High school freshman Airi Hoshina has her life goals all planned out  

Thursday, September 10, 2009
































Airi Hoshina (星名 アイリ, Hoshina Airi)
Drama CD Seiyū - Fumiko Orikasa
This 15-year old, happy-go-lucky heroine of the story, Airi, dreams of a warm and peaceful married life like what she sees on her favorite TV drama, Tales of Marriage on the Prairie. Her parents work abroad, and she lives with her grandparents she never sees, she would be alone if not for her two dogs, Pochirou and Koromi. Airi has a hand mirror in the shape of a seven-pointed star that has been passed down through her family since the days of her great-great-great grandmother, which can be used as a portal to the magical kingdom of Astale. In fact, Airi's great-great-great grandmother was a traitorous princess from Astale, Chrisnelle, making her a direct descendant of the royal family.
Airi's first impression of Aram is that he is a cute little boy, but he quickly comes to stand in the way of her plans of living a normal life. Her dreams of a normal marriage disappear when she unwittingly performs marriage vows with him. Because of the vows, she and Aram both now have matching insignias on their chests. If any man aside from Aram kisses the symbol, then her heart will stop beating. However, she slowly becomes fond of Aram and finally realizes her feelings during their high school summer trip to the beach, where Raz tries to kill her by kissing the symbol on her chest. After that, she was completely devoted to Aram.
Although, encounters with Aram's former fiance Mariabel causes problems when she removes Aram's memories and feelings for Airi by the help of Raz. Airi can't let Aram go as she constantly tries to get him to remember her.
On Aram's 17th birthday, at the ceremony of coming of age, they officially get married when she is at the age of 20. (ch 22)
Aram (アラム, Aramu)
Drama CD Seiyū - Yuki Kaida as child Aram and Hikaru Midorikawa as adult Aram
File:Prince Aram.jpg
A 12-year old prince of the magical kingdom of Astale, his full name is Astale Ei Daemonia Eucharistia Aram. Aram came to Airi's world to avoid a spell his half-brother Jeile was trying to cast on him. Because Aram was slow to escape the spell and that he got hit by half of it, its effect wasn't as Jeile intended. It was supposed to age Aram to an old man overnight in the dark, but it ends up growing him into a 17 year-old whenever he is in darkness. The only way to return him to his proper form is with a kiss from his most beloved maiden, whom he quickly determines to be Airi. He is always quick to proclaim his everlasting love for her, much to Airi's chagrin at first.
When Aram had his memories removed by the box Raz gave Mariabel, he becomes aloof and indifferent towards Airi, However, he feels slightly disturbed around her and doesn't know why. But then he kisses Airi once more and returns back to his original form, confirming Airi's love for him and she is his most beloved.
Occasionally, Aram enjoys teasing Airi, for instance when Airi touched Aram's body while he was sleeping when he was actually awake, telling her she could do anything to him if she wanted to.
In some ways Aram is a typical little boy, and he develops a fondness for things like sentaiyuti shows (especially The Sparkle Rangers) and rice omelettes, but he also has an exceedingly regal bearing and often seems twice his real age. Although formally engaged to Mariabel, Aram makes Airi perform Astale's traditional marriage vows with him in order to save her from going to the Eternal Prison. At first, their marriage is not recognized by anyone in Astale until volume 4 where Aram officially places their marriage into the "Book of Oaths". However, their official wedding is not until Aram comes of age 5 years later (when he is 17), in chapter 22. At this time Jeile performs a reversal spell on him, causing him to turn into a little kid when it goes dark.
Jeile (ジェイル, Jieiru)
Drama CD Seiyū - Daisuke Kishio
File:Prince Jeile.jpg
Aram's older half-brother and the crown prince of Astale; his full name is Astale Ei Daemonia Eucharistia Jeile. He is eccentric and a playboy. He casted the aging spell on Aram out of frustration because Aram receives all of their father's attention. In actuality, Jeile really does care about Aram, and it's likely he simply never considered the consequences of the spell. Though he seems like a bungler at first, Jeile is the commander of Astale's magical army.
When Aram loses his memory, he helps Airi and even assists her on being by her side while she is in their realm.
Jeile has a bit of a masochistic streak; he becomes smitten with Airi after she slaps him, and tries to get her to become his first wife. He calls Airi his Mountain Lily Maiden and tries to be happy for her after she becomes Aram's fiance. When Aram turns 17 he reverses the spell so Aram turns into a child in the dark.
When he was about twelve years old, his first love was Lei (he did not know that Lei was a boy at the time due to Lei's long hair and rather feminine appearance). His fiancé is Lei's sister, Nei. When Jeile meets her, he can't bear to see her face because it is identical to Lei's. However, five years later when Jeile is King of Astelle (after the former king and queen retired) he accepts Nei and they even have two children, whose names are not revealed.
Lei (レイ, Rei)
Drama CD Seiyū - Nozomu Sasaki
Aram's caretaker, he is a conscientious civil servant and attentive to Aram. However, he has no respect for Airi, and is troubled about Aram's fondness for her. He's about nineteen years old. He is also in love with Queen Veedua, as revealed in volume 4. His sister Nei is identical to him. He had to impersonate Airi while she was learning magic in Astale. Everyone in school was fooled except for Nakaoji. Lei has another form, which resembles a phoenix.
Nakaoji (仲央路くん, Nakaōji-kun)
Drama CD Seiyū - Atsushi Kisaichi
The president of Airi's class and, though he might not know it, Airi's current prime marriage candidate. He seems rather taken with Airi himself. Nakaoji is sporty, friendly, and good with kids, though he and Aram sparred. This is because Nakaoji had lost patience with Aram who disliked him right from the start, as he knew that Airi liked Nakaoji and was determind to get catch Airi's heart. His ancestor was the Grand Magician of Astale who first established the seven royal families of Astale.
Razalude (ラザルード, Razaru^do)
A member of one of Astale's royal houses, the Zehrotuhia house, his full name is Zerothuhia Razalude, but he usually goes by Raz. His family would've been the rulers of Astale if not for the betrayal of Airi's ancestor,the princess Chrisnele. For this reason, Raz seems determined to inflict his family's misfortune on Airi but in volume 4, it is revealed that actually, he likes her and that the reason that he tried to kill her was because he had a deal with her majesty Queen Veedua that if he helped her in this task she must let him travel wherever he likes. In volume 4, he is summoned by Nakaoji's little sister, who hopes to get him to kill her brother for telling their Mom not to get her a cell phone. He is said to be about sixteen years old.
Mariabel (マリアベル, Mariaberu)
Aram's fiancé. Mariabel is certain that she is the best match for Aram, and steals Aram's memories of Airi to win him back to her. She is dismayed that Aram continues to pursue Airi and that only Airi's kiss is able to turn him back to normal. She realizes her foolishness and becomes friends with Airi.
Maruru (マルル)
Drama CD Seiyū - Ema Kogure
Jeile's fairy. She got into his bedroom searching a flower to live with, as fairies spend their lives sharing energy with flowers. She had chosen a ribbon instead, by accident since it had a rose pattern on it, and Jeile, to save her, created a magic ribbon over her head which matched the one around his hair. In this way, she could share his life force and in this way grow. Jeile is scolded for this, as it supposedly makes him appear "soft" and unworthy to command the Astale magical army, but he nonetheless does not regret his decision. In volume 4, Maruru fully matures and becomes larger, so that she is the size of a normal woman.
Queen Veedua
Aram's mother and a very intimidating woman. She and the king have a 100-year age gap. Veedua is very playful to the point of appearing cruel (Jeile and Aram's opinion of her). To test their love she makes them go through a trial where Airi is required to find the lost ring of Chrisnelle which is given to all children of royalty when they are born. She was the one to make the plan to steal Aram's memories of Airi. However, upon meeting Airi, Veedua becomes quite fond of her, due to hearing of how Airi made Aram clean her bathroom and never hesitates to tell Aram to shut up.
Hirata Ayashi
Drama CD Seiyū - Jun Fukuyama
Airi's friend from junior high-school who used to have a crush on her. Airi rejected Hirata's confession on their graduation day and so made fun of Airi's imagination. He met Airi again in the theme park in chapter 1 of the manga and once again ridiculed her in front of his girlfriend (voiced by Asami Imai in the drama CD) and said that no one would want to be Airi's boyfriend until he saw Aram.





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Merupuri is a four-volume manga series by Matsuri Hino.  































MeruPuri, originally titled MeruPuri: Märchen Prince (めるぷり メルヘン☆プリンス, MeruPuri: Maruhen Purinsu, "Fairy-Tale Prince"), is a four-volume manga series by Matsuri Hino.
Matsuri Hino burst onto the manga scene with her title Kono Yume ga Sametara (When This Dream Is Over), which was published in LaLa DX magazine. Hino became a manga artist a mere nine months after she decided to become one.With the success of her popular series Toraware no Minoue (Captive Circumstance), and MeruPuri, Hino has established herself as a major player in the world of shojo manga. Her new title, Vampire Knight, currently runs in monthly LaLa magazine.
MeruPuri was serialized in Japan in LaLa magazine, and was published in English by Viz Media.

High school freshman Airi Hoshina has her life goals all planned out - meet a wonderful boy, get married by age 20, and enjoy an ordinary, loving family life. However, Airi's plan breaks down when she loses an heirloom hand mirror she carried on the way to school. She finds it in the hands of a lordly little boy named Aram, who just used it as a portal from a magical world.



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God of mischief (and in some versions chaos) in Norse mythology. Trapped in the body of a child, he seeks a way back to the realm of the gods and his  

















































Loki
ロキLokiGod of mischief (and in some versions chaos) in Norse mythology. Trapped in the body of a child, he seeks a way back to the realm of the gods and his original body. He is the father of Fenrir, Yamino (Jormungand), and Hel. He has red-brown hair and green eyes; he also has an aversion to deep water, as well as a possibly small case of amaxophobia, since he seems to hate riding in cars. (Or perhaps he simply becomes carsick.) Loki has many romantic interests. In both series, Freyja loved him in the world of gods but he does not like her that way. Although in the anime, Loki is shown to be happy about Freya's feelings for him (Episode 13), ever since their initial confrontation where Loki learned of Freya's loneliness because of him. The youngest Norn Sister, Skuld, is also attracted to him mostly because of his kindness and beauty. Mayura seems to have romantic feelings towards him because of his courage, intelligence and concern for her. However, Mayura is the only one of these three who doesn't know Loki is actually an age old god, thus, her affection is somewhat unclear. Another quality of Loki is that his sense of foresight is quite remarkable, as he can usually figure things out way before anyone else does (though Yamino, Fenrir, and Ecchan figured out who Spica really was long before Loki did). Loki is more wild and silly in the manga than he is in the anime (his personality more befitting his body in the manga); also his relationship with Mayura is seen more clearly.
Voiced by: Yuriko Fuchizaki (Japanese), Shannon Emerick (English)Adult Form - Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Jose Diaz (English)
Mayura Daidouji
大堂寺繭良, Daidōji Mayura; まゆら is used in place of 繭良 after her introduction.The main human character of the series: a pink-haired, red-eyed, 16-year-old, high school student obsessed with mysteries and the occult. Despite her love of strange cases, she never manages to find out who Loki is - partly because she has absolutely no sixth sense, despite being the daughter of a Shinto priest. Mayura also seems to have romantic feelings towards Loki near the end of the anime series. However it is shown unclearly in the manga, since she only knows him as a child. Additionally, she does not believe in God because her mother died despite countless prayers. There are significant differences in her personality in the manga and anime. In the manga, Mayura is calmer, not shouting "Fushigi mystery!" (strange mystery) as often as she does in the anime and seems to have a sharper sense (being able to know Loki is "different" and wanting to ask him who or what he was in the seventeenth chapter).
Voiced by: Yui Horie (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)
Yamino Ryusuke
闇野竜介, Yamino Ryūsuke; in the manga, various characters also address and refer to him as メガネ Megane, i.e. "four-eyes"Loki's second son takes the form of a polite, bespectacled boy in his late teens, and serves as his housekeeper, cook, and assistant. He enjoys cooking, cleaning and other domestic activities, and in the anime, he also has an amusing addiction to ordering useless items from mail-order catalogs. His real name is Jormungand, also known as the Midgard serpent, since his true form is that of a giant serpent that encircles the Earth. Loki rescued Yamino from the bottom of the sea by casting a spell on him (thus giving him a human form) so that he could accompany his father on Earth; for this, he is eternally grateful. The revelation of Yamino's true identity occurs earlier in the manga than the anime, and seems to play more of a part in his characterization for the first manga series. He probably wears glasses as a reference to the Indian cobra (眼鏡蛇 meganehebi, or "glasses snake", in Japanese).
Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki (Japanese), Illich Guardiola (English)
Fenrir
フェンリルFenriruLoki's first son takes the form of a small black dog. His real identity is that of the Fenrisulfr, a giant wolf bound by the gods. Fenrir enjoys food and taunting Yamino. A running gag in both the anime and manga is how Fenrir can be very bossy and intentionally crude around Yamino, then instantly become the most affectionate and harmless puppy-son possible the moment "Daddy" walks in (during the series, he has an almost scary Father Complex. He's very outwardly protective of Loki, spouting threats when Loki may be in danger). While the gods can understand his words, it would appear that when a human hears him talk all they hear is a regular dog (though his barking sounds like he's singing).
Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima (Japanese), John Swasey (English)
Hel
ヘルHeruLoki's only daughter, Hel is the goddess of the underworld. Portrayed as an adolescent girl with wavy pink hair, green eyes and glasses, and a strong obsession with her father, though the nature of it differs between the manga and anime. In the anime, she is seen to be trying to kill Loki at first as Odin told her that Loki and her brothers no longer care for her and hated her, thus, making her wanting to make Loki experience the same kind of pain she experienced. In the manga, she wishes to kill her father so that he will always be with her in the underworld.
Voiced by: Omi Minami (Japanese), Rozie Curtis (English, ep 14), Taylor Hannah (English, eps 22+)
Narugami
鳴神NarugamiActually the Norse God of thunder, Thor, in the form of a teenage boy with brown hair and eyes. He was sent to Earth from the realm of gods to kill Loki; in the manga, he doesn't remember this at first, while in the anime, he chooses not to kill Loki because he sees no reason to. Unfortunately, he forgot how to return to the realm of the gods, so he is forced to work a wide array of part-time jobs to support himself, which becomes another one of the series' recurring jokes. He always carries around a wooden sword, which is actually Thor's hammer Mjollnir in disguise. Loki addresses him as Narukami, itself a double pun on god (神 kami) and lightning (雷 kaminari), as clarified by Kinoshita in the second series.
Voiced by: Shotaro Morikubo (Japanese), Chris Patton (English)
Reiya Ohshima
大島玲也 Ōshima Reiya, usually called レイヤ Reiya; "Reya" is a spelling adopted by ADV MangaReiya is a young girl with blue-violet eyes, brown hair and a cute crush on young Loki. In the anime, she is the sole survivor of a rich family killed in a car accident, and she hires Loki to solve a mystery about her mansion. In the manga, she hires Loki because she has been having unsettling dreams about her deceased sister Lisa; she lives with her aunt, uncle, and two older cousins. Reiya's true identity is the transmigrated Norse goddess Freyja—unlike Loki, however, Reiya's memory was wiped by Odin, so she has no memory of her past life. Reiya becomes Freyja when the necklace Brisingamen is put around her neck, but reverts back to Reiya when the necklace is removed, with no memory of what happens while wearing it. Freyja, just like her alter ego, is enamoured with Loki, though she's far more aggressive about it than Reiya. Reiya is also capable of becoming Freyja when extremely jealous or frightened, as well as other circumstances.
Voiced by: Rika Komatsu (Japanese), Brittney Karbowski (English)
Freyja
フレイヤFureiyaFreyja is the goddess of love and beauty. She loves Loki, but Loki does not return the feelings. Despite this, Freya refuses to give up and does everything she can to put Loki into situations where she can take advantage of him. When Loki was banished from the world of gods, Freyja begged Odin to let him return thus making Odin furious. Odin turned her into a child, Reiya, erased all her memories and sent her to the world of the mortals. She initially hated Loki for ignoring her and not reciprocating her feelings for him, and that she was lonely because of it. However, she learned to accept it and still refuses to give up on him. Thus, whenever she takes over Reiya, she aggressively pursues Loki and keeps others away from him, in particular Skuld.
Voiced by: Junko Asami (Japanese), Shelley Calene-Black (English)
Kazumi Higashiyama (Heimdall)
東山和実 Higashiyama KazumiSent by Odin to assassinate Loki, the watchman Heimdall takes the form of a young boy as a disguise. However, due to the theft of his right eye, he is forced to have neck-length purple hair that completely covers the right side of his face. His nails are actually long, sharp claws, so he wears bulky gloves to hide them. Because he is the god of strategy, he devices clever plans, such as control over other beings or even mirages to taunt the opponent. It's believed that if he and Loki clashed they would both die as the myth in Ragnarok portrayed it, so a serious confrontation is avoided until the end of the series, in which Loki convinces him that he may have lost his eye but gained a friend, the falcon that accompanied him. He believes Loki to be the thief that stole his eye, so in addition to carrying out the assassination order, he intends to retrieve his eye or avenge its loss by any means necessary. Although he is one of the more serious characters in the series, Heimdall is also the butt of many jokes. The manga frequently makes fun of his serious personality and his obsession with Loki, and even though "Kazumi Higashiyama" doesn't attend school, Heimdall still has a daily schedule consisting of piano lessons, singing lessons, and cram school. In the anime, Heimdall usually gets dragged along on shopping sprees by his roommate Frey, much to his own dismay.
His name is very similar to Kinoshita's co-author in Tactics, Kazuko Higashiyama.
Voiced by: Romi Park (Japanese), Greg Ayres (English)
Mysterious Thief Frey
怪盗フレイ Kaitō Furei; sometimes translated as "Phantom Thief Frey" and other variants.Frey is Freyja's older brother. He was brought to Earth to aid Heimdall in the destruction of Loki, but quickly drops that mission to search for Freyja once he realizes she is there, too. Somewhere along the line, he decides to get Loki's attention by becoming a master jewel thief; the natural enemy of any great detective. Impulsive and quixotic, Frey seems to think of everything in terms of Romantic cliché, dramatic stereotypes, and absurd non sequiturs. His primary agenda is to find Freyja, or at least ensure that Loki isn't corrupting her. However, in the course of his plans, Frey runs into Mayura, falls in love at first sight, and renames her Yamato Nadeshiko (大和撫子 Yamato Nadeshiko, a name for the prototypical ideal woman; a sort of Japanese Dulcinea), and in the English anime, his "Classic Japanese Beauty."
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)
The Norn Sisters
ノルンNorunVerdandi, Urd and Skuld are the goddesses of fate. In the manga, they are a bit ambiguous in their loyalties. Though they help Loki often, such as by giving him the magical ring Draupnir (which can be used to store evil spirits), they have plans of their own, separate from those of Odin and the other gods. Urd, in particular, is implied to be manipulating events on her own. In the anime, they have been sent to earth by Odin to kill Loki. Most of their attempts fall into the "Monster of the Week" pattern familiar to Super Sentai shows and magical girl/magical boy anime.
In the anime, there are many strong hints that Loki had an affair with Skuld in Asgard—an entire episode is even dedicated to this question—which could be the Norns' fuel for 'hating' and helping him. In the manga, Skuld certainly has a crush on Loki, but there are no hints of anything more serious.
Voiced by: Verdandi - Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Tamara Levine (English)Urd - Mariko Suzuki (Japanese), Kaytha Coker (English)Skuld - Mai Nakahara (Japanese), Melissa Davis (English)
Odin
オーディンŌdinOdin is the King of the Gods. Odin is only referred to, never seen or interacted with, in the first series of the manga. In the second series, he is hinted at for a while with silhouettes and frames containing parts of his clothing, but eventually is seen unobscured. In the anime, he is only shown as a red eye. He seeks to kill Loki, but is somehow unable to do so himself, so he sends assassins instead. He was the one who commanded Loki to take Heimdall's eye. Ironically, he is portrayed as an eye, the very part he gave to get ultimate knowledge.
Spica
スピカSupikaSpica is the reincarnation of Angrboda, the giantess who bore three of Loki's children (the ones that were a precursor to Ragnarok). She is the mother of Fenrir, Jormungand, and Hel. In her human form, Spica is a normally mute girl with a HUGE appetite. In the anime she only appears briefly in the final episode.
Utgard-Loki
ウトガルドロキUtogarudo RokiUtgard Loki is the "other" Loki, who held half of Loki's power—Loki identifies Utgard as his past self. He is the King of Utgard, Land of the Giants. When Urd killed Utgard Loki in the manga, Loki got his power back. He seems to have a strange obsession over Spica.






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Loki, the Norse god of mischief, has been exiled to the human world for what was apparently a bad joke  















































Loki, the Norse god of mischief, has been exiled to the human world for what was apparently a bad joke. Along with being exiled, he’s forced to take the form of a child. He’s told the only way he can get back to the world of the gods is if he can collect auras of evil that take over human hearts, and so to do this he runs a detective agency. Loki is soon joined by a human girl named Mayura who is a maniac for mysteries, and she soon helps out in her own way. However, soon other Norse gods begin to appear, and most have the intent to assassinate Loki for reasons unclear.








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The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok  
















































The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok (魔探偵ロキ RAGNAROK, Matantei Roki RAGNAROK?, lit. Demon Detective Loki: RAGNAROK) is a manga by Sakura Kinoshita published from August 1999 to October 2004. A television anime based upon the manga series ran for 26 episodes from April 5, 2003 to September 27, 2003 in Japan.
The series originally ran in the magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan under the name The Mythical Detective Loki (魔探偵ロキ, Matantei Loki), but Ragnarok was added to the title when the series was purchased by publishing company MAG Garden and moved to Comic Blade magazine. The Mythical Detective Loki was collected in 7 volumes by Gangan Comics, which were later republished by Blade Comics; it has not been officially licensed for US distribution.The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok ran for 5 more volumes, which were published in Japan by Blade Comics, and picked up for translation and English release by ADV Manga. Chuang Yi has released an English version in Singapore. The anime has been licensed for English release by ADV Films. The anime series is also being broadcast across South America by the anime television network, Animax, under the name Mythical Sleuth Loki.
The fact that the second manga series has been licensed in North America without the first series is a source of some controversy among fans in English-speaking countries, as the second series is a direct continuation from the first and refers back to previous events frequently. Both series were licensed in Singapore.







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