The Regular Anime Cast

From left to right- Muraki, Hisoka, Tsuzuki, Tatsume and Watari

Descendants of Darkness, or "Yami no Matsuei", is a tale of mystery, romance, comedy, deception, and of course, death. Welcome to the word of the Shinigami, or "Guardians of Death". These unsung (and not to mention... un-alive... that's right, they're dead) heros are the ones that make sure that when you die, its at the right time and place, and that your soul gets sent to its proper destination. Basically, they're somewhat like supernatural detectives, solver murders and other such things.



The story settles upon 93-year-old Asato Tsuzuki, his partner Hisoka Kurosaki, and his stalker/molester Asutaka Muraki.



Yup it's that messed up. ^_^ but it rocks all the same.

CHARACTERS

Tsuzuki

Tsuzuki, as said before, is the main character in both the manga and anime. His emotions are rather a mess... he's kind and helpful, yet can be deadly and vengeful when need be. He comes off as sort of a clumsy, dottering idiot, but he is really wise and has great skill - he knows his job inside and out... hell he's been doing it for seventy years...

All of his shifting emotions cover up the deep depression that he suffers from. Tsuzuki is full of angst, and someone has twisted every horrible thing he's seen into being his fualt. He was very ill for a time when he was alive, took no food or water for six years, which although his body didn't deteriorate, cuased him to slip into a coma. When he awoke, he slit his wrist and bled to death.

At his job, he's the best... though he's known for slacking off and taking extended lunchbreaks in order to find some sweets, often times taking another of the Shinigami with him (at the beginning of the series it's Wakaba, Terrazuma's partner). Many people have passed him over as a partner, either due to his attitude or his unhealthy habits, including the stingy Tatsumi. But under all of this, he's a well-liked person, although he doesn't see it all of the time.

Hisoka

Hisoka is Tsuzuki's newest in a long string of partners. When they first meet, he mistakes the elder Shinigami for a vampire the two of them are chasing at the same time... and later that night he gets drunk and passes out after accidentally drinking Tsuzuki's glass of red wine.

This young blond is the youngest of all the Shinigami, having been killed by what is only described in the anime as "an uncurable illness". Hisoka is cold and bitter, and seems to hate being pared with Tsuzuki at first, even going so far as to call him "Stupid Idiot Tsuzuki" in his sleep, but soon the elder Shinigami proves that he is worth trusting, even though they don't always agree on a course of action.

Like his partner, Hisoka's mortal life was filled with anguish. He was born with certain abilities, like being able to feel other people's emotions and having a strong spiritual connection to nearly everything. He came from a very old, traditional Japanese family (and Hisoka proves this by his skill with a katana late in the anime, and also with a bow in the manga), and when they found out about his gifts, they denied him being a part of the family and locked him up. At one point, whilst out for a walk during the night, Hisoka witnesses a murder, committed by Dr. Muraki. He tries to run, but Muraki catches up to him, casts a spell over him.

At first, Hisoka has a hard time trusting any of his co-workers, but they being to grow on him, and he becomes a bit more open.

Terrazuma

He doesn't make an appearence other than in volume four of the manga, but hey, Terrazuma is awesome.

One of the older Shinigami, he has powers that rival even Tsuzuki's, though he can't summon any of the Shikigami (Guardian Gods) like the latter can. For this reason, he hates Tsuzuki with a passion, though his other spiritual powers are just as strong, if not stronger, than his rival's.

When angered, Terrazuma can transform into a giant beast, which resembles a huge black lion. Oddly enough, this transformation is also triggered by his one weakness- women. If he touches one he looses control and transforms. Ironically, the only person who can get him to change back is also a woman, his partner Wakaba.

Muraki

Dr. Muraki, is without a doubt, sinister. His family have been doctors for many, many generations, and his grandfather owned the hospital that Tsuzuki died in. While Muraki isn't a Shinigami (hell it isn't known if he's a demon either), he definately isn't your average human. He can put you under a trance, summon demons, and knows the weaknesses of the Shinigami in general (such as Angel hair is like fishing wire against their skin, and will take a lot longer to heal than a normal wound). He's insane, to put it plainly, and has been doing research in genetic cloning with his old professor. The reason- He killed his brother, and he's keeping his head alive in a jar so that he can attach it to a body (mainly Tsuzuki's), and then kill him again.

He loves Tsuzuki's body, and will do anything to get a hold of it, mainly due to the Shinigami's advanced healing techniques (his are faster than the others... he attempted suicide many times without success until after his coma). In the manga, Muraki's right eye, the creepier of the two, is explained to be a glass replacement... though how he lost his remains to be read.

Tatsume

Tatsumi

The stingy Shinigami, Tatsumi is more of an accoutant than an actual detective. He's higher ranked than Tsuzuki even though he is much younger, and is very creepy.

Tsuzuki's most recent partner before Hisoka, Tatsumi requested to be separated from the elder Guardian because he noticed how cold and distant Tsuzuki was despite his pleasent demeanor. He's often seen picking on the elder Shinigami, but he really has a soft spot for Tsuzuki, especially once he figured out that Tsuzuki only distanced himself because he was afraid of loosing someone he was attached to.

Tatsumi worries alot about Tsuzuki... but even more about the money that the department gets. Whenever Tsuzuki goes out on a mission he demands getting recipts back... talk about stingy.