"Time is a burden that's what I I believe" |
| Shirakiin Ririchiyo | |
|---|---|
| Name | Shirakiin Ririchiyo |
| Kanji | 白鬼院 凜々蝶 |
| Rōmaji | Shirakiin Ririchiyo |
| Characteristics | |
| Race | Atavist (Throwback) Oni |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 15-18 (grows older near the end of manga) |
| Birthday | February 21 (Pisces) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Violet |
| Height | 145 cm (4’9”) (Human)
150 cm (4’11”) (Oni) |
| Weight | 35 kg |
| Blood Type | A |
| Personal Status | |
| Status | Deceased/Reincarnated |
| Relative(s) | Unnamed Mother Unnamed Father |
| First Appearance | |
| Manga Debut | Chapter 1 |
| Anime Debut | At the beginning |
| Portrayal | |
| Japanese Voice | Rina Hidaka |
| English Voice | Hilary Haag |
| Gallery | |
Ririchiyo Shirakiin (白鬼院 凜々蝶 Shirakiin Ririchiyo) is the main protagonist of the story. She once resided in room number four of Ayakashi Kan who was the client of Soushi Miketsukami. She tends to put a cold front because it is her only way to cope the things she was put through. Ririchiyo finds herself constantly distressed about not being able to communicate with people properly and decides to move in to Ayakashi Kan in order to be alone. She later befriends Karuta Roromiya and Banri Watanuki, both of which attend the same school and live in Ayakashi Kan. She can be called a tsunshun instead of tsundere due to the fact that she gets depressed (shun) instead of becoming lovestruck (dere) after behaving in a conceited manner.
Ririchiyo is killed at the age of sixteen after trying to stop the enemy youkai raid after they killed Soushi. In Part 2, she is reincarnated and now resides in room one of Ayakashi Kan, but has amnesia due to the trauma of losing Soushi after he protected her. In truth, this world soon becomes the “if” world, when the group sends a time capsule just like before back to their former world through the large sakura tree, sennenzakura, in which contains letters from each person to themselves from the past, warning them of the hyakkiyakou to come.
Appearance[]
Human Form[]
Ririchiyo as her usual self
Ririchiyo is a petite young girl with thigh-length indigo hair (her hairstyle is only slightly different in Part 2 and her hair is cut shorter in the final chapter), violet eyes, full legs and her cheeks are noticeably chubby.
She wears many different types of clothes, but she is mostly seen wearing her black deep V-neck dress with four buttons on each side and no sleeves. Underneath, she wears a white long-sleeved ruffle blouse. She is often seen wearing plain black Mary Jane shoes with gray thigh-length socks.
Youkai Form[]
Ririchiyo in youkai form
In her youkai form, she grows two tan curved horns along with a flower on one of her horns and is taller by a few centimeters, as she wears Zori. Her outfit is a dark red hakama with a mini-skirt. She wears black arm bands and bracelets on each wrist. There is also a Hannya mask hanging on the back of her waist. She wears black stockings and black/red Geta shoes. A naginata is present when she transforms; the traditional Japanese bladed, spear-like weapon is slightly taller than her own height, and is decorated with red tassels on each end of the shaft. She also wears a long black scarf with red ends around her neck.
Personality[]
As the result of her isolated childhood, Ririchiyo harbored a cold and brooding personality. She would inadvertently lash out at others and interacted poorly with people. This was the reason for her decision to move to Ayakashi Kan: she wanted to live on her own. Her plan, however, is disrupted by the arrival of Soushi, who unexpectedly enters her life. At first, she is initially surprised and uninterested by his offer to form a contract with her, but after his persuasion that his one duty in life was to serve her, she creates a true connection with him, and he becomes her Secret Service agent in the process.
All her life she had been respected merely for her family or social status, yet because of his genuine kindness and services towards her, Soushi was the only one to take interest in her for who she was. Though she continued to treat him with some (unintended) bitterness, she began to warm up to Soushi, and eventually those around her as well. Over time, she came to see her friends as an almost family, and although her slight abrasive nature remained, she reached out to people more in attempt to better understand them. Full of joy.
During this course of her inner development, as Ririchiyo spent more time around Soushi, she found that she was falling in love with him. Although she internally denied this and was confused by her increased heart rate whenever she was around him, she at last admitted her feelings to him. This shows that the icy, impersonal girl she once was had been replaced by a kinder young woman.
History[]
Ririchiyo as a child.
Ririchiyo was born into the Shirakiin family, a wealthy family of important status; it was mentioned they do clothes and fashion. But because of this, she suffered bullying and humiliation at school: her classmates told her she was a boring person and that she shouldn't get full of herself just because her family was rich. That is why Ririchiyo puts up a front and developed her bad habit of verbally abusing people. Even her teachers vainly defend her from the bullies in hopes of getting recognized by her family.
A young Ririchiyo gets slapped
Since Ririchiyo was of demon ancestry, her family kept her in intensive protection at home - which was nothing more than isolation. She has a younger sister whom she grew jealous of, merely because of the fact that she had more attention and love from their parents than herself. Knowing this, Ririchiyo's father didn't hesitate in slapping her for her yearning of her little sister's place. He told her that she didn't know better, and instead of her suffering, her younger sister had it much worse for having to live under her "shadow". Young Ririchiyo then only stood shocked and unmoving.
Ririchiyo checking her mailbox.
During her childhood, she would write letters to her fiancé, Kagerou, for comfort. Ririchiyo loved to write letters in special stationery sets, and often would write one out of modesty and kindness. Since she couldn't talk to people properly, she vented her feelings in these letters, and apologized sincerely once to Renshou after a fight they had. She wrote her feelings especially in the letters she sent her fiancé, after which she eagerly awaited his reply.
Relationships[]
Soushi Miketsukami[]
Ririchiyo was somewhat hesitant when it came to Soushi devoting himself to her. At first, she did not believe that their contract was necessary because she feared that she would just hurt him in the end. Ririchiyo rejected the contract many times, causing Soushi to believe that life would be meaningless without him being by her side so every time she would reject him, he would insist on her disposing of him with a katana, which she declined every time. There is a moment in which Soushi agrees to their contract being void because of the way Ririchiyo saw him at one point, claiming he was "morally corrupt", due to him toying with another girl's feelings. This caused Soushi to believe that he was not fit to be her servant. However, they did finally seal their contract when they both apologized to each other, thus forming their master/servant relationship. Soushi is willing to go to extreme lengths to protect Ririchiyo, whether or not it means putting his life on the line.
As the series progresses, their relationship begins to develop more into a friendship, but soon it starts to develop even more in which Ririchiyo starts to fall in love with Soushi. It is later revealed that Soushi has been yearning to meet Ririchiyo face to face ever since he first encountered her at her fiancé's estate. It is hinted that he has had feelings for her since then, even though they were never properly introduced to each other until Ririchiyo moved into the complex. In the anime, the two become a couple after Ririchiyo discovers that Soushi was the one writing to her ever since childhood and that they "noticed" each other. The two of them confess their love at a park. Later on in the anime, Soushi tells Ririchiyo that he has a dream in which he wants a family with her. They don't have children due to the fact that he is killed but is reincarnated whenever he is killed. This means that his personality and feelings change, but he still tries to act like the original Soushi to please his master, Ririchiyo. However, Ririchiyo eventually finds out the truth, so they cancel their contract. There will always be moments from the old Soushi, however. At the end of the series, they get married (now making her Ririchiyo Miketsukami) and eventually have a son.
Renshou Sorinozuka[]
Sorinozuka is Ririrchiyo's childhood friend. Though he considers himself her "big brother" and looks out for her, she does not think of him as more than a neighbor, nor does she appear to appreciate him that much. However, he is unfazed by her normally cold demeanor and continues to help her whenever he can. He also points out that Ririchiyo does care about others, as she wrote him an apologetic letter after the two got into a fight. She does indeed show concern for him, though she'll never admit it out loud.
Kagerou Shoukiin[]
Kagerou was Ririchiyo's fiancé who used to write letters to each other when they were young and Ririchiyo would always wait for his letters. Later on, Kagerou tells Ririchiyo that Soushi was the one writing the letters and not him. Their parents were the ones who set up their arranged marriage. He said that he came to Ayakashi Kan because he wanted to entertain her. Once, she visited Kagerou's house.
Nobara Yukinokouji[]
At a first glance, Nobara gave Ririchiyo the chills. Nobara is constantly infatuated with Ririchiyo's innocent appearance, claiming that she hopes that she and Ririchiyo may get along. "Of course, I mean this sexually!" This tends to make Ririchiyo very creeped out by Nobara's perverted personal but she does find Nobara a nice person who makes a decent friend, despite her fetish with Ririchiyo's body.
Karuta Roromiya[]
Ririchiyo immediately thinks the exact same thing other people would think after meeting Karuta: she is odd. Slowly, though, Ririchiyo becomes charismatic towards Karuta by constantly worrying about her getting into trouble and by giving Karuta food. Immediately after receiving food from her, Karuta proclaims she loves "Chiyo-chan". Ririchiyo is embarrassed by this and dismisses it as Karuta only showing her gratitude. Eventually, it can be clearly seen that Karuta truly does care about Ririchiyo and that she thinks of her as her best friend.
Banri Watanuki[]
Ririchiyo is not very fond of Watanuki, as Watanuki is not very fond of Ririchiyo either. They can be seen having silly, pointless arguments, but nothing brash enough to cause any drama. Ririchiyo finds it humorous on how Watanuki claims to be a delinquent, yet he acts most the time as a bright and kind person. Although they do bicker, they consider each other friends.
Zange Natsume[]
Zange would most likely be Ririchiyo's least favorite person, as he tends to tease her a lot. However, at times, he does give Ririchiyo tips on how to communicate better with people and consider others friends.
Unnamed Son[]
It is revealed in the future that she and Soushi have a son. It is strongly implied her son is the reincarnation of Soushi's future self as she remember what he have written in the letter from the time caspule: that he wish he could be born as part of herself (meaning he wish to be by her side forever like his past incarnation). His wish was granted and he was deeply attached to Ririchiyo as his mother.
Her father[]
Ririchiyo's father is shown in the anime in episode 3, where it's revealed that he has slapped her due to her wanting to be equally loved and cared for like her younger sister. He seems to have a strong disliking towards Miketsukami.
Etymology[]
- The name Ririchiyo means "dignified, cold, strict, severe" (凜) (ri) and "butterfly" (蝶) (chiyo).
- Ririchiyo's surname Shirakiin means "white" (白) (shira), "demon, ogre" (鬼) (ki) and "hospital" (院) (in).
- Her married name Miketsukami means "honorable" (御) (mike), "fox" (狐) (tsu) and "god" (神) (kami).
Trivia[]
- Ririchiyo's favorite song is a classical piece called "Comme au Premier Jour" by André Gagnon.
- Ririchiyo has a younger sister.
- Ririchiyo favorite drinks are tea and coffee.
- According to the Official Guidebook (Volume 0), in response to a question about whether Ririchiyo likes high places or not, she answers by saying that she likes relatively high places but isn't very good with roller coasters.
- The mask Ririchiyo carries in her youkai form is called Hannya, a mask used in Noh theater that represents a jealous female demon.
- The Hannya mask is said to be evil and dangerous, but also sorrowful and tormented as well as the complexity of human emotions, which may refer to Ririchiyo's personality. From front, the mask appears frightening and angry; when tilted slightly down, the face of the demon appears to be sorrowful, as though crying.
- Ririchiyo's preference in clothing color is sise black, white, grey, blue and brown.
- Ririchiyo is a tsushun, not a tsundere because unlike a tsundere she regrets insulting or looking down on people and often falls into depression.