Kain (架印?) is a young Shirushigami, a Shinigami bookkeeper of Kyoukai, whose main responsibility is to keep track of the lifespan of humans on Earth, so that the Shinigami know when and where they may be needed in order to help the souls of the recently deceased reach the Wheel of Reincarnation. His Black Cat is Suzu.
Appearance[]
Kain has silvery white hair and sharp blue eyes. He is often seen wearing glasses while working in the department.
He is mainly seen wearing his Shirushigami uniform, which consist of an ivory jacket and a hakama in pine green color for most of the part, except at the bottom being moss green under featured golden diamond shapes.
On only 4 occasions, he is seen wearing different outfits.[1]
Personality[]
Kain is a very serious person who cares for his mother, and as such, hates the Damashigami president Sabato Rokudō for using her for money and causing the two to become poor, and resents his son Rinne considering him as guilty as his father.
That resentment made him show little regard for the rules as he attempts to end Rinne's life early, and he shows no remorse when an innocent human bystander like Sakura gets caught up in their battle, despite knowing that he cannot harm humans or allow humans who aren't ready to die yet to ride the Wheel of Reincarnation as he would be punished for it. Though he wouldn't go that far anymore thereafter, he'd seize any opportunity that would be unfavorable to Rinne.
As a Shirushigami, he is quite bossy over the Shinigamis, and like his comrades, can be careless in terms of security.
He also can hardly tolerate shame in many domains, such as his financial status because of his mother's naivete, and being at fault for an incident and having to apologize, especially to Rinne.
He admitted to caring for Renge Shima, stating that it was his dream for her to succeed in life.
Biography[]
Past[]
Kain's mother handing their money to Sabato.
Kain was raised by his mother after his parents divorced for unknown reasons. One day, Kain's mother asked if he wanted a new father and takes him to see Sabato, who promised marriage and offered her a pile of junks and stuffs that belonged to Rinne, including his elementary school present, as collateral. Even as young as he was, he knew Sabato was a bad person. While Kain's mother naively believes Sabato to be a good man, her money has provided the financial backing for the Damashigami Company, and as Sabato continuously sent her "love letters" every month which are thinly veiled requests for money, they became broke.
Kain and Renge in Middle School
When Kain was in middle school, serving as Student Council President, he was often the object of affection for Shinigami girls including Vice President Renge. Because of Sabato's leeching, he was unable to pay for the Elite Shinigami High School he had longed to apply to, and so instead, found a job at the Mortal Census Bureau and became a Shirushigami.
Because no part of his job requires him to take part in field work of any kind, and in order to hide his family's connection to the Damashigami Company, Kain works in secrecy, hunting down Damashigamis and plotting to bring down the rogue Damashigami Company.
For free?
At some point, Kain came across a black cat named Suzu, who was holding a sign saying that she was up for adoption for free, and due to his family's financial status, he took her in as his black cat by contract.[2]
Debut[]
Seizing Rinne's lifeflame
He is first seen trying to locate the Damashigami company through an operation, for the route changes all the time, but Ageha blew it. He then shows up above Rinne, revealing himself to be his creditor to whom Rinne owes payment, because Sabato had left Rinne's name as his co-signer on the loan thereby making Rinne accountable for his father's actions, and stating his debt is so tremendous that he could only be able to pay off with his life span. So he took Rinne’s life flame and his Haori, and forced his friends Sakura Mamiya, Tsubasa Jūmonji and Ageha to quickly locate the Damashigami company. However, they along with Rokumon follow Rinne’s spirit going to the other world, where they meet Kain’s mother who welcomed them to her mansion. Understanding no one knows the location of the Damashigami company, Kain drugged and locked up Rinne’s friends in the storage room and tried to make Rinne go to the Wheel of Reincarnation. His friends nevertheless managed to escape and brought Rinne’s elementary school present, which turns out to be a ring of judgment. And the tool proved useful for Rinne precluding Kain to retake Rinne’s life flame, making it clear Rinne is being attacked unjustly, but could not lead anyone to the Damashigami company as Sabato thought of setting a tight security. So Kain admits defeat, but is nevertheless still committed to take on Rinne.
History[]
He would cross path with Rinne again many times, mainly while performing certain duties as a Shirushigami or acting on his own, and would seize any opportunity that would be unfavorable to Rinne, but would sometimes cooperate with him for different reasons including arresting Sabato.
He reunites with Renge[3] and often meets her as well, unaware that she too couldn't apply to the Elite Shinigami High School because of Sabato and currently works for his hated Damashigami company, as she tries to hide it from him however she can, going so far as to hit him.[4]
A matchmaker offered him a chance to marry a rich girl, but he didn’t feel up to this, and it led him to hear a distressed Renge, who heard from Suzu that he was getting married, accidentally confess that she is a Damashigami. He couldn’t arrest her however, when she allowed him to handcuff her, and eventually gets relieved as Rinne made him believe that it was all a successful joke. In the end, he strongly refused the marriage offer as his marriage mate turned out to be Ageha.[5]
Final Story[]
In the final story, a device made by Renge for Sabato that caused spirits who were crossing the Sanzu river to go back to the living world forced him, his comrades and the Shinigami Youth Squad to fix the mess by putting road cones on the Sanzu river and its created rivulets from where the ghosts came back. He is told by Renge, who just quit being a Damashigami, that Sabato is responsible for the incident and so he tries unsuccessfully to arrest him. The device is nevertheless destroyed by Rinne, but Kain tells him that the lion headed faucet which pours water from the Sanzu river went missing and must be retrieved as it still pours. After the incident ended, he expressed gladness that Renge became an employee at the Mortal Census Bureau.[6]
Equipment[]
Kain with his Shirushigami Scythe
- Shirushigami Scythe: A tool used by all Shirushigami, looking different from the Shinigami Scythes, rather powerful, as it could extract Rinne’s life flame.
- Seizure Talisman (差押 Sashiosae)
Abilities[]
- Flight
- Shinigami Senses
- Scythe Fighting
- Invisibility
Relationships[]
Kain loves his mother very much. Although he tries to convince her that Sabato is a wrong man, he doesn’t dare to break her heart by telling her that he used her money to found the Damashigami Company.
Kain absolutely hates Sabato, and swore to bring him and his hated company down.
They are not on friendly terms, for Kain considers Rinne as guilty as his father, and so resents him to the point that he would show little regard for the rules to attempt ending Rinne's life early. Even after the Ring of Judgment shows that he's committing an injustice, his opinion on Rinne remains the same, but he would sometimes cooperate with him to bring Sabato down.
She is very loyal to Kain, but as her carefree attitude can be troublesome to him, Kain is often annoyed but puts up with her.
Considering his sister to be an idiot for being the Damashigami President’s assistant, he considers her an idiot as well, and so they are not on friendly terms. Once, when a matchmaker proposed a rich girl to him, he strongly refused, upon learning it's her.
Kain has a slowly blossoming connection with Renge, whom he has always seen as pure, true and beautiful, ignoring that she actually works directly for his hated Damashigami Company. He did hear the rumors that she never took her entrance exam to the Elite Shinigami High School and so became a Damashigami, but would not believe it.
Quotes[]
- “The elder sister was dumb, so the youngest sister too must have the brain of a bug.”(姉もバカなら妹の脳ミソも虫並みだな。) – Chapter 54
- "As long as you are Rokudo Sabato’s son, as far as I’m concerned, you are equally guilty…" (六道鯖人の息子である以上、ぼくにとってはきさまも同罪。。。) - Chapter 58, after stating he can no longer take Rinne's life flame
- “Pardon my Suzu.” (うちの鈴がすまん) – Whenever she does something bad
- “Bowing my head down to Rokudo Rinne… That’s a humiliation worse than death” (くっ、六道りんねに頭を下げるなど。。。死にも優る屈辱！) – Chapter 124
- “But Renge, you’re the same as before… pure, proper and beautiful.” (だけどれんげ、きみはあの頃のまま。。。清く正しく美しい。) – Chapter 148
- “Your old man is a real scum.” (きさまのおやじは本物のクズだな。) – Chapter 243, after learning how Sabato got his license to gold and used it for a scheme
- “Let’s have lunch after. We split the bill.” (あとで昼飯食いに行こう。割りカンで。) – Chapter 398, to Renge who took a job at the Moral Census Bureau
Trivia[]
- Kain's name is a combination of two characters that mean "support" and "stamp". Possibly related to his desk job within the realm of the afterlife.
- There was a mistake on the covers of volume 6 and 10. On volume 6, Kain's eyes are colored a dark purple while on volume 10 his eyes are an ice blue.
- Kain looks similar to Sesshōmaru from InuYasha.
- Both he and Renge were unable to attend the Elite Shinigami High School because of Sabato, and so became different types of Shinigami.
- He became visible to living beings only once by wearing glasses.
Media Appearances[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Chapters 157 (Episode 62), 291, 340, 379-380
- ↑ Chapters 94, Episode 28
- ↑ Chapters 146-148, Episode 47
- ↑ Chapters 157 (Episode 62), 160 (Episode 53), 173-174, 189 (Episode 53), 196, 207 (Episode 61), 209-210 (Episode 60), 233 (Episode 55), 254, 301-303, 340, 349-351, 362-363
- ↑ Chapters 379-380
- ↑ Chapters 394-395-396, 398