This is a list of fictional characters from the Katanagatari light novel/anime series.
Maniwa Ninja Corps Heads
A clan of ninja that are also looking for the Deviant Blades. The clan is split into four different groups based on the wildlife of their members: Bird Squad, Beast Squad, Fish Squad, and Insect Squad. Their animal name is reflected in their clothing and all members wear a chain somewhere on their uniform. Shichika and Nanami nicknamed the clan "Maniwani", thinking it made them sound cute. Both the clan and their village was destroyed by Hōō Maniwa who became possessed by the spirit of Kiki Shikizaki after he obtained the Deviant Blade Mekki.
No.
|
Name
|
Animal
|
Squad
|
Notes
|
1
|
Hōō Maniwa |
Phoenix |
Bird |
Leader of the Bird Squad and head of the Maniwani
|
2
|
Shirasagi Maniwa |
Heron |
Bird |
|
3
|
Oshidori Maniwa |
Duck |
Bird |
|
4
|
Kawauso Maniwa |
Otter |
Beast |
Leader of the Beast Squad
|
5
|
Komori Maniwa |
Bat |
Beast |
|
6
|
Kyōken Maniwa |
Wolf |
Beast |
|
7
|
Umigame Maniwa |
Sea Turtle |
Fish |
Leader of the Fish Squad
|
8
|
Kuizame Maniwa |
Fish |
Fish |
|
9
|
Pengin Maniwa |
Penguin |
Fish |
|
10
|
Kamakiri Maniwa |
Mantis |
Insect |
Leader of the Insect Squad
|
11
|
Chōchō Maniwa |
Butterfly |
Insect |
|
12
|
Mitsubachi Maniwa |
Bee |
Insect |
|
- Shirasagi Maniwa (真庭 白鷺, Maniwa Shirasagi)
- Voiced by: Wataru Hatano
- A member of the Bird Squad, not much is known about him except what has been heard of him. He speaks everything backwards. As his name suggests, he wears a white heron-like uniform. He is killed by Ginkaku before he has the chance to take any action.
- Nickname: Reverse-talk Shirasagi (逆さ喋りの白鷺, Sakasashaberi no Shirasagi)
- Ninpō: Gekirin Sagashi
- Oshidori Maniwa (真庭 鴛鴦, Maniwa Oshidori)
- Voiced by: Kaori Yamagata
- A member of the Bird Squad, she is first mentioned as the object of Chōchō's affection. As her name suggests, she wears a duck-like uniform. She fights Emonzaemon while letting her leader and Penguin flee. Her Ninpō proves to be a hassle for him as he cannot sneak up on her. But she's later gunned down by Jū, which were in Emonzaemon's possession at the time.
- Nickname: Rewind Oshidori (巻戻しの鴛鴦, Makimodoshi no Oshidori)
- Ninpō: Eigouben - This technique allows her to swing her whips freely, and control them with freedom, form either a defense mechanism, or offense.
- Kawauso Maniwa (真庭 川獺, Maniwa Kawauso)
- Voiced by: Shinji Kawada
- The leader of the Beast Squad, he is invaluable to the Maniwa Corps as he can ascertain the locations of the Deviant Blades. As his name suggests, he wears an otter-like uniform. He is willingly killed by Hōō in order to maintain the alliance between the Maniwa Corps and Togame.
- Nickname: Read Kawauso (読み調べの川獺, Yomishirabe no Kawauso)
- Ninpō: Kiroku Tadori - This technique is a form of psychometry that allows Kawauso to read the past of almost any inanimate object. However, he admits that his reading skills don't allow him to read other people's memories due to his shyness.
- Kyōken Maniwa (真庭 狂犬, Maniwa Kyōken)
- Voiced by: Michiko Neya
- A member of the Beast Squad, she despises Togame for the deaths of her fellow ninja and the mess they've caused within the Maniwa village. As her name suggests, she wears a wolf-like uniform. Hōō reveals that the current Kyōken is actually the spirit of the first Kyōken Maniwa that had died long ago. She is initially defeated by Konayuki, but she later takes over Konayuki, reads her memories, and uses her body to fight Shichika and Togame, stating that she has had over 2000 hosts in her lifetime, most of them being female ninja, and a vast amount of fighting experience. She is defeated by Shichika and loses control over Konayuki's body after he realizes that Kyōken's fighting experience is the reason he can now read the movements of Konayuki's body, in sharp contrast to Konayuki's amateur status.
- Nickname: Infest Kyōken (伝染の狂犬, Densen no Kyōken)
- Ninpō: Kyōken Hatsudou - This technique, secretive to the point that even the leader of the Beast Squad, Kawauso didn't know, allows Kyōken to take control, and read the memories of any host. Hōō reveals that the new host must be female.
- Umigame Maniwa (真庭 海亀, Maniwa Umigame)
- Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki
- The leader of the Fish Squad, as his name suggests, he wears a turtle-like uniform. He wields a rapier. He fights Emonzaemon and is killed.
- Nickname: Longevity Umigame (長寿の海亀, Chōju no Umigame)
- Kuizame Maniwa (真庭 喰鮫, Maniwa Kuizame)
- Voiced by: Tomohiro Tsuboi
- A member of the Fish Squad, he wields a pair of chains, a sword attached to each one. After overhearing Meisai asking Shichika about what the latter fought for, Kuizame admits proudly that he himself fights for money and nothing else. He is killed by Meisai after she bypasses his Ninpō. He is later revealed to have respected Kamakiri despite being practically a murderer in a ninja outfit, according to Chōchō.
- Nickname: Chain-bind Kuizame (鎖縛の喰鮫, Sabaku no Kuizame)
- Ninpō: Uzugatana - This technique allows Kuizame to swing his sword-tipped chains around him effortlessly.
- Pengin Maniwa (真庭 人鳥, Maniwa Pengin)
- Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi
- A member of the Fish Squad, he is the group's informant and its youngest head. As his name suggests, he wears a penguin-like uniform. A shy and soft-spoken boy, he stutters when trying to bring something up. He's later killed by Emonzaemon in pursuit of Shichika and Togame.
- Nickname: Propagate Pengin (増殖の人鳥, Zōshoku no Pengin)
- Ninpō: Fate Ruination - This increases the "luck" he has, to the extent of defying logical standards.
- Kamakiri Maniwa (真庭 蟷螂, Maniwa Kamakiri)
- Voiced by: Makoto Yasumura
- The leader of the Insect Squad, he is a serious highly experienced and feared warrior. As his name suggests, he wears a praying mantis-like uniform. He and the rest of the Insect Squad go to the island of the Yasuri family in order to kidnap Nanami and find out what happened to Kōmori. He acts not only as the leader, but also as an older brother and good friend for his Insect Squad comrades. While stalking Nanami, Kamakiri confesses to himself that if she weren't a target/enemy, Mitsubachi would probably fall for her. He is the first to attack Nanami in hopes of using her as a hostage/bargaining piece, but is quickly defeated. He is subsequently killed by Nanami shoving his own large nails, which she tore off his fingers, through his mouth after he refused to tell her any info about his fellow ninja.
- Nickname: Decapitate Kamakiri (首狩りの蟷螂, Kubikari no Kamakiri)
- Ninpō: Tsume Awase - This technique allows Kamakiri to lengthen and strengthen his nails into powerful claws.
- Chōchō Maniwa (真庭 蝶々, Maniwa Chōchō)
- Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi
- A member of the Insect Squad, he is a little hotheaded and quick to lose his patience especially when it comes to games, accusing others of cheating. As his name suggests, he wears a butterfly-like uniform. Chōchō admires Kamakiri as a great leader and considers both Kamakiri and Mitsubachi as very good friends. He was a heavy smoker and gave up smoking for the sake of Oshidori, who he is going to marry at some point, but he is killed before he could confess his love for her. He is the second person who fights Nanami after Kamakiri, using his Ninpō both to gain the advantage and to experience the thrill of fighting that the respective founders of both his and Nanami's styles had experienced long ago, but is killed by her after she copied his Ninpō, used both his and Kamakiri's Ninpōs against him, pinned him to the ground, and broke his neck. In the light novel he was originally called Maniwa Tefutefu, the kanjis used for his name can be pronounced either way.
- Nickname: Weightless Chōchō (無重の蝶々, Mujū no Chōchō)
- Ninpō: Ashigaru - This technique allows Chōchō to make his body weightless, thus increasing his speed and rendering him unhittable. He can also use it to skate on water even with the additional weight of both Kamakiri and Mitsubachi on his shoulders.
- Mitsubachi Maniwa (真庭 蜜蜂, Maniwa Mitsubachi)
- Voiced by: Hiroaki Miura
- A member of the Insect Squad, he is the most gentle, fair, and calm of its three members, preferring to avoid conflicts with his friends. As his name suggests, he wears a honey bee-like uniform. Besides being the tallest of the squad, he is also the youngest among them and is the only member among them that carries and uses man-made weapons. After witnessing Nanami killing Chōchō, Mitsubachi is the third person who fights Nanami, attacking her from behind and at a distance using his Ninpō in order to weaken and subsequently capture her or finish her off. His own Ninpō is also used against him after he realized too late that her body can survive from non-lethal poison, and he allowed her to see, then copy his Ninpō. By using Ashigaru and Tsume Awase, she was able to dig out the caltrops and quickly attack him. He asks her to kill him with his own sword so that he wouldn't die in shame by the poison she found in Kamakiri's molar and used in her counterattack, and bury his corpse alongside his fellow ninja, both of which she fulfills.
- Nickname: Thorn Mitsubachi (棘々の蜜蜂, Togetoge no Mitsubachi)
- Ninpō: Makibishi Shidan - This technique allows him to launch small caltrops that are hook-tipped to make pulling them out impossible and poison-tipped to immobilize his enemy so that he can get in close and kill them with his katana.
Yanari Shogunate Retainers
A group of eleven individuals under direct command of the Yanari Shogun who joined Emonzaemon forming a gauntlet to prevent Shichika from reaching the Shogun himself, each armed with one of the twelve deviant blades.
- Hannyamaru (般若丸, Hannyamaru)
- Voiced by: Shōgo Matsui
- The first retainer encountered by Shichika. He is a strangely keen-eyed man, who wears his bangs tied up, and has a mask representing something of demonic mouth. He wields Zettō Kanna.
- Furachi Oniyadori (鬼宿 不埒, Oniyadori Furachi)
- Voiced by: Hirokazu Miyahara
- The second retainer encountered on the ascent, he is a bald man with triangular patterns tattooed to his jaw. He holds his hand up in a form of prayer. He wields Zantō Namakura.
- Akatsuki Tomoe (巴 暁, Tomoe Akatsuki)
- Voiced by: Miwako Suguro
- The third retainer, a girl with tied up black hair and an eye-patch. By stabbing all of Sentō Tsurugi's blades onto the floor, she illuminated the entire room. However, she is defeated by Shichika using the same technique he used on Tsuruga Meisai.
- Matsuaki Fugi (浮義 待秋, Fugi Matsuaki)
- Voiced by: Kenzi Takahashi
- Fourth retainer, he was a rival to Hakuhei Sabi, and had always failed to surpass him. A man who with white pulled back hair and large, red eyes, resembles a Kabuki actor. He wields Hakutō Hari and is rather arrogant thinking he can surpass Shichika, for killing Hakuhei Sabi. He is defeated due to Hakutō Hari's flaw of being easily breakable when not swung at a perfect arc.
- Kairo Iga (伊賀 甲斐路, Iga Kairo)
- Voiced by: Hiroo Sasaki
- The fifth retainer. A former ninja from the same group as Emonzaemon who used a muscle ninjutsu to wield Zokutō Yoroi. He was defeated by being lifted off the ground, and hit again, to destroy him and his armor, by Shichika.
- Bōfura Maniwa (真庭 孑々, Maniwa Bōfura)
- Voiced by: Takuya Eguchi
- Sixth retainer. His ancestors defected from the Maniwa Ninja Corps 200 years ago. He uses a variant of Ashigaru that allows him to negate the weight of Kanazuchi thus enabling him to spin it around his finger freely. This also negates the strength of Kanazuchi, however, allowing Shichika to block its swings with ease.
- Uron (胡乱, Uron)
- Voiced by: Taira Kikumoto
- Seventh retainer. A man who wears western glasses. He claims to have become immortal because Akutō Bita was combined with his perfect health, but is easily defeated by Shichika who dealt enough blows to kill him 272 times within 5 seconds, in a similar fashion as his sister Nanami.
- Ō Haiga (灰賀 欧, Haiga Ō)
- Voiced by: Yūko Gibu
- Eighth retainer. A tall woman who has long greenish-black hair and uses a claw for a weapon. She claims to be able to unleash the full power of Biyorigō, but dies due to her blocking Biyorigō's path when they attacked Shichika at the same time.
- Kokubo Sumigaoka (墨ヶ丘 黒母, Sumigaoka Kokubo)
- Voiced by: Masato Kokubun
- Ninth retainer. A man with a stern look on his face. He was commonly known as the Owari Savage. He explained the pointlessness of war to Shichika and tried to persuade him to retreat, but Shichika found his words meaningless and defeats him without hesitation. He wields Outō Nokogiri.
- Kōsha Saraba (皿場 工舎, Saraba Kōsha)
- Voiced by: Saori Hayami
- Tenth retainer. A small girl with a look of depression, she admits her sword - Seitō Hakari - is useless, and Shichika suggests to throw it at him, which he deflects, knocking her out and making her the only retainer who survived his assault.
- Bangai Rogiri (呂桐 番外, Rogiri Bangai)
- Voiced by: Hayato Nakata
- The eleventh retainer. He was a man who lost all ego, and was consumed by the poison of Mekki. A well-built man with long red hair bound into a ponytail and grey skin. He is killed by Shichika with a single strike.