#nure (composer)

[dailyenglishvoca]

Today's song is dearly reincarnated by noriaki_nure featuring the Vocaloids Kagamine Len and Kagamine Rin

Happy birthday, Kagamines!

[thenewnio]

Dramatis Personæ of Ryumi: The Magic Jewel

Ryumi Kawakami-The main protagonist of the tale. Daughter of an onmyōji and a magical shapeshifting kyuubi kitsune, Ryumi aspires to be a true master of onmyōdō like her late father. Once she discovers her foxy heritage, she and her friends set off on a whirlwind adventure to save the two worlds of humans and yokai.

Shigeto Terazawa-One of Ryumi’s friends and half of a dynamic duo. The son of a sushi chef. He is quick to follow along with Ryumi’s ideas.

Hisaaki Ichijou-The second of Ryumi’s friends and the other half of the dynamic duo. The son of a bamboo cutter. He initially prefers to keep cautious, but over the course of the adventure, learns to take risks. He is somewhat self- conscious about his shaved head.

Akako Kinoshita-A blobby kekkai, or “childbirth yokai”, composed of congealed blood and amniotic fluid. Contrary to popular belief, kekkai, after being born, do not kill their own mothers if unleashed. That doesn’t stop the people of Yugatono town from attempting to kill Akako after the death of her mother, which actually wasn’t her fault. Once rescued by Ryumi and her friends, she joins them as they seek out the nearest portal to the spirit realm. She desires to be a true human like her mother. She looks up to Ryumi as an older sister, especially since the latter was the one who saved her. Like all kekkai, she has a tongue which is half white and half red.

Maka Matsukura-A short-tempered but good-hearted rokurokubi. Her being born with the ability to control the length of her neck was her father’s divine punishment for killing his partner in a hunting business. Ostracized for being a yokai, she left her parents and moved to a now derelict district of Yugatono. After receiving a foreclosure to move out so the district could be torn down to make way for a bathhouse, Maka stubbornly refused, but eventually, during the events of the tale, she is forcibly dragged out and her house is destroyed. Meeting the group while mourning the loss of her home, she is persuaded to guide them to the spirit realm, also joining them in their quest. Eventually, she begins to genuinely care for the others, acting as their parental substitute.

Sana Kawakami-A kyuubi kitsune, or nine-tailed fox, and Ryumi’s mother. Long before the events of the tale, she and Ryumi’s future father fell in love and, despite being of different worlds, married. After her husband passed on, she was left to raise Ryumi herself. She is captured by a tsuchigumo after revealing her true form and sending her daughter and her friends on their quest. 

Mego-A mysterious female spirit, found apparently injured in the spirit realm. She hides a secret about herself which turns the group’s mission upside down.

Shina-A jorogumo and the main antagonist of the tale. The mistress of the tsuchigumo who captured Sana. She can not only command spiders and spider yokai, but can also order other yokai like the rambunctious sarugami to do her bidding. Resenting the humans’ treatment of yokai, she is determined to become queen of the yokai and put all of humanity under her thumb.

Kan-A kijo, or female ogre. She is hired by Shina to stop the group once they enter the spirit realm.

Nakaari-A kitsune and Ryumi’s grandfather. It is the objective of the group’s quest to reach him in the spirit realm and protect the powerful, magical jewel he possesses from Shina, who wants it to aid in her bid for world domination. He knows how to make hangonkō, a magic incense which summons the dead.

Bunto-Ryumi’s kitsune cousin who lives with Nakaari. He is excitable and talkative, yet smart.

Mochiie-A tanuki, or raccoon dog, who lives with several tsukumogami, or “artifact spirits”, in the spirit realm. He is very wise, pointing the group in the direction they need to go.

Zurui-A nure onago (Not to be confused with a deadly nure onna!) and Mochiie’s friend. She lives in the swamps of the spirit realm.

Haruuji Kawakami-Ryumi’s late onmyōji father. Despite knowing Sana was a fox, he chose to marry her anyway. He died defending Shintonoyama town from an earlier attack by Shina’s tsuchigumo. Ryumi wishes to be at his level.

Tsujiko Kinoshita-Akako’s late mother. A poor woman cursed to give birth to a yokai as a result of her husband stealing money from a shrine. Like Maka’s mother, she chose to love Akako, seeing her as the biggest source of her happiness. When their food ran out shortly after the death of her husband, Tsujiko suffered a lot to allow her unnatural daughter to live, over exerting herself to death as a consequence. Naturally, the villagers of Yugatono pinned the blame on poor Akako.

Nurarihyon-The supreme leader of the yokai, whom Shina plots to overthrow. For more information, look up his name.

Aoki-An aoandon and the primary narrator of the tale. She initially intends to tell a horror story, but is persuaded to tell this story instead.

Kagetsu-A kage onna, or “shadow lady”, and the secondary narrator. She and the audience prefer that a fairy tale be told instead of a scary tale. Being a living shadow, she is especially skilled in shadow puppetry.