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Main Characters
Koku
Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (adult), Houko Kuwashima (child) (Japanese), Kyle McCarley (adult), Erica Mendez (child) (English)Other Languages
A seemingly ordinary boy living with Lily's family. Generally quiet and unassuming, Koku spends his days building and repairing violins. He is also Killer B, the serial killer responsible for many gruesome murders.
- A God I Am Not: Koku was created as part of an experiment to revive long-dead winged beings that were considered gods. Despite possessing incredible powers, Koku has no interest in prophecies or lording it over humanity. He just wants to live a normal life with Yuna.
- Always Save the Girl: Koku is singularly focused on saving Yuna. The machinations of Market Maker and the struggles of RIS don't even faze him. All that matters is finding Yuna. Turns out he's been like this towards her since he was a kid.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Koku's skin turns black (like ink) whenever he uses his powers.
- Anime Hair: His hair spikes up when he uses his abilities.
- Anti-Hero: A serial killer who targets those who seriously deserve it, and is one of the two main characters of the series.
- Berserk Button: Don't hurt Yuna, or else you're on his shit list.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: His left arm can transform into an ultra-strong steel blade. He later gains the ability to do the same with his left leg, courtesy of Izanami.
- Calling Card: Leaves a capital 'B' with four lines etched at the site of his murders. It turns out that the 'B' is actually a 13 and the four lines represent a 4. The mark is a beacon for help used between himself and Yuna as children.
- Chess Motifs: The King. Aside from his death signalling the end of his story, Market Maker constantly refers to him as "The Black-Winged King", and in Jaula Blanca he was regarded as one as well in the end, with his classmates willingly giving their lives fighting to protect him, as all other pieces serve in a game of chess.
- Color Motifs: Black. Black is the result of mixing all the other colors together, and so stands apart from them all, making it "a color fit for a king." This is used to represent both his unique place in relation to the scripture as well as his ability to assimilate the powers of the Reggies.
- The Cowl: A textbook example. One of the songs on the image album is even called "Hero In The Night".
- Determinator: Nothing stops Koku in his quest to find Yuna. Not gunshot wounds, not stab wounds, not even getting blasted out of the sky or being deprived of his healing factor.
- Deuteragonist: The story follows Koku's search for Yuna just as much as it follows Keith's pursuit of truth.
- Diving Kick: Delivers a rather brutal one to Mario before escaping with Zachary in the first episode of Season 2.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: He succeeds in avenging Heath, defeats Minatsuki and Market Maker, and saves Yuna. He goes on to live together with her at Keith's at the end of season one.
- Easy Amnesia: He only has memories of Yuna, the girl who he's been seeking since his childhood. Turns out he gave himself amnesia by sealing off his own memories with the power of his eye. This seal later comes undone on its own, allowing him to remember everything.
- Eye Color Change: His left eye shifts colors whenever he uses his powers.
- Flash Step: How he gets past security at the police station.
- Frame-Up: Kirisame's framing plans to make Koku commit murder on VIPs including the Cremonan King so that Koku will do the killing in Kirisame's place.
- Frankenstein's Monster: His arm blade was taken from a fallen classmate and integrated into his body. He later takes Izanami's leg for his own as well.
- Healing Factor: Can heal from any wound, no matter how dire. That is, so long as he stays away from the site of the inscription.
- Hellish Pupils: Gains these when he's really serious.
- Hidden Depths: The brief scene with Lily's family in their workshop reveals that he is a capable craftsman and woodworker, a talented violinist, and that he deeply respects maintaining and passing down the memory and history of others through their creations and actions.
- I Will Find You: Koku's primary motivation is to find and reunite with his missing childhood friend, Yuna.
- Karma Houdini: He never faces any comeuppance for the various murders he commits and gets to end the series living with Keith and Yuna. Indeed, the RIS never actually find out that he's the one responsible.
- Season 2 ends similarly, with the RIS stuck dealing with other crimes under orders, they stop the hunt for Koku (or rather 'Killer B' as they still don't know it's him) over his crimes.
- Lightning Bruiser: Even when compared to Reggies, Koku is unbelievably fast, tough, powerful and, especially to them, lethal. He has more abilities than any Reggie, and he can gain new powers by assimilating their body parts. He also does not need golden ampules to function. The only way anyone can really take him down is by thoroughly stacking things against him as much as possible and then keep on beating him down, because otherwise his toughness, Healing Factor and willpower will make him keep going no matter what.
- Like a Son to Me: Lily's dad certainly thinks this to be the case. He even says this when his actual son is right there in the room.
- Made of Iron: Major injuries don't slow him down for long, thanks to his healing factor. Even with his healing factor negated, he still powers through multiple stab and gunshot wounds.
- Magical Eye: His left eye can manipulate people's memories. His original right eye has the same abilities, but was removed and implanted into Minatsuki.note
- Meaningful Name: Kurohane [read as "Koku"]. It means "black wings".
- Mega Manning: His perfect clone genome of the black-winged king allows him to absorb the special abilities of the Reggies by assimilating their body parts. This also assimilates their memories and feelings, so in effect every Reggie he takes in lives on through his body. Both his sword arm and leg are a result of this, and its implied some of his other abilities like his superhuman strength and speed are a result of this as well.
- Mind Manipulation: His left eye can manipulate memories. Since he was instructed never to use it on others, he's never shown using it. However, he used his power on himself after the attack on his school.
- Monster Roommate: To Lily, although it’s more like he lives with her and her family. She finds out about halfway through the season, when he, Lily, and Keith are under attack by Takeru.
- He becomes one together with Yuna to Keith in the ending.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: Koku only kills people who "deserve to die."
- Older Than He Looks: He must be in his early to mid-twenties, yet he looks like he's still in his teens due to his thin frame.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Some of the disguises he uses involve very little effort.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: The main thing that keeps Koku sympathetic before we learn more about him is the fact that his targets really have it coming.
- Serial-Killer Killer: Targets criminals. More specifically, Reggies that participated in the attack on his school.
- Shapeshifter Weapon: Koku can turn his arm and later his leg into incredibly sharp blades at will. He can heat these blades up as well to temper them in to blue steel, which is super effective against Reggies.
- Shared Unusual Trait: Koku's left eye and the real Minatsuki's right eye have the same colour. This is because as Koku's right eye was implanted into Minatsuki.
- Survivor's Guilt: It's not given a special focus, but it's obvious a considerable part of his guilt over what happened in the massacre of Jaula Blanca is the fact that he lived when nearly all the other children were killed, especially when several of them died fighting to protect him while he hid.
- Tarot Motifs: XIII-Death, the symbol of change, the end of something and the start of another. His birth marks the beginning of a new "cycle" as depicted in the scripture, as would his death. As for Koku himself, his actions are as important to the story as Keith's are, causing a dramatic shift in the power balance behind the scenes as he fights against Market Maker.
- Vigilante Man: Hunts criminals who have evaded justice, and occasionally saves their victims.
- Winged Humanoid: Can sprout black wings at will.
Keith Kazama Flick
An eccentric investigator recently brought back into the RIS. He's known as 'Genie' (short for 'Genius) by his colleagues for his brilliant analytical powers.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: His claim to fame. He can take many disparate clues and link them all together to solve crimes.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's prone to sleeping during important briefings and acting erratically on assignments. He's also capable of quickly analyzing a situation and predicting the outcomes of dire situations.
- Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: Uses these as an excuse to talk to his fellow RIS colleagues in private, while keeping Lily safe. She complains about this habit to Koku in Succession.
- Deuteragonist: The story follows Keith's pursuit of truth just as much as it follows Koku's search for Yuna.
- Distressed Dude: Kirisame abducts him in the early part of the second season. What he doesn't get is that Keith doesn't mind it happening at all. And manages to escape, though he almost dies from doing so.
- Drives Like Crazy: Zig-Zagged, While normally an average driver, when following Koku's trail in Episode 3, he drives so wildly he nearly gives Boris another case of whiplash when they go off-roading.
- Foil: To Lily. He's the blue oni to her red oni, and is much more distant than her when it comes to looking for answers, preferring to think and analyze the facts before acting. Not to mention, his surliness and standoffish demeanor is partially due to his longer involvement with the law, including having to witness various atrocities, while Lily is younger and doesn't have as much experience as he does so she isn't as in the know with everything that's happening.
- Has a Type: Unfortunately for those after his affections, he has a preference for young, busty blondes. When he attempts to sneak up on some outside the hotel in Episode 2, a taxi hits him and he ends up flying into a nearby water fountain.
- Heavy Sleeper: Spends about half of his screentime in the first episode nodding off in the RIS main office, and is later to be shown dead asleep on some folding chairs while the chase with the armored tank is occurring.
- Knight in Sour Armor: He's grouchy and prone to jumping into action without informing his team. He's also dedicated to catching criminals and getting to the bottom of the mystery surrounding his sister's murder.
- In-Series Nickname: 'Genie', short for Genius.
- I Work Alone: Keith frequently runs off on his own to pursue hunches without telling his team first. He also spent the last 8 years trying to figure out who killed his sister by himself, despite having access to friends and colleagues willing to help him.
- Mr. Exposition: Expect Keith to explain pretty much everything.
- Potty Emergency: His excuse towards Lily whenever he wants to make a private conversation with someone regarding sensative information. Lily, understandably gets annoyed by this and spends part of Succession's third episode ranting to Koku about it.
- Replacement Goldfish: Averted. Lily greatly resembles his deceased sister, but Keith refuses to see her as a replacement. In fact, he treats her pretty coldly at first because of her resemblance to Erika.
- Room Full of Crazy: He's not crazy, but he has a room in his apartment that's covered in writing. The floor, the walls and even the ceiling are completely covered in mathematical equations. He wrote a formula on the ceiling that would create a picture of his sister's face.
- Seriously Scruffy: Sports a very disheveled appearance at first, with wild hair and bushy facial hair. Even after he gets a haircut and a shave, he still looks rather unkempt.
- Sherlock Homage: Brilliant detective, check. Deadpan Snarker, check. Sherlock Scan, check. Quirky behavior, check. Evil Counterpart that enjoys playing mind games with him, check.
- Sherlock Scan: Downplayed. He is quick to notice and analyze the environment around him, but he can't make extreme leaps in logic to a conclusion just from that alone. He can miss things and come to the wrong conclusion when lacking relevant information.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Gumbo. He has the recipe for gumbo taped up on his apartment wall and makes it for Lily and Koku. After he becomes a fugitive from the law, Lily is able to track him down by finding places that serve his favorite dish.
- Wrongfully Accused: He's framed for Jean's murder.
RIS
Lily Hoshina
A cheerful and energetic member of RIS, Lily possesses a can-do attitude and surprising analytical skills. She quickly becomes embroiled in the mysteries surrounding Keith and Killer B.
- And I Must Scream: Is heavily sedated, but still conscious, when Gilbert starts to vivisect her, aware of what is happening but completely unable to speak or move.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: She figures out that a third party is involved in Killer B's case with little more than circumstantial evidence. She even figures out where Keith is hiding out by tracking down places serving his favorite dish.
- Berserk Button: Is very easily agitated over the simplest things, usually involving Keith. She goes into a tirade about him keeping valuable information from in in favor of his supposed bowel issues in Episode 3 of 'Succession''.
- In Episode 1 of Succession, Mario chews her out on almost being late by calling her a "grunt". She blue screens his computer in response to the indifference of their teammates.
- Blush Sticker: subtle, but her cheeks are always a slightly pink tinge.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite her unprofessional attitude, Lily possesses impressive analytical skills. Eric even mentions that he hired her despite strong objections because he saw her potential.
- Her skills are compared to Keith's abilities, a man known as 'Genie' for his intellect.
- But Not Too Foreign: Half-Italian on her mother's side, as revealed in the guidebook released by Shout! Factory for the series.
- Damsel in Distress: She's kidnapped by Gilbert and nearly murdered. Thankfully, Keith and Eric find her before Gilbert gets very far.
- Drives Like Crazy: Prone to speeding and reckless driving, especially when pursuing a criminal. She even gives Boris whiplash from stopping too quickly!
- Taken to extremes in Season 2, when she gives the Cremona King motion sickness by driving on walls in an alleyway.
- Foil: To Keith. She's the red oni to his blue oni, and is much more proactive than him when it comes to looking for answers, going out on the field, and confronting other people when she knows something's up. Plus, she's a lot peppier and upbeat than Keith, and hasn't been involved with law enforcement for as long as he has, so she's a bit out of the loop when it comes to everything that's happening. Eric admits to this being the reason why he hired her in the first place despite objections.
- Genius Ditz: She's about as smart as Keith when it comes to solving cases, but is prone to forgetting things constantly, including her work ID.
- Honey Trap: Because of her strong resemblance to Erika, Keith's sister, Lily is used as bait to lure out Gilbert. It works a little too well and she almost becomes his next victim.
- Mistaken for Thief: Gets chased down and mistakenly confused as the culprit behind the kidnapping of the King in Episode 5 of Season 2. Boris shows her off RIS badge to the officers who arrested her, prompting them to let her go.
- Ms. Fanservice: Downplayed. There are multiple shots focusing on her butt. She's also shown naked when Gilbert almost vivisects her. Might qualify as Fan Disservice due to the context though.
- Mukokuseki: Averted. She is noted to be Asian in the show and has a Japanese last name. Her hair is black and her eyes are brown. As mentioned above however, she's also part Italian.
- "Not Wearing Pants" Dream: Relates one of these to Yuna and Koku in Episode 1 of Succession after picking up Yuna. Neither are actually listening to her and talking among themselves, which Lily takes offense to upon realizing.
- Plucky Girl: Nothing gets Lily down for long, not even getting gassed or getting kidnapped by a serial killer and nearly vivisected while still conscious.
- Replacement Goldfish: Averted. Lily greatly resembles his deceased sister, but Keith refuses to see her as a replacement.
- Tritagonist: Lily is the Audience Surrogate and third viewpoint character, though more of a Supporting Protagonist.
Eric Toga
The head of RIS, Eric is a stern, but fair leader. He cares deeply for his team, but must balance their safety with the importance of their missions.
- A Father to His Men: Eric cares about the safety and well-being of his team. He shows intense worry when his team is in jeopardy.
- Da Chief: He leads RIS.
- Gone Horribly Right: The plan he comes up with to lure out Gilbert is to use Lily as bait, as his targets have mostly been women. While the team eventually do track him down, this very nearly ends with her becoming Gilbert's next victim.
- Not So Above It All: Although he's normally pretty stoic, Eric rips Keith a new one over the latter's unwillingness to work with others. Apparently, he gets like that when drunk as well.
- To Be Lawful or Good: He's willing to bend the rules if it means keeping his team safe and catching criminals. He deliberately slows down the hunt for Keith after the latter becomes a fugitive from the law. Eric also decides to work behind the government's back to help Keith solve his sister's murder.
- Trap Is the Only Option: After the Cracker is decapitated by Kamui and the RIS is given access to the hotel's security systems, he decides to go ahead with the plan to rescue the people there, regardless of whether or not it's a trap or whatever the consequences will be, claiming responsibility for any casualties.
Boris Meier
Voiced by: Minoru Inaba (Japanese), Doug Stone (English)Other Languages
The oldest member of RIS.
- Battering Ram: He makes an attempt to break down the door to Keith's apartment in Season 1, but winds up sliding onto his butt and hitting a wall after charging through.
- Cool Old Guy: He's a jovial and easygoing guy that looks out for his younger colleagues, especially Lily. He's also a competent investigator.
- Hopeless with Tech: Can't figure out how to use his cellphone. Notably in episode 4, he gets called out for it by Keith when Kaela arrives in what should have been a private meeting at his apartment, having accidentally sent a message to the entire team. By the end of Succession, he forgets how to end a phone call.
- Papa Wolf: Shows the most concern for Lily, especially when she is used as bait for Gilbert.
Kaela Yoshinaga
A highly competent member of RIS that uses her computer skills to aid the team behind the scenes.
- Berserk Button: Cocky people who do nothing but whine about society and commit wannabe terrorism send her into a tirade in Episode 2. Ironically, the only time she raises her voice during this is when Bran tries to interrupt her.
- Billions of Buttons: The main setup in her private Hacker Cave consists of no less than a half-dozen keyboards (including a holographic one), a laptop, three sets of foot pedals, a multi-button mouse, and five touchscreen monitors.
- Cross-Popping Veins: Dons one after Bran tells her about Market Maker in Episode 2, annoyed that he called her over to hear him read a webpage about them.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Her right ear is pierced.
- Hackette: Her main role in the RIS, also doubles as the team's lead researcher, technician and surveillance officer.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Not shown much, but dialogue suggests that she consumes about as much alcohol as she does coffee off the clock, and is very familiar with Eric's drunken rants. She even brings a bottle of wine to Keith's apartment in Episode 4.
- Improvised Weapon: Confronts Lily in Episode 5 with a backscratcher before taking her into a private room to talk about the surveillance system Bran stumbled upon.
- Mission Control: Uses her computer expertise to disseminate information to her team members and keep track of different elements in play.
- Morality Chain: The only reason the RIS is still around and simply reassigned after Kirisame takes them off the case of the King's disappearance is due to her silently telling Eric to back down when he objects to the decision. She reminds him about it again the following episode when he tells Bran about their mission to still track down Killer B.
- Mukokuseki: Kaela has a Japanese last name, but has blonde hair and an Irish first name* .
- Must Have Caffeine: Almost always seen with a coffee cup either nearby or on hand. The area next to her spot at the office is covered in empty coffee cups and energy drink cans. By Season 2, she's gained about 2 centimeters of waist size that she passes off as constipation.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Her last scene in Season 1 has her lamenting about Keith bringing trouble around the RIS, before grinning and ominously mentioning about how she's looking forward to it the next time they cross paths.
- Number Two: Acts as this to Eric, often carrying out his orders, letting him know when he's about to overstep his boundaries, and is the only one who can occasionally poke fun at his overly stern demeanor, embarrass him and get away with it with zero repercussion.
- Playful Hacker: Counters a Cracker's program during the hotel lockdown. While initially caught off guard by the attack, once she gets going, aided in part by a rant by one of the terrorists at the hotel, the Cracker can barely keep up with her. She even snarks about beating him three times over in under 45 minutes due to his lack of skill, and calls his program a cheap imitation and unoriginal.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Wears a pair of these as part of her attire.
- Rapid-Fire Typing: She's shown typing on multiple keyboards AND using both feet on several pedals when battling the Cracker. As is later shown in following episodes, it's her normal way of working while in her private cubicle.
- Sassy Secretary: Doesn't show this often, but when she does, she gets very snarky and smug to her peers and superiors, including Eric.
- Smug Smiler: Almost every time she smiles, it's one of these bordering on a Slasher Smile that could give the villains a run for their money (moreso in side views, given the inconsistent rendering of her chin). Examples include her remarking on preferring a Hummer over a Cayenne when taking notice of a particularly fancy Geisha outfit, then later calling the Cracker not too smart in Episode 2; and when she playfully demands a trillion-dollar payment from Keith for information in Episode 5. Boris gets understandably creeped out when she does it again in anticipation for possible further antics involving Keith in Episode 12.
- The Stoic: Like Eric, this is her default emotion. And much like him, she has her moments of breaking the façade to deliver a snarky retort or to rant about pointless amateur terrorism.
- Trap Is the Only Option: She ponders whether or not this is the case, or if there was even a plan in place to begin with after Blue, the guy she was battling against for control over the Hotel's security systems suddenly stops, unaware he was killed. She proceeds to continue anyways under Eric's orders.
Brian Brandon
- Dying Clue: He doesn't die, but he does leave a clue for Keith as he bled out from his wound. Keith figures out the identity of the inside man with the watch that Bran left him.
- Fan Boy: Of Keith and his work, and gets excited when it's revealed he'll be joining the RIS.
- Funny Background Event: In episode 12, he’s trying to get Kaela and Boris to let him into the cafe after Mario stormed out by waving and shouting at them by the window. They don’t even notice him.
- He Knows Too Much: Bran finds out RIS cell-phones are being used to spy on and track their members. He's attacked and his laptop is badly damaged to prevent him from telling the others.
- No One Could Survive That!: Manages to shrug off an explosion point blank with no burns or injuries when caught in the blast zone of one during the Season 2 premiere.
- Office Romance: While not stated as such in the anime, supporting materials such as Shout! Factory's tie-in book mention that he has a rather hopeless crush on Kaela.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Known as 'Bran'. His first name is never used in the show outside of computer displays.
Mario
Voiced by: Shintaro Tanaka (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)Other Languages
- The Big Guy: He's the tallest and most muscular member of the squad.
- Butt-Monkey: He is not treated well in the Season 2 premiere, getting a Diving Kick to the face by Koku while protecting Zachary, and later pissing off Lily when she almost arrives late which results in his computer blue screening after she deliberately messes up his report.
- Food as Bribe: In episode 1 of Season 2, he tries to buy out Kaela by offering to take her to lunch if she helps him fill out his police report, she bluntly refuses his offer much to his aggravation. She shows no reaction to his work being ruined by Lily after he calls her a grunt, presumably because of this.
- The Generic Guy: The least developed of the team, and also the least involved with the plot after Episode 3.
Jean Henri Richard
Voiced by: Atsushi Goto (Japanese), Keith Osterberg (English)Other Languages
- Brainwashed and Crazy: He's forced to attack Bran by Gilbert. When he's confronted by Keith, Jean slits his throat with his own knife.
- Dying as Yourself: He tells Keith to run as he slowly bleeds out from his wound.
Market Maker
"Minatsuki"
The leader of Market Maker. Minatsuki is orchestrating a series of bizarre crimes for unknown reasons. He seems to have a connection with Koku.
- Ax-Crazy: Rather violently insane, and gets worse as his brainwashing wears off.
- Bad Boss: Regularly sends his underlings to die against Koku. He chokes Kukri to death after she confronts him about her twin's death.
- Blood from Every Orifice: During his last fight with Koku.
- Body Double: He is actually a "phantom" of the real Minatsuki, Laica, who brainwashed him into thinking he is Minatsuki.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: If he wasn't for his personality, he would be attractive.
- Sanity Slippage: Becomes increasingly more violent as his Reggie nature becomes more apparent. Eventually, the real Minatsuki's brainwashing begins to wear off, causing him increasing madness.
- Tomato in the Mirror: He's not the real Minatsuki. He's a Reggie that was brainwashed into assuming Minatsuki's identity by the genuine article.
- Underestimating Badassery: When Keith goes to shoot him, he just spreads his arms and lets Keith shoot him. Justified because he didn't know Keith was using blue steel pellets, and loses his arm because of this.
- Villainous Breakdown: In Episodes 10 and 11 of Season One, he rapidly goes insane as a result of his Reggie madness overwhelming his brainwashing, until he becomes completely homicidal upon realizing he is not Minatsuki.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Has long, white hair. He's also working together with criminals in order to lure out and capture Killer B. This has resulted in a lot of collateral damage, but he doesn't care so long as his mission succeeds.
- Would Hit a Girl: Stabs Yuna and chokes out Kukuri.
Laica Warning: Walking Spoiler
Voiced by: Yu Kitada (Japanese), Xander Mobus (English)Other Languages
A quiet man acting as Minatsuki's right-hand man. He always wears sunglasses, even indoors.
- Because Destiny Says So: He believes that what is written on the inscription is destiny. He also falsely believes that he's fated to defeat Koku and become the leader of all mankind.
- Combat Pragmatist: Carries a gun when most of his fellow Market Maker members carry knives.
- He brings Koku to the site of the inscription, knowing that Koku's Healing Factor won't work there. Minatsuki then proceeds to use a gun and a sword to tear Koku apart.
- Dramatic Irony: He never learns the truth of Gilbert's deception. He dies believing that he could have become the new black-winged king, and that he would have served as spare body parts for Koku, when he actually would have been irreplaceable as the only Reggie who could cultivate a cure for the Reggie dependency on golden ampules and Sanity Slippage.
- Didn't See That Coming: He clearly didn't anticipate Koku having Izanami's leg.
- Hellish Pupils: His right eye looks exactly like Koku's left eye.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: He's the real Minatsuki, and the fake one is a brainwashed Reggie who becomes increasingly unstable as his Reggie nature affects his brainwashing.
- The Man Behind the Man: He's the real Minatsuki and the true leader of Market Maker.
- Mind Manipulation: Since he possesses Koku's right eye, he can also manipulate memories. He uses his powers to convince that a Reggie to assume his identity. He also brainwashes Reggies as scapegoats for Gilbert's crimes.
- Off with His Head!: He's decapitated by Koku using Izanami's blade leg.
- Oh, Crap!: When he sees Koku pulling out Izanami's leg, and realizes he's lost.
- Shared Unusual Trait: His right eye and Koku's left eye have the same colour. This is because as Koku's right eye was implanted into Minatsuki.
- Sinister Shades: Always wears a pair of sunglasses. They serve to hide his right eye, which resembles Koku's.
- Slasher Smile: When fighting Koku.
- Walking Spoiler: Laica's true identity is a major spoiler for the second half of the first season.
- Would Hit a Girl: Stabs Yuna and rips out the blade.
Yuna
Voiced by: Satomi Sato (Japanese), Brianna Knickerbocker (adult), Cristina Vee (child) (English)Other Languages
An enigmatic member of Market Maker with a mysterious connection to Koku.- Brainwashed and Crazy: Minatsuki brainwashed her into thinking that Koku was responsible for the attack on the school. She attacks Koku under that false assumption, but it is broken when she looks into Koku's eyes and remembers their past together.
- Damsel in Distress: Yuna is stabbed by Minatsuki and used as bait for Koku. Then she's kidnapped by the real Minatsuki and carried to the site of the inscription to bait Koku.
- Badass in Distress: She's actually plenty strong herself, but after recovering from severe injuries, she's constantly beat down, choked, stabbed, drugged and/or taken to places that will weaken her to keep her unable to help herself. Minatsuki's entire purpose for her is to be bait for Koku, so of course he'll do everything to reduce her to this.
- Demoted to Extra: Has far less screen time in Season 2, becoming a Living Prop in the process.
- Healing Factor: She heals from the stab wound that Minatsuki gave her. Unfortunately, her healing factor is negated at the site of the inscription.
- MacGuffin Girl: She's an important part of the prophecy mentioned on the inscription. As a result, she's manipulated by Market Maker and pursued by Koku. She represents the shrine maiden who was not decapitated by the black-winged king, who goes on to become the king's wife and stands at his side until the end.
- Power Dyes Your Hair: Her hair turns silver at one point when she resonates strongly with Koku's desire to reunite. It seemingly goes back to normal in the ending.
- Protectorate: To Koku. He will stop at nothing to save her.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: As a kid. Briefly loses the "Rose-Haired" part before going back to the complete trope in the epilogue.
- Sigil Spam: The supposed Calling Card of Killer B is actually a sign that Koku developed and shared with her to signal each other when they need help. All the Sigil Spam Koku's being doing since becoming Killer B is actually meant to tell her where he is and to come to him, but Minatsuki's brainwashing prevented her from realizing it.
- Tarot Motifs: IV-The Emperor, representing power, authority and the will to triumph over adversity. The prophecy reveals that the black-winged king gained all of these from the shrine maidens, and Koku chose her, gaining these traits as part of his will to reunite with her.
Kamui
An Ax-Crazy member of Market Maker. He seems to be progressively losing control as the series goes on.
- Ax-Crazy: Really enjoys cutting people up.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: When it becomes clear the hired Cracker is being bested by Kaela during their battle, he kills the guy on his end by sawing his head off under Minatsuki's orders.
- Monster Clown: His facial markings and pale skin make him look like a clown. He's also a sadistic monster that kills people for fun.
- Mugging the Monster: A group of thugs mistakenly tried to rob him while he is suffering from a Phlebotinum Breakdown. Let's just say the results weren't pretty.
- Psycho Knife Nut: Carries several large knives at all times. He likes to use them to carve people up.
- Sadist: Kamui frequently goes above and beyond what is necessary to accomplish missions. He even skins a pair of criminals and sticks their skins on the wall for the cops to find.
- Sanity Slippage: Not that his mental state was healthy to begin with, he becomes more twitchy and violent as his gold ampules stop being as effective.
- Slasher Smile: All the time.
- Taking You with Me: He and another Reggie are used as bait to lure the police and nearly kill Mario and Boris with an explosive vest.
Izanami
- Ambiguous Gender: While referred as female, it's not exactly clear if she's an androgynous woman or a man. The fact she's voiced by a man in the Latin American Spanish dub makes it even more ambiguous, not at all helped by supporting materials also referring to her with male pronouns. Later on it's implied Izanami is in fact female due to her child self wearing feminine clothes and the shrine maiden passage revealing one of them was to become the king's wife.
- Chekhov's Gun: Her blade leg. It returns in Koku's final battle with Minatsuki, where he uses it as a hidden trump card to catch him by surprise and defeat him.
- Friendly Sniper: In Season 2, Izanami helps Koku and Lily hide from Kirisame by shooting Asagiri from a distance.
- Glass Cannon: Every bit as fast, strong, agile and precise as Koku, but inevitably bound to be defeated due to possessing the same weakness to blue steel all Reggies have. One stab through the abdomen is all Koku needs to defeat her.
- Implausible Boarding Skills: She skateboards while fighting Koku. She even jumps off a cliff and lands perfectly!
- Mysterious Past: With Koku. The venue of her duel with Koku is actually a place that she showed him to before, where they even held hands, and at one point she cared enough about him to promise to protect him to a dying Heath.
- Shapeshifter Weapon: Can turn her left leg into a bladed weapon.
- Take Up My Sword: Before dying she asks Koku to take her blade leg. Koku puts it to good use in his fight against Minatsuki. This aligns with the passage of the shrine maidens, where one is killed by the black-winged king and whose remains fuse with the king to grant him a new power. Averted in Season 2 when she got a new leg to cover the one she gave to Koku.
- Tarot Motifs: V-The Pope, representing spirituality and tradition. She leads Koku to a lake where candles for the dead are lit and set for their duel, and seems to put faith in the roles they fill in the prophecy. She even manages to represent the reversed side, which can stand for freedom and challenging the status quo; this traits are embodied in Koku once he resolves to fight against fate for the sake of saving Yuna.
- Yandere: She calls out Koku on having chosen Yuna over her, declaring she will not forgive him for it. This becomes more meaningful when the passage of the shrine maidens is revealed, showing she is upset not simply because Koku chose Yuna, but that the choice means she is fated to die at his hands.
Takeru and Kukuri
Voiced by: Nozomi Kameda (Japanese); Cristina Vee (English)Other Languages
- Angsty Surviving Twin: Kukuri, it doesn't last for much longer.
- The Cracker: Takeru manages to track down Koku by hacking into the city's earthquake prevention systems.
- BFG: Takeru uses a machine gun when attacking Koku.
- Neck Lift: Minatsuki does this to Kukuri, choking her to death one-handed.
- Underestimating Badassery: Takeru using a BFG is enough to stop Koku.
Quinn
Voiced by: Makoto Awane (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)Other Languages
- Starter Villain: The first enemy faced in the series, and the one who lasts the least.
- Traintop Battle: How his battle with Koku plays out.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He's introduced in the first episode, only to die by the end of the same episode.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: His superiors were planning on "disposing of" him for "plan B" even if Koku had not killed him, not that he ever finds out.
Jaula Blanca Institute
Kirisame
Voiced by: Takuma Terashima (Adult; Japanese), Junko Minagawa (Child; Japanese), Billy Kametz (Adult; English), Casey Mongillo (Child; English)
Koku's friend at the institute when he escaped. He survives the incident and comes out of hiding, already working with a mysterious group overseeing MM and the RIS.
- The Chessmaster: Plays both sides of the conflict, effectively forcing the remains of MM into hiding and the RIS into dealing with other crimes by halting their ongoing investigations after the King's "kidnapping" has been resolved.
- Cool Car: Owns a black muscle car that Asagiri eventually uses.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Thanks to his connections with the king, he is able to put the kibosh on the RIS's investigation of the latter's disappearance, and also into the investigation regarding Killer B.
- The Man Behind the Man: Responsible for setting Season 2's plot into motion by kidnapping Keith and planning a similar kidnapping of the King with the government's help.
- Shapeshifter Weapon: Just like Koku, his arm turns into a blade.
- Walking Spoiler: His existence alone, much less his role in the plot, is one.
Asagiri
Voiced by: Megumi Han (Japanese), Abby Trott (English)
- Always Someone Better: She hypes herself up as being better than Koku due to being created in a better lab than he was. Koku still manages to hold his own in both of their fights, and nearly kills her the second time.
- Artificial Human: Similar to Koku, she was created in a lab.
- Walking Spoiler: Her presence in the second season is one.
Yukikaze
Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese), Aleks Le (English)
Kazan
Voiced by: Kenn (Japanese), Zeno Robinson (English)
Cremonan Monarch
The King
Voiced by: Katsuhisa Houki (Japanese), John Eric Bentley (English)
- The Atoner: After nearly being killed by his son, he helps Lily, Koku, Yuna and Izanami rescue Keith and stop Kirisame. Turns out that he still supports the covert use of Reggies in the end when he shows up with Kirisame at the palace.
- Butt-Monkey: Passes out from Lily's physics-defying driving as they head to the rendezvous point Izunami and Yuna are at.
- The Man Behind the Man: He's the one who authorized MM to raid the institute in the first season to protect his interests. Lily calls him out on it.
- Mr. Exposition: In the second season, he explains to Koku, Yuna, Izanami and Lila about their purpose. For their cells to be used for regenerative medicine studies.
- No Name Given: Is only ever referred to by his title.
- Walking Spoiler: Would be hard to talk about him, due to his involvement in the show's backstory.
The Prince
Voiced by: Shunsuke Sakuya (Japanese), J. Michael Tatum (English)
- The Evil Prince: He kills his own father at the end of the second episode. Except he failed since Izanami saved him.
- The Man Behind the Man: Indirectly supporta Kirisame to help him remove his father and bring "reform". Turns out that Kirisame betrayed him.
- No Name Given: Like his father, he is never referred to by anything other than his title.
Other Characters
Gilbert Ross Warning: Walking Spoiler
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (Japanese), John DeMita (English, as Will Barrett)Other Languages
A coroner that works closely with the RIS. He's old friends with Keith, having known him since university.
- Ax-Crazy: He hides it well, but as he himself admits, he needs to kill to survive, and his cravings for murder will never be satisfied.
- The Bad Guy Wins: In the end he achieved exactly what he had been gunning for the entire series: dragging Keith down to his depraved level.
- Big Bad: Gilbert is responsible for the actions of Market Maker and the crimes that they commit. He was also responsible for the attack on Koku's school and subsequent massacre.
- Big Bad Friend: Even after all the manipulation and cruelty, Gilbert genuinely considers Keith his best friend. He admits that the only time he cried is when he felt Keith had utterly scorned and rejected something that defined him, and his ultimate goal in the end is to bring Keith down to his level, where he feels Keith will truly understand him.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Gilbert appears to be kind and friendly on the surface, a contrast to his friend Keith. Gilbert is actually incredibly cruel and wishes to torment Keith.
- Consummate Liar: He's capable of operating literally right under the RIS' noses, without a single sign of duplicity.
- Cop Killer: Shoots two officers dead while calmly leaving his lair.
- The Coroner: His day job. He uses his position to sneak victims into his lair, where he then proceeds to cut them up. While they're still conscious.
- The Corrupter: Minatsuki is only as messed up as he is because of Gilbert. It was Gilbert that lied to Minatsuki about his role, leading to Minatsuki murdering Dr. Kazama. It was also Gilbert that manipulated and tormented Keith in an attempt to lower the latter to his level.
- Evil All Along: Keith didn’t once think of him as anything other than a friend and colleague when they first began working and studying together, until Erika’s murder. In their final scene together, Gilbert revealed that he had always been this way.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: As Keith identifies, Koku and Minatsuki aren’t the monsters of the story, but rather the purely human Gilbert Ross.
- Living Doll Collector: His victims are embalmed and kept in a vault beneath the police station.
- Mad Doctor: He's a practicing coroner, but likes to kidnap living women and vivisect them for kicks.
- Mad Love: Gilbert is absolutely obsessed with Erika. It's implied that he mutilated and murdered her out of jealousy.
- The Man Behind the Man: He's the one directing Market Maker and Minatsuki behind the scenes.
- Mask of Sanity: At first glance, Gilbert appears to be a calm and competent coroner. Underneath that is a sadistic killer that is responsible for the disappearances of over 37 women.
- Never My Fault: Creates alternate personalities in order to handle any guilt from his actions. He then drives these personalities into a corner and 'kills' them, allowing him to mentally reset.
- Patricide: Gilbert murdered his father. He even kept his father's embalmed corpse in his personal room beneath the police station.
- Pretty Little Headshots: When Keith shoots him in the head, there is the entry wound in his forehead, which does not disfigure him, and no exit wound.
- Sadist: Aside from killing people, he also enjoys making Keith's life hell.
- Secret Identity: He is Regulus, the mind behind Market Maker, though this position is given far less focus than his own serial killing, with his manipulations of Minatsuki being examined more as how he brainwashed various Reggies to cover for his killings.
- Serial Killer: He targets Asian women in their mid-twenties, with dark hair, brown eyes, and being under 5 feet and 3 inches tall. More specifically, he targets women that resemble Erika. He has at least 37 victims to his name that he used the military hospital for, and his "trophy room" has at least 45 victims preserved, not counting the indeterminate pile of corpses in the next room.
- The Sociopath: He kills like other people need to breathe, both in his surgical manner and casual murder while escaping.
- Split-Personality Takeover: An interesting example, he creates a "new" personality that kills the "old" one, in order to avoid dealing with the guilt of his crimes. We only see it happen once, but it is rather quick, about a minute or so to switch. It acts more like a reset button, but he's also completely aware of it.Keith: There's no regret or remorse in you. The instant you feel a twinge of guilt, you create a separate personality. By suppressing the first personality and erasing it, you reset your emotions back to zero. You shift your flaw of having to kill to survive on someone else, which is how you've managed to stave off a complete mental breakdown.
- Suicide by Cop: During the epilogue, Lily posits the possibility that a part of Gilbert's fragmented psyche pushed Keith to unravel his plots and kill him in order to put a stop to his madness for good, since his own split-personality issues would have prevented him from stopping himself.
- Trophy Room: Has a "personal room" hidden under the RIS station house, in which he has his victims embalmed. At least 45 people are there (and as many as 48, given the space), mostly women, along with his father.
- Villainous Breakdown: Defied. Whenever he is about to have a mental breakdown, be it from guilt or panic, he "resets" his personality to a remorseless one to avoid it continuing, thereby preventing him from truly facing his actions.
- Walking Spoiler: His true identity is a massive spoiler.
- White Hair, Black Heart: He has white hair and a sadistic personality. He is responsible for killing a lot of people and manipulating the members of Market Maker.
- Yandere: He mentions part of his motivation for killing Erika is that she "fell in love with a man she wasn't supposed to".
Erika Kazama Flick
Voiced by: Yukine Yaehata (Japanese); Cristina Vee (English)Other Languages
Keith's younger sister. Erika was murdered eight years before the start of the series.
- Brother–Sister Incest: It's implied that Erika had fallen in love with Keith.
- Collateral Angst: Erika was mutilated and dumped in the mountains for Keith to find. The mystery surrounding her death continues to motivate Keith in the present day.
- Morality Pet: Gilbert was intending for Erika to be his. Unfortunately her falling for Keith ruined those plans.
- Not Blood Siblings: She's noted to look nothing like Keith, even though she's his sister. It's later revealed that Erika is actually adopted.
- Plot-Triggering Death: She was the first of Gilbert's many murder victims in his outright serial killing (not to be confused with his first murder, his father). Subsequently, his pursuit of solving and avenging her murder would later lead Keith to expose both Gilbert and Market Maker for their respective roles in the crimes Gilbert committed. Including the destruction of the school that Koku and Yuna attended.
- Posthumous Character: She dies before the series starts, but remains a source of motivation for several characters during the series proper.
Reggies
The result of a failed Super-Soldier experiment.
- Ax-Crazy: On their 20th birthday, they start experiencing a bloodlust that slowly drives them insane.
- Fantastic Drug: Reggies take special gold ampules to stave off their murderous impulses, but it doesn't last forever.
- Fun with Acronyms: Reggie, or "R.G.I.E.", stands for Regulus Ginedrive Immoral Egersis, according to Episode 8.
- Immune to Bullets: Blue steel weapons are needed to kill a Reggie.
- Minatsuki loses his left arm because of this, when he lets Keith shoot him with a shotgun, not realizing it contained blue steel bullets.
- Insane Equals Violent: As their bloodlust grows, this happens.
- Kryptonite Factor: Blue steel. Koku can kill a Reggie instantly with one of his blue steel blades, and Minatsuki loses his left arm after being shot with a shotgun using blue steel pellets.
- No Body Left Behind: When killed, Reggies bodies turn to dust.
- Sanity Slippage: After their 20th birthday, this happens.
- Super-Soldier: They do have superhuman abilities, but they're unstable.
