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.
A sequel manga called Tokko Zero was published starting in 2013, taking place a decade after the original series.
This series contains examples of:
- 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.
- Badass Biker: Kureha owns a bright red crotch rocket and takes Ranmaru out for a ride on it in episode six. It's the only time in the whole series she zips up her coat.
- Badass Normal: Lieutenant Ibiki is an ordinary human leading a team of symbionts and will readily go into battle with them armed with a Hand Cannon revolver.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: Ranmaru has one after an encounter with Taishi causes him to lose control of his phantom.
- BFS: Ranmaru, Sakura, and Inukai all use two-handed swords, though Inukai's is the longest.
- 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.
- Bondage Is Bad: Many phantoms are shown wearing things like ball gags, leather masks, and other bondage-retated things.
- Bowdlerization: The TV version edits out most of the nudity since it wouldn't fly on basic cable, though it's left intact in the DVD release.
- 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 Tokyopop 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- "End Is Nigh" Ending: Only in the manga. It ends rather abruptly after a side story with new characters with a closing monologue from previous main character Ranmaru Shindo stating that "Two years later, we were the ones to witness the end of the world."
- Full-Frontal Assault: In one episode, Kureha is attacked by phantoms in the shower, leading to a fight scene where she's slicing through a room full of phantoms completely naked. Also, since Kureha doesn't wear a shirt or bra under her leather jacket, a few of her other fight scenes are a minor version of this trope since her jacket is shown occasionally flying open during fights, resulting in her fighting with her breasts fully exposed (though, this is edited out of the TV version).
- 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?"
- Healing Factor: Everyone with a phantom inside them. If a wound isn't immediately fatal, they'll regenerate.
- Hellbent For Leather: Other than Ryoko, who wears a police uniform, all members of Tokko wear leather jackets and leather pants.
- Instant Runes: Shown when Ranmaru summons his sword, as well as when a demon touches a barrier.
- Immune to Bullets: The Japanese police's New Nambu M60 revolver just slows down zombies and is completely useless against ghouls and phantoms. The light machine gun that Chief Kunikida uses in episode two doesn't work either, and the series finale states that symbionts' Healing Factor makes them resistant to gunfire as well. However, Ryoko Ibiki uses a Hand Cannon revolver that at least blows very large holes in zombies and ghouls, though it's not confirmed it can kill them dead.
- Ki Manipulation: Ranmaru creates an energy wave that disintegrates a demon.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: 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, she of the perpetually unzipped jacket.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: The various demons.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Taishi.
- Mystical 108: The fragments of a puzzle box and the number of demons unleashed.
- Navel-Deep Neckline: The buxom Kureha invariably wears her uniform jacket completely unzipped without a bra, never mind the crop top that Sakura wears underneath hers. In the manga it regularly flies completely open.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Rustproof Blood: years after the Machida massacre, the bloodstains still look fresh.
- 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.
- Shower Scene: Happens twice in the anime, once with Ryoko and again with Kureha. Both feature full nudity from the waist up (which were edited/censored in the tv version of course). Kureha's shower scene leads into a fight scene with Kureha fighting phantoms completely naked.
- Side Boob: Sakura shows some side boob through her tank-top in a few scenes.
- Stripperiffic: Kureha. Wears an open jacket with nothing under it, all the time.
- 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".
- 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.
- 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.
