YMMV / Crossing Midnight

• Complete Monster: Lord Aratsu, the God of Swords, is one of the most powerful Kami alive. He is also a vicious, usurping, tyrannical megalomaniac who considers it his right to steal a girl named Toshi from her parents and twin brother because their father prayed at his shrine before her birth. When she refuses to become his slave after Aratsu brutally murdered the family dog he dismembers her mother to use her life to force Toshi's hand. Once Toshi agrees to serve him, Aratsu repairs her mother, but doesn't even bother to mend her soul, leaving her an empty shell and fully susceptible to hungry, soul eating imps. Once Toshi is his slave, Aratsu uses his swords to cut away her past and future, leaving her to exist in only a moment in time. Should she ever displease him, he would allow time to lapse and her to vanish. Aratsu's cruelty is revealed as the story goes on: he gained his power by treachery and murder, having severed his predecessor's memory and condemned him to exile on Earth. A violent egomaniac, he also kills any who do not give him the blind worship he feels he's entitled to. While many Kami are alien creatures, Aratsu is an all too familiar and understandable being, and eclipses any human, dragon, demon or Kami in the story with his evil. By the time the rebellion against his rule rolls around, he has no compunction sending the amnesiac Toshi to kill her own brother.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Nidoru the Unforgiving is the kami spirit presiding over needles and pins. A devoted retainer of the god of swords Asirosamiro, her loyalty is such that she is even willing to kill his illegitimate children with a human woman to defend his honor, though she ultimately fails. Escaping Aratsu's coup on her master, she saves the life of Kaikou "Kai" Hara's parents by first healing his mother and then butchering the gangsters threatening his father. Later reuniting with Asirosamiro prior to the final battle, she confesses that the children she attempted to kill were Kai's ancestors, and makes it up to Kai by dressing in identical armor to him to lure his brainwashed sister Toshi. Toshi kills Nidoru when her ruse is discovered, but her sacrifice buys Kai the opening he needs to assassinate Aratsu.
  • The Gleaner is one of the "faces" of the God of Death, so powerful as to terrify even Aratsu. Appearing as a writhing mass of scythe-tipped tentacles, she reveals herself after Toshi Hara defeats two of her subordinates, threatening to harvest her soul unless she passes a difficult test. When Toshi succeeds, the Gleaner lets her go on her way and resurrects her dog Sen for her. When the final showdown with Aratsu arrives, she allows the villain to be fed false information that she would not be assisting the alliance against him, only to suddenly appear and harvest all of his remaining forces. After Kai is killed in the fighting, the Gleaner is so impressed by the Hara siblings' tenacity that she breaks her own rules to allow Toshi a chance to resurrect him.