Characters appearing in the anime series Katana Maidens.
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Protagonists
Kanami Etō
Kanami Etō
Voiced by: Kaede Hondo (Japanese), Sarah Wiedenheft (English)
- The Ace: The best sword fighter of her generation, just like her mother before her.
- All Your Powers Combined: Against Yukari, she specifically draws upon specific movements and techniques from her True Companions. The manga makes the notion more explicit compared to the anime. This culminates in using a self-hypnotic attempt to recreate how her mother fought, which works as the deciding factor of the battle.
- Blood Knight: Really excited about fighting and even saves her opponent Hiyori from Yukari's personal squad simply because she hadn't fought her yet.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Delivers one with ease to a Princess Ichikishima-fused Hiyori to bring her back to her senses after hearing what she plans to do afterwards.
- Generation Xerox: The older adults all remark at how similar she is to her mother, from her enthusiasm about fighting to being one of the best fighters of her generation. She even saves Hiyori from her Heroic Sacrifice just as her mom did to save Hiyori's mom many years ago.
- Genki Girl: Is usually cheerful and easily excited, especially when it comes to battling.
- Genius Bruiser: While she's already a force to be reckoned with based on her combat ability alone, what makes Kanami truly fearsome are her tactical prowess and analytical skills in the battlefield . Once she learns and identifies her opponent's style of swordsmanship, she can either easily copy it and make it as her own or quickly come up with a counter against it to come out victorious.
- The Heroine: Of all the protagonists, she is the best example of the standard heroic archetype.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Kanami rarely has a reason to go all-out in her fights unless it's absolutely urgent or she really gets into it. Consequently, every time she does show all of her skill, pretty much everyone finds it hard to even try to keep up with her. Even a significantly boosted Hiyori.
- Smug Super: The only way to really describe how she treats the whole Fusion Dance Hiyori situation, given that Kanami confidently proclaims that "I'm not sure about that" when Hiyori asks if being bound to an evil god finally makes them equal. Kanami soundly defeats her.
- Spirit Advisor: She has one that gives her extra training in her dreams. It turns out to be a younger version of her mother at the time of the peak of her power.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Kanami is a headstrong tomboy while her best friend Mai is more feminine and refined.
- Took a Level in Badass: Deconstructed. She becomes stronger throughout the series. This is lampshaded by Sayaka of all people following the time skip in Episode 13 when she states that Kanami has become too strong which causes her to feel alienated. One of her fellow Toji even decide take measures to potentially surpass her even if it puts her on the opposing side.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Chidori ("A Thousand Birds"), the sword wielded by Dosetsu Tachibana
, which was also called Raikiri ("Lightning Cutter") according to legend. Fittingly, it represents Kanami's freedom from restraints and her ability to do the seemingly impossible. More directly, it also cuts through Hiyori's lightning, defeating her when the latter was fused with Princess Ichikishima. - Youngest Child Wins: She's the second-born of Minato's two children note and is considered one of the best and strongest fighters of her generation like her mother Minato before her.
Hiyori Jujō
Hiyori Jujō
Voiced by: Saori Onishi (Japanese), Jeannie Tirado (English)
- 10-Minute Retirement: After Yukari is defeated, she retires from being Toji, believing that she has accomplished her goal. But when a new threat emerges, she promptly picks up her sword again.
- A-Cup Angst: Downplayed compared to Kaoru, but even she shows jealousy over Ellen's large bust and is visibly irritated when Kaoru calls her an "eternally flat-chested harpy".
- Character Development: From the aloof and revenge-driven Anti-Hero at the beginning of the series, to genuinely opening up more later on, the series' story is as much hers as it is Kanami's and she gets some of the most development of everyone.
- Combat Clairvoyance: Gains this as a result of her Fusion Dance with Princess Ichikishima. Problem is that she has she has no idea how it works.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Hiyori can use an attack that will send a target to the deepest depths of the Netherworld, where a minute there is equal to an eternity in the human realm, by piercing them with her sword while moving at very high speed. The downside, to do this the user must also go that deep and once in that far there is effectively no way back out.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: In a post-series drama CD, Hiyori actually, finally accomplishes this against Kanami in the tournament shown in the ending, and only because she took excessive amounts of preparations for numerous strategies on how to do it. Given that this is Kanami we're talking about, it definitely wasn't easy. Kanami takes it in stride and figures on ways to improve herself for next time.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Initially cold and distant, she gradually learns to open to her teammates, especially Kanami.
- Deuteragonist: Hiyori's actions cause the first half of the story, with Kanami mostly along for the ride, and both characters are as important as the other in the center of the plot.
- Fusion Dance: She later combines with Princess Ichikishima to gain the strength to defeat Princess Tagitsu.
- Oh, Crap!: When she attempts to use her Combat Clairvoyance late in the series to try to figure out Kanami, Hiyori sees nothing but a stream of outcomes where she's cut down for every single possible move she could make thanks to failing to understand how to even use it properly. The girl suffers a Heroic BSoD and a Curbstomp Battle for her troubles, all for Kanami to teach her not to rely on such power.
- Secret Legacy: While the Origami family's techniques are intended to seal Aradama, it is the Jujō legacy to exorcise them back to the Netherworld, as necessary. The problem is that it tends to be a one-way trip.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: While she is much nicer as the series continues, she sometimes slips back into her 'icy' type personality.
- Super-Speed: Her skill with Jin'i sets her apart, as she can achieve greater levels of speed with it. At the beginning of the series, she can already go supersonic, and thanks to her family heritage, can potentially reach near-infinite speeds.
- Shock and Awe: When she fuses with Princess Ichikishima, she starts gains the ability to release electricity from her body.
- Trademark Favorite Food: She has a fondness of anything chocolate-mint-flavored, and reacts poorly to people expressing their confusion at its taste.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Kogarasumaru ("Little Crow"), a unique double-edged sword that's considered the ancestor of the traditional Japanese katana. It was directly passed to her from her mother, rather than through the Sword Administration and symbolically represents how Hiyori is trapped by the past.
- You Killed My Father: The sole motivation of Hiyori is assassinating Yukari Origami to avenge her mother. Sometime after Yukari is separated from Princess Tagitsu, Hiyori admits she can no longer hate Yukari, especially after seeing how different the woman and the monster really are.
Mai Yanase
Mai Yanase
Voiced by: Azumi Waki (Japanese), Bryn Apprill (English)
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Was able to track down Kanami and Hiyori, and later Sayaka just using the background audio of their phone calls with her.
- Can't Catch Up: Though she's a skilled combatant in her own right (she did rank second in her school, after all), witnessing some of the superior prowess and special skills possessed by the rest of the cast have caused her to worry if she's holding the others back.
- Cool Big Sis: To Sayaka, who slowly befriends her after Mai protects her from Yukari's forces and treats her with kindness.
- Iaijutsu Practitioner: The only one of the six who uses this style of attack. It was even her deciding move in her duel with Kanami in the first episode.
- The Leader: During the battle against Yukari, the team agrees that Mai is most suited to be the leader due to her intelligence.
- Nice Girl: Always kind and friendly to everyone, especially Kanami and Sayaka.
- Ojou: Mai is the daughter of a rich, powerful family.
- The Smart Guy: Everyone in the team agrees that Mai is the smartest among them.
- The Strategist: See The Leader entry.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Mai is feminine and refined while her best friend Kanami is a headstrong tomboy.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Magoroku Kanemoto, a sword created by the celebrated swordsmith of the same name. The prestige of the weapon matches Mai's own nature as a Lady of War.
Sayaka Itomi
Sayaka Itomi
Voiced by: Hina Kino (Japanese), Apphia Yu (English)
- Can't Catch Up: Deconstructed. She lampshades to Kanami that Kanami has become far too strong. She is starting to feel alienated from her as a result.
- Character Development: Starts off as the Emotionless Girl, but that changes following Kanami defeating her and Mai befriending her.
- Emotionless Girl: Being brought up to become a living weapon has left her emotionally stunted. She even possesses a unique skill that deliberately invokes this, drastically improving her combat prowess while getting rid of her ability to feel, making her literally emotionless.
- Irony: After escaping Yukina, who tried to mold her into "Yukari's weapon", she eventually joins the Elite Guard on her own merits.
- Meaningful Echo: She cements her growth by defeating Ayumu near the end of the series while repeating the same words Kanami said to her before, about how she won't be beaten by an "emotionless sword".
- Mysterious Past: Of the main characters, she is the only one without any family or backstory shown.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Whenever she activates the aforementioned skill that renders her emotionless, her eyes glow red.
- Sweet Tooth: Post-Time Skip, she develops a strong liking for sweets, with Mai's cookies being her favorite.
- Tyke Bomb: Though the circumstances as to how she got there are still unknown, Sayaka was brought up by her headmaster with the sole purpose of becoming a weapon that would obey Yukari without question.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Myoho Muramasa, created by the famous swordsmith Muramasa. Tellingly, the only person who praises the sword is Yukina, who connects it with Sayaka's purpose to "to serve Yukari in [Yukina's] place", showing how she was initially seen as nothing more than a prestigious weapon.
- What Is This Feeling?: Sayaka at first seems to be content being told what to do. However, Kanami easily defeats her, saying that she could never hit anything with such a soulless sword. When Mai befriends her later, and protects her against Yume, Sayaka starts having odd but warm feelings inside herself she's never experienced before, and nearly defeats Yume when she declares that she doesn't want to be taken back to Yukina.
Kaoru Mashiko
Kaoru Mashiko
Voiced by: Risae Matsuda (Japanese), Lara Woodhull (English)
- A-Cup Angst: Jealous of Ellen for her larger chest.
- BFS: Kaoru's okatana is almost twice as long as she is tall.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: It's easier to move mountains than to motivate her to apply herself on a mission, and she'll complain every step of the way. Regardless, she's part of a family with a long Toji tradition and cut from the same talented cloth. Tellingly, she and Sayaka are the two who eventually replace Yomi and Yume as members of the Elite Guard.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite her negative traits, she's at least skilled enough to be a Mokusa agent. Played for Laughs as this made her a prime agent for Sana to use and send for missions.
- Exhausted Eye Bags: Both Kaoru and Nene show an impressive pair of these in Episode 13, having been overworked to the bone.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She is easily the least friendly of the group, but she still cares for others.
- Head Pet: Nene, Kaoru's tamed aradama pet, likes to sit on her head.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's the shortest girl in the group, and yet she has enough strength to wield the biggest sword in the group.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Nenekirimaru, a sword that in legend slew a monster called Nene. Of course, in Katana Maidens Nene is actually an Aradama that eventually became tamed by the Mashiko family.
Ellen Kohagura
Ellen Kohagura
Voiced by: Eri Suzuki (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English)
- But Not Too Foreign: Half-American on her mother's side.
- Combat Pragmatist: Ellen is not above throwing punches and kicks in a real fight, which she has withheld in the tournament.
- Daddy's Girl: Or rather, Granddaddy's girl. She wastes no time in going for an enthusiastic hug when the girls meet him for the first time. In Episode 14, she also is shown to have a close relationship with her father as well.
- Fashionable Asymmetry: Wears one thigh-high knee sock along with a normal one.
- Gratuitous English: Being half-American, she inevitably has this dotted around her vocabulary.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: She's capable of acting dumber than she really is. When she was detained by Suzuka for not being where she was supposed to be, she put up an act of being preoccupied with the lunch she was given and dumbly parroting Suzuka's questions, which let her be left alone and free to investigate the area.
- Phenotype Stereotype: Ellen, who's half-American, is blonde, busty, tall, and quite energetic.
- Sword and Fist: As mentioned, she mixes up her swordsmanship with kicks or surprise off hand punches.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Echizen Yasutsugu, created by the swordsmith of the same name. Yasutsugu was known for importing European steel for his work, matching Ellen's mixed ancestry.
Akabane Sword Investigation Squad (Protagonists of Kizamishi Issen no Tomoshibi)
Mihono Asakura
Mihono Asakura
Voiced by: Himika Akaneya (Japanese)
- Always Second Best: Technically third. She lost to Kanami during Minoseki's Qualifier Tournament.
- Genki Girl: She's optimistic.
- Worthy Opponent: Mihono views Kanami as this and wants to have a rematch with her soon.
- Parental Abandonment: Her parents died when she was young.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: After finding Kanami and Hiyori, Mihono elects to defend them from her teammates and later Maki and Suzuka.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Kashu Kiyomitsu, the sword of Okita Souji.
Chie Setouchi
Chie Setouchi
Voiced by: Kaori Ishihara (Japanese)
- Beware the Nice Ones: She's always calm and collected but once you push her too far, you better run. Even team Blood Knight Kofuki doesn't want to tangle with her.
- Childhood Friends: Chie has been friends with Mihono since very young.
- Team Mom: She looks after her teammates, especially Mihono.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Sohayanotsurugi. The replica purportedly made by Miiketenta Mitsuyo became the sword of Ieyasu Tokugawa.
Kofuki Shichinosato
Kofuki Shichinosato
Voiced by: Hiromi Igarashi (Japanese)
- A Boy and His X: Kofuki used to befriend a dog-like Aradama until the latter grew too big and attacked her leading to it's death at the hands of Kofuki's fellow Toji.
- Blood Knight: Her greatest pleasure is fighting Aradama.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana are Chatan Nakiri and Niou Kiyotsuna, two short blades, which suits her aggressive and agile fighting style. The former was a treasure from the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Kiyoka Musumi
Kiyoka Musumi
Voiced by: Saki Fujita (Japanese)
- Cowardly Lion: She admits to prefer doing anything else than fighting. However in the end, she pulls through for her friends.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Renge Fudou Teruhiro.
Mirja Kitora
Mirja Kitora
Voiced by: Manami Numakura (Japanese)
- Awesome by Analysis: She's easily able to assess the situation and form a plan that will provide the best success.
- The Leader: She is in charge of the Investigation Squad, making her the one to give the orders.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Jikkyuu Mitsutada.
Yui Yamashiro
Yui Yamashiro
Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka (Japanese)
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Made to serve Princess Tagitsu through the noro injections.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: She loves girls, whether its seeing others getting affectionate, or having a chance to get handsy with others.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Hotarumaru ("Firefly"), an odachi forged by Rai Kunitoshi. According to legend, its were repaired by fireflies, hence its name.
Hirona Nitta
Hirona Nitta
Voiced by: Maki Kawase (Japanese)
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is the Minakuchi Rapier, a Western-style sword made by Japanese smiths in a rare display of cultural exchange.
The Sword Administration
Yukari Origami
Yukari Origami
Voiced by: Asami Seto (Japanese), Katelyn Barr (English)
- The Ace: The most powerful Toji of the current era.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Yukari is not the Aradama itself, but an unwilling meat suit being used by it.
- Deal with the Devil: Despairing at the thought her incompetence would lead to the deaths of her two best friends, Minato and Kagari, she reluctantly accepts Princess Tagitsu's offer to fuse with her, which would bring both her friends back and a 20-year grace period that the Aradama taunts would give her the time to defeat it before it reawakens.
- Disc-One Final Boss: The main antagonist only of the first half of the story.
- Dual Wielding: Naturally, the strongest Toji is the only one who can use two at the same time.
- Fighting from the Inside: Turns out, the real Yukari is still somewhere deep inside, and momentarily resurfaces during her fight with Kanami and Hiyori, telling them to attack her while her body is momentarily subdued.
- Heel–Face Turn: Fights on the side of the Toji as soon as she is freed from Princess Tagitsu's control.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: During her fight with Kanami and Hiyori, she transforms, gaining extra Aradama limbs that all wield okatana of their own.
- My Greatest Failure: She blames herself for lacking the strength to defeat the original Princess Tagitsu, and having to resort to sacrificing her friends. It is part of why she agreed to fuse with Princess Tagitsu.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: The head of the Sword Administration and also the most powerful Toji.
- Sixth Ranger: Despite not being a regular part of Kanami's friends, she still takes direct part in the final battle against Princess Tagitsu
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana are Okanehira and Dōjigiri Yasutsuna, which are known as "the best of west and east Japanese swords", respectively. Obviously, no other weapons would suit the leader of the Toji.
The Elite Guard
In General
Yukari Origami's personal enforcers and bodyguards.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: While the four of them are responsible for Yukari's safety, they also act as her lieutenants: While Yukari handles administrative and ritualistic matters of the Sword Administration, the Elite Guard handle matters directly as field commanders and lone agents.
- Playing with Syringes: Under Yukari's possessed leadership, the four of them acted as guinea pigs by infusing their bodies with noro, to varying effects and levels of usage. Yume outright refuses to use it besides prolonging her life, Shidō and Suzuka use it to boost their abilities in a pinch, and Yomi's humanity at times can be questionable with the amount she injects and keeps injecting into herself.
- Praetorian Guard: The Elite Guard serve under whoever is the chief of the Sword Administration.
- Super-Soldier: Their bodies are augmented with noro.
- Quirky Mini Boss Squad: They serve as the direct antagonists of the first half of the series, chasing after Kanami and her friends when they go on the run.
Shidō Maki
Shidō Maki
Voiced by: Yumi Uchiyama (Japanese), Morgan Garrett (English)
- The Atoner: Tries to fight Princess Tagitsu by herself to make up for the conspiracy she unwittingly took part in.
- Coat Cape: Always wears a sports jacket over her shoulders.
- The Comically Serious: She never reacts strongly to anything, no matter how odd the situation gets.
- Heel–Face Turn: After realising the truth, she goes rogue and tries to fight a one-woman war against Princess Taigitsu, before eventually siding with Kanami.
- Heel Realization: Yume's death and "disposal", along with Ellen and Kaoru's revelations in the same night help her realize the conspiracy she had been blinded to.
- Oblivious to Love: Doesn't register that Suzuka has an increasingly blatant crush on her.
- Not Me This Time: She's initially mistaken as the noro thief who had been attacking Toji, especially since she was dressing so similarly to the real culprit and wasn't bothering to excuse her presence whenever she showed up.
- Tragic Keepsake: She keeps one of Yume's keychains tied to her sword hilt following the latter's death.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Usumidori ("Light Green"), a sword passed down by the Minamoto family and known for a legend of how its various owners kept changing its name, from Makuragami to Hizamaru, Kumokirimaru, Hoemaru, and finally Usumidori. Fittingly, its owner is a disciplined and principled woman who pulls a Heel–Face Turn when she realizes the wrongs she's committed.
Suzuka Konohana
Suzuka Konohana
Voiced by: Mao Ichimichi (Japanese), Jill Harris (English)
- Character Tic: Frequently plays with a lock of her hair.
- Heel–Face Turn: Takes up the fight against Princess Tagitsu alongside Shidō.
- Ojou: Comes from a privileged background.
- Proper Tights with a Skirt: Suiting her elegant and ladylike nature, though they're also notably red.
- Ship Tease: She has a crush on Shidō that only grows more blatant as the story continues.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Kujikanesada, created by the swordsmith Kanesada, an equally celebrated contemporary of Magoroku Kanemoto, which highlights Suzuka's elegant nature.
Yomi Satsuki
Yomi Satsuki
Voiced by: Mai Fuchigami (Japanese), Felecia Angelle (English)
- Body Horror: When she overuses her noro, her body starts transforming graphically. Her right eye, in particular transforms into a horn with an Aradama-like eye looking out from it. When it becomes terminal, it grows to consume her entire right side, and eventually her entire body after she dies.
- The Brute: Unlike other members of the Elite Guard, she rarely fights with her sword, and prefers to just release endless swarms of butterfly Aradama from her body to overwhelm her opponents.
- Extreme Doormat: Puts up with Yukina's abuse and continues to destroy her body with noro without complaint.
- Face–Heel Turn: Her loyalty to Yukina causes her to follow her and join Princess Tagitsu, and even turn against her former Elite Guard colleagues.
- Locked into Strangeness: She used to be a brunette, but the numerous noro infusions she's taken has caused her hair to grow out gray and killed her expression.
- Moral Event Horizon: She attacks a lot of Ayanokuji students, nearly killing them with her sword, in order to force their director to infuse them with the aradama to save their lives, something that will also turn them unto mindless soldiers of Princess Tagitsu.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Beyond losing her right eye due to separating the noro-infusion made Aradama from it, Yomi survives in the manga continuity of events and gets to live a normal life as a result.
- Undying Loyalty: Not to Yukari, surprisingly, but to Yukina. The latter introduced her to noro infusions, which turned her from a dropout into a member of an Elite Guard. Even when she's about to die from overdose, she fights to protect Yukina from the Aradama.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Suijingiri Kanemitsu, which legend says was used to kill a water god to stop a flood.
- We Used to Be Friends: Shidō and Suzuka feel this way of Yomi when she decides to work with Yukina and Princess Tagitsu.
Yume Tsubakuro
Yume Tsubakuro
Voiced by: Inori Minase (Japanese), Jad Saxton (English)
- Abandon the Disabled: When her heart condition left her bedridden, her parents essentially all but gave up on their precious prodigy Toji and couldn't even bother to visit her at the hospital.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Her death is played up for tragedy. Unable to get the great duel she wanted, she eventually succumbs to her disease and dies with a whimper, rather than a bang.
- Berserk Button: Gets set off when people accuse her of enhancing her abilities with noro, as she wants to prove that her strength came from her own abilities.
- Blood Knight: Is in search of the ultimate opponent in order to have the ultimate fight. She hopes that she can leave a lasting impression on at least one person before her disease kills her.
- Child Prodigy: She's an absurdly gifted swordfighter that was defeating senior opponents and getting fast tracked into the Five Schools before her heart condition made itself known.
- Cute and Psycho: Everything you need to know about her, you can tell right away from the fact she decorates her sword with cutesy fashion accessories.
- Four Is Death: She is the "fourth-seat" of the Elite Guard and the most dangerous fighter of the group.
- Incurable Cough of Death: She has an vaguely-defined terminal heart condition, which axed her Toji career just as it was about to take off.
- Living on Borrowed Time: Even with the noro Yukari gave her giving her the strength to move and fight again, it won't stop her early death.
- Worthy Opponent: Believes she found one in Kanami when they finally duel. Unfortunately, she doesn't get the fight she wants before her body fails her.
- Undignified Death: Her potential duel with Kanami is spoiled by Ellen and Kaoru's interference. By the time she defeats them, her body begins to give out as she tries to make her way to Yukari and Kanami, and ultimately dies on the way. What's worse, she can't even be given a proper funeral and her body has to be "disposed of" before the noro in her body turns into an Aradama.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Her okatana is Nikkari Ao'e, a short sword that's between the length of a typical tachi and a wakizashi. It is associated with ghost stories, matching Yume's own unnerving nature, or perhaps the fact she's the living dead herself, having one foot in the grave.
Other members
Yukina Takatsu
Yukina Takatsu
Voiced by: Yukana (Japanese), Trina Nishimura (English)
- The Atoner: It takes being abandoned by Princess Tagitsu and the death of Yomi, but Yukina fully realizes just how badly she screwed up and basically sold out humanity.
- Bad Boss: She chews out almost everyone for their perceived inferiority, whether it's her own students or members of the Elite Guard that she has no seniority over. Probably the only reason she still has a job is because Yukari doesn't think she's worth paying attention to.
- The Dragon: Thinks she's this to Yukari, though its the Elite Guard who actually serve this function. Becomes this for real for Princess Tagitsu.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Not that she really shows it well, but in the end Yukina is strongly shaken up by Yomi's sacrifice for her goals, even holding a funeral service for her and being allowed to keep a Tragic Keepsake of the only person truly loyal to her to the end. Yukina was even fully willing to follow her servant to the grave in her grief.
- Hate Sink: Everything she does seems tailor-made to make as many people as possible hope something terrible happens to her.
- Idiot Ball: It's not entirely clear why she thinks she'll profit from siding with Princess Tagitsu, an Omnicidal Maniac. Sure enough, once Princess Tagitsu gets all the power she needs to destroy the world, she abandons Yukina.
- Inspector Javert: Her initial role in the series. More upset that someone betrayed Yukari specifically, she sends out Sayaka and other Renpu students to apprehend Hiyori and Kanami in the belief she'll impress Yukari.
- Just Think of the Potential!: She claims that fusing humans with noro is the key to human evolution, though it's pretty clear the other half of her motivation is to become a new top dog under Princess Tagitsu's rule.
- Les Collaborateurs: Joins forces with Princess Tagitsu, supplying her with bases and brainwashed "Imperial Guard" Toji.
- Manipulative Bastard: With a combination of getting the first word in and blackmail on the Americans, she convinces the public that Princess Tagitsu is an innocent, friendly Aradama being persecuted by the Sword Administration, while Princess Ichikishima is a generic monster being used for the Toji's own nefarious purposes, thus painting her "Administration Bureau Restoration Faction" as the "good guys".
- My God, What Have I Done?: Once Yomi dies by overdosing on noro in fighting the Aradama that Princess Tagitsu left Yukina to die by, Yukina is absolutely heartbroken as the realization of the consequences of her actions hit her like a freight train. It's so bad that she's ready to die for her crimes.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Handles all the behind-scenes-scheming for Yukari and Princess Tagitsu.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Unsurprisingly, Princess Tagitsu cares not one iota about Yukina and abandons her to the rampaging Aradama the moment she starts to destroy the world.
- Smug Snake: Her hubris is only matched by the number of times her so-called clever plans blow up in her face.
- Sycophantic Servant: Her dedication to Yukari verges on being an Ignored Enamored Underling. She later switches her attentions to Princess Tagitsu.
- Tragic Keepsake: The Sword Administration allows her to keep Yomi's Suijingiri Kanemitsu to remember her.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Episode 7 shows she was once a somewhat timid member of Yukari's Toji unit. It's hard to believe that she grew up to become an obnoxious Toji school president.
- Villainous BSoD: It takes Princess Tagitsu's abandonment of her and Yomi's sacrifice to finally break her arrogance and actually regret what she's done.
Minato Fujiwara
Minato Fujiwara
Voiced by: Shizuka Itō (Japanese), Elisa Annette (English)
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: She joined Kagari in defeating Princess Tagitsu 20 years ago, and helped bring her back from the Netherworld. Unfortunately, the time they spent there drastically shortened both their lifespans, causing them to die early.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Zig-Zagged Kanami quickly works out that she's Minato Etō, her mother. But since this Minato is a memory of her teenaged self, she gets uncomfortable with such a connection, and they both agree to keep it as a student/master relationship. She relents in the last episode, letting Kanami tearfully say goodbye to her mother one last time before leaving the Netherworld.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: She still persists as a memory that was left behind after the real Minato returned from the Netherworld. When Kanami is trapped there for two months, they manage to find each other, allowing her to guide Kanami back to Earth.
- Posthumous Character: Died long before the series started.
- Spirit Advisor: She's Kanami's when the latter starts meeting her in her dreams.
- World's Best Warrior: She was the most powerful Toji of her time. Even Yukari couldn't hold a light to her. The difference is so great, in fact, that Kanami began to overpower Yukari, who was partially transformed into an Aradama and wielding six okatana, simply by hypnotizing herself into acting like how she believed Minato would fight.
- Your Days Are Numbered: While she survived a trip to the Netherworld, the stress of the event was enough to shave her remaining lifespan down to a few decades.
Kagari Jujō
Kagari Jujō
Voiced by: Risa Taneda (Japanese), Madeleine Morris (English)
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: She and Minato together survived defeating Princess Tagitsu in the past, but the time spent in the Netherworld was already enough to cut their lifespans much shorter.
- My Greatest Failure: She spent the last few years of her life blaming herself for Minato's early death and Yukari's possession, thinking it was her failure to completely exorcise Princess Tagitsu that caused this. Hiyori was greatly affected by this, and treats it like her mother succumbed to Death by Despair.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: A memory of Kagari still exists in the Netherworld from the time she entered and escaped it. When Hiyori is lost there for two months, they find each other, allowing Kagari to comfort her future daughter and guide her back to Earth.
- Posthumous Character: Died a year before the series started.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: She was convinced that the Yukari that returned from the Great Sagami Bay Disaster was some sort of Aradama doppelganger, which Hiyori also believed. She's not totally wrong, but Yukari in truth was being possessed by Princess Tagitsu.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Though she survived a trip to the Netherworld, the event was enough to cut her remaining lifespan down to a few decades.
Ayumu Uchizato
Ayumu Uchizato
Voiced by: Hitomi Ohwada (Japanese), Megan Shipman (English)
- Brainwashed and Crazy: She gets transformed through noro injections into becoming one of Princess Tagitsu's pliant "Imperial Guard".
- Evil Costume Switch: She starts wearing black and red S-Equipment when she becomes Brainwashed and Crazy.
- I'm Your Biggest Fan: The moment she meets Kanami, she's dazzled by her fighting prowess. When she gets Brainwashed, her personality gets scrubbed down to a maniacal obsession with fighting Kanami in order to impress her.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When she returns to normal at the end of the series, she seems aware of her previous actions, as the first thing she does upon waking up is ask her friends where Kanami is in order to apologize to her.
The Aradama
In General
The monsters that the Toji have been fighting for over 400 years. Twenty years ago, the largest Aradama yet emerged, and came to be known as "Princess Tagitsu".
- Bishōnen Line: Princess Tagitsu's initial form when it was born could be best described as a gigantic, tumorous, mushroom-looking Eldritch Abomination. Twenty years and 13 episodes later, it eventually compacts into three female Humanoid Abominations.
- Catch-22 Dilemma: The only weapon that can fight the Aradama is an okatana; the only way to make more okatana is to refine tamahagane, which creates noro as a by-product. When enough noro collects, it can turn into an Aradama.
- It Can Think: When enough noro is gathered together, it can start gaining human-level intelligence. Unfortunately, people found discovered this only after an oil tanker full of noro decided it wasn't going to let itself get shipped off to the United States for research.
- Just Think of the Potential!: Both the Japanese and American governments saw military applications for the Aradama. It was their misguided attempt to ship noro to the United States that created Princess Tagitsu to begin with.
- Literal Split Personality: The failed attempt to exorcise Princess Tagitsu at the end of episode 12 instead broke it into three separate personalities, each representing a different facet of the original Aradama's feelings.
- The new Princess Tagitsu continues to hate humanity.
- Princess Takiri is driven by a desire to dominate humanity.
- Princess Ichikishima retains the feelings of existential loneliness and worthlessness.
- The Heartless: In a bit of a twist, they're not born from humans directly, but from their creations. The noro created by refining tamahagane can coalesce into Aradama, which feel loneliness at being ripped from the divine steel, and rage at humanity for doing it.
- Monkey Morality Pose: The three Princesses all have hand-shaped coverings on their heads (covering the ears for Tagitsu, eyes for Takiri and mouth for Ichikishima) in reference to the Three Wise Monkeys.
- Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: The three Princesses take their names from the Munakata goddesses, which in myth were born from the shards of Susanoo's sword after Amaterasu broke it to test his sincerity.
- There Can Be Only One: Since the three Princesses were once one Aradama, they intend to absorb one another until one remains in charge with all their cumulative power.
- You Can't Go Home Again: One part of the problem with noro is that once its created, it cannot be refused with tamahagane.
Princess Tagitsu
Princess Tagitsu
Voiced by: Rina Hidaka (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)
- Dual Wielding: Like Yukari, she's skilled enough to use two okatana.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: For all her developed intelligence, she can't use it for any goal more complex than accumulating power to destroy the world.
- One-Man Army: She's nigh-unstoppable. The very last battle, she takes on seven Toji at the same time and still holds them all off effortlessly.
- The Man Behind the Man: She was the one secretly controlling the Sword Administration through Yukari.
- Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: This is what Hiyori figures is Princess Tagitsu's goal, who just about admits as much: If an Aradama is fated to live with such an all-encompassing sense of loneliness, she'll drag the world down with her as recompense.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Like the Toji, she uses two okatana: Onimaru and Oodenta, two of the "Five Great Swords of Japan", befitting her otherworldly power.
Princess Takiri
Princess Takiri
Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō (Japanese), Amber Lee Connors (English)
- Double Speak: Her offer of "coexistence" is really just to accept her rule over mankind.
- Humans Are Morons: Believes just as much, and compares humans to insects and animals, which is obviously why they need to be led by immortal, all-powerful Aradama.
- Killed Off for Real: Attempts to fight Princess Tagitsu, but ultimately is outmatched and absorbed by her.
- Noble Demon: Despite her tough stance, she's still civil and doesn't outright hate humanity. She even begins to understand their value by interacting with Nene and Kanami.
- Pet the Dog: Despite brushing off Kanami's offer to spar, she invites her back after reading Nene's memories and seems to begin warming up to her. Before she dies, she encourages Kanami to keep fighting.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Uses an okatana, like the Toji. Hers is not named in the anime, but given how the "Five Great Swords of Japan" are distributed among the Princesses and Yukari, it could be Mikazuchi Munechika.
- What Is This Feeling?: She begins to understand how humans can truly coexist with Aradama by reading Nene's memories of being cared for by the Mashiko family.
Princess Ichikishima
Princess Ichikishima
Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Jamie Marchi (English)
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Yukari tells her that while she was possessed, she kept her sanity thanks to the Ichikishima aspect's meeker presence, meaning she is not "worthless" like she thinks. In return, Princess Ichikishima connects with Yukari and eventually even tries to protect her.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: While usually a self-deprecating pushover, when Yukari is threatened by Princess Tagitsu, she find the will to fight the other Aradama, even knowing she's outmatched. In the story, other characters also remark she's the most dangerous in the long term: While Princess Tagitsu and Princess Takiri will "settle" for destroying or ruling humanity, Princess Ichikishima would alter it outright by fusing them with Aradama.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Princess Ichikishima inherited the Aradama's sense of loneliness most strongly, leading her to ponder the meaning of her existence. Unfortunately, she decided it would be "evolve humanity with Aradama", and there's no telling where she would have gone with that had she not been trying to protect herself from the other Princesses.
- Mad Scientist: The Ichikishima aspect that possessed Yukari was the one responsible for inventing the noro infusion process.
- The Eeyore: She is perpetually pessimistic. The moment Kanami and the others met her, she immediately assumed she had been betrayed by her protectors and resigned herself to her fate.
- Fusion Dance: She convinces Hiyori to combine with her to have the strength to defeat Princess Tagitsu and protect Yukari.
- Killed Off for Real: She gives up her own existence to fuse with Hiyori to protect Yukari. Afterwards, Princess Tagitsu absorbs Hiyori. Though Hiyori comes back, Princess Ichikishima doesn't.
- Weapon-Based Characterization: Owns the okatana Juzumaru, one of the "Five Great Swords of Japan", though she's normally too pessimistic to even bother defending herself.
Humanoid Beast #02- 063 ("Kohime")
Kohime
Voiced by: Konomi Kohara (Japanese)
A new humanoid Aradama that appears five months after the End-Of-The-Year Disaster, she becomes the center of the Tomoshibi OVA. Unnamed in the beginning, Mihono names her Kohime. Unlike most Aradama, she seems helpless and defenseless, though there are signs she is capable of more.- Harmless Villain: She's incapable of harming any half-decent Toji. Even when she attacked Kanami in her feral state, she was so terrible at swordfighting she never posed a threat to her.
- Split Personality: Kohime seems to have different personas: One is a feral and potentially dangerous beast, and the other is a defenseless girl. While she attacked Kanami and Hiyori, by the time Mihono's team confronts her second persona, she claims to have no memory of meeting the other two.
Mokusa
Akane Origami
Akane Origami
Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (Japanese), Jessica Cavanagh (English)
- Changing of the Guard: The ending implies she takes over for Yukari as the new chief of the Sword Administration.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Being a gentler, more diplomatic individual in contrast to her stern, stoic Lady of War sister, she quite a far cry from Yukari.
- You Are in Command Now: With Yukari disappearing from the public eye following her fight with Kanami and Hiyori, Akane takes up some of the desk work at the Sword Administration alongside Sana.
Sana Maniwa
Sana Maniwa
Voiced by: Romi Park (Japanese), Caitlin Glass (English)
- Beleaguered Boss: She's Kaoru's boss, which means she has to get drag her to work, while the latter figuratively kicks and screams the entire way.
- You Are in Command Now: Takes over handling missions for the Sword Administration in Yukari's absence. Near the end, she complains she needs a vacation.
Richard Friedman
Richard Friedman
Voiced by: Mitsuaki Hoshino (Japanese), Mark Stoddard (English)
- Like Father, Like Son: Or like Grandfather, anyways. Both he and Ellen share a sense of bombastic friendliness.
- Mr. Exposition: He explains the truth behind the nature of the Aradama, noro and the okatana.
- Zombie Advocate: His personal experience with humanity's misuse of noro and the Aradama leads for him to start speaking in their defense, warning about the need to treat the noro with respect.
Rui Onda
Rui Onda
Voiced by: Kanomi Izawa (Japanese), Kristi Kang (English)
- Action Survivor: She may not be able to fight directly, but she does court her own fair share of danger by helping various characters when they're in trouble.
- Retired Badass: A former Toji who nonetheless does what she can to help even in the face of the end of the world. Probably the bravest thing she did was deliver extra batteries for the Kanami's group's Powered Armour, even if it meant bringing them by foot through an Aradama-infested city and up 48 floors of a skyscraper that was in the middle of being absorbed by the Netherworld descending from the sky. And she did it all without complaint.
