Shimanagashi-Sou: Arekushi

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Character Profile:<br />
Arekushi is a Shimanagashi-Sou or a 'Banisher' from the Tokugawa era of Japan. The title 'Banisher' refers to an individual (male or female) who can exorcise and destroy evil demons and entities.<br />
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Banishers are believed to be direct decendants of Amaterasu :The Shining Goddess, for whom demons fear because of her blinding light. However, Banishers also have another side, they can also instill fear, conjure, and control Spirits and Demons to their advantage.<br />
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Arekushi uses her Banisher abilities to protect people from evil entities that have risen from the depths to feed on the violence, carrion, and greed wrought about by the tumultuous war of Feudal Japan.<br />
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Character Abilities:<br />
Arekushi can conjure, control, command, vanquish (or seal), and possess different types of demons. She has her own army of spirits and demons called Houkounin No Seishou (Servant Spirits), which she can call upon for different situations. <br />
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For example, she can conjure and then possess an Engo-ku spirit to help her cast a shield or protective shell around her or another person or object, to protect it from various attacks.<br />
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She can also command a Kougeki demon to inflict different kinds of damage against an individual, or even a small army. <br />
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With the plethora of spirits and demons she controls, it's only natural that Arekushi emits an aura of fear to those she would go against.<br />
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Aside from her spiritual arsenal, Arekushi also carries physical weapons.<br />
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She carries a sword, The Koutetsu, and Spirit Wards. She can use the Koutetsu as a compass to detect irregular spiritual activity in an area, and an outlet to channel the power of a spirit to protect or attack an enemy, or she can simply use her sword fighting techniques to inflict damage on an enemy. The spirit wards that she carries are marked with the Kaihou Garandou (Opening Void) symbol that allows her to open different objects like doors, spritual plains, etc. She can als use it to 'open' someone's mind and cause that person to forget or remember what he or she has seen or experienced.<br />
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The beads that she has around her sword's saya, are sakuretsudan, or small explosives. She uses this to cause confusion to help her excape when the need arose.<br />
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I drew this as an entry to a drawing contest in the recent Toy Convention that we had. Sadly I was against proffessional illustrators since it's an 'Open Category' contest.<br />
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Anywhoo, I enjoyed making it. Hope you like it as well.