Needless (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kami Imai. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine Ultra Jump from October 2003 to June 2013, with its chapters collected in 16 volumes. A 24-episode anime television series adaptation by Madhouse aired from July to December 2009. The anime was licensed for English release in North America by Sentai Filmworks.
Synopsis This anime is set in the year 2130 (the beginning date remains unclear), 50 years after World War III. The war has left a crater where Tokyo once stood, a place now filled with contaminated rubble. This spot, known as "The Black Spot", has no electrical power (with the exception being the Simeon building) and is seen as a dark spherical patch from outer space and one of many Black Spots across Japan. The Black Spot eventually becomes populated by outcasts, some of whom, as a result of the contamination, gain various powers called "fragments". Those in possession of such fragments come to be known as "Needless".
Characters The Misfits
Adam Blade is a destroyer priest who lives in the church in Sector 533. He has a metal collar engraved with the characters '079.AB.' affixed to his neck. He has inhuman strength and endurance as well as accelerated healing, plus a skeletal structure attached with a special metal called Orichalcum. It was revealed that he is a clone of the strongest Needless, 'The Second Christ'. His only flaw is his attraction to cute, young girls. His fragment 'Zero' allows him to learn the attacks of his enemies, after being hit by it or seeing it, also being able to combine other abilities learned as well. His special move is 'Death Verdict', the final pronouncement when taking an enemy's life.
Eve Neuschwanstein is Blade's partner. She is bad at remembering other people's names. Even though she has the appearance of a young girl, she is proven to be a capable fighter. Her fragment is 'Doppelganger', an ability which allows her to shapeshift into anything (from a drill on her arm to other person's appearances). She is also shown to be able to shapeshift into a wall, which is inorganic. The weakness of this power is that she needs a lot of calories to use it. Therefore, she often drinks an energy drink named 'Super Gel Dero Doro Drink', which contains 5000 kilocalories.
Cruz Schild is a young boy, whose big sister Aruka is presumably killed during a Testament attack. He is a bit of a wimp, but shows certain qualities and strengths and is the only known survivor of the uprising against Simeon. He remains highly committed to the memory of Aruka, often addressing her directly in his thoughts, and is seen carrying a pendant with a picture of her in it. He is often used as a sort of gofer by some of the other team members (most notably Blade and Eve). While shown as physically weak compared to most of the other characters, his keen observational skills and raw intellect more than make up for this deficiency.
Gido an elderly scientist with an attitude, and his real name is . He lives with Blade and Eve in the church as their father figure. He has no fragment, but is extremely intelligent and knowledgeable about current events. He seems to know more about Arclight than he lets on. Eventually it was discovered that he was the head of the Simeon initiative to clone the Second and presided over the creation of the two Adams and Eve, after 77 failures where the clone bodies would tear themselves apart. He handled the children's early development and after Arclight's actions destroyed their establishment, he took them away and raised them. Since the incident, he took care of Blade and Eve and lived with them in the Black Spot to avoid chase from the government.
Disc is a cyborg who resided in Iron Mountain. Even though she has the appearance of a young girl, she is actually 100 years old. After the incident in Iron Mountain, she joins forces with Blade to take out Simeon. Her fragment is 'Scan', which allows her to learn her opponent's power and other things such as their BWH measurements. She was found by Cruz along with Eve after the PF Zero blast, but her body is damaged. From then until City arc, she only appears as a head, using her pigtails to move, and controlling a testament for long-distance travel. She has grown affectionate of Cruz ever since he cross-dressed as a girl.
Momiji Teruyama is a Needless with flame abilities who first appears to fight Blade to avenge his fallen comrades and was easily beaten. However, it is revealed that the one that he is searching for is Adam Arclight, not Adam Blade. He joins forces with Blade to fight against Simeon Tower. His abilities include 'Little Boy', where he lights his fist on fire to create an explosive punch. He can also use the ability 'Vulcan Shock Ignition', which basically looks like a giant fireball which he throws at the enemy.
Set is a young girl holding a large sword with a skull design handle. She is a prominent member of the Black Spot's mercenary guild. For a while, due to unknown circumstances, Blade became her partner. Her fragment is 'Gravitation', an ability that lets her control gravity. She is obsessed with money and became a mercenary to earn tons of it. After the PF Zero Blast, she reappeared alongside Blade and Solva and finished off Hatfield. She and Solva remained behind to defend the town from future attacks.
Solva is a young girl with magnets in her hair. Her fragment, which is 'Magnetic World', grants her power to manipulate metals and create a magnetic shock wave. Disc mentioned that her fragment is a unique magnetic field and that she can repel almost every attack in a hundred meter radius. She is sweet and charming on the outside but is a menace and a sadistic person on the inside. Solva is the leader of a gang of bandits called The Predators. After being defeated by Blade and Set, she seems to have become Set's partner, when Blade left them. She is a megalomaniac, in which her desire is for everyone to bow down before her as the ruler of Black Spot. After the PF Zero Blast, she reappeared along Blade and Set and killed Hatfield. She and Set remained behind to defend the town from future attacks.
Simeon Upper Management
Adam Arclight is a mysterious artificial life form similar to Blade with the characters '078.AA.' affixed to his neck, revealed to be attempt to create a clone of the strongest Needless, 'The Second Christ'. But Arclight's right eye and heart rejected the cloned cells and he was deemed a failure and left for dead at a landfill. However, Arclight survived, and made it back to the laboratory to absorb the Second's corpse to become incredibly powerful. From there, Arclight rose through the ranks of Simeon and took over interests in the Black Spot, building the Simeon Tower while using the Needless Hunt to find a means to cure his continued mutation. His fragment 'Positive Feedback Zero', is an ability similar to Adam Blade's fragment that allows him to learn the attacks of his enemies, either from physical conduct or seeing it. But Arclight's fragment has the added effect of combine learned abilities and intensifying the strength each time it is used, along with altering his body structure when needed. Eventually, Arclight is revealed to be a cloned god form of the real Adam Arclight and is destroyed once he served his purpose.
Riru Roukakuji is a well endowed woman who is one of the Simeon Tower's Four Elite, serving as both Arclight's right-hand woman and leader of the Simeon Girl Squadron. Her fragment is 'Psychokinesis', a form of telekinesis and she is possibly the only one who possesses it, as hinted by Disc that this ability is pretty rare and the most powerful out of all fragments. Originally a subject in Eve series, Riru ruled her own Black Spot until she met Arclight, falling in love with him. While the manga has her betrayed by Saten and her own subordinates, the anime depicts Riru sacrificing herself to fully restore Archlight's physical form.
The strongest of Simeon Tower's Four Elite, Saten is one of Arclight's first followers yet acts on his own agenda as he withholds information like Blade's residence. During his fight with Eve, revealed to have feelings for her, Saten went easy on her and feigned defeat so she can save Cruz. His fragment 'Thermal Energy Conversion' allow him to use his ability to absorb thermal energy and redirect it in various ways like freezing objects or releasing absorbed energy as a powerful thermal wave. Eventually, revealing his true fragment to be 'Positive Feedback Zero', Saten is revealed to be the real Adam Arclight as he eliminates both his body double and Riru once they outlived their purpose. In the anime's story, Saten was originally Gido's assistant Kyoji Kanazuki who the Triple Six Committee made into a pseudo-Adam. Eventually, once he memorize Eve's Doppelganger Fragment, Saten turned on Triple Six and then seemingly kills Arclight. But Arclight reconstitutes himself, stealing Saten's power while using satellites to destroy the traitor's body.
Uten is another one of the Four Elite of the Simeon Tower and the right-hand man of Arclight. His fragment is 'Bermuda Athport', which allows him to turn anything transparent. He hides this with hidden knives and guns and other tricks to make it seem like he has the power to create anything out of thin air. He is a true magician who only seems amazing until the trick is discovered. He is defeated and killed by Eve when Cruz exposed his power. It is revealed that Uten is not his real name but the name he took when he became Arclight's hand.
Aruka Schild is the older sister of Cruz Schild as well as a member of the resistance force that were massacred by Simeon, usually wearing featureless white masks. She was believed to have died while protecting Cruz from a Testament. In reality, she is the final member of the Four Elite of the Simeon Tower and the one that leaked the resistance force's information to Simeon. Her fragment, 'Agni Schiwatas' (or 'The Breath of Fire' in English) allows her to speed up kinetic energy resulting in massive explosion and melting solid objects. Like Cruz, she can also analyze the abilities and weaknesses of others, using this insight along with her power to crush her enemies in seconds.
Kafka is the first Needless to be defeated by both Blade and Eve. He works for Simeon and was an assassin sent out to kill Blade. His fragment 'Kandata String' allows him to generate powerful threads from his body, also create variations in the form of strings of cloth and tentacles. He is one of three members in a special group called the "Flea Team", alongside Gregoire and Zamusa, tasked to scout for information.
Gregoire is a woman seen at the meeting after the battle at Simeon Tower. She has pointed ears, reportedly linked to her fragment which is called 'Hell's Ear', which allow her to hear any conversation. She is one of three members in a special group called the "Flea Team", alongside Kafka and Zamusa, tasked to scout for information.
Zamusa is a man seen at the meeting after the battle at Simeon Tower. His fragment 'Clairvoyance' allows him to see to solid objects. He is one of three members in a special group called the "Flea Team", alongside Kafka and Gregoire, tasked to scout for information.