She is an unnamed yokai girl who appears in the 7th and 8th volumes of Saiyuki Reload, nicknamed by fans as "Pippi," on account of her two braids.
Personality[]
She is a spunky girl whom harsh desert life and constant scuffles with the humans has toughened into a force to be reckoned with. With a firm hold on reality she has a sharp tongue and is more than able to become the leader when it is required of her. She does this twice during the manga, the first time when she orders Gojyo, Hakkai and Goku about in the marketplace, and the second when she and Goku take charge of the yokai children whose parents have left to fight the humans. In paralleling her character to another's, Gojyo remarks that she is, "Not cute." Goku disagrees, saying, "Y'think so? She's pretty good looking up close." Gojyo sighs and replies with, "I mean she's a jerk, Goku. Like a certain priest." In the end, it is the resolve in her nature and in her beliefs that leads her to make one final attack against the humans, taking out their entire village in one blast — and taking her own life in the process.
Background[]
Saiyuki Reload. Vol 8. Table of Contents image.
She appears in the Oasis Arc of Saiyuki Reload. She lives in a small village in the middle of the desert. She and her fellow villagers save Sha Gojyo, Cho Hakkai and Son Goku when the three collapse in the sand from heat and lack of water.
The unique thing about her village is that it is a village of — demons. All of the villagers have already experienced the Minus Wave and what they call "being born again:" the awakening of their animal instincts, which make them see humans as food rather than fellows. However, amongst themselves, the yokai behave like the most natural and normal townspeople.
Yet they have a problem with water shortage. While there is a great oasis of water just over the hill, the oasis is inhabited by humans who are just as thirsty for the blood of yokai as the yokai are for the blood of humans. It is in this mixture of warmth and kindness among her own kind, and the never lifting tension towards the humans, that she has been raised.
Relationships[]
She mainly interacts with two people during her time in the manga: her brother, and Goku.
Saiyuki Reload. Vol 8. Act 39. Even A Worm 26.
Unnamed Yokai Brother (seiyuu: Daisuke Namikawa): Her brother and she seem to have a very wonderful relationship. They are each the only family the other has left in this world. He is protective of her and he even takes a moment to whisper half jokingly in Goku's ear, "And don't think you can touch my sister just because you're alone with her, punk." He then straightens up and, with a laugh, calls back in final farewell, "Good luck, kid!" before leaving his sister and a very flustered Goku by themselves. He also gifts Goku one of his old hats to keep Goku's head from being exposed to the heat. She is traumatized when her brother's body reappears in the village the morning after he has been shot to death by Gat.
Saiyuki Reload. Vol 8. Act 40. Even A Worm 27.
Son Goku: As a yokai who has embraced the effects of the Minus Wave, her relationship with Goku is complicated. As member of the Sanzo Party, Goku has been battling and killing yokai for a year and a half. And she is just such a yokai. The humans whom Goku has pledged to protect, she had pledged to kill. It is only near the end of all things that both reconcile their beliefs. Goku realizes that, "It's not about human or yokai. Or whose side I'm on. This's about what's important to me." And she... when her brother has been killed, and her entire village torched, she realizes, at the end, that she cannot live... because the only thing she can do is die with her pride. She explains this to Goku as the two ride a wagon full of dynamite toward the human village. "I want to live in a way I can be proud of. ...I'm sure you can understand that." With this last goodbye, she kisses Goku. Whether from shock, or because he knows that he must let her go, Goku releases his hold, and falls away from both the wagon and from her.
Trivia[]
- While she never receives an official name in the manga, she is nicknamed "Pippi" because of the two braids she sports, marking her as similar to Astrid Lindgren's spunky heroine Pippi Longstocking.
- After her death Gojyo remarks to Goku, "She would have grown up gorgeous. Your taste is a little too good, kid."