Please list only examples from versions that lack or reference any hentai scenes. You Have Been Warned!
In the past, humans and demons have made a pact to never meet or cooperate with another. As time passed, however, as evil began to roam the world, this pact was broken, and in the present, certain humans and demons have made alliances with each other. However, in spite of this, those who still seek righteousness are far from powerless. The Taimanin, a group of ninjas who possess strength to rival that of demons, was formed by the Japanese government to uphold the pact.
Asagi Igawa, famed as the strongest of the Taimanin, had planned to retire with Sawaki Kyousuke after successfully killing Oboro in her last mission. Alongside her is her sister Sakura Igawa, who secretly trains to succeed her. That being said, her retirement will not come easily, as her archnemesis Oboro has risen back from the dead to seek vengeance...
Originally released in October 21, 2005, it later got a brief trial release on Steam on December 10, 2019 but was later removed. It would later see a proper western release on October 26, 2023, published by Shiravune. Though quite lacking at the time, nevertheless, it would start a franchise and later branch out into various other mediums, with Taimanin RPG Extasy and Action Taimanin being a gacha and a Hack and Slash respectively.
This series provides examples of:
- Affably Evil: Compared to Oboro at her absolute best, Edwin Black can be downright charming while still being a villain, even regarding Asagi as a Worthy Opponent.
- Ambiguous Situation: When did the Igawa Elder begin to conspire with the demons? Judging from him seeing his actions for the greater good, it's heavily implied that he started to conspire with them when Asagi planned to retire with Kyousuke, but spinoffs have him plotting against Asagi as early as a series of revolts against her family's authority.
- Back from the Dead: Oboro is resurrected by Edwin Black at the beginning of the visual novel.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Though he gets sentenced to death by the government in the process, the Igawa Elder nevertheless accomplishes his goal of forcing Asagi Igawa out of retirement.
- Bittersweet Ending: Oboro is finished off by Asagi seemingly for good, and Sakura decapitates the Igawa Elder when it's revealed that he was in cahoots with Oboro. In the process, however, Kyousuke had to be killed due to being possessed by Oboro, something that will haunt Asagi for the rest of her life, and it's clear that the status quo of criminal syndicates involving the union of both humans and demons still exists. Asagi herself is denied the peace and happiness of retirement and is thrown back into the Forever War against demons and crime, probably for the rest of her life.
- The Call Knows Where You Live: At the beginning, Asagi was planning to marry Kyousuke and leave the demon-hunting business, until Oboro came back from the dead. This was invoked by the Igawa Elder, since Asagi retiring means that they have to rely on the lesser-trained Sakura, which would be very risky for the Igawa clan.
- Crapsack World: Most of the world, notably Tokyo, is infested with demons who subjugate mankind beneath their heel, and even the ones that co-exist with humans mostly consist of criminal syndicates.
- Demonic Possession: Early on, Oboro forcibly fuses with Kyousuke, possessing him and taking over his mind. Asagi doesn't realize this until she's caught in Oboro's trap.
- Duel to the Death: The climax of the visual novel has Asagi and Sakura Igawa being forced to duel to the death in the Chaos Arena, with Oboro's hypnosis technique affecting Asagi to prevent them from doing anything funny. However, the true ending has them fake their fight until they can get close to Oboro, then strike at her to break her hold over Asagi and finish her off.
- The Extremist Was Right: The Igawa Elder might've had a point about letting Asagi go in the middle of a Forever War against demons and crime, and his manipulative and abusive plans get her back into the fight in the good ending. Lest he get too much credit, there're an awful lot of bad endings where his plan horribly backfires.
- Face Death with Dignity: The Igawa Elder remains calm even when faced with his death sentence.
- Gladiator Games: The Chaos Arena is an illegal underground arena that hosts various fights between humans and demons, broadcast around the world through secret channels.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Two of them:
- Edwin Black is the highest ranking demon of the criminal underworld and seeks to corrupt Asagi, though he merely observes the situation in the Chaos Arena.
- The Igawa Elder allied with Edwin Black when Asagi begin to consider retiring with Kyousuke, resulting in the deaths of various Taimanin and the events of the visual novel.
- I Have Your Wife: Gender-inverted: Oboro uses Kyousuke as a literal and figurative meat shield to force Asagi to do her biddings even if she broke free of her hypnosis. Her accepting that Kyousuke is practically dead in soul and mind allows Asagi to finally break free of Oboro's control.
- Kill the Ones You Love: Asagi ends up doing this to Kyousuke.
- Knight of Cerebus: The moment Oboro shows up is where Asagi's life turns upside-down. Not helped by all the horrific ordeals Asagi goes through is because of Oboro kidnapping Kyosuke and turning him into a monster.
- Love Hurts: Asagi Igawa planning to retire with Sawaki Kyousuke has been met with resentment with other clans, since the Sawaki clan is considered to be powerless and thus, her having a relationship with him was considered to be taboo. Thus, the Igawa Elder seeks to remind Asagi why such a relationship with them is considered taboo, even if he has to resort to unscrupulous methods to do so.
- Mind Control: To ensure that Asagi is incapable of disobeying her, Oboro uses her Ninja Art to hypnotize her.
- Ninja: The Taimanin are ninjas capable of fighting demons.
- Ninja Brat: Sakura Igawa, in in spite of her inexperience and youth compared to her elder sister Asagi Igawa, is nevertheless desiring to become a Taimanin like her.
- Off with His Head!: Oboro gets decapitated at the beginning of the visual novel, but is resurrected by Edwin Black. The true end sees the Igawa Elder decapitated by Sakura for collaborating with Edwin.
- Porn with Plot: The plot mostly serves a vehicle for the porn, but if you look hard enough there is a decent plot buried amidst.
- Protagonist Title: Asagi Igawa the anti-demon ninja, or "Taimanin," is the titular heroine of Taimanin Asagi.
- Self-Censored Release: The Steam version of Taimanin Asagi cuts off all h-scenes, and even the bad ends due to being simply being full of them.
- Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: For a given value of sensible, but Asagi and Sakura Igawa both wear more modest civilian clothing than their archnemesis Oboro's slinky formal dress, and even their extremely flattering Taimanin suits are less revealing than Oboro's, which doesn't even cover her butt.
- Stripperific: The suits of Sakura, Asagi and Oboro are quite revealing, to say the least.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Igawa Elder sought to force Asagi out from her retirement as part of the greater good against the demonic forces. However, to do so, he sold out Kyousuke to Oboro, knowing that he would likely be killed in the process, and condemned Asagi herself to torture and abuse at their hands in the process.
