• American License: Geneon/FUNimation.
• Purchase information to be updated in major overhaul coming in mid-March 2009.

• Raw Episodes Acquired: 26 (Japanese DVD)
• Episodes Translated: Episode 16 - complete
• Episodes in Distribution: 12. Direct downloads available via Megaupload. See links by episode summaries. Files will be deleted from Megaupload upon request by the entities who own the rights to the series.

Translation/Release Schedule: The fact that I'm translating an episode weekly to show my anime club is now going to keep me on a real schedule - I will have the translations finished on or before March 15, 2009, but since this leaves little time for anything else, the finished files will not be released online until the next week. At that point, I will begin re-releasing the entire series with improved song translations, raws ripped directly from my Japanese DVDs, karaoke timings, and an extra round of editing. I'll be putting those episodes here, on my LiveJournal as part of Project: MagoMyu (my search for footage from the musical), and hopefully on BoxTorrents. March 15, 2009. I might finally achieve my dream of finishing before the official subs, but it'll be close.

A Brief Note on the Downloads: My only intention is to share the show with fans to the best of my ability in the hopes that they will like it as much as I do. If you download these, please support the show and purchase the commercial release. If all of the anime studios and licensing companies go broke, they will stop making official DVDs -- wonderful things with: better picture and sound than 99% of fansubs*, the ability to be played on your home television**, and the potential for greater translation accuracy***. Please treat these files as previews only, not replacements for official versions.

Status: Download Here

During a minor battle with a demon, our hero has a flashback to the time when he started on the road to life as an onmyouji. In the flashback, Abe no Masahiro is seeking out odd jobs as an artisan, for he seems to have no talent in the arts of onmyoujutsu. He meets a small creature that he mistakes for a mononoke and names Mokkun. Masahiro's grandfather, the infamous Abe no Seimei, decides it's time for his grandson to pursue onmyoujutsu and gives Masahiro a job from his own worklist. Now, as Seimei is rather high-profile and high-powered, the job in question is neither easy nor safe. Mokkun reveals that he is in fact Guren, one of Seimei's shikigami, known to many as the serpent Touda; he saves Masahiro from the youkai in the flashback, and Masahiro destroys it. Our hero regains the ability to see youkai and other spiritual creatures mid-fight -- an ability that Seimei had sealed away in his youth. Back in the present, Masahiro defeats the demon singlehandedly, but not cleanly enough to satisfy his grandfather.

Notes:

• Final Revision Posted: After finishing Episode 06, I went back to recheck my trouble spots from earlier episodes. This one has had quite a few changes made. Its accuracy may still not be 100%, but it's much better and I have added subtitles for the spells used. Any mistakes that remain are likely to stay. I intend to finish the series before I even consider making revisions again.

Episode 02: In the Witching Hour, the Palace Burns.

Status: Download Here

Masahiro has come of age, and is invited by his father on a visit to Fujiwara no Michinaga, the Minister of the Left. Mokkun misbehaves during the audience, causing Michinaga to notice Masahiro and compliment him on his skill at such a young age. After he is dismissed, Mokkun senses a strange presence on the grounds and tracks it to the rooms of Fujiwara no Akiko, Michinaga's daughter, with whom Masahiro seems somewhat smitten. Our hero is admitted to the ranks of the College of Onmyou (see Onmyou Ryou below), court officials who practice onmyoujutsu, as an apprentice. Just before a fire breaks out in the inner compound of the palace, Masahiro senses a malevolent presence and runs to Michinaga's palace to rescue Akiko from an attack by a monster. Michinaga is duly impressed.

Notes:

• Re-Released Version: I would first like to offer my apologies to anyone who downloaded and watched the version of this episode that I released as a torrent some months ago. My hurry that evening was no excuse for completely forgetting to edit. Several glaring mistakes have been corrected, as well as a few lines being refined, and I promise that there are no lines in tiny font in this version. You have my word that, as long as it takes a complete student such as myself to listen, translate, and check these episodes, I will never again be in so much of a hurry as to release something without editing. Final version, released Post-Episode 06 available for download now.
• The Witching Hour: I had originally rendered this title as "In Which Ouma burns the Palace," having been stumped for some time by the kanji "逢魔", which appeared to be the agent of the sentence. I must have been looking it up wrong, because when I restarted this project I found the compound right away... "逢魔が時" (ouma ga toki) is a complete concept, comprised of the kanji for a meeting, for demon, and lastly for a moment in time. The effect is to say that at this time you are likely to meet with demons and related nastiness -- The Witching Hour. In the West, this tends to be midnight, but the time this indicated by the Japanese phrase is instead twilight.
• The Fujiwara Clan: Though important for centuries in Japan's rule, the clan reached it's greatest height of power under Michinaga. At this point, though his title was Minister of the Left (already one of the highest governmental positions), Michinaga exerted more authority than the emperor himself. My lower limit for Guren's age listed in the character profiles below is based on the history of the Fujiwara clan. Mokkun mentions having seen Fujiwara no Kamatari's life, the man who began the Fujiwara line in 645AD. Michinaga came to power around 995AD, and as he is rather established in the anime I chose 1000AD for my figures. No date has been given in the show. Guren is, of course, probably an older than 355 by at least an order of magnitude.
• Ichi no Hime: Fujiwara no Akiko is not a girl to be taken lightly. Her title means "First Princess," indicating that she is the eldest daughter in the Fujiwara family. What this means historically may possibly be considered a spoiler for later parts of the series, so I will refrain from comment for the moment. I have chosen to render this as "The Princess" or "Our Princess" despite the fact that she does have sisters. This is just a whim of mine, since I like the idea of the eldest daughter being addressed as such, with younger girls being given the appropriate numerical iterations. It sounds more like she's the original. Needless to say, Masahiro is lucky Akiko seems to have her father wrapped around her little finger, because the last thing one should expect upon breaking into the residence of the Minister of the Left and acting in a familiar fashion with his eldest daughter is to be thanked, especially if you are a mere onmyouji. I don't care who your grandfather is, an onmyouji is still in most ways a tradesman -- not nobility.
• Onmyou Ryou: In my first version, this was rendered "court onmyouji". While the effect is similar, I changed this in my re-release version to reflect the information I've found looking up Japanese webpages on Onmyoujutsu. The Onmyou Ryou (陰陽寮) was referred to in the Japanese Wikipedia article onOnmyoudou as an institution rather than a position. I had assumed that the "ryou" being used was 僚, which I took to mean "official", but the actual "ryou" in fact means "dormitory" or "hostel". In the future, I will prefer to translate this as the College of Onmyou, in the sense of professional collective rather than a school.
• Honorifics: A brief run-down for those who have not studied honorifics before. In general, polite conversation between people who are not too separated in rank, one will append "-san" to the name of the person they are addressing. For a child, especially a young girl, or someone cute this is often changed to "-chan". One indicates respect for someone of rank or importance by following their name with "-sama". Only in cases of great familiarity (or rudeness) would a name be used without an honorific. Yukinari addresses many people with the archaic honorific "-dono", which indicates that while his station may be higher, he is at the service of the person he addresses. This is very polite, and rarely used in the modern day outside of historical fiction.
• Eboshi: The name of the tall, black hat everybody wears to court. This has been your Heian Trivia Fact for the day.
• Kessho: The kind of monster that attacks Akiko. I actually tried to avoid translating this where I could, because I could only find it translated as "goblin" with no explanation of the nature of this kind of creature. The kanji indicate that it is a form-changing sort of creature, but I have found little else. I didn't want to use "goblin" in the subtitles in the places where I couldn't talk around it, due to my distaste for crossing cultures unnecessarily. Cross-culture "synonyms" rarely carry the same connotations, and I would prefer in general to leave something untranslated if I cannot find a way to express it that I am confident means to the English-speaker what the Japanese intends.
• Higashi-Sanjou: Whenever I get thoroughly mired in a particular line and decide that some set of sounds must simply be a proper name, I type the romanization into Google to see what I get. So far, I'm 3 for 3. Higashi-Sanjou was the name of the Fujiwara estate on the Imperial Compound. The best information I have seen on it (that is accessible without a password) is here. (The other two terms I had to google were daidairi [Imperial Palace] and Kamatari [the first Fujiwara].)

Episode 03: Listen to the voice that fears the darkness.

Status: Download Here

As the seat of government rebuilds in the wake of the fire, Masahiro adapts to his new life as an onmyouji. His practice and study during the period of his life when his powers had been sealed away were necessarily limited, and he finds himself in need of assistance with his divinations. On the road downtown, he and Mokkun are drawn into battle by a four-horned monster cow on the road, whose youki (demon spirit) feels the same as what Masahiro sensed before the fire, and who claims that he wants Masahiro as a prize to present to his master. Mokkun transforms and drives him off, but the youkai does not seem gone. Another of Seimei's shikigami -- Ten'itsu -- reports to Masahiro's grandfather on the situation.

Notes:

• Final Edit: As you might have noticed in previous notes, Episodes 1-5 were all re-edited after I finished Episode 06, and the old download has been replaced by the edited version.
• That stupid cow: According to the animation guidebook, it's called "Gouetsu". I call it annoying... I may complain about how fast Mokkun talks, or how much Yukinari says, but literally 25% of what this cow says I couldn't make out to save my life. More than I would have liked of his lines are my best guess at what he meant. Sorry.
• Seimei's chant: You'll notice that I actually subtitled this. One of the features of the book I picked up in Japan is a section containing most of the spells used in the show. This one is a mantra taken from sanskrit that is, course, used to build a kekkai (magical barrier against harm). The text is listed in the book as: tanitaya zarei makazarei uki moki arei ara bati chiriti chiritahati chini chinii shitchi ni nirichinii nirichihachi sowaka. I was not able to find this chant on the internet in order to determine if it had a source in known Buddhist mantras, but if I find something I will update this entry. The discription in the animation guide reads roughly (I don't have my dictionary with me), "In episode 3, Seimei uses this kekkai spell to protect Akiko. There are very few scenes where we get to see the aged Seimei using spells. The sign for using this time's is the Kongou Gasshou (Adamantine Handclasp)." This is a description of how Seimei should be holding his hands to perform the mantra. The Adamantine Handclasp refers to a position where the fingertips of one's hands are interlocked, and the right thumb is crossed over the left.
• Masahiro's chant: This one was unfortunately not in the book, that I could see. I believe however that I heard the syllables accurately.

Episode 04: Seek the shadow of a foreign land.

Status: Download Here

Between his job during the day and the occasional battle at night, Masahiro is exhausted. He decides to take a nap after work at the palace, and has a terrible dream about another youkai targeting Akiko. Mokkun insists that his dreams would mean something, being an onmyouji of significant power (if not training). Since even Mokkun has never heard of a creature like what Masahiro described seeing in his dream, he suggests they talk to Seimei. Masahiro, in his shock, knocks over a pile of books about youkai from a faraway land known as Sengaikyou. Both the cow demon from the previous night and the rat-like one from the dream are pictured in the texts. When Masahiro looks for the minor spirits from the palace to ask about the invading youkai, he discovers the existence of one more - even more horrible than the others. The creature from his dream attacks their meeting, and though Masahiro holds him off he is able to escape from the binding spell. Masahiro and Mokkun follow the minor spirit's directions to where the youkai's master is likely to be. As the episode ends, a sphere of blue-white light envelops our heroes.

Notes:

• Re-relased Version: The last of the old episodes that actually got released before the final edit was complete. This download has also been replaced, as of the Download for Episode 06 being posted.
• Sengaikyou: The kanji, in order, mean "mountain", "ocean", and "sutra". They seem to be used more for their pronunciations than for their meanings. The combination of "mountain" and "ocean" in that way, to mean "land and sea", would normally be prononunced "sangai", but the furigana in the animation guide confirms that the country's name is Sengaikyou. I believe this is meant to represent China, if my skimmings are accurate.
• "I can't read this. I don't know this character.": Masahiro has a great deal of difficulty reading the characters in Gouetsu. The forms given in the show and in pictures in the animation book do not exist in any Japanese dictionary I have access to. The two theories I've got so far is that 1) they're Chinese-only characters, or Chinese-only versions of characters; 2) they're made up for the show. I was able to find very similar characters in all these cases that had the pronunciations Masahiro gave: for "Gou", a kanji meaning pride or prideful looked just like the one shown in the book Masahiro is reading except for the lack of the animal radical. For "etsu", there was a kanji meaning "throat" and used in the verb "to smother" - here the animal radical has replaced the mouth radical that the kanji uses in my dictionaries. I will provide pictures of all these as soon as I can.
• Barrier Chant: Another sutra from the sanskrit. "On handomadara abogyajayani soro soro sowaka".
• Binding Chant: Oh, this one... yes, it's in Japanese, but it's written in four-character blocks and not with grammar. These are almost certainly references to traditional mysticism - I will be able to look them up and post their explanations (and their kanji) here when I have an internet connection other than this one (this computer has no Japanese language support). The translation I added on the top of the screen is thus by no means a true translation, just a recitation of the meanings of the kanji that has been adjusted only enough to make it scan in English.

Episode 05: Repel the Enraged Mystery.

Status: Download Here

The episode takes up with our hero where he stood at the end of Episode 04 - approaching the deserted mansion where the leader of the invading monsters has taken up residence. Masahiro and Guren are set upon by hordes of strange youkai, leaving Masahiro exhausted by the time the leader appears. His name is Kyuuki, a large bull who transforms into an even larger tiger with wings. He has come to Japan in an attempt to heal a gaping wound on his throat, and his current plan is to eat Masahiro. This plan changes slightly when an unnamed onmyouji wielding three powerful shikigami steps in to save Masahiro and Guren - but this onmyouji easily defeats the demon hordes and Kyuuki is forced to flee. The mysterious onmyouji heals our heroes and disappears without giving his name. It is not until Mokkun marches into Seimei's quarters to give him a lecture that Masahiro learns the unnamed onmyouji was a projection of his Grandfather's soul and the three shikigami were a few of the Twelve Spirit Commanders.

Notes:

• Final Edit: Due to all those complications with getting my internet connected, the original version of this was never actually released. The download available is the final version.
• Notes on the chants used in battle to be added when I have my guidebook handy.

Episode 06: Grasp the omens that surface in the dead of night.

Status: Download Here

Even when our hero can sleep, Masahiro's dreams are troubled by memories of a night from his youth, when his grandfather left him alone on Mount Kifune. During the day, the city languishes in heat, and at night Masahiro continues to search fruitlessly for the place where Kyuuki and the other spirits from Sengaikyou are hiding. All the rest of Seimei's shikigami disapprove of Masahiro being named his grandfather's successor, as he has so far impressed them neither with his skill nor with his company. None of the Twelve Spirit Commanders, not even Touda himself, can forgive the time long ago when Touda attempted to betray and kill Abe no Seimei. Seiryuu in particular seems to be holding a grudge.

Notes:

• The newest of the Spirit Commanders to be introduced is Seiryuu, who along with Suzaku, Genbu, and Byakko is one of the gods of the four directions. Seiryuu is the blue or green dragon associated with the East. Those who have seen Fushigi Yuugi may recognize the name as the god who summoned Yui into the book to be a miko. Donald A. MacKenzie's Myths of China and Japan indicates that the East and thus Seiryuu are usually associated with springtime, the element Wood, the planet Jupiter, and the liver.
• The Dragon King of Kifune: the guard with whom Masahiro speaks mentions that, if the weather remains hot and dry, the emperor will probably go to Kifune and ask the Dragon King for rain. The dragon has a generally aquatic association in Chinese and Japanese mysticism, as opposed to the concept of the fire-breathing dragon more common in the West. There are four dragons, one for the wind of each direction, who are generally responsible for bringing rain, and essentially every body of water bigger than a puddle can be expected to have a dragon spirit taking care of it. If you happen to read the original Journey to the West, the Chinese epic from which we get Saiyuki (and even Dragonball's Son Goku), you'll find the characters in it summoning the Dragon Kings to bring rain or diving into rivers and lakes to visit the local dragon spirit's palace in about half of the chapters.

Status: Download Here

Akiko's nights are troubled by the appearance of Fujiwara no Keiko - a relative who is supposedly sick in bed. In the meantime, rumors of a demon coming down from Mount Kifune spread through the court. Masahiro goes to visit Fujiwara no Keiko as a favor to Akiko and senses that she has been possessed by some of the foreign spirits. When he is on his way to her home in the pre-dawn hours, Masahiro finds that Akiko has followed him despite his warnings. Keiko and the two demons fight Masahiro to a standstill and fly off with Akiko.

Notes:

• Ushi no koku (丑の刻): I rendered this a couple different ways, but decided immediately that a literal translation might not convey the meaning properly without a bit of an explanation. The times of day used to be broken into twelve blocks, each named for an animal of the zodiac. The time when Akiko tells Masahiro that Keiko has come to see her is the Time of the Cow (or Ox). This corresponds to the time between one and three in the morning, and is often considered equivalent to 2AM. I had Akiko call this the "small hours of the morning" at one point, and made free to translate it as "before dawn" because Akiko was able to give the excuse of watching the sunrise when her maids found her about at the beginning of the episode. It is summer. Even though Kyoto's days might not get overly long, the next time segment (Tora no koku [寅の刻], the tiger - 3AM to 5AM) would probably include enough light to be considered dawn.
• Nails: I have commonly seen persons, especially women, in Japanese media nailing things to trees in order to enact a curse. I'm currently trying to find resources regarding the exact purposes of this and who one might expect to do it. I will think about this and other notes when I haven't just been up for twenty-four hours straight.

Episode 08: Stop the resentment that resounds at Kifune

Status: Download Here

In the wake of the attack and Akiko's abduction, Masahiro reasons that the demons must be making their base at Mount Kifune, having sealed the Dragon God that should be bringing rain to the town. With some help from Kurumanosuke, he arrives at the mountain, and though tormented by his memories climbs towards the demons. He pauses just short of where Akiko is being prepared for sacrifice to try to exorcise Fujiwara no Keiko, as Akiko had asked of him. Seimei steps in to free Masahiro to go on toward Akiko.

Notes:

• Youi: The word that is continually used to refer to the demons actually means mystery, and is the same kanji used in one way of saying "temptation" or "to tempt".
• Notes on the spell Masahiro uses in his exorcism attempt coming later. Updates to this section will be rather sidelined at the moment in favor of translating more episodes.
• Hokuto no Shichi Sei: "Hokuto" is the North Star, and anyone who has ever studied basic astronomy in grade school will recognize that Masahiro's footprints traced out the Big Dipper, which points to the North Star. The name of the constellation in Japanese refers to this... they are the seven stars of the North Star. I'm not exactly sure what the significance of this particular constellation is, but I'll try to find out. It also happens to be constellation used as the symbol of the Seven Dragons of Heaven in the series X, which I find fascinating given certain members of the Sumeragi family who really play a larger active role than most people who had been dead for nine years when the story began. But that's an entirely different matter. In the series at hand, I decided that I'd rather not subtitle it the Big Dipper, since I had nothing to confirm that the Japanese refer to the constellation by a similar name. The word that Keiko gasps when she sees the pattern is "Hokuto," thus I rendered it "The Northern...", which would have been completed as "The Northern Seven Stars" had she finished her sentence.
• Living Wound: Let me be perfectly honest. I couldn't make heads or tails of what that bird demon was saying in this line. One of the words was "kizu", which in context clearly referred to the mark he was making on her hand, but the other thing he was saying left me unable to find a word that made any sense whatsoever. I have seen similar marks in other shows, and the bird demon's other lines make it clear that the purpose is the same: Akiko will be possessed via this wound. The intent of the phrase he uses, in my translation if not in the original, is that this scratch will be a sort of home for the possessing demon.

Episode 09: Crush the spell of darkness

Status: Download here.

Masahiro finally reaches the place where Akiko has been taken, and finds several of the Juuni Shinshou fighting off the demons. Assured that Akiko is not dead, Masahiro begins to fight, though Seiryuu is less than willing for Masahiro to exercise his powers. Our hero insists that he is capable and uses a Buddhist mantra in an attempt to summon the Dragon God from the seal placed on her. This fails, but Masahiro recalls some advice Seimei gave him in his childhood and summons the god once again using a Japanese-language spell. The demons are put down, and Masahiro runs to Akiko's side, but under the remaining influence of the demons she stabs him. Seeing Masahiro dying, Guren loses his sanity and breaks the seals on his power. Even Seimei cannot calm him, but Masahiro is able to talk to him within his mind and stop Guren's rage. The Dragon God of Kifune then heals Masahiro in gratitude. All he must suffer for the remainder of the episode are Mokkun's jibes about his ineptitude as an onmyouji and about his relationship with Akiko.

Notes:

• Kyara: This is only one kind of aloes-wood scent, naturally the most valued and sought-after. Kyara itself comes in at least four varieties (Yellow, Black, Green, Iron), and I don't know which kind Akiko is using. The aloes-wood resin, also known as Agarwood, is created when the Aquilaria tree (Aquilaria agallocha) is affected by a fungal attack. The scented resin that the tree creates in response comes in several different grades, depending on the location in the tree and whether the infection was natural or induced. It's commonly used in incense and the raw wood may be given as gifts to shrines and such. Among the informative sites I have found on the subject are this one at Scents of the Earth and this one at Japanese Incense. I have not yet found a decent source describing its specific mythological powers, but as is obvious from the show our characters expect it to keep evil at bay.
• The words of this country: While I normally put my spell translations, for things that use Japanese characters, at the top of the screen, I decided this time to make the translation the main subtitle instead of the transliteration. The fact that these are his native words is emphasized, so I thought it fitting to have English on the bottom. In other cases, I will continue to put the English as a secondary to the transliteration as any rendering I can make out of these is usually poetic at best. The parts that are not four to five character-long strings of kanji that indicate things of mystical importance are written using archaic grammar with which I am not fully practiced.

Episode 10: A voice in answer to a fleeting wish

Status: Download here

Some time passes as our hero recovers from the injuries he sustained on Mount Kifune, and after sleeping through a visitation from the Dragon God herself he feels he has had quite enough bedrest. Mokkun disagrees but is overruled. While the invading demon hordes seem to have left Kifune, Masahiro believes that they may be responsible for the strange disappearances reported in the capitol. When he stops by Higashi-Sanjou to inquire after Akiko's continued well being, he finds that Kyuuki and his minions have been visiting her every night for the last half month. He insists, over her objections that she does not wish him to be harmed on her behalf, that she call him if it happens again. The two of them promise each other to go see the fireflies on Mount Kifune next summer, much to Mokkun's amusement. Akiko, however, must bear the common fate of noble ladies; her father informs her that very night that the date of her marriage into the imperial harem has been set. As she cries about breaking her promise to Masahiro, she is tricked into answering Kyuuki's call, and the cursed wound on her hand erupts with enough demonic spirit to break Seimei's kekkai. As the episode closes, both Masahiro and Seimei have run to her aid. Masahiro reaffirms his intentions to find and destroy Kyuuki, now for the purpose of allowing Akiko to enter the court and marry the emperor in safety.

Notes:

• Marrying the emperor: You'll remember it was the women's quarters that burned down early in the series. The emperor will generally have several wives and more concubines, but Fujiwara no Akiko is in a special position. As Fujiwara no Michinaga has recently gained the position of Minister of the Left, the series takes place at the beginning of a period of history where the Fujiwara clan maintained control over the emperor by marrying a daughter to him. When a son was born, pressure could be placed on the current emperor to step down and let the boy rule, who would listen to his mother's advice. She in turn would listen to her father. There is no reason Masahiro should have expected Akiko to marry the emperor, since this would not have taken place before, but he will probably be the last suitor of an eldest Fujiwara princess who can claim this. Though lets be fair: a girl who has a chance of receiving a proposal from the emperor isn't likely to be allowed to marry an onmyouji. Accept poetry and visits from him (where they behave with all propriety), perhaps write poetry in return, but historically he would be considered to far below her station for marriage.
• Spirited away: 神隠し (kamikakushi) is the word Yukinari uses to describe the disappearances in town. It's generally used for situations where someone has vanished without a trace, as if it were the work of spirits. The first kanji does mean spirit or god. The second means "hidden or concealed". The phrase generally used for "kidnapped" is 行方不明 (yukuefumei), meaning "whereabouts uncertain".

Status: Download here

Masahiro continues to search for Kyuuki, battling the demons he can find and researching rumors of mysterious disappearances. Much to Guren's chagrin, he's working himself into exhaustion, but Akiko seems to be safe at last. During a confrontation near a pond, our heroes discover that Kyuuki and his minions have made their home "through the water-mirror", living and waiting in the reflection world where humans and most demons cannot enter. It also becomes evident that Masahiro has saved Akiko by having Seimei transfer the curse to him. As Akiko prepares for her decided entrance to the court, Masahiro prepares for a final confrontation with Kyuuki.

I have no notes for this episode, as I was unable to uncover any details about the ceremony in which Akiko takes part. If I find out anything, I'll post it.

Episode 12: Break through the mirror's cage.

Status: Download here

Having said his farewells to Akiko, Masahiro goes Oogurai Pond, where Kyuuki has told him he will be waiting. He is taken through the water-mirror to the world constructed by the demon, Guren and Rikugou stranded on shore, and Kyuuki tries to offer Masahiro Akiko's hand for his support. Our hero, naturally, declines. Fierce battle ensues, and through the power infused into the incense Akiko made, Guren, Rikugou, and eventually Seiryuu are able to cross through to support Masahiro. He summons the power of the god on Kifune into himself, and destroys Kyuuki utterly. Upon returning home that morning, his grandfather has a pleasant surprise.

Again, no notes. Only apologies that I take so long to subtitle things.

• Gender: Male
• Age: 13
• Role: Apprentice Onmyouji
• AKA: "Seimei no Mago" (Seimei's Grandson)
• First Appearance: Episode 01
• Seiyuu: Kaida Yuki
• Other roles:

  Chevalier	Marie
  Hunter x Hunter	Kurapica
  Prince of Tennis	Fuji Syuusuke

Abe no Yoshimasa:

• Gender: Male
• Age: Middle aged
• Role: Our hero's father
• AKA: (n/a)
• First Appearance: Episode 01
• Seiyuu: Shingaki Tarusuke
• Other Roles: Takezoe Koukichirou in Bleach

Abe no Seimei:

• Gender: Male
• Age: Varies
• Role: Onmyouji of legend, our hero's grandfather
• AKA: Jii-sama (Granddad)
• First Appearance: Episode 01 (Young version, Episode 05)
• Seiyuu: Mugihito (old version), Ishida Akira (young version)
• Other Roles (Mugihito):

  Irresponsible Captain Tylor	Admiral Mifune
  Kyou Kara Maou	Maxine
  Princess Tutu	Charon

• Other Roles (Ishida):

  Berserk	Judeau
  D.N. Angel	Hiwatari Satoshi
  Gensou Maden Saiyuki	Hakkai
  Harukanaru toki no naka de	Abe no Yasuaki
  Marmalade Boy	Kei
  Meine Liebe	Ishizuki Naoji
  Naruto	Sabaku no Gaara
  Neo Genesis Evangelion	Nagisa Kaworu
  Prince of Tennis	Mizuki Hajime
  Slayers	Xellos
  Tenshi ni Narumon	Mikael

See the Japanese Wikipedia Article

• Gender: Male
• Age: At least 355 (certainly older)
• Role: Shikigami
• AKA: Touda, Mokkun
• First Appearance: Episode 01
• Seiyuu: Konishi Katsuyuki (as Guren), Noda Junko (as Mokkun)
• Other Roles (Noda):

  Bleach	Arisawa Tasuki
  Flame of Recca	Saichou
  Kare Kano	Izawa Maho

• Other Roles (Konishi):

  Bleach	Asano Keigo Hisagi Shuuhei
  CardCaptor Sakura	Spinel Sun
  Gakuen Heaven	Niwa Tetsuya
  Gokusen	Shinohara
  Hikaru no Go	Ashiwara
  Loveless	Agatsuma Soubi

Ten'itsu:

• Gender: Female
• Age: Unknown
• Role: Shikigami
• AKA: (none)
• First Appearance: Episode 03
• Seiyuu: TANAKA Rie
• Other Roles :

  Chobits	Chii
  D.N. Angel	Towa-chan
  Gravitation	Usami Ayaka

Rikugou
Suzaku
Seiryuu
Kouchin
Genbu
Taiin
Byakko
Taijou
Tenkou
Tenkuu

These seem so far to be the Twelve Spirits always associated with Abe no Seimei in stories -- as well as with Tsuzuki in Yami no Matsuei. They are given the name "Juuni Shinshou". After the "twelve", the first kanji means "god" or "spirit", and the second means "commanding officer", hence "Twelve Spirit Commanders" above. I have also seen this rendered as "Twelve Heavenly Generals" and variations on that theme.

It's taken me quite a bit of time to find anything on these beings at all, as far as actual mythology goes, especially since the term Juuni Shinshou is actually more closely associated with the twelve guardian spirits associated with the Buddha Yakushi Nyorai. Japanese Wikipedia, however turned out to have both a reference to them in the article on the more famous Juuni Shinshou and a separate article dedicated to the spirits depicted in the show. It seems they are more commonly known as the Juuni Tenshou (十二天将), which I shall use for further research. This corresponds better to the translation "Twelve Generals of Heaven" given in Yami no Matsuei. I will be incorporating the information on the specific entities into their entries here, as I have time. In general, they seem to be given a sort of designation and rank within the Twelve (Pronunciations below subject to change, pending verification). There are three categories listed next to the names, and each one has a category and a number within that category which are as follows:

前 (MAE - Forward)

1. Touda
2. Suzaku
3. Rikugou
4. Kouchin
5. Seiryuu

天 (TEN - Heaven)

1. Kijin - please note, in the show this character appears to be referred to by her rank, Ten'itsu (天一), and while some of the Shinshou/Tenshou have Wikipedia articles for their names, for her there is instead one for this rank. She is also the only Heaven General

後 (ATO - Rear)

1. Tenkou
2. Taiin
3. Genbu
4. Taijou
5. Byakko
6. Tenkuu

• Gender: Female
• Age: about 13
• Role: Our hero's love interest
• AKA: (n/a)
• First Appearance: Episode 02
• Seiyuu: Kobayashi Sanae
• Other Roles:

  D.N. Angel	Fukuda Ritsuko
  Hikaru no Go	Touya Akira
  Loveless	Nagisa
  Glass Mask (2005?)	Kitajima Maya

Fujiwara no Yukinari:

• Gender: Male
• Age: mid-twenties (?)
• Role: Our hero's guardian
• AKA: (n/a)
• First Appearance: Episode 02
• Seiyuu: Seki Toshihiko
• Other Roles:

  Ai no Kusabi	Riki
  Bastard!!	Kall-Su
  Bleach	Shiba Kaien
  Gensou Maden Saiyuki	Genjo Sanzo
  Gundam Wing	Duo Maxwell
  Irresponsible Captain Tylor	Ru Baraba Dom
  Meine Liebe	Ludwig
  Naruto	Iruka
  Outlaw Star	Fred Luo
  Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman	Seki (Sekito)
  Trigun	Legato Bluesummers
  X (Movie)	Asagi Shougo
  Yami no Matsuei	Watari Yutaka

Fujiwara no Michinaga:

• Gender: Male
• Age: Middle aged
• Role: Minister of the Left (basically rules Japan)
• AKA: (n/a)
• First Appearance: Episode 02
• Seiyuu: Nishimura Tomomichi
• Other Roles:

  Irresponsible Captain Tylor	Admiral Fuji
  Juuni Kokki	En-ou
  Otogizoshi	Minister of the Left
  Yami no Matsuei	Konoe
  Yuu Yuu Hakusho	Takenaka

• Opening Theme
• Vocals by Hikita Kaori
• Single Available here and here (English site).

Full Kanji
Taken from a scan of the lyric booklet provided by someone whose name I have not yet been given permission to use.

Transliteration

My Translation

Yakusoku -- Promise

• Ending Theme
• Vocals by Kiuji Saori
• Single Available here and here (English site).

Full Kanji