History Anime / GhostSweeperMikami

From Takashi Shiina, the creator of ''ZettaiKarenChildren'', comes a supernatural horror comedy.

This series provides examples of:

* Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming: While there are several reunions and heartwarming moments in both the manga and anime, two moments in particular stand out: The [[spoiler: reunion of both Yokoshima and Mikami with a resurrected Okinu]] and Yokoshima [[spoiler: recognizing Okinu while she is another girl's body ]].

* VoicesAreMental: Averted when Dr. Chaos traded bodies with Yokoshima to eventually snatch Mikami's body. ShigeruChiba and Creator/RyoHorikawa did a marvelous job playing each other's characters.

* HeyItsThatVoice: HiromiTsuru as Mikami, Creator/RyoHorikawa as Yokoshima, MarikoKouda as Okinu-''chan'', ShigeruChiba as Dr. Chaos, WakanaYamazaki as Maria and Shoryuki, and [[SailorMoon Sailor Mars]] herself, MichieTomizawa as Emi Ogasawara.

* HeyItsThatVoice: HiromiTsuru as Mikami, RyoHorikawa as Yokoshima, MarikoKouda as Okinu-''chan'', ShigeruChiba as Dr. Chaos, WakanaYamazaki as Maria and Shoryuki, and [[SailorMoon Sailor Mars]] herself, MichieTomizawa as Emi Ogasawara.

** Not to mention Yokoshima's seiyuu, RyoHorikawa also hails from Osaka.

* VoicesAreMental: Averted when Dr. Chaos traded bodies with Yokoshima to eventually snatch Mikami's body. ShigeruChiba and RyoHorikawa did a marvelous job playing each other's characters.

The series was later adapted into an anime in 1993 by TOEI Animation, and aired on TV Asahi from April 11, 1993 to March 9, 1994 on Sunday mornings (strangely enough Takashi Shiina's most recent series ''ZettaiKarenChildren'' also aired on Sunday mornings). An [[TheFilmOfTheSeries OVA]] was released in 1994, which features some great swordfighting choreography, as well as some face time for most of the main characters.

** [[spoiler: After Luciola performed her HeroicSacrifice and gave the rest of her energy to Yokoshima, Papilio and Vespa try to collect enough "soul fragments" to revive her(Vespa was revived just like that), and turns out they're not enough. Adding part of another soul was not possible as the result would not be Luciola. The only solution they find is that since Yokoshima still has part of her essence, if he gets a baby the body would be able to work with the soul fragments collected, but he needs to do it "quick" because the essence was not going to be forever with him. After mentioning this, it's never brought again for the rest of the series. For a series like this, one would think they would be able to make a clone or homunculus made of Yokoshima.]]

** It makes even more sense when you consider that his father, Daishuu, is an unrepentant TheCasanova. Looks like he inherited a measure of that...

* [[spoiler: HumanPopsicle: Inverted in that Okinu was actually killed by the sacrifice ritual that froze her into a block of ice, but the ritual was actually designed so that after the purpose of the the sacrifice was fulfilled, her body would be perfectly prepared for quick ressurection.]]

* LickingTheBlade: There's a serial killer in the Shiro vs. Tamamo arc who does this. [[spoiler: Although one has to wonder this might be, since the ''razor itself'' is the killer, possessing its victims...]]

* {{GroinAttack}}: [[spoiler: Yokoshima's past self actually inflicts one on himself when Mikami's demonic past life offers herself to him. He insists that despite his tendancy toward perversion he want there to be real love when it comes time to do the deed. Naturally Mikami's past life goes WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove]]

* IAmNotLeftHanded: Like in any other battle manga, this happens a lot. Specially when mikami is involve, and she can cheat someway or another.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Invoked deliberately. Count Vlado announces his plan to conquer the world while displaying a world map that's ''at least'' twelve centuries out of date.

* LovableSexManiac: Yokoshima, but you can't blame him, Yokoshima's a typical 16-year-old guy with a healthy libido, and it doesn't help that Mikami is a hot and sexually attractive 20-year-old.

* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: The fate of Yodogawa, an author ghost who isn't defeated by Mikami, but rather a female author who had tagged along with them. Both authors get into an argument on writing styles (Yodogawa sounds like he takes after YukioMishima while his name is based on EdogawaRanpo, Anna is general popular mystery-thriller) and Yodogawa ''exorcises himself'' when he finds out how many books the female author sold, proclaiming "Literature is dead!".

** It makes even more sense when you consider that his father, Daishuu, is an unrepentant {{Casanova}}. Looks like he inherited a measure of that...

* TheRival: Yukinojou feels this way towards Yokoshima.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: In-universe example. Vlado intends to conquer the world, but would probably have fallen well short of it, if only because his [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ghost_Sweeper_Mikami/29/03/ "world map"]] dates to somewhere around the ''ninth century''.

** Another version of the translation:

** This was justified by Luciola mentioning that the resurrected characters only come back with the strength they had when they were still alive. The heroes are ''much'' stronger at this point, so the restored spirits are pretty much just annoyances to the heroes. Nonetheless, it was cool [[spoiler: seeing Medusa get owned by Yokoshima. Especially since it's the ''second'' time she lost to him]].

* DemotedToExtra: Most of the cast after the tournament arc. Meiko, Dr.chaos, Pete, Emi, just to name a few.

** At one point, Dr. Chaos claims that [[IsaacAsimov Isaac Asimov]] owes him money.

* ShoutOut: Early on, part of Pietro's training is shown as performing a [[StreetFighter "vampire Sho Ryu Ken" inside a waterfall]]. Also, Daishuu is shown repelling a wraith with his bare fists while [[JojosBizarreAdventure yelling "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!"]].

** Chapter 284. Mikami pretty much copies the end to the movie {{Jaws}} with a great white shark.

* BadBoss: Ashtaroth. He thought little of wrecking Dogura in his fury after the loss of the energy crystal. Of course, Dogura, being a sort of golem, [[IGotBetter could be easily restored]]. However, [[spoiler: he claims to have "disposed of" the bug sisters after they proved unable to find Mephistopheles/Mikami, even though he suggests that in the end, he might have been the only one who could have found her anyway. [[BerserkButton Yokoshima takes this poorly.]]]]

* [[spoiler: IGotBetter: Turns out Okinu's body ''survived'' the sacrifice-to-the-volcano ritual, and has remained in mint condition, allowing her to be restored to life.)]]

** And later on Yokoshima's, even Mikami admits she more then a match for her.

* BadBoss: Ashtaroth. He thought little of wrecking Dogura in his fury after the loss of the energy crystal. Of course, Dogura, being a sort of golem, [[IGotBetter could be easily restored]]. However, [[spoiler: he claims to have "disposed of" the bug sisters after they proved unable to find Mephistopheles/Mikami, even though he suggests that in the end, he might have been the only one who could have found her anyway. Yokoshima takes this poorly.]]

** Meiko's mom, however, plays it more straight. Being much more experienced and level-headed, Mrs. Rokudo can even make the shikigami drink tea with her with all ease.
** It should be noted, however, that under Meiko's wing, they only lose control when she loses it. Anyone else who has had control of them (Emi and Mikami, among others) lose control of them on the instant they are summoned. A fellow shikigami tamer who was presented as being better than her even lost control and they started to attack him.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Yokoshima when he actually puts his mind to it. Even Mikami begins to realize it in later chapters.

* {{Fanservice}}: It's written by Takashi Shiina, so it really isn't surprising, but it's done in a tasteful manner, but seriously you have to expect it by [[http://img1.cdn.crunchyroll.com/i/spire3/6052da867b10ebc01e53a8fbc034841a1227141904_full.jpg just looking at Mikami]].

* TrainingFromHell: Apparently par for the course for Touryu exorcists. It seems to be a big part of why Yumi [[TheLibby acts like she does]]--she can't stand the thought that all her effort and suffering were somehow unnecessary, if compared to the likes of Okinu and Ichimonji.

* ActionGirl (Mikami, Emi, Shōryuki, Maria the combat android, [[spoiler: and Shiro]])
* ActionMom (Mikami's mother, she can even travel through time!)

* AdaptationDistillation (The manga takes about 6 chapters to deal with "the piper"; which gets kind of boring. The anime, takes one episode.)

* AfterlifeExpress (One report is dedicated to a hijacked one.)
* [[spoiler: AllJustADream (The very last pair of files involves this; the far-future situation in the first file is revealed to be a dream in the second file. However, it appears to be a ''shared'' dream of Yokoshima and Mikami, with this quality making them briefly wonder if it actually was a sort of [[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue peering-into-the-future vision.]])]]
* AmbiguouslyBrown (Emi Ogasawara, who seems to share Mikami's background and training, with the exception of using voodoo for her exorcisms.)
* AndIMustScream (A good chunk of the cast was at risk of this when they tried and failed to exorcise a cursed Crane Game. If you play it, and you fail to snag something, ''you'' become a doll prize. Inside the cursed game. Meaning that the only escape is for someone to successfully "win" you...and thus, risk getting trapped themselves.)
* AnimeThemeSong (both the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf3svHz0-0w opening]] and the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSFAn7j4u7o ending]]. They're even used in the manga in a sing-off battle against a siren.)
* BadBoss (Ashtaroth. He thought little of wrecking Dogura in his fury after the loss of the energy crystal. Of course, Dogura, being a sort of golem, [[IGotBetter could be easily restored]]. However, [[spoiler: he claims to have "disposed of" the bug sisters after they proved unable to find Mephistopheles/Mikami, even though he suggests that in the end, he might have been the only one who could have found her anyway. Yokoshima takes this poorly.]])
* BattleCouple (Yumi and [[spoiler:Yukinojou]] seem to be being set up as this.)
* TheBeastmaster (Meiko Rokudo is a ''shikigami'' tamer and can control a full twelve of them. However, her control over them relies heavily on her own self-control...and she has essentially ''none'' due to her insecurity. )

* BeautifulAllAlong ([[spoiler: [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ghost_Sweeper_Mikami/177/12/ Shiro]] when we find out that [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ghost_Sweeper_Mikami/180/17/ he is actually a she]], [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ghost_Sweeper_Mikami/182/01/ not to mention she's hot]]]])
* BigBad (Ashtaroth)
* BigDamnHeroes ([[spoiler: Shizumo-hime basically has Mikami at her mercy, and Okinu trapped herself in a dummy root. All is lost, right? [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ghost_Sweeper_Mikami/201/17/ Nope]].]])
* BlackEyesOfEvil (Yumi. In her case, they're constantly sparkling, which makes for an unsettling experience of their own.)
* BrattyHalfPint (The Dragon Prince)
* {{Butt Monkey}} (Yokoshima, even when he's not trying.)

* CallingTheOldManOut (Yokoshima gets into quite a scrap with his father early on--he's sick to undeath of Daishuu's philandering (remember that Yokoshima is actually honest about his overagitated sex drive), and his trying to trick Mikami into his bed is the last straw. This kind of confrontation also happens with [[spoiler: Mikami, whose past life Mephistopheles was created/"fathered" by [[BigBad Ashtaroth]].]])
* ClingyJealousGirl (Emi, to Pete)
* CombatPragmatist (Saijou, which makes for an...interesting...juxtaposition with his proclaimed [[HypocriticalHumor dedication to justice]]. One could argue, though, that he's more concerned with just ends than just means.)
* CosmicPlaything (Yokoshima, seriously. If he's not in some unpleasant situation by the end of a chapter due to Mikami's neglect or abuse (if it's not his own fault of course), then it's a whole chapter made to screw him over. Poor guy.)
* CrashIntoHello: (Yokoshima and [[spoiler: the resurrected Okinu]].)
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass (Yokoshima when he actually puts his mind to it. Even Mikami begins to realize it in later chapters.)
* CurbStompBattle (The [[spoiler: restored Medusa and Kankuro]] don't even last a full ''chapter's'' worth against the heroes. Actually, [[spoiler: Kankuro]] didn't even last more than a ''page''.)

* CuteGhostGirl (Okinu, arguably Aiko?[[spoiler: She's actually the spiritual essence of an old schooldesk, but consistently manifests as a ghostly schoolgirl]])

* DangerousForbiddenTechnique (The masoujutsu, or Demon Armor Art. Gives you amazing strength and resilience, but use it for too long, and ''you'' become a demon. [[spoiler: Yukinojou has the presence of mind to disengage it before that can happen. Innen doesn't, and one gets the feeling Kankuro ''welcomed'' it.)]]
* DeathSeeker (Believe it or not, this was [[spoiler: the whole intent behind Ashtaroth's schemes--to get himself killed, at least if he couldn't make it impossible for himself to ever be held as a villain. It doesn't help he thought that the latter would be inevitable so long as the god/demon equipoise persisted.]])
** (Later on, there's [[spoiler: Kimihiko Amatsuga, a man who's cursed with uncontrollable telepathy--he can't avoid reading others' memories, and it is ''agonizing''. He finally finds a way to die meaningfully when he uses his telepathy to draw the demon Tubular Bell into himself, expecting Michie and Karasu to kill them simultaneously. Not that it happens this way, since Kimihiko is ''Reiko's future father''...]])
* DidNotDoTheResearch (In-universe example. Vlado intends to conquer the world, but would probably have fallen well short of it, if only because his [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ghost_Sweeper_Mikami/29/03/ "world map"]] dates to somewhere around the ''ninth century''.)

* DefeatMeansFriendship (In some cases, specially [[spoiler: Yukinojou]])
* EasternZodiac (The basis of Meiko's shikigami retinue.)
* EmptyQuiver (Part of how Ashtaroth tries to blackmail Mikami to his lair. In ''this'' case, [[spoiler: Papilio's hijacked several nuclear submarines, and if Our Heroes start making things difficult for him, the missiles will ransack ''the entire world''. He ''actually launches them'' when Yokoshima saves Mikami and Luciola from certain death, and indirectly saves Michie by saving Luciola...]]
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer (Mikami's beauty is remarked on by both males and females, and Meiko is pretty much in love with her.)
* EvilWeapon ([[spoiler: The posessed shaving razor that carried out the JackTheRipper killings]]. Early on in the series, there's also a demonic sword that tries to kill Mikami while possessing Yokoshima, but runs afoul of her [[CombatPragmatist concealed ceramic armor]].)
* {{Fanservice}} (It's written by Takashi Shiina, so it really isn't surprising, but it's done in a tasteful manner, but seriously you have to expect it by [[http://img1.cdn.crunchyroll.com/i/spire3/6052da867b10ebc01e53a8fbc034841a1227141904_full.jpg just looking at Mikami]])

* FireIceLightning (Nuru's favored means of personal combat.)
* GoOutWithASmile ([[spoiler: Luciola]])
* AGodAmI (Ashtaroth certainly likes to think of himself as one, at least as far as his creations are concerned. In addition, he plans to displace ''all'' the current gods and take their place as a sole god without any peers, his idea of putting an end to the god/demon wars.)
* {{Gonk}} (Mega-hime, in ''immense'' contrast to her noble, self-sacrificing nature. And ''that's'' in contrast to her somewhat classist father. Ugliness is only skin-deep, indeed...)
* {{Greed}} (Mikami, of course.)

* {{GroinAttack}} [[spoiler: Yokoshima's past self actually inflicts one on himself when Mikami's demonic past life offers herself to him. He insists that despite his tendancy toward perversion he want there to be real love when it comes time to do the deed. Naturally Mikami's past life goes WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: (Michie. She's still oscillating back and forth a bit on this, but...)
* HeelFaceTurn ([[spoiler: Yukinojou when he becomes disenchanted with Medusa's win-at-all-costs mentality, Luciola when she falls for Yokoshima and thus becomes open to the idea of keeping humanity in one piece, Papilio when Mikami explains why Yokoshima held back on her (even if Mikami's explanation was at least somewhat fictitious).]])
* HeelRealization (Yumi, on finding out Ichimonji was not as lazy as she had thought her to be.)
* HeroicSacrifice (Yokoshima jumping in front of Luciola to protect her from a blast from Vespa that would surley kill her. Keep in mind that Luciola was intercepting Vespa in a Heroic Sacrifice of her ''own'' so Yokoshima would have an opportunity to release Mikami from Ashtaroth's clutches.)
* HeyItsThatVoice (HiromiTsuru as Mikami, RyoHorikawa as Yokoshima, MarikoKouda as Okinu-''chan'', ShigeruChiba as Dr. Chaos, WakanaYamazaki as Maria and Shoryuki, and [[SailorMoon Sailor Mars]] herself, MichieTomizawa as Emi Ogasawara)
* HonestJohnsDealership (Yakuchin, to absolutely JerkAss degrees)
* [[spoiler: HumanPopsicle (Inverted in that Okinu was actually killed by the sacrifice ritual that froze her into a block of ice, but the ritual was actually designed so that after the purpose of the the sacrifice was fulfilled, her body would be perfectly prepared for quick ressurection.)]]
* [[spoiler: IGotBetter (Turns out Okinu's body ''survived'' the sacrifice-to-the-volcano ritual, and has remained in mint condition, allowing her to be restored to life.)]]
* IHateYouVampireDad (Pietro aka Pete is actually half-vampire, half-human. And yes, he hates his father Count Vlado.)
* IAmNotLeftHanded (Like in any other battle manga, this happens a lot. Specially when mikami is involve, and she can cheat someway or another.)
* TheIdiotFromOsaka (Yokoshima, in the literal sense at least? That is, he heralds from Osaka, and his mentality is at best inconsistent.)

* JackTheRipper (An interesting version in this series. [[spoiler: There ''was'' no single person known as Jack the Ripper. Instead, a razor became possessed with a bloodthirsty spirit, and controlled its victims in turn. In other words, each prostitute had been slain by the ''previous'' dead prostitute.]]
* {{Jerkass}} (Mikami most of the time, especially when money is involved. The thing of it is she doesn't even realize it, and when told directly about it she tries to deny it.

* KilledOffForReal ([[spoiler: Kankuro, Beelzebub, Medusa, Luciola, Ashtaroth]])
* LethalChef (The binboukami has a pretty good sense of nutrition. Unfortunately, he forgets that "nutritious" and "delectable" or even ''"edible"'' aren't always the same thing. To give an idea, the "nutritious" burger he made are later used to perform soul-body seperation, simply by biting it once.)
* TheLibby (Yumi. What makes it worse is that she can't even stand the other students looking up to ''a successful GS like Mikami''. Keep in mind that she's at a school where Ghost Sweepers are trained--she'd keep them from having ''role models'', apparently.)
** Yumi's anger in that situation came from the fact that she idolized Mikami as much any of them, and was jealous that Ichimonji was getting noticed by her idol rather than her. Her hate also stems from the fact that she went through TrainingFromHell since the day she was born to be a worthy successor to her ghostbusting family's name while Ichimonji apparently is just so gifted that she starts out at a point where she's already about equal to Yumi's level without needing much training.
* LickingTheBlade (There's a serial killer in the Shiro vs. Tamamo arc who does this. [[spoiler: Although one has to wonder this might be, since the ''razor itself'' is the killer, possessing its victims...]])
* LotusEaterMachine ([[spoiler: Mikami falls prey to one designed by Ashtaroth, Vespa, and Dogura, meant specifically to get her to lower her guard so Ashtaroth could yank out the energy crystal. One unique feature of this one: While Mikami experienced two months inside of it, only three days had passed in reality. Also, the dream-come-true that Ashtaroth used to manipulate Mikami was the resuscitation of her old, normal, ridiculously-high-profit business schedule.]])
** Actually Happened several other times during the series.
* LouisCypher (Ashi Yuutarou, a man similar in looks to Ashtaroth. Mikami even thinks at first that this is a PaperThinDisguise for Ashtaroth, but it turns out he's an ordinary human with unfortunately similar name and looks. [[spoiler: Then it turns out he ''is'' Ashtaroth, and his Ashi stint was just to get Mikami to lower her guard inside the galaxy egg.]])
* LovableSexManiac (Yokoshima, but you can't blame him, Yokoshima's a typical 16-year-old guy with a healthy libido, and it doesn't help that Mikami is a hot and sexually attractive 20-year-old.)

*** It gets better. It turns out that Daishuu acts very much like Yokoshima does when trying to woo the woman who would be Yokoshima's mother...and the latter acts ''exactly'' like Mikami does when rebuffing his over-the-top advances. Yokoshima's probably just taking a few notes from his parents' experience. Mikami was, quite understandably, disturbed.

* TheManBehindTheMan ([[spoiler: Medusa, despite being a dragon god in her own right, is a member of Astaroth's faction of demons. She lets this slip when she refers to the possibility of being given an order to assassinate Mikami or her mother.]])
* MediumAwareness (Not to the point that the FourthWall is non-existent, but it happens quite a bit. Some notable examples include Mikami snarling that Yokoshima's lasciviousness is pushing the boundaries of shounen manga; commenting that she's gone the course of the manga without killing anyone living (and that she wouldn't mind interrupting that if she gets to take down Medusa and/or Kankuro); and engaging in a singing contest with a siren using the ''anime's opening song''. There's even a point where Yokoshima disparaged the ''author'', who immediately [[DeusExMachina sends down a bolt of lightning to fry him, on a sunny day, and in broad daylight]]. The frequency rises somewhat as the series goes on.)
* {{Miko}} (Okinu, until her death. Now she's a lovable ghost girl)
* MoodWhiplash (Has a habit of going from tense to comedy and back again. Lampshaded on a few occasions.)
* MyBelovedSmother (Yokoshima's mother, Yuriko. She's a general ControlFreak who will not suffer ''anything'' to not go her way. This includes Yokoshima not wanting to live with her ''or'' Daishuu, ''and'' him working with Mikami. Thing is, she's actually one of, if not ''the'' most rational person in the series, as admitted by Mikami herself. There's a ridiculously short supply of rational thought and behavior in the manga.)
* MySkullRunnethOver (Dr. Chaos has a continuously solved version of this. Because of his lifespan and studies, his brain is ''literally'' full with information. Whenever he learns something new, his brain just overwrites something earlier. This leads to a spotty form of amnesia, to the point where even though he can understand the nature of the Tenshi Luopan, he completely forgets that 2+2 is 4, not 5...)
* NiceJobBreakingItHero ([[spoiler: Mikami unbinding Okinu from Mt. Orochi had a rather unpleasant side-effect. Namely, de-sealing the earth vein that a demonic plant was barred from draining. Why? The seal was ''Okinu's own soul.'']])
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat (Mikami thinks that Ashtaroth is ''finally'' out of her hair after [[spoiler: he and Vespa get pounded with a swarm of nuclear missiles that Papilio called back]]. However, the fact that Hyakume still isn't getting any better makes Saijou think that this isn't the case. There's also the scene of Dogura (who admittedly thrives on radioactive material anyway) making its own escape...)
* TheOjou (Meiko)
* TheRival (Yukinojou feels this way towards Yokoshima.)
* OmnicidalManiac ([[spoiler: Ashtaroth, who considers the whole cosmos to have been rotten with death and decay from the start, and so plans to not merely conquer the cosmos, but erase and [[InTheirOwnImage rewrite it to match his (in his eyes) rot-proof will.]] Although, Mikami had [[ShutUpHannibal called him out a bit ''before'' he uttered as much]], after sensing that intent in the galaxy egg. "You're no different from an immature child who hates school and thus decides to burn down his school!"]])
* OurGhostsAreDifferent (Almost every single possible type. [[spoiler: Though in the [[AllJustADream Dream of the future]] the three end up to be type 6]])
* OutWithABang (After the Mephistopheles incident, Ashtaroth decided to prevent a repeat occurrence by installing several failsafes in his later created servants that would kill them if they took any similar steps. Bedding a human? Breaks failsafe #7. [[spoiler: Once he learns about that, Yokoshima can't bring himself to bed Luciola, at least until Ashtaroth and his failsafes are dead and gone.]])
* PerpetualPoverty (Dr. Chaos is ''the'' epitome of this. No matter what he does to try to get his rent money, it backfires on him. Kobato and her mother were also caught in this, until Yokoshima lifted the curse attached to the binboukami. It's taking some time to properly wane, though. Yokoshiuma also suffers from this, due the absurdly low salary Reiko pays him.)
* PetTheDog (After Meiko [[AdrenalineMakeover temporarily shreds]] [[LetsGetDangerous her shyness]] to [[spoiler: save Mikami from a LotusEaterMachine]], Mikami pets the exhausted Meiko and decides ''for once'' to care more for her than for the money prize. She's also shown to care about Yokoshima a ''lot'' more than she'll ever admit.)
* PettingZooPeople (The inukami. Partly justified in that they're a kind of werewolf [[spoiler: and descendants of Fenrir]]. The main traits they keep in human form are the tail and the fangs. There's also Tamamo, a kyuube no kitsune whose hair in human form resembles the nine tails of her fox form.)
* PlayingWithFire ([[spoiler: Hinome, Mikami's new baby sister]] and Tamamo)
* PlotRelevantAgeUp (Shiro is accelerated from about six to about twelve or thirteen by adsorbing a lot of ki from Mikami and Yokoshima to heal the wounds inflicted by Inukai. [[spoiler: As a result, we discover that [[SamusIsAGirl Shiro isn't a boy, but a girl]].]])
* PowerPerversionPotential (Yokoshima uses one of his [[spoiler:Monju beads]] to make a demon fall in love with him. Time will tell whether he uses it that way again. The possibilities are endless, and a LovableSexManiac of his caliber wouldn't let them go untried.)

* PowerTrio (Lust-addled Yokoshima would be the id, workaholic, money-obsessed Mikami the superego, and calm-tempered Okinu the ego)
* PureIsNotGood (Or rather, Pure Is Not Good Enough, when it comes to Marin's arts. She thinks it's enough to cleanse a place of all its current taints, but all that does is let weaker wraiths flock in with all the competition gone. In other words, the purity she induces can actually make things ''worse''.)
* {{Reincarnation}} (Thanks to Hyakume, Yokoshima and Mikami get to learn about the past existences of three characters. Saijou/Saigou is as straight-arrow as ever, Yokoshima/Takashima is as lust-ridden and antagonistic towards Saijou/Saigou as ever, and Mikami...[[spoiler: was originally ''A FRESHLY CRAFTED DEMON NAMED MEPHISTOPHELES.'']])

* RetGone (Dr. Chaos tried to feed a P.E.T. poison that was supposed to do this to Mikami. Yokoshima was hit instead, and his history was steadily erased from present to past. [[spoiler: It was only stopped when his history regressed to his being a months-old baby, and a five- or six-year old Mikami passed by, cooed at the adorable kid, and kissed him on the cheek--a repeat of the {{Accidental Kiss}} that was seared into his memory just before getting poisoned. That repeat of "fate" undid the poison's effects.]])
* RomanticFalseLead (Saijou, the former apprentice of Mikami's mother. Yokoshima just gets more resolutely desperate to win Mikami back to his side (via keeping the agency in the black, of course).)
* RPGEpisode (There was one episode where they were sucked into a possessed {{RPG}}.)
* SamusIsAGirl ([[spoiler: Shiro, who started off looking like a small boy till she absorbed some power from Mikami and revealed her true gender]].)
* SchoolgirlLesbians (Meiko is infatuated with Mikami [[LoveAtFirstPunch after she reprimands her for crying and letting her shikigami go loose]])
* ShoutOut (Early on, part of Pietro's training is shown as performing a [[StreetFighter "vampire Sho Ryu Ken" inside a waterfall]]. Also, Daishuu is shown repelling a wraith with his bare fists while [[JojosBizarreAdventure yelling "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!!"]].)

* ShrinkingViolet (Meiko. Oh God, ''Meiko'')

* SmokingIsCool (If his demeanor then is anything to go by, that's why Karasu was smoking back in 1978. On the other hand, getting winded trying to climb up the Sunshine building does convince him that quitting's a smart move...)
* SupervillainLair (The War-Against-Ashtaroth arc has fun with this one. The heroes are trying to figure out just where on Earth Gyakutengou has been docked for repairs, and are checking every desolate and/or hard-to-reach place for this. [[spoiler: In reality, the bug sisters and Dogura are operating out of a cheap, cozy, unassuming house on the outskirts of Tokyo, and Gyakutengou has been shrunk to the size of a real-life Hercules beetle, and repairs itself by [[LivingShip feeding on tree sap, just like a real Hercules beetle]]. Yokoshima [[LampshadeHanging isn't sure this is in accord with the rules of shounen manga.]]]])

* TakingYouWithMe ([[spoiler: Medusa and Ashtaroth]] ''really'' detest losing.)
* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath (The fate of Yodogawa, an author ghost who isn't defeated by Mikami, but rather a female author who had tagged along with them. Both authors get into an argument on writing styles (Yodogawa sounds like he takes after YukioMishima while his name is based on EdogawaRanpo, Anna is general popular mystery-thriller) and Yodogawa ''exorcises himself'' when he finds out how many books the female author sold, proclaiming "Literature is dead!".)
* TomatoSurprise ([[spoiler: Mikami's past life being a created demon name Mephistopheles. Explaining why demons are after her as she has a powerful artifact bound to her soul due to Mephistopheles swallowing it. This also explains why she was able to travel through time as well.]])
* TookALevelInBadass (Yokoshima during the tournament arc. [[http://www.onemanga.com/Ghost_Sweeper_Mikami/102/18/ Just look at that face]]. He continues to take several as the story goes on, culminating in him ''defeating the BigBad''.)
* TournamentArc (Shortly after the point the anime stopped, we get this. Yokoshima and Mikami are just there to fish out Medusa's infiltrators. [[spoiler: This is where Yokoshima also gets a little bonus: ''spiritual powers of his own''.]])
* TrainingFromHell (Apparently par for the course for Touryu exorcists. It seems to be a big part of why Yumi [[TheLibby acts like she does]]--she can't stand the thought that all her effort and suffering were somehow unnecessary, if compared to the likes of Okinu and Ichimonji.)

* TrickedOutTime ([[spoiler: After the war against Ashtaroth, Michie takes advantage of her last time jump to merely fake her death from five years ago. She reappears with a ''much'' calmer temper...[[BabiesEverAfter and a coming-along sibling for Mikami]]...]]
* VoicesAreMental (Averted when Dr. Chaos traded bodies with Yokoshima to eventually snatch Mikami's body. ShigeruChiba and RyoHorikawa did a marvelous job playing each other's characters.)

* WhipItGood ([[spoiler: What Mikami's shintsukon becomes after she powers up during Demian's attack on Myoushinzan.]])
* WidgetSeries (In its own right, this series is random enough to be considered one.)
* WigDressAccent (How Mikami infiltrates the tournament without Medusa catching on. Although, you'd think ''someone'' would have noticed how familiar her alias name--[[PaperThinDisguise Mika Rei]]--sounded.)

* WithFriendsLikeThese (At least, with regard to how Okinu thinks that Mikami and Emi are friends, and their fervent business rivalry is actually fueled by it. No one else seems to share her opinion, though. Least of all Mikami and Emi.)
* YamatoNadeshiko (Okinu. Kobato would probably be one if she wasn't so goddamn poor...)
* YouAlreadyChangedThePast (This seems to be Shiina's preferred understanding of time travel for this series. Spoilered examples from various points in the manga: [[spoiler: Mikami saving Yokoshima from getting skewered by Nuru; present Mikami interfering with Ashtaroth recapturing his super-demon's power core from her past life Mephistopheles; and present Mikami using forgetfulness monju to make herself and Yokoshima forget about the arrival of future Yokoshima, complete with his revelation that ''Yokoshima and Mikami will marry in the future''. The point about this last bit is that present Mikami did that to efface the horror of the thought of marrying Yokoshima...which just ups the chances of that marriage happening, epsecially given the events that happen later on.]] One thing to keep in mind, though, is that small changes to the past ''can'' occur, but will inevitably be reversed almost at once. So not so much as a single, unchanging, infinite, strand of thread as a single, unchanging, infinite thread with a few knots here and there. Multiple lines at a point, but still the same single chain of causality.)
* YouCantFightFate (Dovetails with YouAlreadyChangedThePast above, a little. Mikami points out that the reason [[spoiler: things have gone so horribly, slapstically wrong for Ashtaroth since the Cosmo Processor was de-powered]] is because the universe is ''actively retaliating'' for the attempt to sway it from the shape it was trying to take and maintain from the beginning. Her example for how it works is her going back in time and [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct assassinating Hitler.]] As she points out, the cosmos wouldn't let its shape be altered like that for long; it'd just arrange for the Nazi movement to re-manifest. Amusingly, in her example, the new Nazi archon was ''John F. Kennedy''...)
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair (Okinu embodies this literally. Emi, meanwhile, has dark green hair.)
* YouKilledMyFather (Why Shiro is pursuing Inukai, even though the inukami elders think exiling Inukai would be both commensurate punishment for him ''and'' for [[GaiasVengeance harmful-to-nature humanity]].)

** When Gyakutengou is starting its attack on Myoushinzan, Papilio calls out [[{{Yatterman}} "This week's surprise mecha!"]].