This is a list of main characters from the manga Kekkaishi by Yellow Tanabe and the anime television series adapted from it. Kekkaishi is about teenagers Yoshimori Sumimura and Tokine Yukimura, heirs to rival clans of kekkai (barrier magic) users, who must defend their school from the spirits drawn to the sacred land it is built upon.
Protagonists
Yoshimori Sumimura
is the main male protagonist. A 14-year-old middle school boy at the beginning of the story, Yoshimori is the 22nd Kekkaishi of the Sumimura family. Throughout the series, Yoshimori is portrayed as a lazy, stubborn, headstrong individual who strives to protect his family and friends, especially Tokine, who he's had feelings for since childhood. When Yoshimori was much younger he often cried a lot and strongly disliked being a Kekkaishi. Yoshimori's attitude greatly changed, however, after Tokine's arm was injured by an ayakashi that Yoshimori failed to eliminate. At the beginning of the series, he is often seen baking, an activity he often finds more important to him than his duty as a Kekkaishi. He dreams of becoming a patissier, but is often chastised by his grandfather for this hobby. Yoshimori's skills as a Kekkaishi differ from those of his counterpart, Tokine. Due to his rash and headstrong personality, Yoshimori has always fallen behind Tokine in terms of speed and accuracy. However, in terms of sheer power and stamina, Yoshimori excels. He is capable of creating extremely powerful and large kekkai, kekkai which Tokine is either incapable of forming or those which would quickly exhaust her. Throughout the series, observations had been made by Shigemori Sumimura and Masamori Sumimura that Yoshimori has an enormous wellspring of latent abilities in his kekkai. It has also been noted that Yoshimori is able to activate a Zekkai without any particular training beforehand. It manifests itself as black fire around him. However, his Zekkai is incomplete due to his lack of negative emotions. In his fight with Kaguro, it is revealed that he is much more adept with Shrinkage and could only be powered to its full potential in moments when his emotions overflow their boundaries. Only three occasions have been shown with him using his fully powered Shrinkage in the current running of the series: once while fighting against Kaguro, saving his brother Masamori from getting hit by a fatal attack, and after Hiura is severely injured. This state rejects everything he doesn't like, including death. It is later revealed by Hazama that this is actually a different technique entirely, called Shinkai, which up until then he was unable to use unless a powerful being lent him the power to trigger it without the necessary training. The death of Gen has also drastically changed his views, leading him to desire becoming more powerful. He sees Hiura in a similar state as Gen, and told Hiura that if he wants to kill someone, kill him first. Yoshimori didn't trust either at first but began to warm up to them as they fought together. Yoshimori's power has recently undergone a significant change. At the behest of his grandfather, Yoshimori underwent special training with Shimano, a two-tailed cat spirit, to learn a technique that could untap the full potential of his power. After several weeks of training, Yoshimori learns to enter a mental state called musou, in which he is distanced from emotion and in a state of pure focus. While in musou, not only does Yoshimori's efficiency with power increases exponentially, he also gains speed and accuracy greater than that possessed by Tokine. Yoshimori is now training to enter "ultimate musou", a state in which not only will his full power be unlocked, but will enable him to summon his "landlord", a powerful guardian spirit which serves as an anchor to his heart/emotions. He is referred to as a sympathizer for Karasumori, he can communicate directly with the landlord as such. As of chapter 266 Yoshimori has summoned his landlord, Shiguma, and can enter "Musou" state at will. In this state, Yoshimori not only can create seemingly indestructible kekkai, but also create large numbers of them with no visible signs of fatigue or strain. In chapter 273, Okuni reveals to Masamori that Yoshimori is an extremely rare human being that is compatible with Karasumori and if Karasumori chooses, Karasumori can share his massive 'spiritual reservoir' that has the power potential to destroy the world with Yoshimori. He is currently being taught by Tokimori Hazama and his mother's shikigami on how to permanently seal the lord (Chūshinmaru) using his shinkai. This training is being done away from Karasumori. When not in training, he carries the lord in an orb that he wears around his neck. This is so Yoshimori can properly protect the lord and call upon the lord's power when he needs it. It has been mentioned by Hazama to himself that Yoshimori is the sacrifice needed to seal Chūshinmaru.
Tokine Yukimura
is Yoshimori's childhood best friend and "partner", but most notably, is also his love interest. Tokine is 16 years old and the 22nd Kekkaishi of the Yukimura family. She bears a scar on her right hand, which she received while protecting Yoshimori in their childhood. Tokine is gifted with great accuracy and precision, however, her kekkai are very weak and can only be maintained for short periods of time; her kekkai lack the "brute power" of Yoshimori's kekkai. At first she attempts to make up for this by copying Masamori's technique of stacking several kekkai's around a target, however effective, this takes too much stamina for her, making the technique ill-suited for her. Later, she learns to refine her kekkai into narrow "spears" that can impale and imprison an enemy, making up for her lack of power. She also has the ability to manipulate kekkai and space, this is seen when she cannot dispel Yoshimori's kekkai and so manipulates it so she is able to pass through it and then again during the time a user kidnaps members of the Yagyou she uses his portal to enter the dimension he created. Tokine is clearly impressed by the power and potential Yoshimori has, but is constantly frustrated by his poor control and lazy attitude. She cares for Yoshimori and often protected him many times when he was younger. She also likes to tease him and isn't aware of his feelings for her, although as the story progresses she begins to shows signs of deeper affection for Yoshimori; she once slapped him so hard that he passed out for going off to fight Kaguro, and she trapped him with neshi and beat him when he left to Okuni without her. In the series, it is stated that whilst she may be the weakest Kekkaishi, she is clearly the most "ruthless", unless she must face her biggest fear: the cockroach. Examples of her ruthless pragmatism are her disregard for the health of Hachiouji Kemiya when he was possessed by an ayakashi and forbidden metsu of a shin'yūchi god that had invaded Karasumori and attacked its defenders. After training relentlessly with Mikeno, a Nekomata (two-tailed demon cat), Tokine is told that her responsibility is to, alone, convince the lord of Hakuma, Mahora-sama, to hand over his domain so that it may be used in the sealing of Karasumori.Kekkaishi Central Anime Bios
Gen Shishio
first appeared in volume 6 of the manga and in episode 21 of the anime. Shishio aids Tokine and Yoshimori in hunting ayakashi and protecting Karasumori. He is an "integrated half ayakashi" (ayakashi majiri), meaning he can transform part or all of his body into that of an ayakashi. He was frequently bullied by other children when he was young. When his power first fully awakened when he was ten, he almost killed his older sister though only severely injuring her. Afterwards he was taken in by Masamori and the Yagyou, where he was taught by Atora. Gen learned how to control his full ayakashi mode during a fight with a high level ayakashi from Kokuboro, but before he could finish his opponent, Kaguro — another high-level ayakashi from Kokuboro — killed Gen. Gen's death deeply affected his allies and Yoshimori.
Souji Hiura
nearly kills Yoshimori when he appears in the Hidagou while retrieving evidence of being involved in hunting. He later appears in chapter 223 on orders to assist in helping the Kekkashi. He's revealed to be raised on being a "puppet" that follows orders and thinks about nothing, he as a result has a mindset similar to a child and is fascinated by even a simple lead pencil. Yoshimori's words eventually cause him to question orders and change his mindset leading him to hesitate in delivering a killing blow. He is a power-shifter user, his ability ranges from channeling his power into creating blades, forming it all over his body into a barrier, and using it as a spring in his muscles and he can freely change the size, shape, or angle of the blade. He can also create them from anywhere on his body. He thinks of nothing while using them, allowing his mind to float outside time, showing him where to move next. He was named by Suigetsu, originally known as . After the invasion plan he was injured by Shichirou Ougi by accident and as a result triggered the white zekkai. He was healed by Night Troop's medical team but soon afterwards, disappears. In chapter 308, he is seen in the company of Zero and the Sousi helping in the attack on the Arashizaki Shrine and the Ougi clan. It is revealed later by Shichirou that he was sent to Karasumori in order to kidnap one of the Kekkaishi from either of the Sumimura or Yukimura clans, as he was the weakest amongst all of them.
Antagonists
Kokuboro
The are a group of ayakashi who seek Karasumori's power in order to regenerate their leader, Princess. Kokuboro is also the name of the group's castle and the alternate world where they reside. They are the first major antagonist in the first half of the manga series, and the main antagonists in the anime. Their home is a region called the .
A nine-tailed fox that is able to take on a human shape, she is a demon whose powers nearly rival those of a god, the most prominent display of her power being the creation of Kokuboro's castle and the alternate dimension in which it resides. However, she is afflicted with a mysterious illness and, following the ending of the Kokuboro arc, an unexplained illness that leaves her bedridden and unable to move. She eventually perishes at the ending of the Kokuboro arc as the illness claims her life, and transforms back into a nine-tailed fox. When Yoshimori meets her, he notes that even though she is an ayakashi, she has an air of elegance and respectability around her that is comparable to a princess in contrast to "common" ayakashi auras which apparently arouses hatred and a sense of disgust.
79 years old. However, looks to be around his late 20s to early 30s due to experimentation on his body he had received years previously. Strong follower of the "princess". Has an oversized left eye, with several special abilities that include being able to control bug ayakashi, controlling minds, regeneration, and gathering information from bug ayakashi that enter his body through it. Was thought to be an ayakashi, but he is actually still a human whose name is . Was believed to be killed by his former colleague and love rival Heisuke, and Heisuke's summoned demon servant, Kagami, but survived to carry out Princess as the Black Pampas Grass collapsed with her demise, the collapse of the dimension killing him as well.