Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
In days of old, people feared youkai...

Nurarihyon no Mago, meaning Grandson of Nurarihyon, is a manga and anime series about a boy named Rikuo who is one quarter Youkai. Rikuo is constantly pressured into taking over the Nura youkai clan by his grandfather, the Nurarihyon, but he strongly disapproves of what the clan does, so he refuses. At night, Rikuo has to ability to transform into a full youkai, and a very powerful one at that, though he does not retain any memories of when he transforms.

At first the series is an Monster of the Week series dealing with the boy trying to live a normal life, and keeping the truth about himself and his family from getting out to his normal school friends. His friends include Kana, his Love Interest who is afraid of youkai, and Kiyotsugu, the class president who is a wannabe demonologist and major fanboy of Rikuo's youkai side. He often has to handle threats to his friends and school, and deal with occasional assassination attempts by yokai who want to take over his clan. The cast is rounded out by the yokai retainers who live in his family's mansion and his own personal bodyguards.

Shortly, however, the series undergoes a significant change, as Rikuo admits to knowing about his demon side, quits trying to be normal, and decides to work at becoming the successor. From this point on the plot gets much more interesting and the action far better as he and his followers deal with various threats to the Nura clan.

The 24-episode first season of the anime has completed its run in Japan and available to watch on Hulu under the title Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan.

A second season aired during the summer of 2011.

Tropes used in Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan include:
  • Absurdly Youthful Mother: Rikuo's mother is said in the debut one shot of the series to be 30, which can be assumed to be true in the main series, since nothing has contradicted it, yet she doesn't look like it.
  • Accidental Pervert: Kurotabou accidentally gropes one Rikuo's schoolmates on a train and nearly gets arrested for it, thankfully she believes him.
  • An Ice Person: Every Yuki Onna
  • All Your Powers Combined: Rikuo's newest ability, which seems to also have been used by his father Rihan
    • It's based on the fact than a yokai can possess a human. Rihan/Rikuo allows his follower to possess his human nature and they allow him to stay in the driver's seat, which is possible because of his yokai nature. So basically it's a beneficial possession. It really does require a HUGE amount of trust on both parts of the equation. It remains to be seen if this is a power available to anybody with sufficient amounts of both human and yokai heritage. The white snake girl from the tales of the school story, for instance.
  • Aloof Big Brother: Ryuji, Yura's older brother, who has slightly more affection for her than Neji did towards Hinata.
  • Art Shift: The art changes into Sumi-e style whenever a yokai reveals a power.
  • Asskicking Equals Authority: This applies to anyone who is the Master of All Spirits.
  • Back from the Dead: Abe no Seimei AKA the Nue; Harogomo Gitsune's current form was Rihan's resurected first wife, an ayakashi who couldn't bear him children. She's dead now, but her nakama is confidant that they'll be able to revive her. She's back as of chapter 200.
  • Back-to-Back Badasses: Kejouro and Kubinashi in chapter 102
  • Badass: Name any Keikain. Name any youkai.
  • Badass Army: The Nura Clan.
  • Badass Grandpa: Nurarihyon, period.
  • Bash Brothers: Nura Clan's two Strike Team officers, Aotabou and Kurotabou. The bashing even carries over into their late-night bar hops.
  • Battle Couple: Kubinashi and Kejouro and they were like that even before they joined Nura Clan.
  • Berserk Button: If you harm one of Rikuo's attendants you're done for. Even if he is in his peace-loving day form he'll go medieval on you.
  • Big Bad: Formerly Harogomo Gitsune, and now her child, the Nue AKA her son Abe no Seimei, whose first act after being reborn is dropping her into hell.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Kurotabou is, quite literally, made for this trope, having saved not a few human, onmyouji, and youkai asses just when they needed help most.
    • Although his desperation saves, arguably, aren't as dramatic as Kurotabou's, Kubinashi has some fine moments as well.
  • Bishonen: Night Rikuo, Young Nurarihyon, Rihan, Kubinashi, Kurotabou, Kuromaru, Tosakamaru, Keikain Mamiru, Shoukera, Yanagida and revived Seimei.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Aotabou
  • Body Horror: Anything to do with Sanmoto Gorōzaemon , who is freaking huge and ugly and fat even as a normal human, and when he transform into a yokai, his flesh MELTED AND SPLIT INTO A HUNDRED PARTS, which in turn become grotesque Yokai themselves.
    • Minagoroshi Jizou, can possess and control others by going into them and taking the shape of a small eyeball in the back of the body. When Minagoroshi Jizou left Akifusa's body, the small eyeball in the back of Akifusa's body burst out and became Minagoroshi Jizou's head. Now, considering Minagoroshi Jizou is the left eye of Sanmoto...
  • Blood Brothers: Rikuo and Zen.
  • Blood Knight: Tsuchigumo.
  • Bullying a Dragon: In the latest chapters, the people are really pushing Rikuo despite knowing the fact that he could easily kill them all (if he was evil, instead of trying to save them).
  • Calling Your Attacks: Used straight by just about everyone who does any fighting, but actually subverted by Ryuuji, who uses a different name for his shikigami and his attacks, in order to fool his opponent.
  • The Cavalry: The arrival of Nura Clan to Kyoto. Before, the Onmyouji of the Keikain Clan was on the verge of collapse.
  • Cheated Angle: In at least the anime, Night Rikuo's hair is visible in full from any angle.
  • Cherry Blossoms: The mansion's cherry blossom tree is Night Rikuo's favorite haunt.
  • Cool Airship: The Nura clan has a fleet of demonic air ships.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Tamazuki has an awful, literal case of this, discarding allies and subordinates without a second thought once he feels he has no more use for them.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Both Nura clan Yuki-Onna are a mild example of this. The one in the past with Rikuo's Badass Grandpa, Setsura, wasn't exactly thrilled when Nurarihyon decided to marry Rikuo's grandmother, and the one in the present, Tsurara, sees Rikuo's childhood friend Kana as some sort of rival, contemplating freezing her occasionally.
  • Creepy Child: Hagoromo Gitsune current incarnation apparently killed Rikuo's father, when she was around six years old, Rikuo stumbled across her covered in his blood.
    • And one of her subordinates is another one of these.
    • Does it count if the "child" was a grown man who decided to go back into his mother's womb to become immortal? 'Cause that's what the nue is.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: The Nue, AKA Abe no Seimei, delivers one to Tsuchigumo. This was foreshadowed by Tsuchigumo, who couldn't wait to battle the first thing in ages that could possibly beat him.
    • Tsuchi-Gumo. Just... Tsuchi-Gumo.
  • Dancing Theme
  • Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Yaso branch Demonic Possession Technique that Akifusa Keikain uses against Hagoromo Gitsune.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: To make up for lacking the talent with shikigami his sister has, Ryuji has developed a rare power. He lies, constantly, while fighting. He lies about where his attacks are coming from, what the limits on his powers are, and even the name of one of his shikigami.
    • And now we have the Hundred Tales Clan, who, having decided that they can't beat the Nura clan in a straight fight, decide to undercut them by taking aim straight at the Masquerade, outing Rikuo as a Yokai to the humans and actually forcing him to transform in public, in front of his childhood friend for that matter.
  • Dangerous Thirteenth Birthday: It's not only the age of adulthood in the youkai world, but Kana was cursed by the Purple Mirror to die at that age.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Gyuuki is this, twice. Rikuo's grandfather beat him and made him his friend centuries earlier, then Rikuo does the same when he and Gyuuki end up fighting.
    • Kurotabou. At first tasked to assassinate Rihan, Kurotabou learns he has been brainwashed by Sanmoto Gorozaemon and joins the Nura Clan after helping Rihan dispose of Sanmoto and his former group, the Hyakku Monogatari.
  • Delinquents: Aotabou falls ass backwards into becoming the leader of a Japanese delinquent biker gang.
  • Ditch the Bodyguards: Rihan apparently does this a lot. Enough that it drives Kubinashi to swear.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything??: After Rikuo uses his new Matoi ability with Tsurara, allowing them to combine their attacks, other characters talk about using it with him, and the conversation makes it seem like they all want to sleep with him. This comes complete with Tsurara becoming angry that Rikuo has already used Matoi with other people and refusing to do it with him again when he asks.
    • Also, after he uses the Matoi ability, when he asks Itaku to use the Matoi ability with him, the dialogue sounds like he wants him to sleep with him.

Rikuo: Itaku, you're amazing. I want you, Itaku.
Itaku: ....huh? Rikuo: * clarifies*

    • In chapter 158, Rihan explains how the Matoi works and makes an...interesting observation on Kurotabou. May overlap with Foe Yay

Rihan: Ho...So in addition to your habit of swinging them around when you think the person is an enemy, your weapons actually shrink when you feel pressurized!
Kuro: Will you stop it! And you're drinking already?!

  • Dragon with an Agenda: Minagoroshi Jizou to Hagoromo Kitsune and the Kyoto youkai, assisting their efforts to successfully reincarnate the Nue/Abe No Seimei in order to give him Maou's Hammer in accordance with Sanmoto Gorouzaemon's deal with him, for the purpose of furthering the plans of the Hundred Tales clan.
  • Driven to Suicide: Implied with Rihan first wife, Yamabuki Otome who couldn't bear his children due to Gitsune's curse. When her memory returns after the Kyoto battle, she tells Rikuo that he's the son they should've had.
  • Dungeon Bypass: Chapter 170 Torii and Maki display Genre Savvy by hiding with a group of girls in a place where Mook Youkai can't enter without permission. So, the one making the Youkai simply turns the walls and windows into Youkai, bypassing the permission thing.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: The anime seems to be putting great effort into having Gyuuki appear every other minute.
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: Nurarihyon, Rihan, Night Rikuo and Zen. Oh boy... All four are good looking and have been shown shirtless at one point
  • Evil Weapon: Maou's Hammer. It absorbs the spirits of those it kills and transforms them into power for its wielder. The more it kills, the more it looks like a living thing. It was originally Sanmoto's heart.
  • Filler: The anime is extending the Shikoku arc using more encounters with the enemy.
  • Fetus Terrible: The Nue, AKA Abe no Seimei seems to be one of these, he makes his mother, the Big Bad of the arc, seem harmless.
  • Fighting Game: An adaptation is in the works by Arc System Works.
  • Five-Man Band
    • The Hero: Nura Rikuo
    • The Lancer: Kurotabou, and not just because he can release hundreds of weapons in one go (in recent arcs he has taken over the role of Nura Clan's primary strategist from Karasu Tengu).
    • The Big Guy: Aotabou, who else?
    • The Smart Guy: Kubinashi, although a somewhat hot-headed version of the trope. Zen can also be considered as The Medic alternate (when healthy anyway).
    • The Chick: Tsurara
    • Tagalong Kid: Kappa
  • Foe Yay: Just look at the color spread of chapter 115.
  • Foil: Arguably, Kubinashi and Itaku, especially with regards to how they look at and treat Rikuo. Kubinashi also appears gentle but he has a dangerously murderous side, while Itaku is brusque and rough, and the gentleness is buried very deep.
  • Friendly Enemy: The Nurarihyon and Hidemoto of the Onmyouji.
  • Friend to All Children: Aotabou and Kurotabou.
  • Fusion Dance: Matoi, Rihan's and Rikuo's ability as a half-youkai, which allows him to clothe himself with the "fear" of his subordinates to increase his power, also gaining some of their techniques.
  • Gender Bender: Awashima is a woman at night and a man by day. Sees him-/herself mainly as man.
  • Generation Xerox: Happens a lot. The Kyoto arc itself is a plot Xerox.
    • It's even happened with the Kiyo Cross Squad!
  • Godiva Hair: The reborn Abe no Seimei.
  • Goggles Do Nothing: Rikuo has excellent eyesight and wears his glasses to better establish his diligent human persona, not because he needs them.
  • Gotta Catch Em All / Dismantled MacGuffin: Maybe: Minagososhi Jizou is just one of a hundred scattered body parts of a legendary evil youkai, specifically one of his eyes - er, make that was.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Rihan (half-youkai, half-human) and Rikuo (1/4th youkai).
  • Hammerspace: A dramatic variant, where does Rikuo keep that sake bowl?
    • And where the hell does Kurotabou store all that weapons?
  • Happily Married: Nurarihyon and Youhime, especially evident in omake chapters and novels.
  • Heel Face Turn: Kurotabou was once a leader of the Hundred Tales Clan.
  • Heterosexual Life Partner: Gozumaru and Mezumaru, who is always seen together
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: If you got the Drama CD, you will find that Rikuo become a sudden Large Ham whenever he's in his night mode, while Kana seems to be perky enough to form another afterschool club
  • Hot Dad: Nurarihyon and his son Rihan were both this. It runs in the family I must say.
  • Hot Mom: Rikuo's mom is pretty hot. Also, Hagoromo-Gitsune.
    • Youhime was renowned as the most beautiful woman in all of Kyoto.
    • Tsurara's mother, Setsura.
  • Hot Teacher: During the Hundred Tales arc, Yamabuki-Otome could arguably qualify as this.

Rihan: Exchange sakazuki with me... and then, I will "wear" you.
Kurotabou: Wear... me?

  • Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad: Both Rihan and Rikuo's parents .
  • Identical Grandson: Demon Rikuo looks almost exactly like his grandfather the Nurarihyon did when he was young. Likewise, Tsurara is the splitting image of her ancestor, Setsura.
  • Idiot Hero: Averted, Rikuo is something of a proto Magnificent Bastard. He uses his cunning as his main weapon while in human form. The conference to determine the Nura clan successor, where Rikuo manipulates his main opponent into embarrassing himself, is a particularly good example.
  • I Was Quite a Looker: The last 400 years weren't very kind on Nurarihyon
  • The Jimmy Hart Version: Portions of the background music seem directly ripped from the Harry Potter theme...
  • Knight Templar : Some of the Onmyouji.
    • The humans who attack Rikuo thinking that killing him will save the world.
  • Let's Get Dangerous: Yura, chapter 118.
  • Lineage Comes From the Father: Nurarihyon's line.
  • Little Miss Badass: The Hagoromo Gitsune was one. See Creepy Child entry above.
  • Loads and Loads of Characters: Rikuo, his family, the youkai of his family, his classmates, the villainous clans, the Onmyouji, the Toono youkai...
  • Mad Artist / Art Imitates Life: Speciality of a member of the rival Hundred Tales Clan.
  • Marshmallow Hell: Encountered by Shima-kun while searching in the dark for a youkai.
    • And while peeking at Tsurara sleeping. Though he seems much more interested in Tsurara than the boobs he is squished against at that moment.
  • Mayfly-December Romance: Nurarihyon who is a youkai married Youhime, a human (albeit one who possessed healing powers). 400 years later Nurarihyon is still alive while Youhime have died, although it isn't revealed yet how.
  • Multicolored Hair: All over the place.
  • Nakama: The Kiyo Cross Squad and Rikuo's bodyguards make up Rikuo's. Some of the Tanuki's underling thought they were this to the Tanuki, they were wrong.
  • Nigh Invulnerability: Rikuo's current ultimate power is to invert his normal invisibility and activate the Made of Air variant of this, opting for being totally visible, but untouchable. HE can cut or burn his enemies though.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Rikuo is attacked by a Kamen Rider, an Army of Two, and a Bullet Witch.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Tsuchigumo is implied to deliver one during chapter 96. In a later chapter, he is likened to earthquakes, typhoons and plagues, saying that "you have no choice but to wait until he passes by".
  • Official Couple: Nurarihyon and Youhime
  • Older Than They Look: Youkai generally don't look their age, since their lifespan is much longer than a human's, anyway, so they age differently from humans. In the case of Rikuo's grandfather, it's more like there is no way to show that he way over 400 years old (and if we assume he was a fully grown-up youkai by the time he met Rikuo's grandmother, this trope applies to him back then already). Rikuo's father didn't look like a four hundred years old half-youkai, either. Rikuo's mother is a human example, looking younger than her 30 years.
  • Ordinary High School Student: Kana and all of the members of the school occult society save for Yura.
  • Out of Focus: Advice to new readers: don't get attached to Kiyo Cross Squad. After the series Grows The Beard they quickly start to lose importance until in the last two arcs they show up three panels once in 40 chapters at best and even then don't do or say anything important. Then comes the 100 Tales arc and the Tag game during the night where they come back into focus and seek to help Rikuo.
  • Peek-a-Bangs: Kejouro
    • Also the Gyuuki clan: Gyuuki, Gozumaru, and Mezumaru.
  • Playing Drunk: Rihan, once, during the Hundred Tales arc.
  • Playing with Fire: One of Rikuo's techniques is to ignite a bowl of sacred sake, and breathe lightly into it, causing fire to go everywhere. As long there are ripples in the bowl the fire will keep burning.
  • Posthumous Character: Rihan. He is dead by the time the series start, yet he is an important point in the plot.
  • Pregnant Badass: Hagoromo-Gitsune, arguably.
  • Prehensile Hair:This seems to be Kejouro's main power.
    • Kagibari-Onna too.
  • Relationship Voice Actor: Lelouch, Suzaku, and Diethard are all on the same side this time around.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Hagoromo Gitsune and most Youkai who isn't Rikuo.
  • Reincarnation: Hagoromo Gitsune reincarnates many times in order to make her son immortal.
  • Rule 34: Hits Tsurara pretty hard. If there are smutty fanarts all over Pixiv about her, it's out of question there is NO porn somewhere.
  • Sacred Hospitality: The capacity in which sworn enemies visit your home is important to the Yakuza-esque yokai clans.

"Wait. This time...they are guests."

I will fill this world with something pure. Pure black, like these black eyes, this black hair, and black clothes...

  • Sealed Evil in a Can: When Hagoromo Gitsune the seals in Kyoto, she manages to uncover many yokai that were imprisoned by them, who then join her army. She's a can herself, considering she contains a nue. Also somewhat inverted with Karasu-tengu in Chapter 154.
  • Ship Tease: Rikuo and Tsurara has a few of them, but chapter 136 in particular is really strong, Rikuo appears to pick her up while it was snowing and share an umbrella together
  • Shirtless Scene: Young Nurarihyon is naked from the torso up while fighting against Hagoromo Gitsune. Rikuo also does this in his fight against Tsuchigumo
  • Stalker with a Crush: Sort of. Rikuo's grandfather did watch Rikuo's grandmother for a while from the shadows, eventually falling for her and deciding to marry her despite her being human and him being a youkai. And theoretically Tsurara, but she follows him because she is Rikuo's bodyguard, so it's more a case of Subordinate Excuse.
  • Snakes Are Sexy: Averted with Hebidayu's human-like form.
  • Storming the Castle: Rikuo and the Nura clan marches on Nijou Castle in chapter 117.
  • Subordinate Excuse / Bodyguard Crush: Tsurara suffers a bad case of this.
  • Super-Powered Evil Side: Subverted. Demon Rikuo is simply a bit more Hot-Blooded and more mature than Human Rikuo.
  • Take Me Instead!: Torii offers herself to save her friend Saori from being turned into a youkai. However, her plan backfires when the bad guy tells her that she will be the one who will devour Saori.
  • Talking to Himself: With Rikuo's human form and youkai form at the beginning of episode Two of the anime
  • Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: The modern incarnation of Hagoromo Gitsune is this, to the point that she is drawn monochrome black and white even on color pages.
  • Tall, Dark and Handsome: Nura Rihan and Kurotabou.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Humans. Even when heads start flying, they still have no sense of self preservation. The ones in chapter 162 also have no qualms about video taping and mocking what they think (and are correct in thinking) is a youkai, but that's more What an Idiot!. Not to mention the Kikyo Cross Squad. After seeing all the death and destruction youkai can cause and nearly dying more than once, they're still chasing after youkai.
    • In the case of the Kikyo Paranormal Patrol, it seems to be mostly the club president that suffers from this with the others more or less following for either for the fun stuff that goes on when they're just humoring him, or when they're trying to keep him from getting killed.
  • Theme Naming: Rihan and Rikuo are half and one quarter youkai respectively.[1]
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Kurotabou unleashes the full 200 weapons of Anki Kuroenbu on tiny Sodemogi-sama during his rescue of Kokehime to the point you can hardly find him in the mass of spears, swords, chains, and other projectiles.
  • Transhuman Treachery: Akifusa of the Onmyouji seems to be on the side of the youkai, but it turns out a yokai was controlling his mind.
  • Trickster Archetype: Rikuo, his grandpa and many youkai fit this. Naturally.
  • Undying Loyalty: A common trait of several characters, both heroes and villains. Just take a look at the character page.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: The first thing Abe no Seimei does after being reborn is toss his mother, who has endured countless reincarnations, into hell. Apparently becoming leader of all the Youkai in Japan requires you to be just that evil.
    • The humans that Rikuo saves in chapter 162.
  • The Unmasqued World: Barring someone with mass amnesia powers or a really, really good cover story this is what's happened after an oracle-creature predicts that Rikuo will destroy the world.
  • Urban Legend: The Hundred Tales Clan, who increases their number by reviving or creating urban legends with the help of a guy who can make living paintings.
  • Voluntary Shapeshifting: Rikuo is the obvious example, shifting back and forth between his human and demon forms (though he can only maintain his demon from for one quarter of the day and only outside of sunlight). But the other demons are able to assume human form to go out in society. We mainly see Rikuo's bodyguards, with Yuki Onna being a girl in his class, Aotabou being a local delinquent, Kurotabou being a business man and Kappa being another student.
  • Weirdness Censor: The Nurarihyon's main power. He has this as a constant power around himself, allowing him to walk around in his demonic form and have everyone simply assume he's a normal old man. Even exorcists. He and Demon Rikuo can ramp it up to create functional invisibility, for use in combat, stealing, and dine and dashes.
  • What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Nurarihyon is described as "A yokai that sits in someones house and drinks their tea," which sounds pretty lame when you first think about it. Essentially this is the ability to enter and leave without being noticed. But since it ends up being a kind of invisibility, it turns out that Heart Is an Awesome Power.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Night Rikuo, Young Nurarihyon and revived Seimei.
    • Also Akifusa Keikain and Shoukera
  • White Sheep: Nura Rikuo
  • Who You Gonna Call?: The Onmyouji, exorcists who protect Japan from youkai.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Rikuo's mother unexpectedly shoots Tamasaburo, to the surprise of the other Nura clan members. When they ask why she even has a gun, she responds that she's a yakuza's wife, after all.
  • You Can't Thwart Stage One: Rikuo and his Nakama arrive too late to prevent Nue's birth.
    • Rikuo failed to stop the Hundred Tales plan for revenge's first part by being outed as one and now will be hunted by crazy humans.
  • You Killed My Father: Hagoromo Gitsune killed Rikuo's father. Now Rikuo is in town. This isn't going to end well for her.
    • But then in the latest chapter, she seemed kinda surprised when Rikuo confronts her about killing his father. And then this page shows up.
    • And now there's this...
    • Not Me This Time: In chapter 133 of the manga it's revealed that Hagoromo Gitsune took over Yamabuki Otome's body right after she had killed Rihan, not before. In Yamabuki Otome's defense, she was brainwashed into doing so.
    • Subverted in an earlier arc involving a minor character.
  • Yakuza: Most of the youkai clans are basically yakuza, complete with symbols.
    • The Nura clan tends to lean more heavily toward a samurai clan at times, but that's probably because they're the heroes.
    • Rikuo's Mother even lampshades this when she pulls out a gun and shoots a youkai trying to assassinate her she says she pulled it out of her bosom because shes' a Yakuza wife and shes' always wanted to do that.
  • Youkai: Quite a number of the cast are youkai of all kinds; the series is about them and generally a universe where youkai are more or less well hidden from the humans.
  1. ↑ for those confused han is Japanese for half.
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