List of ghosts of Ghost Stories

This is a character guide to the anime series Ghost Stories, focusing on the major ghost characters who appeared during the storyline.

Amanojaku (Episode 1)
Amanojaku was a very small ghost once, but as soon as he played little tricks that scared Satsuki, Hajime, Momoko and Leo a bit, he becomes very big and muscular. In other words, the size of fear added his size and powers. In the end Satsuki accidentally sealed him in her pet cat, Kaya.

Hanako (Episode 2)
Hanako is the ghost of a little girl that haunts the ladies' restroom of the old school building. She appears to be harmless and has no intention to scare people, for she only wants to play and make friends. She appears mainly in the 2nd episode, trying to call for help when her lair is taken over by Akagami-Aogami, and makes several cameos in the other episodes.

Akagami-Aogami (Episode 2)
Translated as "Red Paper Blue Paper", Akagami-Aogami haunts the restrooms asking to his victims if they want red paper or blue paper. Both options are terrible ways of death, with "red" meaning the victim getting his blood drained out and "blue" meaning suffocation until the victim becomes blue due to asphyxiation. Answering with another color doesn't stop him either, as Hajime does so (in this case he answered "yellow paper") and is almost dragged to the underworld. Satsuki seals Akagami-Aogami through a jar filled with water and marked with the symbol of a Tori. He appears in the 2nd episode and re-appears in the 20th episode.

Kutabe (Episode 3)
A kitsune -like ghost which haunts the fourth step of an old stairway near the school (this is most likely connected to the Japanese superstition with the number four and its association with death: 四 (four) and 死 (death) - both are pronounced 'shi'). It is believed that he can grant wishes, however once they come true, a horrible accident happens in trade. The Kutabe seems to be related to the play featured in this episode.

Kuchisake-onna (discontinued 3rd Episode)
The ghost of a woman that was brutally mutilated by a jealous husband, and returned as a malicious spirit bent on committing the same acts done to her. She was originally going to appear in episode 3 (あたしきれい? 口裂け女 'Am I Beautiful? Kuchisake-onna), but the episode was discontinued when many people complained to Fuji TV because they thought the facial feature looked like a cleft palette.

The Piano Ghost (Episode 4)
A ghost who resembles the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. He haunts a piano of the old school and curses people through the song Für Elise, stating that they will die if they hear the song four times; he can accomplish this by making his victims hear his song through various objects, even ones that couldn't normally play the song. Momoko, being possessed by Kayako, sealed him inside a metronome.

Datto (Episode 5)
This ghost has two distinct personalities: one is of a boy who runs barefoot at incredible speed, while the other is a diabolic hare-like scythe demon. Since he died by being hit by a car while he was training to win the race game of the sports festival, he slashes off and gathers legs of sprint runners. In the 5th episode the good Datto appears preying Keiichiro who is training to win the race game as well, but when Satsuki tells him that Keiichiro believed him to be a friend, he redeems and even stops the evil Datto from slashing off Keiichiro's legs when he was about to win the race. With the fall of his evil counterpart, Datto was then put into spiritual sleep.

Babasare (Episode 6)
Resembling the infamous Grim Reaper in all aspects, Babasare has the power of altering reality. He haunts children that are lonely in their homes and believe in and fear him. Aside from this, he cannot appear to adults or brave children (like Momoko), since they don't believe in his existence, thus won't fear him. When he comes to Satsuki's house to attack Satsuki, Hajime, Reo and Keichirou, Satsuki tries to destroy him through spilling hot water on him. However, it was later showed that this doesn't permanently remove him. He appears in the 6th episode and makes a cameo in the 20th episode.

Utsushimi (Episode 7)
A ghost who inhabits an old mirror inside the old school building. He captures people in the mirror world and replaces them with a replica who wears glasses, but gives no reflection. He tried to replace everybody in the town, but was sealed away by Satsuki who put another mirror right in front of his.

Datsueba (Episode 8)
A demon hag (more like an Onibaba) who appears in the 8th episode. According to Satsuki's mom's diary he used to take lost people to the boats of the Sanzu River and then forced them to enter in a boat to cross the river, in other words to the underworld. However, it seemed his activities stopped with the installment of lights in the city. He now uses a legendary Internet site called Yomi-Net to do the same scheme, in which Reo nearly becomes a victim. The only way to defeat him is to use an o-fuda and wish him to go back home.

Shirotabi (Episode 9)
Shirotabi was a rabbit that was cared for by the school pet keeper, Mio. After its death, Mio decided to bring Shirotabi back through a black magic ritual. The spell worked, but in the other side Shirotabi was put into a curse where it turns into a killer demon every night. Mio tried to stop Shirotabi, but realized Shirotabi didn't even recognize her. It was up to Satsuki and the others to convince Mio that Shirotabi's place should be with the dead, and so Mio agrees. Mio broke the spell, and Shirotabi remained dead forever. It appears in episode 9 and makes a cameo in episode 20.

The Taxi Driver (Episode 10)
The ghost of a taxi driver who died in a car accident inside of the damned tunnel Ananmaneki when he tried to arrive at home for his daughter's birthday. Since then, Ananmaneki uses him to lure wanderers to get into his car and cross it and then drop them there to be attacked by the other ghosts. The tunnel also uses his memories to trap the victims in an illusion, making them lose vital energy slowly. His soul is finally freed from Ananmaneki's power after Satsuki's group confronts him.

Ananmaneki (Episode 10)
Not really a ghost, Ananmaneki is actually a tunnel filled with restless spirits who died there and who try to bring humans inside to take their lives. Because of the rumors of people disappearing and dying inside the tunnel, it was closed until being re-opened when the construction company started to work in the surrounding area. When Satsuki and the others are trapped in the tunnel Kayako, through a telepathic talk with Momoko, aids them in fighting against the power of Ananmaneki which they are able to beat. Then they escape from it with the help of the taxi driver's ghost, now exorcized from his evil side.

Mary (Episode 11)
A ghost that resembles a beautiful European-looking doll. She stalks Satsuki, asking if she wants to play with her or giving her locations. Satsuki and the others try to get rid of her by leaving her in a doll house where the toys of deceased people remain. However, she gains the power to control the other toys and make them go after and attack Satsuki with the game of Kagome Kagome. Ironically though, Satsuki is saved by Mary herself, who claimed Satsuki "wasn't having fun" and decided to leave her taking a tissue that Satsuki had used to clean Mary earlier. Mary wears Satsuki's tissue as a cape and fades away forever. Despite her innocent behavior, she is a very dangerous deity, as is stated by Amanojaku at the end of the episode.

Death Nurse (Episode 12)
A mysterious deity described by Satsuki's mom as some kind of Shinigami, whose duty is to visit a person near to death and tell them that his or her end is close so the person can talk with their loved ones for one last time. She appears to Keiichirou, haunting him. Satsuki believes the Nurse wants Keiichirou for evil purposes, due to a childhood trauma related with their mother's death. However, it is revealed the Nurse only wanted to give them a letter from Satsuki's mother, which wasn't given to them because she had died before doing so. Therefore the Death Nurse is one of the few ghosts presented who wasn't actually evil.

Da Vinci (Episode 13)
A ghost of an art teacher from the old school who had an obsession with the Italian artist Leonardo Da Vinci, hence the meaning of his name. When he died, he gained the power to suck anything into his paintings, making both humans and ghosts fear him. He was sealed by Satsuki's mother in a painting that portrayed the old school, but then he was unintentionally freed by Satsuki when she did a similar painting of her mother.

The Railway Ghost (Episode 14)
Once a normal woman called Shizuko who was going to get married, she died by being run over by a taxi and became a yūrei spirit, haunting every taxi driver who passed the place where she died. She possesses Momoko and begins to drain her life force, until Reo stops her by finding her wedding ring and the taxi driver who killed her. Shizuko then comes after the driver and disappears bringing him along.

Shinobu Matsuda / Yamime (Episode 15)
Shinobu is, in the beginning, featured as one of Satsuki's classmates. She seems to know black magic, as she teaches it to the other girls of the class so they can grant their wishes. However, the spells are actually a trap for the girls to have their souls stolen by the darkness, and Shinobu in reality is the avatar of an evil deity called Yamime. In the end Satsuki learns that Shinobu was once her mother's classmate who mysteriously disappeared. Possibly upon her "second death", she was forever engulfed by Yamime. Voiced by: Taylor Hannah (English)

Soma (Episode 16)
A powerful deity who haunts an abandoned building of the town. It seems Soma originally lived in the undergrounds, but it was released with the construction of the building. Since then, it attacks and curses people who dare to enter the building, and it can control minor ghosts to lure or attract its victims. Soma attracts Satsuki and friends when her father falls ill with a mysterious fever, after working on the building's demolition.

Yuki (Episode 17)
In the beginning Yuki presents herself as Satsuki's younger cousin and claimed her sister Miyuki died in a snowstorm and is now haunting the family cabin. However, it was later revealed that Miyuki was alive and Yuki was the ghost of a girl who had died a long time ago. Yuki's name and many of her characteristics are derived from the Japanese myth of Yuki-onna. Yuki was just a lonely girl that was left by her mother at a hotel and drowned in a lake while waiting for her mother's return. In the end Yuki rests after the gang repeats the chorus "Go with the snow, rest with the snow", using an old photo from a newspapaer. Free from her evil counterpart, the girl can finally find peace.

Akane (Episode 18)
Akane was a girl who died of a sudden heart attack during a radio show in the old school. Since then, her ghost curses all those who hear her voice and they will die at the dawn of the same day. Satsuki puts her into spiritual sleep by repeating the number four several times (in Japanese culture, "4" is an unlucky number, because "shi", the word for four, is also the word for death), with Hajime finishing the process by ringing the bell that announced the end of the radio transmission.

Headless Biker (Episode 19)
The ghost of a feared motorcycle punk who lost his head years ago in a road accident. Since then, every year on the anniversary of his death, he goes on a rampage decapitating everything that resembles a head through mysterious powers. He can also drive people to an irrational obsession to hide their necks. He can only be sealed by offering him a "new head" (or most likely a fake head) near a light font and water. Satsuki tried the remedy, but learned that he is too powerful and dangerous to be defeated. Fortunately, the biker cannot attack anyone who is using a scarf, because the neck is hidden. Also, the Biker's attack is restricted to the exact 24 hours of his day of attack - as Satsuki was nearly beheaded by him when the town clock struck the midnight song, forcing him to spare her and return to the spirit world. This ghost was possibly inspired by Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow novel - which depicts a Durahan (a kind of headless horseman) who is similar to the ghost. He appears mainly in the 19th episode and makes cameo appearances in the 1st and 20th episodes.

Lord Ohma (Episode 20)
The last and most muscular ghost to be presented, Lord Ohma is a very powerful evil deity capable of controlling other ghosts even if they are sealed away. He holds a hateful grudge against Kayako Miyanoshita. The first thing he did after he was freed of his magical sleep was go after Satsuki and Keiichirou. The only way to seal him away is to imprison him in a huge bell, once the exorcist has enough spiritual power. Satsuki and the gang decide to use the old school's bell, but since Satuski hasn't developed her spiritual powers at that time, Amanojaku left Kaya's body to fight with Lord Ohma while Satsuki gathered power. In the end, Satsuki sealed both Lord Ohma and Amanojaku, who was accidentally sealed by Satsuki (the latter sacrificed himself in order for Satsuki to gather enough power to destroy Lord Ohma forever).