Shinjuurou Yuuki
Mocked around Japan as "The Defeated Detective," he has a habit of showing up at the wrong time and reaching the wrong conclusion. In reality, he's the one person willing to dig deep down to discover the truth about each case, even if Rinroku and the government simply spin his findings to fit their own pre-determined narrative.
- All-Loving Hero: It's left ambiguous as to whether or not he truly feels that way, but throughout his youth he expresses the wish to "help" others, and his first instinct when gifted with great power seems to be just that. While, the nature of the show is that very few people mean what they say, Shinjuurou is shown to have an unusual affinity for truth and sincerity.
- Amateur Sleuth: He's a camera operator by trade, and fell into detective work incidentally when trying to figure out what was going on with Inga and Bettenou.
- Clueless Chick-Magnet: Shinjuurou doesn't really give a damn, but he has the amazing tendency of drawing women in by the sheer force of his lack of charisma.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Subverted in the case of his upbringing; he was orphaned at a young age but he also "grew up in the care of many people", which influenced his decision to try to help people with whatever work he did. Played straight when he began work as a often poverty-stricken camera operator in dangerous regions, and later when working for the band Singing On The Battlefield, which ended up going south in a bad way.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Pretty much his schtick. The government paints him as incompetent so that no one pays attention to his investigations. The lack of scrutiny from the public gives the government less reason to actually hinder his investigations, so he has a bit more room to work.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: He seems to have a bit of Survivor's Guilt over events in his past and doesn't hold too high of an opinion of himself.
- Great Detective: Despite his bad rep, anyone who spends two minutes with him knows he's the real deal.
- Ironically, it's shown to be subverted in that he's an amateur; he's had no interest, training, or preparation towards law enforcement or detective work, and he only began by investigating a personal matter. Doesn't stop him from being a truly Great detective, presumably on a combination of instinct and native intelligence.
- The Last DJ: The only alternative to his work is conventional law enforcement, which can only too easily be manipulated. The implication is that with the government withholding as much information as it does and at the same time appearing to be highly efficient, honest detectives of any sort have been phased out.
- Living Lie Detector: The prequel suggests that he's a form of this. *
- Mysterious Past: Unless you watch the prequel OVA, the only words about Yuuki's past come out in split-second flashbacks and some inferences to past events.
- No Name Given: His real name is never shown; after being framed for murder, he took Shinjuurou Yuuki as an alias.
- Rousseau Was Right: His underlying belief is that the citizens of Japan can handle the truth that the government hides from them and that allowing them to do so will be not only empowering, but necessary for any kind of recovery from the recent war.
- Seeker Archetype: Searches for the truth wherever he can in order to keep his promise to Inga.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: As shown in the prequel, he was possessed by Inga and forced to eat the souls of his fellow bandmates one-by-one, and then watched as his crush, Yuuko, committed suicide only to have her body possessed by Inga at the end. This event has been driving him even into the present.
- The prequel also implies that he's familiar with war-zones, though not as a combatant as the series implied.
- War Is Hell: He doesn't really like any celebration of it, such as making martyrs out of scared, desperate young men by leaving out the "scared and desperate" part.
- Witness Protection: After the events of the prequel, "Yuuki Shinjurou" becomes his official name because his real one is now associated with a murderer who was shot by the police.
Inga
A shapeshifting demon created from the true thoughts and feelings of Japanese warriors from centuries ago, one who can draw out the true souls of anyone nearby and consume them. After Inga ate the souls of his bandmates and possessed the body of his dead crush, Yuuki made a deal with her to only use her power to draw out the truth from various people in exchange for not killing them. Inga draws out people's souls by asking them one question which they are compelled to answer truthfully and is able to consume their souls that way, and Yuuki uses Inga's power to solve his cases.
- Ambiguously Evil: Given that she hungers for souls and Shinjuurou is all that's keeping her in check. Ultimately, what you see is what you get. She was extremely dangerous in the past, but seems happy with Shinjuurou's deal.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Of Despair. Of ancient Japanese warriors who failed when invading foreign lands. In contrast to more conventional "Gods" such as Bettenou. This is why she feeds on "souls"; they're released when expressing the darkest secrets of one's heart and the subsequent screams of despair.
- Gender Bender: Goes from male in child form to female in adult form.
- Humanoid Abomination: In Episode 11, and in hindsight the rest of the series.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Has the power to compel any human being to answer one question truthfully.
- Shapeshifter: According to Episode 0, Inga's current default form is Yuuko after possessing her dead body. The child form is Inga's attempt at trying to restrain itself from eating the souls of everyone around.
- Spanner in the Works: Inga's nature as an anthropomorphic personification is alien and unknown to all the Gods. This allows Inga to actually defeat and devour Bettenou, who was the one who sealed Inga into a single form in the first place, once she realized that Bettenou was pretty much just a soul, which put her under Inga's jurisdiction.
Rinroku Kaishou
The head of JJ Systems who has a feed into practically every computer and surveillance system in Japan. Rinroku is considered the new savior of the country considering he can use his vast network of contacts and technology to solve any case at any time. Even when Yuuki discovers the truth about his cases, Rinroku simply spins the information to fit whatever narrative he wants, and because he cooperates with the government no one besides Yuuki ever calls him on it.
- Hobbes Was Right: Like Shinjurou, he believes that the people of Japan deserve a better life. Unlike him, Kaishou believes that the public are too weak and scared to know the real truth behind any of these cases, and builds whatever narrative is necessary to keep them content.
Rie Kaishou
Rinroku's daughter who admires her father and wants to be a detective like him, but often uses Yuuki as more of a role model in that regard, calling on him more often for help than her father.
- Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Suspicious Executive's in place of mad scientist.
Izumi Koyama
A special prosecutor from Japan's Public Prosecutor Office. She often works with Rinroku in launching an investigation and also constructing a public report after the investigation has concluded. She has a grudge against Yuuki and his methods, but reluctantly lets him work on her cases.
- Character Development: She and Shinjuurou got along just fine on their first meeting; she observed his first victory as a detective, and she was with him when he established his business. Something happened between then and the show's beginning that made her more standoffish and antagonistic towards him.
Seigen Hayami
Izumi's assistant who represents the police in Japan, often working with her on cases.
- The Generic Guy: He doesn't really stand out.
- A God Am I: He wanted Izumi to see him as one like she does towards Rinroku.
Kazamori Sasa
An RAI (Robotic Artificial Intelligence) created by her "father" Komamori Sasa. Kazamori is capable of uploading herself into anything electronic (even refrigerators) and downloading any information off the internet.
- Gender-Blender Name: Justified, as she spends most of her life pretending to be male.
- Playful Hacker: Though it's hard to tell if she's being "playful". As a hacking tool, she's incredibly powerful.
- Sex Slave: Komamori liked to enjoy her company in the body of
a little girl robot. The show makes the interesting choice of averting Rape as Drama since she's programmed to be just fine with it. Nevertheless, it becomes implicit that those experiences have affected her deeply.
- The Tease: Whether as a teddy bear or as a prepubescent girl. Because of her...upbringing...she tends to be very laissez faire about anything sexual. And because she's The Stoic, it becomes hard to see if she's actually teasing or not...
Bettenou
An otherworldly being and a mysterious friend of The Novelist, capable of manipulating the thoughts and actions of anyone nearby. In the prequel OVA, she took a human-esque form around the same time as Inga, later assisting Serada with his formation of a cult based around her. Similar to Inga in that Bettenou is an artificial god created from the thoughts and feelings of Japanese warriors who carried her symbol centuries ago, but formed from different words than those that created Inga.
- Arch-Enemy: To both Shinjuurou and Inga. Inga was sort of a prisoner of Bettenou's before Shinjuurou came along, and she was the basis of Shinjuurou's first case and in general screwed his life up but good, resulting in him having to give up his real name and become a detective.
- Big Bad: When taking the prequel into account.
- Exact Words: Which kills the man using her power (Shinjuurou's old friend Serada) in Episode 0.
- Master of Illusion: She can manipulate anything you see, hear or otherwise experience.
- More than Mind Control: Bettenou's control over the illusions is precise enough to manipulate them into doing anything she or her handler wants them to.
- Reality Warper: She can do this to anyone, without any upper limit as to how many or how far the people are, thus allowing her to control entire cities or societies however she wants.
- Our Souls Are Different: Her existence as an artificial God makes her more like a soul. Which means Inga no longer has any reason to fear her and can devour her at the end of the series.
The Novelist
A writer who was locked in prison for violating the government's censorship laws, yet seems to have a role in his "story" for Yuuki, along with other inmates at the same prison.
- Mr. Exposition: Gives crucial information regarding Bettenou in the final arc, leading to the solving of the case.
