Tokko - Television Tropes & Idioms

A horror-actioner manga and 13-episode anime.

Ranmaru Shindo and his sister Saya are two survivors of the Machida massacre, an incident where almost the entire population of an apartment complex is bloodily slaughtered, including their parents.

Some time later, they graduate from the police academy, where Ranmaru becomes entangled with the shadowy organization known as Tokko, and begins to learn the truth behind the Machida massacre, as well as the meaning of the dreams that have been coming more and more frequently, featuring a topless woman wielding a bloody sword.

This series can be found on Netflix's "Watch Instantly" service.

It has had several runs on SyFy's Ani-Monday block.

This series contains examples of:

Absolute Cleavage: Kureha.
Action Girl: Kureha and Sakura
Adaptation Expansion: In the manga, the main story ends right after Ranmaru awakens his powers, with the last few chapters being a side story focusing on a pair of phantom hunting siblings. The anime expands/continues Ranmaru's story after his powers awaken as well as expanding on the events leading up to it. The Anime also expands the backstories of most of the characters.
Audible Sharpness
Bald of Evil: Taishi
Bare Your Midriff: Kureha and Sakura.
Battle in the Center of the Mind: Ranmaru has one after an encounter with Taishi causes him to lose control of his phantom.
Belly Mouth: Some phantoms have this.
Big Bad: Taishi
Big Eater: Itto and Mayu are always eating, whether it's normal food or phantom flesh. Itto even had Mayu toss him a hamburger to snack on at the beginning of a fight.
Big "NO!"
Biker Babe: Kureha
BFS: Section 2.
Blasting It Out of Their Hands: Muramasa in ep 13.
Blood from the Mouth: Sakura.
Bondage Is Bad: Many phantoms are shown wearing things like ball gags, leather masks, and other bondage-retated things.
Brother-Sister Incest: Hanazono suspects Ranmaru of this with his sister Saya in the first episode.
- Saya herself likes to tease Ranmaru by doing things like coming into his room wearing nothing but a bra and panties and squeezing/jiggling her breasts right in front of him.
- In the Tokyo Pop translation of the manga, Saya even offers to let Ranmaru "bury your face in my breasts" in the first chapter.
Beauty Equals Goodness: Inverted. Ranmaru's phantom is on the protagonist's side, but it's just as ugly as any other phantom.
Cannibalism Superpower: The Phantom hunter siblings Itto and Mayu have the ability to absorb the powers of the phantoms they kill by eating them.
Can't Bathe Without a Weapon: When Kureha is attacked in the shower.
The Chosen One: Ranmaru, according to Taishi.
Cluster F-Bomb: In the english dub. Funny when you think about other characters that the actors voice.
Compensated Dating: At the beginning of volume 3, it looks like Mayu is doing this, accepting 40,000 yen to go on a karaoke date and have sex with an older man, however, when they get to the hotel its revealed that the guy was actually a phantom who targeted schoolgirls and the whole thing was a trap to lure him out so Mayu and Itto could kill him.
Cool Big Sis: Kureha.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Taishi against Ranmaru. Hell, Taishi against anyone.
Cut Short: Neither the manga nor anime have any real conclusion to the storyline, and the anime even ends on a cliffhanger. Though the manga does suggest that Tokko loses against the phantoms and the world ends two years after the end of the story.
Dead(?) Little Sister: Inukai. Also the man in Ibuki's photograph.
Demoted to Extra: In the manga, Itto and Mayu star in their own dedicated arc/side story which takes up the entire third volume, but in the anime they only make a few cameo appearances, and their arc is rewritten with them removed from it (except for a brief cameo at the end) and replaced by Ranmaru.
Downer Ending: Ranmaru's monologue at the end of the main manga story reveals that "two years later we were the ones to witness the end of the world".
Dual Wielding: Kureha. Also Ranmaru with his and Sakura's swords.
Dude, She's Like, In a Coma!: Sakura kisses an unconcious Ranmaru before helping him in his Battle in the Center of the Mind.
Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: The Tokko members exhibit this when they get serious. Probably has something to do with the fact that they have a phantom living within them.
Earworm: The opening "Nothing" which is oddly upbeat in contrast to the horrific tone of the series. Not to mention the Surprisingly Good English of the artist dB.
The Empath: Mayu.
Gag Dub: On the complete series DVD box set, each DVD has an easter egg (clicking on the Tokko symbol on the extras screen) that features a short clip of various scenes from the episodes on that DVD with the original dialogue replaced with gag lines such as "Are you going to come quietly or are you a screamer?" and "Kureha, do you have to flash your tits at everyone?"
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: Sakura to Ranmaru.
Hair Colors: Sakura's bright red/magenta, Ranmaru's blond with orange streaks.
Healing Factor: Everyone with a phantom inside them.
Hellbent For Leather: Other than Ryoko, who wears a police uniform, all members of Tokko wear leather jackets and leather pants.
Hey, It's That Voice!: ~~Rangiku~~ Saya is partnered with Suki... I mean Mikae. Ryoko is Aoi Sakuraba, Chii, Zoe Orimoto, Kazemon, female Orochimaru, and Rukia. Ranmaru is Lupin, Ulquiorra, and Lancer. His pal Ichiro Hanazono is Izuru and Gilgamesh. Definitely averts Pigeonholed Voice Actor.
- Also, the chief is Onizuka...well...in the Japanese version anyway.
Hidden Eyes: Fake!Saya.
High Octane Nightmare Fuel: The demons.
High Pressure Blood
Hot Chick with a Sword: Sakura.
Instant Runes: Shown when Ranmaru summons his sword, as well as when a demon touches a barrier.
Immune to Bullets
Jerk Face Turn: The chief
Ki Attacks: Ranmaru creates an energy wave that disintegrates a demon.
- Sakura can do the same thing in the manga.
Knife Nut: Kureha uses twin daggers that wouldn't be out of place in a Klingon's collection.
Kuudere: Sakura.
Lecherous Licking: The first thing Kureha does when she first meets Ranmaru is lick his cheek.
Master of Illusion: In the manga, Mayu is shown to be able to project illusions into the minds of anyone within a certain distance.
Ms. Fanservice: Kureha.
More Teeth than the Osmond Family: The various demons.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Taishi.
Next Sunday A.D.: The manga came out in 2004 (and the anime in 2006) while the story is set in 2011.
Nightmare Fuel: Both in-universe and for the viewer.
No Shirt, Long Jacket: Kureha.
Not Quite Dead: Sakura.
Oculo Thorax: The little pet phantom Kureha keeps in her jacket pocket in the manga isn't much more than an eyeball with legs.
108: The fragments of a puzzle box and the number of demons unleashed.
Parrot Pet Position: Kureha's pet phantom sits on her shoulder in one panel of the manga.
Pet Monstrosity: In the manga Kureha keeps a small pet phantom in one of the pockets of her jacket.
Playing with Fire: Sakura's Sword Beam attack in the manga appears to be fire based. Also, Itto can make a giant flaming hand shoot up from the ground and crush enemies.
Power Perversion Potential: In the manga, after Itto kills a perverted phantom who liked attacking schoolgirls and taking his powers, Itto discovers to his dismay that the power he got from the phantom was the ability to sprout dildos from his hands.
Power Tattoo: Worn by the holders of Phantoms.
Powers via Possession: People with phantoms.
Promoted to Love Interest: In the manga Ranmaru and Sakura don't show any particular romantic interest in each other, while in the anime they develop feelings for each other.
Psychic Assisted Suicide: In the manga, Yukino is introduced when a Puppeteer Parasite phantom tries to get her to commit suicide, but Itto and Mayu rescue her.
Really 700 Years Old: Taishi.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: The possessed people have red eyes with lighter red whites. Averted with Sakura, who has red eyes but is one of the protagonists, and isn't evil in any way.
Relationship Voice Actor: Ranmaru and Ryoko are Lupin and Fujiko, Shinbo and Chii, and Vincent and Saga.
Retractable Weapon: In the manga both Sakura's sword and Kureha's daggers are shown to be retractable. Though in the anime only Kureha's daggers seem to be retractable.
Reverse Grip: Kureha.
Rustproof Blood: years after the Machida massacre, the bloodstains still look fresh.
Say It with Hearts: Kureha.
Scary Shiny Glasses: Shiraishi.
Shock and Awe: In the manga Mayu can shoot electricity from her hands.
Shooting Superman: The police forces who have encountered the demons don't seem to realize bullets don't do diddly to them.
Side Boob: Sakura shows some side boob through her tank-top in a few scenes.
Slasher Smile: Lots of the Phantoms, and especially Taishi.
Stripperiffic: Kureha. Wears an open jacket with nothing under it, all the time. Plus the fight scene in the shower.
Superpowered Evil Side: Ranmaru has to keep his in.
Sword Beam: Ranmaru and Sakura can both do this.
The End of the World as We Know It: At the end of the main story of the manga, Ranmaru has a monologue where he says "And two years later we were the ones to witness the end of the world".
The Tease: Kureha. Saya is also a bit of a tease occasionally towards Ranmaru.
Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe: The epicenter of the portals.
Twist Ending: The opening theme leads you to believe that Sakura will have to kill Ranmaru, but in fact, he nearly kills her, at her own request, to beat the Big Bad. However, they both survive.
Vapor Wear: Kureha. Sakura also doesn't appear to wear a bra under her tank-top.
Weapon of Choice: Each member of the Tokko unit has a unique weapon.
You Taste Delicious: Kureha licks Ranmaru's face during their first meeting and comments on his taste. She does it to see if she can "taste" a phantom in him.