China 2A.D.: the corrupting Han Dynasty has thrown the entire country into chaos. Peasants revolt against the government. Into such an age, the ruthless and infamous hero, Cao Cao Mengde is born. Destroying old customs and values, he tries to unite China, with a band of promising and intellectual followers, handpicked for their individual talents and potential. Generally thought a villain, Cao Cao Mengde is portrayed as a hero in this story, which focuses on what kind of person he actually was. There are two other protagonists: Liu Bei Xuande and Sun Quan Zhongmou. Liu is a man of high morals and infinite potential. His servant, Zhuge Kongming is a mysterious man, who helps Liu to become a king who is loved by millions. Sun is the third descendant of the Sun family. A young and immature king also comes into the picture, creating more chaos. This is a Tale of the Three Kingdoms ("Sanguozhi") in which these three men rage war throughout China. 

Souten Kouro'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 &ndash; 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 Souten Kouro 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, Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong. Another significant difference from others is that the storyline primarily uses the original historical account of the era, Records of Three Kingdoms by Chen Shou, as a reference rather than the aforementioned Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. By this, the traditional hero of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei, takes on relatively less importance within the story and is portrayed in a less positive light. Yet, several aspects of the story are in fact based on the novel version, including the employment of its original characters such as Diao Chan, as well as anachronistic weapons such as Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade and Zhang Fei's Viper Blade. 
A consistent theme throughout the story is Cao Cao's perpetual desire to break China and its people away from its old systems and ways of thinking and initiate a focus on pragmatism over empty ideals. This often puts him at odds with the prevalent customs and notions of Confucianism and those that support them. 
(Source: Wikipedia)

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