Characters of Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation.
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Protagonists
Sakurako Kujou
Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (radio drama), Shizuka Itō (anime)
A sharp-witted beautiful woman who comes from a prominent family in Hokkaido Prefecture. She is a genius osteologist with a particular obsession with bones. She's engaged to Naoe Arikawa, a police officer with the Hokkaido Prefectural Police. Sakurako had studied in Meisei High School before she became an osteologist.
- Agent Scully: Doesn't believe in the supernatural.Sakurako: Your speculations have no basis.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She is pale-skinned and dark haired as well as rather bad at socializing.
- Amateur Sleuth: She doesn't work as a detective, but she likes to use her knowledge of bones and brilliant mind to help in many unsolved murders in the prefecture.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Most of her deductions are based partly on analyzing the crime scene or the items found in an area.
- Brutally Honest: Very much so.
- Catchphrase: "Now, let us solve this mystery."
- Cherry Blossom Girl: Named Sakurako, associated with cherry blossoms and death given her obsession with bones and corpses.
- Collector of the Strange: She has a hobby of collecting the bones of dead animals and reconstructing them. She would like to add human bones to her collection, but laws and restrictions won't allow her to.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her younger brother, Soutaro, died prior before the series started and is troubled by it from time to time. Also her cats were brutally poisoned by someone.
- Dissonant Serenity: She remains perfectly calm and serene while deciding to keep an old human skull and examining corpses.
- Finger-Tenting: Sakurako does this upon encountering a mystery. She does this a lot in some of the promotional posters released by TROYCA studios.
- Friend to All Children: She has a soft spot for children.
- Genius Sweet Tooth: Sakurako loves sweets and desserts. They can even be used to bribe her into helping. When Shoutarou brings sweets as a gift, Ume has to keep a close eye on her so she won't take too much.
- Glove Snap: Sakurako also does this whenever she comes across a mystery.
- Hime Cut: It suits her well since she happens to be the daughter of a wealthy family. The bangs aren't even but the rest is a perfect fit.
- I'm Taking Her Home with Me!: Does a weird variant of this in the first episode, when she and Shoutarou find a skull at the beach and Sakurako decides to keep it and take it home. She gets mad when Shoutarou calls the police to hand it over.
- Irony: Sakurako's not that good with relationships outside of her family, housekeeper and Shoutarou and yet is engaged to be married.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Platonic version: She tells Shoutarou to stay away from her in episode 11 so that he'll be safe from Hanabusa, as she plans to take him down.
- Lack of Empathy: She struggles with this due to being socially isolated from other people for so long. It particularly comes back to bite her in episode 11, where her cold attitude toward an obviously mentally traumatized girl almost gets her stabbed - and does get Shoutarou stabbed.
- Licked by the Dog: She is literally licked by a Big Friendly Dog in episode 4.
- Ms. Fanservice: Very downplayed, but on occasion, the veiwer sees Shoutarou's point of veiw as he checks her out. She is also naked in the ending credits. Did we mention that she's extremely beautiful?
- Mystery Magnet: Shoutarou comments that always he's with Sakurako, they end up coming across corpses and unsolved crimes.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Only Sakurako would be so fascinated by corpses and skeletons that she tries to take a human skull home.
- Not So Above It All: Claims not to understand sentimental emotions, but very clearly has them, which is apparent in her interactions with her housekeeper and assistant.
- Oh, Crap!:In the first episode, when Shoutarou finally lost his temper with her and growled at her, she has this reaction before settling down for a fight. The veiwer could practically hear her thought process go something like, "Uh-oh, where did this come from!?"
- Ojou: She's the daughter of a prominent family and lives in a Big Fancy House with a housekeeper.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has long black hair, pale skin and is a really attractive young woman.
- Sherlock Homage: An eccentric, undersocialized genius and a brilliant detective. She even spends time with an Audience Surrogate who functions as her Watson.
- Sherlock Scan: Uses this to determine something when she gets on a case.
- Suicide is Shameful: Sakurako is normally very calm, but she gets notably pissed when she sees someone attempting to commit suicide as she knows very well the pain of losing a loved one.
- When She Smiles: Sakurako sometimes does this when she talks to Shoutarou.
Shoutarou Tatewaki
Voiced by: Yūki Kaji (radio drama), Jun'ya Enoki (anime)
A high school boy who assists Sakurako in her bone-digging expeditions. It so happens that they always find human remains in the process. He keeps Sakurako in check, as she would go crazy and try and keep the human remains for herself.
- Adaptational Job Change: In the Live-Action TV drama, Shotaro's bio is changed from a high school student to a young museum employee.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Shoutarou makes sure Sakurako's bone obsession doesn't lead into trouble with the prefectural police. At times, he helps clarify things whenever Sakurako says/does something to make other people nervous. He even lampshades it in episodes four and eight.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has his snarky moments, particularly around Sakurako.
- I Know Karate: Uses his martial arts skills to disarm a drug addict after he tries to assault a wounded Hiroki.
- Insistent Terminology: He's always trying to get Sakurako to stop calling him "young boy" and instead to call him by his name.
- Just a Kid: He receives this treatment from Sakurako, to his dismay.
- Ordinary High-School Student: He is a perfectly normal high school boy who happens to hang out with a woman who likes to collect bones and solve mysteries.
- Precocious Crush: Despite his denials, Shoutarou does appear to have a bit of a crush on Sakurako and he would like her to stop treating him as a kid.
- Replacement Goldfish: For Sakurako, he serves as one for her dead little brother, Soutaro. In moments of great stress, she will even call him by the latter's name.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: He denies having any romantic involvement with Sakurako, claiming he only watches over her.
- Straight Man: He's the one in charge of keeping an eye on Sakurako's antics and he thinks it's his job to try and keep her in line.
- Supporting Protagonist: The story is told from Shoutarou's perspective, but Sakurako is the real protagonist.
- Taking the Bullet: Jumps between Sakurako and a knife in episode 11. He survives, though.
- Troll: A downplayed version, but he does troll Sakurako on occassion. Sometimes its by necessity (he just can't let her keep the corpses, seriously) and other times it seems to be a way of venting his frustations with her. To date, aside from foiling numerous attempts to at human skeletons to her collection, he has sprayed air freshener into her face while she was chewing out police, and on one glorious occassion reported her as a missing child over a PA system at a summer festival, and snarking at her on various occasions.
- The Watson: He plays this role to Sakurako's Sherlock.
Hokkaido Prefectural Police
Hiroki Utsumi
Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi
A mild-mannnered police officer stationed with the Hokkaido Prefectural Police, he knows both Sakurako and Shoutarou from way back when they first started to work together. The two usually work with him when a police presence is needed to solve a case in the prefecture.
- Agent Mulder: Strongly believes in anything that ties to something supernatural. Unless you show proof that it's not for real.Hiroki: First a cursed dog and now a cursed painting?
- Big Damn Heroes: In "Where Do You Live?", he tackles a knife-armed drug addict from harming Sakurako, Shoutarou and anyone else in an abandoned house they were investigating.
- And in "The Cursed Man: Part Two", he carries an injured Takeshi on his back and runs to reach an ambulance that has been forced to take a longer route to the house, rather than wait for the ambulance and risk Takeshi's condition worsening.
- Determinator: Hiroki won't let anything happen to him, even if he gets bogged down.
- Friend on the Force: He's good friends with Sakurako and Shoutarou in the HPP. The former doesn't share the sentiment all the time.
- Hopeless Suitor: Sakurako makes it clear that she doesn't want any of his affections.
Naoe Ariwara
Sakurako's fiance who is an active police officer in the Hokkaido Prefectural Police.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Gives Sakurako sermons whenever he finds out that she gets into trouble with the prefectural police.
- Friend on the Force: Alongside Hiroki for both Sakurako and Shoutarou.
- Generation Xerox: He's an active officer working in the Public Security division and like his father, investigate cases involving far-left communists.
- Hero of Another Story: See Generation Xerox for details.
- The Ghost: Is only ever mentioned, though a lot moeso in the novels than the anime.
Meisei High School
Itsuki Isozaki
Voiced by: Shunya Hiruma (radio drama), Akira Ishida (anime)
The teacher of Shoutarou, Yuriko and Haruto.
- The Atoner: Sakurako states that the reason he's so obsessed with plants is his guilt over a missing student.
- Cool Teacher: Takes his time to help his students in and out of class. He even tells his student to be careful when they're not in school.
- Hot Teacher: Itsuki is handsome.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Itsuki's always seen in a suit and tie. Except for his volunteer work in the summer festival, where he just wore ordinary pants and a polo-type shirt.
Sasaki Haruma
An old science teacher who had died while working in the school, he knows Sakurako from way back in her elementary school days. He was also her mentor who taught her the basics of ostelogy.
- Cool Teacher: Took his time to help Sakurako learn the basics of osteology.
- Origin Story: Partially, the "The Entrusted Bones" arc explains how Sakurako learned some of her osteology skills and knowledge.
- Posthumous Character: He died by the time the series starts and most of his backstory is shown via flashbacks and narration from Sakurako.
Yuriko Kogami
Voiced by: Ayaka Imamura
Classmate of Shoutarou in Meisei High, she volunteers to help take care of children when she's not busy doing schoolwork. Yuriko lives with her family, including her grandparents.
- Chekhov's Gun: Her familiarity with Ii-chan and her real name in "Where Do You Live?" helped Sakurako and Shoutarou track down her residence.
- Death Is a Sad Thing: Was very upset that the police assumed her grandmother died in an open and close case of suicide. Turns out that her grandmother left early in the morning to go hiking in "The Bones that Slumber in Summer". She died because she fell down from the cliff.
- Fangirl: Increasingly one toward Sakurako.
- Friend to All Children: She likes to help the children out in the local daycare center when she's not in school.
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: Some of her classmates thinks that she's together with Shoutarou since they're seen together in and out of school.
- Little Miss Snarker: Despite being a Nice Girl, she has a sharp tongue that she will utilize when irritated or in a teasing mood.
- Mystery Magnet: Downplayed, She often finds herself involved in some of the mysteries.
- Ms. Fanservice: A subtle example. Though she is always fully clothed, the camera often focuses on her comely figure.
- Nice Girl: Yuriko's very nice to Shoutarou and Sakurako, despite the latter's strange, seemingly insensitive words when they spoke about her grandmother's death. She seems to be on good terms with Sakurako-san when they meet again in episode 6, and they bond further in episode 9 where Sakurako starts calling her by first name (much to Shoutarou's shock and jealousy).
Haruto Imai
Voiced by: Tetsuya Kakihara
Another classmate of Shoutarou in Meisei High.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments when he talks to Shoutarou. It's mostly for humor purposes.
- Nice Guy: Despite his neutral attitude that is.
Sakurako's Family
Soutaro Kujo
Sakurako's younger brother. It's not clear what happened to him, but he died prior to the start of the series. He has some resemblance to Shoutarou, especially since their names are closely the same in terms of pronunciation.
- Posthumous Character: He's deceased by the time the series starts.
Shoko Chiyoda
Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue
Sakurako's aunt. She usually drops by the Kujo mansion to hand her gifts.
- Nice Girl: A very pleasant woman to talk to. She also drops by the Kujo mansion to hand out gifts for Sakurako, which usually involves food.
Ume Sawa
Voiced by: Masako Isobe
The housekeeper of Sakurako's estate. She was also responsible for looking after Sakurako when she was a young girl.
- Cool Old Lady: She's very pleasant with Shoutarou and Sakurako's guests whenever they're in the house.
- Friend to All Children: Very nice to Ii-chan when Hiroki and Shoutarou brought her to the Kujo mansion.
- Kindly Housekeeper: The housekeeper of Sakurako's estate and a very kind old woman.
- Never Mess with Granny: Even Sakurako takes her orders seriously, and is reluctant to incite or bear her ire.
- Supreme Chef: She can whip up a good meal, as shown in "The Princess Who Loves Bones".
Other
Hanabusa
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu
A mysterious painter.
- A God Am I: Presents himself as an angel from God.
- Arch-Enemy: Becomes this to Sakurako by the end of the anime.
- Bald of Evil: Has no hair on his whole body, minus the top of his head.
- Big Bad: Of the series.
- Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: A strong butterfly motif follows him—specifically, the lethe diana.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Is first mentioned in episode 5, advising Takeshi on a painting that turned out to be poisoned. It's possible he was involved with the drug-addicted murderer in episode 2 as well, as he was rambling about a drug called "the butterfly".
- In-Series Nickname: "The Sphenoider," for stealing the sphenoid bones of victims in multiple cold cases.
- Karma Houdini: As of the ending of the show, he has yet to be brought to justice.
- Knight of Cerebus: The cases he's been involved with have undoubtedly been the darkest of the show.
- Manipulative Bastard:
- Convinced Takeshi in episodes 4 and 5 to purchase and display a poisoned painting, even advising him to allow his newborn daughter to look at it with him.
- Hitomi and Minami in episodes 10 and 11 fell under his thrall. Among other implied horrors, he convinced the girls he was in love with them and carved butterflies into their backs.
- Master Poisoner: Was behind a toxic painting in episodes 5 and 6, and possibly is the one who poisoned Sakurako's cats years ago.
- Walking Spoiler: Though a player in the events of episodes 4 and 5, it's best not to look at these entries until episodes 10 and 11.
