07-Ghost (Seven Ghost) is a fantasy manga written and illustrated by Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara. It was serialized in the monthly shōjo/josei manga magazine Monthly Comic Zero Sum
from 2005 to 2014, and compiled into 17 volumes.
07-Ghost takes place in a Fantasy world where Zaiphon is the primary form of magic. The ability is to use it is very rare and therefore highly prized. Each of seven districts has a House of God that is protected by one of the 7 Ghosts, a human with such extraordinary abilities in using Zaiphon that they are believed to be blessed by God. Teito Klein, a former combat slave, is sent to attend the Barsburg Empire's Military Academy due to his ability to use Zaiphon. Teito is an amnesiac and doesn't remember anything of his origins; what he does learn of his past comes from his recurring and often traumatizing dreams.
While delivering one of his assignments to a teacher one day, he comes across the high-ranked official Ayanami and recalls that he killed his father. In a blind rage, he attacks Ayanami, only to wind up in jail. It is only thanks to Mikage, his best friend, that Teito escapes and comes across three priests of the District 7 Church, Frau, Labrador, and Castor.
The manga had its license rescued by Viz Media after Go! Comi went under. 07-Ghost has been adapted into a few drama CDs. An anime adaptation of 07-Ghost was produced by Studio DEEN and premiered in April 2009.
07-Ghost provides examples of:
- The Abridged Series: 07-Ghost Abridged. You can check it out on this Abridged Series Wiki link and on this Youtube link.
- Also, here.
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- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Possibly one of the reasons why Frau and Ayanami are very popular with the series's predominantly female fanbase.
- Ambiguous Gender: Kuroyuri says "It's a secret <3" when their gender is questioned in an omake in the manga.
- Amnesiac Dissonance: Teito recovers the memories of Ayanami killing Father in the first chapter.
- Anachronism Stew: For example, we have a German-like soldier Hyuuga (who by the way is named after a Japanese battleship of the early 1900's) going around with a KATANA, iconic of the Muromachi Period of Japan (~1400-1600's)...then again, this series does takes place in a fantasy world
- Art Evolution: Compare the manga art from the 1st volume to the manga art of the 9th volume here◊
- Arranged Marriage: A common practice among the royalty and nobility in the series. The marriage between Teito's father and stepmother is just one example.
- Badass Adorable: Teito, with his short stature and Tsundere attitude. Labrador also counts.
- Bad Habits: When the Barsburg military people infiltrate the Church.
- Beware the Nice Ones:
- Castor can be as nice as can be, that is unless, he finds out that Frau has been secretly stashing porn magazines around the Church, and if anyone comes and threatens anyone in the Church. Teito is also attributed to this. As much as he can be a bit cold to others, he really cares for them, and he will really go into berserker rage if you hurt any of his friends. Little Teito is never happy if you get in his way, either.
- Labrador may be the kindest person on the series, however though he doesn't fight much, when he does he can be extremely dangerous. I mean, killing someone using a man-eating venus flytrap with a big smile on his face, befriending a very dangerous plant and murdering a bunch of soldiers with it and tearing off more than half of Ayanami's body is pretty extreme.
- Black Cloak: The default clothing of Verloren and the Seven Ghosts. Understandable, since they're death gods.
- Blank White Eyes: Used very often in humorous scenes, especially on Frau.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Most of the bishops in the main cast. Frau is a pervert, Castor is a doll otaku, Labrador listens to plant life, and Lance is a superstitious narcissist. They're all still quite impressive when they get working.
- Brainwashed: Teito's brainwashed into becoming one of Ayanami's loyal subordinates
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: You can count the prominent women in this series on one hand. The bishies, on the other hand (no pun intended)... The first major female character appears in chapter 48 of the manga.
- Chained Heat: Teito gets a slave collar put on him, which is accidentally activated by Frau. Now the collar has to hear Frau's voice at least once a day, or it will explode. Until he gets caught by Ayanami, who places a new collar on him, binding Teito to him. Ayanami then ups himself by brainwashing Teito into becoming one of his loyal subordinates. Fortunately Frau helps Teito break free of the brainwashing
- Crapsack World: The Empire is corrupt and approves of slavery, and human souls can be devoured by Wars and Kor. Nobles and Royalty are horrible people with few exceptions. Even if you're lucky to be born with the ability to use Zaiphon, you'll only be a bigger target for slavers or the military. Those who just happen to be born with the power of Warsfeil are murdered on the spot, unless the military decides to take them in, like they do with the Black Hawks.
- Crystal Dragon Jesus: The local religion is inspired by the Roman Catholic religion, except that in addition to God they worship seven 'ghosts' that are more like crosses between saints and angels.
- Dead All Along: All the characters who are Ghosts; also, Yukikaze, someone significant to Ayanami. Technically Ouka's real body died years ago, but one of the Ghosts moved her soul to the clone's body.
- Deus Angst Machina: Teito. He lost his Father, his kingdom, his memories, his best friend, was turned into a slave, worked for the people who wronged him, was hated by everyone and their moms... not necessarily in order.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: The Kraut's family specialty... and ALL of their predictions come true...
- Distaff Counterpart: Ouka (intentionally). She has the Eye of Raphael to Teito's Mikhail, is a member of royalty, and also has a Fyulong dragon companion.
- Enemy Within: Teito is Pandora's Box. Frau wields a practically sentient scythe, and he comes close to losing control of it on more than one occasion.
- Evil Uncle: Both played straight and subverted with Ayanami towards Teito. Ayanami has abused Teito a lot, but as manga chapter 98 revealed, he does genuinely care for Teito.
- Also, Labrador's uncle is an absolutely terrible person who practically manipulated Lab into killing himself so he could get his hands on the Flower of Eden. And he used the flower for nothing but evil.
- Girlish Pigtails: Ouka.
- Good Parents: Krom and Millea, Teito's parents. Capella's mother is also revealed to be this.
- Gratuitous German: Lots, between character names (Frau, Verloren, Kreuz) and setting terms (Begleiter).
- Green Thumb: Labrador, both friendly and not so friendly types.
- Hair Reboot: In episode 22 when Razette swims Teito and Hakuren from one place to another, you barely even recognize they were submerged under water for any period of time once they return to the land (Teito and Hakuren, I mean).
- He-Man Woman Hater: Hakuren says he doesn't like women, but he doesn't actually act on this. Rather, he's just not into them, and doesn't know how to process this feeling. I mean, if you hate women so much, why do you treat them all so kindly? Come on, man. Regardless, when he does make this not-so-honest statement, he makes exceptions with his mother (who is, well, his mother, so she doesn't count) and Razette (whom he considers a girl rather than a woman). Hakuren eventually explains why this first started in chapter 63, admitting it's the result of childhood trauma from being constantly bombarded with albums filled with pictures of prospective brides on a daily basis.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Frau, Teito and Capella get warm hospitality from some sketchy establishments.
- Hot God: It's explicitly stated that the Chief of Heaven gave Verloren a beautiful face on purpose.
- I Am Who? Teito is the hidden prince of/current heir to Raggs Kingdom.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: The series uses, "Kapitel", in place of "Chapter" when naming its chapters. It's German for "Chapter".
- Keet: Mikage; he's talkative, always cheerful and energetic. Contrasts quite a bit with the grumpy Teito at the start of the series.
- Kill the Cutie: Mikage. It's a little easier to bear when they bring him back in a cuter form.
- Knight of Cerebus: Despite being goofy-looking and having a sense of humour, as the manga goes on and on the apperance of Hyuuga indicates that many people are going to die.
- Love Makes You Evil:
- Verloren. The inciting incident behind his fall into darkness was losing the woman that he loved.
- Emperor Wolf, Ouka's father who sided with the "Shadow Man" to bring back the love of his life, Millea, Teito's mother
- Love Triangle: Two plot-important ones centering on the Raggs and Barsburg families. Funnily enough, both triangles only have a difference of one person.
- Millea (Teito's mother) <-> King Krom Raggs <- Vanessa
- Emperor Wolf Barsburg -> Millea <-> King Krom Raggs
- Made a Slave: Teito. That circular brand mark on his back proves all, sadly.
- Magically-Binding Contract: Teito's collar, that binds him to Frau. And later, Ayanami.
- Meaningful Name:
- Teito's first name means "imperial capital", which makes sense since Kreuz came up with it on the spot to protect Teito from the empire, making him seem like he's part of it. His real first name, Wahrheit, means truth, which is what he's searching for. His surname, "Klein", is German for "small," referencing his small stature.
- Ayanami, Hyuuga, Yukikaze, and Katsuragi are all names of Japanese battleships.
- Mega Manning: Ayanami gains the ability of all the 07 Ghost he devours.
- Memory Gambit: Set up by Ver Kreuz, on Teito. Once he leaves the church, his journey follows this setup.
- Necessarily Evil: Bastian, who murdered criminals because he couldn't live with the fact that they went unpunished.
- Older Than They Look: Teito, who looks much younger than 15, and Labrador, who looks younger than the other bishops despite being older than them.
- Only Sane Man: Konatsu is convinced he's the only sane person in the Black Hawks, but most would say this is debatable.
- Orphan's Ordeal: Teito. Explored in a Flashback chapter where he sees one of the house's maids as a mother figure.
- Our Dragons Are Different: And fluffy!
- Our Mermaids Are Different: The noel mermaids. They can mimic the appearance of any face, and can sing despite their lack of speech.
- Parental Abandonment: Most main characters, but especially Capella. Capella does later reunite with his mother, though.
- Parental Substitute: Frau to Teito and Capella. Frau himself had a parental substitute: Guido, the previous Sichel. Guido's relationship with Frau is implied to be similar to Frau's relationship with Teito.
- People Jars: They contain clones of Ouka... the real, deceased one.
- Person of Mass Destruction: The hosts of the Eye of Michael and Eye of Raphael.
- Pet Baby Wild Animal: Mikage. It is addressed later that Mikage's development is impaired for lack of interaction with other dragons.
- Physical God: Verloren and the Ghosts.
- Porn Stash: Frau keeps the porn he can't hide in his room in the Church library.
- Quest for Identity: Most of the plot is driven by Teito's quest to recover his memories and figure out his place in the world.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Black Hawks embody this trope. Their quirks drive Konatsu crazy, and his over-the-top reactions are a quirk themselves.
- Rags to Royalty / Secret Legacy: Teito, the prince of Raggs. The Heroes Journey that begins after the exam arc is about him exploring his past.
- Reincarnation: Mikage reincarnates as a dragon to be able to be with Teito, Bastien as a tree.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Mikage. Burupya!
- The Rival: Teito and Hakuren's first impression of each other. Hakuren ends up quite soon in Teito's True Companions group, though.
- Lance also sees himself as Frau's rival. For no apparent reason at all.
- Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: Teito has the Death God Verloren sealed inside him.
- Secret Test of Character: The last question on the bishop examination's written test. The two candidates have to fight each other and write their name to proceed through the Door of the Victorious while the other passes through the Door of the Vanquished. It's really a test to see how willing they are to help others. By choosing to fight their partner and write their own name, they're choosing to help themselves.
- Sexy Priest: They are pretty attractive, let's be honest.
- Sinister Scythe: The Ghosts' weapons, Frau's especially. It can outright cause him to attack someone without his accord.
- Sinister Shades: Hyuuga's never seen without them.
- Smoking Is Cool: Frau. Later on we learn that he's actually trying to emulate his past mentor. Also they're made by Labrador, so they're probably just medicine.
- Spell My Name With An S: Razette/Razet/Lazet/Lazette, Mikhail/Michael/Mikhael, etc.
- Split Personality: Teito and the Eye of Michael.
- Spoiled Brat: Shuri Oak, thanks to his doting father. Gets a harsh wake up call when he's thrown onto the battlefield.
- Stepford Smiler: Hyuuga. He's always smiling. It's pretty unsettling...
- Labrador rarely shows his real emotions on his face. He either has a poker face, a warm smile when he's being nice, or a warm smile when he's killing people, which is horrifying.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Ayanami rarely shows emotion, but he is kind to the Black Hawks. He also genuinely cares for Teito, and being Verloren's reincarnation, is deeply in love with Eve. The Ghosts can go from ruthless reapers to gentle and caring men within seconds.
- Supernatural Martial Arts: Zaiphon seems to work like martial arts and zaiphon combat is taught at the military academy. It comes in three different types, which depend on the nature of the user: offensive, healing, and manipulation.
- Superpowered Evil Side: The Eye of Michael, even though he's not exactly evil. Just overprotective.
- The Smurfette Principle: Ouka and Eve are the only female members of the main cast. The Profe before Labrador was the only female member of her generation of Seven Ghosts, and the only female Ghost seen.
- Title by Number: There are 7 guardian death gods identical to the Grim Reaper, which includes Frau and the other Bishops.
- Tragic Monster: When Teito has to fight a possessed Mikage who has had half his soul stolen.
- Troubled, but Cute: Practically every single character.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Mikage, Yukikaze and Eve.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend: It's implied that Emperor Wolffram Barsburg and Millea knew each other from childhood.
- Shuri and Mikage were best friends growing up, but they sadly grew apart, presumably when Mikage befriended Teito. This caused Shuri to act like a bully around Mikage and Teito, which basically ruined their relationship. But Shuri cared about Mikage until the very end, and was devastated when he passed away.
- Villain Episode: Konatsu and Kuroyuri & Haruse's backstory chapters.
- Weird World, Weird Food:
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Turns out Landkarte was behind sealing Teito being turned into pandora's box in order to get Veloren's power and get rid of both love and hate for a world of peace...he also killed all the Ghosts of the previous generation (barring the ones Ayanami got) with the exception of his friend Ea, whose eyes he took while trying to do so.
- Ouka also has a clone number.
