Line #12 Webcomic/ContemplatingReiko


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_reiko_and_her_sisters_by_taintedink_3105.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:250:[[TagLine Evil Things Come In Small Packages]]]]
3
4	A one-panel webcomic created by Vincent Grisanti.
5
6	Reiko Mouryou is a typical 6-year-old girl. Except she's a demon. A very violent, darkly sarcastic little demon girl. She lives with her three sisters: Shihoka, whose eyes are always hidden behind a pair of sunglasses; Shirabe, a serial dater (and date killer), and Shinobu, a tomboy ninja. Along with her pet crocodile, Lucy (short for Lucifer), imposing {{Yakuza}} father, Mitsugu and elegant but gun toting mother, Fumiko, they live a typical family life. By that, we mean that people frequently meet a violent end.
7
8	Featured on Grisanti's Web site [[http://www.taintedink.com/ Tainted Ink.com]].
9	----
10	!!This webcomic provides examples of:
11	* ALoveToDismember: In [[https://taintedink.com/comic/226-holding-hands/ this]] panel.
12	* ArtEvolution: Reiko has evolved slightly since the comic began. Noticeably, her face became rounder, and she lost a pair of worn looking lines under her eyes.
13	* BadassInANiceSuit: Mitsugu.
14	* BeyondTheImpossible: Most of the hijinks related to [[MultipleHeadCase Zeni and Nadi]]. Putting siblings on opposite teams in baseball is fine, but when the siblings in question are ''conjoined twins''?
15	* [[BigBrotherInstinct Big Sister Instinct]] : When she sees Reiko getting repeatedly pelted by snowballs, Shinobu deals with it like you'd expect. As in, she stabs the girl throwing them through the back with her sword.
16	-->'''Shinobu''': Don't fuck with my sister, [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch.]]
17	* BlackComedy: Oh boy, is it ever!
18	* BlackWidow : A date with Shirabe is 99% guaranteed to end in brutal death.
19	* BlatantLies: [[https://taintedink.com/comic/008-i-didnt-do-it/ I didn't do it]].
20	* BlingBlingBang: Fumiko's [[https://taintedink.com/comic/229-desert-eagle/ 24K Gold Desert Eagle]].
21	* BloodBath: [[https://taintedink.com/comic/117-blood-bath/ "It's great for your skin."]]
22	%%* BloodyHilarious
23	* BreadEggsMilkSquick "[[https://taintedink.com/comic/101-tattletales/ Reiko broke my dolly/dinosaur/arms and legs]]".
24	* ChessWithDeath: He apparently [[https://taintedink.com/comic/307-checkmate/ always wins]] too.
25	* ContinuityNod:
26	** [[https://taintedink.com/comic/274-skateboard/ This panel]], featuring Shinobu skateboarding in the house, is followed up by [[https://taintedink.com/comic/276-iron-maiden/ her punishment]] for it two strips later.
27	** [[https://taintedink.com/comic/230-cute-guinea-pig/ Remember]] Shinobu saying she wanted to wean her Guinea Pig off of vegetables, and onto human flesh? [[https://taintedink.com/comic/280-fetch/ It worked]].
28	** After receiving the gold Desert Eagle, Fumiko uses it whenever the comic calls for her to be using a gun.
29	* CreepyChild: Reiko, without a doubt, between her cold demeanor, dead look in red eyes, and how brazen she is about killing people. Somewhat justified, as she's a demon, so she's normal by demon kid standards.
30	* CupidsArrow: [[https://taintedink.com/comic/cupid/ With predictably lethal results.]]
31	* DaddysGirl: Reiko is on very good terms with her father.
32	* DeadpanSnarker: [[LittleMissSnarker Reiko]] mostly, but others have their moments too.
33	* DeathOfAChild: Reiko treats maternity wards like candy shops, for God's sake.
34	* DeliberatelyMonochrome : The comic is done mostly in black and white, with red being the only color used. Grisanti briefly did color strips, but abandoned the concept later on.
35	* DemBones: Shirabe's friend, Bonny.
36	* EatsBabies: People generally talk about taking candy from a baby. To Reiko, there's no real difference between the two.
37	* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Every member of the Mouryou family except for Shirabe and Mitsugu.
38	* EyesAlwaysShut: Reiko's mom Fumiko.
39	* EyeScream: [[https://taintedink.com/comic/273-eyes/ "Eyes on your own paper, Petey"]].
40	* FireBreathingDiner: The end result of [[https://taintedink.com/comic/chilli-dogs/ chili dogs and onions day]].
41	* ForgottenAnniversary: Averted. The gun mentioned under BlingBlingBang is an anniversary gift. Fumiko is appropriately pleased.
42	* FourIsDeath: A recurring motif in the series. There are four sisters, all four years apart, a blushing Reiko is seen offering four roses to TheGrimReaper, and so on.
43	* HappilyMarried: Mitsugu and Fumiko. Assuming all four of their children were born in wedlock, they were married ''at least'' nineteen years ago, and they're still openly affectionate.
44	* HeadlessHorseman:
45	** Irving. Though he's too much of a ButtMonkey to be a threat.
46	** Also his father, who at one point chews his son out for using an eggplant for a head.
47	* HiddenEyes: Shihoka, whose eyes are concealed behind a pair of sunglasses.
48	* HornedHumanoid: All the Mouryou's have horns. Reiko's are hidden under her bangs.
49	* KiddyCoveralls: Zeni and Nadi's IconicOutfit is a pair of overalls uniquely designed to have four straps, two each containing their first initials.
50	* KissOfDeath: Parodied [[https://taintedink.com/comic/242-the-kiss-of-death/ here]].
51	* LimitedAnimation: Grisanti produced a few small animations of the comic. The animation was...thrifty, to put it nicely.
52	* LongNeck: Shihoka has a comically long neck, which is often the punchline of any panel starring her.
53	* MamaBear: [[https://taintedink.com/comic/306-principal/ Fumiko]].
54	* MeaningfulName:
55	** Reiko is a common Japanese name, but the kanji of her name is spelled atypically, reading as "Ghost Child."
56	** And her sisters all have names beginning with "shi"--which is a homophone for "death".
57	*** Shinobu takes it one step further, as her name is very similar to shinobi(ninja).
58	** The two-headed girl's heads are Zenith and Nadir, which means "the highest point" and "the lowest point" respectively.
59	* MissingMom: The comic went on for five years without even a mention of Reiko's mom, her whereabouts, or even whether she was alive. She finally appeared in 2010. Her excuse for the long absence? A fishing trip. With a [[https://taintedink.com/comic/225-mama/ dead whale]] to prove it.
60	* MultiArmedAndDangerous: As demonstrated [[https://taintedink.com/comic/armed/ here]].
61	* MultipleHeadCase: Zenith (Zeni) and Nadir (Nadi) Tweeling.
62	* NoodlePeople: Pretty much everyone in the Mouryou family aside from Mitsugu. Justified with Shihoka, who seems to be at least partially based on a rokurokubi.
63	* ObliviouslyEvil: It's often hinted that the Mouryou family isn't so much intentionally malevolent as they just consider random murder, mutilation, and torture a completely normal and reasonable way to deal with others. It's not completely consistent on this matter, though.
64	* OddNameOut: Reiko is the only one of the Mouryou siblings, whose name doesn't begin with "Shi-".
65	* OuijaBoard: A handy tool for [[https://taintedink.com/comic/texting/ texting grandma.]]
66	* PointyEars: All the Mouryous.
67	* PoliceAreUseless: [[https://taintedink.com/comic/189-no-smoking/ No smoking]]
68	* PrecociousCrush: Reiko appears to [[https://taintedink.com/comic/184-pale-horse/ have]] [[https://taintedink.com/comic/042-first-crush/ one]]...on TheGrimReaper of all people.
69	* RedEyesTakeWarning: Reiko and Mitsugu.
70	* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: A very borderline case. The comic started out as an extremely bleak SadistShow with death and murder. Newer strips are still dark, but they revolve more around monster-related jokes with the family than Reiko's gruesome exploits.
71	* [[SadistShow Sadist Comic]]: The comic centers around sadistc demons girls.
72	* ScaryTeeth: Whenever her mouth is open wide enough, Reiko's [[https://taintedink.com/comic/054-tongue/ wicked]] [[https://taintedink.com/comic/079-mousetrap/ chompers]] are visible.
73	* ShoutOut: Shirabe apparently attends [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein Gein]] High School.
74	* SlasherSmile: Shinobu's default expression.
75	* TongueOnTheFlagpole:
76	** [[https://taintedink.com/comic/143-triple-dog-dare/ Demonstrated here]], by Shinobu.
77	** Reiko pulls this on one of her classmates... during the summer. Amazing what Super Glue can do.
78	* TooDumbToLive: A large majority of Reiko's classmates.
79	** For two examples, they talk about how awesome and adorable Reiko's [[https://taintedink.com/comic/250-boa-constrictor/ boa constrictor]] is ''after'' it's eaten them alive, and eagerly pay to get their picture taken with a [[https://taintedink.com/comic/238-picture-with-santa/ "Santa"]] who's very obviously a vicious child-eating ogre of Japanese mythology, and actually has the lower body of a half-eaten child still dangling out of his mouth.
80	** Just about any human that appears, really. Considering the Mouryou family's body count, you'd think that people would learn to ''stay the hell away from them''.
81	* TranslationConvention: Fumiko is shown learning English in an ESL course in one strip, so the characters are likely supposed to be speaking Japanese, but the entire run of the comic is in English.
82	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Par for the course, actually, by ''human standards'' that is. For demons, this is normal.
83	* UncannyValleyGirl: Shirabe is a pastiche of the "popular girl in school" archetype, with the twist that she's also a LiteralManeater demon. Bonus points for being an actual ValleyGirl.
84	* YamatoNadeshiko: Fumiko is the demon world version: a doting mother and HouseWife whose hobbies include flower arranging, calligraphy, tea ceremony, katana wielding, drinking booze, and bounty hunting.
85	* {{Youkai}}:
86	** [[https://taintedink.com/comic/133-uncle-ken/ Uncle Kenzo]] is an oni.
87	** Shihoka appears to be a Rokurokubi, a long necked Japanese demon.
88	* {{Yubitsume}}: Mitsugu appears to have undergone this. It's hinted elsewhere that it's just his wife's response to touching her cooking before it's ready to serve, though.

Context Webcomic / ContemplatingReiko