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Main Characters

Rinne Rokudo

Rinne is a dirt-poor teenager of mixed human and Shinigami heritage. He lived with his human grandfather until he passed away, and now takes up residence in Sankai High's abandonded club building. He makes most of his livings off of the weather hutch offerings made by his classmates. He never seems to catch a break in the monetary department, mostly because of Jerkass father stealing from his accounts and sending him bills.

Accidental Pervert: Happens during the arc where Sakura becomes temporarily unable to see ghosts and also the target of an evil spirit grand prix, forcing Rinne to protect her 24/7. At one point she starts taking off her clothes so she can take a bath, and Rinne immediately runs away blushing like a tomato, but not before catching a glimpse of Sakura in her bra. This scene stands out as it's the only moment in the entire series to feature this kind of humor. The anime also toned it down by making Rinne run away as soon as Sakura starts unbuttoning her shirt.
Attractive Bent-Gender: When he dresses in a maid uniform to try and capture a damashigami, he takes advantage of his situation to win the school's Mr. Lady competition. Sakura and her female friends agree he looks cute, Tsubasa is at a loss for words.
Berserk Button: Avoids unnecessarily losing his temper other than for work reasons, but a few trivial matters set him off to no end:
- Making him spend more money than he needs to.
- People messing up his luxury meals (which for him include instant noodles, since his standards for "luxury" foods are quite low considering his poverty).
Benevolent Boss: Rokumon is technically his employee and he's nothing but kind and respectful to him. He's even willing to spend money for Rokumon when he's sick.
Blood from the Mouth: Can happen in two different ways. One is a when he goes into a money-induced Heroic BSoD, either because he spent a particularly huge amount of money himself (essentialy a powered-up version of his regular Tears of Blood) or he saw someone else casually spend a lot of money on something non-essential. The other way for this to happen is when he tries to hold his blood tears back, as the blood will come out of his mouth instead.
Calling Your Attacks: Always shouts "Purify!" when using his scythe during an exorcism.
Cannot Spit It Out: He has feelings for Sakura, he can admit it to himself but not to anyone else.
Childhood Friends: He was friends with Matsugo in elementary school. Rinne finds his current obsession with him annoying, though.
Clothes Make the Superman: Physically, Rinne is a normal human with an outlandish hair color... Until he slips into the Haori of the Underworld and takes on the qualities that a normal shinigami or ghost would have.
The Comically Serious: He almost always reacts to everything in his usual monotone voice, whether the situation is serious or not.
Crazy Jealous Guy: Downplayed. He gets annoyed when someone makes a move on Sakura, but his jealous behavior is far from crazy.
Crazy-Prepared: Downplayed, but he usually has a plan or gadget waiting for his clients.
Curtains Match the Window: Red eyes and red hair to match.
Custom Uniform: He gets away with wearing his middle school track uniform to school, since he can't afford the high school uniform. Given how eager he is to get a regular uniform in an early chapter, he'd probably change it if he could.
Disguised in Drag: Rinne decides to dress in a maid uniform to try and capture a damashigami who is kidnapping school girls. It works. He actually has to unmask himself as male to his opponent when he defeats him.
Do Wrong, Right: When Renge found a lost shinigami license and used it to create a fake one for herself, she forgot to change the license's serial number. Once Rinne found out, he scolded Renge for making such an amateur mistake. Renge then told Rinne that he sounds just like his dad, sending Rinne into a Heroic BSoD.
Everyone Can See It: It's really, really obvious that Rinne has a crush on Sakura. Tsubasa's called him out on this before.
Failure Is the Only Option: There's only a handful of chapters where Rinne isn't ripped off in the end; and even then the reward's usually nothing monetary, including a hand-made scarf and a kotatsu (that he can't really use as his room doesn't have electricity). Subverted and Lampshaded in one chapter.
Sakura: So you didn't spend any money and you got your reward. That's rare, isn't it?
Freudian Excuse: Rinne seems to have an irrational hatred for damashigami, who attempt to claim the souls of people who aren't scheduled to die yet to fill their quota. Aside from that questionable method, Sakura also later finds out that it's because his father is their leader, and constantly puts debt on Rinne that he then is forced to pay off. Consequently, Rinne isn't too fond of his father.
Full-Name Basis: He always refers to Sakura by her full name. Notably she's the only person he does it to, emphasising how polite he tries to be to her.
Hates Their Parent: Every time he sees his father, Rinne only wants to beat the crap out of him. Given that his father runs an illegal company that makes money out of basically kidnapping and killing people, is the main reason why his son is perpetually broke, and has never once shown any sort of genuine affection for his son, Rinne is completely justified to hate his father's guts.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Despite being the main character whose duty is to save souls and protect people, a lot of chapters show he has a low opinion of himself due to his poverty.
Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Whenever Sabato did show up in his life, it was to steal from him.
Honor Before Reason: One arc has Rinne being accused of not paying his monthly 500 yen membership fee for the Young Shinigami's Association. Instead of just paying the money again, Rinne decides to investigate so he can find the money and prove his innocence. This would be perfectly fine due to his Perpetual Poverty status... except that Rinne paid 500 yen to buy tools for his investigation anyways.
Rinne: And so, I used 500 yen to buy this second-hand detective set. The results of my investigation...
Kain: Stop right there. How much did you just spend again?
Rinne: 500 yen.
Kain: Why didn't you just pay the fee then!?
Rinne: I refuse. I already paid the fee.
Invisible to Normals: He turns into his spirit form with his haori on, making him invisible to people that can't see spirits.
Laser-Guided Amnesia: Gave it to himself as a child by using a Shinigami tool made for this exact purpose. The memory he erased was of Matsugo having a Bring My Brown Pants incident, as Rinne didn't want to risk telling anyone by accident.
Like Father, Unlike Son: While he's the spitting image of his dad, they're the exact opposite in personality. Rinne is heroic, hardworking and responsible, while Sabato is a villainous and corrupt borderline sociopath.
Limited Wardrobe: Very limited. He at best owns two outfits—his middle school tracksuit, and his haori. Any other clothes he's seen wearing is lent to him by other people, usually for work reasons.
Living with the Villain: In addition of going to the same school, the Damashigami Renge moves in as his next-door neighbor.
Minor Living Alone: Rinne was initally raised by his grandparents in the human world, but once his human grandfather passed away, Rinne's shinigami grandmother lost her permission to live in the human world, forcing Rinne to live alone. He technically stops living alone once Rokumon moves in, but Rokumon is only a child so this trope still applies.
Mr. Vice Guy: Rinne is one of the kindest and most altruistic characters in the cast, but he's also clearly inherited a small fraction of his father's greed and laziness.
Mundane Luxury: When your pleasures in life include eating bread crumbs with—and meant for—birds, as well as munching on grass for a meal, anything beyond that is a luxury.
Nice Guy: He's incredibly kind, patient, and willing to do anything to save the living and give peace to the dead. He'll even pay out of his incredibly sad wallet if he has to.
Not So Above It All: While he's pretty much a saint, when it comes to money he's willing to break his morals. But even then he refuses to let innocent people be hurt.
Official Couple: Sakura and Rinne start to go out at the very end of the series.
Only Friend: Rinne was Matsugo's only friend when they were kids. This made Rinne's apparent betrayal much more cruel for Matsugo.
Perpetual Poverty: Very poor, to the point he'll do anything to save 500 yen (about 5 dollars). Justified however, as Rinne is not a full shinigami meaning he has to purchase and/or rent shinigami tools for jobs where he can't just use his scythe to force a spirit to pass on. That, and his father constantly steals anything he manages to save up for a rainy day.
Proper Tights with a Skirt: He wears this when dressed as a maid in chapter 26 of the manga/episode 9 of the anime.
Raised by Grandparents: His jackass dad wasn't around much and his mother went missing when he was a baby. Rinne was primarily raised by his paternal grandparents.
Riches to Rags: While not rich per se, Rinne lived quite comfortably back when he lived with his grandparents. Nevertheless, his current Perpetual Poverty is so extreme it definitely qualifies for this. Rinne once mentioned that his previous living conditions are so radically different from his current ones that he struggles to remember there was ever a time he wasn't dirty poor.
Shared Family Quirks: As different as Rinne and Sabato might be, when it comes to money Rinne can be just as conniving as his dad if he wants to be.
She Is Not My Girlfriend: Despite his feelings for her, Rinne is defensive whenever Sakura is thought to be his girlfriend.
Sins of Our Fathers: Some people who got screwed over by his father, like Kain, retaliate on Rinne when they can't find his father, even though he's as much of a victim of his father's villainy as they are.
The Stoic: He's very calm and collected. Whenever large amount of money are involved (Hell, money in general), Rinne loses his cool exterior.
Strong Family Resemblance: He's a sixteen-year-old version of Sabato. We'd imagine he's not very happy about it.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He's very serious and cool-headed most of the time, but can show a softer and caring side to Sakura and Rokumon.
Tears of Blood: Rinne suffers through bloody tears whenever he has to spend a lot of money on something.
Took a Level in Cheerfulness: He gets more emotional as the series continues.
Uneven Hybrid: He's three-quarter shinigami and one quarter human through his paternal grandfather.
Unresolved Sexual Tension: He and Sakura like each other but only acknowledge each other as good friends since they're mostly unaware of their own feelings, let alone each other's. The shinigami work and other suitors getting in the way also often sideline any progress between the two.
Unwitting Test Subject: He's usually a reluctant guinea pig to Right and Left's "inventions".
Weaksauce Weakness: Apparently, Rinne's got a severe case of motion sickness. This proves to be a hassle to him when he has to tend to a wandering spirit that's bound to a bus.
Work Off the Debt: The reason he's so poor and works very hard with his shinigami activities is to pay off family debt. Initially this is stated to be his grandmother Tamako's debt for extending his grandfather's lifespan; however it's revealed that 1) she finished paying it off years ago and 2) the actual debt burdening Rinne is his father Sabato's, as he co-signs his son for all his loans. Since Sabato keeps taking out excessive loans and keeps making new debt for him, Rinne rarely catches a break.

Sakura Mamiya

Voiced by: Marina Inoue

A girl who was spirited away as a child. Thanks to Rinne's grandmother Tamako buying her candy from the afterlife, Sakura has the ability to see and talk to ghosts. She first thought Rinne was a ghost when he appeared in homeroom, but later found out he was 'human' when she headbutted him on the streets.

Beware the Nice Ones: Sakura rarely gets angry, jealous, or upset. When you mess with Rinne's life, however, she takes control.
Cherry Blossom Girl: Named Sakura, can see ghosts and supernatural beings, is the love interest of a 1/4 Shinigami.
Childhood Friends: She was friends with Tsubasa as a child. Their shared ability to see spirits is what made him fall for her. The two reunite in high school after he moves back in town; it takes a while for her to remember him but she otherwise considers him a good friend in the present (even if she doesn't return his feelings).
Clingy Jealous Girl: A very mild example. When she sees Rinne with other girls like Ageha, she just tries to ignore and avoid him instead of getting all clingy and violent. But she does have a tendency of misinterpreting some of what Rinne has done or said that makes its look like Rinne is interested in another girl. She then sometimes ponders why she feels so uncomfortable whenever this happens.
Crash-Into Hello: Her method of figuring out whether Rinne was a ghost or not is to deliberately ram her head into his chest.
Curtains Match the Windows: In some art, both her hair and eyes are brown.
Deadpan Snarker: More on the deadpan side but she's about as mouthy as Rokumon.
Deuteragonist: The early chapters are from her point of view, but it doesn't take long for the story to make it clear that Rinne is the main protagonist, with Sakura as a close second.
Dude Magnet: A lot of boys, living or not, have feelings for her, including Rinne and Tsubasa. One arc has Annette reveal that dozens of boys with a crush on Sakura have come to her looking for love advice.
Everyone Can See It: Tsubasa perceives her feelings for Rinne since pretty early on. Ageha notices them enough to consider her a threat. And let's not even talk about Matsugo.
Girlish Pigtails: She's a traditionally feminine teenage girl, which goes in hand with the two pigtails she usually wears.
Green-Eyed Epiphany: Though subtle, when she first encounters Ageha, holding Rinne's hands no less, she claims that it's not a big deal. But later when she recalls the scene, she wonders why this seems to bother her. She also seems bothered when she sees Ageha hugging him from behind after he saves her from a damashigami (he's actually only interested in the bounty it had on it).
He Is Not My Boyfriend: She's mostly unaware of her feelings for Rinne and so always denies it when someone thinks they're dating.
I Just Want to Be Normal: She initially has this mindset but changes her mind in the end. Although she's already fairly used to seeing ghosts when the story begins and is fine with helping Rinne with his work, she readily accepts Tamako's special candy which takes away her ability to see ghosts for three days. She initially greatly appreciates getting to enjoy her daily life without having to see any ghosts, but she later becomes bothered that she can't see Rinne in his spirit form anymore. For this reason, she gives back the special candy.
Innocently Insensitive: Some of her comments have hurt Rinne without her realizing it, like when she reveals that she doesn't mean them in a romantic light.
I See Dead People: Thanks to otherwordly candy that the ditzy Tamako gave her as a kid, Sakura has been able to see ghosts since she was little.
Just Friends: She knows all about Tsubasa's crush on her and just sees him as a friend.
Kaleidoscope Eyes: Takahashi seems to like switching her eye color from brown, to blue, to green, and back again. The anime gives her blue eyes.
Loyal Phlebotinum: One arc has Sakura take possession of a special shinigami scythe that chose Sakura as its owner. The loyalty has a limit though, and Sakura has to exorcise a certain number of ghosts by herself so she can return the scythe.
Magic Skirt: Wears her skirt short like other girls in the series, but despite all the action she partakes in the audience never sees a panty shot.
Master of the Mixed Message: Due to how inexpressive she is, it's practically impossible for Rinne to figure out how she truly feels about him or what she's thinking. This can cause Rinne so much grief.
Morality Chain: A lot of times, Rinne is pulled back from his greed when he realizes that she's watching him.
Nice Girl: She's very patient and laid back to others.
Oblivious to Love: She's completely oblivious to Rinne's crush on her and Rinne isn't the most subtle guy when it comes to romance. It also takes her nearly 200 chapters to realize that she likes him.
Official Couple: Sakura and Rinne start to go out at the very end of the series.
Ordinary High-School Student: Sixth sense aside, Sakura leads a very normal student life until she meets Rinne in her high school years. Amazed by the fact she can see him in his spirit form, Rinne wonders who and what on earth she is. She accompanies him in many of his jobs or other shinigami matters afterward, but still tries to be an ordinary high school girl at least in the eyes of her classmates.
Self-Serving Memory: The narration is quick to point out how Sakura interpreted Rinne and Ageha's relationship very incorrectly.
Stating the Simple Solution: In one arc, Annette is on a tight schedule to fill in the students' report cards, so she decides to hire the services of three household spirits to do the job for her. As per tradition, the spirits demand something for their services, in this case a gateau au chocolat. It was late evening at the time, so the stores were closed and Annette had to bake one herself, but she's a Lethal Chef and it took her an entire night to make something that didn't even pass as edible. Sakura then asks Annette why didn't she just suck it up and fill in the report cards by herself since she ended up pulling an all-nighter anyway.
The Stoic: Nothing much fazes her, which can greatly bother other people like Rinne whenever they're trying to determine what she's thinking.
Strong Family Resemblance: As teenagers, she and her mother appear to be one and the same person. The only difference being her mother actually uses facial expressions.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's a nice girl, just unusually calm and inexpressive which can create some polite distance between her and others.
Supporting Protagonist: Sakura is often used in the narrative to introduce the Monster of the Week, but, apart from her brief stint as a Shinigami, isn’t given much to do except comment on the escalating situations, or assist Rinne in small ways. Accordingly, there are several chapters in which she doesn’t even appear, but those tend to be limited to the chapters that take place entirely in the spirit world.
This Is Unforgivable!: Is furious by how unreasonable Kain is being when he steals Rinne's soul. Granted it only lasts so long, but one can tell she's ticked over her friend's life being taken.
Unfazed Everyman: Sakura is very blase about everything around her, including spirits and monsters out to get her.
Unresolved Sexual Tension: She and Rinne like each other but only acknowledge each other as good friends since they're mostly unaware of their own feelings, let alone each other's. The shinigami work and other suitors getting in the way also often sideline any progress between the two.
What Is This Feeling?: She doesn't get why she's so upset when she misunderstands Rinne's conversation with Matsugo where it sounds like he's saying he only hangs out with her to get free food and money.
You Are Worth Hell: Variation, she gives up special candies that are given to her from Tamako that stop her from seeing ghosts because she hadn't seen Rinne for 3 days.

Rokumon

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame

Rinne's young Black Cat by contract. He once worked for Tamako, but was fired and went to the human world to fall back on Rinne. Despite his young age he's very smart, and is usually the one to explain the various shinigami tools and such to Sakura.

Animal Eyes: He has eyes like a cat's.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: In order to tell the audience not to bash their heads on rocks for training.
Cat Boy: In his default form, he resembles a small child wearing a cat costume.
Child Prodigy: Rokumon's been stated multiple times to be just a child, and a later manga arc clarifies that out of all black cats considered fit to work as a shinigami's assistant, he's the youngest of them all.
Deadpan Snarker: Every so often he'll snark with an unimpressed look on his face.
Deliberately Cute Child: Rokumon sometimes uses his kitten form to get people to give him food.
Mega Neko: Another of his forms. (His other being a small kitten.)
Mouthy Kid: A very young black cat who frequently makes witty or snarky comments, though not without good reason.
Mr. Exposition: He usually explains the purpose of various devices used by shinigami to Sakura or the like, thus also informing the audience.
Nice Guy: He's generally quite kind and respectful, especially to Rinne.
Non-Human Sidekick: He's a black cat contractor that works for the partly-human Rinne and regularly helps him and the rest of the human/human-like gang in their adventures.
Parrot Pet Position: He's usually seen riding on Rinne's shoulder.
Shipper on Deck: Very supportive for Rinne and Sakura being together.
Snarky Non-Human Sidekick: He's probably the snarkiest character in the series and is a black cat.
Toxic Friend Influence: Downplayed, he regularly tries to have Rinne listen to his greed when there's food or free money involved. But like Rinne it's only when people aren't in danger.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: He can shapeshift into a small adorable cat, which he uses to gain sympathy (and food) from humans, and a giant cat monster which can be useful for fights (but not that much).

Humans

Tsubasa Jumonji

Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura

An exorcist. Like Sakura, he can also see ghosts, but often brutally attacks them with "sacred ashes" instead of trying to put them to rest.

Ambiguously Christian: Uses a lot of cross imagery and carries a Bible, but his religion is never explicitly stated.
Awesome, but Impractical: He can pour holy water on gemstones to summon a group of powerful spirits... for exactly 30 seconds.
Birds of a Feather: He fell for Sakura when they were kids because they could both see the dead.
Butt-Monkey: Bad things always happen to him and his crush Sakura keeps treating him as just a friend.
Calling Your Attacks: He always calls out which tool he uses at the moment with his sacred ashes being his go-to method.
Childhood Friend Romance: He met Sakura when they attended the same elementary school. Since Sakura could see spirits too, he developed a crush on her. Unfortunately for him, she doesn't reciprocate in the present.
Crazy Jealous Guy: The rational side of him often wobbles whenever someone else (namely Rinne) becomes a threat to his romantic pursuit of Sakura. He does draw the line at actually hurting someone—when he keeps unintentionally cursing Rinne thanks to Masato's scheming, he actually feels (a little) bad and tries to make it up to him by giving him food and a protective charm.
Creepy Crosses: He wears a cross pendant, due to his job as an exorcist.
Dogged Nice Guy: Tries very hard to be extra courteous and romantic to Sakura, but she only sees him as a friend.
The Drag-Along: Occasionally gets dragged around by Miho and Rika when they're out together (and Sakura is busy dealing with other things), which often involves paying for their food.
Hair-Trigger Temper: It doesn't take much to make him start throwing his sacred ashes everywhere.
Hopeless Suitor: He always makes his romantic intentions to Sakura clear, but it's no use since she likes Rinne.
Iron Butt Monkey: To list a few of the things that have happened to him: fallen out a two-story window, got his head chewed on by a lion at the zoo, has gotten run over by a team of sumo wrestlers, had bowling balls fall on his head, and has fallen into multiple kinds of holes. Those are only some of the things he's suffered, in two chapters alone — and he came out fine.
I See Dead People: Been able to see ghosts since he was young.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he generally a jerk to Rinne and spirits, he can realize when he's wrong and tries to make up for it.
Minor Living Alone: Due to his parents not being around, he's essentialy this.
The Rival: Develops a petty but (slightly) amicable rivalry with Rinne in both romance and exorcisms.
Stopped Reading Too Soon: Found an old tome from his ancestors written in ancient Japanese detailing the recipe of a super powerful type of sacred ashes, and the list of ingredients includes hair from three different shinigami. The three resident broke shinigami (Rinne, Kain, and Renge) all fight between themselves for a margin of the profits, until Sakura reveals that the very next page of the tome explains that Tsubasa's ancestor never managed to finish the recipe and gave up after his three volunteer shinigami walked away after literally going bald from donating all of their hair to failed experiments.
Thinking Out Loud: Loves asking Sakura out to what are supposed to be friendly outings, except he's planning to make a move. Not only will he say that part of the plan out loud, he'll be yelling at the top of his lungs. What prevents this from becoming Did I Just Say That Out Loud? is that Tsubasa himself is so far in la-la land he doesn't notice it.
Trademark Favorite Food: He really likes ramen.
When You Coming Home, Dad?: His parents are rarely home due to their job, but he doesn't seem to mind.
The Worf Barrage: His sacred ashes are supposedly effective against weaker spirits, but have never actually accomplished anything useful.

Miho Aogiri and Rika Momoi

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miho_and_rika_rinne.jpg

Voiced by: Sora Tokui (Miho), Aya Suzaki (Rika)

Sakura's classmates and close friends.

Character Catchphrase: They're prone to screaming "So scary!" while running away from whatever supernatural occurrence is happening.
Fear Is the Appropriate Response: At least Once an Episode, they'll turn tail with their hands in the air the moment anything supernatural shows up.
Nightmare Fetishist: Sort of. Despite being incredibly scared of ghosts, the two of them absolutely love ghost stories and will often go to places that are supposed to be haunted in hopes of seeing something, even though they turn tail at the first sight of danger. More often than not, the Monster of the Week is introduced to Sakura through one of them.
Those Two Girls: One is almost never seen without the other, and neither have much characterisation other than being Sakura's friends.
Two Girls and a Guy: An occasional pairing with Tsubasa, but mainly so they can get him to pay for stuff they want (and he's none too happy about the arrangement, either).

Hitomi Annette Anematsuri

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/annette_anime.jpg

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro

A clairvoyant moonlighting as Sankai High School's resident English teacher.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Her black hair in the manga is changed to a deep purple in the anime (potentially a case of Hair Color Dissonance).
Berserk Button: After Masato curses her crystal ball into only showing false visions (which was thankfully reversible), the mere sight of him becomes this to Annette.
But Now I Must Go: Played with. Annette sees a vision of the entrance ceremony at the start of the next school term and quickly notices that she's not present, instantly assuming that she'll leave the school. Turns out, she was just late to the ceremony.
But Not Too Foreign: She's part French in an otherwise Japanese setting.
Clingy MacGuffin: The crystal ball has been in her family for so many centuries it recognizes them as its owner and will always come back to them if dropped or lost. However, it won't stop people from stealing it.
Cool Sword: A family heirloom that can shoot lightning, Sword Beam style. Except that more often than not Annette will just use it as a club to hit someone (read: Masato) over their head.
Crystal Ball: She possesses a fortune-telling crystal ball, which has caught the eyes of Shinigami and Damashigami alike.
Fortune Teller: Her role in the series is to tell fortunes using her Crystal Ball.
Inept Mage: Mostly due to her own laziness to either learn new spells or Read the Fine Print when it comes to instructions. She once "rented" Rokumon for a witches' gathering so she could pass Rokumon's Mega Neko transformation as her own magic.
I See Dead People: She is part-witch, allowing her to be able to see spirits.
Laborious Laziness: Oh no, Annette has forgot to fill in her students' report cards and the deadline is tomorrow! Well... she could just pull an all-nighter doing the job, but why do that when she can summon three household spirits to do the job for her? Oh, wait, the spirits want gateau au chocolat as compensation and all the stores are already closed? Time to pull an all-nighter trying to bake the cake!
Lethal Chef: After many hours of attempting to bake a cake, the end result is indistinguishable from a lump of coal.
NEET: After a string of failed job interviews, Annette briefly became this, spending all day eating snacks and playing video-games. Her mother and grandmother threatened to kick her out if she didn't find a job, so Annette became a shopping mall fortune teller, which is how Sakura (and by extention Rinne) first met her. Shortly after, she finally managed to find a stable job at Sankai High School and quit her fortune teller gig.
Not a Morning Person: Self proclaimed. One arc has Annette trying to pass a witch exam so she can earn a living off of being a witch and quit her teacher job because she doesn't like waking up early.
Sensei-chan: She's young, clumsy, childish and likes to be popular with her students.
Superpowerful Genetics: Her family is descendant of European witches, thus giving her a small grasp of supernatural powers.
Terrible Artist: In order to pass a witch exam, she must summon and capture a fairy. The fairy is summoned by drawing it on a piece of paper and casting the appropriate spell... except Annette is a terrible artist so the pudgy fairy ends up looking like a deformed old man.
They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!:
Rinne: Oh, it's you, Anematsuri.
Annette: Anematsuri-sensei!
Trash of the Titans: She's very lax when it comes to cleaning the house. Normally her mother and grandmother are there to whip Annette into shape, but whenever the two of them go a trip, it doesn't take long for the house to become like this.

Ichigo

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara

A fifth grader with the ability to see ghosts. She's also revealed to be the formerly-amnesiac reincarnation of Rinne's mother, Otome.

Adaptation Dye-Job: In the manga's colored illustrations, Otome and Ichigo have dark purple hair. In the anime, Ichigo has brown hair.
I See Dead People: She's able to see ghosts probably because she was a shinigami in a previous life.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Sabato. Although she remembers her past life as Otome and acts mature because of it, Ichigo is in elementary school. Sabato likes to hang out with her because they were married when she was Otome, but both have made clear their current relationship is completely platonic.
May–December Romance: Thankfully subverted. Ichigo and Sabato still have affection for each other due to having been married when Ichigo was Otome, but they don't get together because they're now a child and an adult man. Instead, they remain on amicable platonic terms.
Mistaken for Romance: Ichigo and Sabato have made it very clear, on multiple occasions, that they have absolutely no interest in getting together. Ever. Not even in a I Will Wait for You scenario. Still, it doesn't stop this from happening twice in the final chapter. First by Bijin, who comes crying to Ageha about how she's heard that Sabato "has been visiting his ex-wife" and Ageha quickly deadpans that Bijin got the situation so wrong it's not even funny. The second time is when Shoma gets told by Kurosu that Ichigo has a boyfriend that visits her frequently and the narrator immediately points out that Kurosu knows very well what the real situation is and is just being a Troll.
Morality Pet: Because she's the reincarnation of his beloved wife, Ichigo is the only person Sabato is genuinely nice to and never tries to extort or steal from. He even visits her just to enjoy spending time with her and talk about her past life.
No Full Name Given: She's only ever called by her given name and her surname is never mentioned.
Past-Life Memories: Ichigo regains her memories as Otome after being hit on the head with her old scythe.
Reincarnation: Ichigo is the most recent reincarnation of the shinigami Otome.
Reincarnation Friendship: She was Sabato's wife in a past life, but both agree to keep their current relationship platonic because she now has an entirely different life as a human child. Still, they get along very well and enjoy each other's company. Ichigo is also in friendly terms with Tamako, who was her mother-in-law in her past life.
Supernaturally Young Parent: A weird example. Ichigo is an elementary school girl, but she's also Rinne's mother reborn as a human.
Wise Beyond Their Years: Originally a small child just like any another, Ichigo regaining the memories of her past life as a Really 700 Years Old shinigami turned her into this.

Suzuki

Voiced by: Tomohiro Tsuboi

The PE teacher of Sankai High.

Ascended Extra: He appears more often in the anime, serving as Rinne and Sakura's homeroom teacher.
Exotic Eye Designs: He has yellow stars on his pupils.
Nice Guy: He's a very nice man who looks after his students.
No Full Name Given: He's only referred to as "Suzuki-sensei". His given name is unknown.
Reincarnated as the Opposite Sex: In his past life, he was a princess from feudal Japan.
Reincarnation-Identifying Trait: He has a petal-shaped birthmark on his right wrist, which serves to prove he's the reincarnation of the princess the Ochimusha ghost was looking for.

Shinigami

Tamako

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino

Rinne's paternal grandmother and a young looking Shinigami.

The Ace: She's a famous and well-respected shinigami who has a platinum shinigami license, which is proof of the sheer multitude of spirits she's purified through the years.
Berserk Button: Calling her obaa-san (grandma/old lady), aka the appropriate term for her since she's old (and Rinne's grandmother), will annoy her a lot more than it should and get one's head noogie'd.
Best Friends-in-Law: She honestly liked her daughter-in-law Otome more than her son and thought she was too good for him. Flashbacks in the anime show Tamako and Otome got along very well thanks to having very similar interests and customs. It definitely helped Otome was only two years younger than Tamako.
Beware the Nice Ones: She is nice most of the time, even putting aside her Berserk Button, but some things genuinely set her off.
The Ditz: She makes some dumb mistakes from time to time like buying a young Sakura candy from the afterlife despite knowing that it would allow her to see ghosts.
Eyes Always Shut: She always has her eyes closed and very rarely opens them.
Flowers of Femininity: She's a young-looking and usually kind woman who wears a pink flower ornament on the left side of her hair.
Hates Their Parent: Inverted. Tamako hates her "good-for-nothing" son Sabato so much that she can't stand the sight of him. Considering how awful of a person Sabato is and the many problems he has caused for her dear grandson directly and indirectly, Tamako is justified to feel that way about her own son.
Interspecies Romance: A shinigami who fell in love with a human man.
Love at First Sight: She fell in love with Rinne's grandfather the moment she met him when she was supposed to retrieve his soul.
Ma'am Shock: She hates being called obaa-san (grandma/old lady), even by her own grandson.
Mama Bear: She really hates her son Sabato taking advantage of her grandson Rinne and will stop him if she gets the chance to.
Mayfly–December Romance: She's a young-looking shinigami with a long life-span, and she got married to Rinne's grandfather when he was a young man. In flashbacks of the two of them with Rinne as a baby or kid, he's visibly aged which contrasts Tamako never-changing youthful looks.
Megaton Punch: She can do a massive punch that knocks out a dozen people in one strike.
Mystical White Hair: A Shinigami with the appearance of a pretty lady with white hair.
Offing the Offspring: One chapter has her so fed up with her son Sabato's Jerkass behavior that she kicks him into the ring of reincarnation which would mean death.
Paper Fan of Doom: Her weapon is a paper fan. Her more frequent target is her son Sabato.
Perpetual Smiler: She never stops smiling even when pissed.
Really 700 Years Old: She looks like a young lady, but as a Shinigami, she's likely to be more than hundreds years old. And she never likes being reminded of it.
Running Gag: Anyone that calls her old will have their temples rubbed to the point of pain.
Shinigami: She's a full-blooded Shinigami, a goddess of death charged with helping and guiding spirits from the world of the living to the Wheel of Reincarnation.
Shipper on Deck: Supportive of Rinne getting together with Sakura, and happily lies to Sabato (when he's trying to find a girl for Rinne to get married to) that the two are dating.
Supernaturally Young Parent: She's Rinne's grandmother and Sabato's mother, but due to being a Shinigami, she looks like a pretty young lady.

Ageha

Voiced by: Rie Murakawa

A Shinigami girl from a family of an elite shinigami known for taking down damashigami. Unlike Rinne, she is incredibly wealthy and throws her money away with little thought.

Cain and Abel: Her sister, once a respectable shinigami, betrayed their kind and became Sabato's secretary.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Is super possessive and clingy towards Rinne, especially if Sakura is around.
Defrosting Ice Queen: Initially very prickly and impatient with everyone, Ageha quickly became infatuated with Rinne and slowly grew to tolerate Sakura and Tsubasa.
Friendless Background: She mentions that Rinne is one of her first friends she's ever made. Her privileged background and irrational careless attitude implies her friendless background isn't unwarranted, if Renge's dislike for her is anything to go by. Despite her dismissal of Sakura and Tsubasa, she slowly warms up to them as well.
The Glomp: Gives a big hug to Rinne from behind after he saves her from a damashigami. Unfortunately Sakura happens to see it, and assumes the two must be dating.
The Heart: Ageha is the cause of most of the group's bonding moments, albeit accidentally.
Hopeless Suitor: Her many (and crazy) romantic advances towards Rinne are all for nought since he's too focused on the job and also likes Sakura.
Humanizing Tears: She becomes teary after Rinne saves her despite her initial hostility towards him.
Love Epiphany: Realizes her feelings for Rinne after he rescues her from a damashigami that overpowered her. She assumes he wanted to protect her (in reality he he did it because of the one million yen bounty the guy had on him).
Mad Bomber: Not unlike Happosai, the slightest irritation has her throwing cutesy, skull-shaped bombs in retaliation.
Magical Accessory: Her hair ribbon functions in similar fashion as Rinne's cloak. She can wear it one way to be Invisible to Normals, and she can wear it another way to become visible.
Ojou: She comes from a very rich shinigami family and is very careless with how she spends her money. Her personality lies on the more bratty side, as she's impulsive and prefers to have things her way.
Rescue Romance: Starts to fall in love with Rinne after he saves her from a damashigami.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: What else can you call it when it's flagrantly obvious that damashigami—you know, her arch-enemies—are trying to swindle her out of money, yet she keeps paying up? It's like her brain shorts out the moment she's presented with any problem, no matter how ridiculous, to which "money" is the solution.
Sailor Fuku: Her default outfit is a pink cutesy sailor uniform.
Shinigami: Unlike Rinne, she is a full blooded shinigami. Also unlike Rinne, she has a vast fortune she can call on when she needs tools.
Skewed Priorities: Most summertime stories involve the characters being called to a beach or an inn to exorcise some ghost, and Ageha is always part of the group that completely ignores they're there to work and treats it like a vacation.
Spoiled Brat: She wastes her money without thinking, which shocks the financially poor Rinne.
The Runaway: Briefly becomes this after her parents scold her for losing her credit card in her Trash of the Titans for the nth time. As one would expect, it doesn't last long.
Trash of the Titans: Her room and her closet, where she frequently loses a lot of stuff. More than one storyline involves Ageha finding a supernatural trinket she was supposed to have thrown away or disposed of many years ago, and all those years unnatented have turned it into a kind of Artifact of Doom.
Tsundere: She's aloof or snappy towards pretty much everyone who isn't Rinne, but will show kindness to them if they're having a bonding moment of sorts.
Upper-Class Twit: Not only does she have extremely loose spending habits, but she has consistently demonstrated an inability to properly follow simple instructions and regularly forgets to follow up on delayed responsibilities.
Uptown Girl: A rich girl who has set her eyes on the extremely poor Rinne.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Real or a rubber toy, snakes scare her silly.

Kain

Voiced by: Soma Saito

A Shirushigami, a clerk in the afterlife. He steals Rinne's lifeflame because his father Sabato keeps on scamming Kain's mother out of her money causing mother and son to live a life in poverty.

Chick Magnet: He was very popular with the girls in middle school, to Renge's dismay.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: While he is usually a jerk, he clearly loves his mother and he is infuriated with Sabato —and by extention, his family — for constantly conning her.
Everyone Has Standards: While he's rude to Rinne, he refuses to harm humans.
Freudian Excuse: While he's a jerk, he has very valid reasons for hating Sabato.
Goggles Do Something Unusual: Has a pair of glasses that can make him visible to regular humans.
Horrible Judge of Character: He has a connection with Renge, who he mistakenly believes is an upright, stalwart young lady, though in reality she works directly for his hated Damashigami Company. Kind of justified since he got to know her before she turned into one.
I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: In contrast with Rules Lawyer below, Kain will purposefully ignore any accidental wrongdoings on his part or Suzu's, but only if the consequences would involve him losing money.
Inspector Javert: Frequently on Rinne's trail due to perfectly valid reasons relating to criminal incidents, but he still often comes off to be rather unfair since it's usually clear Rinne has nothing to do with it or is being conned (mostly by his father).
Jerkass: He's pretty mean to Rinne, always thinking Rinne is working with his father.
Land Poor: Kain and his mother are so poor they cannot afford to pay the electricity bill, yet they live in a Big Fancy House. Somewhat justified in that the house itself is literally all they have. Anything of value inside it has long since been pawned off or taken by debt collectors.
Oblivious to Love: He has no idea that Renge is in love with him despite her obvious signs.
Oddly Shaped Sword: His shinigami scythe is more of a mirror on a stick than a scythe, even capable of firing beams of light, something that no other scythe can do. Nevertheless, it's still considered a scythe.
Perpetual Poverty: He has it just as bad as Rinne in terms of wealth, due to Rinne's dad taking all his money and his mom being pretty careless with what's left.
Rules Lawyer: This is already Kain's default setting, but whenever Rinne is involved Kain will spare no expense in finding a legal loophole to screw him over.
Student Council President: He was head of the student council in middle school.
The Stoic: He rarely displays emotions unless it's about money or Rinne and his family.
What the Hell, Hero?: His brash and jerkish decision-making has even been called out by Sabato!
White Hair, Black Heart: He has white hair and isn't evil. However, he's not a nice person either and is very antagonistic towards Rinne.

Shoma

Voiced by: Yuko Sanpei

A child Shinigami that Rinne has to mentor for a while.

Bratty Half-Pint: He's a self-important, insolent, and annoying kid who thinks he's better than everyone.
Face Doodling: He frequently paints Kurosu's face as a prank. It's one of the reasons why Kurosu only works part-time for him.
Goggles Do Something Unusual: He has a pair of swimming goggles that can turn him visible to regular humans.
Money Dumb: He has no understanding of how much things cost or when he's being ripped off.
Mugging the Monster: Despite being a child, Shoma often picks fights with spirits much stronger than he's capable of handling. Case in point, Shinigami children often take care of the spirits of small animal such as dogs and cats. When Shoma's teacher decided the class was old enough to start handling "slightly bigger animals", she used a picture of a pig and a goat as examples, yet Shoma decided to go after a hippo.
Puppy Love: He has a crush on the human girl Ichigo while both are in elementary school. It's one-sided on his part as Ichigo dotes on Shoma because she never got the chance to raise Rinne as a child, seeing Shoma as an outlet for her motherly affections. Shoma doesn't know Ichigo is mentally an adult.
Spoiled Brat: Being from a rich family, he always had everything he asked for and this is why he's such a pain.

Matsugo

Voiced by: Taishi Murata

Rinne's old classmate from Shinigami Elementary.

Ambiguously Gay: The story leaves it ambiguous whether Matsugo has genuine romantic feelings for Rinne that he labels as "friendship" due to not knowing what real friendship is, or if his feelings for Rinne are purely platonic but he doesn't know how real friends act.
Because You Were Nice to Me: Rinne once saved him from a bully and from major embarrassment. Because of this, Matsugo is fiercely devoted to him to the point everyone calls him a girl in love, though he calls it mere "friendship".
Bring My Brown Pants: The reason Rinne "betrayed" him when they were children. Matsugo got so scared of a ghost during a field trip that he fainted and pissed his pants. Rinne knew Matsugo was already a victim of bullying and if the other kids found out they would give him a Once Done, Never Forgotten treatment, so he decided to throw Matsugo into a nearby river to wash the pee away. Matsugo woke up only to see Rinne throwing him off a small cliff into the water and later told their teacher that Matsugo tripped and fell into the river by himself. Rinne later gave Matsugo a Let Us Never Speak of This Again talk, which was well-intentioned in Rinne's part but came of as threatening Matsugo into staying quiet. The worst part is that Rinne believed Matsugo understood the situation and gave himself Laser-Guided Amnesia so he wouldn't tell anyone by accident.
Bully Magnet: He was bullied as a kid.
Childhood Friends: He and Rinne went to elementary school together. Matsugo claims they're best friends, but Rinne doesn't think of their relationship as highly as he does.
Crazy Jealous Guy: When Rinne and Sakura try to pretend to be dating in an attempt to keep Matsugo away from Rinne, Matsugo does anything possible to separate Rinne from Sakura and have Rinne all for himself, because he thinks his "friendship" is more powerful than love.
Easily Forgiven: From total antipathy to total infatuation with Rinne in a matter of moments, after he finds out why Rinne seemingly betrayed him during their childhood.
Facial Markings: He has a star-shaped mark under his left eye.
Friendless Background: He never made friends and got bullied in his childhood. He considers Rinne to be his Only Friend.
Insistent Terminology: According to him, his affection toward Rinne is just friendship, not love. This leads to stuff like Matsugo suggesting that he and Rinne make vows of "friendship" at a church.
Puppy Love: Flashbacks indicate that his feelings of "friendship" for Rinne were just as intense even before the incident that drove them apart in elementary school.
Single-Target Sexuality: He only has his eyes set on Rinne (whether it be platonically or romantically).
Transparent Closet: Tsubasa asks him point-black if he likes Rinne that way, and Matsugo denies it. But then he gives Rinne the same stalker-ish choker with what is basically a spycam that Ageha was trying to give him.

Anju

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya

Matsugo's classmate.

Gibberish of Love: At first, Anju couldn't even talk to Matsugo at all, but eventually could at least form full sentences around him.
Hopeless Suitor: She has a crush on Matsugo who only has eyes for Rinne.
I Can Live With That: When Matsugo declares that Anju is his friend, this is her reaction. She hasn't given up on Matsugo yet, and rather than be disappointed that he sees her as just a friend, Anju takes it as a win since not long ago she couldn't even talk to Matsugo and he had no idea who she was.
Incompatible Orientation: To her bad luck, Matsugo isn't interested in girls because he's much more interested in Rinne.
Satellite Character: There's almost nothing to her character aside from her unrequited crush on Matsugo.
Straight Man: Becomes this to Matsugo once she becomes able to hold a conversation with him. Mostly consisting of ponting out to Matsugo that Rinne has no interest in him and only has eyes for Sakura whenever he goes on a Rinne-related delusion. Loudly. With a megaphone.

Otome Rokudou

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/otome_anime.jpg

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara

Rinne's mother. Rinne was told by his father that she died long ago and it's technically true, but she was actually forcibly reincarnated when a herd of water buffalo dragged her to the Wheel of Reincarnation. Her human reincarnation, Ichigo, appears late into the series.

The Ace: She had a platinum shinigami license, which is proof of the sheer multitude of ghosts she's purified through the years. Case in point, Sabato always knew Otome had a platinum license, but instead of suspecting that Otome was lying about her age (which she was), he just assumed she was that good at her job and got a platinum license at her young age through honest work.
Age Insecurity: She told Sabato she was only two years older than him. The truth is she was two years younger than his mother. She got scared of Sabato learning her real age by looking at her high school graduation book and went to throw it away at the Sanzu River, which resulted in her getting reincarnated by accident.
Fourth-Date Marriage: She and Sabato got engaged on the day they met and they had the wedding about a week later.
Good Parents: Unlike Sabato, Otome did love Rinne a lot and regrets not having been able to raise him. Despite of now being a child, Otome as Ichigo vows to try and be there for Rinne in every way she can.
Happily Married: To everyone's disconcert, Otome was genuinely happy with Sabato despite the despicable bastard he is. As Ichigo, she still thinks fondly of Sabato but obviously doesn't pursue their marriage due to her new life and the creepy factors behind a little girl being with an adult man.
Ironic Name: Otome's name means and is written with the kanji for "maiden", but she's only two years younger than Tamako.
Living Legend: She was a famous Shinigami genius, having earned a Platinum license for having purified more than 10000 spirits, and a nickname "the Legendary Shinigami Maiden".
The Masochism Tango: Her marriage with Sabato was highly dysfunctional. They were clearly in love with each other, but she also beat the crap out of him on a daily basis due to his deadbeat tendencies.
May–December Romance: Otome was only a couple of years younger than Sabato's Really 700 Years Old mother, though he had no idea since Otome was hiding her real age. Sabato is shocked to find out, but doesn't let it ruin his happy memories of their marriage.
Missing Mom: Otome went missing when Rinne was a baby. Everyone assumed she abandoned the family, but she was actually dragged by a herd of water buffalo to the Wheel of Reincarnation. When she reunites with her son, Otome has reincarnated as a little human girl called Ichigo.
Motherhood Is Superior: Sabato is a greedy scumbag of a father who clearly doesn't love Rinne even one bit. Otome, on the other hand, loved Rinne very much and her biggest regret as Ichigo is that she couldn't be there for her son while he was growing up due to reincarnating against her will.
Opposites Attract: Otome was a gentle, loving, and hard-working shinigami who married the egotistical, dishonest and lazy bastard Sabato. For reasons no one could ever understand, they were Happily Married.
Really 700 Years Old: She looked like a young lady, but was only two years younger than Tamako, who is a Shinigami probably hundreds years old.
Reincarnated as a Non-Humanoid: After she was dragged to the Wheel of Reincarnation by a herd of water buffalo, she was reborn as a killifish, then as a canary, and finally an ant-eater before she reincarnated as the human girl Ichigo.
Shinigami: She was a full-blooded Shinigami.
Supernaturally Young Parent: She looked very young despite nearly being as old as Tamako, including her time as a mother to Rinne.
Tsundere: From what is shown of their past relationship, Otome would often smack her husband around for being a "good-for-nothing" while still loving him.
Walking Spoiler: Knowing too much of Otome and her reincarnation as Ichigo gives away the mystery of Rinne's mother and her fate.

Black Cats

Oboro

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

Ageha's Black Cat by Contract. They have a strained relationship because during their first mission together the two started to argue and Ageha buried Oboro under a boulder ,where he remained trapped for a year before being able to dig his way out.

Animal Eyes: He has slit pupils like a cat's.
Blood Knight: He loves a good fight and is quick to join the action if there's any nearby.
Cat Boy: He looks like a human boy with cat ears, tail and feet.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he's jerkish to Ageha, he's kind to pretty much everyone else.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He and Ageha don't always get along, and seem to outright hate each other sometimes. After his introduction arc when they're reminded of why they're partnered together, they are more like Vitriolic Best Buds.
Wolverine Claws: He has retractable large claws that he can use in battle.

Suzu

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori

Kain's Black Cat by Contract.

Animal Eyes: She has slit pupils like a cat's.
Animorphism: She can transform into a kitten.
Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: She has no focus at all, frequently being distracted by the most mundane of things.
Cat Girl: She looks like a cute little girl with cat ears and tail.
Cute Little Fangs: She naturally has small fangs as a cute Cat Girl.
Elegant Gothic Lolita: She usually wears a dark, frilly gothic lolita dress.
Genki Girl: She has never been seen sad.
Obsessed with Food: Eating her heart out is usually the top of her priority list, even in occasions when she should be doing something else. Which is sad when mixed with a very poor Kain.
Supernatural Gold Eyes: A Cat Girl with yellow eyes.

Kurosu

Voiced by: Akira Ishida

Shoma's Black Cat by Contract.

The Ace: He's a very high-ranked and respected member of the black cat community.
Battle Butler: When he's on the clock, he aids Shoma at everything including dealing with spirits.
Beleaguered Assistant: He could work a full 24/7 like the other black cats in the series, but Shoma is so insufferable that Kurosu prefers a lower income than having to deal with a brat of a master longer than he has to.
Bystander Syndrome: Kurosu doesn't care about what happens to Shoma outside of his work hours. The young master is in mortal peril? Well, sucks to be him. If Kurosu's shift happens to end while Shoma's in danger, Kurosu will also leave immediately.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Shoma would have a way easier time in his Shinigami duties if Kurosu worked full-time for him.
Magic Wand: He uses a wand in the shape of a cat's paw that helps him conjure illusions and aid him in corralling fallen spirits.
Punch-Clock Hero: He only works from 9 to 5. Whatever happens to Shoma outside of his work hours is none of his business.

Tama

Voiced by: Reiko Suzuki

Renge's Black Cat by Contract.

I Was Quite a Looker: Current Tama looks like an old, wrinkled cat. A flashback to 100 years ago reveals she looked like a beautiful Cat Girl.
Miniature Senior Citizens: Old, wrinkled, and short.

Kuroboshi

Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura

Tamako's Black Cat by Contract.

Facial Markings: He has an orange star-shaped symbol in his forehead.
Really 700 Years Old: Just like his contractor.
Resignations Not Accepted: Kuroboshi is very, very old. Both Kuroboshi and Tamako would love for him to retire and Kuroboshi's grandson to take his place, except they can't do it until the grandson overcomes his feat of ghosts.

Kuroboshi the Third

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kuroboshi_iii.jpg

Voiced by: Emiri Katou

Kuroboshi's grandson.

Facial Markings: He has an orange star-shaped symbol in his forehead, just like his grandfather.
Spider-Sense: He's so deadly afraid of spirits, he's became capable of detecting them from a distance. Naturally, he uses this power to run away in the opposite direction the spirits are coming from.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Deadly afraid of spirits. He can tolerate cat spirits by focusing on the "cat" part and ignoring he's talking to a spirit, though.

Antagonists

Sabato Rokudo

Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi

Rinne's father and the president of the Damashigami Company, an illegal business committed to stealing the souls of people who have not ended their lifespan.

Abusive Dad: Sabato financially abuses Rinne to the point where it just isn't funny anymore.
Antagonistic Offspring: He and his mother Tamako don't see eye-to-eye. In fact, she has actually tried to kill him.
Archnemesis Dad: Rinne would happily strangle him if he had the chance.
Bad Boss: He's hasn't paid any of his employees and his first thought when they form a union is to bomb them. He at least spends a lot of the money he steals from Rinne towards his employees. Or at least the female ones.
Big Bad: The closest thing this series has to one. The majority of the cast's problems come from him—Rinne and Kain's poverty, Sakura's ability to see ghosts, Ageha's family's reputation taking a hit, and Renge being a Damashigami.
The Casanova: He's a renowned womanizer.
Chick Magnet: He has tournaments filled with women who want to marry him.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: He runs an illegal company where renegade Shinigami steal the souls of people who are not yet ready to die in order to pad their quotas and increase the amount of money they can earn.
Curtains Match the Window: Both his hair and eyes are red.
Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Sabato is a lazy bum who never does any work, so whenever he's forced to deal with a spirit he ends up using his HP to One skill instead since it was all he ever used his scythe for. Cue the badly injured but angry ghost beating the crap out of him.
Even Evil Can Be Loved: He's a despicable and greedy bastard, but his wife Otome somehow managed to sincerely love him and is still fond of him in her new incarnation.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely loved his wife Otome, and her apparently committing suicide by jumping into the Wheel of Reincarnation (actually an accident but Sabato didn't know) shook him to the core, in what was possibly the only time in his life that he's shed genuine tears. He went through the trouble of sending spy cameras to track down Otome's reincarnations, waiting until she would reincarnate into a human so he could jog her memories and ask what made her resort to killing herself.
Evil Is Hammy: Tends to speak an over-exaggerating antagonist way a lot of times, especially towards Rinne.
Evil Is Petty: He repeatedly stole Rinne's pocket money during his childhood. He even steals from his own employees and company several times.
Evil Redhead: Has red hair and no redeeming qualities, as seen when he repeatedly steals Rinne's money.
Fourth-Date Marriage: He proposed to Otome on the day he met her and they had the wedding a little more than a week later.
Gold Digger: He promised Kain's mother to marry her only to get money from her. Because of him, Kain is poor.
Half-Human Hybrid: He's half-human, half-Shinigami.
Handsome Lech: He has tons of women fighting over him, although the only good thing about him are his good looks.
Happily Married: He really did love Otome and remembers their marriage fondly even now. That didn't stop him from stealing and pawning her Shinigami Scythe.
Hate Sink: There's not a single redeemable thing about him. Even his own family finds him despicable; only his wife was able to love him for some inexplicable reason.
HP to One: As a teenager, Sabato developed a scythe technique that does just enough damage to a spirit to leave it on the verge of purification, but not completing the job. He'd use this to pick up girls, as he'd weaken a spirit and allow the girl to finish the job and take the credit.
Intergenerational Friendship: With Ichigo. She was his wife in a past life, but both agree they can't be a couple now that she's a human child. Sabato still likes to hang out with her and she's the only person he seems genuinely fond of.
It's All About Me: He's been stealing from his son since childhood and only cares about his own wellbeing.
Jerkass: He's utterly selfish, irresponsible, greedy, a terrible father, a thief, an extortionist, and runs a business that steals souls for money.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Although generally a jerk, he once goes through a lot of trouble to get back a photograph featuring himself holding a young Rinne, even returning the money he borrowed from Sakura to get it back. It turns out that he hid a larger amount of cash in the frame.
Karma Houdini: He never gets any punishment for his crimes that have ruined many people's lives other than a brief beating. At the end of the series, he does get a bounty for his capture... of merely 5,000 yen, which many point out is a cheap price for everything he has done and Sabato is still running free.
Klingon Promotion: Shinigami licenses have ranks: bronze, silver, gold, and finally platinum. In order to advance to the next rank, a shinigami must purify a certain number of spirits, with the required amount increasing exponentially after each rank. So how did Sabato, the epitome of laziness himself, manage to get a gold license? Well, if you defeat a shinigami whose license is of a higher rank than yours, you steal their spot at that rank. And that's exactly how Sabato got his gold license... beating up his elderly high school teacher who spent his entire life working to get to that rank and was scheduled to be reincarnated the very next day.
Ladykiller in Love: Out of all the women he has seduced, Otome appears to be the only one he genuinely loves.
Lazy Bum: He loathes working legitimately, but does quite a bit if it involves stealing someone else's money.
Love at First Sight: He fell in love with Otome the moment he met her and proposed to her on the same day.
The Masochism Tango: Sabato and his wife Otome were clearly in love with each other, but she still beat the stuffing out of him in a daily basis.
May–December Romance:
- Otome was Really 700 Years Old when they got married, though Sabato had no idea since Otome lied about her age. He suffers a Color Failure when he finds out the truth.
- Thankfully subverted with Otome's reincarnation, Ichigo. While he still has affection for Otome after her reincarnation into Ichigo, Sabato makes clear he isn't into elementary school students and they agree to keep their current relationship platonic.
Meaningful Name: Sabato's father was scheduled to be reincarnated as a mackerel, something that Tamako's deal to extend his life didn't change. The "Saba" in Sabato's name is written with the kanji for "mackerel."
Mum Looks Like a Sister: A male example. He looks more like Rinne's older brother than like his father.
Older Than He Looks: He's Rinne's father, but could easily be mistaken for his older brother instead, likely due to his shinigami blood slowing his aging down.
Opposites Attract: Sabato is an egotistical, dishonest and lazy bastard while his wife Otome was a gentle, loving, and hard-working shinigami. For reasons no one could ever understand, they were Happily Married.
Parental Neglect: Sabato was too busy with his shady business scams and womanizing to spend any time with Rinne while his son was growing up. Rinne was pretty much raised by his grandparents. And considering how awful Sabato is, it was for the best.
Pretty Boy: Uses his good looks to woo women and swindle large amounts of money from them, courtesy of stealing from Rinne.
Reincarnation Friendship: Sabato is in friendly terms with Ichigo, who is the most recent reincarnation of his wife Otome.
Robbing the Dead: Sabato went as far as stealing a gold ornament from his own father's grave. Luckily Tamako predicted that Sabato would one day sink that low and placed a curse on the ornament.
Shipper with an Agenda: He wants Rinne to marry Sakura and take over the Damashigami Company so that he can retire one day.
Strong Family Resemblance: He looks nearly identical to his father when he was young, with the hair colour being the only big difference.
Tears of Blood: Sports these when possessed by a workaholic ghost and forced to do honest work as a ramen chef.
This Explains So Much: Once Sabato finds out that Otome was Really 700 Years Old he has this reaction as suddenly a lot of things about his late wife start making sense, like how she had a platinum license at her "young" age and how she knew a lot about artists and TV shows from Tamako's generation.

Bijin

Voiced by: Izumi Kitta

Ageha's elder sister, and former Shinigami-turned-girlfriend/secretary to Sabato.

All Girls Want Bad Boys: One of the many women to have fallen for the antagonist Sabato.
Crocodile Tears: When Kain's mother catches Sabato and Bijin together, they make up a sob story of pretending to be siblings Separated at Birth that have been recently reunited, complete with eyedrop tears.
Dark Mistress: Sabato is in a relationship with dozens of different women, but Bijin is certainly special. She's the only one of his flings who isn't an innocent woman being unknowingly scammed by a Handsome Lech, but instead Sabato's right hand who's happy being evil.
Domino Mask: She wears a mask that only covers around her eyes.
Good Girl Gone Bad: Initially a respectable shinigami, she switches sides after falling for Sabato.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Zig-zagged with Ageha, who's pretty careless when it comes to her normal duties as a Shinigami, but, at the very least, didn't fall for the leader of the Damashigami.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: More than once Bijin became disillusioned with Sabato (once because he tried scamming her, and again when he briefly broke up with her), causing her to take up her scythe and proclaiming she was going to quit being a damashigami, but not before she beat the crap out of Sabato and delivered him to the authorities herself. Sadly for Ageha (who's always very supportive of her sister's Heel–Face Turn), Sabato and Bijin always make up in the end.
His Name Really Is "Barkeep": Sabato's beautiful secretary... whose name literally means "beautiful."
Hypercompetent Sidekick: She seems to be a little more sensible than Sabato, but that's not exactly saying much.
Meaningful Name: "Bijin", or 美人, means, "pretty person".
Moral Myopia: Stealing the souls of people who aren't scheduled to die yet? Perfectly fine. Scamming other shinigami to steal money from them? A-ok. Sabato scamming her? Unforgivable!
No Name Given: She was essentially just "Ageha's sister" or "Sabato's secretary" up until her name was finally revealed after three seasons and over two-hundred-and-fifty chapters.
Paper-Thin Disguise: She dons a single, flimsy party mask, and it's enough to fool Ageha (until she gets suspicious and throws a coin at the glasses to break them).
Sexy Secretary: She's Sabato's secretary and as her name says, a beauty.
This Is Unforgivable!: Bijin knows she's different from the many girls Sabato steals money from. As his secretary, she knows about all of them and even encourages Sabato's behavior. So, the rare moments where Sabato turns on her elicit this response.
Took a Level in Badass: Inverted. Originally a very powerful elite shinigami, but becoming evil eliminated whatever competence she had for the job. In the arc where Sabato gets possessed by a workaholic ghost, she resorted to calling Rinne to do the job rather than exorcising the ghost herself.

Masato

Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara

A wealthy devil that seeks revenge against Rinne.

Ascended Demon: Almost became this at one point. He was "cursed" by an angel, which gave Masato angel wings that compelled him to perform good deeds, and as time progressed he'd eventually become a true angel. While Masato was originally very against the idea, he eventually came around but turned back into a demon because he wanted to become an angel for impure reasons (see Revenge Before Reason below).
Bat Out of Hell: He definitely has a certain motif about him, being a demonic Winged Humanoid who's casual clothes and Facial Markings are even patterned to look like bats.
Book Dumb: He's terrible with kanji and frequently misspells them. At one point he tries to lure Rinne into a trap with a fake letter, but it has so many typos everyone instantly figures out it's from him.
Brought to You by the Letter "S": Owns a suitcase with a big "M" on it, which he claims it's his initial. But let's not forget Masato is a big idiot who doesn't know what an initial even is, so he claims it stands for the "M" in "akuma" (demon) rather than the "M" in "Masato."
Can't You Read the Sign?: So, how did Masato even get "cursed" by an angel in the first place? Simple. He was trying to do his evil deed of the day by throwing good food away into a swamp in hell... except that specific swamp is home to an angel (don't ask why there's an angel living in hell, let alone in a swamp), and so every demon with more than one brain cell knows to avoid it like the plague. Yet Masato ignored the many, many signs around the swamp warning about the angel, who promptly accepted Masato's "offering" and blessed him with angel wings.
The Ditz: He's so susceptible to Stupid Evil, it's almost funny. He's even introduced taking an unfortunate soul away, but only after misspelling the word "curse" on his forehead.
Evil Is Petty: He'll use any chance to kill Rinne, even attacking him when he is sick.
Facial Markings: He has bat markings on his cheeks.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Once tried to put a curse on Rinne that would erase all the money on Rinne's bank account, but he misspelled Rinne's surname and the curse failed. Since failed curses strike back at the caster, it erased all the money in Masato's account instead.
Improbable Weapon User: Uses credit cards like they're throwing knifes.
Jerkass: He's a devil, so he's naturally a pretty nasty guy.
Pointy Ears: A devil with pointy ears.
Revenge: He seeks revenge against Rinne because he caused him to fail his homework assignment (retrieving a soul and bringing it to Hell) while he was in demon elementary school.
Revenge Before Reason: Masato was originally very against becoming an angel, but once he realized it would screw the perpetually poor Rinne over (it was the time of the year when shinigamis can earn money by beating up demons) Masato quickly became a big fan of the idea.
Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: One of the wealthiest characters in the series, but also really, and we mean really dumb.
Winged Humanoid: He has bat wings on his back.

Renge Shima

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/renge_anime.png

Voiced by: Shizuka Ishigami

A New Transfer Student at Rinne's school who turns out to be a Damashigami.

Academic Athlete: Not only is she the best student of the class when it comes to grades, she was especifically chosen to take part in a relay race because of how good of an athlete she is. If there's a chance to excel in something, Renge will take it.
Anti-Villain: She used to be a shinigami, but on the day Renge was supposed to take her high school entrance exam she was pushed into a river by Sabato (who was running away from debt collectors) and lost her chance. Since Renge was too proud and sure she would pass the entrance exam to the Shinigami Elite School, she didn't apply for any other school and could only find employment in the Damashigami Company to pay the bills. She makes it clear she hates how things turned out for her but also takes her damashigami duties very seriously.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In her introduction, she pretends to be an innocent girl who feels guilty over couples breaking up over her. She's actually a damashigami who purposely seduces her male schoolmates with a magic charm to lure them to the afterlife, and she's a lot meaner in reality.
Book Smart: Be it at the shinigami school or the human one, Renge is an excellent student with top grades.
Butt-Monkey: Renge just appears to have really bad luck, if her Humiliation Conga induced by Sabato is anything to go by.
Cannot Spit It Out: She refuses to tell Kain her feelings.
Dude Magnet: She says that at every school she attends, all the guys fall for her. This is actually caused by a magic pheromone perfume that hypnotizes males.
Flowers of Femininity: Invoked. She wears two flowers on both sides of her hair to fit with the sweet and innocent persona she puts on at first. The flowers also hide the small horns that match her true personality better.
Go-Getter Girl: She always got the top grades, was elected Class Representative every year and was vice president of the student council in middle school. She wanted to go to an elite high school, but she lost her chance because of Sabato. Renge herself says she aims for the top in whatever she does, so she takes her damashigami duties seriously and also studies hard at school with Rinne's circle.
Go-Karting with Bowser: An evil damashigami Renge may be, she's still classmates with Rinne, Sakura, and Tsubasa. She'll sometimes accompany them on trips, and even though someone always asks why Renge came along, none of them ever kicks her out of the group.
Heel–Face Turn: At the end of the series. Also, instead of just walking away from the Damashigami Company, Renge set up a fake plan to steal humans souls that would fail so spectacularly it would do irreversible damage to the company and force it to shut down for good.
Hide Your Otherness: The flower ornaments in her hair serve to hide her horns when posing as a human.
Hime Cut: Subverted. She has the full straight bangs, cheek-length sidelocks, and mid-back length hair. At first, she appears to be a sweet ladylike schoolgirl. Then her real personality is revealed, which is a lot nastier.
Hopeless Suitor: She's in love with Kain, but he's completely in the dark.
Horned Humanoid: She has two small oni-like horns on her head.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: She gives charms to repel ghosts to the students to "atone for what she has done". She later reveals she was just stealing Rinne's customers and when the charms' effect wears off she tries to take advantage of the situation to take the lives of the students.
New Transfer Student: She's introduced as a transfer student to Sankai High. Even after her damashigami side is revealed to the gang, she still attends there.
Only One Name: Inverted. Shinigami in this series don't have surnames, which makes them stand out from regular humans as even the multitudes of One-Shot Characters have both given names and surnames. The only exceptions to this rule are the Rokudou family and Renge. The Rokudou family's situation can be explained by Tamako marrying a human and adopting his surname, but there's no indication of Renge being anything other than a full shinigami. One can assume that she made up the surname so she could enroll in a human school, but in the arc where Renge creates a fake shinigami license for herself, she engraves it as "Renge Shima" instead of just Renge.
Perpetual Poverty: Her financial situation is just as bad as Rinne's, so much that they're actually neighbors.
Punch-Clock Villain: Unlike most Damashigami who are simply amoral or lazy, Renge does the job because she really needs the money. She's still not a nice person, but she treats being a Damashigami as a job.
Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: She hates Ageha's guts because she was a frequent victim of Ageha's carelessness in her childhood. Renge and Ageha make fun of each other and often fight whenever they meet.
Surrounded by Idiots: The only competent one amongst the otherwise half-witted damashigami.
Villains Out Shopping: While Renge still engages in damashigami activities every now and then, most of the time she's just minding her own business when whatever supernatural conflict of the current arc decides to make her life more miserable.
Weird Trade Union: She's the leader of a mostly ineffectual Damashigami union.

Others

Right and Left Mikazuki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/right_and_left_anime.jpg

Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Right), Katsuyuki Konishi (Left)

A pair of twins living in the spirit world who run the Mikazuki Scythe Repair Shop. Left, the brother, is the blacksmith, while Right, the sister, acts as a saleswoman.

They were originally apprentices at the shop, but when time finally came for the current master to be reincarnated, the two were put in charge. Sadly, none of the regulars wanted to trust their scythes to a couple of inexperienced novices and so moved on to other scythe repair shops.

Adaptation Dye-Job: In the manga, Left has black hair and Right has white hair. The anime changes their hair colors to green with a black top and light pink with a white top respectively.
Bungling Inventor: Left's creations are always both extremely impressive and completely useless.
Genki Girl: Right is very cheerful and enthusiastic.
Get-Rich-Quick Scheme: Whenever they appear, they have one of these ready.
Half-Identical Twins: They're twin siblings with Left being the guy and Right being the girl.
Hard Work Fallacy: Sorta. Unlike the many other characters in the series who suffer from Perpetual Poverty due to circumstances outside of their control, Left and Right's case is treated as self-inflicted. Many characters have pointed out, in several occasions, that if the twins were to stop with their Get-Rich-Quick Schemes and just put in regular, honest work, they wouldn't be in the red anymore. Granted, no one ever says they'd be well-off, just that their financial situation wouldn't be so dire.
Light Girl, Dark Boy: Right has fair skin and white-pink hair, Left has tanned skin and black-green hair.
Little Bit Beastly: They have rabbit ears and tails.
Perpetual Poverty: Constantly in the red, mostly because their Get-Rich-Quick Schemes always end up backfiring and increasing their debt.
Polar Opposite Twins: Right is a cheerful and friendly Genki Girl. Left is completely incapable of talking to someone without insulting them.
Playboy Bunny: Right wears this costume to attract clients. Bonus points for her bunny ears and fluffy tail being real.
Rose-Haired Sweetie: The anime gives Right pink hair to fit her cheery personality.
Snake Oil Salesman: Particularly to Rinne, who's so poor that he'll take any product so long as they're giving him a good deal.
Stopped Reading Too Soon: Left failed to realize that Waga Hansei is actually a book of failed products that his ancestors kept, due to never reading the descriptions until the end.
Theme Twin Naming: They're twin siblings named Right and Left.
You Are in Command Now: After the previous Mizakuki master reincarnated, they were put in charge of the shop.

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