kukuri

 

Kukuri-Hime-no-Kami (菊理媛大神, Kukurihime ōgami), better known simply as Kukuri (くくり, Kukuri), is the resident God of the Land of the Hakusan Shrine. She is one of many gods known as Kukuri, with this incarnation residing over Kamioka. She guards over the region, dispersing curse and assisting Kazuya in his job as an exorcist.

Appearance

Due to her status as a God of the Land, Kukuri doesn't age, regardless of how much time passes. Instead, her appearance is tied to the amount of power she possesses, boasting a youthful but adult aspect when at full strength but rejuvenating when her power decreases. Some traits are consistently carried over, such as her green hair and blue eyes. She always sports the same attire consisting of an orange haori, a kimono jacket, and a pair of black hakama, divided trousers that extend all the way to the ankles. As well as a white bandana. Because of certain circumstances and, after her test to appoint Kazuya as the new Exorcist of Kamioka; Kukuri suffered a drastic change in looks that resemble that of a very young girl. In her daily life when not attending her duties as the Local God, she's also seen wearing all different kinds of casual clothing typical of girls of her physiological age.

Personality

Kukuri is an affable and cordial individual that keeps an amiable disposition towards those around her. Despite her status and position, she's always broke as she lives entirely on donations from the local population and barely receives any offerings for living, resulting in her living an extremely humble life with barely any comforts. For a long time, she and her assistant Kokuyou lived in very poor conditions. After the destruction of their temple, during the appointment of Kazuya as Kamioka's Exorcist, they found themselves homeless and having to spend what little money they had for its repairs, even having Kokuyou work on part-time jobs in order to get money, forcing them to live an even more vagrant life by eating grass and living on a children's park. While she puts up with it, she's always frustrated and distressed by their lack of money. However, Kukuri herself is a very humble individual that treats everyone with respect regardless of their position, inherently lowering herself to living a life akin to that of average human beings.

She's diligent, regularly overextending herself in order to purify her region from Curse, while also attending to more mundane tasks like washing the dishes or helping with the cooking at Kazuya's house without being asked to collaborate. In spite of her simplistic lifestyle, she still has her pride as the God of the Land and would often remark her status as a deity, but she struggles to be seen as an imposing and mighty figure regardless of her efforts and is often ridiculed by those with more assertive personalities like Kiriha. She is quite scatterbrained, clumsy, and works hard to be taken seriously, but generally comes off as just pitiful by those around her. She's surprisingly childish and cheerful, with her behavior often resembling that of a real kid in both appearance and conduct. She's also very prudish and somewhat innocent, heavily contrasting with the indecent Kiriha who regularly exposes her in all sorts of embarrassing situations, where she tends to easily lose her cool and panic.

Despite her demeanor making her come off as pitiable and miserable, at moments of crisis, she proves to be a very reliable ally and she's still highly regarded and respected by allies in such situations, who have complete faith in her knowledge and abilities. She cares deeply about Kazuya, who she grows to love very much throughout the series. Their relationship appears to be closer to that of an elder brother and sister, but there's shown strong implications of being romantically interested in him on more than one occasion. Naturally, she's willing to do anything within her power in order to protect him, even going as far as placing a barrier throughout Kamioka in order to prevent Azami's entrance, which severely weakened her in the process and left her vulnerable. She also greatly values her subordinate Kokuyou and will be thrown into a binding rage if she was hurt. She has a rocky relationship with Kiriha, as their personalities directly contrast with the other and they're constantly competing with the other. Kiriha finds great amusement in making fun of her prudish nature, which greatly irritates Kukuri.

When using the Mask to its full potential, Kukuri is able to employ several techniques that would otherwise be unable to in her weakened state:

• Water Bullets (みづまり, Midzumari): Kukuri shoots a barrage of water drops at blitzing speeds. Not a particularly strong attack, but of simple and effective use.^[1]
  
• Water Spear (みづやり, Midzuyari): Kukuri gathers enough water to form a short spear that she shots at her opponent. Considerably stronger than the Water Bullets. Potent enough to easily tear apart Kiriha's Double Layered Shield Weave.^[2]
• Water Bulwark (みづがき, Midzugaki): Kukuri raises a torrent of water to serve as a sturdy protective barrier.^[3]
  • Frozen Water Bulwark (しむみづがき, Shimu Midzugaki): A more powerful version of the regular Bulwark. She lowers the water's temperature until it's frozen, further increasing its resistance.^[4]
• Water Mirage (みづかげろ, Midzukagerō): Kukuri forms a projection that allows her to dodge enemies' attacks and catch them by surprise.^[5]

• Minazuchi (水槌みなづち, Minadzuchi): One of Kukuri's most powerful attacks, it requires a chanting on Formal Language. Kukuri summons a massive flood from the heavens, crushing the target under a huge mass of water.^[6]
• Water Wheel (みづぐろま, Midzuguroma): Kukuri creates a wheel of water, which spins at high speeds and launches it at her target.^[7]
• Suzuro Mizuchi (すずろみづち, Suzuro Midzuchi): Another of Kukuri's most powerful moves, it also requires a chanting in Formal Language. Kukuri summons a giant water serpent that frontally attacks the opponent with extremely high speed and power.^[8] It might be even stronger than Minazuchi, as Honoka was impressed when revealed that Kazuya managed to block it.

Weakened State: Normal

Without the use of her Masks, Kukuri's weakened state presents her with a lot of limitations, like her Purification of Curse being more exhausting and lacking in effectiveness. She also becomes incapable of employing most of her more powerful techniques without being ridiculed to pathetic extents, with the tremendously powerful Minazuchi being reduced to a tiny water spray that would kill little more than a fly.

However, while her weakened state would suggest that she's in a vulnerable and helpless position, Kukuri still remains a formidable opponent that very few people could potentially defeat.

• 
  Water God Fist (水神拳すいじんけん, Suijinken): While most of her more advanced attacks become inaccessible for her, Kukuri's primal fighting style actually revolves around the use of a combination of her control over Water with an extremely refined level of martial arts. With this style, Kukuri "wears" her water as an empowering tool on her fists and feet, increasing her strength and speed enormously. She can also shoot this water through punches, similar to the Water Bullets but with a considerably higher potency, as she's launching them with her own fists. When making use of this fighting style, Kukuri's impacts are powerful enough to easily tear apart through flesh and bone indiscriminately, as most of her opponents would be torn to pieces without being given a chance to react.
  

She's an extremely skilled martial artist, with inhuman reflexes and mobility. During the Assassination Arc, Kukuri employed this combat style to defeat six Tsugumomo on her own, all of which wielded power comparable to an experienced Exorcist. After reading her, Mimane claimed that even eight of Mayoiga's Elites would be unable to defeat her in her current state.

• Water Needle (水針功すいしんこう, Suishinkō): Kukuri uses all her strength to shoot a powerful bullet of water towards her opponent, penetrating in a straight line at an inconceivable speed and destroying everything in its path.

Fully-powered State

When Kukuri is at full strength her fighting ability skyrockets to extraordinary levels, gaining access to all the techniques she would wear the Akujou Mask. Her combat style primarily revolves around the use of the Water God Fist as well, occasionally combining it with other large-scale attacks like Minazuchi as well. During this state, she becomes nearly unbeatable to the point she was able to swiftly and effortlessly defeat the Legendary Tsugumomo Miurahi who had a Stone Shard embedded inside his body. She was also able to quickly dispatch the corrupted Obi Tsugumomo Azami in a brief encounter, despite the latter having been strong enough to inflict fatal wounds on lesser Gods like Kaneyama. The only one that was able to give Kukuri an even fight when at full strength was the extraordinarily talented Exorcist Kanaka Kagami.

• Divine Water Fortress (水天陳すいてんじん, Sui Tenjin): One of Kukuri's most powerful moves. She extends a film of water until it contacts with a specific target, capturing and restraining his movements on that instant. The amount of distance she can extend it is seemingly limitless, but the bigger it is the more energy it consumes. Kukuri utilized this technique to serve as a barrier around Kamioka when it failed to capture Azami, which she left activated for many years in order to prevent her entrance.

• Water Moon Kannon (水月観音すいげつかんのん, Suigetsu Kannon): Kukuri's definitive technique and trump card. She covers her body with what resembles a water tunic, vastly increasing her combat ability. On this form, Kukuri was strong enough to overpower even Kanaka on their first encounter, with it being the only time on her life that the Exorcist was bested on the battlefield, and on their second encounter, it was required an extreme level of affinity between Kanaka and Azami to reach Ascension for her to finally be able to overpower this form.

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Saber Marionette J characters

Otaru Mamiya

Voiced by: Yuka Imai (Japanese); Brad Swaile (English)

The protagonist. A citizen of Japoness, a country of Terra II which resembles feudal Japan and guardian of the Japoness Sabers: Lime, Cherry, & Bloodberry. He eventually discovers the three marionettes and forms a sort of family with them. Initially, Otaru seems to be very asexual and becomes constantly overwhelmed by the marionettes and their affection, which he returns only platonically, and equally to the three. His weapon is a jitte in which the blade can extend to become a sword and the tail of it can be used to reel his friends to safety. He has a distinctive two-color hair-style of light brown on the front and dark brown in the back.

Lime (JSM-01R)

Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese); Maggie Blue O'Hara (English)

A marionette possessing the otome kairo, a circuit that enables her to act almost indistinguishable from a human girl. She is the most child-like of the main marionettes, with a naive, lively, sunny, peppy and playful personality. ("Yoo-hoo" becomes something of Lime's catchphrase), and thus frequently asks all manner of questions about life to Otaru. Because her otome kairo makes her act like a pre-adolescent girl as opposed to a mature woman, Lime does not share the other otome kairo marionettes' (Cherry, Bloodberry, & the Saber Dolls) fear of mice. The quickest of the three; she has amazing speeds that can even out rival the Hanagata Mitsurugi 3000GT seen in Episode 1. She has long blue hair that is pulled back with a long yellow scarf with a red ornament bubble. Her clothing consists of a white, yellow-trimmed "jacket" over a black bodysuit. When walking, Lime and the other marionettes make a squeaking sound much like the squeak of a toy hammer, reminiscent of a popular style of shoe for young children in Japan.

Cherry (JSM-02C)

Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori (Japanese); Erin Fitzgerald, Nicole Oliver (English)

She is the second of Japoness' otome kairo marionettes. She is the most maternal of the three and acts like the perfect stereotype of the Japanese wife, excelling at cooking and doing everything to please "Master" Otaru, who is the subject of her frequent romantic daydreams, in which she goes into over-romantic frenzies and loses sight of her current objectives. She is, however, quite intelligent and equipped with the best sensors of the three. She is often mocked by Bloodberry for being too sweet and mild and is often ridiculed for being flat-chested. Instead, her fantasies and amorous interactions with Otaru tend to focus on her behind. She has two long tails of purple hair and usually dresses in a pink kimono. Despite her sweet nature, she can be frightening when she loses her patience.

File:Bloodberry being friendly.jpg

Bloodberry never hides her emotions as she embraces Otaru

Bloodberry (JSM-03B)

Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese); Saffron Henderson (English)

She is the third of Japoness' otome kairo marionettes. She represents the aggressive side of femininity, being quite loud, boisterous, headstrong, impulsive and very amorous. She is by far the bustiest, and is openly proud of this fact, often teasing Cherry in particular. She is also the most sexual of the three, often vowing to "make a man" out of Otaru, smothering him with her large breasts and endless amounts of physical affection and pressuring him to marry her. For his part, Otaru is much more receptive to Bloodberry's overt advances than the average harem protagonist, often going as far as to compliment her massive bust, to her delight. Although a pussycat in Otaru's presence, she is a lioness in battle. She fights fiercely and bravely and has the most raw physical power. She dresses in a black and orange bodysuit, with her red hair in a high ponytail.

Mitsurugi Hanagata

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese); Samuel Vincent (English)

Initially a wealthy, spoiled, pretty-boy enemy of Otaru's, later revealed to have gay feelings for him (which is not an uncommon result due to the absence of real females on Terra II). He despises Otaru's marionettes, seeing them as rivals, and is frequently physically abused by them (especially Bloodberry) for comic relief. Hanagata often tries to seduce Otaru with his underdeveloped, rib-exposing chest. Eventually the five of them settle in a somewhat peaceful coexistence and friendship. He has a younger brother named Yumeji.

Yumeji Hanagata

Voiced by: Urara Takano

Mitsurugi's younger and in many cases, smarter brother. He becomes friends with Lime after she saves him from their burning mansion.

Ieyasu Tokugawa

Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata (Japanese); Don Brown (English)

He is the shogun of Japoness, the 15th cloned incarnation of the original. All of Japoness' citizens are genetically engineered descendants of him or one of his ancestors. He has a laid back personality even in times of danger, but he still takes threats to his nation seriously. In love with Lorelei, he created Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry in an attempt to rescue her, but it is unclear whether she returned his feelings. He is assassinated by the Saber Dolls in his own fortress, the Japoness Castle. He is obviously named after the real-life shogun of Japan Tokugawa Ieyasu. Interestingly, the original Ieyasu (and likely all the clones at one point) resembled an older Otaru. He's called "Grampa Ieyasu" by Lime.

Hikosagoemon (also known as Hikozaemon)

Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese); Paul Dobson, Richard Newman (English)

He is the trusted personal assistant of Shogun Ieyasu. Appears to be the second in command of the country of Japoness, after the Shogun himself. He is more serious and strict than the Shogun. He was killed by the Saber Dolls along with the Shogun.

Gelhardt von Faust

Voiced by: Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese); Paul Dobson (English)

The leader of Gartland, Generalissimo of the country's military forces, and the 10th clone incarnation of the original Faust is the main antagonist of the series. He is the master of the Saber Dolls: Tiger, Luchs, and Panther. He is bent on conquering all of Terra II and rules his country with an iron fist. It is also notable that Faust's regime resembles Adolf Hitler's and Gartland resembles Nazi Germany. Faust created the Saber Dolls also in an attempt to save Lorelei. He's often called the "Führer", by his soldiers. He has a huge personality cult around him as with most dictators. Faust was once a kind, warm-hearted boy until his mind was altered by his "father", Faust the 9th, in order to succeed him as leader of Gartland. As a result, Faust became a ruthless, powermad tyrant. Towards the end of the series, Faust sees the error of his evil ways once he sees Gartland fall into anarchy and seeing Tiger collapse in his arms. After the Mesopotamia's destruction, he reforms and starts a new life with his Dolls as well as being a close friend and ally of Otaru and his Sabers.

Tiger

Voiced by: Urara Takano (Japanese); Venus Terzo (English)

One of as well as the first of Faust's Saber Dolls, and thus equipped with the otome kairo. She is the de facto leader of the Dolls. She has short red hair and uses a sword/whip weapon. Is roughly the equivalent of Lime mainly in speed and agility but not nearly as naive and like the other two Dolls far more busty. Of the 3, she shows a fiercer devotion and love for Faust and would die for him. When Faust was a child, he saw Tiger as almost a mother to him and she loved him both maternally and romantically. As a result, Tiger's otome kairo was maturing at the rate that it should because of the love that she showed Faust as well as the love that he returned. Sadly, Faust was taken away from her to satisfy his "father's" desire to rule Gartland. Tiger witnessed first hand at seeing Faust become a black hearted, cold-blooded devil and was even slapped by the "new" Faust and thus, her circuit's growth was stunted by Faust's new cruel and abusive demeanor. Nevertheless, she remained loyal and still loved him; hoping that he would return to the Faust she knew when he was a boy. It is worth noting that Tiger resembles Chocolate Misu in her dominatrix form from the Sorcerer Hunters series. Her name comes from the Tiger I World War II Armoured fighting vehicle.

Luchs

Voiced by: Yūko Mizutani (Japanese); Erin Fitzgerald, Nicole Oliver (English)

She is another of Faust's Saber Dolls, equivalent to Cherry. Uses projectile weapons and is not above manipulating and deceiving her comrades for her own benefit. She has a very mysterious and aloof personality but has been known to act silly on certain occasions. Has long blue hair which is kept in a ponytail with her fringe covering one, if not both, of her eyes and her uniform contains a short, cut miniskirt so in that respect, she looks more like a sexy secretary than a soldier. She also has the same kind of advanced sensors as Cherry. Her name means Lynx in German. She also was the first of the Sabers that Otaru "kissed". He did this in order to shut down Gartland's main computer. In the OVA, Luchs showed a flash of her now-friendly rival Cherry when she fantasized about winning Faust's affections by cooking for him in which she went into the same over-amorous frenzies as Cherry does for Otaru. Also, in the hopes of winning the affections of Faust, Luchs also tries to seduce Otaru (whom she may even have a genuine crush for as well stemming perhaps from the kiss Otaru planted on her in the first series). Her name comes from the Panzer II World War II Armoured fighting vehicle, Type Tank "Luchs".

Panther

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese); Samantha Ferris (English)

The third of Faust's Saber Dolls, counterpart of Bloodberry. Of the Dolls, she is seen as Faust's pit bull and is the most ambitious; always ready to defend his honor and pride at all costs. She has blond hair and a star-shaped eye patch which can emit a laser beam, though she mostly fights bare-handed. Like all the Saber Dolls, has a tall, voluptuous build and shows it off in a military-inspired black and white uniform; she also wears pants that are tight in the leg but extremely baggy in the hips, somewhat reminiscent of military riding pants. In the OVA, Panther has her hair cut short. Also, Panther and Bloodberry become good friends in the OVA. Like Luchs, Panther also tries to seduce Otaru in the hopes of winning Faust's love. In the same series, it's also revealed that she's quite a poet. Her name comes from the Panzer V Panther World War II Armoured fighting vehicle.

Tamasaburou

Voiced by: Maria Kawamura (Japanese); Ellen Kennedy (English)

A marionette part of the elite imperial guard of Japoness, uses a naginata as a weapon. She is not stated to have the otome kairo, but behaves remarkably life-like compared to other regular marionettes. After the death of the Shogun, she is revealed to contain his memories and personality, but it is not clear if this was the case previously.

Baiko

Voiced by: Ai Orikasa (Japanese); Nicole Oliver (English)

The other half of the imperial guard, using two sword beams as a weapon. Like Tamasaburo, she is later revealed to contain the personality of the Shogun's second-in-command, Hikozaemon.

Mesopotamia

It refers to both the ship which carried Terra II's original colonizers and the main computer of said ship. Designed by Lorelei, it fell in love with her and boycotted the mission, taking her captive and killing all but six of the colonizers. The plan was for Faust and Ieyasu to have three maiden circuits mature and then use them together as a replacement for Lorelie. The Mesopotamia however began to figue this out and attacked Terra II. Faust explained that if they were to use the three mature maiden circuits, the Mesopotamia would stop its attack because despite being in suspended animation, Lorelei was still ageing. But with the three maiden circuits together, it would now have a lover that would never age. Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry (against Otaru's wishes) went abboard the Mesopotamia and willingly gave their circuits to it. Lorelie was released, however something unexpected happened, the Mesopotamia began to cry (possibly due to realizing all the pain it was causing to the girls and Otaru). In the end, the Mesopotamia sent Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry back to Otaru. It is named after the Mesopotamia area in the Ancient World that coincides closely with the modern day nation of Iraq.

Gennai Shiraga

Voiced by: Yuichi Nagashima (Japanese); French Tickner (English)

A Japoness' resident elder and mad scientist/inventor. He helps Otaru and his marionettes in some of the most ingenious and absurd ways. He is usually called "Grampa", by Lime and "Gennie-Poo", by Bloodberry.

Soemon Obiichi/Ruebens

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese); Richard Newman (English)

A martial artist and swordsman extraordinaire; also Otaru's sensei. Obiichi took Otaru in when he was a little boy after seeing him being bullied by other boys. He almost never opens his eyes, but he harbors a dark secret. He was the first man to love a marionette as if it were a real woman; the marionette's name was Koiyuki. Ostracized by the citizens of Japoness, Obiichi took Koiyuki and fled to Gartland, where he was rescued by Faust as he collapsed on the street. It was there he noticed Tiger smiled at him. He realized that this was the first time a marionette showed human emotions and he needed the maiden circuit for Koyuki to do the same. He swore his allegiance to Faust and changed his name to Ruebens. He is responsible for stealing Lime's maiden circuit and attempting to erase it in order to use it on Koyuki. Otaru confronts his sensei and hears his sad story in the process. A Gartland marionette soldier was sent to kill Obiichi for his disobedience to Faust, but ended up damaging Koyuki before being overwhelmed. Heartbroken, he returned Lime's maiden circuit to Otaru before leaving with Koiyuki. He made a small appearance in the end showing that he was living somewhere in the country-side and had repaired Koiyuki.

Doctor Hess

Voiced by: Tomohiro Nishimura (Japanese); Paul Dobson, Alec Willows (English)

The chief scientist of Gartland. Served Faust with great pride and was responsible for most of the nation's weapons and vehicles. When Faust was overthrown, he turned on him. In Saber Marionette J to X, he would become the main antagonist and was also revealed in this series to be the first man on Terra II.

Goddel

Voiced by: Kenyū Horiuchi (Japanese); Richard Newman (English)

One of Faust's generals. Faust places him in charge of the Saber Dolls when they failed him. However, he despises the Dolls and they, in turn, despise him.

Alexander

The leader of Petersburg, a country on Terra II resembling Russia. In a style similar to Hitler's tactics during WWII, his country is successfully invaded by Gartland, thus his fate is uncertain.