Characters / Sabikui Bisco

Bisco Akaboshi

Bisco Akaboshi (赤星 ビスコ Akaboshi Bisco)

Voiced by: Ryōta Suzuki (Japanese), Kyle Igneczi (English)

A vicious Mushroom Keeper known to the public as "The Man-Eater", regarded as a terrorist and wanted at $800,000.

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• Appeal to Force: He often tries to talk to people about the benefits of the mushrooms and even how to cultivate them, but people aren't willing to listen. In that case... Time to fire arrows that cause explosions and make giant mushrooms emerge, destroying quite a lot in the process. Besides the eventual kicking asses with brute force.
• Blood Knight: Tends to crack an animalistic grin during combat.
• Book Dumb: Taking into consideration that Bisco cannot read kanji, and stated by Jabi to be unable to work out the medicines from mushrooms, it could be just a case of lack of opportunities to study. He mentions that he never finished school to Milo when they start their journey.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: For starters, he lifted a hippo attacking him over his head and tossed it into the air.
• Combat Pragmatist: Is good at using his surroundings to his advantage and is not afraid to fight dirty.
• Experienced Protagonist: As Jabi's pupil, he's already traveled far and wide before the events of the series.
• Facial Markings: He has some particular markings underneath his right eye.
• Fantastic Fighting Style: He's an archer who rides atop a giant crab and uses mushrooms to amplify his arrows.
• Fiery Redhead: The only thing more fiery than his hair is his personality.
• Foil: The hot-headed and headstrong one compared to the gentle and empathetic Milo.
• Good is Not Nice: Believe us, he means well. But he’s far from tactful.
• Had to Be Sharp: Jabi was not a gentle teacher.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: With Milo. While Bisco's hair is bright red and spikey all over, Milo's hair is pale blue and straight.
• I Have Many Names: Man-Eater Akaboshi, Mushroom Terrorist, The Mushroom Keeper... But he'll reiterate that his name is just Bisco. And he's proud of it.
• Improbable Hairstyle: How does he do it?
• In Harmony with Nature: A brash, noisy young man who is in tune with the natural world around him, able to live off the land and wants to spread mushrooms to stop the spread of rust, among other things.
• In-Series Nickname: He's called "Akaboshi" by civilians and Kurokawa, due to rumors about him eating people spreading. Those who know Bisco see how wrong those rumors are.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sure he's rough around the edges, but he really does want to help people. Too bad he's too busy hurling insults to make himself clear.
• Happily Adopted: He gets angry at Jabi and scolds the old man constantly. However, it's clear that he cares for Jabi and was desperate to find any way to heal Jabi after he protects him from the slug missile.
• Hiding the Handicap: Milo slowly realizes Bisco is infected with rust, but has managed to hide it purely through fighting on instinct. Milo even notes it's worse than Jabi and Pawoo's rust.

• Like Father, Like Son: Even after being treated by Milo, Bisco refuses to sit still and obey his orders for bed rest. This is something he shares with Jabi who started moving around the minute he woke up, despite Milo's protests that he should be resting.
• Luminescent Blush: He breaks out into a heavy one when Pawoo admits he does look pretty cute when she gets a close look at him.
• Meaningful Name: Said to be named after the Bisco cookie brand's advertising "to grow up big and strong". He's slightly disappointed to find the actual cookies to be soft and brittle.
• Power Glows: After he comes back from death, his right arm glows when shooting his arrows, imbuing them with more power.
• Pragmatic Hero: He's able to use his surroundings to pick the right mushrooms to get the job done.
• Red Is Violent: His preferred method of solving problems, to Milo's chagrin.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Mushrooms are believed to spread rust and are banned by the government. Bisco knows the truth and spreads them despite the consequences.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The manly man to sensitive Milo.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: The protagonist, with his looks matching this description.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Given he spent his youth training to become a Mushroom Keeper and lacked opportunities to experience many foods, events, and friendships as a regular kid, makes sense Bisco doesn't react as expected to ordinary situations. Milo usually has to cover for him when interacting with others.
• Training from Hell: Went through it under Jabi's tuition to be the badass he is today.
• Undying Loyalty: To Milo by the end of volume one. He also feels this way towards Jabi, and the only reason he even attempts to enter the city was to find a cure for Jabi's rust.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: According to Jabi. He laments a bit that he turned such a sweet child into an angry fighting machine.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to stop the spread of rust, but his methods can bring more harm than good to his surroundings.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: Skilled, strong, and strategic, quickly and calmly - whereas he's usually fiery - planning ahead his next step to achieve his goals despite all odds. It takes moments of camaraderie and intimacy with Milo to remember that Bisco is only 17.
• Would Hit a Girl: Considering Pawoo is a reoccurring opponent of his, it's kind of a given. He also has no problems beating up Tirol, even when the girl tries to beg for mercy.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: He’s a nefarious terrorist, but still willing to stop the spread of rust.

Milo Nekoyanagi

Milo Nekoyanagi (猫柳 ミロ Nekoyanagi Milo)

Voiced by: Natsuki Hanae (Japanese), Brandon McInnis (English)

A talented young doctor who runs the Panda Clinic, dubbed so because of the black mark around his left eye.

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• Ambiguously Gay: He's the one who usually gets hit on by women, but he doesn't seem to reciprocate any of their romantic gestures or passes. He ends up spending most of his time with Bisco, even blushing around the other at times and admitting that he loves Bisco as he shoots him.
• Animal Motifs: Panda's, given the black spot over his left eye.
• Big Brother Instinct: Subverted. He's the younger brother of Pawoo whom he also has a deep love for. The main reason he decides to journey with Bisco is so he can find a cure for his sister's Rust.
• Chick Magnet: Not only a pretty boy as stated above, his kind nature and idealistic speech causes a lot of female characters to swoon easily.
  Milo: You just can't tell because you don't have that much experience with girls...
  Bisco: Oh, sure! And I bet women just throw themselves at your feet, right?
  Milo: They do, actually.
  Bisco: O-oh.
• Combat Medic: Can fight almost as well as he can heal, thanks to Bisco's training.
• Combat Pragmatist: Becomes one, to the point he's willing to do anything from keeping Bisco from attempting to save Pawoo and Jabi because of his rust illness. From attempting to poison his food with sleeping mushrooms, headbutting him and then injecting him with a knock out serum.
• Declaration of Protection: Gives one to Bisco.
• Determinator: Once he has his mind set to protecting those whom he cares for, he's nigh unstoppable.
• Deuteragonist: His story is given just as much importance as Bisco's.
• Dressed to Heal: Introduced wearing a doctor's whitecoat. His mushroom keeper uniform is set up more for him to heal than to fight.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: The guy has very slender and delicate features, not to mention moderately long hair. He's been mistaken as a woman a few times, which he seems to be used to at this point.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Despite being a Chick Magnet, even men aren't immune to Milo's looks. A kid with a stung eye blushes when Milo leans in closely to examine his eye and treat it. Kurokawa is also one to constantly make note of how beautiful Milo is.
• Exotic Eye Designs: Has a black mark around his left eye, giving him the nickname of 'Dr. Panda'.
• Foil: The kind and gentle doctor, who contrasts to Brisco's headstrong and fiery attitude.
• Friend to All Children: His first instinct when seeing a child is wanting to help them out. In his Establishing Character Moment, he doesn't get mad at the kid who robbed him, but instead treats him when he notices the child's eye is infected. While he also treats adults with no cost, he does the same for children.
• Hair-Contrast Duo: With Bisco.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Denotes his gentle, sweet personality.
• In-Series Nickname: He's sometimes referred to as "Panda" given the marking over his left eye.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Not very long, but long enough for other characters to mistake him for a woman at first glance.
• Mature Younger Sibling: Not that Pawoo is immature, so much as Milo is the only one stopping her from going out and aggravating the spread of her rust infection.
• Monster Brother, Cutie Sister: Inverted, he's the gentle cutie one to his highly menacing older sister Pawoo.
• Morality Pet: Mostly towards Bisco, but Milo's one to everyone, really.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Given he's a doctor, he's used to getting up close to inspect his patients. This leads him to lean up close to look at people who may be slightly uncomfortable with Milo being so close.
• Pretty Boy: To the point that even the main character considers Milo one of the most beautiful people he ever met.
• Shipper on Deck: For Bisco and Pawoo. The way he tries to do Cupid's work is a bit odd, like mentioning from time to time the size of the bras his sister wears.
• Ship Tease: With Bisco, Tirol, and several minor characters he meets on their journeys.
• Shy Blue-Haired Girl: Gender-flipped and actually inverted. He's a lot better at the socializing thing than Bisco is.
• Stepford Smiler: When he gets particularly unnerved, his smile looks like this. Especially when he attempts to poison Bisco with a sleeping mushroom after Kurokawa made a tv announcement, holding Pawoo hostage.
• Super Doc: Can make medicine from mushrooms like it's nothing, can perform emergency surgery with minimal prep, and can even keep Bisco from getting himself killed at just about any given moment.
• Took a Level in Badass: Result of his dedication to master the skills of a mushroom keeper companion, even if Milo doesn't come to the same level as Bisco at firing arrows.
• Tranquil Fury: After he runs into a group of children who believe are suffering under Rust, he takes a closer look and informs them they have shell-skin disease, which is easily curable. When they children tell him all the adults left to work under Kurokawa who claimed he could give them medicine to cure them of the "rust", Milo's fury at this lie is cold and calm.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Bisco. So much that he's willing to try and poison Bisco with a sleeping mushroom and shoot him with a mushroom arrow. Mainly because he realizes his friend is infected with rust and doesn't want him to put himself in harms way to save his sister and Jabi.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Even after meeting Bisco and going on their adventures together, he still believes in doing good and helping others along the way.

Actagawa

Actagawa (アクタガワ; Akutagawa)

A giant crab and Bisco's trusty steed and brother.

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• Action Pet: He does participate in some battles when called upon, usually by stabbing the enemy with his claws.
• An Arm and a Leg: To get out of the giant snake's grasp, Milo ends up shooting off the limb of Actagawa's that was wrapped up. He does apparently manage to grow it back.
• Good is Not Nice: He has a habit of tossing unwanted or irritating riders off his back. Hence, it takes few tosses for him to get used to Milo. Even Bisco isn’t immune.
• Non-Human Sidekick: Serves as one for Bisco and Milo.
• Signature Team Transport: His main role for the heroes of our story.
• Spell My Name With An S: The manga and light novel call him Akutagawa, whereas the subs for the anime change it to, "Actagawa".

Jabi

Jabi (ジャビ; Jabi)

Voiced by: Shiro Saito (Japanese), David Novinski (English)

Another Mushroom keeper and Bisco's mentor.

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• Adaptation Expansion: He's given a bit more screen time in the anime. Where he not only attempts to infiltrate Kurokawa's ranks, it's actually shown how he rescues Pawoo from prison with the use of a corrosive mushroom and a rat carcass.
• Combat Pragmatist: He's as equally knowledgeable about mushrooms, being the one who taught Bisco. He even manages to use a particular mushroom to escape imprisonment and goes to save Pawoo on his own.
• Cool Old Guy: He's friendly and fights to find the cure for the rust.
• Like Father, Like Son: Bisco certainly gets his inability to sit still and rest from Jabi.
• Made of Iron: He took a barrage of gunfire and lived. He still needed medical attention, but Milo notes he should have died from the first two bullets. He ended up pulling out six bullets, which Jabi even laughs about when informing Bisco.
• Master Archer: He is the one who taught Bisco how to use a bow an arrow. Kurokawa reveals that Jab was once known as the "Godbow".
• Obfuscating Insanity: He acts this way when he's captured, madly rambling sutras and wanting food. He uses this as a guise to use a mushroom that turns a rat into corrosive acid that he uses on his lock to free himself.
• Papa Wolf: He looks out for Bisco and orders him to take cover under Actagawa and pushes the young boy out of the way from the Escargot gunfire. He even stayed behind after being treated by Milo just so he could give Bisco more time to run away.
  Jabi: I gotta give Kurokawa my regards. What kind o' father turns a blind eye when someone hurts his own son?
• Taking the Bullet: Willingly gets shot by the slug missile as he yells at Bisco to take cover under Actagawa.
• Your Days Are Numbered: At the start of the series, he’s infected by Rust and has only a month to live. After a treatment from Milo, it’s been extended to three months.

Kurokawa

Kurokawa (黒革; Kurokawa)

Voiced by: Kenjiro Tsuda (Japanese), Josh Putnam (English)

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• Almighty Idiot: After fusing with the Tetsujin he seems to lose almost all rational thought save for a driving hatred against Bisco. However it is still a Tetsujin he fused to, the very same kind of thing that brought endless devastation in the past and it is just as powerful as before.
• Artificial Limbs: He has an artificial arm which he hides under his coat. This comes in handy when he manages to avoid Bisco's arrow when he comes to help Milo save Pawoo.
• Bad Boss: To the point that in the preview of episode 7, some of the rabbit hoods admit that not only are they terrified of him, they'd wish Bisco could beat him up already.
• Big Bad: The main villain of the series, responsible for a lot of grief the characters go through.
• Blatant Lies: He's fond of spreading these about the people he wants dead. This included selling out the Mushroom Keepers for stopping his inhumane experimentation.
• Category Traitor: He reveals to Bisco how he's so knowledgeable about mushrooms, as he was once a Mushroom Keeper himself before turning them into the government for power.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Thanks to Kenjiro Tsuda's voice acting.
• Malicious Slander: He was the one who spread the myth about Mushroom Keepers spreading the Rust.
• Manufacturing Victims: The Rust has actually been on the decline for several years, and as Kurokawa rely on selling expensive medication, it is starting to eat into his profits. As such he has begun a plan to spread the Rust once more while keeping the Rust Eater to himself to ensure that people become dependent on him.
• Not Quite Dead: He actually survived sinking into the rust and ended up fusing with the Tetsujin.
• Otaku: He's a fan of anime and card games, even grumbling that Bisco causing terror in the city means he'll miss his marathon of Star Wars. When playing cards against an mushroom experimented minion, he even tries to explain the different kinds of cards and their effects.
• Smug Snake: The guy really likes talking down to people.
• Walking Wasteland: Having fused with the Tetsujin he had been keeping around, he spreads Rust wherever he goes, being through his breath or just walking around.
• Withholding the Cure: He only wants to lay hands on the Rust Eater so that no one else can have it as it would eat into his profits.
• Would Hurt a Child: He threatens to destroy a village populated exclusively by children when attempting to extort the heroes.

Pawoo Nekoyanagi

Pawoo Nekoyanagi (猫柳 パウー; Nekoyanagi Pawoo)

Voiced by: Reina Kondo (Japanese), Anastasia Muñoz (English)

Milo's older sister and captain of the Imihama watch, who's stricken with the Rust Disease.

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• Adaptation Expansion: Episode 5 features an anime-only side story featuring Pawoo meeting a couple of old folks in a soulless abandoned town.
• Angry Eyebrows: Her eyebrows seem to be furrowed by default.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Pawoo is the Watch's captain and her monster strength is attested by Bisco.
• Badass Biker: She rides around in a motorcycle and looks damn badass doing it.
• Badass Longcoat: Puts on before leaving the house to face the terrorist attack announced on TV.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Admits one of the reasons she's grown to like Bisco was because he was one of the few people to say she was pretty even with her rust illness.
• Berserk Button: Joke about harming Milo and see what happens.
• Big Sister Instinct: Her biggest and main concern is making sure her little brother Milo is safe.
• Cold Ham: She speaks with damn near constant burning intensity, but she hardly ever raises her voice to do so.
• Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Her outfit certainly looks skin tight.
• Handicapped Badass: She's infected by the Rust Disease, which seems to have taken her right eye. To Milo's chagrin, she refuses to let this stop her. Even when poisoned by the serial killer couple in the anime, she's only slightly inconvenienced and powers through her rust pains.
• Hiding Behind Your Bangs: She has bangs covering the left side of her face, to hide the rust spreading across that side of her body. She is eventually cured of her Rust.
• Improbable Weapon User: Uses a big metal beam to fight. She's probably one of the few people who can go toe-to-toe with Bisco in a hand to hand fight.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's cold and ruthless when she needs to be, but she loves her little brother Milo deeply, and would stop at nothing to make sure he's safe.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Gender-flipped. Takes this role in her pursuit to Bisco to deliver divine punishment as she believes Bisco kidnapped her little brother.
• Ms. Fanservice: She leaves her uniform unzipped at the point of her cleavage, and for whatever reason it exposes her sides, which is also covered by rust.
• Older Than They Look: Lampshaded. While fighting her the second time, Bisco comments that he thought she was Milo's mother given how old she looks.
• Strong and Skilled: Much like Bisco, Pawoo is just as strong as she is pragmatic in a fight.
• Ship Tease: With Bisco, even admitting when they meet a second time that he was actually quite cute up close. Then they engage in a romantic relationship in the third novel.
• The Stoic: When she's not utterly furious.
• Unstoppable Rage: If you put someone she loves, especially her brother in danger, there is nothing that will stop her rage until she gets forcibly knocked out.
• Worthy Opponent: To Bisco, with him a bit begrudgingly admitting he admires her strength.

Tirol Ochagama

Tirol Ochagama (大茶釜 チロル Oochagama Tirol)

Voiced by: Miyu Tomita (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)

• Anime Hair: Try to make her puffy asymmetrical bob pink hair with dozens of little braids make sense to you.
• Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: The fact Tirol is stunned by how two men would meet a lonely woman in a wasteland and even help her expecting no sexual favor from this speaks a lot about what kind of environment (and people) she's used to.
• Broken Bird: She was once a slave who worked at a factory to make ends meet. Even when she managed to climb the ranks as a foreman, she realizes how many people have died around her and immediately ran away from that life. Not that her life as a foot soldier was any better.
• Bullying a Dragon: Despite being terrified after recognizing the mushroom terrorist Akaboshi Bisco, she doesn't waste an opportunity to troll him by calling Bisco sexually inexperienced while she was leaning on Milo.
• Butt-Monkey: She gets caught in near-death situations a lot.
• Deadpan Snarker: Around Bisco, she has barbs at the ready to tell off the red head when he annoys her.
• Does Not Know How to Say "Thanks": Initially is this in front of the heroes, and something Bisco remarks upon in annoyance. However, after spending enough time with the boys, Tirol eventually does thank them for helping her.
• Explosive Leash: Of a sort, she had secretly been feed eggs of a parasitic worm and then just as secretly feed a substance that kept it in check. Once she cut ties with Kurokawa and his crew, she no longer received the substance causing the worm to mature and start eating her from the inside out.
• Fun Size: As Bisco likes to remind her of this fact.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: What she admits to the heroes later on in the story.
• In-Series Nickname: Jellyfish, on account of her braids and her pink bob-like hair. She even names her travelling shop this.
• Intimate Healing: Receives the iconic kiss from Milo in order to get rid of the silkworm that could kill her from inside.
• Made a Slave: She was forced into slavery in order to live, which she tries to brush off as nothing since she at least had a roof over her head.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She may be only out for herself, but she does show moments of caring. After Bisco and Milo save her yet again, she leaves in the night and takes their wallet. However, she does leave them with a sizeable amount of her inventory so they'd have enough to eat on their travels.

• Only in It for the Money: The first reason given for Tirol to join Kurokawa's team on Bisco's hunt.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Tirol seems to favor this attitude when things are too dangerous for her taste.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Seems to have a little crush on Milo and likes to tease him about it.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Also small body, big talk.
• Spell My Name With An S: Many sources announcing the anime adaptation read the katakanas of her first name as "Chiroru".
• Too Dumb to Live: Something Milo even lampshades. She throws bone gasoline out when it's clear Milo and Bisco wouldn't need it, awakening a giant creature, and nearly freezes to death when her helicopter gets shot down. The fact that she hasn't died yet is astounding, and likely because Milo and Bisco manage to run into her at the right time.
• Traveling Salesman: What her occupation seems to be after leaving her life as a foot soldier behind.