Tamako (魂子) is Rinne Rokudō's eternally youthful grandmother. Though she may look human, she is actually a full-blooded Shinigami, a goddess of death charged with helping and guiding spirits from the world of the living to the Wheel of Reincarnation. Her Black Cat is Kuroboshi.
Appearance[]
Tamako is a beautiful lady with a young appearance. She has silver chin-length hair, with a pink flower hair clip on the left side, and is always seen wearing a black uchikake with a red obi and an orange juban.
Her eyes are always closed, only opening when she is deathly serious. They are red like her son's and grandson's.
Personality[]
Tamako has a solemn, but teasing kind of nature which she shows often with Rinne. She becomes upset when referred to as "grandmother", instead insisting on being called "young lady", and usually rubs the temples of those who call her "Granny", or even "Aunty". The victim usually comes out shown with smoke from their temples and in quite a lot of pain. However, she shows pure dislike toward Rinne's father, who is a Damashigami and goes as far as to slap him. She also has a more loving side, as she often attempts to aid Rinne with his Shinigami duties, entering Sankai High School students' dreams and forcing them to give offerings with a death threat. Apparently, she also sometimes seems a bit absent minded, as she bought young Sakura candy of the otherworld without thinking, causing her to see spirits.
Biography[]
Past[]
100 years ago, Tamako hunted down a Nine-Tailed Fox and sent it to the spirit cleansing room at the Mortal Census Bureau. It swore to take revenge on her a century later by cursing her descendants.[1]
50 years ago, she came to claim the soul of a young man in agony, with whom she quickly fell in love. She made a deal with the death priest who married them, promising to do ten times the usual Shinigami chores in exchange for extending his life for fifty years. Should she fail, her descendants would take on her burden. She had the right to live in the living world as long as he was alive. They had a son Sabato, and a grandson Rinne. Since Sabato was not much of a father, and their daughter-in-law Otome mysteriously disappeared, they raised Rinne themselves in the living world.
The Rokudō family, about 10 years before the series' start
Around 10 years ago, she stopped a Damashigami Rabbit who led a little girl named Sakura Mamiya to Kyoukai, and led the girl back to the living world, but not before carelessly allowing her to have some candy, which caused her to become able to see spirits.
When the time came for her husband to go to the Wheel of Reincarnation, she lost her right to live in the living world, and so had to return to her home in Kyoukai without her grandson, who wished to stay in the living world. She took all the furniture from her human home and as she asked her black cat contractor Kuroboshi to put some of her things in the closet then right after told the movers to shove all the other furniture in there, caused him to end up stuck in the closet. Not realizing what happened to Kuroboshi and believing he retired, she hired a new young black cat named Rokumon.
It was said that she failed to stick to her job and Rinne found himself on duty, taking on Shinigami chores, however, it is later revealed that her debt was paid off, but Sabato has left Rinne in debt due to taking excessive loans out with him as co-signer.
Debut[]
She tried to get her grandson to live with her, and helped him get offers at the instrument shelter of Sankai High, by donning a scary mask and threatening Rinne's classmates in their dreams, much to Rinne's dismay, and she meets Sakura again, having not only enrolled in the same high school as Rinne but become his classmate. After Rinne denied leaving the living world, she fired Rokumon, and advised him to make a contract with Rinne.[2]
History[]
Tamako's declaration
She came to Rinne's aid, when Sabato tried to force him to marry a Damashigami girl and inherit the Damashigami Company, and declared Rinne is dating Sakura.[3]
She served as instructor for the Shinigami Tool Workshop, although Rinne had to be absent to solve why Sakura’s house suddenly got filled of spirits. She provided a new Exorcism Hourglass for Sakura, although Rinne sadly had to pay ¥20,000 for it.[4]
She offered Sakura a prototype candy that would reverse her ability to see ghosts and spirits for 3 days, since she felt sorry for her carelessness. Sakura was quite content at first, but she grew bored, as she was not able to see Rinne for a while, because he was too busy having to protect her from 5000 evil spirits who targeted her as part of A-1 Grand Prix, so she gives the other candies back saying she doesn’t need them, meaning that it's okay to see ghosts and to see Rinne.[5]
Tamako and Kuroboshi III
When she decided to do some housecleaning after 50 years, and managed to organize all the furniture from her human home in a tidy way along with Rinne and Sakura, Kuroboshi was finally able to get out, surprising everyone. He wished to retire, and his grandson would follow his footsteps as Tamako’s new black cat contractor. But she would not form a contract until he overcomes his ghost phobia and would train him at her house.[6]
Upon learning about a Black Fox evil spirit with a ¥50,000 bounty, she decided to use a special scythe named Oihagizuki which registers the first one to touch as its owner to make some extra, and she finds Sabato trying to steal it. Fortunately, she put a security barrier on it that electrocutes any male, but as the scythe falls into the living world after Sabato gets electrocuted by it, it ends up being touched by Sakura, making her the owner of the Scythe, and it won’t leave her hands until she purifies at least 7 spirits. So she leaves Rinne to coach Sakura, until she can retrieve the scythe.[7]
She learns about Otome having reincarnated into a human girl called Ichigo and comes to visit her, much to Ichigo's joy.[8]
Final Story[]
To her shock, she received a package from Rinne that contained Rokumon and their contract with the 済 mark, which stands for fired. Since she already has two black cats with her, she asked him to go ask Rinne, but later came to check on Rinne and learns that he has taken an exorcism of the highest difficulty, which was what got Rokumon sent to her as the spirit of a distrustful man within a hanging scroll tries to disconnect Rinne of his friends, and so informs Rinne who then proceeds to a forced purification. Later, she learns not only that Rinne paid all his debts to Sakura following a terrible misunderstanding caused by the hanging scroll, but that he had two boundary stones processed into a pair of string bracelets for her, which leaves really surprised. After Rinne and Sakura reunite, she learns that her good-for-nothing son got a bounty of only ¥5,000 for his capture, following a case that involved Rinne and Sakura’s boundary stones, but she doesn't feel motivated, saying she would have gone after him if the bounty had one more digit.[9]
Abilities[]
- Shinigami Powers: As a Shinigami, Tamako can help lost souls to be reincarnated.
- Immortality: Because she is a Shinigami, Tamako does not suffer from old age like humans do. It has never been revealed how old she is but it revealed in chapter 132 (Episode 23) that she is more than 100 years old.
Relationships[]
Tamako and her husband at their wedding
About 50 years ago, Tamako was about to guide the soul of a dying young man about to be reincarnated as a mackerel but fell in love with him instead. By pulling some strings, she was able to extend his life by 50 years and had the right to live in the human world as long as he lived; however, in exchange she had to do 10 times the work, and if she could not fulfill the quota then the burden would fall to her grandchildren.[10]
Eventually she did pay off her debt, and it appears that the two had a happy marriage as shown by her husband in his old age celebrating with her for paying it off.[11] It can be inferred that they were well off enough to buy young Rinne luxuries such as popsicles everyday.[12]
Sabato is Tamako's son. Due to him becoming the President of the Damashigami Company, cheating his son into debt, as well as constantly trying to steal other people's possessions, Tamako has the habit of beating him up and calls him a good-for-nothing when he does something wrong, especially when it involves Rinne. She even considered kicking him to the Wheel of Reincarnation to have him be reborn.[13]
Rinne is Tamako's only grandchild, and they definitely have a better relationship than theirs with Sabato. Tamako often helps him whenever she can and wants Rinne to move in with her in the otherworld. She affectionately gives him noogies whenever he calls her "Granny" or "Grandma".
Sakura was spirited away as a child by a Damashigami, but was saved by Tamako, who carelessly accepted to buy a candy from the afterlife for Sakura, granting her the ability to she spirits and ghosts. They are on good terms.
He doesn't seem too hostile toward her after having been stuck in a closet for a while because of her, and his hope to quickly retire from being her black cat by contract following that event means that he finds her extravagant.
He is very respectful toward her and she appreciates his politeness, although she can often be disappointed in his inability to progress.
Her daughter-in-law. They got along very well, for they had things in common which included their skills at cooking and they looked young and beautiful despite their age (Otome is 2 years younger than Tamako). After learning she reincarnated in a human girl named Ichigo, she paid a visit at her elementary school and they were both happy to reunite.
Quotes[]
- "Don't call me G-R-A-N-N-Y" (おーばーあーちゃーんと呼ばないで〜〜〜〜) – Whenever she is called Granny
- "Wait, you can see me?" (私が見えるのかっっ！！) - Chapter 4, when Sakura makes a comment about her, although normal humans cannot see her
- "You good-for-nothing." (このろくでなしが〜〜) - Chapter 35, after she slaps Sabato
- "For your information... Rinne is going out with the human girl, Sakura Mamiya-san." (だいたいりんねはね人間の女子真宮桜さんとつきあっていまーす) - Chapter 35, after Sabato tried forcing Rinne to marry a Damashigami girl.
- "A slacker like you... won't have a single thing from me!!" (あんたのようなゴクツブシに。。。渡す物はひとつもないわーーーっ！！) - Chapter 175, when Sabato tries to steal her furniture
- "It was a package of red and white steamed buns that was delivered to me for some reason on the respect for the elderly day last year" (それは去年の敬老の日になぜか届いた紅白まんじゅうだったわ) – Chapter 221
- "My My My. Otome, you have shrunk" (あらあらあら。乙女さん、小さくなっちゃってー。) - Chapter 334, when appearing to Ichigo
- "If there was one more digit, I would have gone but..." (もう一ケタ多かったら私がつき出すんだけど〜〜〜) – Chapter 398, speaking about the bounty for Sabato’s capture being a mere 5000 yen
Trivia[]
- Her name Tamako (魂子) means "soul child".[14]
- Though not officially stated, it can be assumed that Tamako has a high status and/or is a very powerful Shinigami, due to having a Platinum License.
- Tamako bears a striking resemblance to Gin Ichimaru from Tito Kubo's popular manga series Bleach which is coincidentally also about Shinigamis. They both have silver hair and keep their eyes closed for a majority of the time while only opening them if they are deadly serious.
- She is voiced by Satsuki Yukino who voiced Kagome Higurashi from Inuyasha.
Media Appearances[]
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Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Chapters 132-133, Episode 23
- ↑ Chapters 4-7, Episode 2-Episode 3
- ↑ Chapters 33-35, Episode 11
- ↑ Chapters 65-66, Episode 20
- ↑ Chapters 99-101, Episode 25
- ↑ Chapters 175 (Episode 30), 176 (Episode 55)
- ↑ Chapter 234, Episode 48
- ↑ Chapter 334, Episode 71
- ↑ Chapters 390, 391, 392, 398
- ↑ Chapters 6-7, Episode 3
- ↑ Chapter 31, Episode 10
- ↑ Chapter 14, Episode 7
- ↑ Chapter 189, Episode 53
- ↑ http://www.furinkan.com/kyokai/anime/index.html