#character guidebook

[29rynoah]

Are you ready to transfer into True Cross Academy? Look no further! The exam has begun!

Below is the translation of the questions found in the Blue Exorcist Character Guide Book. Based on your answers, your final score will decide what class you will transfer into.

Good luck!

General Education 

1. What is the term used to call the numerous people that can be seen in True Cross Academy Town wearing a black uniform? (The correct answer earns 5pts) 

A. Demon Exterminators 

B. Exorcists 

C. Shinto Priests 

D. Shrine Maidens

2. What is the name of True Cross Academy’s President? (The correct answer earns 5pts) 

[This is not a multiple choice question, please write your answer down!]

3. Which ONE of these monja flavors is among the President's top three favorites? Choose from the list below. (The correct answer earns 5pts) 

A. Beef tendon monja

B. Cheese and pork mochi monja 

C. Bitter melon monja 

D. Death monja

4. In the following list, choose ONE of the two answers, selecting the proper terminology. (Each correct answer earns 2pts) 

A: Marrubium or Unauna-kun

B: Spirit Tree or Ent

C: Chuchi or Demonic Butterfly 

D: Sylph or Wind Fairy

E:  Angelic Legion or Angel’s Legion 

4.5. For each of the following, please answer True or False if this Sanskrit symbol has appeared in the manga before.  (Each correct answer earns 2pts) 

F: 

G:

Regional Knowledge

5. What is the official name of the popular destination known as Mepphy Land? (The correct answer earns 5pts) 

[This is not a multiple choice question, please write your answer down!]

6. What is the name of the popular ride from Mepphy Land that met a mysterious demise? (The correct answer earns 5pts) 

[This is not a multiple choice question, please write your answer down!]

7. Please arrange the following school facilities based on where they are located from tallest to closest to the ground floor. (The correct answer earns 10pts)

A: Mepphy Land 

B: True Cross Academy Station

C: Johann Faust's Residence 

D: The Academy’s Forest Area

8. Which of the following strange occurrences are part of True Cross Academy’s Seven School Mysteries? (Each correct answer earns 2 pts, while an incorrect answer earns -2 pts)

A: A form dressed in white that wanders the academy at night

B: A mansion you can never reach

C: A rotting figure staggering through the old boys' dormitory

D: A train that takes its passengers into Gehenna

E: A mysterious black cat that begs for food from anyone who approaches it 

F: An empty streetcar that travels the streets at the night

9. In which of the following locations of the Girl’s Dormitory does Toilet Mayuko from the Seven School Mysteries appear?  (The correct answer earns 5pts)

A: The east toilet on the 3rd floor 

B: The south toilet on the 4th floor 

C: The west toilet on the 5th floor 

D: The north toilet on the 6th floor

10. Class 1-D Rice Ball Stand was a big hit at the school festival. Use the list below to select all the fillings that were sold. (Each correct answer earns 2 pts, while an incorrect answer earns -2 pts)

A: Bonito flakes & soy sauce

B: Salmon 

C: Yuzu pepper 

D: Seaweed 

E: Tuna & corn 

F: Spam 

G: Grilled cod roe

Other Trivia

11. Using the list below, choose the word that best describes the smell of this creature. (The correct answer earns 10pts) 

A: The smell of sulfur

B: The smell of rotten milk

C: The smell of burning meat

D: The scent of the sea

12. Using the list below, choose the dish that will be made using this creature.  (The correct answer earns 5pts) 

A: Fried squid

B: Squid rice

C: Squid yakisoba

D: Squid noodles

13. Using the following list, choose the correct picture that fits in the box labeled あ.  (The correct answer earns 5pts) 

14. Please name the flavor of the Matekiya instant noodles shown in this picture. (The correct answer earns 10pts)

Alright, pencils down!

Please check your answers below:

B (+5)

Johann Faust the 5th (+5)

B (+5)

Marrubium, Ent, Chuchi, Sylph, Angelic Legion [4.5, both answers are True!] (+2/-2)

True Cross Academy Amusement Park (+5)

GO TO HELL (+5)

C > A > B > D (+10)

A, B, F (+2/-2)

D (+5)

A, B, D, F, G (+2/-2)

A (+10)

C (+5)

D (+5)

Special Super Spicy Pork Ramen (+10)

Now total it up, and see which class you will be sorted in!

100 points: Second year, with Takara 

An excellent student like you can start in the second year alongside Takara. Though it is unclear whether he's been attending classes or not...

90-99 points: Special 1-A, with Yukio and Bon

You have achieved outstanding results so we want to welcome you into this special class, which is geared towards getting into our highly competitive university! Let's aim even higher together with Yukio, Suguro, and other top students!

80-89 points: 1-A, with Izumo and Konekomaru

You have a very high academic ability, so you are more than qualified to enter the high school division! Have fun competing with Izumo, being comforted by Konekomaru, and focusing on your studies!

70-79 points: 1-B, with Shiemi and Paku

Your efforts have paid off and you've been accepted. Why not take a break and have some fun talking about love with your cute female classmates? It's a little hard to mingle with the boys though...

60-69 points: 1-C, with Renzou

Congratulations on passing! However, perhaps you should have tried a little harder... Let's try to improve alongside with the irresponsible Shima and aim to achieve results that matches up to Suguro and the others.

30-59 points: 1-D, with Godaiin and Rin

Thanks to the President's generous heart, you just barely made it in! It's all well and good to have fun at the school festival stalls, but please make sure to also study hard!

If you didn't make it in.... better luck next time!

Click here to get back to the masterlist!

[momtaku]

Are you going to buy the new character guide? I'm curious if something new is going to be revealed about the characters. I would like to know their age, marital status (of some) and their feelings towards certain individuals. I haven't heard anything about the ending version yet so I'm worried.

Probably not. The character guides are not that deep and they rarely offer anything that's new or earth shattering. The 2014 character guide was worth owning because it covered a lot of world building in the white pages and it was the official source for main character name and ages. I think in this new one the interview will be interesting, but it will be leaked long before the english version is available.

[katyatalks]

MP100 Character Guidebook - ONE & Director Tachikawa’s Character Comments

Here’s ONE & Director Tachikawa’s comments on the main five (Mob, Reigen, Dimple, Ritsu, Teru) from the character guidebook! Each character gets two paragraphs.

KAGEYAMA SHIGEO

-ONE’s comment-

There were two things I kept in mind when designing his appearance; the first was making sure he’s easy to draw since he’s the main character, and the second, making him kinda uncool. Since it looks really cool when uncool people do cool things.

However, shortly after Mob Psycho 100 started serialisation I heard that people thought of him as ‘cute’. It was unexpected, that he could stir up this protective desire in others. I wanted him to have a purity that I myself don’t have, so until his character solidified I tried my best to avoid any gags that would spoil him or make him less human. That being said, in chapter 1 of the manga he does say ‘Do you really have any powers?’ to Reigen in a rude way.

-Tachikawa’s comment-

Honestly, I think he’s the hardest character to portray correctly. To give an example, if you raise the corners of his mouth too high when he smiles then he looks like he’s smirking, which isn’t Mob-like. By being just a tiny bit playful with his expressions, his vibe basically goes up in the air. His character changes bit by bit from season 1 to season 2, but I tried to make sure that his kindness toward others - the thing that makes him Mob - didn’t change. At first, his personality had parts to it that I found irritating, but overall I do really love it. 

REIGEN ARATAKA

-ONE’s comment-

He’s the easiest to draw, and his character is easy to play with. I created a one-off with Reigen as the main character to submit for a manga award, and gratefully accepted the serialisation offer that was presented to me. His presence is strong, being very relatable to readers while he uses the main character, Mob. Mid-serialisation, it was pointed out to me that his character is a little hard to place, but one of the themes MP100 deals with is that fact that human beings influence and change one another. Thus, I decided to not make any changes and carry on as I’d planned, with the thought in my head that a difficult-to-place-nature is just another thing that makes us human.

-Tachikawa’s comment-

I have a special emotional attachment to Reigen… You see him in the spotlight a lot in season 1, but back then he was shrouded in mystery and it was difficult to know his true heart… and then we get S2E6-7, where we see the man behind the mask. Looking at him in those episodes was so heartbreaking… I was moved. A particular favourite scene of mine is from episode 7, when Reigen, trying to quickly send a primary-school-age Mob away from the office, says ‘Be a good person. That’s all!’. Those words were halfhearted, but they saved Mob, and later on Reigen is also saved by them. It’s fate. Drawing Reigen’s expressions for that episode was incredibly fulfilling. 

DIMPLE

-ONE’s comment-

When it comes to Mob, Dimple is to spirits as Reigen is to humanity. I thought that monologues composed of inner-turmoil descriptions from a pretty silent Mob would be too stiff, so I had him cling to Mob as a conversation partner. He speaks a lot and yet nobody but Mob can hear him, so he can say as many sleazy things as he pleases - that’s why I loved writing his lines. However, he and his lines change as a result of Mob’s influence - the tension and atmosphere of their conversations change little by little. I jumped for joy when I found out that Ootsuka Akio-san would be playing Dimple.

-Tachikawa’s comment-

Dimple is a popular one with the animators, since his facial expressions change a lot and you can play around with him freely. Truth is, for season 2, I thought it might be good to just reuse all the Dimples we’d drawn up to that point rather than drawing up new ones, but character designer Kameda-kun was severely opposed to that (laughs). In season 1 you still get the sense that he’s an evil spirit, but with season 2 he feels more like Mob Psycho 100’s mascot character. Moreover, there’s this feeling that he’s completely become one of Mob’s friends, but taking into account what happens next in the manga, we tried to make sure that he wasn’t entirely at the ‘I’m not thinking of bad things at all’ end of the spectrum.

KAGEYAMA RITSU

-ONE’s comment-

I thought to myself; Mob’s younger brother, the person closest to him… how would he grow up if he didn’t have any powers? Perhaps he should be superior to his older brother in every way, but unable to wipe away how crushing it is to not have powers. So he joins the main plot as this excellent, ideal ‘good little brother’ who happens to hide a heavy distortion in his heart. I thought it’d be more human - more Ritsu-ish - to make sure that the distortion in his heart doesn’t go away even after he exposes it to Mob. I think we can only feel a sense of security in someone’s positives if they have a few negatives. It’s difficult drawing him when he’s facing the right.

-Tachikawa’s comment-

I was really charmed by him when he leans toward the dark side in season 1. When he was immersed in that superiority complex and beat up those delinquents, Mob apologised on his behalf… I thought the description of what was going through his mind at that point was well done. After he reconciles with Mob in season 1 he grows, and in season 2 he realises that the reason he admires Mob has nothing to do with powers, so I think his troubles are basically over. He’s a good character with how devoted he is to his big brother. When animating him, his hair (ie. keeping it balanced) caused a good amount of grief. With season 2 we decided to cut his hair a little, which made him easier to deal with.

HANAZAWA TERUKI

-ONE’s comment-

He’s a character with which anything goes, so I rely on him to develop the story. He falls to the point where he can’t fall any further, then reforms and is reintroduced to the story, but you can’t even see the top of his head with how high his wig stack is. Watching the anime, I thought to myself, why is he the only one who I treated like that… do I have no compassion? His fashion sense is also amazing. I think he really gave it his all to liven up Mob Psycho 100. I love him.

-Tachikawa’s comment-

He’s a character who I always look forward to drawing. He’s introduced in episode 4 as the first enemy esper, he has his clash with Mob… that’s also the first time we see Mob reach ???%... he’s a character that carries a good few firsts for this work. His ochimusha and hair 150% forms are also popular - during season 1 he gave us a lot to laugh about (laughs). Since he has powers his appearance in season 2 gives a sense of security. He’s trustworthy. ‘The enemy becomes a friend’ may be a typical development in manga, but with all the examples that come to mind his particular rendition of it really touches me. He moves and fights of his own accord, so his esper action scenes promise a lot of highlights.

---

Posted on twitter here.

The character guidebook interviews are here.

[hatsumishinogu]

Nanatsu no Taizai Character Guidebook "Pair Sin" -Ban & Elaine-

[momtaku]

Do you think the updatet guidebook will have new information on the core cast, those who are left alive at the end? Or will it just be new info about the new characters itroduced since 2017?

From twitter's kasumi_kasa who translated the official information regarding the publication:

The 176 page publication to be released on June 9th is primarily a reworking of the 2017 Character Directory. The 73 pages of new content will primarily be details about the hundreds of characters introduced since then. It will also include one interview with Isayama written directly after publishing the final chapter.

With that sort of description, I'm not optimistic for much aside from maybe a few fun facts about the older characters.

Thanks for the ask!

[29rynoah]

the students' stalls at the TCA Festival

(gasp some actually useful information)

Special 1-A Escape Game -- Extremely hard!

1-A Planetarium -- Bright stars!

1-B Cursed classroom -- Scary!

1-C Tea house, glasses edition -- The theme is glasses?!

1-D Riceball stall -- Super delicious!