OVA
Description
Tenkai Nankobo is a mysterious monk dwelling within the ruins of a temple on Mount Hiei. Clad in red armor and a large jade necklace, he sometimes wears a red mask, leading to the name "Red Demon." Despite his grey hair, his appearance remains youthful, though he acknowledges having lived so long he has forgotten his age. His companion is Arin, a girl possessing nun-like qualities and mysterious powers, who stays at Mount Hiei. Sensing encroaching evil, Tenkai identifies Hideyoshi Toyotomi's plot to conquer the world using an army of Genma demons and seeks the wielder of the Oni power to oppose it. This quest leads him to Soki, revealed as Hideyoshi's illegitimate son Hideyasu Yuki. Tenkai joins Soki's party to fight the Genma.
In combat, Tenkai wields staves, many named after Hindu deities such as Varuna, Indra, and Raksasa. His fighting techniques incorporate Buddhist and Hindu terminology like Enlightenment and Nirvana. He possesses a unique ability to communicate with the dead, enabling him to obtain items, keys, or vital information from corpses inaccessible to others. This skill requires revisiting areas with him to secure otherwise unobtainable resources. During the journey, he is temporarily separated from the party after appearing to die in battle, but later returns to rescue them from imminent peril.
His background, revealed in the end credits, identifies him as Samanosuke Akechi, the protagonist of earlier series events. Born in Japan's Sengoku Period, Samanosuke served the Saito clan before becoming a ronin. He acquired a magical gauntlet from the Oni clan, granting him the power to absorb demon souls and wield elemental weapons. After thwarting Genma plots across multiple conflicts—including defeating the Genma king Fortinbras and confronting the resurrected Nobunaga Oda—Samanosuke struggled with the fear of losing control of his Oni powers, leading him into seclusion. By the time of Dawn of Dreams, set 15 years after Nobunaga's defeat, he has adopted the Tenkai Nankobo identity.
In the final battle against Hideyoshi and the Genma Triumvirate, Tenkai gives his Oni gauntlet to Soki. This gauntlet contains the soul of a Genma Lord, augmenting Soki's power to confront the resurrected Fortinbras. Following the conflict's conclusion, Tenkai and Arin depart on a new journey to permanently seal the Oni Gauntlet.
In combat, Tenkai wields staves, many named after Hindu deities such as Varuna, Indra, and Raksasa. His fighting techniques incorporate Buddhist and Hindu terminology like Enlightenment and Nirvana. He possesses a unique ability to communicate with the dead, enabling him to obtain items, keys, or vital information from corpses inaccessible to others. This skill requires revisiting areas with him to secure otherwise unobtainable resources. During the journey, he is temporarily separated from the party after appearing to die in battle, but later returns to rescue them from imminent peril.
His background, revealed in the end credits, identifies him as Samanosuke Akechi, the protagonist of earlier series events. Born in Japan's Sengoku Period, Samanosuke served the Saito clan before becoming a ronin. He acquired a magical gauntlet from the Oni clan, granting him the power to absorb demon souls and wield elemental weapons. After thwarting Genma plots across multiple conflicts—including defeating the Genma king Fortinbras and confronting the resurrected Nobunaga Oda—Samanosuke struggled with the fear of losing control of his Oni powers, leading him into seclusion. By the time of Dawn of Dreams, set 15 years after Nobunaga's defeat, he has adopted the Tenkai Nankobo identity.
In the final battle against Hideyoshi and the Genma Triumvirate, Tenkai gives his Oni gauntlet to Soki. This gauntlet contains the soul of a Genma Lord, augmenting Soki's power to confront the resurrected Fortinbras. Following the conflict's conclusion, Tenkai and Arin depart on a new journey to permanently seal the Oni Gauntlet.