors who particpate in Cups, which are battles that occur between two warrior teams.

1997–1999: Shōkan and Shokan: Second Fight
The first Shōkan video game was released for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 on February 22, 1997. The video game's development was led by Susumu Takajima and Hironobu Kasogo. Shōkan was very popular and received positive reception, and so a second game was put into development.

Shōkan: Second Fight was released on February 19, 1999, and was also critically acclaimed. Thusly, Kasogo suggested that a media franchise be made out of Shōkan.

1999–2005: Franchise formation
The first anime film, Shōkan: The Movie, was released on September 30, 1999, and was very successful.

In 2002, with the release of Shōkan: Bronze Cup, an anime film of the same name was released.

In 2003, the first anime television series, Shōkan: Animated, was aired, which was also during the development of Shōkan: Silver Cup, a game in the Shōkan series which would come out in 2005.

In 2006, a manga series, Shōkan Forever, was made.