Corpse Princess - TV Tropes (2024)

Makina Hoshimura

Voiced by: Nana Akiyama (Japanese), Luci Christian (English)

Makina is the main protagonist and titular "living corpse".

• Everyone Can See It: Makina and Ouri's feelings for each other. Saki, Itsuki, Takamasa, and Fleshe all either allude to it or point it out outright several times.
• Guns Akimbo: Makina and several other Shakabane Hime wield their guns this way.
• Healing Factor: After Keisei's death, due to the curse she acquires because of her attachment to him.
• Hime Cut: Level bangs, sidelocks, and long in the back.
• In My Language, That Sounds Like...: 'Makina' means 'machine' in Filipino. Oddly fitting, since the girl's a frickin terminator when she's pissed off.
• Love Triangle: A rather complicated one, with both romantic and platonic elements. Makina definitely has some romantic feelings for Keisei, but he loves her in a strictly platonic sense, more as a little sister (which makes sense, since he was adopted by her family). Ouri and Keisei of course have a strong mutual bond as brothers, and Ouri shows some signs of a romantic attraction to Makina, particularly later in the series.
• Maybe Ever After: Despite the cliffhanger ending, the last dialogue between Ouri and Makina before the cliffhanger scene implies this:

  Ouri: Brother once told me that we're not here for the dead. A monk's duty is to lessen the pain for those who the dead leave behind. I know I'm still new at this, but I can help you. So please, let me.

  Makina: Monks aren't here for the dead.

  Ouri: You're not dead. That's why you fight, isn't it? To stay alive. That's not something a dead person does.

• More Dakka: Prefers MAC-11 machine pistols.
• Shoo the Dog: Makina attempts to not get Ouri involved in her missions at first.
• The Undead: She's a "living corpse".
• Vapor Wear: Though it is confirmed late in the series that Makina does wear a bra, we never see any sign of panties. If she does wear anything under that skirt, it has to be a thong.

Ouri Kagami

Voiced by: Tatsuya Hasome (Japanese), Aaron Dismuke (English)

A normal high school boy who was raised at Keisei Tagami's temple.

• And Then John Was a Zombie: To be more exact, a son of a zombie.
• Blood Oath: Ouri and Keisei become some sort of this, because to contract a Shikabane, the Contractor must have his own blood written in his palm by his Shikabane. This contract is transferable. Before Keisei died, he transferred the glowing red seal of Makina to Ouri.
• Dangerous 16th Birthday: Ouri's 16th birthday is when he has to take over for Keisei after the latter's death.
• Everyone Can See It: Makina and Ouri's feelings for each other. Saki, Itsuki, Takamasa, and Fleshe all either allude to it or point it out outright several times.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Ouri is revealed in Kuro to have been born when a heavily pregnant woman was killed by a hit and run accident, but her obsession/regret over having never held her child allowed her to come back as a Shikabane, the child surviving in her womb and being born as Ouri. Several characters wonder if this makes him human, Shikabane, or something else entirely — including Ouri himself.
• Happily Adopted: He was found and adopted by Keisei.
• Love Triangle: A rather complicated one, with both romantic and platonic elements. Makina definitely has some romantic feelings for Keisei, but he loves her in a strictly platonic sense, more as a little sister (which makes sense, since he was adopted by her family). Ouri and Keisei of course have a strong mutual bond as brothers, and Ouri shows some signs of a romantic attraction to Makina, particularly later in the series.
• Maybe Ever After: Despite the cliffhanger ending, the last dialogue between Ouri and Makina before the cliffhanger scene implies this:

  Ouri: Brother once told me that we're not here for the dead. A monk's duty is to lessen the pain for those who the dead leave behind. I know I'm still new at this, but I can help you. So please, let me.

  Makina: Monks aren't here for the dead.

  Ouri: You're not dead. That's why you fight, isn't it? To stay alive. That's not something a dead person does.

• Nice Guy: He's cordial towards anyone and is loyal to Makina and Keisei.
• Parental Abandonment: He's an orphan.

Keisei Tagami

Keisei Tagami was a Buddhist priest under the anti-corpse organization known as the Kōugon Sect.

• Blood Oath: Ouri and Keisei become some sort of this, because to contract a Shikabane, the Contractor must have his own blood written in his palm by his Shikabane. This contract is transferable. Before Keisei died, he transferred the glowing red seal of Makina to Ouri.
• Dirty Old Monk: He can be seen offering (or forcing upon) Ouri sexual posters or skin mags.
• Love Triangle: A rather complicated one, with both romantic and platonic elements. Makina definitely has some romantic feelings for Keisei, but he loves her in a strictly platonic sense, more as a little sister (which makes sense, since he was adopted by her family). Ouri and Keisei of course have a strong mutual bond as brothers, and Ouri shows some signs of a romantic attraction to Makina, particularly later in the series.

• Good Shepherd: The monks are the ones contracting Shakabane Hime and fighting shakabane, thus keeping the public at large safe from the later.

Rika Aragami

Rika Aragami is the only female Contracted Monk.

• Author Appeal: Check out how she looks in the manga compared to the anime.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the lone female Contracted Monk.

Takamasa Sogi

The Contracted Monk of Itsuki Yamagami.

• The Stoic: After his inability to kill his buddy-turned-shikabane caused the death of a lot of people.

Sadahiro Mibu

The Contracted Monk of Akira Tōoka.

• Oral Fixation: Is usually seen with a toothpick in his mouth.

Shuji Isaki

The Contracted Monk of Minai Ruo.

• Ambiguously Evil: While a relentless Mean Boss towards Minai with a Lack of Empathy and looking out for himself to gain a promotion, he's not really a Sinister Minister nor truly corrupt and does have some Pet the Dog moments with Minai out of the goodness of his very Hidden Heart of Gold, making his character ambiguous and was killed before his Character Development would advance further and confirm his character as either a Good Is Not Nice Jerk with a Heart of Gold or some Hate Sink.
• Anti-Hero: He's one of the monks fighting the rogue shikabane, but is looking out for himself to be number one and seemingly lacks compassion towards anyone including Minai.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: He flips out when Minai is with other men, to Entitled to Have You levels.
• Good Is Not Nice: He's unpleasant in general despite fighting an evil force.
• It's All About Me: He ambitiously looks out for being number one, seeking a promotion amongst the sect.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his surly nature with a Lack of Empathy, he has a Hidden Heart of Gold and does care for Minai despite treating her like a tool (unless the latter is viewed as either Tough Love or just heat of moments in battle).
• Lack of Empathy: He seemingly does not care about others, especially Minai, who he treats like a tool (unless it's viewed as some kind of Tsundere Tough Love following the revelation of his Hidden Heart of Gold in the OVA).
• Nominal Hero: He mostly looks out for himself and treats Minai like a tool, but is still part of a sect battling an evil force.
• Pet the Dog: In the OVA prequel, he finally cooks something for Minai to eat and eventually did buy her a motorcycle following agreeing with her it would be a Combat Pragmatist move in their hunt for shikabane.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: What his relationship with Minai is like to a point of actually kissing her once, except in a nuanced and unpleasant fashion mostly.
• Unscrupulous Hero: He hardly bats an eye when mistreating Minai when fighting evil undead.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When he (who still kept the same scowl that he would carry up to adulthood) and Minai were kids in their Forgotten First Meeting.

Kanechika Umehara

The only Contracted Monk that has two Shikabane Hime.

• Dirty Old Monk: He's a bit of a pervert.

• Deus ex Machina: The Shikabane Hime restore their connection to their contracted monks through The Power of Friendship.
• Gender-Restricted Ability: Only young women within a certain age range can become Shikabane Hime.
• Healing Factor: All the Shikabane and Shikabane Hime to some degree.
• Mystical 108: Shikabane Hime must kill 108 Shikabane, the traitor monk uses 108 Shikabane to fuel his dark power.
• Our Zombies Are Different: Shikabane are the supernaturally powerful undead forms of people who die harboring intense regrets or obsessions, which enable them to possess their bodies and return to a pseudo-life.
• Superpowered Evil Side: While all Shikabane Hime has it, most only assume it once, never go back, and have to be put down before they go an inevitable rampage. Itsuki is notable in that she assumes it whenever her Contracted Priest gets too heavily wounded or when her energy supply runs low, but she goes back to normal afterwards. We never get to clearly see it, but we do know that she gains snakelike eyes and fangs at the very least, and it seems that when in full gear she turns into a giant naga.
• Super-Soldier: The Kougonshuu is basically exploiting the Shikabane Hime for their ability to fight Shikabane. The traitor monk disagrees with this practice.
• Synchronisation: A Shikabane Hime can heal most wounds very quickly if her Contracted Monk is nearby, but the wounds pass to the monk. Conversely, if a Contracted Monk is severely wounded it causes great trauma for his Shikabane Hime, and if he is killed then usually the Shikabane Hime, being cut off from his Rune, dies as well.
• The Undead: All Shikabane Hime are basically living corpses.

Saki Amase

Rika's partnered Shikabane Hime.

• Hair-Trigger Temper: She's quite hot headed.
• Little Miss Badass: She wields a giant hammer.
• Little Miss Snarker: Saki has a habit of speaking aloud her contracted monk's inner thoughts.

Itsuki Yamagami

Voiced by: Chise Nakamura (Japanese), Cherami Leigh (English)

Takamasa's Shikabane Hime.

• Guns Akimbo: She fights with a pair of M945 Combat handguns.
• In-Series Nickname: Saki calls Itsuki "Ribbon-Hime", for obvious reasons.

Minai Ruo

Isaki's Shikabane Hime.

• Bare-Fisted Monk: Minai's perfered fighting style is unarmed with only her spiked gauntlets.
• Domestic Abuse: Her boyfriend beat her and she eventually snapped and killed him, then committed suicide.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: In the DVD bonus episode, Minai says she knows some boxing, which is what she uses to fight Shikabane.
• Meaningful Name: Minai's name is spelled with the kanji 水薙生, with this one 薙 meaning "mow down (the enemy)" and this one 生 meaning "life" or "birth".
• Mercy Kill: Despite Sadahiro's offer to help her transferring her bond to Ouri, she ultimately allowed herself to be terminated.

Kamika Todoroki

Takamine's Shikabane Hime.

• Dual Wielding: She wields two katanas.
• They Call Him "Sword": Kamika has the title/nickname "Sword Princess".

Flesh Backbone

One of Umehara's Shikabane Hime.

• Animal-Eared Headband: Cat-eared headband.
• Eagleland: Freshe is the mixed type. Having apparently died in a plane crash on her way to Harajuku, she is a blonde, freckled, tall, unbelievably boorish and obnoxious, hyperactive, hypersexualized (wearing a ridiculously skimpy mockery of traditional Japanese attire with no bra to hold her gargantuan breasts and no panties, a fact which she is insistent on making everyone aware of one way or another), and has learned everything she knows about Japan strictly from anime (her weapon, an oversized shuriken, is remarked upon as something that no Japanese in real life would ever consider using). While she is very friendly and good natured, she is simply too much an idiot for most people to suffer most of the time.

• Conservation of Ninjutsu: One or two Shikabane? Huge, powerful monsters. The hordes of them that show up in the finale? Pretty much just zombies.
• One-Winged Angel: All Shikabane have two forms; an (almost) perfectly human-like one and a far more monstrous one that they typically need to turn into to make full use of their powers, though they are often still supernaturally powerful even in human form. Shikabane Hime are implied to be locked into their human forms as part of the ritual that turns them from Shikabane into Shikabane Hime.
• Our Zombies Are Different: Shikabane are the supernaturally powerful undead forms of people who die harboring intense regrets or obsessions, which enable them to possess their bodies and return to a pseudo-life.

Hagino

Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (Japanese), Z. Charles Bolton (English)

A vampire like Shikabane who kidnaps women and kills them in groups.

• Monster Misogyny: He kidnaps women and kills them in groups.
• Voluntary Transformation: He can turn into a bat.

Kun Osaki

A J-pop star who died of heart disease.

• Empty Eyes: She has no pupils in her eyes.
• Idol Singer: She was a J-pop star.
• Musical Assassin: She uses her voice as a weapon.
• Super-Scream: The shikabane singer Kun's scream can smash people against the wall and dissolve bullets in midair.

Tomoharu Kishibe

Initially a normal teenage boy and a friend of Takamasa and Itsuki.

• The Killjoy: Quite literally. He uses his Psychic Powers to control car engines to kill teens who like to drive fast and their spectators.
• Psychic Powers: He has the ability to control the engines of cars.

Hokuto

Voiced by: Chika Fujimura (Japanese), Brina Palencia (English)

The 7th star of the group.

• The Grim Reaper: Hokuto is as close as possible to being an embodiment of Death, and it's the fault of Makina's ancestors.
• Human Sacrifice: She was raised as a sacrifice, born to be killed as a child.
• Technicolor Eyes: Her eyes are two different colors and are red.

Isaka

Voiced by: Takaya Hashi (Japanese), T.A. Taylor (English)

The 3rd star of the group.

• Thinking Up Portals: He has the ability to open portals.

Hazama

The 1st star of the group.

• Combat Tentacles: He has giant centipedes for arms.

Kowaku

Voiced by: Yuki Hayashi (Japanese), Bob Carter (English)

The 4th star of the group.

• Voluntary Shapeshifting: His curse allows him to change the make up of his body.

Ena

Voiced by: Michi Niino (Japanese), Todd Haberkorn (English)

The 5th star of the group.

• Body Surf: His curse allows him to switch from one corpse to another, as long as they are nearby.
• Mad Artist: When he was alive he was an artist who slashed his paintings and killed his models.

Hizuchi

The 2nd star of the group.

• Vengeful Ghost: Or Vengeful Corpse. Ouri's mother was responsible for his death. Hizuchi was determined to make Ouri pay for what happened to him.

Toya

The 6th star of the group.

• Emotion Eater: She attaches balloons to her victims. These balloons cause their happiness to grow to its peak. At which point, it explodes and kills the victim. Or its final monstrous form could devour its victim. Toya was the result of a poor family going to an amusement park, then committing suicide.
• Mind Manipulation: Her curse allows her to manipulate the minds of people.

Akasha Shishido

Perhaps one of the pithiest villains after knowing the reason behind his betrayal against the Kōgon Sect.

• Anti-Villain: At first he seems like the normal evil Jerkass, but when you hear about why he went rogue, what happened to his Shikabane Hime, and what REALLY happens when your Shikabane Hime kills 108 Shikabane you may start to sympathize with him, if not just feel sorry for him.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He allies with the Seven Stars in order to bring down the Kōgon Sect, eventually becoming the Contract Priest for Hokuto. However, he was killed by Hokuto in the final episode when he rejects her for his previous Shikibane Hime, causing her to revert into a Corpse.
• The Lost Lenore: He was proud and strong in his faith, until he was forced to kill his Shikabane Hime, Hibiki, who was his fiancee when she was alive.

Black Cat

A mysterious black cat that can, at will, be seen or unseen and also can be incorporeal.

• Animal Metaphor: The cat is actually a metaphor for Ouri actually being part Shikibane himself. It is not known how he became this way, but that after transforming into a Shikibane after realizing this, the separate entity that his subconscious had become, eventually fades away as well.
• Cats Have Nine Lives: A ghost cat frequently appears from nowhere and rant cynically about Ouri's "real nature". Only Ouri can see it, even though every character is aware of the supernatural. Creepy. the cat is really part of Ouri's self, since souls permanently leave this world upon death. So it's an Uncatty Resemblance.
• Enigmatic Minion: He's not exactly a villain, but his true agenda remains unknown.

Nozomi Kasuga

Voiced by: Miki Maruyama (Japanese), Tia Ballard (English)

A classmate of Ouri, nicknamed Omune-sama or "Breast Goddess".

• Nightmare Fetishist: She eventually starts becoming fascinated by death.

Mizuki Inuhiko

A classmate of Ouri.

• Oral Fixation: She usually has something in her mouth.

Sumitori

Voiced by: Masayuki Shouji (Japanese), Sean Michael Teague (English)

Another classmate of Ouri's.

• Captain Oblivious: He's oblivious to the world of Shikabane.

Hiroshige Ushijima

Voiced by: Tooru Nara (Japanese), Micah Solusod (English)

The girl-obsessed friend of Ouri Kagami.

• Buxom Beauty Standard: He openly complains about the lack of busty women in their class and obsesses over Nozomi because of her breasts, calling her "Omune-sama" ("Breast Goddess" in the dub).