Amatsuki

Amatsuki (あまつき) is an ongoing manga series by Shinobu Takayama, serialized in Monthly Comic Zero Sum. A 13 episode anime adaption produced by Studio Deen premiered on April 4, 2008.

Plot
Tokidoki is a Japanese high school student who, when he fails his history class, is sent to a high-tech history museum that virtually recreates the Edo period to do make-up work. However, what was supposed to be a simple school project becomes much more complicated when he's attacked by two supernatural beings known as "the nue" and "the yakou" and loses the vision in his left eye. After he's saved from the nue by a girl named Kuchiha, he realizes that he's no longer wearing the simulation goggles, and is trapped in the virtual Edo. Meanwhile in the real world, Sensai Corporation, the virtual reality company who made the virtual museum Tokidoki is trapped in, is seen throughout the story.

Main characters
An easygoing high school student who adapts easily to new surroundings. As a child, he was sent to boarding school by his parents, and they barely kept in touch with him. He was consequently taken care of by Suoh Kuwata, a law breaker type, and a young woman, Chitose; Suoh died afterwards, but he was a very important person to Tokidoki. Tokidoki's childhood friend is Momiji. He keeps in touch with a policeman involved with Sendai Corp., named Hashita.Tokidoki is not good at history, and as a result, goes on a field trip to a virtual reality Edo period. While in this world, he loses the vision in his left eye to the nue and yakou and finds himself trapped in this simulation of the Edo period. Called the "hakutaku," "hakushi no mono" (白紙の者, lit. "the one of blank page") by some in the virtual Edo, as his fate isn't foretold by Heaven's Net. The demons that want to protect the world want to make him the new "Teiten" or God of Amatsuki, since he is just as powerful as the current one. After being rescued by Kuchiha, for whom be worries in the beginning of the series (because she lets others hate and isolate her), he adapts quickly to his surroundings, but is living life as if it were a dream. He is under the care of Lord Shamon, a priest who cares after Kuchiha and someone he met from the real world just minutes before, Kon. Toki soon befriends more characters, including Heihachi, and he even goes on to attract the attention of the women in the town (he later befriends the demons that are hated by humans).After becoming acquainted with the virtual universe, he finds himself having to choose between siding with the demons, who will revere him as a god, or with the humans, including the Omnyouji Bureau, who want to get rid of the demons. He is stuck in the gray area, not wanting to choose one side, but both. He is warned about how dangerous this is, and has been asked to choose a definite side. In the recent chapters, we find out he has fallen in love with Kuchiha.
 * Tokidoki Rikugō (六合鴇時)


 * Kon Shinonome (篠ノ女紺)
 * A member of Tokidoki's high school who is cool-headed and logical, but has a reputation for getting into fights. He was also attacked by the Nue and Yakou, which left him without the sensation in his right arm, and became trapped in Edo as well. He arrived two years before Tokidoki, and acts as Tokidoki's mentor after his arrival. Later on in the story, Kon's memories were altered by Heaven and he no longer remembers the original world he came from, or Tokidoki. Kon seems to be quite a mysterious character as he is seen in the manga to have come quite genius capabilities in the real world, before the current plot, as well as running an investigation on the company running the virtual reality theme park.


 * Kuchiha (朽葉)
 * A swordswoman who has a Dog God (inugami) living inside her, and as a result, is despised by humans. She saved Tokidoki from the nue. At first, she hates optimistic and naive people like Tokidoki, but she warms up to him throughout the course of the series. She usually wears her hair in a long ponytail, and has a big appetite. She and Kon are friends who love to hate each other. When she was a child, her grandfather named her Kuchiha, which means "faded flowers", in hopes that she would be the last of the family. After her grandfather's death, she became unable to tend to herself, and lived alone in the shack where she once lived with her grandfather. It is here that she is discovered by Kanzou, a boy with marked fangs over his teeth. Kuchiha lost the ability to speak, but Kanzou understood her and tended to her needs. One day, he set off to find a place where she would belong, and told her to wait where she was. However, she walked away from where she was supposed to wait, getting lost, and losing Kanzou, who was no longer able to find her. Years later, Kanzou finds her again, explaining that their destinies are bound together, for she is the dog god, and he is the destined servant of the dog god, Shirachigo( Gazu Hyakki Yak%C5%8D ). Kuchiha, believing that Kanzou abandoned her, refuses to go along with him at first, but she concedes, leaving Toki with these words: "I'm not like you." Recently in the series, she saves Tokidoki from the vortex by fighting the monster and cutting her hair after it got a grip of her. Rikugou jumps in after her, confessing his love and getting bitten in the neck. Kuchiha is stuck in the vortex, with a concerned Tokidoki and Kanzou. Her age is unknown.

Other characters

 * Shamon (沙門)
 * In public, he's a temple priest, but in private, he's a demon hunter. He is Kuchiha's foster father.


 * Heihachi (平八)
 * A friend of Tokidoki and Kon. He later becomes friends with Tsuyukusa. He gets teased by Kon for having strange and large eyes. He's severely injured by Imayou, but is healed and brought to health by Tsuyukusa. Later, he helps convince Tsuyukusa to break free from his mad frenzy.


 * Ginshu (銀朱)
 * One of the four Holy Ones and the High Priestess of the Sakigami shrine. Originally believed to have been cursed by the demon Byakuroku, it was later revealed that his spirit was in fact placed within Byakuroku's body, as an attempt by Bonten to preserve them both (after a battle that would have cost both their lives). Ginshu is actually male, but is referred to as a Princess anyway. It is revealed that Ginshu is actually not the real High Priestess, but a decoy to protect the real High Priestess, Shinshu. She possesses "poison blood" to demons, so when they try to eat him they die.


 * Shinshu (真朱)
 * Ginshu's younger sister. She can never age and is forever a child, and is actually the real High Priestess and possesses the power of foresight through the use of dreams. She is very innocent and cute, and is very fond of Ginshu. It is hinted that she used to play with Tsuyukusa when he was a child (though, much to his annoyance, as he didn't seem to happy when she appeared from the bushes). Shinshu once had the power to alter Heaven's Net, but this was lost as a bargain to save Ginshu after the incident with Byakuroku.


 * Tsuruume (鶴梅)
 * Ginshu's attendant. She has been loyal to Ginshu since she was a child, and heavily quarreled with Shinshu. It is revealed that she is from a well off family, but has chosen to serve Ginshu.


 * Tadajirō Sasaki (佐々木只二郎)
 * A government official in charge of demon hunting. He and Shamon are old friends.


 * Kurotobi (黒鳶)
 * A strange person on the orders of Sasaki to watch Tokidoki. He has a pet demon, a Fire Rat. He also knows how to handle demons.


 * Bonten (梵天)
 * A powerful demon with the ability to read fate. He is one of the four Holy Ones. He has known Ginshu since he was a child. Their first encounter he had tried to kill her, but found out that it was futile (as she had said she was just a decoy for Shinshu). He was very fond of Ginshu (it was mutual) but unlike Ginshu, he did not like to openly admit it and often spoke to her rudely. He spent most of the winter as a child playing with Ginshu in various games. However, their relationship changed drastically after the priestess of the Sakigami shrine severely injured Tsuyukusa. A bloody battle took place, and as Ginshu and Byakuroku killed each other, a deal was made with Heaven, so that Shinshu's power was transferred to Bonten, and he replaced Byakuroku taking his place as Heaven's Seat.


 * Tsuyukusa (露草)
 * A kodama who works with Bonten. He resents humans for the death of Byakuroku, but seems to have little trouble befriending them.


 * Utsubushi (空五倍子)
 * A tengu who serves Bonten. Utsubushi regards Bonten as his 'father' as he is in fact a collaboration of spirits Bonten had gathered and given form to.


 * Imayō (今様)
 * A kitsune who resents humans for the death of her master. She's corrupted by the Yakou after killing humans. She is later saved by Tokidoki, and afterwards reverts back to her original form.


 * Byakuroku (白緑)
 * An old and powerful snake demon who, at the brink of death after biting into Ginshu's 'poison blood', became the vessel for Ginshu's spirit. He raised Bonten and Tsuyukusa.


 * Susutake (煤竹)
 * A member of Heaven's seat who is actually the Yakou. He is seen with Bonten, Utsubushi, and Tsuyukusa.


 * Hizame (緋褪)
 * Part of the group that hunts demons; she wears a cloth over her eye. She is a refined woman, and she had also made an arrangement with Sasaki to give him the power to see demons in exchange for his eyesight. She teases Tokidoki, thinking he likes Kuchiha.

Production
The animated television series Amatsuki is directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi and produced by Studio Deen. However, only 13 episodes were made and released to DVD. Because one of the members from the staff was involved in a drug scandal, the production was discontinued.

Music
Opening Theme
 * "Casting Dice" by Yuuki Kanno

Ending Theme
 * "Namae no Nai Michi (名まえのない道; A Road with No Name)" by Kaori Hikita