OVA
Description
Pai Ayanokouji is the central heroine of the anime 3x3 Eyes and the last surviving member of the Sanjiyan Unkara, a nearly immortal magical race distinguished by a third eye. Her true name is Parvati IV, and she is roughly three hundred years old, which in the context of her species makes her relatively young. The Sanjiyan are known to suffer mental degeneration over very long lifespans, and younger members tend to develop split personalities as a coping mechanism. Pai is the clearest example of this, and she is the only member of her race shown to have genuine multiple personality disorder.
Pai's personality is divided between two distinct personas. In her everyday state, with her third eye closed, she presents as Pai, a somewhat flaky, cheerful, caring, and naive young woman who appears almost entirely human. When her third eye opens, usually in moments of peril or distress, her second persona emerges, sometimes called simply the Sanjiyan or identified as Parvati IV. This personality is rigid, stoic, arrogant, and ruthless, and it is the one capable of wielding her full magical power. The two personas are aware of each other and can carry on internal conversations, with the gentler Pai personality often at odds with the harsher Parvati personality.
Pai's central motivation is her desperate wish to become human. Believing herself to be the last of her kind, she seeks the Ningen no Zo, the Statue of Humanity, an artifact said to grant a Sanjiyan mortality by transferring the powers of two members of the race into a third. Her desire to shed her immortal nature and escape her troubled past sets the entire story in motion.
Her role in the story begins when she travels to Tokyo in search of Yakumo Fujii, a high school student. She carries a letter from Yakumo's late father, Professor Fujii, an archaeologist she had met in Tibet four years earlier. The professor had befriended her, researched the Sanjiyan legends, and promised to help her find the artifact, but he fell ill and died before he could. Shortly after arriving in Tokyo, a thief steals her backpack and cane, and Yakumo manages to recover the backpack, forging their first connection. They discover the professor's letter, which asks Yakumo to assist Pai in her quest.
The relationship takes a dramatic turn when the stolen cane releases Takuhi, Pai's giant bird-like familiar, which goes on a rampage in the city. Yakumo mistakes Takuhi's approach as an attack on Pai, shoves her aside to protect her, and is fatally wounded. Refusing to lose the boy she had just found, Pai's third eye opens and she absorbs his soul, transforming him into her Wu, an undead and nearly invulnerable servant bound to her. This act ties their fates together permanently: Yakumo can only become fully human again if Pai becomes human, and if Pai dies, he dies as well. From that point, the two journey together to find the Ningen no Zo, pursued by monsters and demons from the Shadow World, as well as followers of the demon god Kaiyanwang, who seek to kill Pai or steal her power to resurrect their deity.
Pai's key relationships define her journey. Her bond with Yakumo is the most important, as he becomes her protector, her servant, and her closest companion, and their shared quest binds them together emotionally as well as mystically. Takuhi serves as her loyal familiar, normally kept within her cane. Her history includes Kaiyanwang, the ruler of the Sanjiyan and an evil incarnation of Shiva, who was her one-time husband and remains a formidable enemy. Her mother, Parvati III, was also a split-personality Sanjiyan, indicating that this trait runs in her family. Professor Fujii's kindness and his dying request to his son placed Pai on her path and gave her a trusted ally even after his death.
Over the course of her story, Pai develops from a seemingly fragile and distracted wanderer into a figure of considerable resolve, while the tension between her two identities becomes a central part of her character. Her gentler personality longs for an ordinary human life, while her other self is capable of cold calculation and destructive power. In the later portions of the overall story, Pai loses her memories and lives for a time as an ordinary high school girl under the name Ayanokouji Pai, unaware of her true nature, until her past resurfaces and her two identities are forced to reconcile. This period of amnesia underscores how deeply she wishes to be an ordinary person and how difficult that wish is to achieve.
As a Sanjiyan, Pai possesses innate supernatural abilities. She is nearly immortal, aging extremely slowly, and she can absorb a human soul to create a Wu, transforming that person into a powerful undead guardian with regenerative abilities. Her deeper magical powers are wielded by her Parvati IV persona when her third eye opens, allowing her to perform powerful spells and mystical feats. These abilities are taxing, however, and heavy use leaves her exhausted and vulnerable. Her familiar Takuhi adds a further layer of protection, and her interactions with the spirit world make her a target for those who covet her power. Despite her fearsome potential, her defining trait is not her magic but her longing for an end to her immortal isolation.
Pai's personality is divided between two distinct personas. In her everyday state, with her third eye closed, she presents as Pai, a somewhat flaky, cheerful, caring, and naive young woman who appears almost entirely human. When her third eye opens, usually in moments of peril or distress, her second persona emerges, sometimes called simply the Sanjiyan or identified as Parvati IV. This personality is rigid, stoic, arrogant, and ruthless, and it is the one capable of wielding her full magical power. The two personas are aware of each other and can carry on internal conversations, with the gentler Pai personality often at odds with the harsher Parvati personality.
Pai's central motivation is her desperate wish to become human. Believing herself to be the last of her kind, she seeks the Ningen no Zo, the Statue of Humanity, an artifact said to grant a Sanjiyan mortality by transferring the powers of two members of the race into a third. Her desire to shed her immortal nature and escape her troubled past sets the entire story in motion.
Her role in the story begins when she travels to Tokyo in search of Yakumo Fujii, a high school student. She carries a letter from Yakumo's late father, Professor Fujii, an archaeologist she had met in Tibet four years earlier. The professor had befriended her, researched the Sanjiyan legends, and promised to help her find the artifact, but he fell ill and died before he could. Shortly after arriving in Tokyo, a thief steals her backpack and cane, and Yakumo manages to recover the backpack, forging their first connection. They discover the professor's letter, which asks Yakumo to assist Pai in her quest.
The relationship takes a dramatic turn when the stolen cane releases Takuhi, Pai's giant bird-like familiar, which goes on a rampage in the city. Yakumo mistakes Takuhi's approach as an attack on Pai, shoves her aside to protect her, and is fatally wounded. Refusing to lose the boy she had just found, Pai's third eye opens and she absorbs his soul, transforming him into her Wu, an undead and nearly invulnerable servant bound to her. This act ties their fates together permanently: Yakumo can only become fully human again if Pai becomes human, and if Pai dies, he dies as well. From that point, the two journey together to find the Ningen no Zo, pursued by monsters and demons from the Shadow World, as well as followers of the demon god Kaiyanwang, who seek to kill Pai or steal her power to resurrect their deity.
Pai's key relationships define her journey. Her bond with Yakumo is the most important, as he becomes her protector, her servant, and her closest companion, and their shared quest binds them together emotionally as well as mystically. Takuhi serves as her loyal familiar, normally kept within her cane. Her history includes Kaiyanwang, the ruler of the Sanjiyan and an evil incarnation of Shiva, who was her one-time husband and remains a formidable enemy. Her mother, Parvati III, was also a split-personality Sanjiyan, indicating that this trait runs in her family. Professor Fujii's kindness and his dying request to his son placed Pai on her path and gave her a trusted ally even after his death.
Over the course of her story, Pai develops from a seemingly fragile and distracted wanderer into a figure of considerable resolve, while the tension between her two identities becomes a central part of her character. Her gentler personality longs for an ordinary human life, while her other self is capable of cold calculation and destructive power. In the later portions of the overall story, Pai loses her memories and lives for a time as an ordinary high school girl under the name Ayanokouji Pai, unaware of her true nature, until her past resurfaces and her two identities are forced to reconcile. This period of amnesia underscores how deeply she wishes to be an ordinary person and how difficult that wish is to achieve.
As a Sanjiyan, Pai possesses innate supernatural abilities. She is nearly immortal, aging extremely slowly, and she can absorb a human soul to create a Wu, transforming that person into a powerful undead guardian with regenerative abilities. Her deeper magical powers are wielded by her Parvati IV persona when her third eye opens, allowing her to perform powerful spells and mystical feats. These abilities are taxing, however, and heavy use leaves her exhausted and vulnerable. Her familiar Takuhi adds a further layer of protection, and her interactions with the spirit world make her a target for those who covet her power. Despite her fearsome potential, her defining trait is not her magic but her longing for an end to her immortal isolation.