(wordplay on ''ōkami (wolf)'' and ''

kamikakushi In English, to "spirit away" means to remove without anyone's noticing. In Japanese folklore, spiriting away (Japanese: ''Kamikakushi'' ( 神隠し), ) refers to the mysterious disappearance or death of a person, after they had angered the gods ...

(spirited away)'') is a Japanese

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

developed and published by

Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...

for the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

, with

Ryukishi07 is the pen name for a Japanese writer who is the leading member for the group 07th Expansion. He is the creator of the ''When They Cry'' visual novel series, which includes ''Higurashi When They Cry'', ''Umineko When They Cry'' and ''Ciconia Whe ...

of ''

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion that comprises the first two entries of the ''When They Cry'' franchise. The series focuses on a group of young friends living in the fic ...

'' fame as

game director A video game producer is the top person in charge of overseeing game development, development of a video game. History The earliest documented use of the term ''producer'' in games was by Trip Hawkins, who established the position when he found ...

and the

manga author A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist bef ...

duo

Peach-Pit A peach pit is the pit or stone of a peach. Peach pit or peachpit may also refer to: *Peach-Pit (manga artist duo), a manga artist duo *Peach Pit (band), a Canadian indie pop band *Peachpit, a publishing company *The Peach Pit, a fictional diner in ...

as character designers. The game was released on August 20, 2009 in Japan. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

adaptation produced by

AIC AIC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Alice in Chains, American rock band * Alice in Chains: AIC 23, a 2013 mockumentary * Anime International Company, a Japanese animation studio * Art Institute of Chicago, an art museum in Chicago Busin ...

began airing in Japan on January 8, 2010 on TBS.

Plot

A 15-year-old boy, Hiroshi Kuzumi, has recently moved into a new town in the mountains. The town is separated into new and old streets by the river, and many mysterious local customs and practices still remain, and the townspeople are unusually friendly towards him. Although Hiroshi is confused but enjoying his new life, one person has kept her distance from him: class committee member Nemuru Kushinada. In their few encounters she gives him a word of advice: "Stay away from the old streets." As the story goes on, Hiroshi learns about the town's local traditions and legends—most prominently the ones about the local Wolf Spirits. However, something mysterious is going on in the background; people mysteriously "move away" and students suddenly "transfer schools" while none of the locals pay any attention. Hiroshi initially tries to ignore it, but he soon sees a girl with an enormous

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

along with people in strange masks killing someone who is said to have "moved away" the following day. Hiroshi is soon drawn into the dark secrets long hidden by the townsfolk, and uncovers a plot to destroy the town.

Main characters

; : :Hiroshi is a 15-year-old boy and is the main character of the story. Originally from Tokyo, his family moved to the city of Jōga due to reasons relating to his father's line of work. The kanji for his name can also be read as "Professor", so many people call him Hakase (Professor) as a nickname. Hiroshi is not fond of this nickname, because it makes people believe that he is smarter than he is. Despite this, he still allows Kaname to call him by it. Hiroshi later learns from Nemuru that all humans (known as "Fallen" as opposed to the Godmen as the Jouga wolves call themselves) emit a trace of a scent (undetectable by humans) that is intoxicating to Jouga wolves but emitted in small enough quantities that most of them can resist it without much difficulty (in high enough concentrations this scent can cause them to succumb to their predatory natures and to attack the Fallen). Hiroshi happens to be a Temptation, one human in 100,000, who emits the scent at such concentrations that resistance is almost impossible. ; : :Nemuru 15 years old and the only daughter of the head of the Kushinada clan, the family with the most political power and presence in Jōga. Nemuru, as part of her role as the Hunter, patrols the city at night clad in an elaborate ceremonial outfit and wolf mask and wielding a scythe, hunting for Godmen who have succumbed and started to attack the Fallen, whom she is charged with executing. She is the class president of Hiroshi's class. Nemuru is initially very cold to Hiroshi because she considers him to be a danger. Despite this, she eventually warms towards him and they become friends. ; : :Isuzu is a 15-year-old girl who lives close to Hiroshi. She is tomboyish and extremely affectionate towards Hiroshi, sometimes to his dismay. She had an older brother named Issei, who attended university before succumbing to his predatory instincts and attacking Hiroshi. He was killed by Nemuru. She herself starts to submit and attacks Hiroshi, but manages to stop herself and is spared her brother's fate. ; : :Mana is Hiroshi's 12-year-old sister. She is wheelchair-bound due to a car accident. In spite of this, she strives to be independent, and becomes quite annoyed when her brother rushes to her side to help her with the smallest of tasks. ; : :Kaname is a 16-year-old girl who moved to the Jōga with her family a few months before Hiroshi and she is Isuzu's best friend. Being the eldest of their circle of friends (Kaname, Hiroshi and Isuzu), she tends to act as the voice of the reason for the group. Kaname has somewhat of a dark personality, and does not hesitate to tease or trick her two friends. She is interested in the occult and loves city legends and folklore. ; :She is a local deity who prowls Jōga, carrying out the god of the land's will to rid it of the regressed "wolves". She appears as a young girl wearing an elaborate white outfit and wolf-like mask. She is named after the

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

Kannon Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

. Her true form is later revealed to be Kaori, a lady who Hiroshi and Mana met while taking a walk. ; : :The eccentric school teacher of Hiroshi's class. He appears to very popular with his students. ; : :A resident of Jouga; she is known in the series for her talent in playing the violin. She's also Mana's music teacher. ; : :A mysterious young man who has made his life's mission on unraveling the mysterious incidents occurring in Jouga. Following the tragic death of his girlfriend Mieko, his ultimate goal is to destroy the entire town-(including the citizens who live there) by creating a huge flood; but he is stopped by Hiroshi and Kaori to prevent him from making that mistake. ; : :Isuzu's older brother and Hiroshi's next-door neighbor. He's a college student at a private university. ; : :Hiroshi and Mana's father. After his wife died a few years prior, he and his two children moved to Jouga due to his work transfer; he works for a book publishing company as a writer.

Adaptations

Internet radio show

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

show entitled to promote the anime series started broadcasting on the

Animate TV Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

Internet radio service on December 18, 2009 and airs weekly on Fridays. The show is hosted by

Yū Kobayashi is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Holy Peak. Some of her most prominent roles include that of Tadamichi Aoba in '' Dan Doh!!'', Setsuna Sakurazaki in ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', Dan Kuso in ''Bakugan Battle Brawlers'', ...

and

Yūko Gotō is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer who was contracted to Production Baobab and is now signed to Axlone. In direct contrast to her cute-and-vulnerable moé typecasting, Yūko in real life is a devotee of biker culture who dresses an ...

, who voice Hiroshi Kuzumi and Kaori Mana in the series, respectively.

Manga

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

adaptation illustrated by Mirura Yano titled began serialization in the February 2010 issue of

ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

' ''

Dengeki Daioh is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) under the ''Dengeki'' brand. Many manga serialized in ''Dengeki Daioh'' were later published in ''tankōbon'' volumes under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Co ...

shōnen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent boys. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent girls and young women), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adult women), ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

and was collected in two volumes. A second manga adaptation illustrated by Kuroko Yabuguchi titled began serialization in the February 2010 issue of

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''

Monthly Shōnen Rival was a Japanese monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine by Kodansha that ran from April 4, 2008 to June 4, 2014. It was issued on the 4th of every month. As with Shueisha's '' Jump SQ.'' and Shogakukan's ''Monthly Shōnen Sunday'', it is aimed at la ...

'' manga magazine and was collected in three volumes.

Anime

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

adaptation produced by

and directed by Nobuhiro Takamoto began airing in Japan on January 8, 2010 on the TBS television network. The opening theme is by

FictionJunction FictionJunction is a singing group that solely performs songs written by Japanese composer Yuki Kajiura. The term "FictionJunction" alone refers to this group; solo works between Kajiura and a vocalist are referenced by adding the singer's name ...

and the ending theme is by

Yuuka Nanri and are feminine Japanese given names. Possible writings Yuka and Yūka can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *由香, "reason, fragrance" *由華, "reason, beautiful" *由佳, "reason, good" *由花, "reason, flower" ...

. Takumi Ozawa is responsible for the soundtrack.

References

External links

*
Anime official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Okami Kakushi 2009 video games 2010 anime television series debuts 2010 Japanese television series endings 2010 manga 2010 Japanese novels Adventure anime and manga Anime International Company Anime television series based on video games ASCII Media Works manga Dengeki Daioh Gagaga Bunko Japan-exclusive video games Kodansha manga Konami games Light novels Manga based on video games Mystery anime and manga Novels based on video games Peach-Pit PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Portable-only games Psychological thriller video games Ryukishi07 Sentai Filmworks Shogakukan manga Shōnen manga Thriller anime and manga TBS Television (Japan) original programming Video games developed in Japan Visual novels