Japanese Mythology in Popular Culture - Shikigami

Shikigami

In manga series such as Yami no Matsuei, Mahou Sensei Negima and many others, shikigami are depicted as magical servants made from folded or cut paper.

In the anime OVA Doomed Megalopolis (an adaptation of the novel Teito Monogatari), the evil onmyōji, Yasunori Kato, is constantly seen summoning hundreds of black shikigami to perform his bidding.

In the anime series Shaman King, Yohmei Asakura, the grandfather of Yoh Asakura, utilizes sprite-like shikigami resembling small Totoro using tree leaves as mediums for them. Hao Asakura owns two oni-like shikigami, Zenki and Kouki, who are later on used by Anna Kyoyama after she is able to tame the two.

In The Last Blade, Akari Ichijo is often assisted in battle by a shikigami called Hagure Hitogata, who becomes a playable character in the sequel. Selecting him will result in him assuming his opponent's shape.

In Zenki, Zenki and Gouki were shikigami of Ozunu Enno, the ancestor of Chiaki Enno, the protagonist. In the series itself, the two act as shikigami for Chiaki.

Subaru Sumeragi and Seishirō Sakurazuka, onmyōji from Tokyo Babylon and X/1999, employ shikigami as summoned spies and also to spiritually attack opponents.

Shikigami are featured heavily in the manga/anime series InuYasha. Kikyo uses several to collect souls and to deliver messages and creates three human-like shikigami when she is poisoned and needs to bide time to find a way to recover. Two of her shikigami take on the form of two girls, Kochō and Asuka, and the third one is a replica of herself. Another character in the series, Tsubaki, creates several shikigami as well. Kururugi from the video game Inuyasha: The Cursed Mask uses shikigami as weapons, to heal, and to defend.

Maggie Mui in the anime Read or Die: the TV, the middle sister of the three Paper Sisters, creates paper monsters to act as weapons and tools; they are sometimes referred to as shikigami.

The anime Onmyou Taisenki revolves around the use of shikigami as spirits or fallen deities summoned to fight each other.

The Touhou game Perfect Cherry Blossom contains a boss, Ran Yakumo, who is a shikigami, and another, Chen, who is the shikigami of that shikigami.

Shikigami along with Shikiouji appear several times in the Japanese video game series Megami Tensei.

The paper birds in the Hayao Miyazaki movie Spirited Away are also shikigami.

In Japanese anime and manga Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Meiko Rokudō (六道冥子), a sweet and innocent but extremely powerful teenage girl, directly controls twelve shikigami.

In the video game Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, shikigami take on the appearance of paper-like floating spirits.

In the Japanese anime and light novel series Rental Magica, Nekoyashiki uses four shikigami which take the form of cats.

In the video game Tales of Symphonia, the character Sheena Fujibayashi fights alongside shikigami when faced as an opponent by the player.

In the anime Saiyuki Reload, the four protagonists fight a shikigami that appears to be a clone of themselves.

In the anime Ghost Hunt, Koujo Lin is a onmyōji and he has five shikigami.

In the anime Abenobashi: Magical Shopping Arcade, Eutus (who actually is Abe no Seimei) has a shikigami serving him. At one time, he said he had dozens helping him, but turned almost all of them off because they were too noisy.

In the anime/manga series Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-, the vampire girl, Hazuki, has a shikigami by the name of Haiji. This information is according to AnimeNfo.com & the Moon Phase anime DVD set; Vol. 2.

In several of Laurence Yep's books (most notably the Tiger's Apprentice series), the antagonists use monsters that, when killed, turn into paper dolls.

In the anime & manga series Naruto, the character Konan uses paper to fight and can also turn into paper. This technique is called "Dance of the Shikigami".

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