ONA
Description
Asu Kawajiri, also known simply as Kawajiri, is a complex figure who once achieved the rank of Devil before being stripped of his status and returned to that of a regular Magic User. He is the adoptive older brother of Nikaido, a central character, and his actions throughout the story are heavily defined by his protective, if complicated, feelings for her.
In his original past, Kawajiri was raised by an elderly couple in a forest alongside two younger sisters, Yakumo and Nikaido. As a boy, he was caring and gentle, looking after the girls and shielding them from dangers like hunters who preyed on children in the forest. At the age of sixteen, a Devil noticed his unique and powerful magic, offering him the chance to take the Devil Exam. Leaving his family behind, he succeeded in his transformation, becoming a Devil and retaining the youthful appearance he had at that age.
However, the process of attaining devilhood drastically warped his personality. Before his exam, he was known for his warm and caring nature. After becoming a Devil, he became brutally honest, mocking of those he considered inferior, and showed little respect for anyone. Even after being demoted and losing his devil status, he retained these harsh, critical traits, alongside new preferences for expensive clothes, greasy food, and the music of a musician named Haru.
This timeline was altered by Nikaido's own time-manipulating magic. In the revised history, Kawajiri grew up in an orphanage run by the Devil's church. He still took the Devil Exam and his body began to transform, but during the Blue Night season, he was attacked by magic users who coveted his rare abilities. They offered him a grim choice: use his magic to defend himself and forfeit his chance at becoming a Devil, or become their partner. Before he could decide, a young Nikaido appeared and single-handedly defeated his assailants. After his transformation was complete, a grateful Kawajiri, now reborn as the Devil Asu, took Nikaido in and helped her return to the world of Hole. Aware of her own mysterious and powerful magic, he kept her existence hidden from Chidaruma, the ruler of all Devils, to protect her from being harassed for partnerships as he had been. He trained her, gave her a mask to enhance her powers, and they parted ways with a promise to stay in touch.
As a Devil, Asu possessed the ability to teleport anywhere and had clairvoyant powers of perception. His appearance in this form was marked by a leather mask resembling a pig snout and a giant black horn emerging from his forehead. In the present, he uses his teleportation abilities frequently, such as when he rescues Kaiman from Hell’s prison and when he moves himself and others across great distances.
His relationship with Nikaido remains the core of his motivations. Despite his warped personality, his actions are consistently driven by a desire to protect her, even as he expresses concern for the dangers she faces, particularly her devotion to helping Kaiman. When Nikaido is forcibly made into En’s partner, Asu feels he cannot act directly without alerting Chidaruma, but he manipulates events to send Kaiman to rescue her. He later uses his magic to transform an individual named Chota into a Nikaido clone to help her escape. His defiance and years of hiding Nikaido’s existence finally catch up with him when Chidaruma reveals his omniscience and punishes him savagely, using a powerful creature to tear apart his Devil body and stripping him of his devilhood, leaving him in his original, much smaller magic user form. After this demotion, he is referred to once again as Kawajiri.
Weakened but not broken, Kawajiri continues to aid Nikaido. He takes her in after En’s downfall and helps her learn to control her volatile time-traveling magic, designing a training regimen inspired by his own Devil Exam. He even buys his own severed devil body parts from a store to cook for dinner, much to Nikaido’s disgust. He later accompanies her to Hole to rewrite history again, and ends up living at her restaurant, the Hungry Bug. Even in his diminished state, his personality remains sharp and mischievous; he frequently teases their ally Risu for being poor and powerless.
In his original past, Kawajiri was raised by an elderly couple in a forest alongside two younger sisters, Yakumo and Nikaido. As a boy, he was caring and gentle, looking after the girls and shielding them from dangers like hunters who preyed on children in the forest. At the age of sixteen, a Devil noticed his unique and powerful magic, offering him the chance to take the Devil Exam. Leaving his family behind, he succeeded in his transformation, becoming a Devil and retaining the youthful appearance he had at that age.
However, the process of attaining devilhood drastically warped his personality. Before his exam, he was known for his warm and caring nature. After becoming a Devil, he became brutally honest, mocking of those he considered inferior, and showed little respect for anyone. Even after being demoted and losing his devil status, he retained these harsh, critical traits, alongside new preferences for expensive clothes, greasy food, and the music of a musician named Haru.
This timeline was altered by Nikaido's own time-manipulating magic. In the revised history, Kawajiri grew up in an orphanage run by the Devil's church. He still took the Devil Exam and his body began to transform, but during the Blue Night season, he was attacked by magic users who coveted his rare abilities. They offered him a grim choice: use his magic to defend himself and forfeit his chance at becoming a Devil, or become their partner. Before he could decide, a young Nikaido appeared and single-handedly defeated his assailants. After his transformation was complete, a grateful Kawajiri, now reborn as the Devil Asu, took Nikaido in and helped her return to the world of Hole. Aware of her own mysterious and powerful magic, he kept her existence hidden from Chidaruma, the ruler of all Devils, to protect her from being harassed for partnerships as he had been. He trained her, gave her a mask to enhance her powers, and they parted ways with a promise to stay in touch.
As a Devil, Asu possessed the ability to teleport anywhere and had clairvoyant powers of perception. His appearance in this form was marked by a leather mask resembling a pig snout and a giant black horn emerging from his forehead. In the present, he uses his teleportation abilities frequently, such as when he rescues Kaiman from Hell’s prison and when he moves himself and others across great distances.
His relationship with Nikaido remains the core of his motivations. Despite his warped personality, his actions are consistently driven by a desire to protect her, even as he expresses concern for the dangers she faces, particularly her devotion to helping Kaiman. When Nikaido is forcibly made into En’s partner, Asu feels he cannot act directly without alerting Chidaruma, but he manipulates events to send Kaiman to rescue her. He later uses his magic to transform an individual named Chota into a Nikaido clone to help her escape. His defiance and years of hiding Nikaido’s existence finally catch up with him when Chidaruma reveals his omniscience and punishes him savagely, using a powerful creature to tear apart his Devil body and stripping him of his devilhood, leaving him in his original, much smaller magic user form. After this demotion, he is referred to once again as Kawajiri.
Weakened but not broken, Kawajiri continues to aid Nikaido. He takes her in after En’s downfall and helps her learn to control her volatile time-traveling magic, designing a training regimen inspired by his own Devil Exam. He even buys his own severed devil body parts from a store to cook for dinner, much to Nikaido’s disgust. He later accompanies her to Hole to rewrite history again, and ends up living at her restaurant, the Hungry Bug. Even in his diminished state, his personality remains sharp and mischievous; he frequently teases their ally Risu for being poor and powerless.