{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name            = Violinist of Hameln
| image           = 200px
| caption         = 1 volume on the Violinist of Hameln
| ja_kanji         = ハーメルンのバイオリン弾き
| ja_romji   = Hamerun no Baiorin Hiki
| genre           = Adventure, Fantasy, Drama
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Manga
| title           = 
| author          = Watanabe Michiaki
| publisher       =  Enix
| demographic     = Shōnen
| magazine        = Monthly Shōnen Gangan
| first           = ~1991
| last            = ~2001
| volumes         = 37
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Anime
| title           = 
| director        = Junichi Nishimura
| studio          = Studio Deen
| network         = TV Tokyo
| first           = 2 October 1996
| last            = 26 March 1997
| episodes        = 25
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Movie
| title           = 
| director        = 
| studio          = 
| released        = 20 April 1996
| runtime         = 30 min
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Game
| title           = Hamelin no Violin Tamaki
| developer       = Enix
| publisher       = Enix
| genre           = Side-scrolling Platformer
| ratings         = 
| platforms       = SNES
| released        = 1995
}}

 is an adventure/fantasy story created by Watanabe Michiaki. The story's basic premise is that a group of adventurers are traveling north to The Northern Capital (a.k.a Hameln) to prevent a catastrophe. In this world, music takes on a quality akin to magic and is a strong recurring element in the story.

The manga and the anime are radically different. The manga tends toward a lighter, more comedic tone, whereas the anime is much darker. No official English translations exist for the manga or its adaptations.

==The Manga==
"GanGan Comics" ran the manga for approximately ten years and 37 volumes were published.

The manga combines a serious story with an irreverent tone; characters frequently shift between heroic and pathetic as the situation warrants. The manga also contains a myriad of unconventional running gags, such as Hamel's repeated attempts to force other members of the party into costume. Each chapter is referred to as a movement.

==Setting==

The setting resembles a medieval Europe judging by the architecture, the way people are dressed, the local environment shown in the background. The world in which the story takes place is like an alternate universes in which chronologically, many things do not makes sense. In fact, despite the medieval feeling with demons and magic, there are also technologically super advanced flying battleships and carriers, tanks and cities made completely of metal platings with siege machines much like the science fiction worlds of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, or any other mecha heavy world. Also, the pieces played by Hamel and Raiel on their instruments are actually real pieces composed by real historical composers such as Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Schubert, Mozart, Haydn, etc. despite many of these figures existing much later in history.

The world they live in is referred to as Europe, however, the map shown has absolutely no resemblance to Europe at all. Most countries and characters are named after musical themes, be they instruments, tones, beats, etc. There is presence of both fantasy and science fiction elements.

==History==

The world they currently live in is dominated by two races, the human race and the mazoku race. The mazoku are demonic like creatures that once ruled their world, until they were all sealed away into a tiny box by a heroic angel 500 years ago. An age of prosperity and peace arose and human civilization blossomed. Cities were built and nations were created. Science advance in some while magic became the source of power for others. One day, a woman by the name of Pandora accidentally opens the box containing all the demons, releasing them all from their imprisonment, darkening the skies and dooming human race to extinction at the hands of the mazoku. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, the Demon King Chestra, who was also released from that box, was sealed again. Pandora, who had two children were separate, one was taken by the mazoku, the other remained with her mother. In order to keep the world safe, the box that sealed the Demon King, now named Pandora's box, was sent far away, and the key that opened the box was also send far away, in hopes that even if the mazoku would ever get the hands on one part, they would not be able to make use of it. All the demons who were released then headed north, and occupied the norther most continent and called it their capital, Hameln. Now humans fight a never ending war against the demons in order to survive. Pandora's children, one who lives with the humans, and hated by all those around him, the other, living with the mazoku who have never shown her any sign of affection are destined be reunited and bring an end to the war, one way or another.

==Plot==

The plot for the manga revolves around the hero Hamel who travels northbound towards the continent of demons in order to avert a great disaster. Using his magical oversize violin, he plays music that would force his enemies to repent for their sins and kill themselves. Or so that was how the story should have been. The so called Hamel is instead a selfish, cowardly, heartless, and immoral fiend that seeks to take advantage of those around him, and extort from those he saves. After saving the remote village of Staccato from nearby demons, he decides to abduct an orphaned girl named Flute as payment for his services. Hamel, Flute and Oboe, Hamel's advisor who is a talking crow, head north on their long, arduous and ridicule filled journey. Along the way, they meet Raiel, the hero of Love who plays beautiful and powerful tunes that can summon spirits and manipulate people with his 500 kg solid gold piano; he is actually Hamel's childhood friend. Their first encounter results in a not so deadly battle for revenge. Next they encounter Trombone, the young prince of Dal Segno, the warrior nation renowned for their knights and their swordsmanship. Having his country burned to the ground and his parents murdered in front of his eyes, the young prince swears revenge and joins are party northwards in their quest. Adventure, hilarity, and humiliation ensues as Hamel leads the ragtag band north while performing street performances bicker with each other. Along the way, they fight dreadful enemies and eventually meet Hell Hawk King Sizer, one of the Lords of hell, the guardians of the Demons Legions. In a mostly one sided battle, Hamel's Violin is broken. It is also revealed that Hamel is actually the son of the Demon King Chestra, and that he heads north in order to defeat his father and save his mother Pandora.

As they venture further north, they eventually reach the kingdom of Sforzando, one of the most powerful nations of their world, renown for their magi-knight corps, their healing magic, and the strongest woman alive, Queen Horn. While at Sorzando, they meet the Head Priest of Sforzando, they greatest magic user in all of their kingdom, who immediately takes a dislike to Hamel. It is revealed that Flute, the victim of Hamel's humiliating antics was actually the only princess of Sforzando, who was unfortunately abandoned as a baby in order to increase her chance of survival when Sforzando was besieged in a dreadful war many years ago. Reunited with her estranged mother, Flute tries to deal with many pent up emotions while Hamel is sent out in order to Seek out a man capable of fixing his magical violin. Unfortunately, during Hamel and Raiel's absence, Sforzando is besieged yet again by the armies of Hell. Leading them are Dragon King Drum and King of the Beasts Guitar, both extremely strong and one of the 4 Lords of Hell. A fierce battle ensues, where both powerful forces collide and tens of thousands of both sides perish. In the end, Hamel and Raiel return after meeting Vi Olin and having the violin fixed in order to finish their foes off. In a last ditch effort with everyone attacking at the same time, they manage to subdue the Dragon King Drum who had turned into a 48 headed hydra.

The battle ends with the victory of Sforzando, and the revelation that the Queen had only a few years left to live, as her healing magic requires the user to pay by giving up their lifespan. Once preparations were done, Hamel, Raiel, Trombone and Oboe set off once again on their quest to the northern continent. Torn between wanting to stay with her newly reunited mother and spend the rest of her time with her mother, and rejoining her rather ungrateful companions on their journey, she eventually chooses to follow Hamel and slowly realizes her feelings for him. At this point, the party splits up. Raiel heads to Staccato to deliver the money given to Hamel should he choose to leave Flute behind in Sforzando; Trombone goes back to Dal Segno to see the wreckage at pay respects to those who perished there; Flute, Hamel and Oboe head north, and are joined by Cornet, Clarinet's younger sister.

A sequel to the series called Violinist of Hameln: Shchelkunchik started serialization in January of 2008.

==The Anime==
The TV adaptation was twenty-five episodes long and suffered from budget constraints. A substantial portion of the story is told by panning over still images, with full animation reserved mainly for action-heavy scenes. Though it initially follows the basic outline of the manga's plot, the two stories completely diverge by the anime's conclusion.

Also of note is a 30-minute animated movie, whose storyline does not intersect with the TV series. The movie was released several months before the TV series, and benefits from a substantially higher animation budget. The movie is generally faithful to the manga's humorous tone.

The anime has a darker setting than the manga.

==The Video Game==

'''Overview'''

The game was made for SNES by Enix (which also published the GanGan Comics magazine) and is a side-scrolling platformer. It follows the manga reasonably well but changes are made so Flute is met at the beginning of the story but as the game progresses huge jumps are made in the story.
The game requires you to throw flute and put her in various costumes in order to reach the end of the level. Numerous demons from the manga appear n the game as bosses.

'''Costumes'''

Throughout the game Hamel will pick up numerous costumes that Flute will wear in order to reach the goal.

Ostrich - Allows Flute to walk on spikes<br />
Frog - When ridden Flute will jump very high<br />
Robot - When jumped on will destroy blocks<br />
Duck - Can swim across water and will dive when jumped on<br />
Penguin - Can swim across water and will dash when jumped on<br />
Monster - Used to trick a monster to let you across a bridge<br />
Monkey - Will climb wall when ridden<br />
Orangutan - Used to progress the story
Sunfish - Floats when ridden<br />
Frisbee - Acts like a boomerang when thrown<br />
Curling Puck - Slides when thrown<br />
Elephant - Shoots water when jumped on<br />
Octopus - Allows Hamel to move in any direction under water when ridden<br />
UFO - Hovers and follows Hamel<br />
Eagle - Flies in the direction Hamel is facing when ridden

== Characters ==

=== Protagonists ===
''' Main Party '''

『'''ハーメルンのバイオリン弾き'''』（はーめるんのばいおりんひき）は、アニメ映画作品。

漫画はエニックス『月刊少年ガンガン』において、1991年4月号から2001年2月号まで連載された、話数カウントは“第○楽章”。単行本全37巻、他にガイドブック全2巻。1996年に映画が公開され、続いてテレビアニメが1996年から1997年にかけて放映された（全25話）。

== 概要 ==
北の都に住む魔王を倒すために旅を続けるという王道ファンタジー作品であり、タイトルに見られるように随所にクラシック音楽をモチーフとして組み込んでいる。

構成に特徴があり、ややすれば唐突感もあるギャグをシリアスシーンに時折挟み込む形式である。これに関しては後述するように賛否両論であるが、ハードなストーリーに一息入れるものとなっている。ただし、TVアニメ版はギャグを全て排し、重厚でシリアスな作品に様変わりしている。逆にアニメ劇場版では原作のギャグパートさながらのコメディとされている。

ギャグの内容、タイミングに関してはファンの間でも賛否両論となっており、ギャグで和ませることによってストーリーのシリアス感が増すという肯定派と、話のテンポを悪くしてしまっているという否定派がある。

元々は読切作品であったが、人気を獲得し本格連載となった。

2007年11月30日に発売された『増刊ヤングガンガン』Vol.2にて本編から10年後（エピローグから数年後）の話が外伝として書かれている。

また、2008年1月18日に発売された『ヤングガンガン』2008年3号から、上記の外伝からさらに数年後に当たる続編として『ハーメルンのバイオリン弾き〜シェルクンチク〜』が連載されている。

== ストーリー ==
主人公のハーメルは大きなバイオリンを抱え、旅をしている。彼のバイオリンは特殊な力を持ち、音楽で魔族を打ち倒すことができるものである。ある村でハーメルは、天涯孤独の村娘フルートと出会い、村から連れ出した。ハーメルの旅の目的は魔王の住む「北の都」に行くことであった。

途中、ハーメルの幼なじみで永遠のライバルでもあるピアノ弾きのライエルや、国を失った王子トロン・ボーン、魔族の中で育ったハーメルの双子の妹サイザーなどを仲間に加えながら、旅は続いていく。物語が進むにつれて、ハーメルやフルートの出生の秘密が明かされ、敵が味方になったり味方が敵になったりと、複雑な人間関係を織りなし、それぞれの葛藤が描かれながら、一行は魔王のいる北の都ハーメルンを目指して旅を続けていく。

登場人物が、全て楽器にまつわる名前を付けられていることでも分かる通り、この作品はクラッシック音楽があちこちにモチーフとして使われている。主人公のハーメルやライエルは武器として、音楽を奏でたり、音楽で他人を操って戦わせることができるという設定であり、随所にクラシックの名曲が登場し、うんちくが披露される。

== 登場人物 ==

== コミックス ==
; ガンガンコミックス
# 1991年9月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-001-2 
# 1992年2月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-010-1 
# 1992年7月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-023-3 
# 1992年12月18日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-035-7 
# 1993年5月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-045-4 
# 1993年8月21日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-055-1 
# 1994年1月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-069-1 
# 1994年4月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-080-2 
# 1994年8月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-090-X 
# 1994年11月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-098-5 
# 1995年2月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-110-8 
# 1995年9月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-127-2 
# 1995年11月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-130-2 
# 1996年3月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-145-0 
# 1996年8月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-158-2 
# 1996年11月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-169-8 
# 1997年1月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-179-5 
# 1997年2月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-187-6 
# 1997年3月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-193-0 
# 1997年6月21日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-206-6 
# 1997年8月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-216-3 
# 1997年11月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-231-7 
# 1998年1月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-242-2 
# 1998年3月20日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-283-X 
# 1998年8月22日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-343-7 
# 1998年11月21日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-417-4 
# 1999年3月20日刊行　ISBN 4-87025-475-1 
# 1999年5月22日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0027-0 
# 1999年8月21日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0067-X 
# 1999年11月22日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0129-3 
# 2000年2月22日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0173-0 
# 2000年5月22日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0248-6 
# 2000年8月22日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0291-5 
# 2000年10月21日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0337-7 
# 2000年12月20日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0369-5 
# 2001年3月22日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0418-7 
# 2001年3月22日刊行　ISBN 4-7575-0419-5

== アニメ ==
=== テレビアニメ ===
1996年10月2日から1997年3月26日までテレビ東京系で放送された。全25話。原作の持ち味であるギャグシーンを殆ど省き、シリアスで暗く、原作よりも伝奇譚的な展開となっている。序盤にはほんの僅かだがコミカルな描写があるように元々は多少のギャグも盛り込む予定だったが、監督の西村純二によると、理由はストーリーのドラマ性を重視した結果入れる余裕がなくなったため、結果的にギャグを省いた形になったという（第1話、最終話でオープニング、エンディングがカットされているのも、演出というよりは1話分のストーリーが長すぎて尺が足りなくなったため）。ストーリー自体や絵の質は悪く無いので、原作を知らない人向けと言える。

当初は1997年9月までの1年間の放送予定であったが、半年での打ち切り終了となった（そのため2クール目中盤で1年ほど話が飛ぶ）。音楽面に予算を注ぎ込み過ぎた結果、予算が大幅超過となった事が原因と言われている。後期のオープニング・エンディング映像は前期のものを再編集して制作、本編では強引なストーリー展開が多く見られ、また止め絵が多用され「動かざること山の如し」「劇メーション」などと形容される（会話での口の動きすらない）など、制作の遅れが顕著であった。また、主題歌をとっても前半と後半で全く異なるタイプのものになるなど、作品の方向性についての混乱も見受けられた。

監督が「大きな悲劇の物語」と形容した、原作とは正反対のシリアスな展開の数々は、もはやオリジナル作品と呼べるほどにアレンジされている（原作者自身は「ギャグを入れるとかえって伝えたいメッセージが霞んでしまう」と、この路線を評価している）。とはいえ、脚本を担当した今川泰宏の独特の個性や言い回しが光る作品に仕上がっており、特に20話以降からの展開は強烈で、その結末は平成以降の数多いアニメ・特撮作品においても『超光戦士シャンゼリオン』と本作が双璧と言われる程の衝撃的なものとなっている。このラストについては原作と比較してみると実に好対照である。それゆえ、「原作とは別物」とは言われるが、現在でも根強いファンを持ち、稀代の怪作とも言われる。監督曰く、設定に関する「謎解き」ではなく、登場人物たちの葛藤を軸にした「ストーリー」で見せる作品というコンセプト。

余談だが、アニメ版のベースはあしゅら男爵（『マジンガーZ』）のように2人の声優で演じている。ベースとリュートが同時に声を発するのだが、理由はアニメではリュートは死んでおらず、生きたまま操られているからだと思われる。ついでながら、ドラムは1人の声優だが、2つの首があるからか台詞の合間にうなり声が混じっている。

松山鷹志、緒方恵美など本作に出演した声優の一部は、後の西村作品にも度々出演している。