Warning! Due to the series' partial nature as a murder mystery, there are a plethora of characters with spoilery connections to the plot, with the Mystery Kiss members in particular having especially big roles. Be warned that careless reading of the entries might spoil the entire mystery, so tread carefully.
open/close all folders
Main Character
Odokawa
Hiroshi Odokawa
Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese), Mike McFarland (English)
The Taxi Driver
The standoffish and quiet cab driver protagonist. He has no family or any particular interests and listens to the radio a lot. He may be involved in the case of the missing girl.
- Abusive Parents: It's revealed in the final episode that his mother was frequently drunk and constantly berated him. Odokawa didn't hold it against his mother however because he knew she was coping with her husband having an affair. He's also still in denial that she tried to drown her entire family in a murder-suicide.
- Alone with the Psycho: His last scene has Sakura enter his cab. By that point she killed Yuki Mitsuya, possibly killed Taeko and she's thinking about offing him and Shiho, but the series ends before it's resolved. However, it's implied that Odokawa isn't unaware of this situation. The movie leaves whether or not he's aware of Sakura's crimes completely ambiguous as well, even though it's revealed that he was able to subdue Sakura with only a few minor injuries regardless.
- Amateur Sleuth: Odokawa has no formal training or even much of an interest in crime, but he's scarily competent at sleuthing, partially thanks to his peculiar Photographic Memory. He pieces together most of the intrigue just from contextual clues and tidbits of conversations.
- Ambiguous Innocence: Just how much he knows about or was involved in the case of the missing girl is itself a Driving Question in the series. Ultimately turns out to be completely innocent when it comes to the missing girl. She was killed by her replacement, Odokawa's involvement comes from the fact that he was the taxi she took to get to get the place where she committed the murder, which makes him an important witness, but not an accessory. The cat in his apartment was just a cat, though Odokawa himself wasn't 100% sure of it.
- Batman Gambit: Very fond of these, and he's generally very good at them. Played realistically in that his manipulations aren't flawless and as such can be derailed. For example, while he correctly assumes that Yamamoto is both genuinely loyal to Mystery Kiss and largely a patsy, and as such can be turned, he fails to account for how impulsive and desperate he is by that point, which almost gets him killed.
- Believing Their Own Lies: If what his landlady says is true, Odokawa may be unable to acknowledge that his parents are actually dead, not just gone from his life like he tells people. The finale reveals this extends to his entire delusion. That he suddenly was a walrus in a world of animals never caused him any dissonance because animals were his safe space: he felt more comfortable around them, he was more detached from others because of it and his life became better right after it happened.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Odokawa is a grumpy, quiet jerk of a taxi driver. He's also incredible at reading people, on top of being an impressive sleuth and manipulator. He quickly entangles the web of gambits he got himself involved in and halfway through the series begins to carefuly set up a Kingmaker Scenario. It's not flawless, but by the end of "We Have No Tomorrow" he has the fate of almost every involved party firmly in his palm. Ultimately it gets derailed only due to reasons largely beyond his control... so he corrects by getting Tanaka involved at the last second, a criminally ballsy and dangerous thing to do.
- Big Damn Heroes: He enlists Dobu's help to save Kakihana from being held captive and extorted by Yano's group.
- Brutal Honesty:
- In "The Eccentric Driver", he tells Kabasawa that taking a selfie with him is likely not a good idea that he can get to be viral instantly.
- In "Borrowed Plumes and the Bodyguard" he flat-out says he wouldn't be bothered if Dobu murdered Kakihana, because he might be better off like that. Dobu is pretty sure he's bluffing though. Turns out Dobu's right, as Kakihana getting hurt is what motivates Odokawa into taking matters into his own hands.
- In "We Have No Tomorrow" he flatly blackmails Yamamoto into participating in his gambit, laying his scheme bare. It almost gets him killed, but it also ultimately convinces Yamamoto that he should go with it.
- The Chessmaster: By the end of episode 10, Odokawa has a hand in every major plan and scheme presented in the story in one way or another.
- Crazy Enough to Work: Odokawa's play of planting Tanaka's tracker on the money van so that he can find him and Dobu is monumentally reckless, bordering on Heroic Suicide. Miraculously, it works. Tanaka turns out to be lucid enough not to kill them outright, instead explaining his motivations and letting Odokawa apologize... only for it to turn out that Dobu is secretly his nemesis, ditch-11, with whom he has much bigger beef... which in turn ends with Dobu shot in the gut because he misinterpreted the shooting attempt in the harbor.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Odokawa mentions to Imai in "How To Spend a Long Night" that he was in an accident that should have killed him when he was younger. Also, he has no parents to raise him. It's revealed in Episode 11 that his parents were actually killed in the accident that nearly killed him as well. As it turns out, it was a murder-suicide commited by his mother - she took a young Odokawa and her drunken husband for a night ride into the water.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's blunt and never raises his voice, but he still snarks it up every now and then. When Kabasawa takes a selfie of the two of them, Odokawa flatly suggests he blur out the face - Kabasawa's own face, that is.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: By the end of the show and the movie, Odokawa is able to finally recover from the visual agnosia caused by his childhood trauma, have a circle of friends after being distant from people for so long, is implied to be in a relationship with Shirakawa, and managed to bring Yuki’s murderer to justice.
- Idiot Ball: The usually pretty shrewd and quick-thinking Odokawa makes a small but very serious error by turning his attention away from Yamamoto after revealing his knowledge of Yamamoto's involvement in Kakihana's kidnapping, which prompts a desperate Yamamoto to attempt to strangle Odokawa to death. If Shirakawa hadn't shown up in time, Odokawa might have actually died.
- The Insomniac: Whatever he's been going through, one aspect of it seems to be that he has trouble sleeping. When Shirakawa asks about it, he puts it that he's "forgotten" how to sleep properly.
- Irony: It's hinted at by his nightmare and Dobu's threats to him, then later confirmed that he has a fear of water despite being an aquatic animal. He's not actually a walrus, just a heavy-set man - he began seeing himself as a walrus because his bullies called him one when he was a kid.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Really lacks tact and can be quite insensitive to other people's feelings at times, Odokawa words comes across as being Properly Paranoid:
- When Kakihana first introduces him to his budding relationship with Shiho, Odokawa warns him that he could be getting tricked, especially given the fact that he's faking being a millionare. Soon enough, it is revealed that Shiho is a Honey Trap employed by the yakuza to blackmail wealthy men.
- Calls out Imai for posting online that he won the one billion yen lottery. Given the fact that Odokawa and the audience learned not long before that two notoriously dangerous and ruthless gangsters - Dobu AND Yano - are coming after him for the money, it indeed was a really idiotic thing to do.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's brutally blunt and distant from people, but when it comes down to it Odokawa will pull a Batman Gambit to do the right thing, especially if the people he cares about are in danger.
- Knight in Sour Armor: He's grumpy and sarcastic, and coldly brushes off Shirakawa when he finds out she was forced into acting as a Honey Trap. Despite that, it's heavily implied he did this in order to protect her from the danger he himself is now in, and when he agrees to help Dobu catch Tanaka, he asks that he cancel Shirakawa's debt as a condition, showing he still tries to help in his own way. By the time Kakihana's life is in jeopardy because of a Gambit Pileup in the criminal underworld, he takes matters into his own hands and engineers events to stop it.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: For most of the series, despite the unique position he's in, Odokawa seems confident to just coast through life as usual, even when Tanaka begins to hunt him. This ends when Shirakawa and Kakihana end up endangered by the whole mess: Odokawa almost effortlessly engineers his own plan to punish everyone involved and get them off the streets.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Odokawa resorts to this once his Batman Gambit fails due to circumstances beyond his control: he plants a tracker on the real money truck so that Tanaka, the man who has been hunting him in homicidal rage, can derail Dobu's plans. It actually works.
- Meaningful Name: Walruses are of the genus Odobenus.
- Near-Death Experience: As a child, he nearly drowned to death when his parents crashed on the water, which triggered his visual agnosia. It took another near death experience involving drowing to get him see everyone else as humans once more.
- Nerves of Steel: Odokawa isn't fearless, but nonetheless always speaks his own mind, is unafraid to talk shit at violent yakuza and later in the series he pretty much provokes dangerous situations. That's because of his brain damage - Odokawa sees other people as animals, which in turn makes him more comfortable and less prone to take others seriously.
- No Sympathy: In the finale when Odokawa is presented with the possibility of helping Kakihana to pay off his debt Odokawa immediately shoots down the idea. While he cares about his friend, he still sees Kakihana as an idiot of incurred the debt by his own poor choices, so he should work it off on his own.
- Not Afraid to Die: Subverted. He is scared of dying but his demeanor never shows it, and he still thinks death would be preferable to being Dobu's accomplice.
- Not So Stoic:
- He's visibly unsettled when Dobu threatens to hurt Shirakawa, and becomes wide-eyed when she performs capoeira for him in the park, supporting that he does reciprocate her interest in him some.
- He completely freaks out when Tanaka pulls up to him in a van and opens fire on his taxi.
- Dobu clearly gets under his skin with his threats.
- Parental Abandonment: His parents haven't been around to support him since he was young. The circumstances are ambiguous, and Goriki believes they simply vanished but when conversing with Odokawa's landlady she reveals to him that they're both dead.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Downplayed. He doesn't want Dobu to die and he makes sure he's relatively stable after Tanaka shoots him, but he refuses to help him or even call an ambulance. He leaves him to his fate instead, bluntly telling him it's all Dobu's own fault.
- Photographic Memory: A specific type. After seeing a person's face once, he never forgets them and can recognize their appearance even in a mask, from behind, or in a large crowd. It takes the form of him viewing everyone as a distinct animal.
- The Stoic: He hardly emotes at all, and just about every word that comes out of his mouth is spoken flatly. Even when he is gotten a rise out of he still doesn't show it much.
- The Taxi: Odokawa is a taxi driver and a good portion of the series focuses on the conversations he has with his passengers.
- Uncertain Doom: It is unknown if he survives the last taxi ride he is shown providing in the series...to Sakura.
- Subverted in the movie, it's revealed he not only survived, but captured Sakura and turned her in to the authorities.
- Unluckily Lucky: He's more or less described as such in his chat with Imai, winding up in many unpleasant situations but coming away from them far better off than he could have.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: While in a hurry to meet up with Shirakawa, he almost runs over Tanaka while the latter was standing in the road distracted by his phone. This inadvertently damages the phone and costs Tanaka the Super Rare Dodo he'd spent four years trying to obtain in Zoological Garden, driving him to become homicidal and be after Odokawa for revenge.
- Warm-Hearted Walrus: His stoic & grumpy exterior hides it, but underneath Odokawa really isn't a bad guy, and he does care about some people in his life enough to put himself in harm's way if things come to it.
- Wily Walrus: Subverted. He's cold, reserved, and blunt, but Odokawa certainly isn't evil and prefers to just be left alone most of the time, though he can still try to do the right thing if he really wants to.
Clinic
Goriki
Ayumu Goriki
Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura (Japanese), Daman Mills (English)
The Doctor
Odokawa's doctor at the clinic. A loud and boisterous, but friendly man that worries about Odokawa's mental state.
- A Friend in Need: His motivation to piece together Odokawa's past doesn't come from him being Odokawa's physician but his concern for Odokawa as his friend.
- Amateur Sleuth: He spends the final episodes trying to piece together Odokawa's past.
- Fanboy: "The Eccentric Driver" mentions that he likes Bruce Springsteen.
- Gentle Gorilla: He's large and boisterous, but a benevolent and friendly doctor who cares about Odokawa both as a patient and as a friend.
- Meaningful Name: The "Gou" in his name is written with the kanji for "sturdy"/"strength"(剛), fitting for someone as big as him.
- Punny Name: An obvious play on "gorilla".
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite realizing that Shirakawa might be stealing from the clinic, he doesn't confront her without evidence, and closes down the clinic to find what is the best way to deal with the situation without getting her in trouble.
Shirakawa
Miho Shirakawa
Voiced by: Riho Iida (Japanese),Lauren Landa (English)
The Nurse
The young and gentle nurse that works under Goriki. She has some interest in Odokawa.
- Action Girl: It turns out her capoeira training wasn't just for exercise, as she easily drops Yamamoto with just two attacks to save Odokawa.
- Becoming the Mask: She was told by Dobu to approach Odokawa under the guise of romantic attraction in order to drag him into Dobu's plans, but she later tells Odokawa she's started having genuine feelings for him all the while.
- Before My Time: She's not familiar with We Are the World, at least going by her confusion when Odokawa & Goriki discuss Bruce Springsteen's and Stevie Wonder's parts in it. Might not be the case since she references Cyndi Lauper's part later on, but Odokawa thinks she just watched it right after hearing them talk about.
- Big Damn Heroes: Ends up saving Odokawa from Yamamoto, after his semi-successful attempt at blackmail.
- Done a second time when she saves him from drowning in his cab.
- Chekhov's Skill: Her capoeira training comes in handy twice — once when she uses it to save Odokawa from Yamamoto, and then later in the finale when she uses it to save Odokawa from drowning in his taxi by kicking out a window.
- Faux Action Girl: At least Odokawa thinks so since her capoeira training was for losing weight rather than learning self-defense. She denies it though. Subverted. She later kicks Yamamoto's ass to save Odokawa with it.
- Foreshadowing: The very first shot of Shirakawa in the series shows her putting something in her purse. At the very end of "The Eccentric Driver", we get a good look at the room she was in— a storage room in the clinic for medicine. What's more, a nurse tells Goriki that 6000 pills of psychotropic drugs have gone missing, leaving no doubt as to what she was doing.
- Hidden Depths: "Borrowed Plumes and the Bodyguard" has Shirakawa mention that she knows how to fight via capoeira.
- Honey Trap: Dobu ordered her to get close to Odokawa to get leverage over him, but she claims she had a change of heart halfway through, falling for him for real.
- Hospital Hottie: Odokawa is actually taken aback by how easy on the eyes she is as a human, admitting shyly that she's quite pretty.
- Kick Chick: She practiced Capoeira training and later kicks Yamamoto's ass to save Odokawa with it.
- Likes Older Men: If her stated feelings towards Odokawa are genuine, since he's over a decade her senior. Her relationship with Dobu might have also been the case since he's almost Odokawa's age, at least until she felt the strain of being exploited and mistreated by him.
- Love Martyr: She's a downplayed one towards Dobu. She does want to get out from under his control, but in a conversation with Odokawa after Dobu forgives her debt to him, she states that he does have a code of honor despite being a violent criminal. The conclusion that Odokawa draws is that she still hasn't broken free from him mentally, which only pushes him even more to take Dobu down.
- Meaningful Name: The kanji for "Shira" in her name is written with the kanji for "white"(白) fitting for her appearance. Ironically, her real human appearance has brunette hair instead.
- Work Off the Debt: She had a hefty student loan that she paid off by taking a loan from Dobu instead. Because of massive interest that he holds over her head, she's forced to steal medicine and do other errands for him to work off the three million yen she'll never truly pay off.
Mystery Kiss
General
An underground group that is trying to make it as idols.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Their act as an idol group hides the fact that every single one of them, including Yamamoto, is a morally suspect individual who'll resort to crime in order to ensure the group's success. The only one out of them who wasn't willing to murder somebody for the sake of the group is Shiho, and even she still goes along with their illegal badger games & helps the Yakuza capture Kakihana to keep her career.
- Canines Primary, Felines Secondary: The lead singer is a dog, both background singers are cats. Nearly subverted, as the higher-ups were initially planning for the original Yuki to take over as the lead, only for her to be murdered.
- Idol Singer: The group is an example of a small-time unit that has yet to achieve major success.
- Numerical Theme Naming: The girls' surnames collectively contain the words for the numbers 1 through 3: Shiho Ichimura, Rui Nikaido, and Yuki Mitsuya.
- Stepford Smiler: None of them are really as enthused about their given profession as their on-stage personas would suggest. Rui stresses over finding a fanbase, Shiho doesn't like working with Yuki and feels superfluous, and while Yuki does view becoming an idol a her dream she still dislikes being pushed to work harder than the other girls since she's the newest member. There's also the fact they have to deal with the stress of having covered up the original Yuki's death, as well as being forced to work with the Yakuza as payment for their helping to make the coverup happen. Sakura, Yuki's Body Double, turns out to be a completely different kind of Stepford Smiler.
Rui
Rui Nikaido
Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (Japanese), Amanda Lee (English)
Lead Singer
The lead singer of the idol group, and their main breadwinner. Unlike the other two, she is the only one to not wear a mask.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Rui really wanted to stay the lead singer of Mystery Kiss to the point she attempted to threaten Yuki to get the position back. She got what she wanted, but it left her and the group stuck in the favor of a yakaza group and the knowledge she's an accessory in hiding a body.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's a ruthless careerist who Shiho and Yuki both speculate she'd happily murder someone if it helped her get ahead. She actually was apparently willing to murder the original Yuki if she didn't agree to step down as the new head of Mystery Kiss, though judging by her horrified reaction to seeing Yuki's dead body, she might've just thought she had the constitution to commit murder. That said, her narration implies she's more worried about the discovery of Yuki's body ruining her career rather than the fact her idol group has to work for the Yakuza.
- Break the Haughty: Despite her tough exterior, becoming an accessory to Yuki's body disposal has been stressing her out in fear of whether she'll be found out. She's ruthless, but she's an entertainer, not a career criminal. She ends the story wrongfully arrested for Yuki's murder, since she's the likeliest suspect.
- Character Narrator: For the first half of Episode 11.
- Fall Guy: While she only really helped dispose of Yuki's body rather than actually killing her, by the show's end she's been arrested under suspicion that she did the deed, further removing suspicion for the real killer Sakura.
- Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: Rui has wide rounded eyes when acting bubbly and cutesy during performances, but they also change to narrow and dull when not keeping up the act.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: She’s dating Baba who is much taller than her.
- Opposites Attract: As she admits in her narration in Episode 11, she hates losing. She became attracted to Baba specifically because he could take any loss in stride.
- Psycho Poodle: Since her bubbly persona is mostly an act, underneath it she's quite the bitter & calculating Determinator who was willing to murder her bandmate for usurping her position in the group.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Downplayed in-universe! Rui claims the primary reason she's attracted to Baba is his lack of ambition and ego, making it sound like her attraction is cynical - but she's visibly smitten when he stands up mid-conversation to let an older person take his seat.
- Sore Loser: She admits in her narration in Episode 11 that she can't stand to lose even though she's aware she can't win every time. When the Mystery Kiss's higher-ups decided to make the original Yuki the new lead, Rui was actually desperate enough to threaten Yuki with death in order to get her to step down.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's bubbly & cutesy when performing or interacting with fans or her boyfriend, but behind the scenes when talking about her career, she comes off as cold and analytical.
- Secret Relationship: "Let Me Hear You Say, 'What the Hell?'" reveals that she seems to have a genuine relationship with Baba of Homo Sapiens, though they have to keep their interactions behind closed doors in public.
- Unknown Rival: To the real Yuki. Yuki was a standout person, who excelled in every facet of her life, something that drove Rui mad with jealousy to the point where she is willing to threaten Yuki with death to make her step down when she got to be the focus of the group. Yuki herself is nothing but friendly and kind to Rui, even acknowledging that Rui is a talented entertainer and she may be the best among them.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Rui calling the original Yuki out to the office that night to threaten her to step down from the lead singer role gave Sakura the prime opportunity to murder her, leading to all the events that followed trying to hide this.
Shiho
Shiho Ichimura
Voiced by: Moeka Koizumi (Japanese), Jenny Yokobori (English)
- Affectionate Nickname: She calls Kakihana "Kakki".
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While she does show some remorse for it, nonetheless she's very cold to Kakihana when he finds out she was part of a Honey Trap, telling him to his face that being in a relationship was painful.
- Freudian Excuse: Grew up in poverty, living in a small home with a large family, where the only time she had any privacy was in the bath. This earned her the mockery of her classmates, motivating her search for a rich partner.
- Gold Digger: Odokawa thinks she's only interested in Kakihana because he lied about being wealthy. That she resents chatting with "old guys" in passing conversation would support that this is why she'd ever pursue Kakihana at all, though it's not confirmed one way or another. It's later revealed that part of Yamamoto's arrangement with Yano has her deliberately attracting older wealthy men for blackmail.
- Honey Trap: Is revealed to be part of a badger game
run by the yakuza, which involves seeking out wealthy men (like those that Kakihana pretends to be) and then extorting them for money by trapping them in compromising situations which could lead to social disgrace or even criminal prosecution if it exposed. However she isn't happy with this role and wants to quit. - Karma Houdini: We don't really see her get any sorts of comeuppance for acting as a honey trap in Yano's extortion scheme. Granted, she was blackmailed into it, but she still put poor Kakihana through hell. That said, it's pretty much a given that her career as an idol is over, the police may get to her once they interrogate Yano or Yamamoto. And even if they don't talk, she'll need to keep her profile low; making maskless media appearances would guarantee one of her victims will recognize her. There's also Sakura implying that she might go after Shiho if she feels it's necessary, so either way Shiho definitely isn't free of consequence. In The Woods shows that she at the very least became part of Odokawa's friend circle in the epilogue and was at the group picnic along with Kakihana, so it's possible he simply forgave her for doing what she did.
- Likes Older Men: If indeed she really does like Kakihana, who's 23 years older than her. Odokawa, however, points out that this might also be her interested in the lie Kakihana told her about his income. It's revealed that she only seduced him as part of her side job as Yamamoto's Honey Trap.
- Tareme Eyes: In contrast with Yuki.
Yuki (MAJOR UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Yuki Mitsuya (Real Name: Sakura Wadagaki)
Voiced by: Manatsu Murakami (Japanese), Kayli Mills (English)
- Affably Evil: Assuming her demeanor isn't all just an act, she's this trope. She is an unrepentant murderer, but her friendliness towards everyone is so consistent as to potentially be sincere.
- Ambition Is Evil: She killed the original Yuki so that she could get a shot at being an idol.
- Beneath Suspicion: She's never connected to Yuki's murder by anyone because she's seemingly just a nameless rookie, hired to pretend to be a dead girl. The only person that can connect her to the crime is Odokawa who drove her to the office on the day of the killing, but by the time he realizes it he's knee-deep in a Gambit Pileup that's about to be resolved.
- Big Bad: Closest to there being one in the series. She is revealed to have murdered the original Yuki and thus is responsible for much of the plot.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She's cheerful and friendly so long as you don't stand in the way of her career aspirations. As the original Yuki found out, she's more than willing to kill to make her way to the top.
- Body Double: The Yuki seen in the anime is actually another girl, Sakura Wadagaki, who is masquerading as Yuki after the latter was found murdered and subsequently disposed of by Yano's crew.
- Cats Are Mean: Her animal self is a black cat, and she is the murderer of Yuki.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: A flashback indicates that she does legitimately care about her mother and worries about how much she works. Part of the reason she wants to be a success is to support her family. Unfortunately, she's willing to do anything for a shot at stardom. Additionally complicated because the anime and audio drama leave it ambiguous just how aware of her daughter's actions she is.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Her innocent demeanor hides the fact that she's a cold-blooded murderer.
- Foil: Interestingly, to Odokawa. Odokawa is almost devoid of ambition, content with just living a humble, quiet life and doesn't believe he's anyone special, even though he's very brave and an excellent schemer. Sakura is instead murderously ambitious and convinced she's untouchable and destined for greatness despite being a mediocre idol and largely just lucky. They are both fairly distant from other people: Odokawa because his illness causes him to see others as animals, making it a bit harder to relate to them, while Sakura because she's The Sociopath. Odokawa also grew up in an abusive household and later without parents, yet he turned out a very decent, if grumpy man; Sakura has an apparently caring mother, yet she grew up to become a budding Serial Killer and is superficially nice and cheerful. Fittingly, they both end the series together in a cab: Odokawa finally sees her "real self" — a human girl, whom he possibly recognizes as the real culprit — while Sakura is seemingly oblivious to the fact that he's much more than a random taxi driver.
- Freudian Excuse: She's poor and she took her mother's belief that you only get one chance to achieve something to heart. The audio drama and their conversation in the finale leave it ambiguous if her mom knows about the murder.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: An also-ran as a Mystery Kiss member that ends up committing cold-blooded murder, putting the series' events in motion. And she potentially gets off scot-free or least until she tried to kill Odokawa too.
- Girlish Pigtails: Her human self has them.
- Green and Mean: Outside of wearing blue as an idol, she wears green clothing and has green eyes — she is the murderer of the original Yuki.
- Hate Sink: She is an unrepentant sociopath who killed Yuki in cold blood just so that she could take her spot in Mystery Kiss in order to secure her ticket to fame and fortune. The movie reveals she was planning to do the same to Odokawa in order to tie up any remaining loose ends and ensure that she gets away with her crime. Which makes it all the more satisfying for the audience when Odokawa overpowers and turns her in to the police.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: She's the killer of Yuki Mitsuya and begins impersonating her at Mystery Kiss' request.
- Identical Stranger: She and the real Yuki do resemble each other quite a bit, allowing her to serve as Yuki's Body Double. Their resemblance isn't perfect however, which was why Yamamoto has her and Shiho wear masks in public. It works well enough to fool even Odokawa's particular form of Photographic Memory - neither girl makes enough of an impression for him to realize their subtle differences until it's too late. This also lets her get away with murdering Yuki.
- Image Song: Retroactively, "Sugarless Kiss" appears to be one for her. The vague, ominous lyrics appear to be a confession that she gave the real Yuki a dispassionate "goodbye kiss" while pursuing her dreams, and she's confident the secret will disappear from the public consciousness.
- Karma Houdini: She's positioned to end the series as one. Sakura is beneath suspicion for the murder of Yuki, since she was just the girl hired to maintain the charade. Rui's set to take the fall and last we see her, she's entering Odokawa's taxi to either leave Tokyo or kill him.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Possibly. Odokawa suggests he knows who he drove on the night of the murder and Taeko told him about the wiretapped pen. She also assaults Taeko and threatens Nagashima in the middle of a livestream. Confirmed in the movie, where she makes a final attempt on Odokawa's life, but he manages to defend himself and turn her in.
- Kill and Replace: The show ends with the reveal that she murdered Yuki with the intention of taking her spot in Mystery Kiss.
- Killed Off for Real: Subverted. In "We Have No Tomorrow" it's reported on the news that her body was the one recovered from being dumped in the sea, but it was actually the real Yuki's body, not hers.
- The Pollyanna: She's remarkably chipper even off the clock for a girl who was asked to impersonate someone who vanished (i.e., she murdered) under mysterious circumstances. It turns out that's because she's The Sociopath.
- Red Herring: It seems like she might be the missing girl who ran away to become an idol, but really, she's just a stand-in for the real missing girl, who died prior to the main plot. This in turn hides the seemingly obvious reveal that she killed Yuki so she could take over.
- Small Name, Big Ego: She's a mediocre performer unwilling to work hard and make even minor concessions for the job, like cutting down on fried chicken, but she's convinced she's destined for stardom. She's also clearly intoxicated by her murder of Yuki, judging by her subsequent assault on Taeko, the casual mention that she might take out Shiho and Odokawa, and threatening Nagashima on livestream, even though she only got away with the killing due to incredible circumstances and dumb luck - and there's plenty of reasons to believe it's about to run out, which ultimately turns out to be the case in the movie when her attempt to murder Odokawa to clear up loose ends backfires when he overpowers her and promptly turns her in.
- Small Role, Big Impact: The fallout of her envy-driven murder of Yuki Mitsuya could have fully played out in the context of Mystery Kiss. Instead, thanks to Yamamoto's Yakuza connections, it essentialy sparks the series' entire plot.
- The Sociopath: She matter-of-factly kills Yuki Mitsuya, then she pretends to be her for months without a care in the world and she cheerfully talks about this on the phone. She also attacks Taeko and tells Nagashima, through the wiretapped pen, that he's next and it's implied she wants to kill Odokawa in the final scene of the series. That being said, it seems like she does legitimately care about her mother if the one flashback of the two of them is any indication; further muddled by the tone of their conversation and the fact that her mom tips her off about the wiretapped pen.
- Trademark Favorite Food: She loves fried chicken, especially since it reminds her of her mother's cooking. It's enough so that both Shiho and Yamamoto warn her about gaining weight. While every other witness to Odokawa's dive into Tokyo Bay is reminded of something depressing, she thinks of the happy memory of her mom frying up some chicken. This hints at something wrong with her.
- Tsurime Eyes: In contrast with Shiho.
- Walking Spoiler: It's virtually impossible to talk about her at length without spoiling at least some of the story.
Yamamoto (Unmarked Character Spoilers)
Fuyuki Yamamoto
Voiced by: Makoto Furukawa (Japanese), Xander Mobus (English)
The Manager
The tall and stoic manager of the group.
- All for Nothing: Ultimately, his plan to obfuscate Yuki Mitsuya's death just derails Mystery Kiss' career entirely - they end up forced to confess about the cover up, putting the group on indefinite hold and getting Rui and himself arrested. To add insult to injury, the plan plays entirely to Sakura's hand: they gave her the perfect diguise, the circumstances put her Beneath Suspicion and the confusion doesn't allow Odokawa to realize who he was driving the night of the murder early enough for it to matter.
- Beneath the Mask: Beneath his cold and business-like exterior is an incredibly stressed and nervous man, which really shows when Sekiguchi frustratedly assaults him in "Bless You". "If We Could Go Back to That Day" reveals the source of his stress: to keep Mystery Kiss safe, he was forced to cover-up the original Yuki's murder and call the yakuza for help.
- Forced into Evil: It turns out his villainous deeds are due to being blackmailed into helping Yano out with his schemes, unless he wants the death of the original Yuki Mitsuya to come to light.
- Hidden Depths: Despite seeming like a thug, he's actually deeply and genuinely invested in Mystery Kiss' success; this is slightly foreshadowed by the opening, where he's seen cheering them on alongside their biggest fan, Imai. Justified because his crime ties are entirely secondary: he got in with the yakuza in a misguided attempt to protect the group.
- Mean Boss: Downplayed. He's not malicious to the girls, but he does prefer to micromanage them and isn't shy about it. He gives Rui obvious special treatment that Shiho & Yuki resent them over, but at the same time he puts a strain on Rui's relationship with Baba because it could distract her from her job. He also manages Shiho's side hustle as a Honey Trap, but he's not a fan of the idea himself and tries to get her out of it when she says she doesn't want to do it anymore. He used to be much more chill about it, but the cover up and forced collaboration with Yano wore him out.
- Poor Communication Kills: Yamamoto covering up the real Yuki's murder and using Sakura as a body double to hide her death in a well-intentioned attempt to protect Mystery Kiss ultimately caused more problems than it solved. Not only because it forced him and Mystery Kiss in the debt of the Yakuza, but the confusion involving the replaced "Yuki" made Odokawa unable to realize he'd actually ferried Sakura (aka Yuki's murderer) to the office that night until after Yuki's corpse is recovered and identified.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Downplayed. He's clearly out of his depth and is in it for Mystery Kiss — as their manager, he is deeply invested in their success. While he tries to kill Odokawa after the taxi driver tries to get him in on his gambit, once knocked out by Shirakawa he folds like a deck of cards and agrees to it on the condition the idol group comes out of it unscathed.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In truth, he's actually terrified of Sekiguchi, his handler in the Yakuza. Yamamoto is his and Yano's hostage, not partner.
- A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: The entire plot of the series began because of Yamamoto's decision to hide Yuki's death via his Yakuza connections in a desperate attempt to protect Mystery Kiss's debut. This action ultimately not only completely ruins Mystery Kiss's debut, but causes him and Rui to be arrested for Yuki's murder, while leaving the real murderer to go free due to said hiding Yuki's death making it difficult for Odokawa to figure out the girl he actually ferried that night.
- Villains Want Mercy: He still tries to ask Odokawa for forgiveness for all he's done, even after trying to murder Odokawa moments ago. Though Odokawa recognizes that he's a pitiable & desperate man, he doesn't quite offer Yamamoto forgiveness but instead ropes him into his own plan.
- Yakuza: It's implied and then later confirmed that he's working for Yano. That he presses Odokawa for his cab camera footage specifically after hearing that Odokawa may have met the missing girl is a big tell, but later on he's specifically called in by Yano to kidnap Kakihana. Subverted in that while Yamamoto is working for Yano, he is not actually part of the yakuza: in exchange for help with disposing of the original Yuki's body, Mystery Kiss are forced to provide the yakuza with a cut of all their future profits, as well as take part in any schemes they may be running.
Law Enforcement
Daimon Brothers
Older Brother (Kenshiro)
Kenshiro Daimon
Voiced by: Kohei (Japanese), Brandon McInnis (English)
The Dirty Cop
The older of the Daimon brothers, and the most proactive of the two. He is working with Dobu behind the scenes and believes Odokawa has something to do with the missing girl.
- Double Entendre: In episode 11, he mentions to Odokawa that "broadly speaking, they've been on the same side since the very beginning". Him and Odokawa are beneficiaries of the same charity and they work with Dobu... whose boss is actually running said charity.
- Dirty Cop: He's on the take from the Yakuza, aiding Dobu in harassing Odokawa for information on the missing Nerima girl. Later revealed that he's helping Dobu out of gratitude, not greed, since Dobu's superior Kuroda ran the charity that kept the brothers housed and fed after their parents' death.
- Freudian Excuse: He subtly antagonizes Odokawa because he dislikes taxi drivers, on account of their parents having been killed by one in a hit-and-run.
- Paper Tiger: Being a Dirty Cop working with Dobu should technically make him more unpredictable and dangerous, but it ends up doing the opposite. Yano and Sekiguchi beat the shit out of him and steal his car once they realize who he is and that he's risking much more than them.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The firm, serious and cool Blue Oni to Koshiro’s Red Oni.
Younger Brother (Koshiro)
Koshiro Daimon
Voiced by: Asei (Japanese), Bryce Papenbrook (English)
The By-the-Book Cop
The younger Daimon brother, who believes everything his big brother says.
- Black-and-White Morality: People are either evil or good to him. There is no in-between. He struggles to even comprehend Odokawa pretending to work for Dobu. He does ultimately manage to categorize what he considers "evil" in the end. Though he's firmly on the law's side, he believes that Yano and Sekiguchi beating up his brother is far worse than his brother being allied with Dobu and prioritizes arresting them first.
- Broken Pedestal: He doesn't react well to the revelation that his older brother is aiding Dobu. They still reconcile in the end, after his brother explains he was repaying Kuroda's charity - though he notes he'll arrest him anyway, hoping the system will treat him fairly.
- By-the-Book Cop: His obsessive desire for justice & order also extends to himself, as he's a big stickler for only working within his jurisdiction. He refuses to help Odokawa rescue Kakihana for this reason, though he isn't happy about it as he clearly would like to otherwise. Notably, he grows out of it, since right after denying help to Odokawa he goes to the harbor to shoot Dobu. He also arrests his older brother for allying with Dobu, though he wished the law were willing to forgive his brother for what he has done.
- Cowboy Cop: Implied he became one after Odokawa's interference. Despite his By-the-Book Cop protestations, he actually went to where Kakihana was held and was the one who shot at Dobu there.
- Dumbass Has a Point: His skepticism towards Odokawa's insistence that his older brother is working with Dobu isn't unreasonable since Odokawa's the only one trying to tell him that, and for all he knows Dobu could be trying to falsely implicate his big brother for his own purposes. The audience knows he's wrong, but at he at least has cause for reasonable doubt.
- Freudian Excuse: He distrusts taxi drivers because his and his older brother's parents were killed by one in a hit-and-run.
- Grew a Spine: Odokawa begins manipulating him into doing this. It works almost too well: while he doesn't follow Odokawa's plan to the letter, he's on his way to remove his brother, Yano and Dobu from the playing field. Earlier he secretly shot Dobu at the harbor, an uncharacteristically pro-active and subtle move on his part.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: His glasses.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Goofy, Absentminded and blabbermouth Red Oni to Kenshiro’s Blue Oni.
- Stupid Good: Unlike his older brother, younger Daimon isn't crooked and has a great desire to fight evil, but his naivety and Black-and-White Morality prevent him from doing his job as well as he could. He grows out of it, realizing there are shades of grey: that you sometimes have to sidestep the system and that there are levels to evil.
- Super Gullible: Whatever his brother tells him, that's the truth to him, no matter what anyone else says. Dobu mentions this makes him an idiot, so he really just needs to pay the older brother.
- Wild Card: What Odokawa's proddings ultimately turn him into. He indeed grows a spine, but ends up much less predictable: he ultimately doesn't follow Odokawa's plan, but shoots Dobu at the harbor, which proves a crucial Spanner in the Works when confronting Tanaka.
Friends
Kakihana
Eiji Kakihana
Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese), Lucien Dodge (English)
The Janitor
Odokawa's high school friend. A janitor in his early 40s trying to find a wife in a dating app and is worried about Odokawa's mental state.
- Butt-Monkey: Almost literally. Among his friends he's the one that everyone likes to poke fun at most often, though it's usually well-meaning. Though this is eventually Played for Drama when he winds up in a relationship he has no hope of sustaining, buries himself in debt to try anyway, and ultimately winds up captured & brutalized by Yakuza since it turned out the relationship he'd sacrificed so much for was all a scheme to get money out of him.
- Future Loser: He mentions in "Borrowed Plumes and the Bodyguard" that he used to be very popular in high school as a member of the baseball team, but as an adult, where standards for success and looks are higher, he did not do much in life. An attempt to reconnect to his glory days is behind for his desperate push to be with Shiho.
- Idiot Hair: He has a long strand of hair atop of his head, and he has the most immature personality out of the main cast. It is smaller in his human self.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Breaks down in a crying fit when he finds out Shiho was just leading him on to be a target for Yano.
- Mock Millionaire: He lies about his income on his dating profile to try and attract more women. While he tries to justify it by insisting that someone who truly loves him wouldn't mind him doing so, Shiho actually takes the bait, obligating him to put up a ruse about being well-off while taking out a huge loan to substantiate the lie. It also gets him into trouble with Yano, who captures Kakihana thinking he can extort out the money Kakihana never had to begin with.
- Something Else Also Rises: When he is messaged by a cute girl on a dating app, the hair on top of his head goes stiff.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Him and Odokawa give each other shit constantly, but they genuinely like each other. In fact, Kakihana becoming endangered by Yano and Dobu's war is the final push Odokawa needs to get his hands dirty.
Taeko
Taeko Harada
Voiced by: Tomoko Murakami (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English)
The Bartender
A woman who runs Yamabiko, the bar Odokawa and many of his acquaintances frequent.
- Brutal Honesty: When Kakihana asks if she'd ever consider a relationship with him, she responds with a blunt "no" the mere instance he asks.
- Hidden Wire: Turns out she is the owner of the heart-shaped pen which drives the audio drama. She confesses to Odokawa on the phone that she planted it on him because she mistakenly believed he had a hand in the Nerima Girl case.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: She wiretapped Odokawa because she believed he was involved in the Nerima Girl case. While she was wrong about the fact he had a direct hand in it, Odokawa was involved in the case indirectly as he was the one that ferried the culprit of said case that night.
- Uncertain Doom: The audio drama ends with Taeko being attacked by Sakura in order to retrieve the heart-shaped pen, with it left unclear if Taeko survived or not. The movie however, shows her recovering in the hospital and later re-opening her restaurant.
Criminals
Dobu
Kyouhei "Dobu" Mizoguchi
Voiced by: Kenji Hamada (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)
The Criminal
A mysterious man that walks around with a loaded revolver. He is involved with the Daimon brothers and may have some connection to the missing girl.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Albeit he still has the power to force Odokawa to help him, at the same time he actually grovels to Odokawa about how it's getting harder and harder for him to lay low, especially after Taichi publicly calls him out in a video that goes viral.
- All There in the Manual: The official guide book reveals his full name is Kyouhei Mizoguchi (溝口恭平, Mizoguchi Kyouhei), which includes the kanji 溝 for ditch. Dobu (どぶ) is an alternative reading of this kanji.
- Anime Hair: In his human form, his hair looks similar to his monkey form, a large pike of brown hair with orange tuffs in the back.
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: When threatening Odokawa doesn't work, he threatens to go after Odokawa's friends instead.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: He threatens Odokawa and his friends if Odokawa doesn't help him get the upper hand on Yano.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He doesn't remember scamming Tanaka at all, which proves to be his undoing.
- Domestic Abuse: Shirakawa is stuck in a relationship with him, with him holding her massive debt over her head as leverage. According to Shirakawa, Dobu also beats her.
- The Dreaded: Rumors abound that he's monstrously strong, capable of laying out several trained martial artists without breaking a sweat. This may not be all that exaggerated, as Dobu later beats the tar out of Sekiguchi despite the man being armed and about two feet taller than him.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Maybe. He insists he really didn't have anything to do with the missing girl, though he has no proof to back it up. He also adheres to a sense of pride, which Odokawa believes would prevent him from actually killing a person, but it's left ambiguous if he's right or not.
- In the manga, there's some extra dialog clarifying that one of the reasons he hasn't handed over the taxi recording he got is because he doesn't want his group to think he robbed Odokawa like a thug. Odokawa is confused as to why a criminal organization would have standards like that.
- He's not willing to hurt Kabasawa even despite him leading a viral internet campaign to catch Dobu and even framing him for a crime he didn't commit. While he does extort a bunch of stuff from Kabasawa in exchange, he at least leaves him with some constructive life advice to ensure he doesn't do wind up in such a lethally stupid situation ever again.
- He follows one rule imposed by his boss, Kuroda: "don't kill anyone".
- Evil Is Petty: His main motivation is to search for evidence that Yano has some connection to the missing girl and use it to bring him down, simply because Yano has been bad-mouthing Dobu and making him look bad.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's generally polite, is honest with Odokawa about his position and even his threats are relatively calm and practical, but his kind rapport is just a facade. In reality he's an abuser who only acts nice when he doesn't have an immediate advantage over someone.
- Frame-Up: He believes that somebody is trying to frame him for the missing girl, as he is the prime suspect of the police now. He also gets framed by Taichi for Tanaka shooting up a club on account off the latter wearing a mask in the act.
- Hidden Depths: Not only did he use to play Zooden, he was ranked #1 in the entire world in it.
- In a skit on the METEOR's album 2019, Dobu tells Yano that he was an American football player in a school club and suffered an injury on his leg.
- Jerkass Has a Point: He's not exactly wrong to call the younger Daimon brother an idiot for blindly believing everything his older brother says. He's also very accurate in guessing at what Tanaka's motives were for attacking the cabaret, deducing that he's after Odokawa and wants to terrorize and then kill him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Big time. For all he's gotten away with, over the course of the story Dobu suffers more and more as a consequence of his own blunders, especially when it comes to unwittingly arming Tanaka since Dobu was the one who prompted Tanaka's Start of Darkness in the first place by scamming him in the online auction all those years ago. It all culminates in Tanaka shooting him with his very own gun, leaving him close to death.
- Maniac Monkeys: While superficially tame, in truth he's a violent abusive Jerkass who'll threaten people's lives to get his way.
- Noble Demon: Seemingly: Dobu has a code, is blatantly honest with Odokawa and he ultimately just robs Kabasawa and even gives him some genuine pep talk. However, Odokawa aggressively rejects this interpretation after he thinks on it for a while and pondering it makes him even more deadset on taking Dobu down.
- Paper Tiger: Enforced. Kuroda gave his subordinates just one rule: don't kill anyone. Dobu pointedly refuses to tell his one rule to Odokawa because it would render all of his threats void.
- Pet the Dog: For a feared criminal, he has several instances of this:
- Despite him being under no obligation to until Odokawa upholds his end of the bargain, he excuses Shirakawa's debt to him after Odokawa agrees to be his getaway driver.
- He actually lets Kabasawa live upon seeing that he's just a pathetic college student, despite the grief Kabasawa caused him with his videos. He even gives Kabasawa a bit of legitimate life advice so that he can reflect on his Attention Whore behavior. Sure, he also takes Kabasawa's apartment, car, and money, and forces him to publicly apologize and take down his videos, but the fact that Kabasawa made it out with no significant injuries is still notable.
- Though he did force Odokawa into being his accomplice, his actual plan to rob Imai (or rather, Yano) is intended to ensure that Odokawa can get away scot-free and return to his ordinary life once everything is dealt with. He also offers to split the money with Odokawa even though he really doesn't have to.
- Smug Snake: Downplayed, in that Dobu is actually a very competent criminal and isn't above giving props where they are deserved. In the end he's this though, since he refuses to acknowledge other people as anything else but pawns to be manipulated. As such, he accumulates people he underestimates to his peril: he only vaguely realizes that Odokawa was playing his own game when he allied with him, and by the time he does it's already too late for him to figure out that Odokawa actually pulled off a complicated Xanatos Gambit; he dismisses the Younger Daimon as just an idiot, only for him to take initiative and shoot him... which in turn gets him shot by Tanaka, whom he underestimated based on his own faulty deductions.
- Spell My Name With An S: Either Dobu or Dob are acceptable transliterations of his name from Japanese.
- Too Clever by Half: Dobu rightly assumes that Tanaka would have serious trouble getting more bullets for his revolver, and counts every shot taken from the moment Tanaka arrives on the scene. In their final confrontation, Dobu confidently asserts that Tanaka's already used up all six shots and isn't a threat... except one bullet had actually been fired by a different person entirely, meaning Tanaka still had one in the chamber. Dobu winds up gut-shot for his mistake.
- He also rightly doesn't trust and yet incredibly underestimates Odokawa to his own peril, thinking he has him in complete control through threats. The threats only motivate Odokawa to get directly involved. Dobu himself only realizes that Odokawa might be scheming when they are on the finish line of Operation ODDTAXI, but he assumes he wants to drive him to the cops... while Odokawa is, indeed, driving to the money van because that's where his Spanner in the Works Tanaka is going to be.
- The Unapologetic: Bordering on Fatal Flaw. Dobu isn't too proud to admit mistakes, but he won't ever apologize, even when this would benefit him. This in particular confirms to Odokawa that he's irredeemable, since for all his Pet the Dog moments and supposed moral code he refuses to feel any remorse for what he does. This proves almost fatal: he first lies about not being ditch-11 and then refuses to apologize to Tanaka for scamming him, which gets him shot.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He accidentally arms a crazed Tanaka by burying his revolver in a location that Tanaka would find by chance while laying his pet bird to rest, thus endangering Odokawa's life even after he decided not to shoot him. Even worse, it allows Tanaka to shoot up a club while going after Odokawa, which Dobu himself gets framed for, and even after that he himself is endangered by his own gun when Tanaka attacks him and Odokawa in the taxi. Turns out this goes even further, as Dobu was ditch-11, meaning he unknowingly fueled almost two decades worth of Tanaka's near-homicidal resentment.
- Would Hit a Girl: In "Borrowed Plumes and the Bodyguard", Dobu mentions that he's willing to hurt Shirakawa if Odokawa doesn't help him figure out if Yano was involved in the missing girl from Nerima. Though since Shirakawa is his business partner supplying him with drugs to sell as a side job, he might have been lying to intimidate Odokawa. Shirakawa however does later tell Odokawa that Dobu beats her.
- Yakuza: An old-school thuggish type. His exact role in the organization is unknown, but he seems to be involved in drugrunning, intimidation, and extortion.
Kuroda
Shigeru Kuroda
Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda (Japanese), Bob Carter (English)
The Yakuza
A member of the Yakuza. Dobu and Yano's superior.
- Casting Gag: Fittingly for a member of the Yakuza, he just so happens to be voiced by Takaya Kuroda, most well known for voicing Yakuza protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu. To boot, this yakuza is also running an organisation helping out troubled children. Ironically, his human form rather closely resembles Shimano, one of Kiryu's enemies, and the back-to-front pattern of his tattoos is a dead ringer for that of Goro Majima.
- Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters: In the penultimate episode, it's revealed that he bankrolls a charity fund for victims of car accidents, making him the secret benefactor for the Daimon brothers and Odokawa.
- Noble Demon: He's obviously a criminal, but he seems fairly reserved and docile, while genuinely impressed with Odokawa's character when they have a talk in the sauna. That's because he remembers him: he's behind the foundation that took care of him after he lost his parents.
- Yakuza: Dobu and Yano's superior at the Yakuza, and he's got the tattoos to prove it.
Yano
Haruhito Yano
Voiced by: METEOR (Japanese), Darius Johnson (English)
The Junior
A yakuza that works as Dobu's junior. Dobu believes he might be behind the missing girl incident and is trying to frame him.
- All There in the Manual: Most of the tracks in 2019 provide more background into his yakuza background from the times he hanged out with Dobu and when he goes with Sekiguchi to conduct dirty business on the side.
- Benevolent Boss: Yano is ruthless, arrogant, and more than a little sadistic, but he treats Sekiguchi well and is openly grateful for his assistance. When Sekiguchi gets beaten to a pulp by Dobu and loses Kakihana in the process, Yano only shows a moment's dismay before moving on from the whole thing.
- Beware the Silly Ones: His Establishing Character Moment has him crashing into Odokawa while riding on a kick scooter and cursing him out in rhyme like a wannabe rapper, leaving Odokawa confused. The end of the episode that introduces him has him threateningly approach a bound and beaten Kakihana.
- Broken Pedestal: Implied. He used to look up to Dobu, his superior, for taking him under his wing after being taken to the Yakuza while he was a street urchin. But then, he grew to resent him because, in his words, he softened up.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: An up-and-coming young Yakuza officer who's trusted by his boss, respected by his underlings... and speaks exclusively in freestyle verse, even when there's no one around to listen.
- Conspicuous Gloves: He's always seen wearing a pair of black gloves.
- Dark and Troubled Past: All There in the Manual states he suffered a severely abusive and neglectful upbringing, and ran away from home when he was just 15. He ended up joining Kuroda's organization when Dobu found him as a teenage street urchin.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: He cracks up when Kakihana starts crying while lying to his mother over the phone that he's fine.
- Gratuitous English: Due to his constant rapping, he often shouts our english words.
- Gratuitous Rap: No real context is given as to why he always speaks in verse, so when Odokawa meets him for the first time, he's understandably at a loss for words when Yano starts talking. He even raps during phone calls such as when he calls Yamamoto.
- Messy Hair: He has long spines for hair on his head that act like this. His human self's hairstyle is practically identical.
- The Napoleon: The shortest of the criminals with the shortest temper, and a loud personality to boot.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Yano learns the money they stole was fake and that he was tricked by Dobu, who placed the decoy and stole the real money, Yano becomes so furious he drops his Bunny-Ears Lawyer attitude and stops speaking in verse, as noted by Sekiguchi.
- Ordered Apology: When he crashed with Odokawa, he rants to him over it and demands an apology. He does get one.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Subverted, Yano's more flamboyant appearance and deamor would fool the viewer into believing that he's less vicious and cutt throat despite his profession. An example of this is his early posturing to Odokawa after he crashed into him, only to also apologize after Odokawa gave him apology. But then we learn that Yano is running a honeypot scam and subjects Kakihana to Cold-Blooded Torture when its time to collect what he is owed.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Despite being a 27-year-old, he does have childish mannerisms, such as roaming around on a scooter, eating candy, not to mention the weird affection of rapping everything. Not only that, when the money they stole turned out to be a decoy set up by Dobu, he throws a giant hissy-fit. The psychopathic part comes from him being an unrepentant criminal.
- Rags to Riches: He was a poor country kid before getting involved with the Yakuza.
- Rhymes on a Dime: He speaks almost exclusively in verse like a rapper.
- Sinister Sweet Tooth: Can often be seen sucking on a lollipop.
- Smug Snake: Fancies himself as a more savvy and intellectual breed of criminal than his mentor Dobu, but he winds up getting played by just about everybody. His hostage Kakihana is liberated, his tracking down of Imai was orchestrated by Odokawa who also turned the blackmailed Yamamoto under his nose, and Dobu completely sabotages his plan to make off with the 1 billion. If it hadn't been for Sekiguchi realizing that Daimon was on Dobu's payroll and Tanaka intercepting Dobu, Yano would have been the unambiguous loser in his and Dobu's contest.
- Villainous Breakdown: When he learned the money they robbed was fake and that they were tricked by Dobu, he has a huge freakout, even stops speaking in verse. Even going as far as to try to forcing Odokawa off the road, coming very close to breaking Kuroda's no-kill rule.
- Yakuza: He started off as Dobu's junior, before striking out on his own. Most of his crimes involve some degree of extortion or blackmail.
Sekiguchi
Togo Sekiguchi
Voiced by: Chado Horii (Japanese), Chris Tergliafera (English)
The Handler
A man that works with Yamamoto. He's also an underling of Yano.
- Bald of Evil: His human self's head is shaved.
- Bears Are Bad News: He's a tall polar bear and a violent yakuza thug.
- The Brute: Massive, short-tempered, and quick to violence, though far more intelligent than he appears.
- The Dragon: Yano's second, he does the dirty work and serves as a foil to his boss' impulses.
- Genius Bruiser: He initially comes across as just another crook, but Sekiguchi turns out to be quite talented at investigation and forensics, deducing the location of Imai's new apartment just by some background noise in Imai's Twitter feed. Yano even says that Sekiguchi's brainpower freaks him out a little. Does him little good in the end, since while he proposes checking the other suitcases in episode 12, he can't override Yano.
- Oh, Crap!: In episode 9, he barely keeps it together when he finds Dobu knocking at his door, asking him to leave instead of jumping right into a brawl.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: If "Bless you" is any indication, he and Yamamoto don't exactly get along despite being often seen next to each other. Sekiguchi is frustrated by Yamamoto's insistence on following through with Mystery Kiss, viewing it as a wasteful use of resources that could be spent on easier money-making prospects. On the opposite end, Yamamoto is actually terrified of his much larger and more violent partner.
- Yakuza: Along with Yamamoto, he works for Yano.
Homo Sapiens
General
A comedy duo that is trying to make it big with their routine, however, they're not doing great at that.
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Homo Sapiens, a comedy duo comprised of Shibagaki and Babanote , are going for this in their comedy act, but are pretty bad at it — except when they're not trying to be funny.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Shibagaki's insecurity botches their potential big break and Baba confronts him about their incompatibility. They are last shown in still going at it as a team, but they look a lot happier with each other on stage.
- Fat and Skinny: Shibagaki is a stout & stocky pig while Baba is a tall, thin horse.
- Punny Name: Presumably they are called Homo Sapiens because they are "wise guys".
- Small Role, Big Impact: Inverted. Their squabbles are a prominent arc throughout the series and they hold important connections to other characters - Shibagaki is Imai's co-worker while Baba is dating Mystery Kiss' Rui, but while every other character is tied in meaningful ways to the main thread, narratively the two of them are in the series mostly for a single joke on the similarity between "tsukkomi" (the straight man in a comedy act) and "tsukkomu" (a car crashing) when Odokawa dives into Tokyo Bay in the finale.
Baba
Atsuya Baba
Voiced by: Atsuhiro Tsuda (Japanese), Brent Mukai (English)
The Straight Man
The younger member of the duo. Baba isn't as committed as his partner to make it as a comedian, believing himself to be the weak link of the two.- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: He’s dating Rui who is much shorter than him.
- Irony: Despite the both of them considering himself the weak link of the duo, Baba is the one who winds up becoming a more successful entertainer when he works solo, to the point Shibagaki is the one who becomes vestigial to Baba's career.
- He quit his job to devote more time to Homo Sapiens, only for the popularity he gained from the routine to grow so much that he hardly has time to do it anymore.
- Despite his meek personality, he's the angry, boorish part of the act.
- Opposites Attract: His complete lack of ambition is what made the driven, career-obsessed Rui fall for him.
- Secret Relationship: "Let Me Hear You Say, 'What the Hell?'" reveals he seems to have a genuine relationship with Rui, though they have to keep their interactions behind closed doors in public. It's outed in the end when Rui gets arrested, and it's suggested they broke up at least in public.
Shibagaki
Kensuke Shibagaki
Voiced by: Yusuke (Japanese), SungWon Cho (English)
The Wise Guy
The older member of the duo. He seems to be pretty talented as a comedian and wants him and his partner to succeed in the field.
- Creator Breakdown: An In-Universe one, in which he forgets his part of the routine during a comedy contest with an actual audience watching, and just collapses into a furious rant that he should have never gotten into comedy.
- Irony: He's a constant complainer and has the more aggressive personality, yet he's playing the meek doofus in the comedy act.
- Jerkass: Shibagaki's loud, abrasive and takes everything personally. Most apparent in the last episode of the audio drama, where his antics embarrass both Baba and Imai.
- Pig Man: He's a walking, talking boar.
- The Scrappy: In-universe, he is definitely the more controversial and less popular half of Homo Sapiens, recieving almost no attention from fans or studios while Baba only grows in popularity. When Baba is swarmed by fans at one point, they don't so much acknowledge that Shibagaki is even there.
- Serious Business: He takes comedy much more seriously than Baba does, which leads to many rants on his part about how standards for comedy should or shouldn't be. It goes even further than that come "Let Me Hear You Say, 'What the Hell?'", where he tries to goad Tanaka into shooting him all because he thought it might be good material for a joke. Deconstructed as it's why he's the least popular half of the duo and plays into their lack of success as he refuses to make changes to improve their routine for the better because he believes it's the audience's fault for not finding them funny.
Students
Nagashima
Satoshi Nagashima
Voiced by: Mahiro Takasugi (Japanese), A.J. Beckles (English)
The Homo Sapiens Fan
A high school student who's a fan of Homo Sapiens, and often writes in giving them constructive criticism. He's also the host of the anime's Audio Adaptation.
- Ascended Fanboy: Aspires to this. For all his criticism of Homo Sapiens, he adores manzai and wants to become Shibagaki's partner, insisting that Baba's heart is no longer in it.
- Brutal Honesty: He doesn't pull punches with telling Homo Sapiens when and how their humor doesn't work. That said, he does keep it constructive and, since he's a fan of the group, likely just wants them to improve and succeed more.
- Hero of Another Story: He's the focus of the audio drama which consists of recordings from the wiretapped ballpoint pen pinballing between the cast - he gathers the recorded conversations in a podcast format.
- Meaningful Name: The "naga" in his surname means "long", in reference to his long neck since he's a giraffe.
- Serious Business: He takes comedy even more seriously than Shibagaki, though Shibagaki doesn't find it endearing.
Kabasawa
Taichi Kabasawa
Voiced by: Takashi (Japanese), Zeno Robinson (English)
The Vlogger
A college student who wants to go viral online. After one of his tweets of a selfie of himself with Odokawa gets traction, he is inspired to keep trying.
- Aesop Amnesia: Somewhat. By episode 13 and the "Next Episode trailers" (which are implied to take place during the New Years Eve party), he's returned to social media, even saying he'll quit job hunting to focus on making a living from it. However, he does acknowledge that he made some serious mistakes during his time going viral, and in the last half of the final episode, he's still studying how to get a job.
- Attention Whore: Kabasawa trying to trend on Twitter that he's finding ways to make himself go viral.
- Bullying a Dragon: He's an out-of-shape college kid who makes himself a social media sensation by publicly threatening Dobu, a veteran enforcer for the Yakuza. Peaks in episode 9, where he goes to confront Dobu alone, finds him incapacitated, and takes his eyes off the gangster so that he can gloat at his phone instead. It ends badly for him.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Odokawa is convinced he's just kidding himself about it, but Kabasawa really does go on to produce viral content. First with his selfie with Odokawa which gets thousands of likes and shares, then with his video campaign against Dobu which gets millions of views and quickly earns him just as many subscribers. Trouble is, he never devised any plan to maintain the fame, so it all comes crashing down once Dobu thwarts him.
- Dirty Coward: Despite all his bravado online, his fellow students know him as a weak-willed wimp who's just desperate for attention. Sure enough, once Dobu finally gets his hands on him, Kabasawa folds like a deck of cards.
- Glory Seeker: He's nothing but an ineffectual university student, but his desire to become a viral sensation eventually drives him to publicly vow to catch Dobu, a hardened criminal.
- Punny Name: The "kaba" in his name is a homophone for "hippo" in Japanese.
Persons of Interest
Missing Girl (MAJOR UNMARKED SPOILERS)
The Missing Girl from Nerima (Name: Yuki Mitsuya)
Voiced by: Akari Kitou (Japanese), Anairis Quiñones (English)
The Missing Girl- The Ace: She is revealed to be an outstanding student and entertainer, to the point she can get into an idol group just because she felt like it, and manages to do it while still being on the track and field team of her school.
- Ambiguous Situation: She reacts in shock to being promoted over Rui as the group's lead, but why is not elaborated on. Adding fuel to the fire she's just as ambitious as Rui, yet hid her family connection and dies shortly after.
- Connected All Along: Her father turns out to be specifically Donraku Shofutei.
- Dead All Along: She was killed by her replacement Sakura before the present events of the anime. The missing person report was just a ruse to hide this.
- The Ghost: Understandable since she is missing after all, but even within that scope her identity is never given out, not even on the news. Multiple characters have apparently seen her or know who she is, but the viewer is left in the dark to preserve the mystery. All that's afforded to the audience is that she's (probably) a cat. "If We Could Go Back To That Day" reveals she's the real Yuki Mitsuya, and in fact her identity was actively concealed from the media as part of the plan to dispose of her after she died.
- Mafia Princess: Subverted; her father was possibly affiliated with the Yakuza, but according to Kuroda she might have disappeared deliberately because she disapproved of this. Her father is the famous rakugo performer Donraku Shofutei, however, so she's still certainly a "princess".
- Random Species Offspring: Subverted. She's a cat while her father is a mandrill, but since everyone being animals is just Odokawa's mental illness, they're actually both human so this doesn't apply.
- Spanner in the Works: Her disappearance is this for a lot of people, but ultimately most importantly for Odokawa. Specifically, the reveal of her death - it takes out the leverage he had over Yamamoto and completely breaks Imai's spirit, derailing the plan to take out Yano and Dobu in one go.
- Uncertain Doom: Between everyone's knowledge of what could have happened to her, it's not even clear if she's still alive or not, though evidence points toward the former. "If We Could Go Back To That Day" confirms that she, Yuki Mitsuya, is certainly dead.
- Walking Spoiler: As a natural consequence of her disappearance and identity being a major mystery of the story, it's utterly impossible to even mention her name without giving away the plot twists relating to her.
Tanaka
Hajime Tanaka
Voiced by: Soma Saito (Japanese), Aleks Le (English)
The Game Developer
A developer for a game company, Tanaka's past traumas and addiction to the mobile phone game "Zoological Garden" begin to drive him insane during the story.
- Addled Addict: His obsession with Zooden takes a toll on him. His narration explicitly admits it's a sickness, which degrades his mental and physical health while he throws millions of yen into his game.
- Ambiguously Christian: Refers to and thinks of God in a monotheistic, Abrahamic sort of sense and uses the Japanese Christian terminology (Kami-sama), although eventually, his Sanity Slippage leads to him thinking of Him as a sort of programmer. Yet, when he visualizes God, it's as a fox with Buddhist iconography.
- Animal Motif: Ironically for an anthropomorphic cat, birds. When a kid, he was obsessed with birds, both his pet and his dodo eraser. In his adulthood, he desperately seeks a dodo on a gacha game. The death of his pet bird is the last drop on the bucket that causes him to break.
- Axe-Crazy: His descent into madness culminates in him becoming a homicidal maniac who's willing to attempt a shooting at a club to try and get Odokawa, then later attack him on the road.
- Butt-Monkey: Played for Drama. Getting scammed and beaten in his childhood affected him badly, fueling a years-long addiction to a phone game in an attempt to achieve some sense of accomplishment. When Odokawa's panicked driving in "Borrowed Plumes and the Bodyguard" destroys his phone just as he unlocked a super-rare drop he became emotionally fixated on, he snaps.
- Cats Are Mean: He's a puma and becomes a homicidal maniac who's willing to attempt a shooting at a club to try and get Odokawa, then later attack him on the road.
- Catchphrase: That's an exaggeration. Actually, it's a lie. He says this during his narration when he realizes he is overdramatizing his own story.
- Character Narrator: "Tanaka's Revolution" is narrated by his inner thoughts and explanations for his actions.
- The Con: He fell for a fraudulent online auction as a child, dumping thousands of yen of his father's credit, only to have to auctioneer disappear with no refunds.
- Contrived Coincidence: He becomes a recipient of three — he discovers that the top-ranked player of his favorite game uses the same username as the online conman that duped him, gains and loses the rarest prize in said game on the same day his pet parakeet dies of old age, and finally just happens to discover Dobu's buried gun while burying said bird.
- Creepy Monotone: Speaks exclusively in an incredibly detached and listless whisper post-Sanity Slippage.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Tanaka's Revolution" is entirely about him and the unexpected trouble he is about to cause Odokawa later.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He was duped in an online con, which resulted in his father beating him bloody in a fit of rage. His older brother also hit him for touching his things at least once. While he shows no outward sign of it affecting him, it nonetheless plays a part in his addiction to Zoological Garden, as he becomes obsessed with getting lucky at something for once in his life.
- Disproportionate Retribution: He's looking to murder Odokawa, not for almost running him over, but because this caused him to drop his phone into a gutter right after he got the rarest drop in his gacha game. Subverted. While he doesn't exactly recognize the disproportion, by the time he has Odokawa dead to rights he's so drained by everything that he just wants an apology.
- Driven to Suicide: After he shoots Dobu, he's on his way to attempt this by drowning. However, witnessing Odokawa's incredible car dive over the moonlit sky seems to inspire him to push past the Despair Event Horizon.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: The last we see him he's deleting Zooden from his phone and smiling at his office, implying he's finally on the road to recovery.
- Escapism: Part of what feeds into his gaming addiction is that he feels games are best enjoyed apart from other people or real life, and as time goes on he withdraws more and more into games while shirking real-life responsibilities.
- Even Evil Has Standards: He ends up crashing his van while pursuing Odokawa because, despite his poor mental state, he still draws the line at running over a stray cat and ends up swerving to avoid one crossing the street.
- Frame-Up: He unintentionally ends up pulling this on Dobu when he attacks Imai's cabaret club in search of Odokawa. Due to him using Dobu's gun while masked and Kabasawa's own accusations, everyone thinks that Dobu was responsible.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Tanaka is slowly driven insane by his addiction to mobile games and frustration of being unremarkable. Odokawa breaking his phone pushes him over the edge and turns him into a masked murderer.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Downplayed, or an unusual example. By episode 12, Tanaka is so broken that he admits he just wants Odokawa to apologize for the pain he unknowingly caused and acknowledge him as a person. It almost seems to work - what breaks him is Dobu first lying and then refusing to apologize for scamming him years ago, even though he has nothing to lose from just acknowledging what happened.
- Karma Houdini: By the last episode he appears to have returned to his normal life and job, not facing any consequences for anything he did while he was out for revenge.
- Knight of Cerebus: The plot kicks into high gear and becomes much darker with his arrival - he puts Odokawa in real danger and since he's confused for Dobu, he puts the latter's plans into motion quicker.
- Malevolent Masked Men: He conceals his identity with a skull mask when he attempts to hunt down Odokawa in the cabaret club Imai works at.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: He's a completely silent pursuer willing to open fire if he thinks it will lure Odokawa out for a killing shot.
- Now What?: A more mundane example. He's never satisfied with anything he gains or achieves, which is what drives his gambling addiction. Even his Roaring Rampage of Revenge bores him before he's able to see it through, and when he shoots Dobu, it just drives him completely off the deep end.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After he loses his super-rare gacha drop from Odokawa's driving, and then discovers Dobu's buried gun, Tanaka becomes obsessed with taking revenge on "the taxi driver".
- Sanity Slippage: "Tanaka's Revolution" depicts his Kafkaesque slide into homicidal intent over a broken phone and an online game. After he shoots Dobu, he runs off screaming.
- Serious Business: In his youth, it was eraser collecting since that was the only real way he knew of to stand out. At the height of his obsession with the hobby, he stole his father's credit card and sunk the equivalent of a grand on bidding for a rare eraser online. In the present, it's the mobile game Zoological Garden, which he's spent four years playing obsessively and at present cares more about it than just about everything else in his life.
- Slasher Smile: He flashes a seriously grotesque one upon recognizing Odokawa's taxi.
- Spanner in the Works: Odokawa deliberately engineers him into one of these for Operation ODDTAXI, baiting him to the site of the 1 billion yen in hopes that he and Dobu will take each other out. It works.
- Stopped Caring: By episode 12 he admits that even with his tenuous grasp on reality, he's just so broken and tired by his repeated misfortunes that he just wants Odokawa to acknowledge what he inadvertently done and apologize to him.
- Tragic Villain: The string of misfortune that wore away at his sanity essentially began all because he was a kid who didn't know any better, and lacked the guidance to avoid setting into motion the events that would drive him over the edge. He definitely needs help, but whether he'll get it or whether it's too late for him has yet to be seen.
- Trauma Conga Line: Always shown up by his peers at school, accidentally loses a bunch of his father's money to a scam, gets beaten by his brother and father for it, develops a crippling gaming addiction, nearly gets hit by a car, loses the very thing he'd spent so much time and money to obtain in the game right after getting it as a result, and loses his pet bird to old age.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: A rare example of someone who realizes this before actually getting revenge, deciding that shooting Odokawa wouldn't make him feel any better and he'd rather just have his misery acknowledged by him... and then he discovers Dobu is ditch-11. Even then, shooting Dobu just reduces him to a screaming mess and after he calms down in the finale, it's clear he received no catharsis from it.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Downplayed. He's prone to making statements that make his life seem more dramatic and anime-like, then admitting the truth is much more mundane and most of his problems are his own fault. But after the aforementioned Trauma Conga Line he becomes convinced that God intended him to find the gun, and to get a shot at redemption.
Civilians
Imai
Shun Imai
Voiced by: Koudai Sakai (Japanese), Sean Chiplock (English)
The Waiter
A young and broke waiter that is a die-hard fan of Mystery Kiss and one of their first fans. He dreams of becoming rich enough to buy more of their merch and CDs.
- Break the Cutie: Between being targeted by gangsters out to take all of his money and seeing Mystery Kiss's debut ruined by the news of Yuki's death, Imai definitely loses his usual chipper demeanor as the plot thickens.
- Celeb Crush: While he likes Mystery Kiss as a whole group, he definitely has it bad for Rui in particular. He blushes hard when interacting with her and splurges on tickets for a raffle that would allow him to spend more time with her. When it looks like she'll go to jail, he keeps an open mind and seems excited about the experience of visiting his favorite idol in jail.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: He survives the ordeal unscathed, donates some of the money to Odokawa in gratitude, makes some new friends at the New Year's Eve party and he has a slightly healthier attitude now: while still decidedly in Rui's corner, he acknowledges that if she's truly guilty he won't have issues dropping support for her.
- Fanboy: He's one of the first fans Mystery Kiss ever had and dedicates himself a lot to them. He even wants to get more money just so he can spend on more of their merch and CDs. Rui is his favorite by far, but he's a fan of the group as a whole and is genuinely heartbroken when news of Yuki's death breaks.
- Keet: Though he's older than most examples, Imai is almost always energetic and cheerful, speaks loud & passionate about things like his love for Mystery Kiss, and even has Youthful Freckles. His enthusiasm is so overbearing that Odokawa actually finds it a little unsettling.
- Nice Guy: Despite his Keet tendencies, he's a very friendly person who genuinely cares about Mystery Kiss and their success, enough so that Rui is comfortable talking with him about troubles the group is having. He's also nice to Odokawa, offering to give him anything he wants after winning the lottery as thanks for giving him the winning numbers.
- Rags to Riches: In "Let Me Hear You Say, 'What the Hell?'" he actually manages to win a billion yen from a lottery based on the random numbers Odokawa supplied him, though it's obvious he's not planning ahead, since he intends to hold off on cashing in the ticket until he has a chance to blow it on Mystery Kiss merchandise.
- Too Dumb to Live: As Odokawa eventually points out to him, publicly announcing on the internet that he got rich from the lottery was not a smart thing to do, inspiring both Dobu and Yano to come after him for the money.
- Verbal Tic: Ends many of his sentences with the colloquial "-su".
Donraku
Donraku Shofutei
Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (Japanese), Jake Eberle (English)
The Performer
A famous rakugo performer whom Odokawa is a fan of.- Affectionate Nickname: Called "Don-chan" by Kuroda, and he calls him "Kuro-chan", despite both being grown men, hinting that they are indeed extremely close.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: A very justified example, since he'd just learned that his missing daughter has been Dead All A Long.
- Outliving One's Offspring: He outlives his daughter, Yuki Mitsuya, A.K.A. the missing girl, who turns out to be Dead All Along, even considering putting his career on hold.
Others
ditch- 11
ditch-11 (Dobu)
The online handle belonging to both a scam auction account and the top-ranked player of the phone game "Zoological Garden".
- Con Man: "ditch-11" was the online name of the auctioneer selling the Donraku eraser with a "no refund or return" caveat. After a young Tanaka dropped 100,000 yen on it, ditch-11 didn't deliver on their end.
- Contrived Coincidence: After the online handle was used for a scam Tanaka fell for, it reappears later belonging to the top player for the same mobile phone game he gets hooked to, unsettling him.
- The Ghost: Tanaka only saw the handle twice in his life, and isn't even sure if it is the same person. Nonetheless, the name is enough to unsettle him and play a part in his mental breakdown. It turns out he is none other than Dobu.
- Two Aliases, One Character: The ditch-11 that scammed Tanaka 16 years ago and ranked first placed on "Zoological Garden" and the Dobu we know through the series are one the same.
