Kagura Demuri (カグラ・デムリ, Kagura Demuri) is one of the main protagonists of Aquarion EVOL. He is the pilot of Gnis, a citizen of Altair, an Element User and an abductor.
It was revealed in episode 23 that he is the reincarnation of Apollo along with Amata Sora.
Appearance[]
Kagura has short red, messy hair and sharp golden eyes. His skin is slightly tanned and has a warm olive tone to it. He appears to be in good physical shape, as he is shown to be rather muscular. Besides these differences, he's the splitting image of Amata.
He usually wears a black and grey asymmetrical shirt with single white fur trim on one side that extends from the front part of his shirt to his backside. The left half of his shirt is black, while the right side is a dark grey. The left sleeve extends to the palm of his hand, and has a feather decoration. The right sleeve is shorter. His shirt is half-open, partially showing his chest, and is short enough to also partially show his abdomen. He also wears a black shoulder pad on his left arm that is underneath his clothes, with a cord that goes from the front part to his backside. The right side of his shirt has a belt. He wears a single brown glove in his right hand. He wears a pair of loose dark blue pants, alongside black boots and what it seems to be black socks. Around his pants he wears a thick brown and black studded belt, from which one side hangs a small dream catcher.
In Cayenne's visions of the wedding in mourning clothes, Kagura is seem wearing a black formal suit with a dark grey shirt, a black vest, and a black cravat with a small blue pin. He also wears a single feather on his suit.
As a child, Kagura, much like Amata, wears a small dark blue hooded capelet with a light blue long-sleeved shirt and black shorts. He also wears a pair of black fingerless gloves, similar to Amata's.
In the last episode, because his shirt was ripped off, he is seen wearing a black tank top in its place.
In a 2013 calendar, Kagura's fall outfit is a fur-trimmed blue jacket with matching blue pants, along with a black shirt.
Personality[]
Kagura is described as beast-like. He is aggressive, hot-headed, stubborn and cocky. He has a liking for battle as he is shown to enjoy engaging with others, and does whatever he can to win, never giving up, even when he's in disadvantage. He's quite rebellious, as he dislikes being bossed around by Izumo, and usually ignores his orders. He's rather fixated in becoming stronger, and constantly looks down on Amata, calling him a wimp and useless. He seems to hate Amata and blames him for Alicia's disappearance, mocking Amata for being too scared to follow Alicia through the dimension gate. In Amata's vision of what his family would have been like had Izumo and Alicia survived, Kagura is shown to be rather sadistic and mean, setting their house on fire. Kagura also shows a short temper, quickly angering whenever someone tries to get him away from Mikono.
Despite all this, Kagura is shown to have a softer side to him, which emerges when he's around Mikono. Because of his abusive upbringing by Mikage, he is rather awkward in social situations, being too blunt and clueless about what to do, not understating normal social etiquettes. He becomes nervous around Mikono, and every time he's around her or talks about her, he starts to talk in reverse, giving place to misunderstandings. He doesn't seem to be aware of this, making it look like he wants to hurt Mikono when in reality he means the opposite. He seems to like Shush, Mikono's pet, and is seen with him standing on his shoulder.
Background[]
One of Izumo's two subordinates, and the man whom Cayenne saw beside Mikono in his vision of a wedding in mourning clothes, Kagura possesses a wild and powerful personality: even for Mikage and Izumo, his temperament is rough. His first appearance establishes him as rebellious and temperamental, qualities that he would inherit from Apollo.
Kagura was initially believed to be an orphan from the slums of Altair before Mikage adopted him, but was later revealed to have been split apart from Amata during Alicia's abduction when they were 6 years old. Amata, being too shocked to act, could do nothing but beg for Alicia to not abandon him, as she walked away towards the dimension gate. Mikage used this opportunity to split Amata's "light" and "dark" sides apart. The dark half chased after Alicia through a dimensional gate into Altair, where Mikage was waiting for him. He then locked away the boy's memories and raised him under the name of Kagura Demuri.
Amata and Kagura being separated for the first time.
However, living under Mikage's roof wasn't a pleasant experience for Kagura. He was repeatedly abused and manipulated by Mikage, who took pleasure in tormenting him. He was put inside a cage made of vines, and tied up while Mikage hummed the melody of Sousei no Aquarion. This made Kagura extremely lonely and paranoid of everyone, he himself saying that being with Mikage felt lonelier than being by himself, and that he couldn't trust anyone, the abuse giving him a twisted view of the world. This is one of the things that made Kagura obsessed with finding someone like Mikono, a person that would accept him and love him. It could be that because of Mikage's status and influence in Altair, nobody stepped to help him. This is further implied by Izumo, who knows about Mikage's treatment of Kagura but decides to ignore it.
Despite also being the son of Izumo and Alicia, they seem rather dismissive of him, as Izumo only cares about Amata and Alicia merely refers to Kagura as Amata's other self. In turn, Kagura is also dismissive of them, even after finding out that Izumo is his father he doesn't care, as none of them were with him as he grew up under Mikage's abuse, and in Izumo's case, never bothered to help him. Unlike Amata, he didn't grieve for them when they died.
Powers and Abilities[]
Kagura fighting Shrade.
Kagura's initial Element Power is his sense of smell. It's so strong that he can track individuals across great distances, and when piloting his Mithra Gnis, it is enhanced to the point that he could smell the pilots within the Vectors. However, there is only one exception to this: Amata Sora. He can't sense any smell within him, something that constantly confuses him. Later is revealed that this is because they are both the same person, and thus he can't smell himself. Kagura also likes how Mikono smells in particular, and often compliments her on this, but because of his reversed speech this turns into insults.
It's heavily implied that Kagura's sense of smell extends to people's souls, as he can tell Mikono is Sylvia's reincarnation due to her smell, and earlier he comments on how Shrade smells similar to her, hinting that he might be Sirius' reincarnation.
Kagura is a trained soldier and while he's a competent pilot, after Mikage's training his abilities in battle improve greatly, enough to take a huge part of Altair's army by himself. He is also skilled in acrobatics, brawling, and running on all fours. He has great speed, being able to chase after a car in full speed with little effort, he can jump from great distances, and can leap through roofs and climb through buildings. He's also shown to be capable of swimming.
While piloting the Mithra Gnis, he uses a giant axe as his main weapon, is capable of casting a tornado and shoot off missiles to pin his opponent down, interestingly enough they resemble the buckle of his belt. He can also cast electrical waves, shocking his opponents.
Power of Reversal: After being tortured by Mikage, Kagura's latent Element Powers reveal themselves, and he gains the ability to transform into a wolf and reverse the laws of physics. He is subsequently powerful enough to potentially raze the Altairan capital city, Ianthe, to the ground, and easily defeats more than a dozen of Altair's military mecha. His power extends to reversing anything: from gravity to damage (including physical damage and missiles), other element's powers, and even putting a car in reverse. Unfortunately, this also extends to himself, as his speech is also reversed when he becomes nervous, mainly around Mikono.
Relationship[]
Jin Muso[]
_-9A9E2BF9-.mkv_snapshot_40.07_-2016.11.26_05.04.30-.jpg){kind=link}
Kagura talks about his "wench" to Jin after the battle.
Jin and Kagura were childhood friends, and later worked together in Altair's army. When Kagura discovered Mikono's existence for the first time, Jin was the only person he told about finding his new "wench."
Kagura's hotblooded personality often caused conflict between them, and Jin had to bail him out when the former's behavior resulted in unnecessary damage. Jin himself says that he has to babysit him most of the time. When Jin is fighting Amata, Zessica and Mikono during the episode 8 "Confessions", Kagura becomes distressed and yells at Jin to stop hurting Mikono, all while Mikage is forcing him to watch as Jin's infiltrator ammunition damages Mikono and rips off her pilot suit.
Mikono Suzushiro[]
.mp4_snapshot_12.35_-2014.06.08_18.17.17-.png){kind=link}
"I'll crush you in my arms forever."
Upon sensing Mikono's scent, he claims he found his "wench" and now determined to claim her at all costs, going as far as disobeying orders to search for her. He shows to care about her, as he became upset when Mikage forced him to watch her suffer in battle. He constantly seeks out to her and is very vocal about his intentions to make her his, though because of his reversed speech he ends up saying the opposite, scaring Mikono, who thinks he means to harm her. Kagura seems to compliment Mikono on her smell, but because of his powers he ends up calling her a smelly wench.
He's protective of her, as he becomes distressed when he sees her hurt during her battle against Jin, yelling at Jin to stop hurting her, even though he can't hear him. He does whatever is necessary to rescue Mikono when he sees her in danger, although ironically some of his actions result in her getting hurt as well.
Through the course of the series, Kagura becomes progressively more desperate in his attempts to claim Mikono. He disobeys orders, turns against the Altair army, and recklessly fights nearly all of Neo-DEAVA by himself in his attempts to take her. He yearns for her so badly that his Mithra Gnis has hundreds of pictures of Mikono, all of them making a collage of her face. He becomes enraged when someone tries to take Mikono away from him, beating up anyone that gets in his way. During his rampage in Neo-Deava in episode 13 "The Fallen Giant", this goes rather badly as he becomes indirectly responsible for the death of 10 students, but he doesn't seem to be aware of this fact.
In certain occasions, his feelings are so strong that he takes the form of a black wolf, storming through anything that's on his way. After Mikage shows him a vision of him and Mikono as Apollon and Sylvie, he becomes convinced that they must be together at all costs, calling her "Sylvie" from there on. When he does get her for a brief moment, he can't contain himself and dances around with her, saying that he'll crush her in his arms forever and that he hates her. He attempts to kiss her, but Mikono becomes scared and rejects him, leaving him in shock. Despite this, he keeps pursuing her later in episode 15 "Beasts of Love", although he acts rather upset towards her, until she defends him from Amata later on, in which she grins at her before passing out due to his wound. In later episodes he seems convinced that Mikono reciprocates his feelings, and attempts to take her to Altair, only to find Izumo's army waiting for him as they attempt to take her away from him.
Later it's revealed that because of Mikage's abusive treatment, Kagura became desperate for being loved and accepted, which is why he desperately chases after Mikono. He even says that he doesn't care if his parents have to die for that, showing how far his obsession goes.
Kagura blushing around Mikono.
Mikono, in turn, seems to be scared of him. She doesn't understand that he is speaking in reverse, and thus has the impression that he wants to hurt her and that he's constantly insulting her. Once she figures out that he's speaking in reverse, she's no longer afraid of him.
She constantly mistakes him for Amata, and since early on the series she suspects they have some sort of connection, as she calls him Amata while unconscious. At one point, Mikono can see Amata's reflection in the water turn into Kagura as he grins and stares at her, scaring her. Mikono has the feeling that she has seen him before, but can't pinpoint exactly from where or how he's familiar to her. She later becomes aware that he is the reincarnation of Pollon and Apollo, her past live's lover, and although she doesn't know how to respond to his feelings, she apologizes for not having noticed them before.
Amata Sora[]
Kagura and Amata punch each other.
Kagura is Amata's other half and also his rival, both in love and in the battlefield. While he is initially indifferent towards Amata and only attacks him when he takes Mikono away from him, once he discovers that he and Amata used to be the same person and thus, also a reincarnation of Apollo, he decides that he wants to destroy him. He dislikes him, tagging him as weak and a coward, and blames him of Alicia's abduction and of them being separated from Sylvia 12,000 years ago. Kagura mocks Amata for not following Alicia into the dimension gate 10 years ago, as Kagura is shown to glare at him in anger before following Alicia and disappearing from Vega with her.
Amata is partially afraid of him because of his threatening aura, but at the same time stands up to him when he feels like he's putting Mikono in danger. In the episode 21 "Kiss", Amata has a nightmare where he and Kagura are one being, and Kagura has taken over him and is out to claim Mikono by force, hurting her in the process as Amata can only watch in horror, he awakens and touches the side of his own face, disturbed by the dream. While Kagura hates that Amata is the other half of him because he sees him as weak, Amata is terrified by the idea because he sees Kagura as reckless and dangerous, and is afraid he'll take over him if they become one again.
While Amata is capable of fighting on pair with Kagura as a pilot, Kagura is shown to be superior to him in hand-to-hand combat, easily beating him around and nearly killing him with his bare hands in one occasion. Because of the contrast between his personalities, they often don't get along, Kagura thinks of Amata's gentle disposition as a sign of weakness, and in turn Amata can't stand Kagura's recklessness, thinking he's a threat to the people he loves. After Izumo and Alicia die, Amata develops an intense hatred of Kagura, blaming him of having shattered his dream of having a family, saying he has robbed him of the peace he has longed for so many years. Kagura doesn't seem to care, and calls his parents worthless in comparison to get what he truly wants: his smelly wench. This enrages Amata even further as the two engage in a vicious combat where they blame each other of their respective misfortunes.
Kagura refers to Amata as the weak part of himself, which is what makes him dislike him so much. Towards the end of the show, he seems to have a psychic link with Amata, because he can hear his voice even when they're in separated cockpits. This is attributed to them being the same person and having their minds linked.
Because of his reversed speech, Amata is under the impression that he means to harm Mikono, and constantly battles him in order to defend her.
Mikage Towano[]
Mykage tormenting Kagura.
Mikage is Kagura's mentor and guardian. As he grew up, he regularly subjected him to torture in order to make him the perfect pawn. This would include caging him and tying him up while humming the song of Sousei no Aquarion, a strategy that he would later use to knock him unconscious. As Mikage possesses great influence and status in Altair, it's implied that other people knew of his treatment of Kagura but no one stepped in to help him. In episode 11 "Call of the Wild", Izumo hears Kagura's screams as Mikage tortures him, but he merely dismisses it as an annoying noise, hinting that he knows that Kagura is being abused, but simply doesn't care.
After Kagura met Mikono for the first time, Mikage would assist him in visiting Vega to search for her, opening the dimension gates for him, even against Izumo's orders. He would later exploit his feelings for Mikono for his own gain and show him false visions of his past life as Apollon to fuel his desire to have her, in an effort to lure Mikono into Altair. In episode 11 "Call of the Wild", Kagura attempts to kill Mikage in his wolf form by snapping his neck, but retreats once he realizes he needs his help in order to reach Mikono.
While Kagura harbors a great deal of hatred and resentment towards Mikage, deep inside he fears him. He becomes terrified when the latter starts humming Sousei no Aquarion, screaming in anguish before passing out. While fighting Amata, he calls Mikage a demon, saying that living with him was horrible. This was probably intentional as said abuse made Kagura desperate for being loved, and he would later do anything to claim Mikono as his, hoping that she would love him and accept him. Because he's so desperate for her love, he sometimes cooperates and even asks for Mikage's help if it means he'll help him to get closer to Mikono, but most of the times this backfires as Mikage doesn't really want him to have Mikono, as he's working for nobody but himself, and most of his schemes result in more torture for Kagura.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Kagura is the reincarnation of Apollo and Pollon, along with Amata Sora. He is probably the "Beast of Darkness" referred to by Rena in the Genesis of Aquarion episode of the same name.
- While Kagura did not believe himself to be Solar Wing, he later manifests a wing sign during his destructive escape from Altair. This is a red herring, as the true Solar Wing is the Aquarion itself.
- Kagura may be a reference of Roxas from Kingdom hearts. As both are born from their respective stories' main protagonist, lost their past memories, once sided the antagonists who also give them a new name for own purposes, but eventually betrayed them. Also, they share the same voice actor, Kōki Uchiyama.
- Kagura is taller than Amata, being 178 cm (5'8 ft), and Amata being 170 cm (5'5 ft).
- In an unofficial Biglobe poll made during the show's airing time, Kagura ranked 3rd in popularity for the male cast, with a total of 999 votes.
- Kagura has three theme songs: Beast's Beat, Kagura's Wilderness, and Fragments of Eve. The former two play whenever he makes an appearance, whenever the latter plays when he breaks out from Altair in episode 11 "Call of the Wild".
- In one of the drama CD's specials, Kagura is forced to dress as a woman, though further details are not given.
- Kagura is the only pilot that is never seen wearing a pilot suit, besides Izumo and Crea.
- It is widely assumed that when Kagura talks about "killing" Mikono he actually means procreating, as the opposite of killing something would be creating new life.
- Kagura exhibit traits of both tsundere and yandere archetypes. His love for Mikono borders on obsession and he's extremely possessive of her, turning him aggressive and dangerous towards everyone else, while also having a softer, gentler side of him that is hidden beneath his rough and brutish nature.
- At one point in the show's early draft, Kagura was meant to turn into a girl, but the female staff rejected this idea, saying that he'd be too much of a savage woman.
- Episode 11 "Call of the Wild" is a reference to the novel of the same name by author Jack London. The novel follows Buck, a dog that after certain circumstances is thrown into the wilderness of Alaska, and is forced to adapt and coexist with other wild animals, gaining a feral nature in order to survive.
- Kagura's official card is the Black Joker. This may be a pun, since Kagura is described to be wild, and the Joker card is described as a "wild card."