Dark Hair Captured

Characters and Summary for Volume 1

Captured Captured Our hero. Captured is a young boy with black hair, blue eyes, a head band, and a ring. The ring -- "General" -- contains the "specter" or soul, of a very powerful being. As a "Spect Master", Captured can use General's power in combat, when the ring will turn into a sword that becomes part of Captured's arm. Captured is actually from Earth, and with his father, runs a ramen shop between adventures. The adventures are geared towards finding various treasures that can be sold for money. When they get enough cash, they plan to buy a warp ship that will get them back home. Captured's greatest weakness is his ego -- he considers himself the strongest warrior alive, and he thrives on beating up evil villians.
Kyameru Camel "Camel". A tall, willowy blonde-haired girl that helps out at the ramen shop. Normally, Camel acts like the kind of air head that would enjoy wearing the playboy bunny outfit that goes with the job of ramen waitress. In fact, Camel is also a Spect Master, and her rings -- H, I, J, and M -- turn into weapons as well. J becomes a sword/mace that can be fired like a guided missile. M becomes a near-invulnerable shield. (H and I have not been used yet.) Camel comes from one of the Land Stars, and is the only Land Starian that likes Earthlings. She has a crush on Captured. (Note that in later volumes, Camel stops using her rings, and she is never really ever referred to as a Spect Master.)
Manji Manji Captured's Human father. He had built a ship that took him from his universe into a new universe populated by "Land Stars". Currently, he runs a ramen shop (The Rairaiken) that is built into the gondola of a blimp. Manji is incredibly greedy. When he learns of a new treasure, he takes the blimp to the next Land Star, and he then sends out Captured and Camel to do the dirty work. He is also a braggart and a liar who is desperate to get enough cash so that he can return to Earth.
Dottsu (spelled "Dattsu" in one case) The name of the currency in this universe.
Specters General A long time ago, the Land Stars were populated by an ancient group of creatures that were imprisioned. Currently, there are 26 specters, each contained in its own ring. The rings are lettered A through Z. It takes a special kind of person -- a Spect Master -- to wield a Specter in combat. General is shown here.
Land Stars In this universe, space is like a kind of soup. In this soup float countless planets called "Land Stars". Each planet is different from the others in some way, and most are populated by various creatures (intellegent rabbits, ogres, giant spiders, etc.) The sole feature they have in common is that NO ONE has black hair. This is why Captured, a black-haired human, is so reviled by all of the other humanoids.
Mother This faceless entity is supposedly the source of all life on the Land Stars. She has decreed that Captured must die. She has her own staff of assassins called the "Mother Guard", which she has sent out to track down and kill Captured and Manji.
Standpeed Standpeed AKA: Phantom Dancer, he is one of the Mother Guard. Standpeed is very tall, wears grey robes, and has the skull of some weird creature on his head. He can make his body ghostly, so that no weapon can harm him. He also has a Grip of Death -- if he can grasp his enemy in one hand, Standpeed can use the forces of physics to easily crush the enemy's head. He also has a sword that can grow to any length desired on command.
Keburaada Quebrada Quebrada, AKA: The Speed King. A big lizard that can move VERY fast. Is the other Mother Guard sent out with Standpeed to kill Captured. Gets killed by Captured in Volume 1.


Volume 1 Summary
Chapter 1 Kyapuchuudo Toojou
Introducing Captured


The story starts out with a young boy walking into a house with an order of ramen, interrupting a huge monster that is trying to have sex with a much smaller, beautiful young woman. The monster attacks the boy for interferring, and the boy asks the "husband" what he's doing. The woman corrects him, saying that the monster is a pervert (rapist); she also has to explain what a "pervert" is. When evading the attack, the boy automatically triggered a ring (with the letter G on it) on his left hand; the ring turned into a spike-like sword. The monster comments that ordingary ramen delivery boys don't have swords growing out of their arms, and realizes that because the boy has black hair, he must be the "Captured" that came from "Okyuu" (moxa cautery). Captured answers that it's "Chikyuu" (Earth), not Okyuu, and easily kills the monster. (Unfortunately, the monster had caused the ramen to spill onto the floor, breaking the bowl.)

Back at the Rairaiken blimp, an old man is commenting that if he were younger, he'd like to go out with the attractive young waitress wearing a bunnygirl costume. The old man's partner, a humanoid jackel tries to rein in the old man, saying that Camel is weird for wanting to spend time with that undesirable character: Captured. Captured arrives at that time, and chases the two customers away with his sword. Camel berates the boy for hassling their paying customers. Manji enters the eating area, and notices Cap. Everyone goes outside, and Manji tries to make a bad joke about the broken bowl of ramen, while staring at a keyhole. Cap doesn't understand the joke, and asks what Manji is looking at. Cap's father tells the boy to have a look, and Cap discovers Camel's half-naked body as she is changing into her very skimpy street clothes. Cap reacts in horror. But, when Camel learns what was going on, she volunteers to strip for him in private (to Manji's frustration.)

Manji tells the other two about their next job: "Lariat's Legacy". Camel and Cap react in horror, but Cap doesn't know who Lariat is, and Camel has to explain. According to legend, Lariat was a very handsome, long-legged, evil pirate that had come to this one Land Star 18 years ago. Although he reportedly hated sharks, he looked a little like one himself, and would kill anyone that said so.

Captured now goes into a soliloquy, explaining that Manji wants to get a lot of money so that they can return to Earth. 30 years ago, Manji had travelled a LONG distance by himself to arrive in this blue universe populated with many land stars. Cap is interrupted as Camel arrives with dinner. Cap objects to having to eat ramen again, and Manji tells him that on Earth, the three top foods are Caviar, Pate foi Gras, and Ramen. Camel believes this, but Cap is not so sure. Later, they arrive on the correct land star, and go to a weird canyon where the walls are covered with whorls (looks like the cross section of a brain.) Manji announces that somewhere in there is a chest with a treasure worth 1 billion dottsu. Manji berates Cap for thinking that the treasure will be easy to get, and Camel has to hold Cap back from attacking his father. The entrance to the cave is concealed by an illusion, but Cap finds it by accident. Cap and Camel go exploring, and Cap freaks Camel out by explaining why he is so cheerful -- in a creepy voice he says he LOVES killing monsters. They soon discover a huge spider. The spider announces that he is Lariat, and he's the one that had spread the rumors that Lariat was a "long-legged, handsome man".

Cap activates General, causing Lariat to realize that the boy is a Spect Master. Lariat claims that he'd fought and defeated 3 Spect Masters already. Then, spikes shoot up out of the ground. Cap leaps to evade the danger, and Lariat bats the boy out of the air, breaking Cap's arm. Camel calls out "Captured", and Lariat recognizes the name. The spider starts talking about how Earthlings must be wiped out, since they are not the spawn of Mother. Camel is angry that Lariat is discussing this in front of Cap, and she activates two of her rings. Both arms turn into swords, and she slices Lariat's head apart. Cap is upset that Camel killed "his" monster, and she mollifies him by saying that if she could kill the spider, that it was not strong enough to be worth Cap's time. Cap accepts this idea. They then find the chest, which is filled with fillet of shark. Manji concludes that actually, Lariat must have liked killing sharks to get their meat. Cap is annoyed that he'd broken an arm for this. However, later, Rairaiken introduced a new menu item: Shark meat ramen.
Chapter 2 Otona ni nereba
If You Become an Adult


We get a brief recap showing how Cap's ring can turn into a sword, and then Manji rejoices that he's collected 35.8 billion dottsu. He only needs 4 billion dottsu more, before he can return to the land where near-naked Geisha girls will gladly put out for him. Cap thinks that Japan sounds like a weird country, and he's willing to stay in this universe after Manji returns home.

Some small kids are being menaced by monsters, and Cap wipes the monsters out for the fun of it. He ignores the kids' "thank yous" until two of the girls call him cool, and ask to marry him. Cap gives them all free ramen. The kids talk about the legendary bravery and skills of Spect Masters, until their relatives show up. Even though Cap saved the kids' lives, the older adults are afraid of him. Mother had issued orders to have everyone avoid the Earthlings, and normal Land Starians face a death sentence for disobeying the orders. The adults hustle the kids away, and later make the kids promise to avoid Cap in the future. Camel tries to cheer Cap up, by saying that there's nothing to be sad about, while Cap dispiritedly replies that he's not sad over being rejected like this.

The ruler of this Land Star is a big, muscular man that likes having big-breasted women draped over him. The ruler, Kitchen Sink, learns from the one surviving monster that Cap is on his land star. KS asks for "that" (a sword kept in a box) to be brought out so he can use it. KS discovers Cap as the boy is putting up the "Shop Closed" sign. KS makes sure that the boy is indeed Captured, and then summons "that". "That" is a priceless sword that's supposed to be really good. One of the children sees KS threatening Cap, and runs to get his friends to come watch. But, the two kids are discovered by one of the other kid's older sister. The sister makes the kid promise that the next time they see Cap, he'll tell the Earthling "Please never return to this Land Star again." Mother had issued Her edict, and if the kids become adults, they'll understand.

Cap fights Kitchen Sink. KS eagerly looks forward to killing the boy. Cap easily kills Kitchen Sink. But, when he later meets the children, they tell him to leave and never return. Cap returns to the blimp, and announces that he'll go to Earth with Manji. Camel says that if Cap goes to Earth, she'll go to. Then, Cap suddenly changes his mind. He's looking out the window down at the ground far below. Beneath the floating blimp, the four children are holding a sheet. Written on the sheet is "We're sorry for having to lie to you earlier. Please come back to play with us." The one kid thinks an apology to his older sister, and both Cap and Camel are now very happy.
Chapter 3 Nazo no Angouban (Parts 1-3)
Mystery of the Cypher Tablet


Cap is having a bad dream, where other kids are picking on him, and throwing rocks at him again. He wakes up to find Camel's scantily-clan body sleeping beside him. Camel claims that as she was going to her room last night, she'd heard the boy talking in his sleep; "Camel, please sleep with me." She's lying, but she'd had a nice dream anyway. She asks what Cap had dreamed about, and he lies. Camel happily hugs the boy, and he yells at her to put on more clothes. Then, it is time for fighting practice (which consists of cutting up metal balls that fire lasers at him.) Cap clears level 12, but isn't happy about this. He wants to fight someone strong, and claims that there's no one on this planet that's stronger than he is. Suddenly, Camel yells out -- she'd discovered the hot pepper powder that Cap had put in her ramen as revenge for having slept in his bed.

The author now spends a little time describing a Tower, known as "The Mouth of Mother". At this tower, Land Starians give money to an ATM, and Mother allows them to keep living. The narrator equates Mother to the Queen in an ant hill, and all of the Land Starians as her worker ants. Which brings us to the two Earthlings, thah the narrator suggests are like potato bugs among the ant colony.

Cap decides to accompany Manji to a small shack out in the middle of nowhere. Inside the shack is a very good looking woman with short blonde hair, and a weird outfit the covers the top of her breasts, while leaving the lower parts exposed. Her name is Face, and she runs a map service, to allow adventurers to find various treasures. Face has located a tablet showing how to get the treasure of the Schmitt Dynasty (the tablet is divided into eight parts. The top and bottom halves are paired off: A little circle is matched to a big circle; a key is matched to a tower; two volcanoes, one with a "Z", the other with an upside-down Omega. On the left and right are three dots, forming triangles, and in the middle is a weird shellfish with a long tail.

They haggle over the price (starting at 40,000,000 dottsu), with Manji telling Cap to kill Face for trying to charge so much for a replica of the tablet. Face backs down, and tells them to be careful of Mother, since she's heard some rumblings "on the street'. Cap gets angry because everyone is so afraid of Mother. Manji tells him to settle down, then asks who had bought the original tablet. Face answers "El Sabot". We now see that El Sabot is a tall, dark skinned man with flowing white robes and long hair, and Manji tells us that the adventurer Sabot is much stronger than Cap is. Meanwhile, a two-legged lizard is menacing Sabot. Sabot supposedly is a master marksman with a pistol, but the lizard catches the bullet and slashes Sabot's face. The lizard introduces itself as Quebrada, the Speed King. Quebrada's partner, Standpeed the Phantom Dancer, says that Sabot has been marked for death for not paying his share to the ATM at the Mouth of Mother. Sabot shoots at Standpeed, but the bullets pass right through the Mother Guard. Standpeed grabs Sabot by the head, while Sabot still can't touch him. The Phantom Dancer kills Sabot right there.

Cap wants to leave the blimp to go find Sabot. Manji argues with him, saying that though the boy has cleared level 99, it's still not good enough. Camel gets involved, adding that no one else could defeat him, and asking if the boy wants some cake. Cap goes into convulsions, and Camel celebrates at getting even with him by having spiked his cake with pepper powder. (Manji was about to complement Camel for being an intelligent adult, but he changes his mind.) Meanwhile, Quebrada enjoys drinking Sabot's blood. Standpeed announces that the next victim will be "Captured". Quebrada asks if having black hair means that Captured will have black blood, too, and if black blood will taste good. Standpeed says that they'll soon find out.

Time passes. Cap is fighting a huge monster and holding his own. Some old man is having trouble believing this. Then, we get a replay of what had happened three hours earlier. Manji was briefing Cap and Camel concerning the tablet. Cap was to go to the tower, and try to find the key that the tablet indicates is there, while Camel is to try to understand the secret of the tablet itself. Cap thinks that finding a key is boring, until Manji adds that this land star has a monster called "Yamitei" (Prince of Darkness). But, because the key is Cap's goal, the boy should try to stay out of danger if possible. But, the boy is goaded by thoughts of killing strong monsters, and isn't listening anymore. Later, Cap is near the tower, along a mountainous coastline. He is talking to an old elf, and the elf can't believe that the boy is intentionally trying to find Yamitei. Cap says that he'll be fine, since he is a Spect Master. The elf thinks Cap is lying. Then, a huge monster, called a Cyclone, comes up. Cap is hoping that the cyclone is strong.

After the cyclone is killed, the old elf believes that Cap is a Spect Master. The elf has never met a Spect Master before and asks for Cap's autograph (signed "To my Closest Rival, Achilles.") At the same time, Camel has gone out to the edge of the mountain range, and located a big design in the desert below that matches the shellfish image from the tablet. She uses a laptop computer to call up a copy of the tablet, and determines that of the 6 circles on either side of the design, the biggest one is a match fo part of the tablet. Cap climbs to the top of the tower, commenting on the smell of burnt gunpowder. He is attacked by two eyes swimming in a pool of darkness. Achilles returned to his village, and he tells an elf child that Captured will definitely kill Yamitei (and then, Yamitei won't eat all of their friends anymore.) And, Camel has found a metal door in the ground inside one of the circles. She asks "Lana" (a survey drone) if it has found the two volcanoes. The drone has not found any volcanoes, while the letter Z has been located on what looks like a perfectly ordinary mountain. Camel is confused, and she sits down. A weird shellfish approaches (it's about 8 inches long, with a tentacle extruded from a hard shell) and it tries to touch Camel's panties. She discovers the creature, recognizes it from the design on the tablet, and starts to have an idea.

Cap is slashing at the eyes, and Yamitei can't believe that it has been killed. While, at the blimp, Face is telling Manji that El Sabot is dead. Face adds that the killers were the horribly fast Speed King, and the mysterious Standpeed. Manji hears that he and Cap are the two Mother Guard's next targets, and does a double-take before Face's words hit home. Cap has returned to the elf village, where he is thanked for having saved them from the curse of Yamitei. The boy is puzzled that he couldn't find the key anywhere in the tower. One of the elf children asks if Yamitei was hard to overcome, and Cap says "No. He was weak. I took him out in 3 seconds." He keeps wondering about the key, while Achilles marvels that the 300-year old terror had been overthrown in 3 seconds. The old elf realizes that Cap is a great "Spect Master" warrior.

Face is telling Manji to escape, while the fat one wants to wait until Camel and Cap come back. But, Quebrada is waiting just outside of the blimp. Manji tries to run inside, and the Speed King intercepts him, saying "you're too slow". The lizard attacks, knocking a potted plant to the floor. Before the plant can hit, Quebrada has slashed Manji up really good, and smashed him outside. After hitting the ground, Manji recovers from his shock and starts screaming. Quebrada plans on killing the slow fatty, but Cap and the elf child arrive and interrupt it. Standpeed oozes out from the cliff face, and says that after Manji is dead, Cap will soon follow. The elf child yells out that they're bluffing, because Captured is really strong. Cap is looking forward to a good fight, but the lizard insults him (saying that the boy gives it, and Mother, the heebie jeebies), and leaps forward.

Cap gets slashed in the arm, and chuckles that Quebrada can actually fight well. Standpeed recognizes General after the ring gets activated. While, in the elf village, Camel is talking to two kids. She asks about the smell of burnt gunpowder that is everywhere, and they tell her that they all have fireworks (like a big bottle rocket) that everyone shoots into the air every day. Camel thinks about this. And, back at the battle, Standpeed tells Quebrada that he's is going on to their next assignment, leaving the lizard to defeat Captured alone. Standpeed adds that General is only a level 7 Specter, and that Quebrada can finish off the boy in 10 minutes. Cap says that a Spect Master's strength comes from more than just the power of the Specter, and he attacks Standpeed. General passes harmlessly through Standpeed, and Quebrada leaps in to whip Cap in the face with its tail. Standpeed fades out (saying that no one can hurt him.) Quebrada says that to kill Standpeed, the boy must first kill it, which isn't going to happen.

Back at the desert, Camel is working on the computer. Combined with the presence of the shellfish, and the elf kid's explanations, Camel thinks she understands everything. The shellfish is called an "Itsuwari atama" (fabrication + head.) Therefore, everything in the top half of the tablet is a lie. (Cap had left Camel a note at the elf village, saying that the key couldn't be found.) Leaving the big circle, the tower, and the volcano. As she thinks about this, she realizes where the key, and the volcano really are. And, back at the blimp, Cap is barely evading Quebrada's attacks. Manji decides that Cap is completely out of his league, having a 0% percent chance of surviving. He notices the Blimp's spot lights, and thinks that with Quebrada's big eyes being so sensitive to light, turning on the spots will give his son a 50-50 chance. But, as soon as Manji turns on the spots, the lizard is right at the blimp and destroys them. Cap comes in to attack, and Quebrada gets behind the boy to kill him (while also going on about how Mother wants him dead.) Manji thinks that Cap is history as the lizard strikes. But, Cap also moves at lightning speed, and gets behind Quebrada. Saying "You're slow", Cap lops off Quebrada's head. The force of his cut rushes forward, and slices the blimp in two.

And, Camel is back up on the cliff facing the desert. She's realized that the tower IS the key, and that the volcano is hidden underneath it below ground. A timer at the base of the tower clicks "0", and the force of the lava launches the tower into the air. It smashes into the ground inside the big circle, causing the metal door to open and reveal the hidden treasure chest. At the blimp, Cap is asking Manji if the old man understands why he was able to defeat the lizard, and basically answers that it's because he's a pro, and had been leading Quebrada into a false sense of security. Manji is more concerned about the destroyed blimp. Cap says that they're getting a 5 billion dottsu treasure, and can easily pay the 500 million dottsu to repair the blimp, as well as allowing them to eat steak instead of ramen. Manji is happy, until Camel comes up and says that she's used the money to pay their expenses, which had come to 5 billion dottsu. As the trio tearfully eat ramen, the narrator tells Cap to try his best in the future -- "For Dreams, For Love, and For A Really Expensive Steak."
Chapter 4 Supekuto Maasutaa
Spect Master


We get another recap describing the blue land star universe. Then, a Spect Master named Northern Light comes into a village of rabbit people and starts killing them. Northern Light is a big man with a spike-like sword attached to his left arm. He wants the rabbits to turn over their treasure -- the Dragon Pearl (which may be a parody of "Dragon Ball".) While, at the fully repaired blimp, Manji and Cap are fighting over who gets to eat a cashew from the ramen pot (Manji talks about the cashews on Earth, giving Cap the chance to eat it. Cap calls his father "fatty", which enrages Manji even more.) Camel gets out of the shower, and says that she's already made umeboshi ramen for 30 people, so they should stop fighting over one or two measley cashews. Caps decides to eat Camel's cashew as well, and she pounds them over the head with the table.

Northern Light is killing more rabbits. The blimp has landed on the same land star, and Cap (who had lost at scissors/paper/stone) has to go out to sell the umeboshi ramen by himself from a pull cart. The rabbit village council gather in a building to discuss what to do. They can't go up against NL, because he is one of the Youki Princess' henchmen. Cap enters the building to sell his ramen, causing the rabbits to panic. They thought Cap was Northern Light. Then, NL appears behind Cap, tells him to get out of the way, and tries to bash the boy in the head. Cap easily blocks the bigger man's punch. They trade insults, and NL tries to scare Cap by claiming to be a Spect Master.

Elsewhere, a fat, bald guy wearing glasses is watching a movie showing Captured killing Quebrada. With this guy is an elegant bearded man with earrings. (Later on, they turn out to be Dr. Bomb and Full Nelson.) Bomb is scared that a boy like this could be a Spect Master, while Full Nelson asks who had told Bomb it was ok to talk? Nelson talks for a while, analyzing Cap's abilities, and concluding that the boy might have some skills. (Nelson also mentions that Cap is in his domain: That of the West Saint.) Cap and Northern Light go outside to fight. NL tries to boast about how good he is, but Cap looks at the carnage and states that Northern is a fake (the specter ring was probably created by Dr. Bomb -- it doesn't have a letter clearly printed on it.) Cap continues, saying that when NL's ring turns into a sword, it does so with a noisy explosion. But, a true Spect Master can activate his ring quietly. NL thinks that Spect Masters are all old men, and can not believe that a boy could be one as well. NL's sword falls off his arm, showing that it is indeed a fake. In anger, Cap kills Northern Light, and the force of the cut can be seen from outside the city. Manji and Camel think that Cap has just cost them the sales of 30 bowls of umeboshi ramen.

The Youki Princess, Moonsault, is being briefed on Captured, by Plancha, one of her many handmaidens. In the village, the rabbits ask Captured to please defeat Moonsault for them. They explain that the Princess can summon three super-powerful demons on command. Cap is interested, but Manji and Camel are afraid of the demons. The rabbit adds that if Moonsault is defeated, they'll hand over the Dragon Pearl, worth 1 billion dottsu. Manji immediately gets greedy and tells Cap to go for it, while the boy is also overcome by bloodlust. Cap plans on defeating Moonsault, Manji looks forward to returning to Earth, and Camel is crying in panic.

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