Recap / Onmyōji (2016)

This is the recap page for Onmyōji. The following page contains unmarked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

Page under construction.

Chapter 1: 仇討つ犬神 (Adautsu Inugami)

The main characters Seimei, Kohaku and Kagura are introduced, with mentions of Seimei's having lost his memory. The group is greeted by Inugami who tries to kill Seimei having believed he let Kohaku eat Inugami's friend, the Sparrow. The group along with Inugami then goes to search for the real culprit. The Sparrow's soul reveals that it is Kyūmeineko who has eaten it. The heroes defeat Kyūmeineko, Seimei gives the Sparrow a new body so that it can reunite with Inugami.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Amnesiac Hero: Seimei and Kagura have lost their memory.
• Team Pet: Kohaku the two-tailed fox.

Chapter 2: 幸福の彼方 (Kōfuku no Kanata)

Kuromujō and Shiromujō, two officials from the Afterworld, ask the onmyōji to investigate a woman who has been "living much longer than she should." Turns out, her adoptive daughter Zashiki-warashi has been taking their lives in order to lengthen that of the woman, the reason being Zashiki-warashi doesn't have a proper family and sees this woman as the only true mother she has. The woman has promised to be with her forever, though living too long has proved painful for her. In the end, Zashiki-warashi decides to let Kuromujō and Shiromujō take the woman to the Afterworld and move on.

Chapter 3: 鳳凰林の占い師 (Hōōrin no Uranai-shi)

There is suspicious negative energy coming from the Hōōrin forest, where humans never enter, yet a psychic (uranai-shi)^note the term literally translates to "fortune-teller" or "diviner", both meaning "one who tells the future" but nowhere in the story does this person demonstrate this ability. The person's actual powers deal with one's mind and locating another person from a great distance, so we have opted to use the word "psychic" has settled. There, the onmyōji meet Hōōka, spirit of the phoenix fire, who lights Kohaku's fur on fire and informs the group of the person living within the forest forbidden to humans, but she can't approach her and remove her from the place, so she asks Seimei to do it instead. The said person is named Yaobikuni, who is also the aforementioned psychic. Seimei suspects that the negative energy comes from her, but it's really from a seal cast over the forest temple. Yaobikuni then completes it. The seal is supposed to kill the performer, yet Yaobikuni is still alive; she is immortal, having eaten mermaid flesh. Hōōka appears again, revealing that the reason she can't approach Yaobikuni is that the latter's life has become so cold she can't set it aflame like she did Kohaku. Yaobikuni wishes to become Seimei's companion so that one day he could keep his promise of killing her, to which he agrees^note just not to the killing part.

Note: Completing this chapter unlocks Kagura^note no, we have no idea why either as a playable character.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Death Seeker: Yaobikuni wants Seimei to kill her as promised a long time ago. He doesn't have the heart to.
• Playing with Fire: Hōōka.
• Really 700 Years Old: Yaobikuni has been living for a very long time, but as Kagura points out, she still looks young.
• Ship Tease: Yaobikuni and Seimei.

Chapter 4: 橋の上の雨女 (Hashi no Ue no Ame-onna)

Chapter 5: 黒夜山の髪喰い (Kokuyazan no Kami-gui)

Kagura suddenly goes missing; she headed for Mount Kokuyazan (Black Night Mountain) believing someone has summoned her there. Kuromujō and Shiromujō inform the onmyōji of a yōkai based there who eats women's hair. The onmyōji set out to find Kagura. At Kokuyazan, they encounter a young man named Minamoto no Hiromasa as he battles and subdues the Hair Eater (kami-gui/kami-kui). However, Hiromasa lets the Hair Eater escape in favor of a duel with Seimei, but is defeated. The heroes are then reunited with Kagura. Hiromasa claims that he is acquainted with her, even though he denies this later when Kagura denies having known him at all; after which, Hiromasa leaves and is not seen again. The onmyōji decide to pursue the Hair Eater in order to stop his villainous acts. They manage to find him and defeat him. As later revealed by the Hair Eater, he doesn't actually eat hair, but rather eats power from other weaker yōkai in order to strengthen himself. He is also very concerned about his appearance and wishes to see the one with the most beautiful hair in the city, which is the reason he summoned Kagura to his place. The Hair Eater then returns to the inkai world. The onmyōji are greeted by the Afterworld officials again, who tell them of other inkai openings in other places, and Kagura and Yaobikuni wonder whether they'll see Hiromasa again.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Ambiguously Gay: The Hair Eater. He looks and acts effeminate (unless angry), but shows no interest in men. He does call Seimei "beautiful" though.
• Artistic License – History: The Hair Eater smokes even though tobacco wasn't yet introduced to Japan in the Heian period.
• Challenge Seeker: Hiromasa, hoo boy.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: How many characters think of the Hair Eater.
• Smoking Is Cool: The Hair Eater smokes a kiseru, uses it as a weapon, and is just as effective a combatant as anyone else.

Chapter 6: ゆめうつつ (Yume Utsutsu)

After the onmyōji return from Kokuyazan, Kagura frequently encounters nightmares. Yaobikuni suggests using her psychic powers to fix the problem. The group is suddenly visited by Hiromasa, who requests to tag along, the reason being that he's "interested" in Kagura's dream. Yaobikuni then transports everyone into Kagura's dream using a technique she calls "peeking" (覗く nozoku). There, they see Kagura being called by a strange voice and running away; Hiromasa immediately tries to run after her and winds up lost. Later, the rest are reunited with Kagura at the yume no hazama (Intersection of Dreams). A butterfly yōkai called Kochō-no-sei who inhabits the dream world appears, offering to help them find a way out of the dream. She takes them back to Kagura's dream, where they discover Kodokushi, a malicious yōkai using nightmares to lure victims into his lair where they are fed to his bugs and as a result never wake up from their sleep again. The onmyōji are about to be overpowered by Kodokushi when Hiromasa appears again, having found his way back when he heard Kochō-no-sei's tambourine, and subdues him so that Seimei can defeat him. The heroes bid farewell to Kochō-no-sei before they wake up. The chapter ends with Hiromasa asking to stay and be part of the onmyōji group, to which they agree.

Note: Completing this chapter unlocks Minamoto no Hiromasa as a playable character.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Dream Land: The yume no hazama and all the individual dreams it is connected to.
• Dream People: Kochō-no-sei and Kodokushi.
• Magic Music: Kochō-no-sei's tambourine helps you find your way out of the deepest of dreams. Just follow her shan-shan-shan, shan-shan-shan. When she's in battle, she becomes a Musical Assassin.
• Pretty Butterflies: Kochō-no-sei.
• Schrödinger's Butterfly: Kochō-no-sei talks about dreams in which "people become butterflies and butterflies become people" twice.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: If you are fed to Kodokushi's insects in your dream, you'll never be able to wake up again.

Chapter 7: 鯉の美に恋する (Koi no Bi ni Koisuru)

Kappa asks the onmyōji to help him investigate recent mysterious vanishings of young yōkai girls at the pond where he lives. There, they meet Yōko, a masked fox yōkai whom Kappa suspects of kidnapping the girls until they are convinced otherwise by Yōko's nice and polite mannerisms. It isn't until he holds captive Koi-no-sei, another yōkai girl he is acquainted with, does it become clear that Yōko really is the kidnapper all along, putting on a pleasant facade to lure the victims in. The onmyōji arrive just in time to defeat Yōko, and Kappa rescues Koi-no-sei.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Asian Fox Spirit: Yōko.
• Faux Affably Evil: Yōko, who acts nice to lure victims in and fool the heroes.
• Handsome Lech: Yōko. He may be a pedophile, but he really is quite good-looking.
• Japanese Pronouns: Yōko uses shōsei which is a very humble first-person pronoun. His actual manner of speech, on the other hand, doesn't quite match.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Who do you think it is?
• Pun-Based Title: Koi no Bi ni Koisuru.
• Shrinking Violet: Kappa shows shades of this. He is very insecure about his unattractiveness and is afraid to tell Koi-no-sei that he is interested in her.

Chapter 8: 桜と桃 (Sakura to Momo)

Sakura-no-sei accuses Seimei of killing her human Love Interest and fiancé, leading him and his companions to wonder whether it was something he has done before he loses his memory. He didn't; it was a certain "black onmyōji" who has done so. Through further revelations from the slain man's ghost and another yōkai named Momo-no-sei, the heroes discover the nature of Sakura and the man's relationship. Seimei then allows the couple to exchange final promises. Sakura apologizes to Seimei for the misunderstanding; she and Momo then returns to their forest.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Cherry Blossom Girl: Sakura-no-sei, who fits every criterion listed in the trope's page except having pink hair.
• Flower Motif: Sakura-no-sei and Momo-no-sei.
• Interspecies Romance: Sakura, a yōkai, is in love with a human.
• Wham Episode: Believe it or not, this very episode changes the plotline from Monster of the Week to fighting a central Big Bad.

Chapter 9: 兎と蛙・茶と鍋 (Usagi to Kaeru — Cha to Nabe)

The onmyōji are requested by the royal family to take care of a rabbit yōkai named Yama-usagi who has been causing troubles around the city. They soon encounter her and her steed, the frog Yama-gaeru, but the two soon escape. The heroes then track her down and force her out of her hiding place. Out of desperation, Yama-usagi challenges them to a battle, but is soon defeated. They express their intention not to exterminate her and ask her to explain her mischief, to which Yama-usagi replies that it is, in fact, her racing with a teapot-riding yōkai called Mōba. Mōba then appears and picks a fight with the onmyōji in order to "save" Yama-usagi. Mōba loses and apologizes to her friend for not being able to save her, but Yama-usagi clears up the misunderstanding. The heroes warn the two to never go near the city again.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Chekhov's Gun: The chrysanthemum mochi Hiromasa gives Kagura at the beginning of the story. It later proves useful in the heroes' search for Yama-usagi when Kagura tosses it to a yōkai dog, making it move aside, revealing a clue under its paws.
• Horse of a Different Color: Yama-usagi's steed Yama-gaeru and Mōba's legged and fanged teapot.

Chapter 10: 泥酔の鬼 (Deisui no Oni)

Ibaraki-dōji enlists the onmyōji to help him find his missing friend Shuten-dōji. The latter is then revealed to have developed an addiction to shinshu, demonic sake, out of desperation over a certain woman. The group discovers Shuten-dōji, but he outright rejects Ibaraki-dōji and displays hatred toward Seimei.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Drowning My Sorrows: Shuten-dōji does this over not being able to be with his Love Interest.
• Drunken Master: Shuten-dōji, whose strength comes from the demonic sake he drinks.
• With Friends Like These...: Seimei fails to understand why Ibaraki-dōji still wants to be friends with someone who doesn't let him know anything important about himself, including where he lives, among other things.

Chapter 11: 紅に染まる楓 (Kurenai ni Somaru Kaede)

A continuation of the events of the previous chapter. Seimei is summoned to the Kaedebayashi (Maple Forest) by an oni called Kijo Momiji, the apparent one-sided Love Interest of Shuten-dōji. Seimei, Kagura, Kohaku, Yaobikuni and Ibaraki-dōji then head to the forest with Momiji's personal servant as their guide. They are soon greeted by the man-eating oni girl who displays overt affection towards a very confused Seimei. Shuten-dōji appears and announce that this is the reason he hates Seimei in the first place. As revealed by Momiji's servant, Seimei really did encounter Momiji prior to his losing his memory when he saved her from a band of other monsters, though he never met her again afterwards. The Seimei she talked to and became obsessed with after the incident was a different one. In order to settle things, Seimei seals Momiji and challenges Ibaraki-dōji and Shuten-dōji to a fight to prove his innocence. The latter two seem to reconcile at the end.

This chapter contains examples of:

• All Love Is Unrequited: Shuten-dōji's affection towards Momiji and hers towards Seimei.
• Literal Maneater: Momiji is a beautiful human-eating oni and makes no attempt to hide it.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Near the end, Seimei is seen doing… something to Momiji, which is either sealing her up or killing her. The trope applies if it's the former, since we don't meet her again after this chapter.

Chapter 12: もうひとりの晴明 (Mō Hitori no Seimei)

The chapter begins with Seimei's dream in which he meets his Evil Counterpart Kuro Seimei. The latter informs him of his plan to wreck havoc on the city. Later, Seimei, Kagura and Kohaku arrive at the city having received a letter requesting their appearance. The one sending it was yōkai siblings Oguna and Dōjo, who tell Seimei that they are his shikigami. Seimei responds that he has no recollection of them due to his amnesia, to which Dōjo breaks down in tears and flees. She then meets Yuki-onna, who says that the Seimei she met is "fake" and that the "real" one wouldn't betray her. Oguna and the onmyōji find Dōjo, but she bluntly rejects them and, with Yuki-onna's help, challenges Seimei to a fight. When they are both defeated, Yuki-onna calls for Kuro Seimei's help, at which he appears. At this point, Dōjo accepts the good Seimei as the "real" one upon closer inspection, while Yuki-onna and Kuro Seimei retreat.

This chapter contains examples of:

• An Ice Person: Yuki-onna.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Dōjo is this to Oguna, though he always puts up with his sister's antics.
• Big Bad: Kuro Seimei, who's formally introduced in this chapter.
• Bird People: Oguna and Dōjo.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Dōjo is the foolish one, Oguna is the responsible one.
• MacGuffin: The stolen Sword of Kusanagi. Oguna mentions it when he talks about Seimei and Dōjo's having been to Atsuta-jingū where the sword is housed and its having vanished at around the same time (suggesting that Seimei is the one having taken it) and it is also briefly discussed by various other characters, but that's all there is to it. It doesn't play any important role in the story.
• Mr. Exposition: Oguna, oh-so-much. He spends a good chunk of the episode talking about Seimei's past trips, the fates of his old shikigami and even one of the Three Imperial Regalia's being stolen, all information that doesn't really advance the story forward, until Oguna remembers that he has more important things to do, like finding his sister.
• Spoiled Brat: Dōjo. One can't help but feel sorry for her brother.

Chapter 13: 矢と弓道 (Ya to Kyūdō)

The heroes meet Hakurō, a white wolf yōkai who is a hermit archer-in-training. Together they head out to find the source of negative energy Seimei has been sensing. They discover Hiromasa suffering from wounds. Turns out, he had been fighting a demon coming from a gap in the inkai barrier. With Hakurō's help, Seimei forces the yōkai, No-neck, out and defeats him, sealing him into the inkai. Everyone then brings Hiromasa back to the monastery and let him rest. Hakurō then departs.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Ship Tease: Hakurō and Hiromasa. She had briefly met him years before and decided to take up archery after seeing him fight. Yaobikuni even comments on this.
  Yaobikuni: The way Hakurō-san looks at Hiromasa-san seems somewhat passionate.

Chapter 14: 夢の出会い (Yume no Deai)

Kochō-no-sei calls for help from Seimei's dream. According to Hiromasa, nightmares have recently been plaguing the city. Using Yaobikuni's power, the heroes enter Seimei's dream and meet Kochō-no-sei. She informs them of the Dream Eater (yume-kui), a creature who originally helps people by eating bad dreams, but has since been corrupted by its insatiable hunger and must be stopped before it completely destroys the dream world. Worse yet, the creature becomes more and more powerful; even when defeated, it instantly heals from eating Seimei's dream and even multiplies in number. It even creates holes in the yume no hazama, causing the heroes to fall into them and have dreams about their pasts. Once awaken, Seimei deduces that the Dream Eater could be found in the darkest of dreams in order to feed on it, and so he leads everyone into Kuro Seimei's dream where they find and defeat the original Dream Eater, restoring it to its old form. At the end, they are greeted by Kuro Seimei himself, who doesn't plan on stopping his scheme of weakening the inkai barrier and "engulfing the city in darkness."

This chapter contains examples of:

• Long-Lost Relative: It is confirmed that Kagura is Hiromasa's long-lost sister.

Chapter 15: 陰界の裂け目 (Inkai no Sakeme)

A kyonshī girl requests the onmyōji to help her find her abducted older brothers. They discover that the kyonshī boys along with a number of other yōkai are under a hypnotic spell by Ōtengu, Hiromasa's former comrade, and made to aid him in his evil scheme. After the onmyōji defeat Ōtengu, it is revealed that he too, like Yuki-onna, is Kuro Seimei's henchman. The heroes manages to rescue the second oldest kyonshī, but the oldest one is said to have ended up at the gate of the Afterworld due to being overworked.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Cuteness Proximity: The kyonshī sister goes mofu-mofu and pet any cute yōkai animal nearby, including Kohaku. She even manages to calm the aggressive Kyūmeineko and break her brother's hypnosis doing this.
• Our Zombies Are Different: The kyonshī family.
• Verbal Weakness: Ōtengu's hypnotism on Kyūmeineko is broken by mentioning Seimei's name and on the younger brother kyonshī by his sister's mofu-mofu.
• You Can't Kill What's Already Dead: When Kagura infers that the oldest kyonshī has died from overwork, the second oldest assures her that they are already dead.

Chapter 16: 冥界の審判 (Meikai no Shinpan)

The onmyōji gang save for Yaobikuni heads to the Afterworld guided by Kuromujō and Shiromujō in order to retrieve the oldest of the kyonshī siblings. As the officials lead him back to the mortal world, Seimei is confronted by another official called Hangan, who is under orders from the Afterworld ruler Enma to arrest him. Once taken to Enma, Seimei is told that she finds him guilty of horrible crimes that is not of his doing at all; Enma is among those who mistake Kuro Seimei for him. Luckily, Kuromujō and Shiromujō arrive just in time to convince Enma of the truth. Seimei is then permitted to return to the mortal world along with his friends to defeat Kuro Seimei. They proceed to perform a barrier spell.

This chapter contains examples of:

• Barred from the Afterlife: Yaobikuni is stated to be unable to visit the Afterworld due to her immortality.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Enma. She's actually quite generous to the heroes, unlike Hangan.

Chapter 17: 陰陽逆転 (Onmyō Gyakuten)

The inkai barrier has become more weakened than ever, causing malicious yōkai to roam freely around the city. This is all Kuro Seimei's doing. Together with various other yōkai introduced earlier in the story i.e. Hōōka, Ibaraki-dōji and Shuten-dōji, the onmyōji set out and put a stop to the monsters and find Kuro Seimei. Kuro Seimei reveals at the end that the heroes' actions are going Exactly as Planned.

This chapter contains examples of:

• The Bus Came Back: Characters whom we haven't heard from since many chapters ago (Ame-onna, Jikigaeru, Kappa, Koi-no-sei, Hōōka, Shuten-dōji and Ibaraki-dōji) return and get cameo roles.
• Making a Splash: Umibōzu and the Lord of the Arakawa River.