Female Characters in Disguise~Japanese Comics

~Japanese Comics~

Since: Nov. 24, 2002
Last Update: Mar 2, 2004

Announcement:

This hypertext is ONLY A FAN COLLECTION, NOT FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. If you have the intellectual property of comics mentioned here and do not intend to let it be here any more, please email me. And I'll remove the related content as soon as possible.

Some professions require disguising as someone else by masking. Below is an ongoing collection of Japanese Comics with females in disguise scenes, and you will have a rough idea that what professions need disguising more! The info comes from my collection, others from my friend Mr. Yosioka, and Japanese message board such as ‘Ecdysis Heaven’, ‘Hukusuke the Strange’.

The English names of the BOOK & EPISODE TITLE are translated by their original Japanese meaning, while those of the CHARACTERS are by pronunciation. The Japanese characters' family names come BEFORE their first names. As a result, those names may be different from their official/commercial ones. The links show the original Japanese names, authors, and publishers of the comics. Sometimes, the covers can also be seen.

Thank Kerry for reviewing my first draft, changing it into proper English; thank Mr. Yoshioka for identifying the unknown comic and correcting an error in pronunciation. Also, I'd like to thank Mr. Paldios for providing wonderful strips and story description.

New Materials are colored in yellow.

1. Burglars
1.1 TheKisugi Sisters in Cat's Eye (original 198?)
Please refer to Hitomi.htm.

1.2 Mine Fujiko in Lupin the 3rd
Please refer to Fujiko.htm.

1.3 Shiizaki Nana in Burglar Amaryllis (1991)
On daytime, Nana is a Senior high school student; in night, she becomes...

Vol.1: Nana disguises herself as an old ugly women and then her male secretary.

Vol.2: In revenge for the boys in the nearby high school, she disguises as their vice principal, a middle-aged male (including the makeup process!). "He" contacts the builder, changing their dormitory's design: some pink spot on the wall!

1.4 Foxy Lady in W.WOLF (1993)

Vol. 2: To steal " La Venus de Milo", Foxy Lady disguises herself as our hero's girl friend. Pity there is no unmasking scene but the wig and clothing left on ground can be seen. Her subordinates bring a fake statue and steal the fake one away, leaving the genuine one which is disguised as a "Foxy Lady" Statue by shape-changing gas. Then she disguises herself as the male head of IES (a special secret agency), comes and takes it away. This time, we can see the unmasking of her and her subordinates!! However, it is as strange as the Baroness in "G.I. Joe", in which she wears an inflexible Foxy mask beneath her male mask.

1.5 Burglar "Papillion" in Checkmate (1985)
Vol. 2(?): A male burglar and a woman police officer fall in love with each other. To break them apart, this female burglar puts on a mask of the male burglar, and steals her target in front of the police officer. When reaching her target and peeling off her mask, she is stopped by the male burglar. (Identified by Mr. Yosioka)

1.6 Burglar Gentleman in The Recall of Youth Kindaichi
Short file 15: Burglar Gentleman's plot is discovered by the high school detective boy, therefore, she peels off her male mask and reveals her female face (still another disguise).

1.7 Burglar "Beauty underneath the moon" in Mad Angels (1991)
Vol.2: This burglar participates in a "Miss Policewoman" contest and won the crown. The police woman she replaces appears, so she jumps off stage, peels off her mask, sneers at all the police, and escapes.

1.8 Grey Burglar in Get Backers (2000)
Vol. 5: She disguises herself as a male secretary to steal "Sunflower". One hero discovers her disguise and electrifies her. Her clay mask cracks, and she takes off her wig.

2. Assassins
2.1 Unknown Assassin 1 in Auction House (1996)
Vol.6: A tattooed female assassin disguises herself as an old lady.

2.2 Unknown Assassin 2 in Auction House (1996)
Vol.17: Another female assassin disguises herself as an old woman in a Gypsy village, in order to steal a precious necklace. Her disguise is discovered by the hero, so she robbers the necklace instead.

2.3 An old Russian Assassin in Mad Bull 2000 (2000)
Vol. 3: An old female assassin killed a young policewomen, and then takes her place using a facial mask which is cast from the victim's face (with makeup process)

2.4 Tokikawa Mayu in Innocent (1995)
Vol.2: This female Japanese assassin (a former supermodel), disguised as a white maid, threatens a young boy who is head of a mafia family. Only a piece of facial mask is shown during the unmasking.

2.5 Five Assassins in Black Angel (?)
Vol.?: Five women assassins of the same faces peel off their masks at the same time in front of their boss.

2.6 Raila in Christ (?)
Vol.?: Reila the terrorist peels her stewardess mask off.

3. Villains
3.1 Anonymous Villainess in Dan Detective School (2002)
Vol. 6: A female member of the criminal group "Pluto" (which has excellent makeup skills to transform its member into anyone they wish) peels off her mask after disguising herself as a singing idol and hypnotizing her client.

3.2 Anonymous Villainess in Mad Bull (1997)
Vol. 27: A villainess disguises herself as the head of a prison and tries to kill the hero. He discovers her plot and peels her mask off.

3.3 Anonymous Villainess in Man! Japan Sea (199?)
Vol.5: A villainess disguises herself as a widow who is an acquaintance of the hero.

3.4 Godmother of Mafia in Murder License Teeth (1993)
Vol.17: She disguises herself as the widow of the judge, who is murdered by the mafia because he has fought against them.

3.5 Dr. Keel's assistant in Robot Kikaider (1973)
Vol. 2: Bad guy Dr. Keel's disguises himself as Dr. Koumeiji (creator of Kikaider), whereas his assistant disguises herself as Mitsuko Koumeiji, the good doctor's daughter. Because the assistant doesn't call Kikaider the way the real Mitsuko does, he knocks them out and peels off the assistant's mask and strips her clothing.

3.6 Elizabeth in Challenger form the 5th Street, Black Rose Series (1980)
Elizabeth disguises herself as Marine, her cousin, in order to seize property of her dad's brother. She sheds her disguise while talking with her father.

3.7 R. Sutajezu in Captain Kid (1990)
Vol. 2: To seize a treasure, pirate R. Sutajezu disguises herself as an old woman.

3.8 Anonymous Villainess in Skeban Deka (?)
Vol. ?: A female subordinate of the main villain in this comics disguises herself as her boss, and then peels off her mask.

3.9 Ran-ran in Steam Detective Groups (1997)
Vol. 4: She disguises herself as a police woman and her sister Rin-rin, respectively.

3.10 Sanagi in Sanagi Kleidoscope (199?)
In this published in magazine but not in single books series, Sanagi (literally means “cacoon”) the beautiful trickster has various mask disguises, including a white woman, an old woman, a salary man, a pregnant woman, and a police woman. (Thanks to Mr. Yosioka)

4. Ninjas
4.1 Toki Sisters in The Samurai (1985)
Vol.5: The elder sister, Akari, disguises in a row as a lizard, girl friend of the main character, and one female teacher. Also, her sis, Kageri disguises as the teacher once and is punished after the teacher find out about her disguise.

Vol.6: Akari disguises as Kathy, the exchange student from US. She "borrows" the main character's sword and then peels off her mask (poor quality, without detail of the mask).

4.2 Kiara in Female Ninja's Secrete Book (2002)
Vol.2: Kiara is skillful in wearing the death's skin and disguises as the dead. When she is discovered, her skin sheds automatically.

4.3 Marino's grandmother in NINJA- S Sensation (1989)
To seduce a young male ninja, Marino's grandma disguises herself as Marino, and kisses the young man. The result: he is shocked not because he is drugged but he figures out whom he kisses...

5. Actresses
5.1 Kudou Yukiko in Detective Konan (1995)
Vol. 5 & 6: To trick Konan, Yukiko, Konan's mother and former superstar in Japan, disguises herself as a fat middle-aged woman trying to seduce Konan.

5.2 Sharon Winyard in Detective Konan (2000)
Vol.34: Konan's mother drove too fast and was caught by the NY city police. A police officer came and told his subordinates that she is doing a secret mission. Kudou Yukiko tried to thank the officer, but he said, "Your gratitude goes to the wrong person!" Then "he" peeled off "his face", and revealed her true identity, Sharon Winyard, a famous American superstar.

5.3 Sharon Winyard as 'her daughter' in Detective Konan (2003)
Vol.42: Sharon's daughter disguises herself as a young male Japanese doctor, who later peels off her mask before a FBI agent. This agent states that she is indeed Sharon herself, since they have same fingerprints.

5.4 Komiyama Airi in Those Who Hunt Elves (1996-)
Komiyama Airi is an actress and an Academy Award Oscar winner. With a spell of the princess in the Elfish Kingdom, she and two people fell into the fairy world. To return to earth, they have to strip every elf, checking if one piece of the returning spell is on her body. Sometimes, Airi disguises herself as an elf to drug or fool their target.

Vol. DX (vol. 0): With help from her friend, a woman aircraft captain, the elfish princess is relieved to escape from Elfish Hunters. However her trusted friend peels off her elfish mask and reveals her true identity.

Vol. 5: Again, Airi as a female elfish thief, cheating the target elf to tell her secret.

Vol. 15: A monster is tortured because he cannot weep. To help him weep, Airi disguises herself as different women with self-made plots and her excellent performances. The only unmasking scene: she peels off her mask after failing to make him weep in playing a teenage daughter weeping and apologizing her witch mother's spell on him.

Vol. 15: Airi disguises herself as a man, and then peels off her mask.

Vol. 19: A female elf discusses with her roommate about how to offend Elfish Hunters. Not surprisingly, she was drugged by her roommate who later peels off her mask. This pair of elves is miserable: they are stripped four times by each four of Elfish Hunters, as the result of separate action of them.

5.5 Reica in Asami, the Chief of the Metropolitan Police (2000)
Vol. 3: As an outdated actress, Reica seduces her boyfriend to kill Nanami, his wife. To fake the alibi, Reica then disguises herself as Nanami

6. Makeup Artists
6.1 Alabama in Happy Man (1999)
Vol. 1: In a small city in Japan , there is a government sector helping local citizens in need of aid. To help a timid young man to build some confidence, a public servant asks Alabama, a special makeup artist for help. Alabama disguises herself as Katsumi, a high school student seeks for the timid young man's help to beat the bad guy. Incredibly, he beats the bad guy, who is actually the public servant in disguise.

Vol. 1: In the latter episode, Alabama disguises herself as a sexy young girl to seduce the public servant since he refuses to pay the bill for the previous mission. She then peels off her mask, telling him that "it's just a test for a new-made mask" and that a video camera has captured his intention to fornicate the sexy young lady.

6.2 Kimie in Detective Konan (2000)
Vol. 28: Kimie disguises herself as her 120 year old grandmother, and murdered her friends, who have killed her mother.

6.3 Kichijouji Misako in Wanna Be More Beautiful (2000-)
Misako is a genius senior high student who works in the "Total-Make Saloon Kichijouji". Sometimes, she uses prosthetic makeup to make her clients more beautiful and give them confidence.

Vol. 2: Because of her beautiful elder sister Aya, Miya Takei has "Ugly Duck Complex". To help Miya overcome this complex, Aya asks Misako, who studies at the same high school, for help. Misako pretends to drug Aya, and then pretends to conduct an exchange surgery for the sisters.

Vol.3: A very beautiful girl from a very rural area has a different sense of beauty, and asks Misako to transform her by surgery. Misako conducts a special makeup instead. Finally, the girl jumps out of a helicopter and her mask-bodysuit bursts open.

7. Detectives
7.1 Dent Lion (2002)
"Dent Lion" is a team comprises two beautiful women and one fat woman.
Vol.2: To save a female CEO's younger brother, two members of the team disguise themselves as two male gangsters. The short beautiful woman shows a mask to her client. Also, bald cap of the short member and unmasking of the fat one can be seen.

7.2 Ranko in Hallo, Needle Mouse (1986)
Vol.14: A young boy has lost his mother when he has been little. Before the coming of Christmas, his father finds his wish written in the sox: to meet his mother on Christmas Eve. The father seeks the detective, nicknamed "Needle Mouse", for help. On the streets Needle Mouse, hero of this comic, tries hard to find someone who looks similar to the mother but in vain. After hearing his friends discussing the movie "Back to the Future", he comes up with a idea: to find a prosthetic makeup artist to transform his girl friend Ranko into the mother!
      On Christmas Eve, the boy waits in his sleeping room and then falls asleep. His prosthetic 'mother' steps in, awakes him, talks to him and hugs him. They both weep with joy.
      Few days later, Ranko brings a huge bag of dirty clothing to the father's laundry store, since he has promised a free laundry service for reward. The father is not there; his boy receives the laundry, but it's too heavy for him to hold, so Ranko comes to hold his arms from his back.
      After they leave, the boy speaks to himself: it was like my mom hugged me!

7.3 Anonymous Elf in Those Who Hunt Elves
Vol.19: One member of Elf Hunter suggests hiring a detective to search target elves since it would be much more efficient. They seek an old, fat detective for help, but he disappears the next day. After climbing every mountain and crossing every stream, they catch him at last. He smiles and congratulates them for passing the test of tracing a target. Airi grins and strip his mask away from her bodysuit. It turns out that he is a young female elf in disguise!

7.4 Moko in Detective Moko (198?)
Moko has used robber masks to disguise herself as many characters: young or old, male or female. Two trial pdf files can be downloaded on internet.

7.5 Kuniko in Dan Detective School (2003)
Vol. 14: In order to get the key word to wake the hypnotized, Kuniko- student of the Dan Detective School, disguises herself as the out of control client of Pluto. She peels off her mask when mission accomplished.

7.6 Megumi in Dan Detective School (2004)
Vol. ?: In a make-up class, students uses masks to disguises as each other. Megumi disguises as her boy classmate.

8. Students
8.1 Shiizaki Nana in Burglar Amaryllis (1991): Please refer to Section 1.3.

8.2 Toki Sisters in The Samurai (1985): Please refer to Section 4.1.

8.3 Kichijouji Misako in Wanna Be More Beautiful (2000-): Please refer to Section 6.3.

8.4 Akeko in Short Story Collection of Rumiko Takahashi (1995)
Vol.2:
Akeko is a member of Disguise Club in a senior high school. At the beginning of this story, Soushiro Men (which literally means Disguise-4th-boy Face), her boy friend, sheds his masks in a series of famous characters (Sumo player, professional baseball player, manga character, etc).
Due to lack of funds, those members of Disguise Club do part time jobs: they disguise themselves as their clients. Soushiro substitutes for his busy client to date a shy, beautiful girl who later peels off her mask and turns out to be Akeko in disguise.

8.5 Sagisawa Megumi in Hollywood Orange (2002)
Vol.1: Sagisawa Megumi is not only a college student but also a popular writer. She disguises herself as a very ugly police woman and chases the hero of this comic. When he comes home and is relieved to get rid of her, she appears and peels off her mask and body suit. Wow!

8.6 Asami in Miracle-make Yuji (2001)
Vol.1: Yuji's classmate Asami disguises as his girl friend and tries to seduce him. When he is hooked, she sneers at him and peels off her mask.　

9. Others
9.1 Unknown character in Cursed B-rank Comic
A reprint of an old comic (I guess it's 60's). Pity that the mask is unreal and I don't know what the story is about.

9.2 Skin Trouble
      In a parallel planet of earth, people shed their skins during life span. A young man suggests to his girl friend that they exchange skins as souvenir. Later, the young man wears his girl's skin and comes to her home, making love with another girl. Then his girl friend comes in, disguising as him. After shedding her skin, she is so surprised to find a clone of herself. She is angry to find out that her boy friend disguises himself as her.
      To avoid quarrel, the other girl suggests that they play all together. At the end of the story, the boy and his girl friend finds that the second girl is someone else who wears skin in disguise!
      Comments that printed in the manga:
1: We all want to go to this planet.
2: You can never tell real things or fakes in this planet.

9.3 Tomoko in Stand Up (1996)
Vol. 2: In the story "Make up!", Tomoko has been dumped by Tatsurou, who is crazy for great breasts. Rika, her makeup artist friend, suggests a revenge plan. (described by Mr. Paldios, translated by Justin)

9.4 Sakiri's manager in Burning Angel (?)
Sakiri is a very popular singing idol (who is actually a man). His jealous rival suspects this fact, and plots to embarrass him in a "Swimming-suits swimming contest" (in which all participants must wear swimming suits). He and his manager uses masks to exchange their role. (described by Mr. Paldios, translated by Justin)

9.5 An Office Lady in "God's Punishment" (2002)
Her company's CEO: "What's your vision this year?"
She: "To become the CEO of this company." and wears mask and bodysuit to become him.

9.6 A Middle-age woman in "Z" (2003)
Vol. ?: She tells Angelina that the doorkeeper with Angelica’s face in the Memory Palace , is herself in disguise.