A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Tomoe, Takigawa Houshou #atozchallenge

Who wouldn't want a beautiful fox demon as your servant? A handsome and powerful fox that caters to your every whim.  In Kamisama Kiss, Tomoe was once a wild fox that became a familiar to Mikage, the Land God.

But that is not where the story begins. It begins with a homeless girl receiving the powers from Mikage (mee-kah-jay) and the chaos that ensues from a mortal becoming a land God.  Tomoe (toe-moe-ay) hates the thought of a human at the shrine but Nanami (nah-nah-mee) takes no bull and forced him back into servitude with a kiss.

The rest of the series has a bit of a reverse haremish group of gorgeous and handsome demons with a back story of hundreds of years and a complex timeline I will not even try to explain. There are misadventures with gods, sea creatures, tengu, and other various immortal beings.

Tomoe has the ability to come off as hateful and cold, arrogant, prideful, and elegant, but he has his moments of childish jealousy and other moments where you can see the hurt, vulnerability, and soft heart he hides away from prying eyes.

🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸

Takigawa Houshou is the guitar-wielding monk of Ghost Hunt. He left his temple home to be a bassist in a band before going back to become a full time monk.  He uses his spiritual powers as a side gig to help people.

Characterwise, he is laid back but can be serious when needed.

We first meet him as he was hired by Mai's school to exorcise the spirits along with Naru, Lin, Ayako, Masako, Father John Brown. He becomes one of the regulars of SPR (Shibuya Pyschic Research.

As a monk, he is strong and can lead the group when Naru is incapacitated. 

A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Sesshomaru, Sebastian Michaelis, Shiroe #atozchallenge

Okay, he will be the odd man of the bunch today.  His name is Shiore. Before the Apocalypse, he was a graduate student in university studying engineering.  After the Apocalypse, he became the driving force of the Round Table Alliance, the breaking of exploitative guilds, and forming the new guild of Log Horizon.

His name is Shiroe. He is Half-Alv with the class of Enchanter-Scribe, which allows him to help his party members with his magic.  His Scribe class does something even greater in the series - a world changing something.

There are many monikers he is known by, but my favorite is the 'Villain in Glasses'. It is untrue though. He may come across as a Machiavellian schemer but he really only wants to make the lives of the Adventurers stuck in the world of Elder Tales better.

He was the strategist in the Debauchery Tea Party before their disbandment.  He becomes the 'shadow' leader of the Round Table. But he lets Krusty be the front man while making decisions and strategic maneuvers from behind.

🐕🐕🐕🐕🐕

Shesshomaru the full dog demon of the Anime Inuyasha and half brother of the main character of the same name.  He is the Lord of the West another the death of his father.  He despises weakness and most humans.  He carries a katana that has the ability to save a hundred people with one swipe. The Tenseiga is deemed useless by him because it cannot strike down a living person. He craves the sword Tetsusaiga, which was given to Inuyasha.

In one battle, he gets injured by Inuyasha and a little girl finds him and tries to take are of him. He finds her dead, but uses the Tenseiga to revive the girl. This is the first time Sesshomaru feels the compassion needed to use the sword. Rin becomes his traveling companion along with Jaken and Ah-Un the two-headed dragon.

He becomes sort of allies with the Inuyasha and company to fight the evil half-demon Naraku.

He even surpasses his father's power by creating a sword and regenerating his arm, which Inuyasha severed, as the show progresses.

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

Sebastian Michaelis is one hell of a butler in the Anime Black Butler. He is contracted to Ciel until such time that the contract is fulfilled and Sebastian eats Ciel's soul.

The crow demon protects his charge from those that want to hurt him, which is a tough assignment indeed. The life of Ciel is complicated to say the least. He works for the Queen to solve mysteries and crimes as he searches for the the people who murdered his parents.

He is extremely fond of cats and hates dogs.  So when Pluto becomes a mender of the household, he cringes and is disdainful.

He also suffers the misfit characters that run the household. One has a penchant for blowing up the kitchen, one can't see past the end of her nose, and the last tries to kill the gardens on a daily basis.  Only they were not recruited for their household skills.  They had other 'talents' Sebastian required.

A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Abel Nightroad, Nanami Momozono #atozchallenge

Abel Nightroad is the bumbling main character in the Anime Trinity Blood.  It takes place in a  post-apocalyptic world where humans and Methuselah (vampires) are at odds. He is a caring priest in the Church, but he can become serious when the situation calls for it.

He may appear to be incompetent at his job  holds a dark secret inside him.

He is a Krusnik. A creature that is not man nor vampire. He has sentient nanomacines within him that turn him into a vampire that drinks from vampires.  In this form he has wings and a scythe made of his own blood.

He could destroy a city in this powerful form.

💮💮💮💮💮💮

The long suffering Nanami Momozono was kicked out her apartment when her father ran away leaving tons of debt behind in the first episode of the Anime Kamisama Kiss.

She finds a home in the shrine of Mikage, the land god, but with a price. She ends up becoming the land god herself.

On top of that, yokai and spirits are trying to eat her because of her new found powers and her vulnerability as a mortal.

And yet, it gets even more complicated when Tomoe, the familiar of the shrine hates the very thought of having a human land god.

Her determination and perky attitude to help others causes her to get into mischief, which has Tomoe coming to the rescue.

And then the real fun begins.

A to Z Challenge 2017 -- Theme Reveal Ooo La La!!!!

So this is where I totally tell you my theme for this year's A to Z.

Last year was fun with the spookables and ghosties.  I learned quite a bit.  Surprisingly it payed off.

 I watched Gantz 00 on Netflix on the 11th and, OMG!, Japanese yokai everywhere!  Gantz is a gory story about dead people fighting in a death match against monsters in the cities of Japan.  They can die on the field or die by not killing all the monsters in the time allotted.  It was bloody, sick, and twisted CGI movie.  It has manga and an anime to boot.

But what got me to want to do this theme is Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale.  It is the second film in the most amazing anime, light novel,  manga, and video game series! Monsters of Aincrad have invaded the augmented reality game of Ordinal Scale.  The dangers become real when Kirito's friends  are targeted by an unknown enemy.

 I got to see it in the theater (Yay!) and it was amazing!

So now we come to it.  My theme:

My Favorite Anime Characters!

via GIPHY

That's right! I'm delving into the world of anime. From demons and devils to swordsmen and heroes, I will cover a range of genres and of species.

Warning:  There will be Spoilers  I mean it!  Spoilers everywhere! Maybe even masses amounts of them.  If you're not into finding out the secrets of the anime universe, you are henceforth warned to stay away. Perusing these posts is hazardous to your spoiler free life.

This is the only warning I will give.  Be it at your peril.  Mwhahaha!

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- YAMAUBA

You lead them through the forest.  They have lost their way.

You open your door for them, offer them food. You give them shelter.

You wait.  Anticipation courses through your veins.  Your mouth salivates.

You gaze upon them and grin.  They are asleep.

Rising, you stalk toward the man.  He barely opens his eyes when you strike.

Ah . . . Heaven.  Hot blood of your victim stains your mouth.  Man flesh tastes wonderful.



Yamauba (or Onibaba) is a Japanese demoness or ogress that was once human.  Usually these women fled because of their wicked deeds or were abandoned in times of famine, but they survive to become yokai.

They are classified in the kijo type yokai. They are cannibalistic and will 'help' travelers and shelter them for the night in their huts. They will attack after their guests have fallen asleep.

 They usually live in isolated mountains and forests far from civilization.

Yamauba may have once been kami before being demonized.

One story has a Yamauba raising Kintaro, a legendary hero.

They can also be found in Noh plays.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- WA NYŪDŌ (VERY DISTURBING. BEWARE!)

He is coming.  You can see the burning flames from the end of the street.  You know there is no mercy in the creature.

Don't look.  Don't look, you tell yourself as you huddle down in fear in your house.

The fire lights up the whole of the room from the window.  You can see the blazing of it even through your eyelids.

It passes by, and you relax.  You survived.  Your head rests against the wall in relief.

Screams sound.  You cringe, praying for those souls that were not so lucky as you.




The Wa Nyūdō is one of the deadliest yokai in the Japanese pantheon of them.

He's described as a flaming ox-cart wheel with a man's head at the hub.  This man was -- according to two different versions -- either a nasty daimyo or a corrupt monk that died and is serving penance.

He works for Hell and loves to haunt urban streets for whatever victims he can find.  This yokai haunts urban city streets.  To look at him will have your soul stolen and taken to Hell.  To fall into his path will have your body torn asunder.

One story had a woman looking at him.  The Wa Nyūdō yells at her that if she had time to look at him, then she had time to look after her baby.  When she turned back to the baby, its limbs had been ripped from its body by the creature.

He appears in the Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki in 1779, but may come from an older work called the Shokoku Hyakumonogaturi from 1677, which is a collection of ghost stories. Evidence suggests that this yokai goes back even farther to the Heian Period (794 to 1185).

There is a specific ofuda that protects against it.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- TENOME

Your friend was supposed to meet you here.  He is late.  You didn't even want to come out here.

You call out his name, hoping he's playing a trick on you.

Going against your better judgment, you enter the graveyard.  Your so going to beat the crap out your friend when you find him.

A strange sound reaches you.  You jump but ignore it as you get closer to the grave you guys wanted to see.

Closer now, the sound reaches you and you swear it's an inhalation like that of a scenting dog.  Strange.

There's something on the ground before the grave.  His jacket?  You shuffle closer.  And then you see it.  It's not just his jacket.

Pained terror stabs your chest as your heart accelerates when you see it's him.  His skin puddled on the ground.

You back up to run away.  As you turn, you see the eyeless face.



This creature is found in the first book of Toriyama Sekien's series, Gazu Hyakki Yakō, which translates to basically Night Parade of A Hundred Demons.  He did not write a single thing about this creature, but his inspiration may have come from older stories of a creature that fits this description.

One version of the origin story says that a blind man was murdered.  His lasts words stated he wished he saw the one/ones who did it even if his eyes were in his hands.  

Well, he got his wish. Tenome literally translates to eyes on hands.  They hang out in graveyards and open fields and they like to eat fresh from the body bones.  

The creature looks like a blind zato, a type of guildman.  They are quick but not powerful, blind as a bat, but with a vicious sense of smell.  

One story has a priest locking a victim in a chest to protect him, but the creature somehow sucked his bones out leaving the skin in the chest.

Yes, this nasty monster did inspire that blipping freaking s.o.b. in Pan's Labyrinth.  

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- SUIKO (UTTERLY GROSS AND SICK AND TWISTED! BE WARNED)

You look over at the small hut in the field and shudder.  The villagers hated the idea, but it was the one sure way of destroying the monster.

They had forbidden anyone from entering the field except for the one who must check the area around the hut.

The stench permeated the air even this far away, which makes your stomach churn. Why anyone would go near is beyond you.

You exit your house and find the elder waiting.  You are to check the hut.

When you near the field, you cover your nose and mouth with cloth.  It will keep out the stench -- barely.  Approaching, you gag at the smell of rotting flesh.  Then you it.  Footprints circling the hut.

You rush around to the other side, and stop.  There on the ground the monster lay dead.


This is how to kill a Suiko.  They are not Kappa, but they are related to them.  Suiko translates to water tiger.

They are more aggressive and have control of kappas, sort of like a mid level boss of mafia thugs, which means they have a hierarchy as do the kappa.  They report to Ryū-ō, the dragon king.

They have growths on their knees that resemble tiger paws.

These water goblins don't go after the shirikodama, aka the human's small anus ball. (No joke. Kappa may find it in the way of getting to the liver or something.  They may even want it. Plus, waterlogged dead bodies sometimes have pooched out bumoly holes.)  Nope, these bad boys like to suck the blood out of a human and eat the  reikon (soul).

They only way known to kill them is to put the dead body on a plank and in a hut of grass and straw and let the corpse rot.  The Suiko has no choice but to be drawn to their victim and will race around the hut until the corpse rots enough that the creature dies.  It is said that it is can become invisible until it dies.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- OSHIROIBABA

You see the old woman and sneer at her shabbiness.  Her ragged kimono and tattered, overlarge sugegasa overwhelm the hunched woman.

Distaste curls in your mind as you see the tokkuri of sake.

Light shines in her eyes when she sees you.  Leaning on her bamboo cane, she tells you she is a peddler of face powder guaranteed to make you even more beautiful.

 Inwardly preening as your ego is stroked, you know your beauty is talked about by the neighbors, but you scoff.

She offers it for half price as she tells you to think of the young man and your competition.

Your heart skips a beat as you think of Satori winning Akane's heart.

You buy the powder and rush home.  You apply it to your face and wonder what is so special about it.

Then pain.  Agony makes you scream. In the mirror, your face begins to melt away.



Oshiroibaba comes on the twelfth month on moonlit nights.  She is sometimes referred to as a servant of the Goddess of Crimson Cosmetics, but there is only one reference to this.

Her name translates to 白粉 (oshiroi; white face powder) + 婆 (baba; old woman, hag).  The face powder reference is mostly toward the specific one used by geisha and maiko.

In the Konjaku hyakki Shūi, Toriyama Sekien presents her in this third
book of the Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, which was published in around 1781.

She is supposed to have face powder slathered on her face willy-nilly and in a few stories has an invisible mirror that is dragged behind her.

Her powder is said to melt off the faces of those who use it.  Maybe it was punishment for the vain?

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- NUKEKUBI

Blood! Blood! 

The cry rips through your mind as you hunger for it.  Your craving must be fulfilled.  You need it.

A lone man walks down the street.  You grin as you chase him down.

He turns, cries out in fright, and raises his arms to fight you off.  Only, you are faster and more agile than him.  You have the upper hand.

You pierce his neck with your teeth, drinking the hot, coppery liquid in ravenous gulps.

Your craving has been met.



This, my friends, is a Nukekubi.  Nukekubi (removable neck, missing neck) is a creature that does not know that she is a creature.  She is a vampiric version of the Rokurokubi. , which translates roughly to pulley neck.

By day she is a normal woman.  It's at night that her head detaches and and goes flying about looking for victims.

The woman can pass this to their daughter.

Some say that there are lines or wrinkles around the neck where the head comes off the body.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- JEOSEUNG SAJA

Burning rubber and gasoline fumes fill your nostrils as you blink.  Your blurry vision fades in and out before clearing.  It's tough to see through the smoke.

The taste of blood comes.  Then pain.  An all-over pain that floods every nerve ending in your body.

You remember what happened.  A truck weaving in all over the road plowed into multiple cars.

Sirens grow louder.  Flashing bright lights are still far away dots.

Heat rises in the car.  It's on fire.  Frightened, your frantic gaze tries to find help.

A man slowly walks toward you.  His black robe flows like water over his legs.  His pale skin glows from the harsh streetlights and flickering headlights.  On his head, he wears a strange round hat.

Your heart flutters as his eyes meet yours.  He is not here to help you.  He has come to take your soul.


The Jeoseung Saja (저승사자) is the Korean version of the Grim Reaper.  He appears before those whose time is near.  It is a death omen to dream of them. They will appear in places heavy in death like hospitals, graveyards, and accidents.

They are dressed in dark robes and a Joseon-era gat, which is the distinctive black hat of that time.  They are said to be extremely pale and have sunken eyes.  They look very human to the eye.

Sent to collect souls and guide them to the afterlife down the Hwangcheon Road. They cannot be bribed and will pursue a spirit relentlessly.

They are under the command of King Yeomna [Yeomna (염라) and Great King Yeomna (염라대왕, Yŏmna Daewang)].  Also know as Yan, Enma-O, Yama, and other names in different places.

The Jeoseung Saja deliever to him those to be judged.  

gh

My other choices for today were the yokai Jubokko, which is a tree yokai that drinks the blood of their human victims.  They are created at places of great violence and death like battlefields.  The roots of a tree soak up enough of the blood and turn it into a blood craving monster.  Underneath the creature, the bones of it's victims can be found.

The second was a gouged out-eyed ghost from Korea called Jayuro Gwishin. She is part of an urban legend where she is found on a strip of highway in South Korea known for many accidents because of the deep fog there.  

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- HONE-ONNA

You can't believe it. The rumors that she has died is a lie.  Greeting her with open arms, you spend all night reaffirming your love.

She's gone the next morning only to return that night.

Over and over, she comes and loves you.

Soon you feel tired, and after a while, the exhaustion takes over.

Fearful for your life, your family summons someone to help.  The monk sits and watches as your lover comes to you once again.

He tells of the sickening sight he witnessed and offers prayers and wards to protect the house, but you protest.  You love her.  She loves you.

The monk shakes his head sadly, knowing what is to come.

Your lover comes and lays with you, and you breathe your last.



Hone Onna is a Japanese spirit of a woman who returns to her lover.  She rises from the grave and appears as her young, beautiful self.  Her name translates to bone woman

They spend the night hours loving the object of their affection and stealing their life force.  The lover becomes sickly and weak with each visitation until the lover dies.

If the ghost is found out, the household can use charms and wards to protect the house, but they only work if they master of the house wills them into being.

Only those with strong religious faith and those unclouded by love can see the true form of the Hone Onna: a fetid, rotting skeleton.  As she rots, her appeal actually will strengthen.

If she is found out the lover may reject her, but she will continue to visit.

The saddest part of the entire thing is that she never realizes.  Her only concern is to continue to love the one in her heart.

gh

My second choice for today was Hitobashira, which means human pillar.

Yes, I do mean a literal human pillar -- as in person sacrificed in the constructing a building.  They are buried alive in the foundations of said building.  They were believed to protect the building by appeasing the nature spirits and warding the building from things.

There are rumors that this practice might have been still in use in the 20th century.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- GASHADORKURO

Your heart pounds in your chest as a chill crawls up you spine.  You didn't want to to travel this road tonight, but there was no other choice.  Message of the slaughter has to reach the shogun.

The night falls silent.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Silence.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Silence.  Gaichi Gaichi.

Your guts churn in terror at the unnatural sound.  You will your legs to move, but they are jelly.  You wait for it again even as you continue down the road.  Nothing. You take a deep breath when the sound doesn't repeat again.

SNAP!  You cannot scream as your chest is crushed.  A flying sensation as you are lifted from the ground.  Your last image is the giant creature's skeletal mouth.


In Japanese legend, a Gashadokuro (or ōdokuro (giant skeleton)) is created from soldiers that have rotted on the battlefield or from those who die of famine and do not receive funerary rites.  They are reborn as hungry ghosts and resenting humans.  They grow stronger as their hate grows until it becomes a supernatural force.

Their bones will mass together to form this monstrous creature full of malice and hate.

It will wander the countryside and will crush their victim or rip off his head.  Some stories suggest that the monster will drink the victim's blood and may even add it's victim to their body.

There is no way to kill such a monster.  Its rage must abate, but with hundreds of dead amongst the the Gashadokuro's body, that is not very likely to happen.

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- FURUTSUBAKI NO REI

The woman standing under the shade of the camellia is beautiful.  She draws you in with  saying a word.  it's as if you are pulled toward her with a string.

Slowly you approach; your heart thumping in your ears.  You know something is not human about her, but you can't stop yourself.

Her hand rises ever so slowly.  You watch with sick facination, wanting to run, but you can't move.  Then, she touches you and you know nothing more.

The Furutsubaki no Rei is a Japanese yokai that is created from a the tsubaki tree, which is also called the rose of winter and Camellia japonica.  The yokai is the spirit of the tree that has reached a certain age and can manifest itself as a beatuiful woman outside the host tree.

One legend has her transforming a merchant into a bee and killing him.
Another legend has the spirit as a Yonaki Tsubaki (night-crying tsubaki) that foretells misfortune. At a shrine in Akita prefecture, the temple Kanman-ji has such a tsubaki, which supposedly has stood for 700 years.

This evergree is known for an unusual ability.  Instead of having petals fall off individually, the flower will fall off all at once. Thus associating them with death and taboo to give to sick people.