Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The cast of Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni and associated tropes. Beware of spoilers from the first episode onward.


Main characters

Marie Moriya / Mesomeso

Marie is a hopeless girl who is harassed by everyone in her class and abused by her homeroom teacher. While despairing over her troubles in the bathroom of the old school building where she regularly meets her teacher for "supplementary lessons", she accidentally starts the rumor of a youkai named Mesomeso who haunts the bathroom. Higanbana gives her the chance to actually become Mesomeso, which she does after being strangled to death by her teacher. Instead of seeking revenge, however, Marie uses her newfound status to help other bullied students in her school.

Higanbana

Higanbana is ranked third among the seven major youkai who haunt the school, also known as the "Dancing Higanbana". She often takes the form of a doll that sits on one of the shelves in the school infirmary, and is rumored to dance around in the middle of the night. She forms an Odd Couple with Marie after she effortlessly starts the rumor of Mesomeso, opening a spot for an eighth youkai.


Youkai

Youkai are ghost-like creatures who are responsible for mysterious phenomena that occur within the school. Whenever someone gets mysteriously injured or suddenly becomes misfortunate, a youkai is usually the one responsible. The youkai have their own hierarchy based around the school's mysteries, which are caused by the top seven youkai (well, eight counting Mesomeso). Besides these youkai, there are numerous other youkai who try to contend for spots in the hierarchy.

The Headmaster

The highest ranked youkai in the school. He is said to emerge from one of the pictures in the school principal's office, and eats anyone he happens across. He also has the ability to erase memories, thus his position as the top ranked youkai.

Black Tea Gentleman

The Headmaster's right-hand man, also known as the Vice-Principal, unofficially ranked second among the school youkai. He is never seen without a fully-prepared tea set. He makes contracts with humans by offering them his power to escape reality and believe their own lies in exchange for a small portion of their souls. He is currently contracted with Midori Kusunoki.

Izanami

The second ranked youkai, also known as the "Shinigami of the 13 Stairs". If a human steps on the 13th stair, he forces them into playing a game of tag each day, where if the human ever stops running, they are dumped straight into hell. Granted, if the human can last 49 days of this, they will be free but...

Azami

The fourth ranked youkai, also known as "Azami the Vengeful". Using her magical azamis, she can turn bullied kids into bullies themselves.

Kyou

The fifth ranked youkai, also known as "Kyou of the Mirror".

Renoir

The sixth ranked youkai, also known as "Renoir of the Art Room". He spends most of his time sleeping within portraits in the art room, but every once in a while awakens to eat. If a human breaks one of the rules regarding Renoir (borrowing a brush from Renoir, giving an incorrect answer as to the artist of one of the portraits in the room, or lying at all during a conversation with Renoir) they are sucked into a portrait where they are doomed to live forever.

Sumire / Reiko Oosumi

The seventh ranked youkai, also known as "Sumire of the Dusk". She is the main antagonist of "Utopia", where she disguises herself as a transfer student named Reiko. Really looks up to Azami, who she refers to as an older sister.

Sakunoshin

The leader of the animal spirits who inhabit the school. He lives in a Shinto shrine on the school grounds.

  • Cheerful Child
  • Expecting Someone Taller: Judging from Michiru's description of him, Marie expected him to be a terrifying and vengeful spirit, and doubted she'd be able to speak on even terms with him, even as one of the eight highest ranking youkai in the school.
  • Expy: He is identical in appearance and mannerisms to Sakutaro from Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
  • Insistent Terminology: The way he's described makes him appear to be a Kitsune but, being the "king of animals", he insists that he is a lion.
  • The Scapegoat: He's blamed for the "curse" that Michiru tries carrying out in "Shrine of the Guardian Spirit".
  • Verbal Tic: "Uryuu~!"[1]

Hameln

A youkai who haunts the school's music room, also known as "Hameln of the Music Room". According to his legend, anyone who enters the music room at night when no one else is around will hear the sound of his castanets playing, and then will turn into an animal to be lured away to their doom. He is not one of the eight ranked youkai of the school.

  • Baleful Polymorph: His power allows him to turn students who hear his music to turn into small animals.
  • Cool Mask
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Hameln, after cursing Higanbana into the form of a bunny, tries to eat her. Higanbana responds by biting onto his tongue and then eat it along with the rest of Hameln's insides.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Hameln uses a pair of castanets for his magic spells.
  • The Red Baron: Hameln of the Music Room
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: He's never seen without his mask, but when he leans close to Hikaru, he is described as having "stunningly red" eyes like a rabbit.
  • Slasher Smile: Sports one of these.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: He aims to become one of the Eight School Mysteries.


Humans

Yoshihito Kanamori

Kanamori is Marie's homeroom teacher. He originally defended Marie against her tormentors, but has long since taken to molesting her in the bathroom of the old school building to relieve the daily stress of his job. He is the main antagonist of the first chapter, "Mesomeso-san".

  • A God Am I: Well, not necessarily a god, but he declares himself to be Mesomeso after strangling Marie to death and pretending to be a youkai to ward off potential witnesses who came because of a Scare Dare.
  • Asshole Victim
  • Beneath the Mask: He'd be a fairly likable guy if he weren't secretly a brutal, animalistic child molester.
  • Bishonen: Is said to be very popular with the girls. Well, except for Marie.
  • Blackmail: Kanamori always videotapes Marie while molesting her, and threatens to expose the tapes in order to keep her quiet.
  • Corrupt the Cutie: He actually started out as a Wide-Eyed Idealist before the unbearable stress of work and his unhealthy Lolicon fetish twisted him into what he is now.
  • Faux Affably Evil
  • Freak-Out: Does this a lot while trying to cover up his "supplementary lessons" with Marie.
  • Freudian Excuse
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: He dies because he broke all the rules regarding the legend of Mesomeso. Mainly, he wasn't supposed to respond to or even look at her, and should've just run away had he not assumed the test was to see who could become a better youkai instead of seeing who could be a better Mesomeso.
  • Hot Teacher: A Complete Monster of a teacher, but a Bishonen nonetheless.
  • Ignored Epiphany: There are numerous points in the story where he realizes what he's doing is immoral. But because he thinks a Complete Monster wouldn't realize that, he assures himself that he's far from being one himself.[2]
  • Psychopathic Manchild
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He lays one on Marie during the poll to see which one of them would become Mesomeso, telling her that she could've solved all her problems ages ago if she'd just grow a backbone and call the police. See Hoist by His Own Petard above for why it would've been better for him to just stay quiet.
  • Sadist Teacher
  • Smug Snake
  • Villain Protagonist: The "Mesomeso-san" chapter is as much his chapter as it is Marie's, since it's told from both their perspectives.
  • Villain with Good Publicity

Nurse

Exactly What It Says on the Tin. She is a friendly and good-natured young woman who works at the school infirmary, and is Higanbana's owner. She is quite knowledgeable on the topic of The Seven Mysteries of the school, and may in fact seem to know more about them than she lets on...

Takeshi Nonomiya

Takeshi is a photographer and member of the school's journalism club. He was once falsely accused of breaking school equipment by Yoko Numata and her friends; unable to prove his innocence, he became obsessed with finding "the truth" in the pictures he takes. He also harassed Yoko out of revenge by stalking her and sending her photos he took of her in secret, inadvertently causing her suicide. He is the main protagonist of "The Spirit Camera".

Yoko Numata

Yoko is a girl who accidentally broke some school equipment and blamed it on Takeshi to avoid getting in trouble. She committed suicide after Takeshi started stalking her, sending her harassing photos of her and getting her bullied by the whole school, dooming her to an eternity of torment as the youkai's plaything in Hell. Her ghost appears in "The Spirit Camera" as part of Higanbana's bid to eat Takeshi's soul, and again as the protagonist of "One Girl's Day".

  • Blinding Bangs: While in Hell as a ghost; she loses them once she makes peace with Takeshi.
  • Cheerful Child
  • Driven to Suicide
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Again, as a ghost.
  • Frame-Up: She accidentally knocked over a skeleton dummy and pinned the blame on Takeshi, who happened to be there at the time, to avoid getting in trouble.
  • Heel Realization: She didn't realize she hurt Takeshi's feelings until Higanbana brings her back from hell to take revenge.
  • It's All My Fault: She blames herself for the whole fiasco that led to her killing herself and thinks it better she just go back to Hell instead of hurting Takeshi even further.
  • Kill the Cutie
  • Pay Evil Unto Evil: Subverted. Higanbana brings her back from Hell to kill Takeshi for causing her suicide, but Yoko feels equally guilty when she finds out why he did it, so they forgive each other instead.
  • Posthumous Character

Midori Kusunoki

Midori is a wealthy student and member of the school drama club who was bullied by other students for flaunting her wealth. Ever since making a contract with the Black Tea Gentleman to get a role in a play she wanted to be in, she has gained popularity and become the most beloved student in her class. In reality, this is all part of an illusion fabricated by the Black Tea Gentleman, who granted her wish to have her literally switch places with another student she was jealous of. She is the main protagonist of "The Princess's Lie".

Michiru Sakurada

Michiru a girl with the ability to sense spirits. She is the main protagonist of "Shrine of the Guardian Deity" and "My Best Friend".

Hikaru Nihei

Hikaru is a very intelligent cram school student and member of the animal raising committee. He looks down on his more inept classmates, which ended up getting him bullied by them. He vents his frustrations by abusing the rabbits kept on the school grounds, which he is supposed to be caring for. He is the main protagonist of "Hameln's Castanets".

Yukari Sakaki

Yukari is a girl who comes from a poor, dysfunctional family, for which she is quite cruelly bullied. She is the main protagonist of "Utopia".

  • Big Screwed-Up Family: She's had some major issues with her life at home, particularly after the death of her mother. It's one of the reasons why she's bullied all the time.
  • Butt Monkey
  • Hime Cut
  • Just Ignore It: She strongly believes this at first when it comes to dealing with bullies. After Sumire makes things worse for her, however, she takes on a far more assertive role against bullying.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko

Aya Souma

Aya is a girl who lost the will to live, but continued to do so because she didn't want anything other than a peaceful, sleep-like death. After hearing the rumors of the 13 steps, she tests it out and accidentally steps on the 13th step, forcing her to participate in Izanami's game. She is the main protagonist of "The Thirteenth Step's Shinigami".

Yuki Noda

Yuki is a young boy who enjoys art and loves his art teacher, Shintani-sensei.

Nafumi Shintani

An art teacher who considers herself the queen of the art room. She particularly enjoys having her favorite young male students model for her, although art isn't all she wants them for...

Tomoko Okada

Michiru's best friend who ends up dying at the beginning of "My Best Friend" after slipping and hitting her head while on vacation with her family. Like Michiru, she loves occult stuff, but compared to her best friend, she leans more towards sci-fi.

Masaaki Yoshikawa

Shuichi Arimori

  1. ↑ Shared with Sakutaro from Umineko
  2. ↑ The omniscient narrator frequently points out that he is, in fact, a Complete Monster.
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