Koumori Maniwa

"*I am Koumori Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Ninja. Take heed, Kyotouryuu. I bear no grudge against you, but I need to take your life.*"

— **Koumori Maniwa**

## Koumori Maniwa

* Anime
* Novel
* Manga

## Personal Status

### Abilities

Body Melt
Star Cannon

## Professional Status

### Affiliation

Maniwa Ninja Corps
Beast Squad

## Media

### Novel Debut

Katanagatari Chapter One: Absolute Sword, Plane

### Manga Debut

Seishun Kijinden! 240 Gakuen Vol. 3, Chapter 19

## Novel Appearances

### Volumes

*Katanagatari Chapter One: Absolute Sword, Plane*

## Manga Appearances

### Chapters

Seishun Kijinden! 240 Gakuen Chapter 19

**Koumori Maniwa** (真庭(まにわ) 蝙蝠(こうもり), *Maniwa Kōmori*), also known as **Koumori the Hell-Made** (冥土(めいど)の蝙蝠(こうもり), *Meido no Kōmori*) is an antagonist of the *Katanagatari Series*. He is one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Ninja Corps, member of the Beast Squad, and the owner of Absolute Sword: The Plane, the first one that Shichika Yasuri defeats on the Sword Hunt.

## Personality

Koumori is a talkative and energetic man, Shichika even remarking on his loquacious nature. He is confident and quite arrogant, often talking himself up and laughing at his opponents. Even so, as a ninja, he doesn't hesitate to use any dirty tactics available to him, trying to kill Shichika by taking the form of Togame the Schemer with his Body Melt, even appearing proud of his deceitful ways. He has a tendency to laugh uncontrollably, usually in a mocking manner. Even though he is self-aware of his own crooked nature, he nonetheless appears disgusted by Togame and her single-minded ambition, willing to cast aside anyone to get her way. Like all the other Maniwa ninja, he is very loyal to the group, willing to lay down his life for it, reportedly having no values or ideas of his own. He reportedly has a friendly rivalry with his fellow Maniwa Boss, Shirasagi Maniwa, the latter referring to him as a "punk". According to his character profile, his hobby is ceramics.

## Appearance

Koumori's appearance when confronting Shichika is that of a pale, lean yet muscular man with spikey black hair, long, pointy ears and thin, sharp entirely black eyes, like those of a bat, also lacking any facial hair, including eyebrows. He is shown wearing the characteristic sleeveless ninja garb of the Maniwa, his being jet-black with white portions. He has a black collar covering his chin, and the ends of his pants and shoulders have spikey fabric jutting out. His sash bears an emblem reminiscent of a bat, and he has chains adorning his pants and his long black gloves. He also wears what appears to be a purple sun visor.

## Background

Koumori inherited his name from Koumori Maniwa the 1st, one of the first bosses of the Maniwa clan from the Sengoku Period Because of his Body Melt ninja art, his original form and even gender are unknown, though he is said to have no backstory worth mentioning, simply training for the sake of the Maniwa and becoming a boss when his turn came. When Togame the Schemer hired the Maniwa Ninja Clan to aid her in her Sword Hunt, he was the one dispatched on the mission, and he spent a long time in her company. He dug up information about her, and when he eventually learned of her true identity as the daughter of Takahito Hida, he betrayed her, knowing that she would do the same to him eventually, and ran away with The Plane.

## Abilities and Equipment

* **Absolute Sword: The Plane** (絶刀(ぜっとう)「鉋(かんな)」, *Zettō Kanna*)**:** The first of the Twelve Possessed, the masterworks of legendary blacksmith Kiki Shikizaki, and the overall 989th Deviant Blade. It is a straight blade, unlike most katana, and its hilt is decorated with plum flower designs. Its main property is toughness, being the hardest sword, which never bends or breaks.
	+ **Side Splitter** (報復絶刀(ほうふくぜっとう), *Hōfuku Zettō, lit. "Absolute Sword Payback"*)**:** An attack performed by leaping into the air and performing a large swing with The Plane, aided by gravity.
* **Maniwa Ninja Art: Body Melt** (真庭忍法(まにわにんぽう) 骨肉細工(こつにくざいく), *Maniwa Ninpō: Kotsuniku Zaiku, lit. "Flesh and Bone Crafting"*)**:** A technique inherited from Koumori Maniwa the 1st. Due to the elasticity of his body, Koumori can mimick the identity of someone else by altering his body's structure, to the extent that he is indistinguishable from them. In order to use this art, Koumori has to have a good understanding of the body of the one he is mimicking.
* **Star Cannon** (手裏剣砲(しゅりけんほう), *Shurikenhō, lit. "Shuriken Cannon"*)**:** A technique also inherited from Koumori Maniwa the 1st. Also making use of his elasticity, Star Cannon involves Koumori shooting out waves of shuriken from his mouth, which he'd previously swallowed, at the enemy.
	+ **Sword Cannon** (剣砲(けんほう), *Kenhō*)**:** A variation of the Star Cannon technique in which Koumori plans to shoot out The Plane from inside his stomach at the enemy, although he never actually gets to use it.

## Quotes

* (Koumori's self-introduction) *"I am Koumori Maniwa, one of the Twelve Bosses of the Maniwa Ninja. Take heed, Kyotouryuu. I bear no grudge against you, but I need to take your life."*
* (Koumori announcing his attack) *"Behold! Beware! Bear witness to Absolute Sword: The Plane, one of the Twelve Possessed, the masterworks of Kiki Shikizaki. (...) Care for a taste of hell? Kyahah! Coming right up. My friends call me Koumori the Hell-Made because I'm so ready to dish it out. Now be entertained."*
* (Koumori to Togame the Schemer) *"Sure, I stabbed your back for money, but if I had known what kind of person you are, I never would have signed up in the first place. And know what? I only asked you to team up with me just now so I could stab you in the back again. (...) No one in this world would ever fall for you."*
* (Koumori telling Shichika about Togame) *"When I first met her, I was stunned―by the smoldering ambition, by that eye. I could tell she would sacrifice anything―or anyone―to get her way. She certainly had no qualms about using the Maniwa Clan. We're talking an entire band of ninja assassins. She's out of control. And you too, now she wants to use you, too. Can't you see, Kyotouryuu? You're being exploited. No good will come from teaming up with this woman."*

## Trivia

* The Maniwa surname means "garden of truth", partly suggesting the animal motif of the ninja clan.
* Koumori's first name literally means "bat".
* The Japanese name of Koumori's ability, Side Splitter, is homophonous with a four-kanji compound meaning "splitting one's sides laughing" (抱腹絶倒(ほうふくぜっとう), *Hōfuku Zettō*).
* Koumori's height is stated to be 5 *shaku*, 8 *sun*, 3 *bun*, roughly equivalent to 177 cm.
* Koumori's weight is stated to be 15 *kan*, roughly equivalent to 58 kg.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 *Katanagatari Chapter One: Absolute Sword, Plane*, *Chapter Two: Enter the Maniwa*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 *Katanagatari Chapter One: Absolute Sword, Plane*, *Chapter Three: The Schemer*
3. ↑ *Katanagatari Chapter Two: Slash Sword, Blunt*, *Prologue*
4. ↑ *Maniwagatari*, *Episode One: First Generation - Koumori Maniwa*