Clarus, Matoi & Yuma
Matoi the Sacred Slayer (Soushin Shoujo Matoi, literally "Clothes-God Girl Matoi") is an Anime First original production from White Fox. It's the story of Magical Girl... sorry, Exorcist Girl Matoi Sumeragi, given the power to "wear" a Shinto god to fight and exorcise demons called Nights. Unfortunately, all Matoi wants is to be a normal girl with an ordinary life, so suddenly becoming a famous "Exorcist Girl" throws a multitude of wrenches into that plan.
Matoi the Sacred Slayer aired during the Fall 2016 season, and it has been licensed for an English release by Sentai Filmworks and can be watched on The Anime Network
for subscribers.
Matoi the Sacred Slayer contains examples of the following tropes:
- The Adventure Continues: The series ends with Matoi managing to find her mother and bringing her back home. She gets to live with both her parents, and she believes she no longer has the power to be an Exorcist girl. However, when Yuma gets a call about new demons appearing, it turns out Matoi hasn't lost her powers after all, and Yuma drags her with her on their next adventure.
- Anime Hair: Matoi is the most obvious example here, with her heart-shaped hair bun.
- Beach Episode / Hot Springs Episode: Episode 7 provides a two-in-one package of Matoi and friends vacationing on the beach and treated for hot springs within The Tenkai Shrine.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Due to their bumpy relationship, Matoi calls her father Shingo by name for most of the story.
- Cliffhanger: Episode 10 ends on one, when Shingo points a gun at Hideo.
- Costume-Test Montage: Clarus does this in episode 5, when Matoi and Yuma help her shop for normal clothes.
- Credits Gag: At the start of episode 6, Yuma brings great fanfare to finally attaining her transformation, and takes over the opening sequence, changing the title to "Yuma the Sacred Slayer".
- Demonic Possession: The girls fight Nights who have possessed human beings.
- Familiar: Often called "Higher-Dimensional Beings" in story. Exorcists are required to bound with a "higher-dimensional being" in order to form battle armors capable in repelling and or defeating evil spirits.
- Fantastic Religious Weirdness: Briefly alluded to. Matoi and Yuma are Japanese, and work at Yuma's family's Shinto shrine. Divine Union is explained in ways that fit a polytheistic/animist worldview, with the Higher-Dimensional Beings explained as being the origin for stories of various gods, while the Nights are explained as the inspiration for stories of demons. Divine Union, essentially, allows a human to let themselves be possessed by a god (albeit in a benevolent way that still gives the human agency). Clarus, meanwhile, works for the Vatican and keeps her own Higher-Dimensional Being locked away when not in use; it's explained in Episode 8 that the suitcase suppresses her connection to it while giving her more control in other ways. Given that Christianity is monotheistic, it's implied that this is because, from a monotheistic perspective, Higher-Dimensional Beings bonding fully with a human is seen as akin to Demonic Possession, hence the idea of Clarus "suppressing" her Being's powers.
- Heroic RRoD: Shingo gets hit with this hard, especially when he learns his daughter is the exorcist girl and may suffer the same fate as his wife, leading him to break down at the end of episode 11.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Matoi's mother Shiori made one ten years ago when she went to the highest dimension to stop the Cavitas, which threatened to merge all the dimensions into one. Matoi goes to close it and save her mother at the end.
- Kimodameshi: The group tries to have one in episode 8, but are interrupted by Nights.
- Layered World: The higher dimensions the girls access are like this, since they can sometimes use them as a shortcut or when they're trying to avoid being seen.
- Luminescent Blush: Matoi gets this a lot, often when Yuma embarrasses her.
- Magical Girl: Matoi is a Magical Girl Warrior, although the technical term is "Exorcist Girl".
- Magitek: Clarus carries an Engrish-spouting, briefcase-like device that can store her guardian deity while not needed, and seems to provide improved control over her abilities.
- Miko: Matoi works part-time as a miko of Tenman Shrine run by Yuma's family. While this series as a whole implies skilled mikos in general can become exorcists.
- Monster of the Week: The first half of the series focuses on the girls battling varying Nights.
- Noodle People: The art style gives most of the characters noodly limps.
- Old Cop, Young Cop: The dynamic between Shingo and Hideo. Their exact ages are unknown, but Shingo is a father while Hideo is said to be young and inexperienced.
- Our Demons Are Different: They're actually beings from higher dimensions, which possess human victims and feed on Life Energy.
- Phantom Zone: Matoi and Clarus can open a Gate of Caelum, which sends them to a higher dimension where they can fight Nights without worrying about collateral damage.
- Protagonist Title: Matoi the Sacred Slayer.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The dynamic between Matoi (blue) and Yuma (red). Interestingly, Matoi has pinkish hair while Yuma has blue hair.
- Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: The series plays with a variation of this. When Matoi de-powers from her magical girl transformation, her clothes don't come back, because Naked People Are Funny. Naturally, Matoi freaks out and later realizes transforming is taking a toll on her wardrobe. This also happens to Yume twice and Clarus once.
- Shout-Out: The English title—which isn't a literal translation of the original Japanese—is a clear reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Shingo and Shiori at the end of the series, much to Matoi's embarrassment.
- Spoiler Opening: The opening spoilers Yuma's magical girl form, which she doesn't get until halfway through the series.
- Theme Music Power-Up: A choral piece often plays when Matoi grows stronger in her exorcist form.
- Tragic Keepsake: Shingo keeps a protection charm Shiori gave him, which saves his life in episode 9 when a Night tries to possess him.
- Transformation Sequence: True to the magical girl genre, each girl gets her own.
- Transformation Trinket: Unlike Matoi and Yuma, Clarus uses a rather ornate one when she transforms.
- True Companions: Matoi, Yuma, and Clarus share this by the end, culminating in Yuma and Clarus joining Matoi to the highest dimension to stop the Cavitas.
- 12-Episode Anime: The series is exactly twelve episodes.
- Wham Episode: Episode 10. Matoi learns what really happened to her mother, and Shingo realizes Hideo may be a demon too.
