Until Death Do Us Part

Until Death Do Us Part (死がふたりを分かつまで) is a manga that started its serialization on Young Gangan Magazine's December, 2005 issue. Its story is written by Hiroshi Takashige and the manga is drawn by DOUBLE-S. Currently, 12 volumes have been published.

Plot
Haruka Tōyama, a young girl, was kidnapped by agents of a company named EX-SOLID due to her precognition abilities. She later finds solitude with a man named Hijikita Mamoru, a blind swordsman, ex-kendoka and convict who is proficient in the use of a katana.

Before she was rescued, Haruka told Hijikita to protect her "Until Death Do Us Part." Later on, a secret and elite vigilante paramilitary group called the Element Network gets involved in protecting Haruka from unknown forces who seek her ability.

Blade

 * Mamoru Hijikata (土方 護)
 * He is the protagonist of the story. Although he is completely blind, he is a master of Kenjutsu. To compensate for Mamoru's lost vision, Igawa has developed a device with an outer appearance of a pair of sunglasses, that projects directly onto Mamoru's retina a rendered first-person view of Mamoru's surroundings in the fashion of a wire-frame model. Having learned many real-combat sword-fighting techniques, and with the newly-gained "sight," he is able to engage in direct combat with his opponents. He is connected to Genda from his past and was an assistant instructor according to Genda.
 * Aloof, daring, and unsociable, he cares little for the bad guys, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings. At one time, he was the protege of the old martial arts. However, he killed his master Makabe using a wooden sword.
 * He has a sweet tooth. In a wanted poster his height was measured to be around 6 ft. Mamoru means 'to protect'


 * Haruka Tōyama (遠山 遥)
 * She is the female leading character of the story. She possesses the ability to foresee the future, or more accurately, many possible future outcomes (eg Haruka can "see" that she and Mamoru will be married one day.) Igawa created a fake identity so she can go to school. Her fake identity is Haruna Tachibana, Sierra's daughter. During the time Mamoru went MIA, she got some combat training with Inaba. Haruka means 'far off, or distant' Haruka believes that Mamoru is her "future" husband


 * Ryōtarō Igawa (井川 良太郎)
 * Mamoru's teammate who mainly deals with the technical aspects of Blade's operations. He had a little sister that was going to graduate from elementary school, but was killed. He drives in a Right hand drive Chevrolet Astro modified with electronics and communications equipment, including a police scanner to monitor all Japanese law enforcement frequencies with the van being made bulletproof and a color changing machine that allows the Astro to switch colors to avoid being detected by police or by criminals. He uses the Linux OS for his computers.


 * Dai Ibuki (伊吹 大)
 * Newly assigned Blade member after Mamoru (and Haruka) went MIA and the same age as Igawa. He rides a special motorcycle that runs silently and has special "Trial Mode" to jump it in mid-air or to go up between buildings.He has a grudge against Mamoru and always thinks he is his equal. In Chapters 75-76, he got into a fight with Mamoru, but got interrupted by Tatsumi Daiba. After the fight, he made a promise to become better than Mamoru. He was backup for Mamoru during his fight with Wiseman. He also bumped into Juilet and was insulted by her. He is the only one that ever seen and communicated with Daiba in person.

The Wall

 * Alpha (アルファ)
 * His real name is Jack Garvey (ジャック・ガービー). Leader of the Element Network's international anti-crime unit "The Wall". He has a noticeable scar on the left side of his face. Originally a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, the Green Berets, he was later transferred to the British Army's SAS on an exchange program. Since then, he had served in the elite forces in France, Germany, Italy and a few other countries. He had been awarded a total of 7 medals for a single, flawless mission he lead. In fact, until 3 years ago, he had been active in CIFA, and was in command of its successful hostage rescue operation. He went underground to the Wall after leaving CIFA.


 * Bravo (ブラボー)
 * Charlie (チャーリー)
 * Delta (デルタ)
 * Echo (エコー)
 * Lieutenant of "The Wall" and second in command. Ordered Kilo to scout Mamoru's brawl.


 * Foxtrot (フォックストロット)
 * One of the Wall's commandos. Was wounded during an encounter with Edge alongside India.


 * Golf (ゴルフ)
 * Hotel (ホテル)
 * India (インディア)
 * An ex-Marine who joins the Wall after losing his child to a terrorist. Speaks fluent Japanese.


 * Juliett (ジュリエット)
 * She specializes in infiltration and looks over Haruka in Sierra's absence. She seemed to harbor a personal grudge against Sierra, and the source of that was later revealed to be from her own tragic past. After Mamoru's with Wiseman, she bumped into Dai and considered him a boy because his reaction of detection was weak.


 * Kilo (キロ)
 * He specializes in using knives and from an almost comical scene, he is also Sierra's ex-husband. He almost got killed by Genda, but Mamoru prevented it. He also "babysat" Haruka and ended up getting involved in an assassination crime that she got into. He is still in the hospital for his injuries.


 * Lima (リマ)
 * Mike (マイク)
 * November (ノベンバー)
 * Oscar (オスカー)


 * Papa (パパ)
 * A big man with a mighty grip of 170 kg.


 * Quebec (ケベック)
 * Romeo (ロメオ)


 * Sierra (シエラ)
 * Her real name is Serena (セリーナ). She had a daughter with her ex-husband, Kilo, but Cindy was killed by a terrorist, which prompted her into joining The Wall. She is very protective of Haruka, often treating Haruka as if Haruka were her own daughter. Once she recovered, she decided to take a leave of absence from "The Wall" to train herself to become better so that she won't be a burden to others. In Chapter 81, she went to visit Mamoru's teacher, Inaba, in person to get some training.


 * Tango (タンゴ)
 * Uniform (ユニフォーム)
 * Victor (ヴィクター)
 * Whiskey (ウィスキー)
 * X-ray (エックス・レイ)
 * Yankee (ヤンキー)
 * Zulu (ズール)

Police

 * Teppei Genda (源田鉄平)
 * A detective assigned to solve the attacks caused by Mamoru when he was protecting Haruka. He's the only police officer who knows of The Wall's existence. It is later revealed that he is also a very skilled swordmaster almost equal to Mamoru and use a Bokkutou. Genda and Mamoru somehow have a long history with each other since he calls Mamoru "assistant instructor" when he had been practicing Kendo in his younger days. It is later revealed that he also knew the Aegis during the same Kendo practices.


 * Masuda (升田)
 * Horikawa (堀川)

Others

 * Inaba (稲葉)
 * Mamoru's kendo teacher who is well aware of Makabe's death. Mamoru and Haruka spent time with him when they went MIA and during that time he practiced with Mamoru and trained Haruka. Genda and Masuda visit him to hear about Mamoru's swordsman's life prior to the murder of his master. After they left, Sierra suddenly turned up in front of him.


 * Tatsumi Daiba (台場 巽)
 * The manager of Element Network who keeps a close eye on Mamoru and Haruka. He has a disabled leg and uses a walking cane. Daiba gained reputation as the prodigy who created the search engine MENTOR in his teens. MENTOR brought him much wealth and he went on to become a world leading VIP. During his childhood, his father murdered his mother in front of his eyes. There are rumors that he is connected to the underworld and has developed quantum computer. He is also a highly skilled martial artist.


 * Aegis (イージス) (also called "The Praetorian")
 * The underground strongest bodyguard who can deflect any bullet. He lost his family and his right arm when he was kid. His right arm is replaced with a artificial arm of steel. He is has some respect to Mamoru, but dislikes his personality for only caring to strengthen his skills. He admitted that Mamoru is the strongest opponent he ever faced. His real name is Tate Karito and is an ex-Special Assault Team operative.


 * Senji Tamagawa (玉川 千冶)
 * Member of the Yakuza in Kakuhōkai. Like Mamoru, he is also an excellent swordsman and pretty equal foot to him also. He dislikes Komura's methods and is willing to help Mamoru as long he doesn't get into trouble from the Yakuza. He later made a promise to protect Haruka with his life.


 * Pyro (パイロ)
 * A smoking man with a fedora who is ordered by Daiba to support Haruka from behind the scenes. He refers Mamoru as "Blade".


 * Ana Riddle (アナ・リドル)
 * Seems to be connected to Daiba. The broker of "Aegis" underground strongest bodyguard who would provide service only to the clients who can answer her riddles.


 * Crossover from AEGIS IN THE DARK (闇のイージス) which run in the same magazine.


 * Jesus (ジーザス)
 * Renowned underground hit-man who is seeking his kidnapped pupil which got trafficked over the world. He appears again in Chapter 100 confronting Wiseman.


 * Crossover from JESUS (ジーザス) by the same mangakas as AEGIS IN THE DARK.

The Republic of Garuboa

 * Edge Turus (エジー・トゥルス)
 * Garuboan ambassador to Japan. Had plans to kidnap Haruka due to her psychic abilities as well as the EX-SOLID biochip. Was disabled by Mamoru when he sliced his right arm after Alpha led The Wall commandos to storm a freighter he used to supposedly meet with Mamoru. Later on, Mamoru cut off his left arm without his special sunglasses. After the incident, Komura took over Edge's position. He currently hospitalized. Gene gave him the prosthetic arm that was stolen.


 * Fang (牙(ファング))
 * An assassin hired by Edge. Has an appearance resembling Edge (top part of his face). He has a strong interest in Mamoru. He uses portable, computerized mini helicopters armed with mini turrets to fight Mamoru. However, Igawa saw through it and was able to find him. It was later revealed that he is Edge's half brother.


 * Mister Wiseman
 * To the general public, he is Thomas Jefferson (トーマス・ジェファーソン), a former college professor and expert on crime, but he is actually a criminal under disguise and in the criminal world, he's best known as Mr. Wiseman, the man who taught Edge.


 * Komura (古村)
 * The Kakuhōkai yakuza clan's waka gashira, an overseer and the second in command. He was present during Mamoru's raid of the Kakuhōkai's Tokyo branch and vowed to take revenge on the swordsman down ever since. Currently he is allied with Edge Turus and Mister Wiseman and is currently replaced Edge's position. He sometimes go by the name "Professor".

He is Edge's younger brother and works for Plunder. He was the one responsible for stealing Aegis's arm. He wear a headset connected to a PDA.
 * Gene

Organizations

 * Element Network (エレメンツ・ネットワーク)
 * A covert vigilante group formed by crime victims and their families who exchange of information, and mobilize to intervene directly to "hunt criminals". Basically, information exchange, evaluation and monitoring of actual mobilization, and all other organizational activities can be done anonymously via the Internet, although willing parties may work directly with other members in curbing crime. Since the purpose of the organization is to prevent crime, killings of criminals are prohibited. However, it seems that the organization has plans of hiring criminals to deal with other criminals. Currently, the organization is only scarcely discussed about in some online communities.


 * Blade (ブレード)
 * A team consisting of Mamoru and Igawa that deals with large-scale city crimes. However, since Mamoru's usually the only one fighting at the scene, the term Blade is more often used as Mamoru's codename.


 * The Wall (THE WALL(ザ・ウォール))
 * An international anti-crime unit led by Alpha. Its members are codenamed according to the Phonetic Alphabet. Owning to EN policy as to avoid killing criminals unless in dire situations, Wall commandos use non-lethal weapons and techniques to apprehend criminals instead of killing them.


 * Plunder (強奪者(プランダー))
 * Codename of an unknown terrorist/s responsible for stealing intellectual properties from various corporations. He was the one that steal the new artificial arm that was made for Aegis.

Publication
Until Death Do Us Part has been published in Japan with 12 volumes by Square Enix, recently released on June 25, 2010. In France and in French-speaking countries and territories, it is being published by Editions Ki-oon in 9 volumes under the title Jusqu'à ce que la mort nous sépare with its 1st volume published on March 27, 2008.