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Main Characters
In General
- Chastity Couple: Played straight in the anime and manga where the relationship between Shion and Nezumi is not portrayed as overtly sexual, but downplayed in the original light novels, in which they share a bed and several things are implied but not explicitly stated.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: Shion took in the fugitive Nezumi and treated his gunshot wound when they were children. They have been devoted to each other ever since.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: The innocent and sweet Shion has white hair while the cynical and rude Nezumi has black hair.
- Official Couple: Their relationship is central to the story and they eventually make their romantic feelings for each other clear.
- Opposites Attract: Shion is friendly, gentle, naive and idealistic. On the other hand, Nezumi is aloof, sarcastic, disrespectful and jaded. They're practically made for each other.
- Rescue Romance: During their first meeting, Shion saves Nezumi by letting him hide in his room and treating his wounds when he was being hunted. Four years later, Nezumi saves Shion when he was going to be either imprisoned or executed to cover up two deaths from the parasitic wasps. These events are one of the main reasons why they develop romantic feelings for each other.
Shion
Click here to see him before the wasp
Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)
A boy raised among the elite of No. 6, only to be stripped of his privileges after giving shelter to Nezumi, a fugitive. He is unfailingly polite and idealistic and refuses to give up on saving the people of No. 6.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: His eyes were violet in the novels as opposed to the red in the anime and manga.
- Back from the Dead: In the anime, Safu resurrects him while possessed by Elyurias before Ascending to a Higher Plane of Existence.
- Badass Adorable: He seems all cute and innocent on the outside, but mess with someone he cares about, specifically Nezumi, and get ready for the beatdown of your life.
- Beware the Nice Ones: When Nezumi is threatened, sweet and naive Shion reacts in two ways: all-out rage or cold, rational murderousness.
- Brainy Brunette: Before meeting Nezumi, Shion was on his way to going into the Special Curriculum for gifted students, specializing in Ecology. His hair was originally brown, but it turned white because of the effects of the wasp in his body.
- Break the Cutie: The series tries hard, but Shion is too much of a Pollyanna to give in. It does finally hit him, and hard on the Correctional Facility, but even then and probably thanks to his Cloudcuckoolander tendencies he manages to go back to his old self with few negative repercussions.
- Character Tics: He has a habit of pulling his hair when he's anxious or stressed.
- Child Prodigy: Before meeting Nezumi, Shion was an ecology major in the city's gifted program with enough practical knowledge to safely suture wounds at the age of twelve.
- Curtains Match the Window: His hair and eyes used to be brown before the parasitic wasp.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Nezumi, of course, but he was also hit on by a greasy old corpse-collector, with promises of meat and drink, no less.
- Fond Memories That Could Have Been: In the manga, after Shion discovers he was too late to save Safu from being reduced to a Brain in a Jar, he imagines how nice it would have been if he could have shown her the West Block and introduced her to Inukashi and Rikiga.
- Friend to All Children: He reads to the neighboring kids in the Western Block.
- Friend to All Living Things: Nezumi's mice take a liking to him (he even gives them names). He also gets along with Dogkeeper and their dogs.
- Genius Ditz : Even though Shion is naive and lacks a sense of self-preservation, he was ranked the highest in the city's intelligence test when he was just two-years-old.
- Headbutt Thermometer: How he checks Nezumi's temperature when they first meet.
- Heroic Safe Mode: In the manga, seeing Nezumi get shot for him almost results in a complete breakdown until he manages to get his logical side to take over. Played with though in that this safe mode comes dangerously close to turning into his Yandere mode, to a point that it actually unsettles Inukashi and Rikiga.
- I Will Wait for You: At the end of the series, Shion swears he will wait for Nezumi to fulfill his promise to come back to him eventually, no matter how many years pass, and he won't let Nezumi go again.
- Incompatible Orientation: He never gets the chance to make good on his promise to have sex with Safu, but that works out well enough for him considering he didn't want to in the first place. The only one he's really attracted to is Nezumi.
- Interrupted Suicide: In the novel and manga, he outright attempts to kill himself after killing a man who hurt Nezumi. Only Nezumi breaking down and crying for him was able to snap him out of it.
- Killing in Self-Defense: Downplayed. Shion shoots down the officer who was about to kill him and Nezumi, but misses the vital point and delivers the final blow without compassion. Nezumi tries to tell Shion he protected them both, but the horror of becoming a murderer almost makes Shion kill himself until Nezumi snaps him out of it.
- Locked into Strangeness: In roughly the span of a few hours or days after the wasp fails to emerge and kill him, his brown hair turns completely white and his brown eyes change color — violet in the novels, red in the manga/anime. He's understandably a little freaked out by both changes, but he adapts quickly.
- Love at First Sight: While it's never outright stated, it's pretty obvious that Shion fell for Nezumi the moment they met. Karan even mentions at one point that Shion kept mumbling Nezumi's name as though it belonged to someone who'd stolen his heart.
- Love Makes You Crazy: He can get unstable and violent when Nezumi is on the line, even for minor, non-threatening issues.
- Meaningful Name: "Shion" is a flower (specifically, a type of aster) with medicinal value. The flower also means "I will remember you" or simply "remembrance" in Japanese tradition which could allude to the ending.
- Momma's Boy: Shion was raised solely by his mother and both of them are (happily) devoted to one another. That doesn't mean he is dependent on her, though, and handles being away from her for most of the story just fine.
- Morality Pet: He's the only person Nezumi allows himself to openly care about and Shion keeps him from taking his Anti-Hero nature too far.
- My God, What Have I Done?: He usually becomes horrified at his own violent actions whenever he comes out of his outbursts.
- Nice Guy: He's gentle and compassionate to a fault.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: It only happens two or three times in the entire story but anytime Shion is not his usual sweet, caring self it's outright terrifying.
◊ - Please, Don't Leave Me: When Nezumi is about to leave No.6., Shion begs him to not leave him behind or to take him with him because a world without Nezumi means nothing to Shion. He only calms down after Nezumi promises he will return one day.
- The Pollyanna: No matter how grave the situation, Shion can very nearly always find the silver-lining, even after being relegated to the equivalent of the slums for No.6, becoming targeted by the city, losing his mother and best friend, and discovering a massive government conspiracy. He finally breaks when Nezumi is shot, and it's horrifying, but even then he manages to snap back at his usual self fairly quickly.
- Prematurely Grey-Haired: His brown hair changed to white hair due to the substance emitted from a parasitic wasp.
- Scars Are Forever: After the wasp egg is extracted from his neck before it kills him, Shion gains a red snake-like scar curling around his body from his cheek to ankle. He's somewhat self-conscious about it.
- Single-Target Sexuality: While the related materials do set up Safu as a nominal rival for Shion's affections, as stated above, the novels are pretty explicit about the fact that the only person Shion is interested in is Nezumi.
- Spell My Name With An S: His name has been translated as Shion or Sion.
- Took a Level in Cynic: Over the course of the horrors he goes through in the Correction Facility, Shion is forced to act jaded, pragmatic, and ruthless in order to assure he and Nezumi can survive and reach their goal. Realizing just how powerless he is to save others especially Safu who was the reason he and Nezumi went to the Correction Facility in the first place shatters Shion's idealism.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend: A male example. Don't attempt to harm or even insult Nezumi in Shion's presence. It may very well be the last thing you do.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: He's more on the cynical side, but firmly believes that a bright future is attainable. In the end, he's successfully helping to build that future.
- You Are Too Late: After he and Nezumi go to the Correction Facility to save the kidnapped Safu, Shion arrives at the Mother computer room only for Safu's spirit to tell him it's too late to save her because her real self no longer exists in the world.
Nezumi/Rat
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (Japanese), Kalob Martinez (English)
A cynical young man with a dark past. Due to his experiences in No. 6, he hates most everything about the city and its people, and is perfectly willing to watch it fall.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: As his local theater was swift to notice, Nezumi makes a really good-looking woman.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: His singing voice is described as a wind that carries souls away. No matter how much someone is afraid or in pain, Nezumi's singing can bring them peace and let them quietly accept death.
- But Now I Must Go: Nezumi leaves Shion behind when the walls around No. 6 come down. However, Nezumi promises to come back to Shion eventually.
- Cross-Cast Role: He's a Shakespearean actor who specializes in performing as female characters.
- Cultured Badass: His room is cramped with bookshelves filled with classical literature, and he's an actor by trade.
- The Cynic: Especially compared to Shion, though he does have moments where this is inverted later in the anime/manga.
- Dark and Troubled Past: His tribe lived peacefully in the forest until the builders of No.6 decided to take their land by force and committed the Mao massacre with Nezumi being one of the few survivors. Nezumi was only a kid when he was nearly killed with a flamethrower.
- Deadpan Snarker: Hoo boy, does he get called out on that one.
- Defrosting Ice King: As Hosoya-san puts it, "He doesn't change so much as he loosens up. He always had those emotions but because of Shion he allows himself to feel them." note
- Deuteragonist: He's the other protagonist of the series, being equal to Shion in importance and having as much focus as him.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: He makes such a convincing woman that he's made a career out of it.
- Easily Forgiven: Shion was furious when Nezumi admitted that he was using Safu as an excuse to break in the facility for his own agenda. All is forgiven when Nezumi is seriously injured (only a few minutes after the revelation) and Shion rushes to heal him.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Shion being the main example. There is also the two mooks who wanted "payment" from him after he kisses the prostitute, and is also implied by Rikiga when he offers Nezumi a job as a gigolo.
- Genocide Survivor: He's a survivor of the Mao massacre where the soldiers of No.6 burned the Forest People to death to steal their land and build the No.6 city.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Shion kills an officer to protect himself and Nezumi. Shion's resulting Heroic BSoD is so bad that he tries to shoot himself, Nezumi manages to punch some sense back into him.
- Hair Color Dissonance: His hair looks blueish, grayish or off-purplish. It's clearly supposed to represent black, though.
- Harmful to Minors: When he was a kid, he had to watch as his hometown in the forest and most of his people were horrifically incinerated with flamethrowers.
- It's All My Fault: Shion killing a guard/Rashi makes him break down and blame himself for corrupting him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can be a big jerk, but he also sings to Inukashi's dying pack members to ease their suffering, to say nothing of what he'll do where Shion is concerned.
- Last of His Kind: Nezumi is all that is left of the Forest People that lived on the site where No. 6 was built.
- Living Emotional Crutch: To Shion. With all the crap the boy is being put through, Nezumi is what keeps him sane and motivates him to continue living. Shion himself states that out of anyone he knows, he wouldn't be able to endure losing Nezumi and he would never want to live in a world without Nezumi.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He's a beautiful man with hair past his shoulders when he lets it down.
- Magic Music: He's descended of the singers in the forest who communicated with the spirit Elyurias through their songs. This is why Nezumo's singing is the only thing that can stop Elyurias from killing all the humans in No.6.
- Magical Native American: An ostensibly Japanese version of one. As the last of the Forest People, he can "hear" nature, and can sing a song of calming.
- Morality Pet: Ironically, given that he starts as the cynical and amoral one, Nezumi acts as this to Shion in later parts of the story. Shion becomes more willing to hurt others in order to protect Nezumi, so Nezumi tries to keep him from crossing the line because he doesn't want to see Shion become corrupted. Nezumi has a brief break down when he fails to stop Shion from killing the officer who tried to kill him and Nezumi.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: "Mouse" or "Rat" is a nickname given to him after escaping the destruction of his homeland and the slaughter of his people. His real name is never revealed in-series and Nezumi himself has long forgotten about it.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: He's a very beautiful man with black hair and a pale complexion.
- Real Men Wear Pink: He's as likely to shank you as he is to quote Romeo and Juliet at you in a dress and a full face of makeup, besides being a wonderful singer and dancer. It's all a part of his charm.
- Scarf of Asskicking: He wears a dark grey scarf made of incredibly durable superfiber cloth.
- Scars Are Forever: The massive burn scars on his back are courtesy of the flamethrower-wielding No. 6 soldiers that slaughtered his people.
- Stage Name: He goes by "Eve" when onstage.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: To almost everyone, he's cold, distant, and guarded because his past taught him to not trust or open up to other people. The only one who can easily bypass his cold mask is Shion, as Nezumi gets very protective and caring around him.
- Taking the Bullet: For Shion when they're trying to escape the Correctional Facility and Shion doesn't notice the guard aiming at him because of his despair over Safu. It's almost enough to drive Shion to the breaking point in manga/novel though he ultimately survives.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He's got a good few inches on Shion with long dark hair, and a particularly mordant disposition.
- Tears of Remorse: When Shion shoots a guard/Rashi (depending on anime or manga/novel he breaks down, blaming himself.
- Tsundere: Harsh type. He's a grump most of the time, but his softer side easily comes out around Shion.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: In the novel, Shion almost cannot mention Nezumi without talking about how beautiful his eyes are.
Residents of No.6
Safu
Voiced by: Kiyono Yasuno (Japanese), Hilary Haag (English)
Shion's childhood friend and a fellow resident of No. 6. Also like Shion, Safu begins to show doubt about the utopia that is No. 6.
- Adaptation Expansion: She is given a much larger focus in the anime than in the original novels.
- And I Must Scream: The Correction Facility's scientist removes her brain and connects it to the Mother computer where Elyurias is trapped. Safu's consciousness is still intact through all this and her soul is unable to pass on as long as she's still one with the Mother computer. When Shion and Nezumi find the room with the brain jars, Safu's spirit begs them to free her from her suffering by destroying the Mother computer.
- Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: She becomes a physical medium for Elyurias.
- Brain in a Jar: Though it was never explicitly shown what happened to her body after the operation, we can be sure there was not much left of it (aside from her brain, perhaps...) as she was one of the many test subjects that had their brains removed and connected to the Correction Facility's Mother computer in the experiment to control Elyurias.
- Brainy Brunette: She has dark brown hair and is a physiology student.
- Bully Magnet: When she was younger, her classmates made fun of her "outdated clothes". Shion who likes her sweaters.
- Child Prodigy: Like Shion, she's a child genius - her expertise is the human brain and to a degree, psychology.
- Childhood Friends: She has known Shion since they were around two years old. She wants a Childhood Friend Romance, but Shion can only think of her as something like a sister, to her dismay.
- Damsel in Distress: She gets captured by the Bureau of Public Security and brought to the Correction Facility where she becomes a test subject. News of her capture reach Shion and he goes to the Correction Facility to rescue her.
- Defiant Captive: While captive in the Correction Facility, Safu plays an essential role in hacking the system in order to lead Shion and Nezumi to the Mother computer room.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: Her way of asking Shion to have sex with her is "I want to have your sperm."
- Go Out with a Smile: In the manga, Safu's spirit bids goodbye to Shion with a smile and peacefully accepts her own demise, trusting Shion will build a better future.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the anime, when Nezumi and Shion blow up Mother, Safu stays behind with Elyurias in order to destroy it for good. In the novels and manga, it's less of a sacrifice because she couldn't escape after losing her body and being reduced to a brain.
- Hopeless Suitor: Shion flat-out states in the novels that while he treasures her as a friend, he does not and cannot return her romantic feelings. Aside from Shion's attachment to Nezumi, circumstances just do not work in her favor.
- I Cannot Self-Terminate: The scientist of the Correction Facility connects Safu's brain to the Mother computer to turn her into a vessel for Elyurias. With Elyurias' help, Safu can ask Shion and Nezumi to destroy the Mother computer so her suffering ends.
- Incompatible Orientation: Safu has a crush on Shion, but he has no attraction for women because he only has eyes for Nezumi.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She tells Shion she's fine with him having a girlfriend while she's gone. Before the Mother computer is destroyed along with her brain, Safu's spirit sobs as she laments Shion will live on with Nezumi and not her, but she turns down Elyurias' idea of making Shion die with her because she wants him to build a happy future with Nezumi.
- No Social Skills: She often seems lost in social situations, such as her proposal to Shion or cluelessness about romance when studying abroad. However, her behavior may just be a result of growing up as a sheltered Child Prodigy.
- Raised by Grandparents: She was mainly raised by her grandmother because her parents died when she was very young.
- Satellite Love Interest: Her importance and characterization are mainly defined through her status as Shion's childhood friend with an unrequited crush on him.
- Spirit Advisor: In the manga, Elyurias made Safu's last wish to "meet Shion one more time" come true by lending her power to Safu so she can manipulate the Correction Facility's system and guide Shion and Nezumi to the Mother computer room. Through a projection of herself, Safu asks Nezumi to destroy the Mother computer since she can no longer escape with Shion because her brain has been removed and connected to the Mother computer as the "divine feast" to Elyurias.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: After she's taken to the Correction Facility, Safu wakes up strapped to an operating table right before the Mad Scientist starts the operation to remove her brain.
- Unrequited Tragic Maiden: She's Shion's childhood friend who has a crush on him that is meant to be forever unrequited because Shion's heart belongs to Nezumi only. Shortly after Shion escapes to the West Block, Safu is kidnapped and taken to the Correction Facility to be used as a test subject. Shion does everything in his power to go and rescue her, but in the end, he couldn't arrive on time and all that's left of Safu is her brain. The only thing that can be done for her is putting her spirit to rest by destroying the Mother computer that was connected to the human brains.
- Walking Spoiler: Really, one can't really talk about her without spoiling the end of the series.
Karan
Voiced by: Rei Sakuma (Japanese), Lesley Pederson (English)
Shion's mother. With Shion, she was sent to live down in Lost Town where she opened up a bakery. She and Nezumi contact one another through strips of paper brought by mice.
- Dude Magnet: She has a lot of admirers.
- Friend to All Children: Thinks children are adorable, and strongly believes it is an adult's responsibility to protect them.
- Good Parents: She really loves Shion and isn't upset at all about their downgrade from a life of luxury.
- Mysterious Past: At least one photo of her exists with the Founding Members of No.6. She also knew where Rikiga was likely to be in the West Block.
- Sexy Sweater Girl: She wears a light blue sweater which accentuate her chest.
- Sweet Baker: She's a very sweet and gentle woman who is popular in town for her delicious bread and cakes.
Yoming
Voiced by: Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese), Karl Glusman (English)
One of the residents of No. 6, and a resistance fighter. Yoming first begins to suspect something is amiss in the city when his wife and child mysteriously disappear. He takes interest in Karan after Shion's disappearance.
- Crusading Widower: His wife was an art and music teacher who encouraged free thinking. One day, she and their son disappeared and the authorities treated it as a missing person case. Yoming knows No.6 took his family away. When the chance presents itself with the wasp outbreak, he deliberately starts a riot by spreading lies about a vaccine the major is hiding so he can have his revenge on No.6.
- Karmic Death: Though starting out with the intention of avenging his family's death, he eventually descends into creepy and unwanted advances on Karan and gleefully planning to incite a mob bloodbath on No. 6's founding anniversary. He ends as another victim of the birth of the wasp.
- Properly Paranoid: From the moment his wife and son went "missing", he has believed No.6 was behind it. He's completely right about No.6 being a fake utopia that makes disappear those who notice not everything is perfect.
Residents of the West Block
Inukashi
Voiced by: Kei Shindō (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)
One of the residents of the West Block outside of No. 6. Inukashi, quite literally "Dog Keeper," is a brash, often dangerous individual who spends their time either renting out their many dogs as heaters during the winter or smuggling in items to sell from an illicit contact within No. 6's correctional facility. They have a very violent, volatile relationship with Nezumi, but Nezumi still often goes to them to gather information - for a price.
- Adoptive Peer Parent: Despite still being a teenager, Inukashi adopts a baby that Shion saved from the manhunt and left in their care. The epilogue shows Inukashi has become a nice adoptive parent to the child, who they have named Shion.
- Ambiguous Gender: Inukashi looks feminine due to their small stature, long hair, and slender legs. However, they have a masculine behavior and speech patterns. It's also worth noting that Inukashi doesn't seem opposed to their adopted child calling them "Mama". Official information does not give a definite answer about their gender.
- Animal Lover: Having been raised by a dog, Inukashi adores dogs, thinking of them as their family.
- Better with Non-Human Company: Inukashi gets along better with their dogs than humans. The only humans they tolerate are Shion and to a lesser degree, Nezumi.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Inukashi literally means "dog-keeper", or "dog-loaner". It's unknown if they even have a real name.
- Expository Pronoun: Inukashi refers to themself with the aggressive-masculine ore, befitting their masculine and abrasive personality. It's unclear whether they're a tomboyish girl or an androgynous-looking boy.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Inukashi is an insensitive and grouchy fellow, but they're one of Shion and Nezumi's closest allies and grows to truly care about the duo. Later on, Inukashi also accepts to raise the baby Shion sent them.
- Happily Adopted: They remember the dog who adopted them fondly.
- Knowledge Broker: Besides the dog-loaner business, Inukashi makes money by selling information to Nezumi that they gather through their dogs.
- Raised by Wolves: Inukashi is an orphan and was raised by a dog who they call their mother.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Inukashi can communicate with dogs, probably because their adoptive mother was a dog.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Shion's good nature rubs off on Inukashi. Towards the end of the manga, Inukashi is willing to offer Shion comfort for free while Nezumi is undergoing surgery.
- Tsundere: Inukashi calls Shion a naive fool, but Shion's kindness quickly makes them grow fond of him. They also don't hate Nezumi as much as they claim since they know some of his hidden good side, but would die before admitting it.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Sort of, with Nezumi. They're constantly at each other's throats, as Inukashi hates Nezumi's manipulative ways and extortion. However, both are the closest thing the other has to a friend.
Rikiga
Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (Japanese), Chris Hutchison (English)
One of the residents of West Block. He runs a prostitution service which allows him a life of luxury in comparison to other residents. At one point, he wrote articles regarding No. 6.
- Cowardly Lion: He really doesn't want to get involved in Shion and Nezumi's plans, but does so anyway.
- Fan Boy: He really likes Eve, Nezumi's stage persona. He's less charitable towards Nezumi, given that well, it's Nezumi.
- Intrepid Reporter: Hinted that the reason he was sent to live in West Block was due to his articles questioning No. 6's activities.
- Like a Son to Me: Shion is Karan's son, so Rikiga thinks of him as his own son too out of lingering affection for Karan.
- Non-Action Guy: As a self-proclaimed pacifist, he's useless in a fight.
- Parental Substitute: He tries to be this to Shion from time to time, given that he's still attached to Karan.
- Pining After Protagonist's Parent: He had very strong feelings for Shion's mother Karan and is still attached enough to her as to want to try acting like a father to Shion.
Others
Elyurias
Voiced by: Mao Daichi (Japanese), Genevieve Simmons (English)
A mysterious entity, subject to much research by the scientists of No. 6.
- Bee Afraid: Elyurias occasionally appears as a giant one.
- Face Full of Alien Wing-Wong: Elyurias reproduces by laying eggs in the bodies of other species. Namely, humans. The process of a bee being born causes the host to rot away very, very quickly.
- Gaia's Vengeance: Unleashes this on the city during the ending.
- Nature Spirit: Elyurias once existed in the forest that was destroyed by No.6's operatives, and has power over nature. She was worshiped by the Forest People as a god. No. 6's government has gone to great lengths to research how to control her power.
- Symbiotic Possession: Though forcibly implanted into Safu, they do not seem to bear each other ill will.
Shion's father
Shion's mother Karan claims Shion's father was a borderline alcoholic who slept around and spent recklessly.
- Disappeared Dad: He's only mentioned in the novels and manga. Either he's dead or divorced from Karan because Shion doesn't know him.
- Unnamed Parent: Nothing is known about him, not even his name.
